mtl008 Chapter 564 Guan Xing, a Man Who Is Shameless to the Extreme
Chapter 564 Guan Xing, a Man Who Is Shameless to the Extreme
Guan Yinping was put in solitary confinement, and Guan Xing's life returned to normal.
Although this incident didn't have much impact on him, it taught him a lesson: you can't always be a good person. Often, when you're kind and considerate of others, they might not only not appreciate you but also resent you, even if it's your family.
Having figured this out, Guan Xing didn't dwell on it. Instead, he adjusted his mindset and continued working. At dawn, he personally escorted Wang Fu and Gougu Tianchuan out of the city and sent them away.
On the official road outside the city, Guan Xing handed the letter he had written to Zhou Xun and Zhuge Ke to Wang Fu, then grabbed Goguta Chuan's hand and said with a warm smile, "General Goguta, we shall part ways here. I will not see you off any further. I hope that when we meet again, I will hear the good news that you have defeated Yamatai and unified Japan."
With a bitter smile, Dog Kotakawa said, "Thank you for your kind words, General. With your support in terms of weapons and agricultural tools, our Dog Slave Kingdom will surely grow rapidly and then sweep away Yamatai to unify the world of Japan."
Thinking of the number of weapons and farm tools on the list, Gougu Tianchuan got excited. In addition to the several hundred ring-pommel swords that Liu Bei had bestowed upon him, he also bought three thousand ring-pommel swords, two thousand crossbows, thirty thousand arrows, and five thousand hoes, shovels, and pickaxes from Guan Xing. Guan Xing even thoughtfully selected thirty death row inmates as agricultural instructors to accompany him back to Gou Nu Kingdom to teach them farming.
With this batch of weapons, farm tools, and personnel, the national strength of their Dog Slave Kingdom will surely experience a qualitative leap, overwhelming Yamatai in one fell swoop and reclaiming the lost territory taken by Yamatai without any problem.
But what worried him was that the supplies were too expensive. Guan Xing had extorted 500,000 jin of silver from him for just a few thousand weapons. 500,000 jin! If you piled them up, they would probably be a mountain!
In addition to the principal of 500,000 jin, there is also interest. Since I wrote an IOU, the interest is calculated monthly. Who knows how much it will accumulate in two years?
What's even more infuriating are those thirty agricultural instructors. They weren't working for free; they were paid salaries. Each instructor received 100 catties of silver per month, not including food and lodging. These weren't instructors; they were practically a bunch of rich kids.
Although Dog-Furugawa was dissatisfied with this, he dared not refuse, because the most urgent task for their Dog-Slave Kingdom was to deal with Yamatai. As long as they could withstand Yamatai's attack, anything was acceptable.
Guan Xing seemed oblivious to Gougu Tianchuan's disdain and continued to smile warmly, "It's only right. Supporting vassal states is the bounden duty of our Celestial Empire. We must part ways eventually, so I won't see you off any further. We'll meet again someday."
After saying that, he waved to Wang Fu and turned to return to the city. Wang Fu patted Gou Gutianchuan on the shoulder and laughed, "Let's go, we need to hurry on our way."
With Wang Fu leading the way, the journey within the Great Han territory was unimpeded. Wang Fu and Gou Gutianchuan returned to Jianye City in just ten days. He originally planned to send Gou Gutianchuan directly to the ferry, but unexpectedly, Zhuge Ke was also in the city, waiting to report to him.
Wang Fu had no choice but to arrange for Gou Gutianchuan to stay temporarily, and then immediately summoned Zhuge Ke.
As soon as Zhuge Ke entered the room, he cried to Wang Fu, "My lord, you're finally back! If you hadn't come back, I would have had to return to the shipyard."
Wang Fu laughed and said, "I'm back now. Let me tell you some good news first. His Majesty has appointed you as Assistant Minister of Works and Director of the Shipyard, giving you full authority over shipbuilding matters. You can celebrate this when you get back. Let's get down to business first. Have Mi Fang and Fu Shiren gone to sea?"
Zhuge Ke said with a wry smile, "I came here to report this matter. Mi Fang and Fu Shiren are simply two bandits. As soon as they arrived at the port, they robbed my second treasure ship that was about to go to sea. They also stole two multi-ships and extorted two thousand sailors, several thousand weapons and farm tools from Prefect Deng Zhi. They even took the three-bow crossbows that I had set up in the port to defend against the enemy and put them on the treasure ship. Your Excellency must do something about this. They are too shameless."
Wang Fu laughed and said, "Alright, I'll send you these things later. This is a letter from General Guan Xing to you. Take a look."
Zhuge Ke took the letter, opened it, and immediately broke down, angrily cursing, "General Guan Xing ordered me to build a batch of warships to sell to Japan, and even specifically reminded me to use inferior wood to ensure that the warships sold to Japan would be scrapped within five years so that Japan could buy new ones. Isn't this making things difficult for me?"
Wang Fu hadn't read the letter before, but upon hearing this, he immediately snatched it to read it. After reading it, he exclaimed in astonishment, "Isn't this a bit too unethical? Is General Anguo obsessed with money or does he have a grudge against the Japanese?"
In those days, there were very few shoddy construction projects and counterfeit products. Even the worst warships built in Jiangdong could be used for about twenty years. But Guan Xing ordered them to build a batch of ships for Japan that would be scrapped within five years. Isn't that a joke?
Zhuge Ke immediately refused, saying, "I can't do this job. Let Guan Anguo build it himself. I haven't even figured out how to build a real ship yet, let alone a fake one. Do you really think that building inferior warships is so easy?"
Forgery is also a technical skill; the materials, structure, and construction techniques all need to be altered, essentially creating a completely new shipbuilding system. Zhuge Ke would never do that.
Wang Fu said that this was none of his business, handed the letter to Zhuge Ke and said with a smile, "You can handle this matter. Let's talk about other things."
The two chatted for about half an hour. Wang Fu then sent Zhuge Ke away and headed to the mouth of the Yangtze River with his dog, Gu Tianchuan. There, he successfully met up with Zhou Xun and Ji Jie's navy.
The weapons and farm tools for the dog, Gutianchuan, had already been transported to the port. After meeting with Zhou Xun, they were loaded onto a ship and personally transported by the fleet led by Ji Jie.
Dog Gutianchuan's ship capsized on its way to the Great Han, and now there are only three people left in the delegation. Even if he were given a large ship, he would not be able to drive it, so the Great Han can only help transport them.
While the ship was being loaded, Wang Fu called Zhou Xun and Ji Jie to his side and instructed them: "General Ji Jie, General Anguo asked you to help Gou Gutianchuan deliver goods, not to do good deeds. You should take this opportunity to find out the shipping route to Japan, so that you can reach Japan smoothly next time even without Gou Gutianchuan leading the way."
"Also, don't rush back after you go to the Dog Slave Kingdom. Try to travel around the Yamatai Kingdom again, give them some weapons to establish contact, let the Yamatai Kingdom know the details of Dog Furuta River's audience with His Majesty, and know who to buy weapons from if needed."
Ji Jie's eyes lit up and he immediately understood what was meant. He said excitedly, "Rest assured, Your Majesty, I will definitely convey General Anguo's idea to the Yamatai Kingdom."
The loading was completed quickly, and Ji Jie piloted Zhou Xun's flagship, the Yuanxun, with the dog, Gutianchuan, into the sea, heading straight for Japan.
Wang Fu stared at the receding figure of the giant ship and sighed, "I wonder where Mi Fang and Fu Shiren are. Will they be able to return safely from this voyage?"
He didn't care about their lives or deaths, but he was concerned about the profits from the voyage. The two were pioneers of the Han Dynasty's first long-distance voyage, and they brought a lot of things with them. If they really died at sea, it would be a huge loss.
"Ah..."
On the calm surface of the South China Sea, three large ships with huge sails were moving steadily forward. Two of them were tower ships, which were unique to Jiangdong, while the one in front was a treasure ship that was slightly larger than the Yuanxun. Standing in front of the treasure ship were Mi Fang and Fu Shiren.
Suddenly, Mi Fang bent over and sneezed, then rubbed her nose and complained, "Who's insulting me?"
Fu Shiren smiled wryly and said, "Aren't there enough people criticizing us already? Why dwell on this? Instead of worrying about it, let's think about the road ahead. We've already left the Jiaozhou sea area and entered an unknown place that no one has ever set foot in before. We need to be careful."
They recruited many experienced sailors in Jiangdong. With these sailors as guides, the seas within the Great Han territory were unobstructed. However, leaving the Great Han seas was not so easy. The sea conditions ahead were unknown, and small boats had to be sent to scout ahead to avoid running aground. Only after ensuring safety could they pass through, so the speed was very slow.
Fortunately, they weren't in a hurry, and they strolled around leisurely every day, and before they knew it, nearly two months had passed.
That day, Fu Shiren climbed to the top of the watchtower as usual. As soon as he stood up, he noticed something unusual and pointed to the coastline, exclaiming, "Zifang, look! There are people on the shore! Have we already reached Funan?"