Chapter 542: National War

Inside the large hall, the gunpowder smoke dissipated.

Everyone's eyes looked toward the Imperial Guard soldier who had been selected to block the bullet shooting.

This person had already retracted his protective force, his chest armor was broken, and several conspicuous bullet holes were left!

There was also a protective suit under the armor of this Imperial Guard soldier; the bullets penetrated his protective force and armor, but ultimately couldn't continue to penetrate the protective suit.

So this Imperial Guard soldier was not injured.

But the 'Black Fire' assault rifle brought out by the Western delegation still shocked the ministers of the Great Blue Dynasty!

Being able to practice high-level force meant that this Imperial Guard soldier was at least a Dao Ji stage martial artist of the third rank.

Such an expert was already the backbone of the Great Blue Dynasty.

But now, the Western Continent, relying only on one weapon, made it possible for ordinary people to threaten experts at this level!

The ministers of the Great Blue Dynasty in the hall were not ignorant of military affairs.

They thought of more than just how much threat ordinary people could pose after mastering such weapons.

The essence of a weapon is just a tool; what determines its upper limit is ultimately the person. 【542

Looking at the assault rifle brought by the Western delegation, it is smaller in size, lighter in weight, has a faster rate of fire, higher precision, and greater power.

Leading in every single aspect, combined, it is an all-around crushing advantage!

The emergence of firearms has already changed the form of warfare, enhancing the role of ordinary people in war.

But as of now, the gunpowder weapons mastered by the Great Lan Dynasty can at most allow ordinary people to threaten martial artists of the Qi Transformation stage.

Moving up to the Dao Foundation stage, the threat of gunpowder weapons becomes much smaller. Even if ordinary people carry mortars, it is very difficult to threaten experts of the Dao Foundation stage.

The advantage of mid-level experts over gunpowder weapons means that firearms can only play an auxiliary role in war, making it difficult to produce a decisive effect.

But when the West brings out an assault rifle like "Black Fire," the situation is different.

Although the ministers of the Internal Affairs Cabinet present are civil officials, they are not ignorant of martial affairs.

The first thing they thought of was not just how huge a threat could be posed after ordinary people mastered such weapons.

The essence of a weapon is just a tool; what determines its upper limit is, after all, the person.

The power exerted by the same weapon in the hands of an ordinary person versus in the hands of a transcendent is completely different.

If several martial artists of the Qi Transformation stage held such weapons, could they easily kill experts of the Dao Foundation stage below the third rank?

Or conversely, if an expert of the Dao Foundation stage held such a weapon, to what extent would the killing efficiency against low-level martial artists be improved?

Duke Zeke said this is an epoch-making weapon; that is not an exaggeration at all!

"..."

The great hall fell silent.

Zeke signaled his subordinate to take the gun and sit back down.

He took the Black Fire assault rifle from the other person, placed it on the table, and pushed it forward:

"Grand Secretary, are you satisfied with the gift we brought?"

Ye Ye Zean remained calm and composed from beginning to end.

He looked at the assault rifle on the table and said indifferently: "Your delegation consists of seven countries; are you only sending one gun?"

The smile on Zeke's face stiffened.

Duke Miller, sitting to his left, smiled slightly and said in fluent Central Plains language:

"We all have such assault rifles in every one of our countries. Besides that, there are large-caliber multi-barreled heavy machine guns and sniper rifles with a range exceeding two thousand meters. If the Grand Secretary likes them, we can present them all."

Ye Ye Zean nodded: "Then I shall thank you all for the gifts on behalf of His Majesty."

Miller looked at him: "It seems the Grand Secretary likes this gift very much; we can also sell these firearms to your country."

These words immediately caused the complexions of the civil officials present to change in unison.

"You are willing to sell these firearms to us?"

A cabinet official couldn't help but speak up to confirm again.

"Indeed, if your country is willing to do business with us, these new-style weapons can all be sold."

Zeke nodded.

"How do you want to do business?"

A cabinet official asked.

The Western delegation had long been prepared for this; after hearing this question, the seven envoys immediately took out identical booklets and handed them to the Great Lan Dynasty officials sitting opposite them.

The officials of the Internal Affairs Cabinet took the booklets and began to read, and then their complexions became increasingly ugly.

Slap!

A moment later, a cabinet official suddenly slammed his palm heavily onto the wooden table, his face livid:

"Simply absurd!"

This so-called "proposal" prepared by the Western delegation demanded that the Great Lan Dynasty fully open up commercial trade between it and the Western Continent.

The seven Western countries wanted to build ports on the coastline of the Western border and open companies and build factories in every province of the Great Lan Dynasty.

And the Great Lan Dynasty was not allowed to restrict commercial trade between the two sides in any form, which even included the buying and selling of opium.

If it weren't for the fact that the other side wrote in the proposal that all commercial transactions would pay commercial taxes and tariffs according to the law, barely counting as leaving some face for the Great Lan Dynasty, I'm afraid some officials would have already been unable to resist tearing the booklet in their hands to shreds!

Even for the two great desert nations that bowed to the Great Lan Dynasty, the Great Lan Dynasty's merchant caravans could not have such great freedom of trade within their borders.

Since Ye Ye Zean initiated the Mingxin Reform, commercial trade between the Eastern Continent and the Western Continent had never stopped.

But this kind of trade had always been firmly controlled by the imperial court, and even if some forces among the people secretly traded with the Western Continent, it was only small-scale.

Now the seven Western countries wanted the Great Lan Dynasty to hand over all the power in its hands; this was simply as vile as allowing outsiders to defecate anywhere in one's own home!

Among the Great Lan Dynasty officials present, only two remained calm.

One was Li Fei, who hadn't opened his eyes from beginning to end.

The other was Ye Ye Zean; he only glanced at the contents of the proposal a few times before placing it on the table and not looking at it again.

All seven dukes focused their gazes on Ye Ye Zean, waiting for his reply.

Ye Ye Zean pressed his palm onto the small booklet before him and pushed it forward gently:

"Keep the gifts, take this back."

Duke Zeke frowned slightly: "What does the Grand Secretary mean by this? If there is any dissatisfaction with this proposal, you can bring it up, and we can talk slowly."

The seven Western countries of course knew that the proposal they put forward was an exorbitant demand.

But one asks for a high price and settles for a lower one.

Many things could be discussed again, and they were not incapable of making concessions.

But Ye Ye Zean's attitude was that he didn't even want to talk!

Ye Ye Zean was just an ordinary person, with no cultivation at all.

But at this moment, this gray-haired old man sitting there possessed an aura that even the seven dukes dared not underestimate!

His gaze swept across the seven dukes one by one, and he said slowly and firmly:

"On the land of the Great Lan Dynasty, the Great Lan Dynasty will always possess the highest power. This point was true in the past, is true now, and will be true in the future!"

The scene fell silent for a moment.

Duke Miller, with his silver hair, once again revealed his signature smile:

"As far as I know, the current Great Lan Dynasty's situation does not seem good. That Buddha from Mount Pudu Temple killed your Emperor, but you still dare not take action against Mount Pudu Temple to this day. With internal troubles not yet eliminated, does your country really want to reject our goodwill?"

These words caused the cabinet officials to show expressions of anger, but also a few parts of helplessness.

Could the Western Continent, relying only on one assault rifle, even if added with some other more powerful weapons, really completely change the strength gap between them and the Great Lan Dynasty?

Obviously, this was impossible.

But as Miller said, with the Buddhist sect not yet eliminated, does the Great Lan Dynasty really have the spare energy to deal with the Western Continent, which is eyeing them covetously?

Yesterday, the delegation was attacked before even entering the city, which undoubtedly made the seven Western countries even more certain of the Great Lan Dynasty's current situation.

If the seven Western countries invaded a second time and the Buddhist sect launched an attack at the same time, how would the Great Lan Dynasty deal with it?

The seven Western countries suddenly sent a delegation at this time because they saw the opportunity, knowing that this was the weakest time for the Great Lan Dynasty.

Otherwise, how would they dare to bring out such a proposal?

Those who didn't know would have thought it was the Great Lan Dynasty that was defeated by the seven-nation allied forces twenty-two years ago.

"Is Duke Miller representing the country of Severon in threatening us?"

Ye Ye Zean met Miller's gaze and asked this.

The fake smile on Miller's face gradually faded, and the fierce and violent aura hidden underneath emerged accordingly.

His gaze was fierce, staring tightly at Ye Ye Zean, like a ferocious beast about to devour someone!

At this moment, Li Fei, who had been sitting beside Ye Ye Zean with his eyes closed to rest his mind, slowly opened his eyes.

A gaze as substantial as reality fell upon Miller.

Miller's expression stiffened; he felt as if he had been pierced through by a sharp sword and nailed firmly to his seat!

At this moment, he finally understood the feeling Duke Saina had yesterday!

"The Grand Secretary misunderstood; this Duke was only offering a well-intentioned reminder."

Miller's smile was stiff as he managed to say this.

The subsequent negotiations did not continue, because Ye Ye Zean's attitude was tough, and the two sides parted on bad terms.

Li Fei and Ye Ye Zean were the last two to walk out of the great hall.

"We will talk again later, right?"

Li Fei turned his head to ask Ye Ye Zean.

Ye Ye Zean nodded: "Of course."

"Then will we make concessions?"

Li Fei stared tightly at the other person.

Although he had proposed to the new Emperor that they needed to endure for three years, it did not mean he could accept any form of concession.

Ye Ye Zean turned his head to look at Li Fei:

"I have said it before; if the reasoning of us civil officials doesn't work, then it will need you to reason with them."

Li Fei understood.

Whether the Great Lan Dynasty would eventually make concessions to the seven Western countries depended on whether the "reasoning" could be made to work.

Over the next few days, under Ye Ye Zean's instruction, the cabinet members of the Internal Affairs Cabinet responsible for the negotiations separately sought out the envoys of the seven Western countries and talked to them more than once.

Coercion and inducement, sowing discord, dividing interests...

With the help of the intelligence on the Western Continent they held, plus the deterrent power left by the Great Lan Dynasty in the past, and the various interests they could offer, these civil officials could be said to have exhausted all their skills to unite and divide—

For example, although Duke Zeke Lane was representing the country of Deni in this mission, he also held another identity as the head of the Lane family.

If the Great Lan Dynasty were willing to give the Lane family more benefits in private, would the other party consider putting personal gain before public duty?

Or for example, the Duchy of Kalan was actually part of the country of Severon in the past, only later becoming independent and establishing a duchy.

The relationship between the two countries had always been very subtle; sowing discord from within might not necessarily fail to make both sides lose trust in each other.

And so on.

This was the way the civil officials Ye Ye Zean spoke of used to "reason."

This was negotiation, but it was also a special form of war between nations!

It was not only slaughter on the battlefield that counted as national war.

During this period, Li Fei remained in the Imperial City.

These separate negotiations did not require him to appear again, nor did he need to worry about them.

He immersed himself in cultivation every day.

For a natal magic treasure to upgrade from the Earth level to the Heaven level, theoretically, it required gathering the "Thirty-Six Heavenly Spirits" and "Seventy-Two Earthly Fiends," which meant one hundred and eight types of mid-three-grade implants.

But Li Fei's Flying Sword Body only incorporated twelve types of mid-three-grade implants, refining them into a 【Yongding】 divine ability, after which it upgraded from the Mysterious level to the Earth level.

So for the subsequent upgrades, he needed to walk a path that no one had walked before.

A path that belonged solely to him.

Such pioneering cultivation methods were not something that could be completed overnight.

They were not even something that could be completed in a generation.

But Li Fei had mastered the techniques of the Nightmare Sect, allowing him to simulate and deduce in dreams.

He also had the notes on the integration of law and martial arts written by Lin Lin Tianyi during his Grandmaster and top-tier True Person stages, obtained from the Xiao family.

More importantly, he had the Ten Thousand Blood Pearl and the "Five-Phase Reversal Method," which allowed him to try and fail time and again without fear of injury or damaging his own foundation.

All these unique conditions combined gave Li Fei the possibility of deducing a brand-new path in a short period!

He had now basically determined what the first technique-type implant he would incorporate next would be—

The six-grade fire-attribute implant 【Lie Shan Jia】.

Six-grade implants were all very rare.

Even in the imperial treasury, there were not all types of six-grade implants.

The 【Lie Shan Jia】 Li Fei needed now was not in the imperial treasury.

Fortunately, among the exotic beasts raised on Mount Mount Tiansha was the six-grade Lie Shan Yan Jia Beast.

Li Fei had already written to Mount Mount Tiansha, hoping to exchange resources for a six-grade Lie Shan Yan Jia Beast from them.

Mount Mount Tiansha, of course, did not refuse.

Currently, this exotic beast was already on its way, and once it was delivered to Lanling City, Li Fei could have people start making the implant.

Southern Border.

Nanping Town, one of the twenty-eight military towns of the Southern Border.

Back when the First Imperial Prince and Prince Li rebelled, the highest official of Nanping Town, Regional Military Commissioner Jiang Jiang Yufei, took more than thirty loyal subordinates and left the town to resist.

In the end, they all died at the hands of the Imperial Camp Army that came to suppress them.

Afterward, eight hundred of the twelve hundred Southern Border frontier troops in the military town were taken away.

After the battle on the Bai Feng Plain, the vanguard of the Southern Border army was defeated, and the fifty thousand troops that had not yet arrived surrendered or fled.

In the end, fewer than thirty thousand frontier troops returned to the Southern Border.

Although the imperial court replenished a portion of the troops from various places, the total strength of the entire Southern Border was now only sixty thousand or so.

Nanping Town currently had only eight hundred garrison troops, more than half of whom were City Guard troops who had never been to the border before.

When the warning horn on the watchtower suddenly sounded, most people in the military town were bewildered.

Subsequently, everyone felt the ground beneath their feet shaking.

Outside Nanping Town, yellow sand filled the sky.

A yellow dragon rolled forward!

This was a scene created by the galloping of over ten thousand cavalry!

When the new Regional Military Commissioner of Nanping Town hurriedly leaped onto the high tower and saw the flags fluttering in the distance clearly, he sat down on the ground, his face full of despair.

The flags in the distance were black, with an eight-armed Asura embroidered on them.

This was the flag of the "Asura Army," the strongest imperial iron cavalry of the Xuanmo Kingdom, one of the two great desert nations!

Although not as good as the Great Lan Dynasty's Imperial Camp Army, this Asura Army was also composed entirely of martial artists!

Without the slightest hesitation, the new Regional Military Commissioner of Nanping Town decided to open the city gates and surrender.

An internal strife soon occurred within the town.

This time, the soldiers who dared to resist had no chance to leave the town; they all died under the blades of their own people.

By the time the Asura Army arrived, the city gates of the military town before them were slowly opening...

49th year of Emperor Hongguang, November 27th.

The two great desert nations raised their armies and invaded the Southern Border!

(End of chapter)