Chapter 487 Face-Off

After a short while, Ju Xian Wang (Prince Ju Xian) Chang Hongquan, his face a terrifying black, arrived at the Imperial Guard Commandery.

"Cang Huai ah, there was no need for this, right? No matter how serious the matter, you could have at least sent a message to me first? Creating such a scene, why bother?" Chang Hongquan said with a wry smile.

"Your Highness, no matter what, this is about someone in my command being bullied. There's no reason for me to seek your assistance. Besides, Your Highness, don't you know me? If someone dares to lay a hand on my people, if I don’t flex my muscles like this, things won't be easy in the future," Ye Tao said, appearing relaxed.

Chang Hongquan repeatedly said, "Misunderstanding, a misunderstanding. I was just having Sun Jin report Chen Kai's identity to His Majesty. We haven't even had a proper chat about his affairs. This time was truly unexpected."

Ye Tao couldn't help but find the situation amusing. It seemed Chang Hongquan was even more depressed than he was. He had obviously not yet reported Chen Kai's identity and the Hidden Dragon Box to his brother, the current Chunan ruler. Whether Chang Hongquan had wanted to reap the benefits himself first, or keep it as a trump card for a critical moment, this time he had failed. And based on the current situation, someone of considerable status in his residence must have leaked Chen Kai's identity. Ma Kun's courage wasn't great; he probably didn't truly know how important Chen Kai was, but he at least tacitly approved of his subordinates' actions. His ignorance was simply to make it easier for him to escape responsibility in the future.

Ma Kun wasn't a talented general. In fact, the position of Imperial Guard Commander didn't really require great command ability. On this point, Chunan differed greatly from Dongping. In Dongping, the Imperial Guard gathered many outstanding young officers, skilled and daring in battle, and their resilience after suffering heavy losses was even greater than that of the Blood Kirin Army. Ma Kun, however, used his meticulous loyalty and his approachable management methods to keep the Imperial Guard, a force of complex composition, stable and avoid problems. Ma Kun was someone who knew how to deal with people. Perhaps this time, he was too unwilling to offend someone, and ended up greatly offending Ye Tao.

Chang Hongquan didn't care what happened to Ma Kun. He was just slightly puzzled as to which of those few people had been able to command Ma Kun. However, he was very concerned about the presence of a spy in his residence, especially since only a few people knew Chen Kai's identity, and those few were very familiar with the various arrangements in his residence. He knew that his various actions were for self-preservation, but if they fell into the wrong hands and were used as evidence against him, it would inevitably cause further trouble.

"Cang Huai, in any case, in Yuhang, and at this time, if there's a real conflict, it won't benefit anyone. I know it's impossible to persuade you to withdraw your men directly, so let's each take a step back. Restrain your subordinates and wait. I'll stay here with you until His Majesty's decision, how about that?" Chang Hongquan said.

"Alright," Ye Tao readily agreed. As soon as Ye Tao finished speaking, a guard standing at the door cupped his fist and turned to deliver the order.

Upon receiving the order, the elite cavalry and special operations soldiers cheerfully set up camp on the spot, confronting the soldiers of the Jade Mountain Camp. Many of the special operations soldiers even showed obvious disappointment, seemingly regretting that they had never had a chance to test their rigorous urban and street warfare training in actual combat. This warlike attitude and the disregard for the Chunan allies infuriated several commanders of the Jade Mountain Camp.

However, another unexpected thing happened. Inside the Imperial Guard Commandery, Ye Tao actually said to Chang Hongquan, "Since we're idle anyway, let's summon our advisors and discuss the agreement here. It's just military equipment and those other things, very simple. No need to find another time to argue."

Ma Kun, who had been at a loss for what to do, immediately spat out a mouthful of tea. Was now really a good time to discuss the agreement?

But Chang Hongquan's reaction almost made Ma Kun spit out another mouthful of tea. After thinking for a moment, Chang Hongquan actually sent someone to ask His Majesty for instructions, and then the ruler actually sent a negotiating team, including three ministers, in a very short time.

Since Ye Tao had firmly stated that he would not send troops to cooperate, the discussion now focused on the procurement and distribution of military equipment, as well as a series of related confidentiality, payment, transportation, maintenance, training, and other matters. Ye Tao directly agreed to Chunan's proposed procurement quantity, which was obviously excessively large.

Officially, this was the largest military equipment procurement order in Dongping's history, driving the industrial chain at all levels and bringing incalculable comprehensive effects. Privately, although he wouldn't receive even a tael of silver in kickbacks from such a large trade, Ye Tao was very clear about how much of the procurement list would be executed by Ye's Workshops.

Medium-sized crossbow cannons and the like were already being outsourced to workshops such as the Gao family and Shi family. Even some metal parts and wooden components that didn't require high precision were now being outsourced to merchants capable of processing them, as well as military equipment workshops under the Ministry of War and the Inner Treasury. But those heavy crossbow cannons, those precision instruments like rangefinders and parabolic calculators that were used in conjunction with the crossbow cannons and that Chunan craved, Ye's Workshops wanted to outsource them too, but even Dongping, with its highly developed craftsmanship, couldn't find anyone who dared to take on such work.

The extent of Chunan's efforts in this Xiling campaign was evident from the number of telescopes they were purchasing. Since the lenses of telescopes were currently made from ground natural colorless and transparent crystal, the price remained high. But this time, Chunan purchased two hundred and fifty of the same model of monocular telescopes that the Dongping military was gradually adopting, as well as twenty binoculars with a wide field of view and better observation performance.

These binoculars, in addition to lacking a nitrogen-filling process and lens coating, had incredibly powerful performance indicators: aspherical ground lenses, manual focus ring, and even distance value projection markings on a built-in flip-up scale. This numerical projection marking was just a small trick, just an internal linkage mechanism. Since the focal length distance could be known under various conditions of the telescope, a small piece of phosphor stone emitting a faint blue light was connected to a sliding metal sheet with hollowed-out numbers through an internal mechanical linkage mechanism, achieving the magical effect of projecting transparent blue numbers onto the field of view. Was it reliable? Under less harsh conditions, it was actually quite reliable. At least these expensive binoculars were the favorite items of many merchant and warship captains of the Seven Seas Trading Company. Only the best captains could get one. Due to the low yield rate and complicated manufacturing process, each one currently cost seventeen thousand taels, and that was after Ye Tao, as a member of the Seven Seas Trading Company, gave an internal purchase discount. But the problem was that most people thought Ye Tao's price was very, very fair. Heaven knew that Ye's Workshops' gross profit on each pair of binoculars was over thirteen thousand taels.

As for the fire oil bombs, which seemed enough to fill many swimming pools, Chunan had made some progress in imitating the Mars Bullets, but the orders for the Mars Bullets, whose power was still significantly different from the Dongping originals, the key issue was not the quantity and price, but the storage and transportation. Chunan seemed very unable to accept Ye Tao's suggestion of having FedEx and DHL Express, two business firms, transport the fire oil bombs and Mars Bullets in batches. They repeatedly raised concerns about the safety along the way and the security of the transportation, and even proposed having the army escort them. But Chunan had to admit that having the two transportation companies transport them was indeed very secretive and could complete the work of stockpiling on the front lines without anyone knowing. When Chunan learned that FedEx was the preferred job for retired veterans of the Blood Kirin Army, and the entire system was very standardized and militarized, and that DHL Express was an attempt by the tribes of Benlang Plain to integrate into the economic life of the Central Plains, with many of them being descendants of top archers and warriors of the tribes, they dispelled their doubts and instead considered another question: could all the transportation be done by them?

Ye Tao had no objection, but he felt that he should ask FedEx and DHL Express for a large kickback after returning. If everything included in the entire bilateral agreement was transported by them, then these two logistics companies that Ye Tao had watched being established would probably be grinning from ear to ear.

The procurement of various Dongping-made military equipment that Chunan had not yet imitated was not surprising, but what deeply caught Ye Tao's attention was the extremely large quantities of equipment that Chunan was purchasing for infantry, cavalry, and archers. Chunan's original army, although slightly worse equipped than Dongping's, was still considered well-equipped. And Chunan already had tens of thousands of soldiers, especially the Imperial Guard and border troops, who had been equipped with items purchased from Dongping. That was when Consort Lian had just married into Dongping, and the prices of weapons and equipment were very favorable, with Dongping hardly making any profit. If the quantity in this agreement was added, it would be enough to re-equip all of Chunan's current regular army. But what about the original equipment? Was Chunan planning a major military expansion? But the officials who had come with him from Dongping suggested that Ye Tao also agree. So, Ye Tao did not refuse. These officials were all carrying at least the rank of Vice Minister, and they had been instructed by Tan Xiao Pei before they set off: no matter what military equipment Chunan wanted, no matter how much they wanted, as long as the price was held firm, agree to it all.

Outside the Imperial Guard Commandery, the soldiers of the two countries faced off. Inside the Imperial Guard Commandery, the negotiating officials of the two countries also faced off. Both sides were unyielding, until more than two hours later... everyone was so hungry that their chests were pressed against their backs. After the draft agreement was almost finalized, Ye Tao calmly stood up.

In this comprehensive agreement, totaling over fifteen million taels of silver, which would be implemented over the next four years, combining military procurement and training, Chunan and Dongping each got what they wanted, with a slight advantage to Chunan. After all, before the Northern Liao were resolved, it was very important to try to maintain Chunan as an ally. And Chunan, after obtaining these weapons, armor, military equipment, war horses, and complete heavy military equipment training and cavalry training, would see a very obvious improvement in combat effectiveness.

At this time, Ye Tao more confidently asked Chang Hongquan, "Your Highness, now this matter can be considered settled. After the documents and clauses are drafted, they will be reviewed by both Majesties. Then, it's a matter of urging implementation. However, it's been so long. Negotiations shouldn't be disturbed, but now we can urge them to hand over Chen Kai, right?"

"Of course..." Ma Kun, who had been standing at the door, paying attention to the news from all sides at all times, quickly took over the conversation and replied, "Your Highness, Lord Ye, Mr. Chen is resting in the side hall right now."

Chen Kai was handed back to Ye Tao. Chen Kai really needed to rest now. From the time he was imprisoned in the dungeon until more than an hour ago, he had endured many kinds of torture that seemed to leave no traces, but caused great pain. Now his face was extremely pale.

"Today's events... will be repaid in the future." When leaving, Ye Tao cupped his fist at Ma Kun and said, "General Ma shouldn't be involved in this, but please pass this message along for me."