Chapter 4: Transactions
My spirit returned from the robot to my body. This time, it took too long and my mental strength was too depleted, so I needed to rest. Just as I was about to get a good night’s sleep, the door opened (I was practicing in the “Room of No Wonders”).
“Brother, why are you practicing here!” a young girl said, dashing in through the door and grabbing my arm.
“Yes, don’t you usually hate practicing?” a young boy said, entering through the door.
This girl was born to the Queen of the Southern Palace and was called Qiu Feiyu, and the little boy was called Qiu Fenghuang, my biological younger brother. Both of them were mischievous guys, and of course each had two bodyguards behind them.
“Go, go, go, I know you’re practicing kung fu, but you’re still causing trouble.”
“Brother, don’t practice anymore, let’s go out and play, practicing kung fu is so boring,” Feiyu said.
“You’re just saying that because you don’t want to practice. I find it interesting,“ said his younger brother, Qiu Kuangfeng. He didn’t mind practicing, and was known to everyone as a martial arts prodigy.
Forget it, there’s no way I can practice with these two guys here, I might as well go see what’s fun.
”What’s fun?“ I asked.
”Xiao Xiao is good at a certain kind of kung fu, let’s go see,” the little girl said excitedly.
“It’s not interesting. What’s there to see in practicing kung fu?“ I said disdainfully.
”I saw someone today who was dressed differently from us. I heard that they said they came from Goryeo. Shall we go take a look?“ Qiu Kuangfeng said.
”This one is a bit more interesting. Let’s go take a peek secretly.” My interest was piqued as well.
When the group sneaked into Yuxin Palace, not only was the person from Goryeo gone, but even my father was gone. The three little ones came out again and asked the guards before they realized that the person from Goryeo had left the palace early. Our curiosity was piqued, and we began to look for my father. (The guards didn’t know where my father had gone.) Finally, we found him in the palace of the Empress Nanyang, the mother of Feiyu. We three rushed up, our goal—the food on the table. My father and the empress looked at us in disbelief as we devoured the food that had just been presented as a tribute from Korea. After we had finished eating, the contented little ones pestered my father and the empress to tell them about the Korean.
“The Kingdom of Goryeo is at war, and one of the factions has asked us for troops,“ my father said, exasperated.
”So did you agree?“ I asked.
”No. As the sovereign state, we must remain aloof and not intervene in their civil war.“
”So he just left?“ my younger brother asked, surprised.
”He also asked us to supply weapons, but I still didn’t agree,” my father said.
Father, really, how can you not take advantage of such a good opportunity? Isn’t this a chance to support a regime that is moving towards our empire?
“What about them, did they go back to their country?” I asked curiously.
“No, he wants to stay here for a few days, probably to see if he can buy equipment!” Father said indifferently.
I pretended to nod in understanding.
After hearing this, Xiaofei Yu felt that it was not interesting. He said, “Let’s go,” and dragged me and Xiaodi away.
After leaving the palace, I entertained the two for a while, then found an excuse to get rid of them and returned indoors to quickly restore my spiritual energy. After that, I left the palace, changed my appearance, and headed straight for Chaoyang Road, where I had already found out the Koreans were staying.
When I arrived at the door, I told the doorman, “We are looking for the envoy from Korea. We are here to do business with him.”
Behind the gatekeeper stood a man, who, after hearing what I said, said, “No need to report, you can come with me.”
This was a Korean, obviously sent here by the host.
Following the Korean, I passed through a cloister and entered a small, relatively secluded courtyard.
“Sir, there is a guest here, saying that he is here to do business, and he is at the door,” the Korean said to the house.
The door creaked open and a middle-aged man holding a book in his hands stood in the doorway and said to us, “Please come in, have a seat inside.” But when he saw that there was a child like me, a flash of surprise passed through his eyes.
After sitting down, the host said, “I, Park Jeong-geol, the emissary of the Silla king, and you are…”
“My lord need not know who we are, just know that we can provide you with what you urgently need.”
“How can I trade with you without knowing who you are?“ Park Jeongjie stared at me and said, as if he already regarded me as his opponent.
”Does Your Excellency have any other choice? As far as I know, the emperor has already rejected your request, and what you want, Lord Zuo Zai also needs it very much and will not provide it to you at all. If these two people don’t give it to you, I’m afraid that no one in the empire will dare to provide it to you except us.” I said calmly.
Park Jeong-jue stared at me for a while, and then said, “You all leave.” Park Jeong-jue waved his hand, and his own people all left (except for the four guards behind him).
“We can have an open and honest conversation,” Park Jeong-jue said.
“Yes, but the bodyguard behind you must leave,” I said, pointing to one of the guards. I had noticed that this guy was a bit sinister when I arrived, unlike the other three guards.
The face of that guard and Park Jeong-jue both changed.
“What do you mean?“ Park Zhengjie asked with a normal face.
”It doesn’t mean anything, it’s just a small request from me.“
Park Zhengjie grunted, ‘You go first.’ Park Zhengjie said to the guard.
”My lord, don’t listen to him…“
”Go away.“ Park Zhengjie suddenly turned his head and stared at him coldly.
”Yes, my lord.” The guard bowed and reluctantly left, but there was still fear in his eyes.
After watching the guard exit the room, Park Zhengjie’s face was full of a smile as he said to me, “Thank you, Your Excellency, but I don’t know how you knew he was an undercover.”
I didn’t answer him, “The reason I pointed him out is that I hope we will have the opportunity to cooperate in the future. We don’t want Your Excellency to be secretly framed like this, and of course this is also to show our sincerity.”
“That’s good to hear. Judging from this incident, we will definitely cooperate happily in the future.“ Park Zhengjie was happy in his heart. This time, he had come to the Empire of the Sun Never Sets and had long since discovered that there was a traitor hiding, but he didn’t know who it was. This time, I pointed out one person. In Park Zhengjie’s opinion, although it may not necessarily be the traitor, since the other party pointed it out, it would not be without reason. This guard may very well be related to the traitor.
”I wonder how much you need, Your Excellency?“
”Probably enough for 200,000 people.”
“How much do you think it will cost?“
”As usual, one gold coin for a sword, two gold coins for a shield, three gold coins for armor, two gold coins for long weapons, ten silver coins for an arrow, and one gold coin for a bow. If the quality is excellent, you can add half again.“ Park Zhengjie said fluently.
”At present, we can only provide swords, shields, and armor, and we can only provide equipment for 100,000 people. As for quality, it is definitely the best on the mainland. As for bows and arrows, we have other uses and cannot sell them.” In fact, they simply cannot produce bows and arrows.
“It’s fine to have swords among the weapons, and it’s fine to not have bows. But can we add 400,000 arrows? 100,000 is too few. In fact, the more the better?”
The customer’s needs are our requirements. I secretly thought, as long as the steel is cut into strips and the head is sharpened, it can form an arrow. There seem to be many cutting machines in the base, and they can be used to produce arrows with a little modification. “Okay, we will try to get the arrows, but I can’t guarantee the quantity. But right now we can only provide 100,000 pieces of equipment, and more would be dangerous.”
“I know it’s not easy for you guys either. It’s too dangerous to get it out of the heavily guarded armory. I just hope you can do your best.” Park Zhengjie nodded knowingly.
Armory? Dangerous? (By dangerous, I mean I’m afraid I can’t make that much.) I froze for a moment, and then it dawned on me. This guy thinks we’re people who resell military equipment. ‘As long as you understand our difficulties, where do we trade?’ I said, taking the blame.
“If you can transport it to the border between our two countries, plus 60,000 gold coins.” Park Zhengjie looked at me steadily.
It seems that this guy doesn’t even want to mention trading locally because of the risk of transportation. However, this is also in my interest. (Goryeo is just southeast of Changbai Mountain, and the Orc tribe’s place of residence can easily reach the border between the two countries.) ”Okay, we will deliver the goods at the border. Do you know Takums? Deliver the goods there.”
Park Jung-gye nodded. Takumsi was a small hill on the border between the two countries.
“How many days will it take for you to deliver the goods?”
“Twelve days after two months, we will first deliver 20,000 goods, you pay 120,000, and then another month 30,000, you pay 180,000, and in the third month, if there are arrowheads, we will deliver them to you along with another 50,000 goods, and of course the balance must be paid.”
“Can’t it be any earlier?”
“My lord, you must understand that this kind of thing cannot be rushed.“ How could I possibly have so many men and horses equipped to escort so much?
”Pay in full, plus 40,000 gold coins.“
I sneered inwardly, pay in full? Isn’t that just asking you to eat it all in one go? If you want to play that game, I’ll screw you over when the time comes!
”No, even if you add another 400,000, it’s still no good,” I said decisively.
Park Zhengjie frowned: “In that case, as you say.”
“Lord Park,” I grinned evilly, “as you know, to do this kind of thing, there must always be some operating capital beforehand. Could you give my brother some, so that things can be done more smoothly? Otherwise, the delivery date may have to be extended a bit.” Seeing that Park was concerned about the delivery time, I hurriedly blackmailed him a bit.
“How much?” Park Zhengjie calmly asked, taking a sip of tea.
“Half the price of the first shipment.“
”I will deposit the money into this card in half a month.“ Park Zhengjie handed me a magic card. (This came from the Western Continent and is quite practical)
”In that case, I won’t be polite either.” I accepted the magic card and said, ”By the way, we hope that for the first two shipments, you will also deposit the money into the card within three days after receiving the goods, and the final shipment will be paid and delivered at the same time.”
“Very well, it’s settled then.“
”This is a communication stone, so we can contact each other at any time if there is any news.”
Park Jeongxiang took a gold coin out of his bosom and broke it in half. I was shocked. This guy is not bad at all. Gold is soft, so it is easy to bend, but it is more difficult to break in half.
“Let’s use this as a token of faith. When the time comes, we can only trade if the two can be joined together. We recognize the object, not the person.“ Park Zhengjie handed me half of the gold coin.
”I still have some things to do, so I won’t stay long. You are excused, my lord.“ I took the gold coin and said.
”Have a good trip, you are excused, but next time, can you send someone a little older?” Park Zhengjie said with a smile.
I returned to Zhenlongshan and used the Six Star Magic Array to go to Changbai Mountain and quickly arrived at the base. The area around the base has now been developed into a residential area (there is a barrier, and the sound of steel refining and weapon making is not loud). After entering the base, I started up the second production line for steel production and the second production line for each of the other items, namely swords, shields, and armor. (That is, the current daily output of equipment is 2,000 pieces each. As for why the output has been increased, there will be an introduction to that below.) I also modified some of the cutting machines to produce arrowheads and bow strings. Processing iron bars into bows requires manual work, so I assigned this task to the Bull Tribe and asked them to find 100 people to teach the other orcs how to make bows. The power of bows and arrows in battle is very great, so I require that every orc be proficient in using bows and arrows. Using the cutting machines, I also produced a large number of iron needles, which are concealed weapons for the Submersion Dragon Team and the Reclining Tiger Team.
There happened to be a virus laboratory here, most of the viruses in it were gone, but I still found a poison pool, which seemed to be based on snake venom. I put some iron needles and arrowheads into the poison pool to soak, and I made some antidotes myself. Later, I found that the poison in this poison pool seemed to multiply, and it never decreased. I had a thought, I could use this poison to practice my kung fu. So I extracted some of the venom from the pool and had the people in the Hidden Dragon and Reclining Tiger groups take it every day, and then practice the Poison Cultivation technique I had taught them. This technique uses the extreme toxicity to stimulate one’s potential and increase one’s martial arts skills. Normally, the poison is dormant in the body, but when practicing the technique, it flow throughout the body, stimulating the body and reducing pain. However, it cannot be used to harm others. This poison and this technique will not have any effect on future generations. After observing it for a few days, I was convinced that this technique does not have any side effects, so I recruited a group of half-beasts and winged people to join in practicing this technique.
Just a few days ago, I was playing at the Fu family, and I happened to guide the four sisters in practicing the Heavenly Sound Method and the Dancing Fairy Technique that I taught them. These two great methods are really useful, and it is obvious that the four of them are a cut above in their skills. Who knew that that day, the Imperial Music Department sent someone to say that my father had asked Lianxin to perform singing and dancing at the Imperial Palace on the 15th day of the first lunar month, the Heavenly God Festival.
“I’m afraid we’ll just have to rehearse the old songs and dances again!” Fu Wanshi laughed.
“Do we have to rehearse the dance we performed for my godmother’s birthday? That’s not a good idea, as many people have seen it,“ Fu Yufeng said.
”There are less than two months until the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, so it’s impossible to put on a dance performance. Just the planning alone will probably take more than a month,“ Fu Bing said.
”I think this is a godsend opportunity for Lianxin to break into the market, so I strongly urge that we put on a new one,” I said.
“That’s impossible. It’s so hard to find a good script,“ said Ye Ran.
”Hey,“ I flashed my trademark smile, ‘if I can find the script, you’ll be able to perform it?’
”We still need music, otherwise it takes too long to compose it,“ said Fu Bing.
”I can solve that for you too,” I said confidently.
“Little brother, can you solve everything?” Ye Ran sister used her big eyes to captivate my soul.
In this way, I took on the roles of director, music director, art designer, and stage director. I pulled a religious theme out of my head, and, well, I chose “Messiah”. So I spent a whole month at the Fu’s house before finally getting it done. But it was pretty nice to be surrounded by beautiful women (all the women in the dance troupe were pretty).
That day, I arrived at the Orcs’ place, and I received news from them that there was an unusual situation.
“What happened?“ I asked Bach Xiang.
”It’s better if Zhang tells you.“
”When we were returning with the weapons, we heard a rumor that the legendary Nine Dragons Sword had appeared in the southwest of the Changbai Mountain area. No one knows the exact location,“ said Zhang Laoda.
”Is there anything special about the Nine Dragons Sword?”
“Legend has it that there are nine swords in total, each only half a foot long. Legend has it that they were forged by Daopuzi of the human race during the Second Territorial War. They have a strong spirit and can choose their own masters. In addition, they are extremely powerful, can fly in the air, and emit sword qi. However, no one knows more detailed information about them. It is said that they contain Daopuzi’s life’s greatest knowledge.“
”This sword is not of much use to us, but… Old Zhang, how many people have entered Changbai Mountain?” My face suddenly changed.
“There are probably more than 3,000 people. It is said that even the emperor was alarmed and sent a group of experts such as Yun Moyang and Gao Mieqing.“
”How far is here from the place where the Nine Dragons Sword was unearthed?“
This time, Old Zhang understood what I meant: ‘Not far, but not close either. It’s about 600 li to the southwest of us, so I don’t think anyone will be able to find us.’
”Can the sword move on its own?“
”I think it can!” Old Zhang paused for a moment before saying
“That’s not good. The people in the wood and water groups immediately go down the mountain to inquire about the news and immediately enter the second level of combat readiness. Patriarch Bach Xiang, how is the training for the special forces program that you had you conduct last time?“ (The special forces program was taught to them when they came three months ago)
”The training is good and can be used.“
”That’s good. How many people are there in total?“
”Following your wishes, only 4,000 were trained for quality.”
“Send half of them out. Except for the northeast direction, which need not be monitored, closely monitor the other directions. If anyone is found to have intruded, they must not be let go.“
”Yes, young master.“
Just guarding against it like this is not a solution. Someday, someone will discover it. The only way to be safe is to get to the bottom of this and drive this Nine Dragons Sword away. ‘What is the Nine Dragons Sword afraid of?’ I asked Zhang Lao.
”I’ve never heard it afraid of anything,” Zhang Lao said with a wry smile.
I paced back and forth, thinking. That’s right, my spiritual power can be used to search for the Nine Dragons Sword and lure it away after I find it. I did as I thought and went to the second basement level of the base. I sat in the hall and used my spiritual power to search outward. This is really amazing. In the past, when I released my spiritual power, it was only to connect with the robot, but this time it was a search, and all the movements within a ten-mile radius were within my senses. Wait, what is this? I clearly sensed it as a piece of wood before, but suddenly it has come to life. Sensing it again, I discovered that it is a woman in yellow clothes, who can only be distinguished as not being very old, carrying a sword on her back. She is now standing on a tree, and two Ox tribe people just walked below her, but they did not notice her.
The woman in yellow seemed to frown, looked around, and then her figure flashed as she suddenly appeared and disappeared on the tree, circling around in a big circle before finally stopping in the same place. I don’t think anyone was spying, otherwise I would have definitely noticed them by now, the woman in yellow thought.
I withdrew my mental power. This woman is quite alert, she even noticed my mental power search. I never imagined that no one would notice someone entering the Five Tribes’ living quarters like that. Now we only know that someone entered, but maybe someone came and left before. Then how many people know the secret of the Orcs?
I stopped imagining and mentally entered the robot No. 3. Now I control it. No. 3’s energy source turned on and it quickly ran to the ground to find the leader of the Five Tribes and report the situation. The leader of the Five Tribes’ face changed drastically after hearing this.
“What does my young master think?“ asked Bach Xiang.
”She must be kept here,“ I said with an unyielding tone.
”Okay, I’ll make the arrangements.”