Chapter 270: Avaricious
Translator: StackThatCoin Editor: Hitesh
A dead silence reigned the entire hall. No one was expecting this, as during the discussion of the terms of the alliance between the three dynasties, Duke of Long Yang, the emissary of Great Wei, actually brought out such an additional term in front of Yan Dan and Qu Ping. Did he really have some personal scores to settle with Wu Qi? Not really, as everybody knew that it was impossible for him to have any personal scores with Wu Qi. It could only be someone who was currently inside of the hall and had a personal relationship with Duke of Long Yang.
Everyone turned to look at Lu Buwei at the same time. Lu Buwei, appeared to be perfectly composed, seen holding a teacup, slowly and pleasingly sipping and tasting the tea. He was not showing any uneasiness or unnatural expression. Immediately, Yan Dan's face turned extremely unsightly. He looked at Lu Buwei, then turned to look at Wu Qi, but could not come out with any words for a long while.
Wu Qi breathed out a long sigh in his mind. With Lu Buwei, Heavenly Spirit Sect, and the half-genuine and half-sham Yue Yi, Qin Wuyang, there was no way he could keep staying in Ji City anymore. Worst of all, he could not even stay right beside Lu Chengfeng, as it would drag Lu Chengfeng into unnecessary troubles. Currently, Lu Chengfeng had established some foundation in Great Yan Dynasty's imperial court, but when compared with Lu Buwei, Heavenly Spirit Sect, Yue Yi, Qin Wuyang, and some other people, even if Yue Yi and Qin Wuyang were just putting on an act, when they joined hands together, it would bring Lu Chengfeng a devastating disaster that could potentially destroy him completely.
He rose to his feet, crossed his eyes and looked askance at the seductive and charming Duke of Long Yang. Suddenly, he felt sick of everything. All of these people were old men who had lived over two to three thousand years. Why did they still had to be so calculative with him, a mere small potato? A flame of fury surged from the bottom of his heart as he said with a cold voice, "You're an old demon who has lived several thousands of years, yet you still dress like a famous prostitute in a brothel. Have you really become addicted to selling your a*shole?"
"Clang!* The teacup in Lu Buwei's hand shattered, while all the tea in it was instantly evaporated. He looked at Wu Qi with great shock, then turned to look at Duke of Long Yang, whose face turned pale with fright. It was as if he still could not figure out whether these words truly came from Wu Qi's mouth. These words were too vicious, and they totally ruined Lu Buwei's interpretation of politics and etiquette, completely toppling his view of the world and life!
They were at the place where all the top men of three dynasties gathered. How could someone as disgusting and nasty as this be allowed to be present? How could such vicious, senseless, or even worst, scurrilous words, be uttered on an occasion like this? Even though Wu Qi's description for Duke of Long Yang was true, but those were words that could not be uttered like this! It was an elegant experience for being able to spend a wonderful and pleasant night with Duke of Long Yang. But why did it sound so... different when it was mentioned by Wu Qi?
Wearing a gloomy expression, Wu Qi did not give the pale-faced Duke of Long Yang a second look. Instead, he took a step forward and bowed at Yan Dan.
"Your Majesty, I've one request to make." said Wu Qi coldly, "After I kill Duke of Long Yang's disciple later, I wish to have your permission, as I would like to establish a kingdom on the shore of the Great Eastern Ocean. I will use all the fief under my name in exchange for Great Yan Dynasty's support in that."
With Lu Buwei and all his enemies staying in Ji city, the future situation of Wu Qi would become even more awkward. On top of that, Yu Qianqian, the girl who had the intention of marrying Wu Qi, was also residing in Ji City. Thus, no matter how he looked at it, Ji City had become a land of troubles. So, rather than staying there and being attacked constantly, it would be better for him to just leave Ji City, jump out from the troubled water of Great Yan and venture to another place to establish a foundation that truly belonged to himself.
To the west, there were the Yuanyang Kingdom, Meng Fortress, and Little Meng City. In the future, if Wu Qi could establish a new vassal kingdom to the east of Great Yan, together with Ye Zidou's Purple Leaf City, and the power of Heaven Breaking Sword Sect that supported Ye Zidou from behind, he should be able to have a sufficient power to protect himself. When staying in Ji City, he had to use the name of Number One Martial Club Under the Heaven to keep some private soldiers of his own. But, if he was in his own kingdom, he could have as many private soldiers as he desired, as long as he had the wealth to support the army.
As for the source of income, although the shore of Great Eastern Ocean was a dangerous place, out into the ocean were the Long Bo Kingdom and Featherman Kingdom. He could always capture some warriors from Long Bo Kingdom, subdue and teach them the Heavenly Hundred Spirit Warring Formation, while selling slaves from Featherman Kingdom back to Great Yan Dynasty, as they were pretty popular in Ji City. On top of that, the Great Eastern Ocean also produced all sorts of pearls, along with strange and rare materials. Wu Qi had decided that he would ask Hai Yuntian to help him establish his private merchant in Market of Four Seas, specialized in selling various treasures that were produced in the Great Eastern Ocean.
As a matter of fact, Wu Qi already had a complete plan and strategy in his mind. He was very confident that he could monopolize the market of all the products from Great Eastern Ocean. And what came after monopoly were high profits, while high profits meant endless streams of wealth. With all the wealth, he would be able to raise his own army, and with sufficient soldiers, he could then seek cultivators with promising potential, and slowly raise his own forces.
Leaving Ji City, it was a matter of great urgency. If he kept staying in Ji City, he would have to suffer beating passively. Although it seemed there was a great risk in leaving Ji City, with the nearly endless trump cards Wu Qi had, as long as he was not attacked by two Nascent Divinity cultivators together, he had no fear of anybody.
Therefore, Wu Qi bowed deeply at Yan Dan and said, "Wu Qi requests voluntarily, using all the fiefs under my name in exchange for the support from Great Yan Dynasty. Please allow Wu Qi to bring a batch of people and venture to the shore of Great Eastern Ocean. I'll seek a land and establish a kingdom, expanding Great Yan Dynasty's territory."
Out of the corner of his eyes, Yan Dan gazed at Lu Buwei, who sat with his back straight and did not seem to be moving, and made up his mind. With a deep voice, Yan Dan said, "Granted! As long as you can defeat Duke of Long Yang's disciple, you can pack your things immediately and begin your journey to the Great Eastern Ocean. Those fiefs of yours will still be yours, and I'll provide you with better supplies and help you build your city smoothly. Hmm, that is because of your recent credit, as I've promised to confer you as Great Yan's Duke of Purple Jade Seal, and that is the highest tier of Duke one can be conferred in Great Yan Dynasty."
Wu Qi sighed lightly. Judging from what Yan Dan said, he had completely leaned over to Lu Buwei.
Nevertheless, Wu Qi felt that if he were Yan Dan, he would have made the same decision. The resources held in Lu Buwei's hands were much greater than Wu Qi, and the aid he could provide to Great Yan was much stronger. For example, by relying on Wei Merchant's power, Great Yan had currently planted countless spies and agents in all the other dynasties, yet the level of penetration that all these dynasties had in Great Yan could almost be equaled to a sheet of plain paper. The strategic power that Lu Buwei held was simply too strong, and contrary to that, what was the thing that Wu Qi could provide?
‘Luckily, I never had any loyalty for Great Yan, and you, Yan Dan!’ Wu Qi laughed in his heart, while feeling fortunate that he never had too much of a favorable impression towards both Yan Dan and Great Yan. He was only curious about Jing Ke, and had a favorable impression of him.
He bowed at Yan Dan once again, and said with a deep voice, "If that is the case, I make a bold request for Your Majesty to support Wu Qi with two hundred thousand mighty soldiers and fifty million people, so that they can help Wu Qi in building a city at the shore of Great Eastern Ocean. I'll select these two hundred thousand mighty soldiers myself, and I'll bring all their direct families with me; all of them have to pledge absolute loyalty to me. As for the fifty million people, please allow me to pick them from all the vassal kingdoms under the heaven. As for the rations and forage, living materials, various ordnances, magical items, talismans and all other things, please provide me with a preferred supply... It would be best if their quantity is sufficient to support 100 years of development after the city is built. Hmm, that will be the best case scenario."
No ministers from Great Chu said a word, as it was Great Yan's internal affair.
On the other side, all Great Yan's civilian and military officials cried out shockingly at the same time, while Lu Buwei suddenly burst out into a loud laughter and said, "What an absurd request you've made, Duke of Tianyun! I've done a deep study on Great Yan's past political situation. All the ministers who brought people to establish a new city in a remote land had at most one million people with them, and they did not have any guards or soldiers following them. Best case scenario? They were escorted by several thousand personal guards that were sent out by their own clan. So, what virtues or abilities do you, Duke of Tianyun, have, that make you become so bold to throw out such a ridiculous request?"
With a thump on the low table before him, Lu Buwei cried out with a deep voice, "Just because of your request, fifty million people have to leave their homes and follow you to the shore of Great Eastern Ocean, a savage frontier filled with unknown risks and dangers, struggling for survival! Do you know that, Duke of Tianyun, the almighty Heaven cares for the welfare for every living thing? Don't you think that your wild and unreasonable request is against the heavenly principle and human relations? Asking fifty million innocent people to risk their lives and building a new city for you? Duke of Tianyun, you are a man with a cruel and venomous heart!!"
Wu Qi gazed at Lu Buwei coldly and said, "Fifty million people is just the first batch. In the future, I'll request more support from His Majesty. Perhaps, I'll even request one hundred million people to be moved from various vassal kingdoms to the new city that I build!"
These words astounded every single man in the hall. Building a new city and expanding the territory was not something rare in Great Yan, as many descendants of nobility condemned to exile had done the same thing, bringing many people and some personal guards to establish their own foundation in a remote land. However, just as what Lu Buwei said earlier, even these concubine's sons from influential clans would at most bring one million people with them in helping them build a new city, while sometimes, those unlucky concubine's sons from smaller clan might just bring a few hundred to thousand people with them, venturing into a strange land to open up their future territory.
But now, right in this place, Wu Qi had just requested for the first batch of fifty million people, and requested Great Yan to deploy two hundred thousand mighty soldiers who would pledge absolute loyalty to him.
This was absolutely avaricious! And, it was no different from duping Yan Dan! Fifty million people, two hundred thousand mighty soldiers, and this was just the first batch of manpower! So, how much would he request in the future? On top of that, all the goods and materials that came together with them, such as rations and forage, money and all other things that could support 100 years of development, they simply amounted to an astronomical figure. It was true that Great Yan Dynasty could afford this amount of manpower and resources, but what made Wu Qi worth such a heavy help?
Under the watchful eyes of the crowd, Wu Qi pulled out the hand-written books that were glinting with blinding restrictive runes from Zhang Yi's storage ring, one after another one.
A total of over four hundred books, each with different contents, were placed neatly right before Wu Qi. Wu Qi said deeply, "I'm blessed, as after one of Great Qin's most important ministers, Zhang Yi, was severely wounded by Wanying Dragon King, I managed to seize this storage ring from him. It contains many books that record the cultivation techniques practiced by various Great Qin's generals."
It was almost at the same time that Yan Dan and Qu Ping jumped up together, while sitting right next to them, Duke of Long Yang had his face flickered as he gave Lu Buwei a rueful look. "I think that these books should make Your Majesty agree with my request." said Wu Qi, "With them, although we might still be unable to completely restrain the various fierce and brutal divine abilities and mystic techniques used by Great Qin's mighty generals, at least we can have a better understanding beforehand. Perhaps..."
Yan Dan waved his hand and put all the books into his sleeve. Then, he cried out with a deep voice, "Granted! Wu Qi will venture to the Great Eastern Ocean and build a new city at its shore. I'll not spare those who try to interfere with him! Wu Qi, my loyal servant, no matter what you need, you can just go ahead and inform the Grandmaster of Imperial Clan Court, Yu Xuan."
Wu Qi smiled. So, Yan Dan had just appointed the Grandmaster of Imperial Clan Court, Yu Xuan, to handle this matter? This was no different from poking a large hole in Great Yan's national treasury!
He smiled delightfully, then rose to his feet, turned to look at Duke of Long Yang with a cold expression, and said, "Miss emissary, where is your swordsman?"
Once again, everyone in the hall had their faces flickered.