After settling the matters in the southwest, Wang Chong went alone to see his big uncle, Wang Gen.
"Chong-er, the Imperial Army's Director of Military Affairs, Li Qingyou, has come to see me. He wants to buy your WuZi Steel sword!"
Upon seeing Wang Chong, Wang Gen immediately went straight to the point.
"What?!!"
Wang Chong had only just stepped into the hall when he heard these words, and his entire body froze in shock. And then an indescribable ecstasy swept over him like a raging tide, engulfing him.
Li Qingyou!
Upon hearing this name, Wang Chong knew that the thing he had been hoping for the most had happened …
The Imperial Court's purchase!
Even without the memories of his last life, Wang Chong deeply understood what this name signified. In the Tang dynasty, the name Li Qingyou was associated with only one thing: purchase.
Whether it was the Zhang, Lu, Huang, or Cheng clans of the capital, or the sword smiths and shops of the capital, once the Imperial Army's purchase was involved, it would be the personal responsibility of the Director of Military Affairs, Li Qingyou.
Wang Chong had heard the head of the Zhang Clan mention this several times.
But to Wang Chong, this name had a special meaning that only he knew.
It was precisely this Director of Military Affairs, Li Qingyou, who had led the largest purchase of WuZi Steel in the history of the Central Plains in his last life.
Although that purchase had failed for various reasons, it had been forever engraved in history.
Based on his calculations, it should have been another one or two years before this matter would occur. Wang Chong was not at all surprised that this matter had occurred so early.
The only thing he had not expected was for it to happen so quickly.
Two days ago, he had sent a message to the capital's Zhang Clan, making an exception and allowing them to purchase thirty WuZi Steel swords a month. His goal was to expand his influence in the Imperial Army.
Their ultimate target was Li Qingyou, the military affairs officer of the Imperial Army who was in charge of the purchase of military equipment in the palace.
Wang Chong believed that as long as the military affairs officer, who held an important position in the Imperial Army, saw his WuZi Steel weapon with his own eyes, he would definitely win his favor.
If Li Qingyou did not have a special fondness for WuZi Steel weapons, he would not have spent so much effort and money to convince the imperial court to purchase WuZi Steel.
However, Wang Chong did not expect Li Qingyou to act so quickly. It had only been two days, but Wang Chong had already made his move, even inviting his Big Uncle Wang Gen over.
"Hahaha, I didn't expect this. This is really a pleasant surprise!"
Wang Chong clenched his fists tightly, feeling extremely excited.
WuZi Steel was very precious and could bring in a lot of profits. However, this kind of profit had its limits. 'The rarer an object is, the greater its value'. Even though the weapon that Wang Chong sold to the Grand Marshal of the Imperial Army was worth two hundred thousand gold taels, this was something that the commoners would never dream of.
However, he could only sell a single such weapon every month. Furthermore, there was no guarantee that it would appear in the future.
It would take Wang Chong an entire year to earn two million gold taels, and what Wang Chong lacked the most at this moment was time.
There was nothing faster than selling it to the imperial court!
Not everyone was able to afford two hundred thousand gold taels for a single weapon like the Grand Marshal of the Imperial Army. However, the imperial court was different. The potential of the imperial court was nearly limitless.
In Wang Chong's plan, the best seller for the Hyderabad ores was the imperial court!
However, he had to grasp this opportunity well. If it was too early, the WuZi Steel would be worthless. The imperial court might not be willing to buy it, and they wouldn't be able to afford it either.
Now was the best time to do so!
"Wang gongzi, nice to meet you."
Under Big Uncle Wang Gen's lead, Wang Chong met with the famous Director of Military Affairs, Li Qingyou, in the Jade Tavern in the west of the city.
"Lord Li, you're being too polite."
Wang Chong smiled. As he spoke, he sat down opposite of Li Qingyou with a dignified expression.
Director of Military Affairs, Li Qingyou, was an elusive existence in the Tang dynasty.
His activities were mostly within the royal palace, and his movements were extremely discreet. Even when he visited the prestigious swordsmithing clans, he would come and go in a hurry, taking less than an incense's time.
Even though Wang Chong had heard of his name, this was his first time meeting him.
"Lord Wang should have told you about it, right?"
Li Qingyou's style of doing things was extremely straightforward. As soon as he sat down, he went straight to the point.
"The imperial court wishes to purchase a thousand WuZi Steel weapons from gongzi!"
"Hehe, since Lord Li is so straightforward, I'll be frank as well. — — I'm unable to purchase a thousand WuZi Steel weapons!"
Wang Chong shrugged with a smile.
"Oh, why? Is it because the price is too low? "
A glint flashed across Li Qingyou's eyes.
"Pardon my bluntness, but it's impossible for the imperial court to purchase the weapons at the same price as gongzi's. Twenty thousand gold taels for a single weapon isn't a low price. "
Indeed, given the current market for WuZi Steel weapons that Wang Chong had a grasp of, twenty thousand gold taels for a single weapon was indeed a low price. However, this had always been the case for the imperial court's purchases.
"Hahaha, Lord Li misunderstands."
Wang Chong chuckled.
"It's not that I'm unwilling, but that I can't sell them."
"Oh? Why?"
"Because I only have a hundred ingots of WuZi Steel."
Wang Chong chuckled.
From Arloja and Ablonodan, Wang Chong had only obtained three hundred jun in total. Yet, Li Qingyou wanted a thousand ingots here. How could he possibly have so many?
No matter how high Li Qingyou's price was, he couldn't afford it.
However, the reason why Wang Chong invited Li Qingyou over wasn't to talk about this.
"Hehe, pardon my bluntness, but the reason why Lord Li wants these WuZi Steel weapons is because you want to build an army of WuZi Steel weapons, right? However, is a thousand weapons really enough? "
Wang Chong chuckled.
The people of the Tang dynasty were truly intelligent. Imperial Army Commander Zhao Fengchen had mentioned to him more than once about the possibilities of building an army with WuZi Steel weapons.
It was the same for Li Qingyou as well.
At first glance, these people were able to recognize the military value of the sharp WuZi Steel.
And this was what the future Abbasid Caliphate did.
Anyone who saw the WuZi Steel weapons would immediately realize the immense military value it held.
"This …"
Li Qingyou was taken aback. He had only intended to purchase a batch of weapons to test it out with the Imperial Army. He hadn't thought about the details.
"Hehe, Lord Li, a thousand men is definitely insufficient to build an army of WuZi Steel weapons. Furthermore, 20,000 gold taels per weapon is indeed a little low. However, if Lord Li is willing to pay me 8,000,000 gold taels in advance, I might be able to find a way to equip an army of ten thousand men within five years. In fact, I can even lower the price of the WuZi Steel weapons to 18,000 gold taels for you. "
Wang Chong said.
By the side, Wang Chong's big uncle frowned. However, Li Qingyou's eyes lit up. The ten thousand WuZi Steel weapons that Wang Chong mentioned were secondary. What caught his attention was Wang Chong's 18,000 gold taels.
"Is 8,000,000 gold taels sufficient?"
Li Qingyou asked.
It was just an ordinary sentence, but it sounded powerful and domineering in the Cluster of Jade Tavern. Even Wang Chong couldn't help but look at Wang Chong in awe.
"He sure is rich!"
Wang Chong thought.
This was the difference between the military affairs supervisor of the royal court and the prestigious clans.
Eight million taels of gold was a huge sum of money even for the great clans in the capital. It was an unbearably huge sum.
However, to the military affairs supervisor of the Imperial Army, who often made large purchases, it was nothing more than a drizzle.
As the military affairs supervisor of the Imperial Army, Li Qingyou had the backing of the entire Tang dynasty.
This was the difference brought about by the weight class.
The more Wang Chong thought about it, the more he felt that his plan and rules were correct.
Li Qingyou reached an agreement with Wang Chong at the fastest speed possible, and he made use of this opportunity to have Wang Chong write down the contents of his promise on a document.
Words were no proof, and documents were the only proof.
As the military affairs supervisor, Li Qingyou was already used to it.
"Chong-er, why did you agree to his request? Won't we be making a huge loss this way?"
Walking out of the Cluster of Jade Tavern, Wang Chong's big uncle, Wang Gen, couldn't help but ask. The Wang Clan was bound together for good and bad.
Even though the one who was going to lose out was Wang Chong, Wang Gen didn't think that he had nothing to do with this matter.
"Hehe, big uncle, he has already come knocking on our door. Do you think that we can still reject him? "
Wang Chong chuckled.
"This …"
Wang Gen was taken aback. If it was just Li Qingyou, he wouldn't have cared at all. He could have just rejected him. However, Wang Gen knew that the one standing behind Li Qingyou was the Holy Emperor.
This was also the reason why Wang Gen didn't say a single word throughout the entire tavern.
"Hehe, big uncle, don't worry. We won't be losing out on this matter! "
Wang Chong consoled with a smile.
He knew what his big uncle was conflicted about. The reason why Li Qingyou went to Wang Gen instead of looking for him or Big Uncle Li Lin in the Imperial Army was to lower his price.
This was also the reason why his big uncle was conflicted.
However, Wang Chong was different. He wasn't too worried about this matter.
"Five years! Who knows what will happen in five years? "
As Wang Chong spoke those words that only he could hear, he couldn't help but sigh in awe.
Ten thousand weapons in five years, even Li Qingyou probably didn't realize the significance of the deal he had just struck with Wang Gen.
Too many things could happen in five years.
If that calamity didn't happen within five years, if he was still alive after five years, he might just be able to fulfill his deal with Li Qingyou …
Shaking his head, Wang Chong quickly recovered from his daze.
"Eight million gold taels … I'll have to spend at least three to five million gold taels on Lion City. The rest can be used to carry out the next step of my plan."
After bidding farewell to Big Uncle Wang Gen, Wang Chong gazed at the clouds in the sky, and his heart was in turmoil.
The Lion City of Jiannan was a bottomless pit. Before him, there had never been a case of a private city being constructed in the Tang dynasty. Given the capabilities of a single person, this was still too much of a burden.
But in Wang Chong's heart, the Lion City was the most important thing to him at the moment. No matter how much money he had to spend, he was determined to carry it out.
This was also the reason why he requested an advance payment of several million gold taels from the Imperial Army. All kinds of barriers, defenses, rations, and even the repair of weapons …
There were simply too many things involved.
Even five million gold taels might not be enough!
But even so, with this sum of money, he should be able to achieve the effect he wanted. Now, it was time for him to move on to the next matter.
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