Warhammer Fantasy: I Have Total War System

"Brother Li has a good eye. This Qingluan Tower is a major merchant house in Weijing, headquartered in Xiuyanqing City. It is famous for selling magical artifacts made by Xiuyanqing." Ma Mingyuan began to talk at length about his experiences with Qingluan Tower.

Li Lin did not immediately turn against him because he had been framed by his father, surnamed Lu, the day before.

Instead, he patiently listened to him finish speaking, then reached out and grasped at the air, taking out four wooden boxes, each containing twenty gold ingots. He handed one to Ma Mingyuan and the other to Gu Ying.

A look of surprise flashed in both of their eyes. Most likely, their spiritual pools were far less powerful than the Dragon Palace's, which allowed for free teleportation.

"I apologize for troubling you all last time. This is a small token of my appreciation from your junior brother. Please do not refuse."

"Please pass these two boxes on to Senior Brother Yue and Senior Brother Shen."

Ma Mingyuan's many surprises, doubts, and calculations vanished the moment the amber light from the Dragon Court's gold-casting shone on his face.

He watched as box after box of heavy gold was delivered to Qingluan Tower, disregarding all decorum, and immediately began to undermine its foundation:

"Brother Li! Listen to me! The things at Qingluan Tower are indeed excellent, but the prices are simply too exorbitant!"

"What kind of weaponry do you want? Just tell me, and I'll give you 30%, no, 50%! I guarantee the quality will be top-notch! And the price will definitely be 50% lower than Qingluan Tower's!"

Li Lin smiled calmly and replied briefly, "Business is about integrity. I've already signed and sealed the agreement; there's no reason for me to go back on my word."

"Later, when I have the chance, I will definitely look for my senior brother."

The more composed he was, the more anxious Ma Mingyuan became.

"Why wait until later, junior brother! I'm doing this for your own good! It's not too late now, hurry up and take the money. I'll cover any losses you incur!"

The people inside the building seemed unable to hold back any longer.

The maid who had handed out the invitation earlier, with a cold face, led two White Feather Guards and ran over in small, quick steps.

"Young master, you are decisive and upright, which my wife admires. She is willing to give you a hundred warhorses and several accompanying craftsmen. Please come upstairs for a chat."

A glint flashed in Li Lin's eyes. The value of these warhorses and craftsmen was no less than that of armor and weapons. Qingluan Tower was indeed sincere.

He immediately clasped his hands in greeting to his two senior brothers and followed the maid back into the building.

"Hey! Junior brother! Don't go!"

"We're fellow disciples! How could you trust an outsider like that!"

Ma Mingyuan was eager to chase after him, but was unexpectedly blocked by two towering white-feathered guards.

"Get out of my way! You son of a bitch! Do you even know who I am?!"

He watched as the large boxes of Dragon Court Casting Gold disappeared into the building, his eyes turning completely red. He channeled his inner energy and threw a punch, intending to knock the two White Feather Guards in front of him to the ground and teach these blind lackeys a lesson.

Unexpectedly, as soon as he threw a punch, he felt a dizzying sensation. When he came to his senses, he was the one who was thrown more than five or six feet away!

"Tian Tong! Don't be reckless! They have powerful families in Wei Jing behind them. Do you still want your family to do business in Wei Jing in the future?" Gu Ying saw that he was full of indignation and seemed to want to order the guards to attack, so she quickly stopped him with a stern voice.

It took him a great deal of persuasion to finally convince Ma Mingyuan to give up the idea.

Under the watchful eyes of numerous spies, the two returned dejectedly, the twenty valuable horseshoe-shaped gold coins in their hands feeling particularly unpleasant at that moment.

It constantly reminded them that all those boxes of Dragon Court Cast Gold transported into Qingluan Tower could have belonged to them.

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

As dusk fell at 5 PM, Li Lin returned to the camp with supply wagons fully loaded with military equipment and supplies.

The dilapidated campsite has been expanded more than three times its original size, and the neighbors on both sides have already taken their money and left, making room for the new campsite.

The newly conscripted peasant soldiers are practicing the most basic drills under the supervision of Yu Yong's personal guards. Their formations are neat and orderly, but they lack flexibility and cannot change formations in time according to orders and bugle calls from Lushun.

The supply camp behind him was bustling with activity, and at first glance, the population was at least twice as large as when he left at sunrise.

Li Lin summoned several managers to inquire, and sure enough, the supply train had exceeded two thousand people.

The military rations, which were originally expected to last five days, will probably run out in about two days.

"How about changing the treatment of military personnel's families to one meal a day?" someone suggested.

"From what I've gathered, this is already the best treatment among the surrounding camps."

Li Lin remained expressionless, simply instructing everyone to accept the freight truck escorted by Qingluan Tower outside.

When they saw the wagons laden with military equipment, elixirs, packhorses, military rations, and artisans, the stewards' worries about self-preservation vanished.

They felt a newfound respect for Li Lin, realizing that their once obsequious young master was now quite different.

How many soldiers were conscripted today?

Li Lin summoned Xing Ganqi for questioning.

"Reporting to the young master, all six hundred farm laborers have been recruited."

"So fast?"

During the day, he made purchases along the way and also inquired about conscription matters from the shopkeepers and managers.

Everyone says that recruiting one or two hundred people a day is about the limit.

If there are too many, it will be easy for unscrupulous people to take advantage of the situation, and problems such as falsely reporting the number or letting people in to freeload can easily occur.

Li Lin immediately summoned all the Yu Yong guards and stewards in charge of conscription and personally inspected the troops, military contracts, and accounts for the distribution of supplies.

After carefully checking for three hours, I was finally relieved to find that they had indeed recruited six hundred respectable men.

He pondered for a while and guessed that other generals might have abandoned their logistics personnel as human shields in order to break through the encirclement, making it extremely difficult to do anything now.

His own supply train was fully organized, with clerks, stewards, quartermasters, and cooks all in place, and could operate efficiently at a moment's notice.

Just then, a loud "bang" was heard, the crisp sound of gunpowder exploding came from the west side of the supply camp.

"Enemy attack? Robbery?"

Everyone turned to look at the source of the sound, their expressions tense.

Several White Feather Guards assisting in the transport placed their swords on their hilts.

"No need for you to trouble yourselves." Li Lin cupped his hands in greeting to them, then called out to the Yu Yong guards beside him, "Leave five men to distribute the new equipment, the rest of you come with me."

He led his personal guards, their menacing aura palpable, to the scene of the incident.

A one-eyed man dressed in the standard Jade Warrior Armor of the rear guard stood imposingly in the center of the camp, accompanied by four stout ogres, their short guns still emitting thick smoke.

The soldiers were all training, and only a few civil officials were maintaining order in the camp. At this moment, one of the civil officials fell to the ground, clutching his bleeding abdomen, his face pale.

The four naturalized cannibals, dressed in the cloth armor of the artillery battalion, each held a young woman or child in one hand, drooling as if they were about to lose control and devour them.

"Young Master!" Several administrative staff rushed over to report.

"We had already agreed with the people in this camp that we would give them fifty taels of gold to make room for us."

"But these men insist that we've taken over their camp!"

Oh, they're here to extort money.

Li Lin waved his hand, first ordering the wounded to be moved away, then asked Xing Ganqi, "Where are the two pieces of equipment I gave you?"

Xing Ganqi hurriedly took the white poplar bow from behind his back.

"I saw the bow, but what about the tree branch from the forest?"

Xing Ganqi looked bewildered.

"That ball."

"Oh!" He slapped his forehead. "I didn't know how to use it, and I was afraid of losing it, so I put it in the armory."

When Li Lin opened the system panel, he saw that in the troop section, only he and Yi Ge were considered independent Lord Affairs Officer units. Xing Ganqi was still just a lowly Jade Warrior, without his own troop badge, so he couldn't be equipped directly.

There's no other way; he'll have to figure out how to use the equipment himself.

"That thing is a magical artifact to aid in archery. Try it out in that direction. Okay, hurry up and go get it."

Li Lin glanced at the swaggering one-eyed man and the cannibal.

"It's a waste not to use a live target that's delivered right to our door."