Kays Translations
Just another Isekai Lover~
Chapter 303: Obsessed with Money
At Anyang City Lord’s Mansion, Li Xian flipped through the ledger in his hands. As of this evening, more than 7,000 people had registered as adventurers. Among them, over 3,000 were at the Foundation Establishment stage or above, with more than 200 at the Golden Core stage, and six at the Nascent Soul stage. There were even fourteen mercenary groups newly established.
“Young master, this move is truly brilliant! You’ve immediately mobilized the hidden power among the populace!” Ling Zhifeng’s eyes sparkled with excitement.
Li Xian turned to look at Ling Zhifeng. “All done with your tasks?”
“All done, all done, finally finished—I’m exhausted!” Ling Zhifeng exaggeratedly expressed his weariness, slumping over the table like a limp noodle.
Li Xian smiled. Indeed, over the past few days, both Ling Zhifeng and Ge Zhengfeng had been so busy they barely touched the ground. Outside Anyang, there were now over fifty “concessions” or “strongholds” established. But trying to link these scattered places into a single entity—a Stellar Array—was no easy feat.
This required close collaboration between Ling Zhifeng and Ge Zhengfeng. Ling was in charge of the land and earth veins, while Ge matched the concessions with celestial stars, establishing a resonance between heaven and earth.
In addition, the person stationed at each concession or stronghold needed to have their fate (life destiny) calculated. If someone’s fate matched the star associated with that location, it would ensure smoother flow of fortune. These calculations were entirely Ge Zhengfeng’s responsibility.
However, seeing Ling Zhifeng’s dramatic posture, Li Xian suddenly chuckled. “Ling Zhifeng, there’s one more task I need you to take the lead on.”
“What? Can’t I rest a bit?”
“Once this is done, I’ll give you a long vacation. This is the last thing.”
“Well, alright then. What’s the task?”
Li Xian grew serious. “You’ve heard of the newly established ‘Adventurer and Mercenary Association’, right?”
“I got it!” Ling Zhifeng, still slumped on the table, replied weakly, “This ‘Adventurer and Mercenary Association’ isn’t a state institution, it’s a loose organization, so it needs an artifact to stabilize and anchor its fortune. Right?”
Li Xian laughed heartily. “Exactly. I’ll leave it to you. Whatever materials you need, just take them.”
In a country, there were already so-called “divine artifacts”, so the state had a natural ability to gather and anchor fortune. But an organization like the Adventurer and Mercenary Association, being loosely organized, needed a treasure to suppress and attract fortune.
Ling Zhifeng, still lying on the table, refused to get up. “I’ve already thought about it. I’ll forge a big, big, huge gold ingot. Gold ingots naturally have the function of suppressing fortune. Plus, their shape resembles boats or warships, which fits the image of Anyang and also serves to gather fortune.
However, this gold ingot can’t be made from regular gold—it needs to be made from refined metal (essence gold).
To suppress the fortune of the Adventurer and Mercenary Association, we’ll need 366 gold ingots.
Each essence gold ingot needs to weigh at least 366 jin (about 183 kg).
Then we need 365 regular gold ingots, each weighing 36.5 jin (about 18.25 kg).
All the gold ingots together will form a Zhou Tian Grand Array, corresponding to the stars in the sky, connecting, absorbing, and suppressing fortune.
Of course, each gold ingot must be crafted as a treasure specifically designed to stabilize fortune.”
Li Xian closed his eyes and did some quick calculations: currently, the efficiency of refining essence gold from regular gold was only 0.5%. That meant 366 jin of essence gold would require 73,200 jin (about 36.6 tons) of regular gold, which equaled 732,000 taels of gold by Anyang’s standards. Adding the 365 regular gold ingots and the losses from smelting, the total gold required would be around one million taels.
One million taels of gold—an astronomical sum. But for the current Anyang, only two words applied: not much.
However, crafting artifacts came with a risk of failure!
Li Xian opened his eyes. “I’ll allocate five million taels of gold to you—go wild. If it’s not enough, we’ll talk. Just make me the best!”
Ling Zhifeng was truly stunned by Li Xian’s generosity. He immediately snapped out of his laziness and sat up straight. “I’ll get to work right away. With five million taels of gold, I’ll make all 366 ingots from essence gold! The result will be better, longer-lasting, and cover a wider area.”
After reading through the documents in his hand, Li Xian stretched lazily and was about to rest. But just then, Chen Jinbing came in.
“Young master, Nanyang County has sent Kong Yingcai to request aid.”
“Kong Yingcai?” Li Xian chuckled as soon as he heard the name. “Is Nanyang County really in such dire straits that they’re seeking help from all directions? Go and invite Xu Ren, Li Yuanming, and Yan Ze’an to come.”
Not long after, the three arrived, and they began discussing the situation in Nanyang County.
“Ignore them! From what I know of Kong Donglai, he’s probably already asked the Jin Kingdom for help.” That was Xu Ren’s stance.
“Pretend to agree, send out troops, and then secretly control Kong Donglai and the Kong family. That way, we can at least take half of Nanyang County. But to prevent disputes later, it’s best to join forces with Dongyuan County and divide the territory.” Unsurprisingly, that was Li Yuanming’s suggestion.
Finally, Li Xian turned his gaze to Yan Ze’an.
Yan Ze’an considered for a long time, then finally spoke: “I think, right now it is inconvenient for us to intervene in the affairs of Nanyang County. Anyang has just gone through a great war, the recently annexed Luliang County has not yet been fully assimilated, and with Xiao Liming’s large army expected to arrive at the border by tomorrow afternoon, at this moment we truly have the will but lack the power.
Moreover, Nanyang County is currently a big quagmire. Jin Kingdom will certainly want to restore some of its prestige through Nanyang; if Nanyang does not submit to Jin, it will face the trampling of Jin’s million-strong army.
Guangling County and Songzhou County are also actively fighting, and Dongyuan County is actually already stirring.
If we meddle now, even if we gain benefits, it will bring more trouble than it’s worth.
Right now we should focus on internal consolidation and development. Technology is advancing continuously, but the development among the common people is seriously lagging behind. Young master, you may need to pay more attention to the situation of the common folk’s development.”
Li Xian pondered slightly, then suddenly looked at Li Yuanming: “Li Yuanming, I want a method: is it possible to gain greater benefits without directly interfering? After all, Nanyang County is a juicy piece of meat, it would be a pity to just give it up.
Also, Nanyang County once attempted to assassinate me; I’m the kind of person who likes to repay even the smallest grievances!”
Upon hearing Li Xian specifically ask for his advice, Li Yuanming was delighted, “Simple. For us, the biggest juicy pieces in Nanyang County are two: land and population. Among the population, especially those civilian experts above the Foundation Establishment stage.
As long as Nanyang submits to Jin, it will inevitably provoke popular dissatisfaction. We will secretly support those dissatisfied people to rebel. When these people rebel, we will sell arms and make profits.
In secret, we will participate in the war and plunder through adventurers and mercenaries. Eventually, we will develop Nanyang into a chaotic area dominated by armed factions — in other words, completely dismember Nanyang County. These armed factions have just formed and urgently need a foothold. Nanyang is close to Anyang, making it the best target!
Once this is achieved, Nanyang County will be the juicy meat in our hands. Through these armed groups, we indirectly control Nanyang.”
Nearby, Xu Ren couldn’t help but speak: “To achieve this goal, there is one condition: Nanyang must submit to Jin, and there must be popular dissatisfaction.”
Li Yuanming immediately smiled: “As long as we refuse, Nanyang, with no other way out, will have no better choice than submitting to Jin.
And if Nanyang dares to submit to Jin, even if the people have no complaints, I will make sure they do; hmph, through armed factions, this can be easily accomplished. I’ve already thought it through. The mission is:
The Governor of Nanyang, Kong Donglai, is unkind and unrighteous, timid and irresponsible, and in order to preserve his own interests, he submits to Jin, becoming a traitor and throwing the people of Nanyang into the tiger’s mouth. Now we issue a mission: to save the people of Nanyang and the land of the Great Xia Kingdom. The land saved shall forever belong to the mercenary corps.
Also, this will disrupt Jin’s plans and leave Jin with no way to respond. We issue a mission to save the country, no one can say anything. Incidentally, this will also embarrass Guangling and Songzhou Counties.”
“The land shall forever belong to the mercenary corps.” This move is ruthless; those armed groups will surely fight desperately… cough cough… to save a territory that belongs to themselves.
Currently, almost every armed faction registered in Anyang is supported by a group or a Nascent Soul-level expert.
Especially for these groups, they urgently need a “territory that entirely belongs to them.” If Anyang really issues such a mission, even if they have to pay upfront to carry it out, these people would rush to compete for it!
Li Xian thought for a moment, then finally nodded, “Alright, leave the matter of Nanyang County to you. You go and respond to Kong Yingcai now.”
Li Yuanming smiled and went outside, finding Kong Yingcai. “Young Master Kong, we have discussed this. We at Anyang are basically a large commercial group. Business is business. Sending troops to aid isn’t impossible, but you must first pay the compensation you owe. You still owe 4.2 million taels of gold.”
Kong Yingcai was stunned! He expected rejection, but not for this reason.
After Li Yuanming left, Kong Yingcai finally reacted and cursed loudly: “Damn it, always about money! Li Xian, you copper-smelling bastard!”