Isolated town in northern border region

The news of Xu De's disappearance was like a stone thrown into a deep pool, the ripples spreading outwards, but it hit something hard at the bottom of the pool and could not continue to sink.

Xiao Lie read the urgent report three times, then had Jiang Min send out all the spies from the Caifeng Division. He also personally issued a missing person notice, offering a reward of a thousand taels of gold, and his portrait was posted all over the city gates and post stations of various states in the Great Chu.

Two weeks have passed, and there has been no news.

A month passed, and there was still no news. Xu De disappeared like a drop of water in the desert, leaving no trace.

Various rumors began to circulate among the people.

Someone in the teahouse, holding a teacup, spoke in a low voice.

"Dr. Xu has offended someone, someone you shouldn't have offended."

Someone responded.

"Who could a traveling doctor like him possibly offend?"

The first person glanced left and right, and lowered his voice.

"He offended those powerful families. Doctor Xu was secretly helping to gather information on the cases that Inspector Zhou was investigating. Now that Inspector Zhou has been removed, Doctor Xu is in trouble."

The people around were silent for a moment.

"Then the King of the Northern Frontier doesn't care?"

The other person shook their head.

"How can we manage it? We can't even find the person, where can we even begin to manage it?"

These sounds echoed intermittently in the teahouse, like a gust of wind blowing through a corner, quickly overshadowed by other topics. But those words were like a kind of dampness seeping into the wood grain, quietly leaving a whitish mark in the corner.

Xiao Lie sat in the imperial study, with a map of the Great Chu spread out in front of him, densely marked with the distribution points of the spies and the areas that had been investigated.

He stared at the map for a long time, then put down his vermilion pen.

"Cannot be found."

Jiang Min sat to the side, flipping through a stack of reports sent back by undercover agents.

"All known contact points have been checked, and no abnormalities were found."

"We have questioned all the patients, clinic staff, and nearby shopkeepers who were last in contact with Xu De before his disappearance, and no one has seen anyone suspicious."

She closed the report.

"This is not something a single family or clan could do. To be able to take someone away silently right under the nose of the Bureau of Folklore, and then clean it up so thoroughly afterwards—there must be a huge organization behind it."

Xiao Lie did not respond. His finger slowly traced across the map, heading south along the northern frontier, passing through Yongzhou, Qingzhou, and Bingzhou, finally landing at the location of Wenshu City in Jing Kingdom.

"Jiang Jun."

He looked up at Jiang Min.

"Only he could have done that."

"His connections, intelligence network, and financial resources were enough to link up powerful families and wealthy merchants across the states."

"I don't even need to ask if it's him—no one but him could do it."

Jiang Min did not refute, she remained silent for a moment: "My brother has never given up on stirring up trouble in the Chu Kingdom. Xu De's disappearance does indeed seem to be his doing."

"But if he did it, he wouldn't leave any trace for the Bureau of Investigation to find." Xiao Lie leaned back in his chair: "Then we'll use methods he wouldn't think of."

Three days later, the first bank in the Great Chu Dynasty opened in Youzhou City.

A black plaque with gold lettering hangs above the entrance, reading "Northern Xinjiang Bank." There are no dragon or lion dances, no firecrackers or drums, only a notice posted at the entrance.

"Deposits are interest-bearing, loans are regulated, military personnel receive interest-free loans, and military dependents receive additional interest on their deposits."

The day the news spread, the people of Youzhou City crowded in front of the bank to read the notice. Those who could read read it aloud, while those who couldn't stand by and listened.

A middle-aged man in a tattered cotton-padded coat squeezed to the front, squinted at the words on the notice for a long time, and then turned to ask the person next to him.

"Can saving money generate more money?"

The person next to me answered.

"That's what it says on the notice."

The first person hesitated for a moment, then glanced at the open door again.

"Then I'll save one or two ounces and try it."

He took out a few pieces of silver from his pocket and handed them to the clerk behind the counter. Then he took a deposit slip with a red stamp and looked at it over and over again, as if afraid that it would suddenly become a piece of waste paper.

He looked back as he left, his steps a beat slower than when he came, as if waiting for a receipt to deliver its promised weight.

In the first month at the bank, the queues at the counters stretched from dawn till dusk.

Some people carried a bag of copper coins to deposit, which was their life savings. The bag was wrapped in several layers of coarse cloth. When the bag was opened, the copper coins scattered on the counter with a clatter.

Some people had a few pieces of silver in their pockets, which they had just received from selling grain;

Some people dressed in military uniforms came to apply for loans, and they wrote their names very slowly when filling out the forms, as if they were afraid that if they wrote it wrong, they would not be able to borrow money again.

An elderly woman with gray hair stood in the line, clutching a handkerchief containing a small silver hairpin.

When it was her turn, she opened her handkerchief and placed the silver hairpin on the counter.

"Young man, can this be preserved?"

The shop assistant looked at the silver hairpin, then at her.

"Auntie, we only accept silver and copper coins; we don't accept items for now."

The old woman paused for a moment, then wrapped the handkerchief again, stuffed it back into her bosom, and walked away with her head down.

A few people in line watched her leave, and one of them muttered something under his breath.

"That's her dowry."

No one responded. That evening, Qian Wanli wrote in a secret report to Xiao Lie.

"The Youzhou branch received more than 300 people today, with a total deposit of 1,200 taels of silver, of which 80% came from ordinary people."

"An elderly woman wanted to deposit her silver hairpin, but the bank was unable to process her deposit because it does not currently accept physical items. I suggest that a physical item pawn service be added to benefit more people."

Xiao Lie wrote a single word in his reply.

"allow."

In the second month, the Northern Xinjiang Bank opened branches in various prefectures.

The storefronts weren't large, but there were always queues in front of each one.

At the counter of the Qingzhou branch, a young woman deposited three taels of silver. After receiving the deposit slip, she looked at it repeatedly at the door, and a smile slowly appeared on her lips.

As she walked out, she ran into a familiar neighbor who asked her how much she had saved. She replied that she had saved three taels of silver, which surprised the neighbor.

"You'd even save three ounces?"

The woman nodded.

"A bank run by a prince is trustworthy."

"It's just sitting there anyway, but putting it in can earn some interest."

The news spread like wildfire through the streets of Qingzhou, and a few days later, the queues at the Qingzhou branch were even longer.

People started spreading rumors that the interest rates offered by the Northern Xinjiang Bank were higher than those of private loan sharks, and that one didn't have to worry about being caught in the middle.

When people from neighboring counties heard about it, they also traveled dozens of miles to deposit their money.

On the day the Yongzhou branch opened, the entrance was crowded with people. An old man squatting against the wall, basking in the sun, said to the person next to him.

"In the past, if you had money, you could only bury it in a jar. If you buried it too deep, you were afraid you wouldn't be able to find it; if you buried it too shallow, you were afraid it would be stolen."

"Depositing in the bank now is both safe and profitable."

The person next to him squatted down to respond.

"What if the bank goes bankrupt?"

The old man thought for a moment.

"It won't collapse! The bank is owned by a prince! Can a prince collapse?"

Neither of them spoke again, but the old man still got up and went into the bank, placing the few pieces of silver he was holding on the counter.

The amount of silver wasn't much; it was just enough to exchange for a piece of paper stamped with a red seal. He carefully kept the paper close to his body and then sat back down by the wall to bask in the sun.

Xiao Lie's personal prestige played a crucial role in this matter.

People don't trust the bank; they trust the person who runs it.

Qian Wanli once remarked during a report.

"Your Highness, you can withdraw 100,000 taels of silver from the bank simply by signing your name now."

Xiao Lie was looking at a set of military blueprints without even looking up.

"That's the people's hard-earned money; if we can avoid touching it, we should."

Two months later, the Northern Xinjiang Bank issued its first nationwide missing person reward—a reward of one thousand taels of silver would be given to anyone who could provide clues about Xu De;

A reward of 10,000 taels of silver will be given to anyone who provides valid clues and assists in the search.

The day the reward notice was posted, crowds gathered outside banks in every state.

The storyteller in the teahouse read the contents of the notice aloud, and after he finished, someone slammed their hand on the table.

"Ten thousand taels! If I knew where Doctor Xu was, I'd go claim the reward right away!"

The people around him laughed at him.

"You know? If you knew, you wouldn't be sitting here anymore."

Someone muttered under their breath.

"Did Dr. Xu offend someone? How could someone just disappear like that?"

Another person chimed in.

"He's offended too many people. He used to treat poor people in Jingzhou, charging less for consultations than for medicine. How else would he survive?"

After he finished speaking, a person at the next table put down his bowl and replied.

"I don't know if he's a decent person or not, but he saved my mother!"

"That day, he prescribed two doses of medicine for my mother in the clinic. Before she even finished the second dose, she was able to get out of bed and walk around."

He glanced at the portrait on the notice as he said this, then looked down at the cold noodle soup in his bowl, and said nothing more.

He left the bowl of noodle soup on the table without finishing it, then stood up and walked out, as if afraid that continuing the conversation would remind him of something.

Two weeks have passed, and no one has been able to provide any useful clues.

The wanted poster was still on the wall, its edges fluttering in the wind. People would stop to glance at the face in the portrait as they passed by, then continue on their way, as if each moment of pause would fix that forgotten face back onto the paper, letting it dry a little longer in the lines of that paper.

Xiao Lie was not surprised when he received the summary report. He put the report aside and spoke to Zhou Xun.

"Since they can hide people so well, they won't show themselves just because of the bounty. They'll have to find another way."

Zhou Xun asked.

"What method?"

Xiao Lie stood up, walked to the window, and looked at the training ground under construction outside.

"Let them get restless on their own."

Three days later, at the new training ground outside Youzhou City, the elite troops of the Northern Frontier held a public martial arts demonstration.

Tens of thousands of people and merchants from various countries crowded around the drill ground, looking at the open space that had been fenced off.

The first demonstration featured muskets—fifty soldiers lined up, each holding an iron pipe about four feet long, with the muzzle pointing at a wooden target a hundred paces away.

At the commander's order, fifty muskets simultaneously spewed out flashes and smoke, the gunfire sounding like a string of lit firecrackers, causing the onlookers to instinctively take a few steps back.

After the smoke cleared, dozens of fist-sized holes appeared on the wooden targets. A young man standing in the front row rubbed his ears and turned to the person next to him.

"This thing is much louder than firecrackers."

The person next to him did not answer; his gaze remained fixed on the broken wooden targets.

An elderly man in the back row said something in a low voice.

"In the past, wars were fought with brute force; in the future, it will probably be fought with this."

He spoke in a calm tone, as if stating a fact he could already confirm.

The second round was with hand grenades.

A dozen soldiers threw grenades at a sloping hill sixty paces away. The explosions created several gaps in the hill, scattering rocks and dirt everywhere.

The onlookers backed away again, some covering their ears, others with their mouths agape.

A man dressed in coarse cloth shorts squatted outside the crowd, looking at the blasted-open earthen slope, and muttered a curse under his breath.

"Damn it, if this were thrown into a crowd..."

He didn't finish speaking, but his fingers gripped his cuff tightly.

An old man next to him glanced at him.

"In the past, we fought with bows and arrows; now we fight with this."

"Soldiers will probably be worth more in the future than they are now."

The man didn't answer, but he shifted his gaze to the new soldiers who were lining up on the city wall and stared at them for a long time.

The third round was the steam-powered war chariot—when Xiao Lie had the prototype pushed to the center of the training ground, the entire field fell silent for a moment.

It was a steel war machine driven by a steam engine, with tracks replacing wheels, the body covered with thick steel plates, and a short cannon barrel protruding from the top.

When the steam started, white smoke billowed from the roof of the vehicle, and the tracks made a low rumble as they rolled over the ground. The tank moved slowly forward, then accelerated and crashed into a makeshift brick wall. The brick wall shattered upon impact, and the tank rolled over the ruins, its tracks turning and crushing the broken bricks into powder.

The roar of the steam engine echoed across the empty training ground, and the cries of several children came from the crowd, suppressed by the low plumes of white smoke into intermittent buzzing.

A middle-aged man dressed as a merchant stood at the back of the crowd and whispered to his companion beside him.

"Can this thing be used for transporting goods?"

His companion was taken aback.

"Transporting goods? This is for fighting!"

After the martial arts demonstration, the news spread like wildfire throughout the Chu Kingdom.

In teahouses, taverns, and post stations, everyone was talking about the three new weapons.

Some people gestured to show what a famous musket looked like, some said that the iron chariot could flatten the city gate, and some slammed their pipes on the table.

"With these things, the Northern Frontier King will be the strongest in the world."

When the news reached the ears of the aristocratic families, the smiles on the faces of those who were celebrating the return of "Cruel Official Zhou Xun" to the capital froze.

Someone visited the heads of several other prominent families overnight, closing the door and speaking in hushed tones.

"He's showing off!"

"It's not just for us to see, it's for Jingguo to see. After they master this move, who will dare to challenge them?"

A month later, Xiao Lie convened a parliamentary meeting on the topic of "national military reorganization".

He stood in the center of the chamber, his gaze sweeping over the thirteen members of parliament.

"You all still remember the lesson of Chu being invaded by the three states."

"At that time, the elite troops in the northern frontier were able to fight against three opponents at once, but the troops in other places were completely ineffective."

"From today onwards, the national army will be under the unified command of the National Assembly, and I, the King, will serve as the Chief Military Officer of the nation."

There were no dissenting voices. Everyone's gazes met and then looked away; no one stood up, and no one spoke in rebuttal. Xiao Lie nodded.

"Since no one objects, this matter is settled."

Over the next three months, the elite troops from the northern frontier were transferred to various prefectures in batches, spreading out the training methods and combat thinking of the northern frontier under the guise of rotational training.

When muskets and grenades were distributed to troops stationed in various states, a system of separate management of firearms and ammunition was implemented.

Due to its high cost, only ten steam-powered war chariots were produced initially. During this adjustment period, the morale of the entire army steadily recovered, and the term "New Army of Great Chu" began to appear in newspapers. Some people compared it to the old Imperial Guard, concluding that the new army was more like fighting for someone else than for an imperial edict.

The distribution of new equipment and improved benefits have led to twice as many young people signing up for military service as in previous years.

Those veterans from the northern frontier who were transferred to various states became role models in the eyes of the new recruits, and on the training grounds, some people imitated their posture and how they held their guns.

A young man who had been watching the commotion outside the Qingzhou military camp squeezed his way to the registration area and asked a question.

"If I join the army, will I be able to touch that iron pipe?"

The officer in charge of recruitment looked up at him.

"After three months of training, you can touch it once you pass the assessment."

The young man grinned.

"Then I'll sign up."

His handwriting was crooked as he filled out the form, but his fingers holding the pen were steady, as if he were washing his life anew.

Six months later, Xiao Lie announced in Congress that Beijiang would release a batch of brand-new technologies in six months, which would no longer be made public, but would be decided by bidding.

To participate in the bidding, one must first deposit an equivalent amount of land deeds as a deposit in a bank.

The reactions of the powerful families in different states varied after the news broke.

Some people cursed Xiao Lie for blatant robbery, some were planning to take a few scraps of land to get by, and some remained silent and did not express their opinion.

At the same time, the Northern Xinjiang Bank issued two types of government bonds.

One type is the "Great Chu Thousand Autumns National Bond," which anyone can purchase;

Another type is the "Family Harmony Brings Prosperity National Bond," which offers higher returns, but buyers must verify their funds, it is limited to aristocratic families, and can only be purchased by illegitimate children of the family.

When the news reached the powerful families in various states, most of the leaders were initially unaware of the crisis it entailed.

Some people think that Xiao Lie is giving face to the aristocratic families, while others even see it as an opportunity to make money.

But soon it was discovered that the unassuming illegitimate children in the family had begun to secretly use the family's cash to subscribe to government bonds.

The illegitimate sons said to the head of the household.

"Anyway, that money is just sitting there, so buying government bonds can generate returns."

Most of the family heads nodded without much thought.

Several months later, when the bank demanded the redemption of the margin, the several prominent families discovered that most of their cash flow had been drained, and the land deeds under their names were still held by the bank.

By the time they realized something was wrong, all the states had already started military exercises simultaneously.

The display of new equipment was far more intensive than the one six months ago, with steam-powered war chariots, musket arrays, and cannons firing in unison, unfolding from south to north.

When the news reached the ears of the aristocratic families, some rushed to the capital overnight to seek an audience with Xiao Lie. They presented their visiting cards outside the palace gates and waited for a whole day before finally receiving a reply.

"His Highness's old illness has relapsed, and he is unable to receive guests."

"If Doctor Xu De can return to the capital, the Prince's old illness will have a chance of recovery."