mtl008 Chapter 447: Luancheng's Structure
Chapter 447: Luancheng's Structure
Seeing that the situation developed beyond his expectations, Zhao Hui had to make strategic adjustments despite being reluctant.
He looked at Qin Lian solemnly, his tone filled with unquestionable majesty: "My dear Qin, you must immediately mobilize troops from Yuzhou and make a grand gesture to assemble in Luoyang.
In addition, we will dispatch troops from Daming Prefecture and Qizhou to Bohai County, and prepare 100,000 troops there for assembly."
The intention of the imperial edict was very clear. He wanted to firmly guard the rear routes of Bingzhou and Yanzhou.
After arranging this matter, Zhao Hui turned his gaze to Si Shitong and instructed:
"Go find Fan Wenyuan and have him draft a document informing Dingzhou to be prepared to guard against possible Xiongnu invasions of Bingzhou and Weizhou, and to be ready to use force at any time."
Si Shitong couldn't help but feel puzzled. He didn't understand why Zhao Hui would specifically ask Fan Wenyuan to do this. After all, it was not impossible for an imperial edict to be drafted by the Ministry of War.
However, the king's order was difficult to disobey. Although he was full of doubts, he could only respectfully accept the order and do as he was told.
At this time, Zhao Sheng was still in Dingzhou New City. Three days later, he learned from Li Xin that the emperor had issued an imperial edict.
When Zhao Sheng learned that the imperial edict only required precautions rather than sending troops, he immediately had an idea in mind.
He commented to Li Xin with disdain, "Father-in-law, the emperor has a very clever plan! He wants us to strengthen the military in Weizhou and also hopes that we will send troops to Bingzhou."
Li Xin naturally understood the deep meaning behind Zhao Hui's imperial edict. He simply wanted him to send troops without paying the military expenses, and he might even be planning to consume his military strength.
So, he asked jokingly, "My dear son-in-law, how do you plan to deal with this matter?"
Zhao Sheng pondered for a moment and said slowly: "Weizhou is now the location of our railway group's key construction project, and it has a powerful guard army.
Moreover, we are building several stations there and the railway protection team is also deployed here, so we don’t have to worry about Weizhou.
As for Bingzhou, I have no plans to send troops yet. If necessary, I will make a decision. However, we must be on guard against Yanzhou."
Mr. Zhao spoke his mind truthfully. Under the current situation, he really wanted to remain neutral. He didn't want to be the absolute controller, but he had to compromise for the sake of trade interests. This was his truest consideration at the moment.
Since Zhao Sheng came to Dingzhou and became the son-in-law of the emperor, Li Xin has almost dominated the development of military affairs.
As long as the people of Dingzhou can live and work in peace and the generals in the army are united, he does not care about the so-called ownership of military power.
Moreover, Zhao Sheng had a very high prestige in the Dingzhou army. Even the Li family army that later assisted Li Xin was not dissatisfied when Zhao Sheng's new army was mentioned.
Now, although the powerful weapon in Zhao Sheng's hand has not been fully revealed, the rumor has spread like wildfire. It is rumored that the prince consort has a weapon that can kill thousands or even tens of thousands of people in one minute.
Perhaps this is just an exaggerated legend, but those who have seen the power of his rockets with their own eyes are filled with fear.
The launch vehicle was firing from several kilometers away, and the dust raised by the explosion instantly covered the entire hilltop. It is inevitable that people would speculate that if a garrison of tens of thousands of people was hit by such a weapon, no one within a radius of two miles would survive.
On the surface, everything in Dingzhou seemed normal, but the perceptive noble families had noticed something was amiss. The Lu family wasn't the only one trading with foreigners; some smaller noble families were also watching.
The trade business they invested in Yi Yu made them a lot of money.
In addition, Zhao Sheng withdrew from the Yi Yu market and wholesaled the goods to agents. The buying and selling relationships were managed and operated by these merchants themselves, so everyone attached great importance to Dingzhou's attitude and safety.
Someone once tried to steal Zhao Sheng’s business, but later discovered that some of Zhao Sheng’s business models were almost open and transparent.
For example, in spice production, everyone knew that he bought raw materials from the Zheng and Cui families, and then processed them further after returning to earn a meager fee.
After everyone went back to calculate the costs, they found that there was no profit at all, and the spices they made tasted far inferior to the products from Luancheng.
This is even more true when it comes to biscuit making. Everyone knows that it is baked in an oven. Some people even poached Zhao Sheng's workers, but still couldn't successfully replicate it.
Mr. Zhao incorporates unique techniques and know-how into his products, and treats each person differently.
In Zhao Sheng's own words, he does not produce salt, he is just a salt carrier.
While everyone was closely watching the potential wealth that the railway would bring, Mr. Zhao turned his attention to pharmaceutical research and development, especially in the field of finished drug processing.
As a former special forces soldier, Zhao Sheng has learned wilderness survival skills. He not only knows simple first aid methods in the wilderness, but also occasionally understands some treatment methods for emergency diseases.
In the wild, he knows how to use herbal medicine as first aid for common diseases such as colds and malaria.
However, in the Great Zhou Dynasty, ordinary doctors were mostly helpless against these common diseases.
From Zhao Sheng's perspective in later life, there is no faster way to make money than developing therapeutic drugs, especially in grassland areas where medical care is underdeveloped.
He felt that once the medicine he developed was released to the market, it would be very likely that people on the grassland would regard Luancheng as a place of salvation.
Extracting and concentrating the active ingredients in medicines is not a difficult task for Zhao Sheng. The real difficulty is that he is not fully aware of the efficacy of many medicines.
But Zhao Sheng firmly believes that nothing is difficult in the world if one is determined.
The last thing he lacked now was money. With his wealth, he could always hire a doctor. However, the doctors in Luancheng were generally average in quality and could not be called medical experts.
At the first light of dawn, Zhao Sheng saw that Fan Xitong had not yet stepped out of the house, so he hurried forward and stopped him, asking anxiously:
"Hey, Prince Consort of the Princess's Mansion, do you have any old doctor you know? Luancheng is in need of one."
Upon hearing this, Fan Xitong raised a playful smile and winked at Zhao Sheng:
"Hey, I'm your sister's legitimate husband after all. Calling me brother-in-law means I'll give you a piece of meat, right?"
Upon hearing this, Zhao Sheng quickly smiled and apologized, "Alright, brother-in-law, I'm not very good with words. The truth is, I'm in urgent need of a physician who's well-versed in pharmacology, especially one who knows all the origins of various medicinal herbs and can help me build bridges and open up new avenues in this area."
Fan Xitong looked at Zhao Sheng's serious expression and thought to himself.
He was used to understanding Zhao Sheng's words in two parts: one was what Zhao Sheng needed to do, and the other was what purpose he wanted to achieve.
At this time, Gong Shangjin, who was following behind Zhao Sheng, heard this and hurried forward to interrupt:
"Isn't Lu Dingkun from the Lu family a drug dealer? Can't we ask him?"
Zhao Sheng and Fan Xitong glanced at him at the same time, then turned around in tacit understanding, no longer paying attention to him, and walked straight into the house...