Warhammer Fantasy: I Have Total War System

The tent fell silent.

Shen Du shook his head sharply, and Yue Pengrui also opened his eyes, signaling Ma Mingyuan to stop talking.

Ma Mingyuan immediately stopped talking, his gaze following the other three's eyes to the corner of the tent entrance.

In the corner, Li Lin was sitting with a teacup in his hand, gulping down tea and showing off his fruit platter, seemingly oblivious to everyone else's conversation.

Gu Ying whispered something in Ma Mingyuan's ear, and Ma Mingyuan almost spat out the sunflower seeds in his mouth.

"Cough, cough—" He coughed twice, swallowing back the words he was about to say, a sheepish smile creeping onto his face. "What did I say... anyway, as long as that damn it's alright, haha."

Gu Ying casually changed the subject: "Come, come, have some tea. This is the last batch of tea I brought from Weixi. Every cup we drink is one less we can have."

Shen Du and Yue Pengrui looked away and changed the subject, and the atmosphere warmed up again.

No one explained anything to Li Lin, nor did anyone feel the need to explain.

The awkwardness of those few seconds was less about considering Li Lin's feelings and more about suddenly remembering—oh, there's another outsider in the tent, so I have to be careful what I say.

Finally, the four agreed that once they reunited with the Biaolong Army, they would head to Nanli together to suppress the rebels.

"South Gate," Yue Pengrui said softly, but each time he spoke, the tent would fall silent. "Whoever takes it first will become the chief of the Sixth Prince."

Shen Du put down his teacup and looked up.

Ma Mingyuan smirked and put the bag of sunflower seeds away.

Gu Ying smiled and shook her head without replying, but there was a light in her eyes.

This chief position is not just a nominal one. In order to attract more young talents, Binlong rewards the six young masters of the Southern Dipper every year with a huge amount of rare treasures and cultivation resources. The chief even has the right to meet Binlong in person. This is a great honor that no amount of resources can buy.

The four people's eyes met in the air, reaching a kind of silent consensus.

Li Lin sat in the corner, like a guest who had mistakenly wandered into the company's annual party. While others were discussing performance, bonuses, and how to make big money in the future, he was showing off his tea and fruit platter.

He looked determined to make his two hundred yuan gift money worthwhile.

As the gathering drew to a close, everyone rose to say goodbye. Yue Pengrui walked to the tent entrance, paused for a moment, and glanced back at Li Lin.

"Out of consideration for our shared school, if you ever find yourself in dire straits, come and join me."

After saying that, he didn't give Li Lin a chance to speak and left, lifting the curtain.

Gu Ying chuckled and came from behind to see them off.

"Brother Yue is a straightforward person; seeking refuge with him is a good option."

"Let's not talk about that. After you finish taking inventory, Brother Li, you can come to me if you want to purchase any military supplies. I have some friends in this coalition."

"Then I'll have to trouble you to take care of me from now on, Young Master Tianfu." Li Lin cupped his hands in farewell and then slowly walked away.

Gu Ying saw a few green plums suddenly fall from his bulging sleeves, shook her head, and went into the tent.

-----------------

After listening to the men boast for an hour, Li Lin patted his round belly and returned to his dilapidated camp. On the way, he didn't forget to give Xing Ganqi and the other Yu Yong guards the fruit he had picked up.

At noon, Li Lin sat on the shaft of the Sinan cart, flipping through numerous registers and ledgers, and began calculating accounts in the glaring daylight.

This task should have been done by the group of Qi-cultivating apprentices; they could have just done the final supervision and inspection themselves.

However, firstly, Yi Ge had absolutely no interest in anything outside of alchemy, and secondly, Li Lin was truly terrified of being tormented.

It would be better for him to handle matters concerning the supreme command authority personally in the future.

With the help of the [Traveler] skill, Li Lin calculated that maintaining the current team of nearly two thousand people would cost about eight hundred taels of gold per day.

It was three hundred taels more than he had estimated yesterday.

And this extra expense came from the disarmed stragglers.

These scattered soldiers were quite elite; I recall many of them being local soldiers from Nanli, or even transferred from his father's army.

However, in the end, they all switched sides to others during the power struggle within the team.

"Young Master, here is the list you requested."

After taking the troop roster from Xing Ganqi, Li Lin carefully examined the organization and discovered something amiss.

He didn't even realize that his long-range units had been completely devoured by the big dogs.

"Two squads of musketeers, eight heavy cannons, four Flame Rain rocket launchers, and three squads of Iron Hail musketeers?"

"This number is almost comparable to a regular army, isn't it?"

After much contemplation, it became clear that this gunpowder-equipped army was indeed not a force funded by the Li family of Nanli.

Thinking back to Yun'er's group of Qi-cultivating apprentices, Li Lin had a guess.

"These troops must be the subordinates of that runaway adjutant."

"Otherwise, it's impossible to explain why such an insect was appointed as an adjutant, and why he was allowed to easily take the banner."

Thinking about it this way, many things become clear.

The original owner was truly shrewd, simultaneously introducing dragonborn and gunpowder troops to strengthen the caravan, and establishing a three-way balance of power within the caravan to maintain his command position.

Unfortunately, ideals are beautiful, but reality is harsh.

He failed to balance the power among the three parties, and his psychological resilience was also inadequate, ultimately leading to his death with resentment.

As a result, Li Lin would never dare to use these troops mixed with outsiders.

In a game, low loyalty is acceptable; at worst, you can just send them to the battlefield as cannon fodder.

In reality, it would be five hundred well-trained, resentful Jade Warriors.

One wrong move and he could be rushed into the truck and killed!

He's just a lousy gamer, not some hero like Liu Bei or Cao Cao, and he has no ability to make people serve him without holding grudges.

As the sun began to set, Li Lin arrived at Gu Ying's tent again, carrying the military contract.

These were all military contracts for ordinary Yuyong troops. The contracts for the gunpowder troops involved organization, ordnance, and the sale of black powder, which he intended to keep.

Gu Ying was working on the abacus in the account book when she saw him come in. She immediately put down her pen, greeted him with a big smile, and subtly dismissed the beautiful maid who came to serve tea and water.

"Brother Li, is something the matter?"

"I want to trade away some of the stragglers in the team," Li Lin said bluntly. "Two hundred and fifty men, all well-trained Jade Warriors, but unfortunately, I don't have their morale and can't control them."

Gu Ying looked troubled.

He was in the business of buying and selling goods and supplies; he really wasn't good at trading military equipment.

"This..." Gu Ying touched her nose. "Brother Li, please wait a moment."

He got up and left the tent, returning a moment later with a man.

It was Ma Mingyuan, also known as "Tian Tong".

"I heard you're going to sell soldiers?"

Gu Ying handed over the tent to the two of them to discuss. Ma Mingyuan entered the room, leaned back in a chair, his eyes cold and impatient, completely losing the warmth he had shown earlier.

"Two hundred and fifty Jade Warriors, all elite soldiers," Li Lin said, "in exchange for grain and gold."

Ma Mingyuan spat the sunflower seed shells on the ground and glanced at him sideways: "Everyone's short of elite soldiers right now, this kind of business is worth doing."

He paused, then continued, "But Brother Li, I've heard about your group. They're all deserters who were disarmed and recruited from the battlefield. You're telling me they're elite troops?"

Li Lin offered his prepared response: "Does that mean deserters can't be used? Isn't rallying defeated troops and regrouping a necessary skill for any military strategist?"

"If I hadn't lost the hearts of my troops and suffered heavy losses among my trusted men, I wouldn't have put these elite soldiers out for trade."

Ma Mingyuan laughed heartily, not arguing further, and slammed the bag of sunflower seeds on the table: "Alright, anyway, we still have three days to rest. Tomorrow I'll come to your army camp and see if what you say is true. I can help you find another unit right away."

"What's the price?" Li Lin asked.

He held up five fingers, then immediately withdrew two. "Three hundred taels of gold, plus enough provisions and supplies for your troops for seven days."

"Equipment must be taken into account, otherwise, there's no point in discussing it."

Li Lin remained silent.

This is practically robbery.

The recruitment fee for 250 well-trained Jade Warriors, along with their armor and weapons, exceeded 1,500 taels of gold.

Not to mention that they are now trapped in the desert, where pig iron and military equipment are scarce resources. It wouldn't be surprising if the prices increased tenfold in a few days.

It's so dark, thankfully he didn't reveal everything at once.

"Brother Li," Ma Mingyuan seemed to have seen through his thoughts and said calmly, "We are all fellow disciples, so don't say I'm trying to trick you."

"The Allied Forces have all sorts of people in Beinangao, Shangyang in the west, Nongchang in the center, and Weijing in the Longting. There are many factions. Without me to keep an eye on you, others can manipulate you however they want. No matter how good the price you get, it's useless if you can't get it."

"If you don't believe me, just say so. I have other things to take care of and don't have time to waste here."

Li Lin glanced at Gu Ying.

Gu Ying held her teacup, her gaze drifting towards the top of the tent, without saying a word.

The team urgently needs supplies, so let's be ruthless and consider it a trial balloon.

"Alright." Li Lin closed his eyes. "Inspect tomorrow."

-----------------

At night, on the Sinan cart, Yi Ge secretly used the precious clean water to take a bath again.

Despite the misty air, Li Lin harbored no ill intentions whatsoever.

accurate.

Nine out of ten parts are unpleasant.

The sixth young master of Nanli didn't take him seriously at all, which was fine since they weren't familiar with each other.

But Ma Mingyuan was clearly trying to scam him.

They knew he was not good at socializing and had no other connections within the coalition, which is why they dared to raise prices on the spot.

"Sibling bond? Pshaw!"

"Purely exploiting personal relationships!"

At that moment, a system message box appeared in front of him:

[Side Quest 1: Recruit five new units to your unit list] [Reward: 1000 experience points (distributable), 300 gold]

Li Lin jolted awake, rolled off the bed, and looked extremely serious.

In the game, this recruitment mission will only be issued if the system detects an enemy force with an overwhelming strength disparity within the combat range of the player and their allies and vassals.