A Night in the Grid
Chapter 460 Measuring
童 Bingwen, once again in control of several key Western Ling armies, was now walking on eggshells, constantly on tenterhooks. He had to consider all aspects when deploying each unit and making every preparation. Large movements were out of the question, as they would attract attention. However, small movements wouldn't be enough to meet the speed requirements for troop mobilization. Fortunately, Tong Bingwen was an experienced and seasoned general who knew his military strategy. He had plenty of ways to deploy and operate his troops, and he had the rare full support of the imperial court... well, at least from those important enough. The court was still arguing about who-knew-what.
Thinking of this, Tong Bingwen couldn't help but feel somewhat frustrated. The lines on his old face, carved like knife strokes, became even more severe. Tan Xiaopei was truly an irritating ruler. Dongping's tradition of valuing the military, commerce, and technology, which had been cultivated over so many years, had been greatly expanded in his hands, reaching a point that was almost the envy of other countries. However, after reforming maritime taxes and agricultural taxes, relying on foreign trade leverage and domestic support for grain production, he had filled Dongping's weaknesses, and hardly any major policies came from him afterward. Of course, as the ruler of a country, if not for those later events, his achievements in reforming the two taxes alone would have been worthy of praise for his brilliance. However, it was said that the reforms were suggested by Tan Weixin, who was just a young girl at the time. Heavens know why Tan Xiaopei actually listened.
Then, Ye Tao, this young man, appeared like a comet, capturing everyone's attention, marrying the most talented but unfortunate daughter of the Tan family, and bringing one miracle after another to Dongping. The clock tower and bathhouses were mere toys. In most people's eyes, building chain inns, repairing roads, and constructing cities and fortresses were merely things that earned Ye Tao the title of a capable official. As for the work of artisans in building gardens, most people would say that he was fond of grandiose projects, a cunning courtier. However, establishing the Blood Kirin Army and secretly sending troops to hold back the Western Ling army under White Rock City, and later governing one side as the Governor of Yunzhou and the Northern Frontier, forced him to reveal his talents. Tong Bingwen naturally had all kinds of intelligence documents. The fact that armies like the Frost Wolves and Silver Wings had telescopes available to every soldier was something that all officers in all armies across the land couldn't help but drool over and curse at the same time. And crossbow cannons, airships, improved flaming oil bombs, and new-type gunboats that Tong Bingwen had never seen but had seen sketches of, were all unimaginable achievements.
These achievements were indeed due to Tan Xiaopei's willingness to use talent. Ye Tao controlled not just Yunzhou, but the entire Northern Frontier, whose combined territory was probably no smaller than Dongping's own. From Dongjia Village, extending north to the ocean said to be covered with miles of ice, all were under Ye Tao's rule. It was just that Ye Tao and his wife Tan Weixin, the reincarnation of a god of wealth, probably had no interest in managing most of it. If it were someone else holding such great power, the court would have found ways to restrict him long ago, or at least probe him in various ways. However, Tan Xiaopei continued to trust Ye Tao. Whatever Yunzhou did well, he would use as a reference for operating the entire Dongping. Not to mention anything else, the Ministry of Civil Affairs was now on track to becoming the indispensable seventh ministry of the court. Not only did the Dongping court and public alike praise the newly established Ministry of Civil Affairs for its great role in coordinating people's livelihoods and planning for disaster preparedness, but even Western Ling and Chunnan were considering establishing similar institutions. As for Northern Liao... they were too busy.
Tong Bingwen was the first general in the world to be bombarded by crossbow cannons. Later, when Western Ling imitated Dongping and established heavy machinery battalions, he was an active promoter and deeply involved participant. He knew very well how difficult those things were. It was embarrassing to say, but Western Ling's successful imitation of crossbow cannons and the establishment of a product line from small to super-heavy, with considerable accuracy, relied on a team of artisans pieced together from various sources. The core of the team was a technician and six craftsmen, all certified by the Ye Family Workshop. The craftsman certificates were nothing special, but the technician certificate stamped with the Dongping Ministry of Works was the deepest scar that made everyone feel both depressed and amused. But through this technician who had worked in the Ye Family Workshop in Danyang, and those craftsmen who had worked in the workshops of the Gao, Shi, and other families, Western Ling at least learned one thing: current manufacturing was completely different from what they had originally thought. Large-scale assembly line production, emphasis on the division of labor and processes, emphasis on coordination, emphasis on quality and process management, and a strict, precise, yet humane management system for staff... Many people, after hearing that during lunchtime at the Danyang workshop, thousands of employees of all levels lined up in an orderly manner to receive their meals, and enthusiastically exchanged technical issues at tables, constantly specializing in their respective fields, suspected that the discipline of the Ye Family Workshop's employees was probably better than that of some armies.
However, the more he learned about these things, the more complex Tong Bingwen's feelings became. Tong Bingwen was somewhat glad that he had encountered Ye Tao when he was not yet mature in military affairs, when he was still a young man wielding a stone hammer desperately. If Ye Tao had had the maturity he had now, the results of the Blood Kirin Army's unauthorized attack would have been even more frustrating. However, he couldn't help but want to fight Ye Tao with the army he had now painstakingly rebuilt… However, the biggest target of this army was currently the Da'nan Pass.
While Tong Bingwen was still thinking and guessing about Dongping's reaction if Western Ling launched an attack, Xue Jingze walked in. His most trusted deputy back then, who could now largely share his command responsibilities. Xue Jingze took care of many messy things, dealing with them properly. This time, his idea was to use the royal family's villas and other properties to conceal Western Ling's multiple troop deployments. Seeing Xue Jingze walk in with a grim face, Tong Bingwen smiled slightly and asked, "What's wrong?"
Xue Jingze spat and said, "Commander, something strange has happened."
"Oh? What happened? Tell me slowly." Tong Bingwen asked calmly, without any change in expression.
"The army deployment is progressing smoothly. The Heng'an, Henglong, and Rui'an units, totaling 79,000 men, have arrived and are less than a day's journey from Da'nan Pass. With a little disguise, they can launch an attack at any time. Most of the troops behind them are already in place, but our supplies can't keep up. The main reason is that we dare not conscript laborers on a large scale; too many things would be unmanageable... These are not problems, but it is indeed possible that our previous arrangements may be discovered. There is news that Chunnan bought a bunch of airships from Dongping, ready to be assigned to Da'nan Pass. Our deployment is secret, but it will be clearly visible from the sky." Xue Jingze seemed extremely worried.
"News? Where did the news come from?" Tong Bingwen frowned tightly.
Xue Jingze said, "It's news from Xinghua Hall, saying that a large group of Chunnan people are receiving training near Danyang." Xinghua Hall was a large Western Ling merchant firm, but their most profitable business was currently their smuggling operations, directly smuggling all kinds of fun things from Dongping. Because their channels for preparing goods were extremely chaotic, and many were directly selling stolen goods, the distribution prices in Western Ling were extremely terrifying. But because there was no choice, things like grandfather clocks still had to be smuggled in from Dongping. Otherwise, getting goods from the south through the tentacles of the Samir family wouldn't be much cheaper. However, the wide range of contacts also made Xinghua Hall's news very well-informed. As a "patriotic" merchant firm, they often provided their customers with some news.
"Xinghua Hall?" Tong Bingwen snorted coldly, "They have good plans."
"Huh? Commander..." Xue Jingze asked strangely, "Is there something wrong?"
"Hey, kid, use your brain. Why didn't Xinghua Hall have any news sooner or later, but now they have news at this critical time? They may have been accidentally informed, and then rushed to report their merit to us. But this clue may have been deliberately leaked by someone. Everyone knows what Xinghua Hall does. Even if there are no Dongping spies inside, it wouldn't be difficult to use them." Tong Bingwen sighed. Xue Jingze's consideration of the overall situation was still so weak.
"Leaked the news to us? Why? Who would do such a thing?" Xue Jingze scratched his head and asked, looking even more simple and honest.
Tong Bingwen curled his lips and said, "I'm afraid it's Dongping themselves."
"Ah?!" Xue Jingze was shocked. "Chunnan is their ally; would they do something that's not good for them?"
Tong Bingwen gave Xue Jingze a contemptuous look, making Xue Jingze feel a little embarrassed. Tong Bingwen said, "Who says it's not good for them? It would be best if we and Chunnan fought to the death."
Xue Jingze spat again, and said angrily, "They really have good plans... But why?"
"If Dongping really leaked the news to us, then they are telling us that they know about our advance but are not planning to disturb us, and that we can act as we please. Of course, probably no one would dare to bet on this... Alas, Jingze, mobilize the troops as soon as possible. Launch a full-scale attack in ten days. The Heng'an, Henglong, and Rui'an units will jointly attack the first wave, and then the remaining troops will continue to attack until successful. We don't have much time. Dongping can't detain other people's airship teams forever. Who knows when they will return. You go and prepare, I won't keep you for dinner today."