Eagle-eyed and wolf-watching

Chapter 1533 Untitled
Erlunqin Grassland, Luobi Royal Court
At noon, Gao Shen walked out of the tent and stretched, then looked back at his tent and shook his head.

Although he missed the life on the grassland when he was in Luoan, Gao Shen was a little uncomfortable with the rough nomadic life now that he was really back on the grassland.

Because Luo Bi's situation was rather urgent, Gao Shen did not dare to be negligent. The delegation rushed all the way and finally arrived at the Luo Bi Royal Court last night. After Gao Shen briefly communicated with the staff of the Luo Bi Royal Court, he handed over the follow-up matters to his deputy Jiang Chao!

This Jiang Chao is a sentry chief of the Flying Tiger Battalion of the Daqian Special Forces. Although he is only a sentry chief, because the Flying Tiger Battalion is the elite of the army, the official positions are generally higher than those in the normal army, so Xu Zhao also has the official rank of sixth rank!

There were more than a thousand people in the Daqian delegation that came to Luobi this time. Except for a dozen civil servants, the rest were all Daqian soldiers, including a hundred soldiers from the Flying Tiger Camp disguised as ordinary soldiers. These people and Jiang Chao were under Gao Shen's command. They were responsible for Gao Shen's safety and for carrying out the tasks arranged by Gao Shen.

After handing the matter over to Jiang Chao, Gao Shen went to rest.

He is old now and his physical condition is not as good as before. When he was doing business on the grassland, he could go without sleep for three days and three nights to guard against horse bandits. Now he will feel exhausted if he stays up too late.

Gao Shen knew very well that he was really useless. Even if everything went well this time, it would probably be his last mission to the grassland. He would be powerless from now on. If he insisted, he would just die in a foreign land as an old man...
As a businessman and official who had been wandering the grassland since he was an apprentice at a young age, Gao Shen did not hate the grassland. On the contrary, he liked the blue sky and white clouds here. But this was not his home after all, and he did not want to die here!
Military generals are particular about dying on the battlefield and about burying their loyal bones in green mountains. But Gao Shen is not a military general. Although he has been an official for seven or eight years, he is still a businessman at heart. So if possible, Gao Shen would rather die on his sickbed at home.

Although Ye Mingsheng had promised that a successful mission would give him a chance to make a comeback, Gao Shen had already decided that he wanted to enjoy his retirement in peace!

Therefore, Gao Shen cherishes this visit very much. He wants to complete his mission, not only to repay Ye Mingsheng's kindness, but also to put a perfect end to his grassland career of nearly 30 years!

Just as Gao Shen was quietly admiring the beautiful scenery of the Erlunqin grassland in front of him, his deputy Jiang Chao came up to him and whispered:
"Sir, General Luo Bei tried to steal firearms last night!"

Gao Shen was not surprised to hear the news, but simply asked back:

"Did you do as I asked?"

Jiang Chao nodded slightly and said:

"At the beginning, even though we showed our knives, they still wanted to snatch our firearms. But when I took out the explosives as you said and acted as if we were going to blow up all the firearms, they left in disappointment. Now our people are always on guard against these Robe people stealing firearms..."

Gao Shen nodded and said:

"You did a great job! Jiang Chao, you have been fighting in the southern part of the Central Plains before. When dealing with the Luobei people, you don't understand them. Compared to reasoning, they prefer to speak with fists and knives!"

"So if you want them to listen to you, you have to be more fierce and ruthless than them, so that you can win their respect!"

After hearing Gao Shen's story, Jiang Chao nodded, not quite understanding. At this moment, a Luobei guard came over and said:
"Master Gao, our Khan wants to see you!"

Gao Shen nodded slightly when he heard this, then called Jiang Chao and followed the guard towards the direction of Luo Bihan's tent.

After a cup of tea, Gao Shen and Jiang Chao came to the outskirts of the Khan's tent. The guarding general Zabu had been waiting here for a long time. He was an old acquaintance of Gao Shen and said to him when he saw Gao Shen:

"Mr. Gao, long time no see!"

"Long time no see, General Zabu!"

After exchanging a few pleasantries, Zabu said apologetically:

"Master Gao, the old rules!"

Gao Shen smiled and nodded slightly, then said to Jiang Chao:

"General Jiang, give your personal weapons to General Zabu!"

When Jiang Chao heard that he was asked to hand over his weapon, he frowned slightly. However, when he thought about the fact that he would be meeting Khan Luobi next, he could understand it to some extent. He immediately handed the sword at his waist to Zhabu.

After Zabu took the saber, he did not relax at all. He immediately asked two guards to search Gao Shen and Jiang Chao. After finding no weapons, Zabu said to Jiang Chao:

"General Jiang, after you meet the Khan, I will return the sword to you..."

As Zabu finished speaking, Gao Shen and Jiang Chao were about to enter the Khan's tent when a discordant voice came from behind them.

"Gao Shen, I heard that you were demoted to a commoner by your Great Emperor Daqian. Why are you being sent out again now?"

"Is it possible that you have no one left in Daqian? Do you really need an old man like you who is half buried in the ground to take charge of the situation?"

As soon as Gao Shen and Jiang Chao heard this, they turned around and saw that the person coming was none other than the sturdy eldest prince of Luobei, Dariyachi. When they heard Dariyachi's words, the Luobei nobles around him immediately burst into laughter.

This was Jiang Chao's first time in Luobi, and he didn't know the other party's identity, so when faced with Dari Achi's provocation, he seemed very angry. He immediately reached for his waist, as if he wanted to fight Dari Achi with a sword.

However, Jiang Chao touched nothing and realized the next second that his sword had been handed over. He was now unarmed, but this did not prevent him from glaring at Dari Achi.

Gao Shen, who was being mocked, said without getting angry:

"We are a land of outstanding people in the Central Plains of Daqian. Talents are as numerous as the nobles crossing the river. However, it is thanks to you, the great prince, that I, Gao Shen, am here!"

Gao Shen paused for a moment, then looked at Dariyachi with some amusement and said:
“But what you said just now was wrong, Prince. It’s not your Daqian! It’s our Daqian! Luo Bi is also a minister of Daqian now. Prince, do you think I am right...?”

Dariyachi's expression changed instantly when he heard this, and then he stared at Gao Shen and said:

"Gao Shen, it's been a while since I last saw you. You're still as eloquent as ever! You're good at speaking!"

Although Dariyachi showed his fierceness, Gao Shen was not afraid at all. He smiled and said:

"My great prince, you are so strong and powerful! I admire you!" "Humph!"

Dariyachi snorted and ignored Gao Shen, and took the lead to lead his men into the Khan's tent.

Gao Shen smiled and took Jiang Chao into the sweat tent.

At this time, the great Khan Ibugel was in the Khan's tent. He and Gao Shen were old acquaintances, so after a quick greeting, Gao Shen took out a jade box and said:
"Great Khan, the Emperor heard that you were attacked by the Kipchaks and suffered some injuries, so he asked me to give you this bottle of medicine. The name of this medicine is Jiuzhuan Dahuandan. The raw materials are 11 kinds of precious Chinese herbal medicines such as ginseng and deer antlers from Liaoyang. The doctors of our Daqian Medical College have worked hard to refine this precious medicine. It has the effect of strengthening the body and prolonging life!"

"This medicine was specially made for His Majesty the Emperor by the Medical College. But His Majesty the Emperor heard that you, the Khan, were injured, so he asked me to give it to you!"

Ibugele, whose face was a little sallow, suddenly brightened up his eyes when he heard the words "extend life and prolong life", and then he asked the guard beside him to bring it to him.

Ibugele opened the jade box and looked at the unremarkable, black, fingernail-sized pill with a slight smell of Chinese medicine. He said with some doubt:

"Why is there only one?"

Gao Shen explained:
“Great Khan, we in Daqian have spent countless manpower and resources to refine only three pills in total. Our great emperor took one, and the empress dowager took one. The one in your hand is the third and last Nine Revolutions Great Rejuvenation Pill…”

Ibugele was still a little skeptical after hearing this. Seeing this, Gao Shen hesitated for a moment and said:
"Great Khan, I have to tell you the truth. The cost of this Nine Revolutions Great Rejuvenation Pill is too high. Each pill costs over 100,000 taels of silver. We, the Great Qian Empire, have only refined three pills with all our might. We originally planned to give one to Your Majesty, one to the Queen Mother, and one to the Empress!"

"His Majesty was very sad when he heard that you were injured, so he specially asked me to give you this Nine Revolutions Great Rejuvenation Pill so that you can recover and regain your health as soon as possible!"

"To be honest, our Queen and His Majesty are at odds over this matter!"

As soon as these words came out, Ibugele's eyes suddenly brightened and he quickly asked back:
"Is Gao Shen really like this?"

Facing Ibugele's gaze, Gao Shen patted his chest and preached with confidence:
"Great Khan, we have known each other for more than ten years. When have I ever lied to you? I don't even have the guts to lie to you!"

Seeing this, Ibugele no longer had any doubts and said with tears of gratitude:
"The Emperor's grace is so great that I cannot repay him! I cannot repay him!"

"With the help of this Nine-Transformation Great Rejuvenation Pill, I will definitely be able to protect the safety of the northern border for Daqian and will never let the Cumans invade Daqian!"

Gao Shen clapped his hands and praised:

"Great Khan, your loyalty to Daqian is evident to all, including the sun and the moon! Heaven and earth can testify to your loyalty!"

"Your Majesty also praised you as the pillar of Daqian in Yijing. You must take care of yourself!"

Ibugele waved his hand and said generously:
"Master Gao, don't worry. I was just careless and got bitten by the Cumans. I'm not happy with you and I can eat two pounds of mutton in one meal. Last night, I had a good time with some girls. Now with the help of the Nine Revolutions Great Rejuvenation Pill, I believe I will be able to go back to the battlefield and kill the enemy soon, and get revenge on the Cumans..."

"Great Khan, you are truly a great hero! A great man! A towering figure in the history of Robin!"

After a few words of flattery, the meeting entered the substantive stage. Dariyachi, the eldest prince, asked directly:
"Master Gao, how many firearms and instructors did you bring this time?"

Gao Shen smiled and said:

"Because the incident happened suddenly, I only brought one thousand muskets, thirty tiger squat cannons, and two thousand kilograms of gunpowder this time. As for the instructors, five hundred of the Daqian soldiers I brought this time are experienced musketeers, and they can all serve as instructors to help Luo Bei's soldiers master the muskets and tiger squat cannons!"

Daryaqi heard this and said with some dissatisfaction:
"This is too little! The imperial court is really too stingy!"

Gao Shen smiled and said:

"My Lord, these are quite a lot of firearms. We sent all the firearms that Daqian replaced before to you. There are no firearms left in the imperial court's warehouse. These 1,000 firearms and 30 tiger squat cannons were taken directly from the Daqian soldiers in Liangzhen Camp!"

Upon hearing this, Ibugele suddenly spoke:
"I wonder if the court has made any progress in building a firearms factory in Luobi?"

Seeing that Ibugele asked about this, Gao Shen immediately put on an awkward posture, and seeing that Gao Shen was hesitant to speak, Ibugele could not help but ask:
"Master Gao, we Luo Bei tend to be straightforward, and you and I have known each other for many years, so there is nothing we can't say..."

Gao Shen sighed and said:

"Great Khan, I know what you think. We have also done a lot of work for your idea. Due to some historical reasons, many censors in the Censorate are opposed to this matter. Their attitude is very fierce. In addition, some people in the military are also opposed to this matter!"

Hearing Gao Shen say this, Dariyachi on the side immediately started to curse and preach:
"Damn it! After all that, he still doesn't treat us Luobi people as his own people, and he's still on guard against us every day!"

"My Lord! You are wrong!"

"His Majesty the Great Emperor is kindhearted and cares about all the people in the world. In his eyes, there is no difference between the people of Luobi and the people of Daqian. They are all his people. So even though there are many opponents in the court, His Majesty the Great Emperor still agreed to build a firearms factory in your Luobi!"

As soon as Gao Shen said this, Ibugel and Darachi and his son were very excited and said quickly:
"Has His Majesty the Great Emperor really agreed?"

Gao Shen smiled and nodded slightly:
"This is absolutely true!"

Dariyachi couldn't wait to ask:
"When will the factory be built? We are in urgent need of a firearms factory like this. The sooner the better!"

"As long as the money is in place, the firearms factory can be built within three months..."

Daryaqi was still very happy when he heard this, but Ibugele, the old fox, heard something and asked:

"Master Gao, what does it mean that this silver has arrived?"