Chapter 1 Gao Senqi's Aim

Gao Senqi's purpose in entering Yunzhou this time was rather ambiguous. He had just retreated from the battlefield of Zhenbei Pass. The Flying Tiger Battalion had accomplished many things in that series of battles that other units had not been able to achieve. The Flying Tiger Battalion was actually the only army that constantly achieved tactical victories. They initially harassed the Tianxuan army continuously, finally rendering the Tianxuan army unable to operate normally. Thus, they adopted a strategy of steadily and slowly advancing while requesting assistance, finally dragging in the Zhenbei Pass garrison, the Imperial Guards, and the Blood Kirin Army, turning a small military operation that disrupted the Northern Liao's plot to seize Zhenbei Pass into a large-scale war. Although the outcome of the war caused great pain to the Northern Liao, the Northern Liao military still considered the performance of the Flying Tiger Battalion to be outstanding.

But everyone began to focus on future strategies, on how to bridge the huge gap between the military strength of the Northern Liao and the Dongping. The Northern Liao did not have the abundant resources and efficient and advanced governance structure of the Dongping. However, after this battle, the Northern Liao's ruler truly made up his mind. He immediately executed nineteen first-rank officials and imprisoned countless more. These people had more or less committed dereliction of duty and corruption, causing various damages to the Northern Liao over the past many years. Due to the intricate web of relationships, due to the collusion between the aristocratic families, royal families, and other forces of the Northern Liao and these officials, the Northern Liao court had always turned a blind eye to these officials and these entangled forces, allowing them to do as they pleased, for fear that once these officials were touched, the Northern Liao would be in turmoil for quite some time due to the many aspects involved. And now, the execution of the cleaning mission was precisely carried out by those Northern Liao armies that were defeated by the Dongping, especially the Eastern Route Army and the Western Route Army, which undertook the vast majority of the work. The areas controlled by the Western Route Army went without saying; the Western Route Army had always implemented a quasi-military control strategy, and cleaning out some officials had no impact at all. Although the Eastern Route Army had some doubts at the beginning, it still resolutely implemented internal cleaning. Now, almost the entire Northern Liao had entered a state of war in peacetime, from the common people to the middle-level officials, all implementing a strict supply system, without exception. Senior officials, the royal family, and aristocratic families practiced strict frugality. And all kinds of minerals and productivity were all tilted towards military construction.

The Northern Liao's military equipment production was indeed somewhat backward compared to the Dongping, but in recent years they had gradually indirectly obtained a lot of technology and equipment through Chunnan. But these things were very expensive. In particular, the various top-notch military equipment of this time and space that Chunnan directly purchased from the Dongping were inherently expensive, not to mention that Chunnan had to extract a layer of profit from it. Moreover, Chunnan's procurement of military equipment from the Dongping was not unlimited. Although the people who could sell military equipment to the Northern Liao were well-connected, they could only piece together the numbers needed by the Northern Liao in small batches. And now, the numbers needed by the Northern Liao could not be met no matter what. Their demand was: unlimited.

This kind of trade had to be carried out through maritime transport. It was almost impossible to transport large quantities of Dongping military equipment ostentatiously across the Dongping's territory and then smuggle it across the border to the Northern Liao. And at sea, although it could not be said that it was all the Dongping's territory, at least in this northern sea area, the power of the Dongping Navy was quite large. The combat power of the Seven Seas Trading Company should not be underestimated either. Fortunately, the Dongping Navy and the Seven Seas Trading Company did not interfere with the general trade between Chunnan and the Northern Liao, and there was no strict and meticulous interception and inspection even when the Dongping and the Northern Liao were at war. These popular goods were secretly smuggled into the Northern Liao in ships of goods.

Whether it was that impulsive cleansing or the nationwide military control, Gao Senqi did not feel much about it. He did not know that even if the Northern Liao really defeated the Dongping by relying on these extreme measures, and could live in peace in the northeast of this continent, and could make the Dongping not dare to attack for many years, it would probably only further increase the huge gap between the Dongping and the Northern Liao. And the Dongping, now even had airships. With these thoughts, filled with the desire to learn more about the military strength of Yunzhou, Gao Senqi left the cleansing work that he did not like and came to Yunzhou.

Arriving in Yunzhou, the scene he saw made him even more depressed. Airships were not just tools for killing enemies, but also tools that the Yunzhou Postal Service had begun to use in batches to transmit important letters. With the use of airships, the time required for mail from Danyang to Ningyuan was reduced by two days.

Gao Senqi was not afraid of encountering any danger in Yunzhou, even after leaving his message in the Lingyan Pavilion of Ganduo, but his guards were scared to death. In any case, Gao Senqi could now be regarded as a top general in the Northern Liao. Although his official position was not very high, the identity of the young master recognized by the Western Route Army was enough to make him illustrious. Coming to Yunzhou to personally investigate and observe was understandable, but there was no need to expose his whereabouts. Although Yunzhou and the Western Route Army had an agreement, for two warring countries, this regional agreement was completely non-binding. When Yunzhou attacked Zhenzhou, the Western Route Army almost took action; and when the army fought fiercely under Zhenbei Pass, it was also difficult to say whether those Yunzhou main battle camps feigning moves on the border with the Northern Liao were ready to attack again.

"Let's go, let's visit Ye Jinglue," Gao Senqi suddenly said to his guards.

"General, absolutely not!" The guards were startled. "This is too dangerous."

"Dangerous?" Gao Senqi was somewhat disapproving. He felt that the guards did not understand Ye Tao's demeanor after all. The demeanor of the generals in the Yunzhou army was also very good. If he ran around and his spying behavior was discovered and he was caught, then naturally there would be no discussion about arresting him. But making a clear visit should be able to receive a good reception. "I can't see where it's dangerous. We are already in Yunzhou. When you come to someone else's territory to play, you always have to say hello to the host, right?"

One of the guards advised, "General, although you have a friendship with Ye Tao, at that time Ye Tao was the Yunzhou Pacification Commissioner, but the Dongping and the Northern Liao had not yet broken their faces, at least they had not yet fought. With many years of peace, everyone can treat it calmly, but now it is different. After the battle in front of Zhenbei Pass, our two countries are now in a state of war. Capturing an enemy chieftain is a great achievement. Even if Ye Tao does not covet this achievement, he would not dare to let the general go easily, right?"

"No, he won't." Gao Senqi actually laughed: "I really haven't seen Ye Tao afraid to do anything. It would be a pity not to see Ye Tao when coming to Yunzhou. You know, every time I have a long conversation with him, I learn a lot. Let's go to Ye Tao's villa outside Ningyuan, we should be able to find someone."

What he did not expect was that Gao Senqi really could not find anyone. Ye Tao was currently still at the construction site in Ganduo City. Ye Tao slightly revealed that he already had a plan for sculpting the idol and needed to prepare materials. All parties immediately decided on the material: Qilin wood (Kirin wood). Qilin wood was also an expensive material obtained from the south. Different from the rosewood and other materials that Grandpa Qi was currently obtaining from Nanyang, Qilin wood was produced in Chunnan, only in the deep mountains of a few mountains. A section of Qilin wood seven feet high and with a circumference that required three people to embrace it might have a market price of two to three million taels of silver. This thing was a gift from Prince Juxian, Chang Hongquan, to Ye Tao as a full moon gift for the two Ye family sons. However, Ye Tao could not think of how to use such a precious thing, so he had been keeping it in the warehouse of the Ye Family Workshop. And transporting this piece of material from the warehouse of the Ye Family Workshop to Ganduo, even with the difficult process of transporting it to the top of the mountain, would only take two days. In this way, Ye Tao was happy to relax and stayed in Ganduo City. It would be a bit hard to travel back and forth once in two days. And along with the material from the workshop came a large number of technicians, craftsmen, and others who specialized in sculpture. Ye Tao had not personally carved anything for a long time. Everyone knew that Ye Tao was not afraid of others watching. In fact, the more people watched, the better Ye Tao's performance was. Everyone might not dare to say that Ye Tao had that kind of exhibitionist personality, but everyone agreed that Ye Tao was brave in the face of pressure.

As a result, when Gao Senqi came to the villa and handed in his name card grandly to request an audience with Ye Tao, after a moment of astonishment, it was actually Dai Shikui who came out to greet Gao Senqi. And when they were led into the main living room, after a round of introductions, the jaws of Gao Senqi and his guards almost dropped. Dai Shijin, Dai Shihuan, Dai Yun, Dai Ye, these heads and elders of the Dai family were all there. In addition, there were a total of six battalion commanders from the Yunzhou main battle troops and garrison troops, as well as Golan and Shi Wei, the two high-ranking heads of Yunzhou's powerful departments… In the north, there was never a tradition that wives could not meet foreign guests. Since the entire management of the Dai family was present, it was inconvenient for Dai Yun to receive guests as the host. It was actually Tan Weishi who came forward as the hostess.

Gao Senqi and his guards were naturally surprised, and these Yunzhou high officials were also a little uncomfortable at the beginning. However, as everyone discussed the battle of Zhenbei Pass without avoiding suspicion, the atmosphere gradually became enthusiastic. Dai Shiheng, Dai Yun, and others made incisive comments on the problems in the battle organization, and the Yunzhou side's evaluation of the strategies currently adopted by the Northern Liao was still very pertinent. On the one hand, the Northern Liao was indeed likely to improve its combat power in the short term by doing so, fighting a battle with the Dongping, but what about the long term? How long could the Northern Liao last, could it guarantee that the various measures of military control would be implemented in place, could it really practice frugality, and could it ensure that those funds were implemented in place? There were even more serious problems, that was, where was the bottom line of the common people, and how was the local officials' implementation of the rationing system… A pile of problems made Gao Senqi break out in a cold sweat.