Longzang

Chapter 565 My Mood Improves
Next to the parade ground stood rows of wooden frames, on which hung naked soldiers, their bodies covered in whip marks, barely alive.

Suddenly, someone in the ranks could no longer hold on, and his musket drooped. The captain, who was patrolling back and forth, immediately rushed over, dragged the soldier out, hung him on a wooden frame, and gave him a severe beating with a whip, a full twenty lashes.

The captain showed no mercy whatsoever. If he hesitated even slightly, the lieutenant would hang him on a wooden frame. If the lieutenant hesitated, General Faxiang would hang him up, and so on, until General Faxiang was finally hung up.

The woman's condition was that she could faint, but she could not waver.

The training lasted for a full hour before it ended. Only when the woman on the platform disappeared did everyone breathe a sigh of relief and collapse to the ground.

At the same moment, the woman appeared in the workshop. A whole row of brand-new muskets, their barrels gleaming, were already displayed on the shelves.

As soon as the woman appeared, everyone in the workshop stood up instantly. A clumsy worker knocked over a shelf, and parts clattered all over the floor.

But the infamous woman merely glanced at the servant and said nothing more. The servant, pale-faced, still couldn't believe he had escaped death.

She walked up to the gun rack, picked up a musket at random, and the craftsmen's faces immediately showed relief. But she suddenly put the gun back in its place and picked up the gun on the far side instead.

The craftsman's face instantly turned pale.

The woman skillfully loaded the gunpowder bullet, then aimed at a swaying tree branch not far away and fired a shot.

The tree branch was intact; the shot missed.

The craftsmen turned pale, and one of them fainted. The woman weighed the gun in her hand, glanced at the craftsmen, and said calmly, "Although this shot missed, the trajectory was not bad. These kinds of firearms are not very accurate to begin with, so you've actually put in a lot of effort to achieve this level of accuracy."

However, remember not to use gun barrels from Qingming to impersonate your own. Those barrels have all been used; even if the exterior can be polished, the internal vibration marks and minor damage cannot be eliminated. Your guns are also quite good; there's no need to belittle yourself.”

The craftsmen, feeling as if they had been granted a pardon, quickly expressed their gratitude profusely.

"How many can you produce each day now?" the woman asked.

The people following behind her quickly exchanged glances, and one of the craftsmen hurriedly said, "Five... branches per day."

The woman said calmly, "I'll give you another chance because you're a craftswoman."

The craftsmen, sweating profusely, truthfully replied, "Our skills are meager; it will take each of us at least five days to make a single musket."

The woman looked around and said, "In other words, your workshop can produce three muskets a day."

"Your Excellency is wise."

There are currently fifteen such workshops in the entire city.

The woman didn't say anything, only saying, "Let's go."

As soon as she stepped out of the workshop, she saw more than a dozen people waiting outside. In the center was a middle-aged man dressed in fine clothes with a meticulously groomed mustache. Upon seeing the woman, he came forward and said with a smile, "Aunt Lanshan, we've been waiting for you to come back!"

When the woman saw him, she seemed to recall for a moment before revealing a smile and saying, "It's Xiao Rong. You've grown so mature."

The middle-aged man sighed, "Actually, I'm over seventy years old. My cultivation level has stopped improving, so I'm slowly starting to look old. Second Aunt, I know you're busy, so please speak frankly."

This move clearly suited Xu Lanshan's temperament, and her smile widened a little more as she said, "Go ahead."

"That's right, the Fifth Elder has two caravans, both of which are stuck inside Hanyang Pass. He came to me wanting two travel permits."

Xu Lanshan's smile had vanished, and after a moment she said, "Two, that's fine."

The middle-aged man hurriedly said, "The Fifth Elder means two long-term travel permits."

This time, the woman's face not only lacked a smile, but also turned frosty, and she uttered a single word: "Get lost!"

The middle-aged man was stunned. Before he could speak, the world spun around him, and in the blink of an eye, he was on the lake hundreds of feet away, where he plunged in with a splash.

With a wave of her hand, the woman sent everyone flying, severely injuring everyone except the middle-aged man. As if nothing had happened, she asked the foreman in charge of the workshop, "When will we be able to expand to one hundred workshops?"

The person in charge looked troubled: "The number of workshops is manageable, but we don't have enough craftsmen! These craftsmen need three years of apprenticeship, three years of hands-on work, and three years of hammering before they can independently forge things. It takes several years of training."

“Then let’s find a Foundation Establishment cultivator,” Xu Lanshan said.

The person in charge said with a wry smile, "Those Foundation Establishment cultivators are all arrogant and proud. How could they be? We don't have the funds to recruit them with money."

"I don't care about that. You have three days to come up with a plan. I'll go and get the resources. In short, the monthly production of muskets must reach 10,000."

At this moment, a figure appeared in the air ahead. Everyone else was unaware, but Xu Lanshan moved and appeared in front of the figure, bowing and saying, "Greetings, True Lord Qiuniu." Qiuniu waved his hand and said, "No need for such formalities. I came to ask you, when will the gate open?"

Xu Lanshan said, "How could such a trivial matter have alarmed True Lord Qiuniu? Could it be that True Lord also has interests involved?"

Qiuniu Zhenjun snorted and said, "I won't argue with you. Come with me."

The two figures moved with lightning speed, arriving atop Hanyang Pass in a matter of moments. Inside the pass, several caravans and hundreds of wagons were parked in the open area. Even more unexpectedly, there were also countless refugees scattered across the mountains and plains, numbering at least tens of thousands.

Lord Qiuniu pointed at the refugees and said, "There isn't enough surplus food to feed them. Hundreds of people are dying every day. Goods don't matter, but these people are dying because of your order."

Xu Lanshan was silent for a moment before saying, "They..."

Qiuniu Zhenjun said, "They are now considered Wei Yuan's people. Wei Yuan has paid taxes and has the permission of the Prince of Jin."

"Letting them pass would be aiding the enemy."

Lord Qiuniu shrugged and said, "The final decision is in your hands. You can release them if you don't want to. I'm just letting you see clearly how many people will die because of your single order. A casual remark from you in your study can cost thousands upon thousands of lives. And all those lives will be attributed to you."

Xu Lanshan's expression turned cold, and she said, "True Lord Qiuniu, you might as well speak frankly."

"I've made myself perfectly clear: you make the decision, you bear the blame. Don't try to have your cake and eat it too. I've already warned the clan historian." With that, Qiuniu Zhenjun turned and flew away, disappearing in an instant.

Xu Lanshan stood frozen in the air, looking down at the refugees below, and did not leave for a long time.

Azure Sky.

Wei Yuan opened an official document, glanced at it, and was immediately taken aback. He then asked, "Have our caravans in Jin returned?"

A young female cultivator standing by said, "Yes, they arrived at Hanyang Pass ten days ago and are now stuck there unable to get out."

Wei Yuan carefully read the official documents and learned that the caravan had already traveled a large circle within the territory of Jin, covering 30% of the country and establishing several transit stations. This time, they brought back nearly 100,000 refugees, and had already paid off their taxes along the way.

Wei Yuan pondered for a moment, then immediately picked up his pen and submitted a memorial to the Prince of Jin. In the memorial, he severely criticized the garrison commander of Hanyang Pass, saying that he was lawless, arbitrarily closed the pass, did not recognize the Prince of Jin's passage permission, and even declared that he was the boss of this area and that even if the Prince of Jin himself came, it would be no use.

The last paragraph was naturally added by Wei Yuan himself, but that was roughly the meaning of what the Xu family of Hanyang Pass did; Wei Yuan was just embellishing it slightly.

This memorial will definitely have no effect; Wei Yuan is just planting another thorn in the side between the Prince of Jin and the Xu family. To open the gates, we need to think of another way.

There are now 500,000 troops stationed inside Hanyang Pass. The Zhantian Gang's past success in entering the city and seizing the pass is impossible to replicate. However, since the eight heavy crossbows at Hanyang Pass have been removed and there are no long-range weapons with sufficient power, Wei Yuan feels that there is still a chance.

Wei Yuan immediately went to find Yu Zhizhuo to inquire about the progress of the latest artillery.

Surprisingly, Xu Wenwu and a little girl who looked about eight or nine years old were also in Yu Zhizhuo's room. At that moment, Xu Wenwu was talking at length, and the little girl and Yu Zhizhuo were listening intently.

"...RPGs are the real godsend for ordinary people—simple, practical, and cheap. Normally, once it's fired, it's lost forever, but we can guide it with our divine sense..."

Artillery is a bit more complicated, mainly because you need to know how to calculate ballistics. This is actually quite simple; I remember it from back then, but I was corrupted by the local souls on my way to this world..."

Upon seeing Wei Yuan arrive, Xu Wenwu immediately shut his mouth, feeling embarrassed. In Xu Wenwu's eyes, Wei Yuan was different from the other natives; he was someone who could fight him on the Outer World Forum.

Wei Yuan's gaze fell on the little girl, who immediately leaped into his arms. This little one was Xu Shiba, actually only a little over a year old. Wei Yuan finally managed to remove Xu Shiba from his arms and asked, "Have you started body forging yet?"

Xu Shiba nodded: "My father and I both built the same Jade Toad Gazing at the Moon painting."

For some reason, Wei Yuan felt somewhat unhappy. Wei Yuan hoped that there would be as many ordinary cultivators as possible and as few genius cultivators as possible when practicing the Jade Toad Gazing at the Moon Diagram; otherwise, looking at their flashy toads, Wei Yuan was prone to losing his Dao heart.

But with Yu Zhizhuo and Xu Wenwu right there, Wei Yuan still had to maintain his composure and asked, "How is the effect of the repair? Manifest it and let me see."

Xu Shiba only looks old, but is actually very young. She has only been cultivating for a few days. Wei Yuan just said it casually, but he didn't expect her to actually manifest a jade toad!
This toad, well, it's quite ordinary on its own, but the stone tablet on its back makes it extraordinary. The stone tablet is ancient and weathered, shaped like a giant sword, and inscribed with five large characters: "Eternal Sword!"
In an instant, all three were drawn to the words "Eternal Sword." In Wei Yuan's eyes, each stroke seemed to come alive, flying into the air and transforming into the image of Xu Shiqi. He smiled and beckoned to Wei Yuan, saying, "Watch closely this move, 'Sweep Away the Four Barbarians.'"

He dragged his sword, took a step, shouldered the sword, turned around, and then swung the sword, paused in mid-air, and then slashed down heavily. In an instant, everything around him was silenced and life was cut off!
This move is slightly different from what Wei Yuan saw before; it is more refined and its power is extremely strong and domineering. Clearly, this is the true transmission.

With a single sword strike, Xu Shiqi departed with a smile.

Wei Yuan snapped out of his daze and saw that the ancient stele on the jade toad's back had vanished, leaving only a bare toad. Xu Shiba suddenly pouted and burst into tears.

Xu Wenwu and Yu Zhizhuo were unaware of the unexpected turn of events and quickly stepped forward to comfort him.

Looking at the bald toad, Wei Yuan's mood inexplicably improved.

(End of this chapter)