Wei School's Three Good Students

Chapter 287 Opportunities in War

A streak of light reflected from an alien dust cloud on the horizon illuminated the eastern sea. A ship sailed from the northern sea toward Weihai port.

The four-thousand-ton cruise ship rocked gently on the sea. Xuan Chong, bored in his cabin, calculated the wave coefficient and then used the methods provided in a book called "Bitao Qigong" to regulate his breathing and calm his emotions.

Xuan Chong doesn't care how much power he can gain from practicing this Qi cultivation method; his main concern is ensuring "stable bodily functions" so that he can adapt quickly to various situations.

Xuan Chong, who had been urgently recalled to Yandu, was lost in thought, pondering how to write a report for Yandu. After all, what he was running was no longer just a steel plant; internally, it involved violating ancestral rules.

The conservative faction within Dongtu can be kept in check by their own fathers, but will the Yandu faction react?
Xuan Chong, as a realist, is well aware that in this world, one cannot win external recognition simply by being a "good person" or "walking the right path." Once you do something big, you will inevitably infringe on interests.

Xuanchong Steel Plant has produced its first batch of steel. Currently, during the first phase of construction, the price per ton of crude steel is 1.3 times that of Liaoning Railway (in Fengtian). This is currently only applicable to railways and infrastructure transportation within its own territory.

However, in the second phase, five years later, once the new infrastructure is completed and the transportation of various raw materials and the construction of supporting factories such as "sulfuric acid" and "alkali" are completed, the cost can be reduced to 0.9 of Liaoning Railway's cost.

After deducting shipping costs, Toto's steel becomes competitive in northern Japan.

By the third phase of construction, ten years from now, with the refining industrial chain in place and local factories for machinery processing and manufacturing in place, prices could be reduced to 0.7 times that of Liaoning Railway. Of course, this is a theoretical figure, and whether it can actually achieve the theoretical efficiency of the industrial park in Jiangnan remains to be seen.

However, if that were to happen, Liaoning Railway would face a very difficult situation. Dongtu Steel would follow the port layout of the Jinghai region, using the "Miaojie" port at the mouth of the Heiqiu River to penetrate deep into the plains and begin a large-scale market grab.

Overall, Liaoning Railway is only surviving because of the protection of its regional industries.

Steel from the Jiangnan region has always lacked a sales channel outside the Great Wall. Steel from Jiangnan is transported via a long detour to the Xing'an Plain, and its price cannot compete with that of Liaoning Railway.

That is why the Jiangnan Group supported investing in Dongtu Steel Industry, whose current costs are even lower than those of Liaotie Steel.

The Jiangnan Group's plan was to devise a method of "smuggling into Yinping." (Deng Ai has no involvement in this timeline, so this idiom does not exist.)
The local Jiangnan forces were calculating: for the Dongtu local power to support a steel mill, it would inevitably involve building numerous docks and roads, and even constructing a series of river vessels to ensure the mill's survival. In turn, the infrastructure projects undertaken by the Dongtu to ensure the survival of the iron industry would reduce the cost for Jiangnan commerce to enter the Xing'an Plain from the Heiqiu River area.

For Liaoning Railway, encountering competitors emerging from behind to seize market share will increase its financial deficit.

Undoubtedly, this is something that the Jiangnan region is happy to see.

Xuan Chong was well aware that Dongtu's current actions constituted "commercial traitors" within the Xiabei economic circle.

In the eyes of outsiders, Dongtu's steel mill was no different from those of the southern princes; it lacked its own scholars and therefore intellectual property rights. Thus, in the eyes of the industry giants, Dongtu's steel mill was simply a branch factory in Jiangnan.

Of course, the "communal" personnel system reform, which Xuan Chong currently regards as a core competitive advantage, is completely new to the world and is not currently attracting attention from all parties.

Xuan Chong sensed that the circulation of true qi in this Azure Wave Qi Gong had now stabilized. This was what qi practitioners in this world referred to as a bottleneck.

Xuan Chong: At different stages of development, bottlenecks will be encountered. When any "bottleneck" occurs, it should not be attributed to "insufficient effort." Rather, it is because during one's own development, when there is a redistribution of interests, those forces that react will inevitably create obstacles.

Therefore, planners should have foresight regarding this, rather than rushing headlong into things for immediate gains, ignoring contradictions and disregarding the bigger picture. Russia serves as a negative example, which is why its economy has failed to thrive.

Xuan Chong glanced at his own geographical location and suddenly realized that the bottleneck to his development was that he couldn't exceed two-thirds of the size of "Yandu." Just like in history, Goguryeo couldn't be tolerated.

The Han dynasty adopts a benevolent approach to urge unambitious vassal kings to "govern"; but if they are too independent, then it is a domineering approach to "control".

As early as 150 years ago, the capital of Yan was already wary of the large-scale alliance of the "Jiangnan Provinces" to the south. They attempted to further divide the various prefectures, but Jiangnan retaliated by supporting another faction within the imperial court.

Xuan Chong was somewhat discouraged: If there is no necessary "united front value," we should just honestly be an affiliated district and not think about soaring to the sky and breaking through the bottleneck.

Of course, once it is determined that it is a "non-central subordinate area", it should also adopt a strategy of befriending distant powers while attacking nearby ones when choosing to align itself with a particular party.

Xuan Chong gritted his teeth, determined that even if he had to sell, he would sell to the gentlemen of Jiangnan. They offered high prices, had superior production technology, and operated the most active market.

Xuan Chong brought Dongtu back to the small "Nordic" country of his previous life, realizing that they could not pin their hopes on the "violent Russian bear" in the surrounding area. They needed to flexibly find distant, highly complementary, and stable economies to complement their own strengths.

However, times have changed...

After Xuan Chong disembarked at Dalian Port, two commanders were already waiting for him. Xuan Chong could tell that both commanders wore nano-armor underneath their uniforms, indicating that they belonged to his side.

After they showed their Lin Group tokens, Xuan Chong got into the car with them. Once inside, they changed their address of Liu Haoxing from "commander" to "young master."

Xuan Chong didn't waste any words and asked directly, "What exactly happened?"

Because of the recent meteorite fall, which, in principle, did not occur within the territory of the present-day Han Dynasty, there is no need for the present-day Han Dynasty to be so nervous.

The commander handed over the newspaper: "Young Master, we are not clear about the specifics. But on the Yuezhi Plain, in the place where the alien planet fell from the sky, the cities there have lost contact, including the two divisions we deployed there."

Xuan Chong flipped open the newspaper with a whoosh; the headline read "Heavenly Man Warns." He glanced at it and tossed it aside. Judging from the quality of the newspaper's headline, he could tell the content was just like some self-media from his past life—copying and pasting from various sources, adding a bit of sensationalism to create an article, generating anxiety, and scamming for traffic.

Xuan Chong lowered his head in thought: "No news from either division?" Then he asked: "Has the Kunze Department (Earthquake Bureau) issued any warnings?"

After learning that there was no "earthquake warning," it was determined that the disaster was not caused by a meteorite hitting the ground.

A full-strength imperial army of the Han Dynasty would number 28,000 men. If stationed in a certain location, it would be directly equipped with about a hundred artillery pieces of various calibers, including forty 110mm howitzers and ten 150mm howitzers. Such an army, placed at the western gate of Han territory, was intended to deter the military power of the "Eastern Flag" of Europe.

Both divisions were stationed near the railway. So, to annihilate them in one fell swoop? That's unimaginable. Keep in mind that besides mobile forces, there were fortresses and armored trains there.

Xuan Chong believes that the situation is unknown, which means that communication on that side is actually blocked.

…in a hurry…

Xuan Chong took a special car to quickly arrive at the underground tunnel, where he once again saw something out of step with the times: an underwater maglev pipeline spanning the Bohai Sea.

Those inside the pipeline were clearly unfazed. This was infrastructure built beneath the Bohai Sea by the Dragon Group and the Black Tortoise Group, allowing Dragon Group members to quickly reach various locations in the Bohai region.

After Xuan Chong showed his token at the ticket checkpoint, the staff glanced at it with surprise, but still took it and verified its authenticity through a hidden compartment resembling a tripod. (Similar to an ophthalmologist using a bright light to examine the pupils.)

For many years, the North Dragon and the South Lin have been estranged; now, the Emperor has used his authority to summon all the people he can from the vicinity, not even sparing Xuan Chong, who was on vacation in the north. Clearly, things in the northwest are quite unusual.

…to observe…

Inside the emperor's palace, the emperor was watching a projected image in front of him, the latest news from the front lines.

The base ahead was shrouded in mist, and the soldiers were firing at a group of savage creatures. These beasts were about two meters tall and had muscles all over their bodies. Although they were still using cold weapons, the guns could only cut a bloody gash when they hit their muscles, but they could not kill them instantly. They seemed to have amazing regenerative abilities.

Behind the emperor's back is a "magnetic field map" of the earth, in which a point is marked in the central part of Pengzhou.

Clearly, the emperor already knew who was behind all of this.

…entering the Dragon Pool…

The underground section of the Bohai base was filled with LED lights, and the overall advanced nature of the tracks made Xuan Chong feel as if he were in the late 20th century. Even the transportation facilities within the base had display screens, while outside communication was still based on the telegraph system. After entering the base, and being only one gate away from the core area, Xuan Chong ignored the incessant urging from the adjutant sent by the Dragon Group and insisted on making a call to Nanfang, which he then recorded.

Xuan Chong saw the slogans in the base and knew that once he crossed that gate, he had to obey unconditionally immediately and could not explain anything.

Xuan Chong was somewhat worried about being suddenly summoned by the northern authorities, like "Lin Chong mistakenly entering the White Tiger Hall".

Therefore, Xuan Chong made a phone call from the outermost part of the base to confirm that his "organization" (Lin Group) knew he was there on official business and that the procedures had been coordinated with Long Group before entering.

In this way, once inside, one must still resolutely obey, but when encountering conflicts or problems, Xuan Chong should not escalate the situation due to his own wrong response. Instead, he can directly deflect responsibility when someone starts causing trouble: "Please contact my 'person in charge'."

If the Dragon Group bypasses the person in charge of Xuan Chong and directly clashes with Xuan Chong, then it means that the Dragon Group's internal personnel are not following procedures and are not actually seeking help from the Lin Group, but rather causing trouble.

The whole process took no more than half an hour. After confirming the situation with the lifeless face of the military officer in charge, Xuan Chong explained in a flexible manner: "My hometown in the south told me that I have to follow the rules when I come here."

This scene, witnessed by Liu Yi (a photon solidification type ability user), a leader of the Dragon Group inside the base, through the monitoring system, made her shake her head slightly.

Liu Yi sighed, "She's only eighteen, yet so wary. —How exactly did your family raise her?"

Liu Yi has information on Liu Haoxing. It is said that the dragon lineage is concentrated in the lineage that "receives the mandate of heaven", so the information is reported to the imperial family.

In Liu Yi's view, "Being intelligent and cautious since childhood is only possible in a large family where several branches are vying for the throne."

Liu Haoxing is not only the legitimate son, but also the only son, so no one is fighting over him. Why is he now so focused on this? He doesn't know about Xuan Chong's experience at Yandu School. This file is currently known only to the Emperor, the Prince of Lin, and a few other people.

Narrator: It is said that the naive Liu Haoxing was "transmigrated" by the system because of bullying, and now the old coin Xuan Chong has taken his place.

…The honest man is dead…

Xuan Chong arrived at the operations hall and swiped his card. Then he waited quietly for orders. He wasn't in a hurry at all, but watched the time tick by.

According to the current military law system of the Han Dynasty, if a conscript arrives on time and submits his application in the conscription area but does not receive an audience after a certain period of time, he may apply for temporary dismissal to handle his own affairs.

This has been proven in wartime. When some commanders forcibly conscripted soldiers without issuing further orders for extended periods, the soldiers remained on standby, ultimately leading to tactical stagnation. Note: This is similar to a player leaving units at their base during StarCraft gameplay.

Of course, it's rare for lower-ranking soldiers to want the "order to be automatically lifted after the time limit," after all, regulations are regulations, and ordinary soldiers need to understand them.

Xuan Chong was indeed "naive"; as soon as he entered, he immediately figured out the base's communication system.

Then, operations are performed on the electronic interface, with video recordings, text message recordings, and "sending requests" recordings at regular intervals.

Xuan Chong has already prepared for the "no waiting after the deadline" application.

Xuan Chong: "I'll be here, I'll wait for half an hour."

So, at the very last minute, Liu Yi rushed over.

Facing Xuan Chong's rigid posture and demeanor, he said to Xuan Chong with an insincere smile, "This is not the army. The Dragon Scales are one family, all wielding swords for the Emperor."

Xuan Chong was then taken into the base and began to listen to the mission briefing according to procedure.

During the meeting, Liu Yi mentioned that she had originally planned to wait for the others to arrive together to explain the mission together, implying that since the other person was in such a hurry, she had to explain first, and therefore the other person should accept the mission first.

Xuan Chong showed great "loyalty" to this: for the sake of the country and the people, it was his duty.

But at the same time, he thought to himself: What a terrible task. If you really want to assign it to me, do you think I have the right to back down?

As a shrewd and calculating person, Xuan Chong knew that when working in the government, if one was certain that something couldn't be shirked, one had to appear "willing to accept it" and not let one's attitude give others a handle to use against them, thus losing more initiative.

Liu Yi looked closely at Liu Haoxing, trying to discern any "inappropriate" behavior from his expression, but in the end, all he could get from Xuan Chong was a heart full of unwavering loyalty to the country.

…Wild beast invasion…

The two entered the laboratory, where Xuan Chong obtained firsthand information.

The Dragon Group's futuristic reconnaissance aircraft has already reached the Yuezhi grasslands. The reconnaissance aircraft captured images showing that the once green grasslands have sprouted numerous red spots, as if they were sick. Upon closer inspection, these red spots were revealed to be giant mushrooms, each three meters tall.

From a distance, some mushrooms can be seen swaying. The camera quickly pans to these swaying mushrooms, revealing a cyst inside that ruptures, releasing a humanoid-like creature that, upon closer inspection, resembles a bipedal beast.

This beast devoured all the mushrooms as soon as it was born, then burrowed into an underground tunnel. When it emerged, it had machetes in its hands, some of which were just pieces of broken tile tied to bones, while others were made of pitted and uneven cast iron.

One of the big guys was holding a rather sharp blade, and judging from the material and paint, it looked like it was made from a mechanical plow from a harvester.

Xuan Chong: "Did a group of nomadic monsters descend from the sky? Where are our bomber airships?"

Liu Yi: "They've already deployed them. The first batch of incendiary bombs has been planted in this area, but they haven't burned them. Also, these monsters aren't all armed with melee weapons."

The second segment, filmed by a drone, shows the area near the present-day Han Fortress. The footage shows massive cannons roaring, but the wild beasts still manage to charge the position.

Furthermore, during the impact, some armored vehicle units built by this alien race could be seen.

Overall, it's a steam-powered cotton harvester chassis, but the sandbags are fixed to the outside with hammered steel bars, and some steel shells are glued on.

These glued-on scrap metal pieces don't conform to materials science at all, because under the vibration of the combine harvester chassis, these outer shells should be shaken off, but they are firmly attached. Even when mortars are fired, they are not broken apart, but are connected like normal steel.

Xuan Chong couldn't help but stand up, because this kind of material mechanics, which defied common sense, was very similar to when he used "torque" to load the operation of machinery.

Liu Yi said: "At first, we thought they were just a group of alien beasts with a strong learning ability, able to quickly learn to use tools. But—ten hours later, we found that their learning ability was just too fast. They quickly learned about firearms and internal combustion engines, and were able to modify them."

He then zoomed out to a more distant location. A twenty-meter-long, eight-legged mechanical centipede was climbing the trench. This dilapidated structure possessed unimaginable stability, and the beast sitting on it was firing at the city wall using a jetpack assembled from mortar pipes.

The powerful recoil sent it tumbling five or six meters away, and judging from its tumbling motion, it was clear it had suffered broken limbs. But the beast quickly climbed back up. Like an ant stepped on by a child, it soon began to move again, displaying astonishing resilience.

Before Liu Yi could assign tasks, Xuan Chong immediately said, "Someone needs to go and investigate."

Then, Xuan Chong said to Liu Yi, "Please give me a battalion-level military force and the corresponding frontline authority, and I can take on this mission!"

Liu Yi was slightly taken aback. He had originally intended to assign tasks, but now he was the one being asked to do so.

Note: Xuan Chong knew from a young age that when his mother assigned him tasks, she would be kind and gentle the first time, but if he resisted, she would be cold and aloof.

Xuan Chong concluded that when you realize that you lack the means to refuse when others want you to do something, you should take the initiative to accept it and at the same time ask for more conditions that are conducive to your actions.

(End of this chapter)