Chapter 658: First Volume_Chapter 658: Sisters Reunited

First Volume_Chapter 658: Sisters Reunited

Chen Si pretended to stay calm.

"Qin Feng, the soldiers in your Tianji Camp are truly every one of them as fierce as tigers and wolves."

"If they grew to scale, I'm afraid even our Great Di Xiongying Brigade, if they met on the battlefield, would have to avoid their edge."

Chen Si's words carried two layers of meaning.

The first was praise for Tianji Camp.

The second was the real intent he meant to express.

No matter how elite Tianji Camp was, the number of men was locked down tight.

A force of this size, once on the battlefield, could be buried under Tianji Camp by piling on bodies alone.

How could Chen Si not know that Qin Feng had brought him to Tianji Camp precisely to show off the force in his hands?

Although the war had drawn to a close.

The contest of military strength, however, had not yet ended.

It had merely shifted from the battlefield to the negotiation table.

Qin Feng gave a faint smile.

"Brother Chen speaks truly. The only weakness of Tianji Camp is that there are too few men."

"Not to mention the Black Cavalry—even training a single Tianji Camp Guard consumes dozens of times the silver money of an ordinary infantryman."

"But these Tianji Camp Guards are, after all, flesh and blood."

"No matter how fine their equipment, no matter how well-trained, they cannot fight ten at once."

"Perhaps this is what they call an investment that yields no return."

Seeing Qin Feng so 'modest,' Chen Si could not help but throw his head back and laugh.

Qin Feng had indeed matured—when it was time to be hard, he was decisive in killing and cutting.

When it was time to be soft, he also knew how to hide his edge.

But excessive modesty was, after all, a touch hypocritical.

"Although Tianji Camp cannot play a decisive role in a great battle."

"It cannot be denied that your small Tianji Camp alone can pin down a regular army unit."

"Before, on the Northern Border, I had already tasted the might of the Black Cavalry and the Tianji Camp Guards."

"Qin Feng, no matter how modest you are, you cannot conceal the strength of Tianji Camp."

"To tell you the truth, we learn from our setbacks. If swords cross again in the future, I'm afraid the first thing we'll do is investigate the backgrounds of Tianji Camp thoroughly."

Once investigated, once watched closely.

Then, with only this handful of men in Tianji Camp, they could not stir up waves that were too big.

Facing Chen Si's 'warning.'

Qin Feng still responded with a smile, looking calm and unhurried.

"Learn from our setbacks? Brother Chen, you're not mocking me, are you?"

"Heh, since Tianji Camp's weakness is so obvious, if I don't try hard to patch it, wouldn't that be far too foolish?"

"Here's what I'm thinking: once the State Peace Talks end, I'll expand the Black Cavalry's numbers to ten thousand."

"And expand the Tianji Camp Guards to one thousand."

"Only then can we protect ourselves."

Hearing the words 'protect ourselves,' Chen Si could not help but let out a cold laugh.

With the Black Cavalry and Tianji Camp Guards at their current scale, they were already enough to pin down a regular army.

If they truly expanded to ten thousand men, and were garrisoned on the Northern Border.

Wouldn't that make the entire Great Di unable to sleep or eat in peace?

Just then, Qin Feng sighed again, looking thoroughly troubled.

"It's just that the funding required is probably an astronomical figure."

"Sigh, looks like from now on I'll have to slave away like a horse and ox to earn money again."

Although Qin Feng spoke lightly, Chen Si could no longer laugh.

Clearly, Qin Feng was not joking.

He truly intended to expand the Black Cavalry and Tianji Camp Guards to a scale of ten thousand and one thousand.

Then, adding the battle-hardened Beixi Soldiers and the three great generals of the Northern Border.

The strength of the Northern Border alone would be enough to make the entire Great Di give up any 'ideas.'

The most fatal point of all!

Compared to the traditional forces of Liang Kingdom.

The soldiers and horses in Qin Feng's hands were all Tiger Wolf Elite Troops skilled at hard fighting in the open field.

Back when they clashed on the Northern Border.

In the count of brutal engagements between the two sides, Open Field Battle clearly outnumbered Siege Warfare.

In the not-distant future, Liang Kingdom, with Qin Feng's help, would train a truly expeditionary mighty army!

When that time came, it would be Great Di's turn to figure out how to defend.

Due to the difference in national conditions, in defensive experience in Siege Warfare and in logistics, Great Di was far inferior to Liang Kingdom.

Qin Feng meant to use the building of an expeditionary army to further weaken Great Di's advantages.

Realizing all this, Chen Si could not help but furrow his brow.

"Qin Feng, with your commercial attainments, building such an expeditionary army probably won't take long, will it?"

Chen Si asked a probing question.

Qin Feng shrugged.

"Speaking of which, the funds are actually secondary."

"It mainly depends on the direction of the peace talks."

"If everything goes smoothly and everyone is happy, naturally there's no rush to build an expeditionary army."

"If the negotiations break down, or if our Shedynasty is at a disadvantage, we have no choice but to consider preparing for the potential war that follows."

"Then the plan to build an expeditionary army will naturally speed up as well."

Chen Si figured it out by now.

Qin Feng was using the might of the military to pressure him once again.

To put it bluntly, the implication was…

Don't push too far during the peace talks!

Shedynasty is no longer what it once was; it has abandoned pure defense and is gradually transitioning to the offensive side.

Although it does not love war, it absolutely does not fear war either.

Qin Feng's bottom line was that as the victorious nation, Shedynasty must receive every last bit of compensation it is owed — not a single bit less.

On top of the compensation for military expenditure and people's livelihood, how much more meat they could bite off the Northern Di depended entirely on the Northern Di Envoy Group's gift of gab.

Chen Si suppressed his helplessness and pretended to be at ease.

"Hahaha, isn't the whole point of the Two Nations' Peace Talks to maintain peace?"

"No one wants to take up arms again."

"As for what progress can be made at the negotiation table, we can only leave it to fate."

Qin Feng nodded and smiled back: "Yes, fate."

"Brother Chen, come, let me take you for a stroll north of the city — the mountains are fine, the waters are fine, and the people are even finer."

"Don't be fooled by the fact that the people living there are mostly scholarly pedants — if anyone dares to trample their land, they'll fight to the death without a second thought."

Faced with Qin Feng's thinly veiled innuendo and pointed meaning,

Chen Si could only play dumb.

The two chatted and laughed as they headed north of the city.

At the same time, in the Western Flower Hall of the Imperial Palace.

Li Xiaolan finally met her Second Sister, Liu Hongyan, whom she had not seen for a long time.

Xiao Xiangxiang and Shu Feng were also visibly excited at the side.

"Second Miss, why have you only just arrived?"

"It's the Young Master's fault too — didn't he know to let you come visit Third Miss?"

"Third Miss lives alone in the palace, terribly bored. Sigh, who knows when these dreary days will ever come to an end."

Seeing Xiao Xiangxiang and Shu Feng pouring out their grievances,

Liu Hongyan could not help but shoot them a look and chide: "Where do you get missing me? Clearly you're missing Feng'er, aren't you!"

"Rather than saying the Hou Gong is boring, it's more accurate to say that anywhere without Feng'er is boring."

Hearing this, the two maids' little faces flushed red.

Liu Hongyan turned and took Li Xiaolan's hand, looked her up and down, and could not help but sigh softly.

"Xiaolan, you've lost weight."

"Is it that the palace food doesn't suit your taste, or have you been bullied?"

Li Xiaolan felt a warm glow inside.

After all, in this world, there were still true family members who worried about her.