Kays Translations
Just another Isekai Lover~
Chapter 195: Grasping It All
The onlookers around didn’t know that this train now carried almost all the senior management of the Brilliant Stars Group! At Li Xian’s request, everyone was fortunate enough to enjoy the power of technology.
This time, it was more about enjoying the convenience of technology, rather than the military technology from before. It was a completely different experience—no magic, no horseback riding, no need to travel on foot; everyone just drank tea and chatted while the journey was taken care of in the background.
After leaving the crowd near Anyang, Xu Ren was the first to open the curtains. Looking out at the trees, mountains, and other scenery flying by, his mind began to race. The development of Anyang was completely unconventional. But having witnessed Anyang’s development step by step, Xu Ren felt a sense of pride.
Yet, beyond pride, there was inevitably a hint of doubt: how did the young master know about these things? What will the future hold?
The train roared. Unlike the formation-powered engines, this internal combustion engine seemed to roar even louder, almost announcing its arrival to the world.
Another noticeable point was that the internal combustion engine was much smoother. Unlike the formation-powered locomotive, where if the train swayed too much, the spirit-gathering array would fail, causing the vehicle to stall, the internal combustion engine had no such issue. The train raced smoothly, and the sound remained nearly unchanged.
The distance from Anyang to Ding Shan City was over 200 miles, or about 100 kilometers. However, the train reached the destination in less than two hours. This speed wasn’t exactly fast, but compared to typical cargo wagons, it was about three to five times faster.
When they arrived at Ding Shan City, Yan Ze’an had already come with a few people to greet them—officials and military officers from Anyang. This train test had not attracted too many people’s attention.
When Yan Ze’an saw Li Xian, his first words were: “With the train, disaster relief will be much faster in the future.”
Li Xian was truly moved by Yan Ze’an’s words. He was indeed a capable minister, who immediately thought of this. “Mr. Yan, let’s build a station here. Make the area larger, so it will be easier to expand in the future. Plan for a radius of one kilometer.
Also, this year’s exposition, I’ve decided to hold it here in Ding Shan City. The imperial city will have a small exhibition for household products, but the real industrial expo, including household goods, industrial products, and military supplies, will be held here. And in the future, the expo will be held here annually. So, we need to plan for the long term.
With the train this time, we’ve brought in 200 tons of cement. Have someone unload it, and from now on, 200 tons of cement will be delivered every day. If there’s any excess, stack it up and sell it at the expo.”
Unloading the cement was quick. The train carriages were opened, and a few simple spells were used to toss bags of cement onto the ground nearby. Then the train switched to another set of tracks manually and began its return journey.
After returning to Anyang, Li Xian got off midway and returned to Anyang Fu, not going to Qing Yun Mountain Valley. The necessary basic research had been completed, and from here on, Li Xian was not planning to interfere in the deeper stages of research. He would leave it to others to innovate, while he focused on ensuring the general direction was right.
Of course, Li Xian couldn’t appear in public just yet, as it had been previously announced that he was “fatally injured and not recoverable.” Although many didn’t believe it, this excuse allowed Li Xian to be a bit lazy. For instance, the expo being moved to Ding Shan City was officially done under the pretense of his “fatal injury and inability to travel.”
That evening, Li Xian secretly met with Li Liang. After meeting, Li Liang didn’t hold back, immediately asking for military supplies. Before leaving for Qi Kingdom, Li Xian had already mentioned that he planned to sell military supplies.
Furthermore, Li Liang had long known about the power of military supplies—he had seen their effectiveness many times.
In the past, Li Liang had been too shy to ask; now that Li Xian was openly selling them, he no longer hesitated.
In response to this, Li Xian naturally had no issues. Apart from the aircraft, Li Liang could have anything he wanted, and firearms were no problem either. Li Xian even joked that if his elder brother could somehow make use of the ironclad ship on land, he would be willing to sell it. As for the price, Li Xian was generous, offering everything at true cost price.
After Li Liang left, Li Xian began addressing the issues that had been piling up over the past period of time.
After more than a month of investigation, interrogation, and following leads, Wu Peng, the head of the security department, had made a significant contribution. First of all, those who had secretly spread rumors were all monitored by Ai, without alarming them; and under this premise, Wu Peng had actually uncovered the mastermind behind it — it was actually from the Cai family!
Secondly, the people who had attempted to assassinate Li Xian had been interrogated, and it was revealed that they were all death warriors, unaware of whom they were loyal to, but they did know one thing: their base was in Nanyang County.
This alone was enough. Xu Ren was almost certain that the Kong family was behind it. With the Kong family’s perspective, they would undoubtedly see Li Xian as a threat to their domination of the Great Xia Kingdom. Removing Li Xian in advance was indeed a very good way to weaken the Li family.
In the grand hall, Li Xian, Xu Ren, Li Yuanming, Beichen Yuqing, Yan Zhengqing, and several generals all had serious expressions.
On the sand table, the current map of the Great Xia Kingdom and its sphere of influence were displayed.
Xu Ren spoke first, pointing at Lüliang County, “Although Anyang is in a good position, it is surrounded on three sides. To the west is the imperial capital, to the south is the Kong family and Nanyang County, and to the southeast is Lüliang County and Dongyuan County. According to reports, the Crown Prince has now completely allied with the Yuan family, and Yuan Zhao is serving as a civil minister in Lüliang County.
According to the royal doctor, His Majesty the Emperor has less than three months to live. Tides are rising throughout the Great Xia Kingdom, and once His Majesty passes away, chaos will undoubtedly erupt.
Our strategy should be to first strike east to attack Lüliang County and eliminate the threat from the east.”
Li Xian nodded after listening.
However, Li Yuanming had a different opinion, “I believe we should now ally with the Wang family and have them constrain Nanyang County from the west. As soon as His Majesty passes away, we will immediately march into Nanyang County, deploying over ten aircraft to directly erase the capital, Nanyang City.
Then, we should immediately contact Jin Kingdom, and with the condition of ceding half of Nanyang County, secure an alliance with them. Afterward, we can turn around and attack Lüliang County and Dongyuan County. That would be the best approach.
As long as we secure these regions, we can temporarily stop expanding and focus on development. After a few years, the various regional powers will be exhausted, while we will have grown stronger. At that point, we can control the entire Great Xia Kingdom in one fell swoop.
After that, we can send troops south to attack Jin Kingdom.”
Beichen Yuqing disagreed, “While this strategy has a good chance of success, the risks are also high. Moreover, if we cooperate with Jin Kingdom, what if they use us? Not to mention, having connections inside and outside is not exactly a good reputation.
Also, we need to consider the impact of masters at the Yuan Ying stage on the war.”
The discussion had covered everything that needed to be addressed, and everyone turned their attention to Li Xian.