Warhammer Fantasy: I Have Total War System

At 1-3 PM, Li Lin, dressed in the formal attire of a military governor, reappeared outside the Sinan carriage.

The Nanli garrison had all assembled, with twenty-eight men lined up in three rows. Even Song Yu, who had difficulty walking, stood at the end of the line, leaning on a wooden stick, his back ramrod straight.

Without wasting any words, Li Lin directly took out the corresponding number of jade slips containing the "Immovable Profound Soul Technique" from the brocade pouch at his waist.

"These jade slips are not meant to be read."

Considering that many of these people came from poor farming families, Li Lin took out a stick, held it up so everyone could see it, and demonstrated how to use it.

"Place it against your forehead, calm your mind, and the cultivation techniques in the jade slip will automatically enter your mind."

After he finished speaking, he distributed them one by one.

Wherever he went, everyone knelt on one knee, receiving the offering with both hands, not daring to utter a sound.

He looked as if he were receiving an official title in the Dragon Palace.

Several guards who were originally farmers and conscripts trembled as if they were being shaken after receiving the jade slip.

This is a Heaven-Rank cultivation technique—a treasure that even wealthy landlords can't afford. No, even ordinary government officials and county magistrates can't access such a treasure!

Of all the people present, Song Yu's emotions were the most exaggerated and turbulent.

His hands didn't shake.

But on his face below, there was a twisted, ferocious smile that he could no longer suppress.

He followed Li Lin closely, fawning over him like a dog and obeying his orders, even when he was seriously injured.

What is the reason?

loyalty?

patriotic?

He never believed such nonsense.

Back when he was a beggar, those Nanli people who said he couldn't integrate into Yin and Yang were no different from the traitors of the Supreme Heaven.

He only pursues one thing.

There is something that cannot be obtained without currying favor with the powerful and wealthy—power.

Only those with power can control the world, occupy high positions, and enjoy the respect and loyalty of others.

Those fools who lack both strength and cunning can only be torn apart by lead bullets, becoming yet another "glorious" martyr's skeleton in the morgue.

Fortunately, after enduring countless near-death experiences, he finally got what he wanted.

"Everyone, remove your armor and weapons, change into suitable training clothes and then come back to assemble," Li Lin said, waving his hand.

"I will send you to a special training place in a while. For the next week or so, your only task is to cultivate. Those who have not reached the Inner Strength level should break through to the Inner Strength level, and those who have reached the Inner Strength level should break through to the Outer Strength level."

"Song Yu will replace Xing Ganqi as the temporary team leader. Any problems you encounter during your cultivation will be reported by Song Yu."

"Yes!" the crowd shouted, clasping their hands in a fist salute.

Song Yu's mouth stretched almost to his ears.

Li Lin teleported them into the inner hall of the Dragon Palace, and after instructing them to cultivate around the dragon pearl on the stone pillar, he returned to the outside of the compass cart.

Upon opening the system, another 30 of the remaining 40 Chendao points were distributed.

A flash of ink light appeared, and the third ink lion leaped down from the sculpture's base.

It is about the same size as Laifu and Laicai, and is completely black. The jade beads in its throat make a "gurgling" buzzing sound when they collide.

"From now on, your name will be Jinfu." Li Lin patted the lowered head of the black lion.

Jinfu gently rubbed against Li Lin's palm.

These stone lions seem to have their own personalities, and Jinfu is noticeably less active than Laicai and Laifu.

Lai Cai still needs time to repair, so Li Lin told Lai Fu and Jin Fu to prepare the open space outside the truck.

He summoned Chen Guizhou and others and gave them three instructions. First, he instructed Chen Guizhou to accompany him to the previously agreed-upon water-fetching team to discuss with various merchants and business alliances within the allied forces.

Second, send some staff members to gather intelligence to find out if there are any unemployed soldiers in the Allied Forces. Back at Stone Fortress, he had learned that there were foreign mercenaries known as "War Dogs" and some... martial arts practitioners mixed in with the Allied Forces.

Thirdly, they were instructed to gather as many cooks, horse-drawn carriages, and oxcarts as possible from the supply corps, as there would be a lot of things to be transported later.

Chen Guizhou blinked and immediately guessed what Li Lin was planning to do.

Without saying anything more, he cupped his hands and said, "This subordinate obeys," then quickly left to arrange the matters requested by Li Lin.

Looking at the old man's back, Li Lin had a vague feeling that he was carrying out the order, but did not agree with Li Lin's actions.

Li Lin appreciated this attitude, and it made him realize even more clearly that these people were not his subordinates.

Instead, he was following Commander Zhao's orders to assist him.

They will withdraw as soon as conditions permit.

To cultivate a truly mature staff group that belongs to him, he has to start from scratch.

Once everything is arranged.

Li Lin had someone bring the largest saddle and placed it on Jin Fu. Finally, he mounted Jin Fu and, with two black lions and a large entourage, headed towards the caravan behind them.

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

At the same time, in the spiritual pool of a tea merchant in the rear of the allied forces' caravan.

The spirit pool wasn't spacious; the carriage was essentially a large tea room, though its decor was exceptionally luxurious.

The beams were covered in gold, the walls were inlaid with thin slices of precious spices from the Western world, and the floor was covered with three layers of velvet carpet, so soft that you couldn't even hear your footsteps.

The air of nouveau riche is palpable.

Gu Ying, Ma Mingyuan, and Shen Du were carefully observing a jade toad, which was being dragged across a long table by a red silk ribbon, in a corner of the tea room.

This jade toad is entirely yellow, with a carved nose, eyes, and belly and back. The texture is delicate, and the jade is so warm and smooth that it looks like it was just picked from a person's body.

"The patina, the knife work, tsk tsk tsk," Ma Mingyuan exclaimed in admiration. If the owner of the item hadn't been chatting and laughing with someone nearby, he would have stolen it.

"Wait a minute! This jade toad also has these magical patterns... This is an imperial nurturing artifact! It's a high-quality item specially used to nourish the soul and strengthen the body! There are very few pieces of this quality among the common people!" He couldn't help but exclaim in surprise.

The owner of the jade toad, who was also the master of this spirit pool, walked over with a radiant face and a beaming smile.

"Thank you for your kind words, Young Master Ma! It's just an ordinary jade carving, bought in exchange for a few bags of aged rice and millet. It's not worth much."

He spoke modestly, but the way he was laughing so hard on both sides clearly showed that he was extremely proud of himself.

"Your business is too shady, isn't it?" Ma Mingyuan said sourly.

"Hey! How can you call it a shady deal when it's a mutually agreeable transaction?" The wealthy merchant put on a serious face, with an expression of great compassion. "The original owner of this item has elderly parents and young children to support, and has been trapped here for three days without food."

"We finally caught up with the main force of the Allied army, but guess how we're going to find them? The rations didn't arrive this morning! We're going to go hungry again!"

"These generations of aged rice and millet wouldn't be worth much under normal circumstances, but now they're priceless. They want to buy them, but no one will sell!"

The wealthy businessman spread his hands and said loudly.

"There are plenty of people willing to give up everything they own for it; I only did it because I felt sorry for them!"

Upon hearing this, the other merchants in the carriage clapped and praised the man for his kindness and virtue.

"Damn it, why doesn't this good thing happen to me?" Ma Mingyuan cursed under his breath, then continued to greedily admire the craftsmanship of the jade toad.

Gu Ying stood to the side, not saying much.

He looked around and saw that everyone present was from the same circle as Ma Mingyuan and Shen Du, mostly from merchant families involved in the upstream and downstream of the arms business.

He doesn't have a deep relationship with Gu Jia, who does everything.

There were only about ten people seated, including Shen Du, three of whom were soldiers, and two were former rear guard officers who had been dismissed from their posts.

After Commander Yu and his men left, all of Shen Du's military advisors were dismissed by the newly appointed military commander, Xin Qi.

That woman was quite autocratic, and with General Duanmu's advisors by her side, she didn't listen to the military advisor's opinions at all.

"Quiet down."

Shen Du sat in the main seat, dressed in a dark blue robe, sitting upright with a calm gaze.

Once everyone had quieted down, he stood up and cupped his hands in a respectful gesture to the crowd.

"Everyone, have you heard the news from this morning?"

The topic he raised was like an ice crystal thrown into a pond, silencing everyone in the car.

After a long while, a few people exchanged glances, and one of them stood up and said, "Young Master Shen, as we have said before, the fight between Li from Nanli and Young Master Wei is none of our business, and we have no intention of getting involved."

During the meal, the two dismissed officers simultaneously sneered.

"Fight? That guy surnamed Li's body's probably already buried, what's there to fight about?"

The merchants' expressions changed, but the representative still forced a smile and said, "Whether Steward Li lives or dies, this matter has nothing to do with us, who have families. We hope that Military Advisor Shen will understand."

"You spineless businessmen—"

Shen Du raised his hand and pressed it down, stopping the argument.

"I'm not asking you to take sides." His tone remained unchanged, even becoming gentler. "Those of you here today are all close to the interests of my Shen family. You are free to speak your mind without any reservations."

"The reason I've gathered everyone here is to discuss how to make money, to only do business, and not to get involved in military affairs."

"As for whether or not to do it, you can decide for yourselves after I finish speaking. There will be no coercion."

The businessmen exchanged glances and nodded.

The representative sat back down, eager to hear what Shen Du was planning.

Shen Du then steered the conversation toward the long table: "Did everyone see Boss Cui's jade cicada just now?"

"This place has a large population but a shortage of food."

"Just now, Young Master Wei and my junior brother Li Lin had a falling out. The morning's rations were lost because of their fight, and it's highly likely that they won't be available again in the future."

No one spoke. Everyone present had their own intelligence network within the coalition, but ultimately, it was a matter of different fields having different expertise.

No matter how much they tried to find out, business people couldn't match the information network of Shen Du, the former military officer.

Shen Du continued, "Without the supply of public grain, the only person who could possibly distribute grain to the tens of thousands of people in the rear is Jin Tian, ​​the military commander from Nongchang."

"We need to do two things now. First, we need to buy up all the grain available on the market at low prices. Second, we need to prevent Tianjin from releasing its free grain."

"Those refugees won't last more than a few days. At that point, we'll be in charge of the food prices in the entire rear area."

Someone suddenly said, "I'm good at raising prices, but those starving people don't have much money in their pockets. What are we after?"

Before Shen Du could speak, the wealthy merchant surnamed Cui immediately stood up and retorted, "Foolish! Those following behind are all people who fled Shangyang with their families!"

"How wealthy is Shangyang? It's the starting point of the Long Tooth Road. Among tens of thousands of people, if there are even a few impoverished young masters and ladies from powerful families, their gold, silver, valuables, family heirlooms, concubines, maids, and pageboys... just taking even one of them would be enough to cover all our losses from this trip!"

He became more and more enthusiastic as he spoke, and a shrewdness and ruthlessness unique to businessmen appeared on his face.

"Besides, even rats can be squeezed for some profit. Those ordinary people might have valuable assets. This is a business involving tens of thousands of people. Are you worried about not making a profit?"

Ma Mingyuan was stunned for a moment, then suddenly slammed his hand on the table.

"Brilliant! Absolutely brilliant!" He stood up, applauded Shen Du, his eyes shining. "He doesn't have to get involved with those two, yet he can still make a fortune. Senior Brother Shen's business acumen is something I, Ma Mingyuan, admire the most!"

The crowd immediately joined in applause and praise, and even the merchants who had been hesitant at first showed expressions of interest.

Gu Ying also clapped along.

His expression was flawless, but he felt a vague sense of unease.

He is family-oriented and not short of money. Moreover, his family motto is "harmony brings wealth, be successful in all directions, and know when to stop." His ancestors also started by casting a wide net to make a small fortune.

It would be truly painful for him to earn money during a national crisis that could lead to the extinction of his lineage.

But what can you do when you're feeling so bad?

Everyone in the room is talking about making money, but he's not; that's considered being a loner.

People who don't fit in will only face being bullied to death.

"Truly worthy of being Senior Brother Shen! His mind is beyond question!" he praised loudly, his smile genuine and sociable, revealing no flaw whatsoever.