Chapter 231: Progress On All Sides!
Chapter 231: Progress On All Sides!
Returning to Kunwu Training Camp, Wang Chong didn't immediately immerse himself in the cultivation of martial arts. Instead, he sent letters to his family, Uncle Li Lin, the Zhang Clan, and Li Zhuxin.
Li Zhuxin had been escorting Zhang Munian to Jiaozhi, and gauging the time, it should be about time for him to return.
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Pu leng leng!
Letter pigeons flew around Kunwu Training Camp, and it didn't take too long for Wang Chong to receive a reply letter from his family.
The letter was written by Wang Chong's mother, saying that everything was fine at home. Something unexpected had happened; Wang Chong's little sister, Wang Xiao Yao, had actually snuck out to learn martial arts.
Her teacher seemed to be Wang Chong's teacher, and this fact had been confirmed by the guards in the clan.
"What's going on?" Upon seeing this letter, Wang Chong was dumbfounded.
Little sister? Teacher?
He only had one teacher, and that person was the Demonic Emperor Old Man. However, the issues regarding the Demonic Emperor Old Man had always been a secret, and he had never mentioned them to his family.
His mother and his little sister shouldn’t have known of the Demonic Emperor Old Man's existence.
"What happened? Why did little sister suddenly run off to the spirit vein? Doesn't she detest training? Why would she suddenly become so diligent?" Wang Chong was bewildered by the current turn of events.
If his little sister was willing to put in the effort, there would be no scion in the capital who would be a match for her, not even Marchioness Yi.
But life was truly a funny thing. A person of such great talent just had to be lazy with no aim in life. Of the two of them, his little sister seemed more like a wastrel then he did.
And yet, that very little sister was actually taking the initiative to learn martial arts?
"Not many people in the clan know about teacher, and besides, I've also warned them against saying anything. Did she happen to overhear it somehow? Or rather, did that lass notice those guards and follow them to the spirit vein?"
Thinking about his little sister's boisterous personality, Wang Chong couldn't help but feel a headache. The land around the spirit vein was still being developed, and many workers and guards of the clan had been sent there.
Given that a huge number of guards had been making to and fro trips from the residence to the spirit vein, it was indeed a possibility that his little sister might have noticed that something was amiss.
"...This is fine as well. In any case, Xiao Yao's talent is not bad. The only thing holding her back is her laziness. I might be unable to keep her in check, but teacher should be able to do so. This would do her some good as well." Changing his point of view, Wang Chong suddenly smiled.
His little sister's overwhelming strength was such that even Wang Chong, despite having reached Origin Energy Tier 7, still wasn't a match for her at all. However, his teacher, the Demonic Emperor Old Man, was different.
His little sister's little tricks would never work against his teacher. Besides, his teacher wasn't any good samaritan either. No matter what, he used to be one of the highest leaders of the unorthodox sects, and his name was one that evoked fear in that community.
Anyway, putting his little sister's affair aside for the moment, the second letter Wang Chong received came from Uncle Li Lin.
He had returned to the royal court recently. Despite his elevated standing as a member of the Imperial Army, his movements were still severely restricted and he couldn't remain outside for too long. As such, he had already handed the job of building the manor to someone else.
Other than that, he had also raised the matter regarding Cousin Wang Liang in his letter.
Spending a huge fortune, they had managed to purchase three boats and had an additional one rushing out in the past month. Just recently, the fleet consisting of four great boats had finally set forth from the southern port.
Wang Liang had truly put in a lot of effort into this voyage. He had gathered many marine charts and found himself two veteran navigators.
Along with many sailors, guards, and gyrfalcons and seagulls for delivering letters, the group began their voyage for the metal meteors.
The Wang Clan had sent many experts to assist Wang Liang in his voyage, but Uncle Li Lin was still worried. Thus, through his connections, he found a few retired Imperial Army experts and planted them within the group.
Wang Liang had spent his entire life lazing around, engaging with minor squabbles with others, and coming up with useless inventions. This had worried both Uncle Li Lin and Big Aunt. As such, they were supportive of this endeavor of his.
In the letter, Uncle Li Lin also expressed his gratitude toward Wang Chong.
The latter had given a few hundred thousand gold taels to his cousin without even batting an eye. There was no relative that could go further than that.
Big Aunt Wang Rushuang and Uncle Li Lin thanked him profusely in the letter, grateful for his assistance.
As for Wang Chong's words on searching for the metal meteorites, they clearly didn't take it for real. The both of them thought that he was just making up a story to drive Wang Liang's motivation, waking him up from his daze.
And this only served to deepen the gratitude they had for him!
"...But I didn't lie about the matter at all. The voyage is truly to find those metal meteorites."
A bizarre expression slowly crept onto his face after reading the letter from Big Aunt and Uncle Li Lin. The heavens could testify that even though Wang Chong had never traveled to the seas in his entire life, the matter regarding the metal meteorites was the utmost truth.
His intention to help Cousin Wang Liang was true, but so was his intention to scavenge the metal meteorites. After all, a few hundred thousand gold taels was no joke. He wasn't wealthy to the extent of being able to disregard three hundred thousand gold taels yet.
"Speaking of which, since Cousin Wang Liang had already gone out to the seas, it should be about time for Miyasame Ayaka to return."
Suddenly, the furrow on Wang Chong's forehead relaxed.
He had no experts by his side that he could mobilize at the moment. If Miyasame Ayaka was by his side, his current situation would improve greatly. At the very least, it would mean an additional pair of hands by his side.
Furthermore, Miyasame Ayaka, as an assassin, possessed acute senses and could sense danger in advance.
After this would be the situation in the Zhang Clan, Wang Chong thought.
His partnership with the Zhang Clan concerned the Hyderabad ore, the huge mine, and the mass crafting of equipment. This was also the project that Wang Chong was the most concerned with at the moment. In his plans, his partnership with Zhang Clan was one of the most important chains.
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Pu leng leng!
That evening, a pigeon flew down from the roof, delivering to Wang Chong the long-awaited letter from the Zhang Clan.
Zhang Clan also viewed the partnership with Wang Chong with great importance. As such, the one to respond to Wang Chong's letter was actually the head of Zhang Clan.
"Everything is going well, great!" Wang Chong heaved a long sigh of relief after reading the letter from the head of Zhang Clan.
In the letter, the clan head went through the progress they had made in the past month. With the support from Wang Chong's metal mine, the Zhang Clan's immense production and refinement capacity could finally be put to work, and the entire clan as a whole was growing stronger by the day.
And the one chi long caltrop and the various bizarrely-shaped metal boards that Wang Chong designed had been integrated as a part of their plans from the very start.
Over the past month, they had already crafted more than eight hundred caltrops and three thousand of those bizarrely-shaped metal boards. On top of that, they were all crafted using the top-quality metal that Wang Chong requested. On top of that, each of them was enchanted with ten layers of reinforcement inscriptions.
Something of this caliber was definitely qualified to be named as the strongest war machine in the world.
In truth, even when tapping into the Wang Clan's connections, crafting two to three hundred of both the caltrops and metal boards would already be the limit. However, with the experienced blacksmiths in the Zhang Clan, crafting this much was no trouble at all. On top of that, this all was done with only a portion of the manpower from their side.
No outsider could hope to compare up to that. The Zhang’s Clan’s smithing production capability was truly outstanding.
Other than that, following their promise to Wang Chong, the Zhang Clan had already crafted eight Wootz steel swords, and they were still waiting for Wang Chong to conduct the final tempering process and such.
In the letter, the clan head had asked deferentially whether Wang Chong could free himself to help in the final part of the crafting process.
The pigeon brought Tuoba Guiyuan's letter, as well.
In the letter, Tuoba Guiyuan mentioned the issue regarding the Wootz steel sword as well. Wang Chong had been spending his time in the Kunwu Training Camp for the past month, and this meant that a month had passed since any Wootz steel weapons were sold to the Imperial Army guards.
It's about time. I'll deal with those two matters together after I successfully cultivate the sword qi of the Art of Life Massacre, Wang Chong thought as he held onto the letters.
As for Li Zhuxin's letter, Wang Chong received it a long time later.
The man had tagged behind Zhang Munian all the way to Jiaozhi, protecting him from the shadows.
Even though Jiaozhi was some distance away, one month should be more than sufficient for them to complete the journey. In the letter, Li Zhuxin had described the rough situation there.
After finding a place in Jiaozhi, Zhang Munian managed to garner much help and conveniences from the county magistrate Great Tang had sent there.
Jiaozhi's climate, which allowed rice to mature thrice a year, had delighted Zhang Munian.
Just like what Wang Chong expected, the latter was filled with drive as soon as he arrived at Jiaozhi. He spent days and nights in the fields searching for the most suitable strains of rice.
Despite buying a residence, Zhang Munian rarely appeared there. Instead, he spent most of his times in the fields. In fact, sometimes, he even slept right beside the fields.
Even when sleeping, Li Zhuxin could hear the man prattling on about superior breeding and stuff, and this left him worried. After all, the other party wasn't a young man anymore.
All Li Zhuxin could do was to massage the other party's body using his Origin Energy and loosen his tendons. In the letter, Li Zhuxin persuaded Wang Chong to send a letter to Zhang Munian to stop the latter from overworking himself.
Li Zhuxin didn't speak of it explicitly, but through his words, Wang Chong could sense that he possessed deep respect for the old man. In fact, he even expressed his intentions to remain in Jiaozhi to continue protecting the old man.
“Food is the foundation of all civilizations.” In the time that Li Zhuxin had been with Zhang Munian, he should have probably realized this fact. What Zhang Munian was researching concerned the survival of the masses. His contributions might not be apparent now, but countless others would benefit from his efforts in the future.
As such, Wang Chong wasn't too surprised by Li Zhuxin's intentions to remain in Jiaozhi.
This is fine as well. With Li Zhuxin standing guard there, I doubt that there would be any trouble at the rice paddies, Wang Chong found himself agreeing with Li Zhuxin's opinion after contemplating for a moment. His concern regarding Zhang Munian's research exceeded even that of Li Zhuxin's.
Sometimes in a war, the battles occurred somewhere beyond where one's eyes could see.
To Wang Chong, Zhang Munian and his hybrid rice was such an existence. The outcome of the future wars wouldn't just hinge on the military might a country possessed on the surface, but the seemingly insignificant factors neglected by most as well.
Zhang Munian was the secret weapon Wang Chong wielded, as well as the treasure trove he was leaving for the future.
On top of that, Li Zhuxin also raised good news in the letter.
Zhang Munian's ten days of hard work in Jiaozhi, along with the experience he had accumulated throughout his entire life, had paid off. He had finally found the first “male sterile line” amidst the fields.
Li Zhuxin was just quoting Zhang Munian's words. He still had no idea that the concept was actually originated from Wang Chong.
Even though the discovery of the male sterile line didn't amount to much, and Zhang Munian was still a far way off from finding and developing a perfect hybrid rice, such an improvement was still a positive sign.
Since he was able to find the male sterile line, it shouldn't take long for him to uncover the rest as well.Finally, everything is on track, Wang Chong thought happily.