Chapter 1 Zhang Ci's Instructions

Zhang Ci didn't say too much to Kong Xinhua, only sighed and told him to pay more attention to his own safety. Although he himself had a decent army, it had suffered considerable losses during the previous highway robbery. His opponent, after all, was the elite of the Western Route Army. In addition, he was to take on the responsibility of organizing precision machinery for the Imperial Guards and the Eastern Route Army through his channels, and to collect high-quality steel as much as possible for the airship workshops to test. Kong Xinhua sensed Zhang Ci's exhaustion. He didn't say much in person, but a month and ten days later, he transported a large batch of goods to Yanjing, asking Situ Lian, Zhang Ci, and several generals from the Eastern Route Army and the Imperial Guards to receive them. There were a full one hundred and seventy monoculars, twenty-four binoculars, one thousand one hundred *jin* of high-quality steel ingots produced in Liyang, two hundred and seventeen cavalry blades, forty-six off-hand blades, and various routine military supplies. As for ordinary goods, he had to sell them in Northern Liao. Although he had given enough gifts to several patrons, he wouldn't display them here.

This batch of goods didn't take up much space when piled together, but their value was extremely high. When asked how Kong Xinhua had obtained these items, Kong Xinhua, after "hesitating again and again," revealed that he had, on the one hand, tried to collect them from retired soldiers through his upstream contacts. On the other hand, he had colluded with some pirates scattered outside, plundering a merchant ship heading from Dongping to Chunnan. Actually, it couldn't be called plundering; it was just that the ship had encountered a storm and ran aground on a small island, and the pirates happened to catch up. The delivery of these goods naturally greatly excited the two deputies of the Eastern Route Army and the Imperial Guards, and made them feel that it was even more worthwhile to have stood on Kong Xinhua's side before. They originally had a bad relationship with the Western Route Army, because the Western Route Army occupied too much military expenditure, making them unable to develop. Now, everything had improved. And Kong Xinhua's strength in smuggling was originally stronger and more professional than the Western Route Army's group. When Kong Xinhua began to serve the court, providing various supplies to the Eastern Route Army and the Imperial Guards, they could also quickly arm a group of elite soldiers. Of course, elite soldiers were not just about equipment; they also needed a lot of training and actual combat experience. But when facing a large army like Dongping, not having equipment was absolutely impossible. After receiving this batch of goods, several generals of the Eastern Route Army quickly sent the things to the front line. The Eastern Route Army and the Imperial Guard's northern expedition against the Qing Northeast border had already begun. Although sending a batch of equipment at this time had a slightly belated flavor, they were fighting against a force known for reconnaissance and raids, and having more reconnaissance power would improve things in any case.

For Kong Xinhua, getting this batch of goods was not difficult at all. Although the Dongping navy was carrying out a blockade on the sea, he could always use fast two-masted cargo ships to slip through Dongping's patrol lines and reach the coast of Northern Liao. In fact, it was to facilitate Kong Xinhua's actions that the Dongping navy did not use airships for reconnaissance at all. However, as soon as this batch of goods was delivered, the guys who had been arguing with several ministers on the Western Route Army's side immediately became excited, and the court was in an uproar. They had suffered enough in the past month, and now they were treating chicken feathers as imperial orders. And Kong Xinhua, naturally, continued his efforts in this atmosphere. He successively transported two batches of goods, landing on the coast of Northern Liao and destroying two cargo ships, but these two ships of goods made Kong Xinhua's name a hot topic. He obtained two hundred and seventy *jin* of natural rubber, two sets of rangefinder sights for crossbow artillery equipped in Dongping's main battle units, a detailed blueprint of a standard crossbow artillery, and a whole ship of various semi-finished parts flowing out of Chunnan's airship workshop... When Kong Xinhua got these two batches of goods, he was covered in cold sweat. It wasn't until he learned that this was a list personally drawn up by Ye Tao and would not cause any adverse effects on Dongping, that he obediently handed them over. Kong Xinhua was immediately summoned by the Northern Liao royal court, and then heavily rewarded, even given some small privileges for his usual legitimate business. That was also natural; after all, he couldn't openly pave the way for his smuggling. Not to mention that it was against the law, a high-profile reward was very likely to attract Dongping's attention. Everyone knew that there were definitely not a few Dongping spies in Northern Liao.

In this way, relying on two batches of important goods, Kong Xinhua immediately gained the trust of many people. And he was also good at socializing, quickly breaking into the social circles of those ministers. You must know that Kong Xinhua was never short of gifts. He now controlled the largest supply of goods from Dongping and Chunnan, and when it came to practicality, exquisiteness, and craftsmanship, Dongping's goods were the best, and when it came to historical origins and luxurious style, Chunnan was slightly better. He used a large number of items that were not available on the market at all for public relations, and it was always effective. With his flexible mind, he subtly reminded several ministers of strategies to deal with the Western Route Army in several garden parties and banquets, making those high-ranking officials in the court even more fond of him. No one suspected that he was actually a Dongping spy.

But in these short two months, the Northern Liao political situation had undergone tremendous changes. Although it was still centered on the core topic of how to resist Dongping, the confrontation between the Western Route Army and other forces became more and more intense. The Eastern Route Army, the Imperial Guards, and the newly formed Liqin Army fought more and more fiercely for resources, and the criticism of various situations of the Western Route Army became more and more intense. Gao Senqi and his son couldn't help but begin to feel a little disheartened. They actually didn't have any disloyal intentions, but why didn't the court believe them? Why, at this critical moment of life and death, would they still encounter a court full of party strife?

At this time, Ye Tao, who had already returned to Yepu to conduct the second round of full offensive, was very relaxed. Yepu, as the command center of the entire north, and his home that he had worked hard to manage for many years, had a different kind of intimacy compared to the official residence like the Northern Frontier Pacification Office in Gondor. And now, Yepu was also the core of the Ye family. Although the Ye family had only a few people, each of them had considerable energy. And Yepu, equipped with almost all the latest equipment, was so convenient and comfortable that even the Dongping Palace could only envy and admire it.

Ye Tao sat in a study with a wide view and a good landscape. The record player next to him slowly turned, and the room was filled with a fresh and bright *guzheng* melody, naturally, from the hand of Liu Xiangyuan, Dongping's number one *guzheng* player. Since there was such a thing as a record, Liu Xiangyuan, who was already famous and was an excellent musician and an even more excellent head of a troupe, had his name spread all over the world with the records. Currently, there was only one place in the world that could record records: Danyang. So far, only twenty records had been recorded, two of which were Liu Xiangyuan's. This magical thing called a record player could naturally transmit these wonderful sounds wherever it was sold.

And beside Ye Tao's hand were large stacks of documents. Ye Tao felt very lucky that he started his life as a carpenter in this time and space, without heavy studies, without computers. His body was solid due to years of training and running around on the battlefield, and even his eyesight was not damaged much. If it were in his previous time and space, he would have to wear glasses with some degree to read these documents. Although glasses had already been produced in this time and space and were regarded as a great blessing by the world's scholars, it was not a sign of good health after all.

Reading these documents, Ye Tao became more and more clear about the current situation. Various comparisons made in the details allowed him to draw many conclusions. For example, Chunnan's recent actions were very strange. Also, the Northern Liao political situation was actually stirred up by a smuggler named Kong Xinhua. Ye Tao was quite proud of Kong Xinhua's matter. Kong Xinhua was indeed a daring, responsible, and even more imaginative guy. Sending two sets of airship parts to Northern Liao was a very remarkable and decisive decision. Airships? Ye Tao didn't really care about them. Not to mention that the Ye Clan Workshop Research Institute already had some ideas about small internal combustion engines and fixed-wing aircraft, even if it was an airship-to-airship battle, Dongping, which had a comprehensive lead in speed, altitude, load, and attack methods, could only fix the other party's airship team even more miserably. Speaking of which, Ye Tao really had a bit of a headache about what to do if the other party fully deployed passive defense measures. He was still very confident in airships.

Ye Tao looked at his cup; the tea was finished. He pressed the bell on the table, but it was Dai Yun and Tan Weixin who immediately walked into the study. Although Dai Yun was carrying a teapot, she looked absent-minded. After placing the teapot on the table, Ye Tao poured everyone a cup of delicious hot tea and asked, "Yun'er, what's wrong?"

Dai Yun sighed and said, "I originally wanted Lao Yu to take on a little more, but I didn't expect him to still be exhausted. There's a slight problem with the defense on the Xiling line. Uncle has already gone over, but although Uncle has no problem commanding battles, he always lacks patience for things like organizing garrison battalions. Moreover, there are already one hundred and fourteen garrison battalions now, totaling more than 350,000 people, which has reached the limit of what my Yunzhou and Benlang Plains can supply. I'm thinking of simply stopping the army building altogether and fighting with the current troops. But I feel a little uneasy about the big battle in the future..."

Ye Tao smiled and said, "What's there to be uneasy about? Since we've reached the supply limit, then stop building the army. I think one hundred garrison battalions is enough. Find a way to upgrade the extra old garrison battalions. Put a few main battle battalions on the Xiling side, even if they're newly formed, but make sure the appearance is good. As for financial resources and materials... I think there should be good news from Northern Liao in two months."

Tan Weixin said calmly without changing her expression, "I originally thought I was enough of a miser, but I didn't expect Sister Yun to be even more ruthless than me. Do you know what she's talking about when she says the supply limit? Only moving the regular warehouse, not moving the war reserve warehouse, not moving the Pacification Office's emergency funds and materials... If we fight a war like this, if Northern Liao finds out, they'll be so angry that they really won't fight anymore."

Hehe... Ye Tao laughed, and Dai Yun also smiled slightly. She knew that Yunzhou still had a pretty solid foundation, but after all, she had seen the total directory of expenses to date, and those numbers added up were too shocking, making Dai Yun, who was used to fighting thrifty battles, a little unaccustomed to it. Dai Yun quickly changed the topic and said, "The army formation is settled then. Then, I propose that in the Xiling area, we mobilize a batch of troops in the short term to conduct a short, high-intensity, deep-penetration annihilation battle. If we fight such a battle well, it will be difficult for Xiling to bother us for at least a year."

Ye Tao was a little interested in this question, and he quickly asked, "Oh, then tell me about it in detail..."