Chapter 153: This Scoundrel! He Wants Money and Lives!
At this moment, the empress’s gaze turned to Lin Beifan and she smiled, “Sir Lin, you are the inventor of the water weapon, the hovercraft, and also participated in the manufacturing process of the hovercraft! This military training exercise on the water is of great responsibility, and you are solely responsible. I will appoint you to supervise the entire process! If the training is successful, you will be given credit!”
This is the magnanimous grace of the empress. Even if there is no credit, he can still give you some credit!
This makes it easier to get promoted in the future!
However, Lin Beifan quickly rejected, “Your Majesty, these are all professional matters! Professional matters should be left to professional people to handle. One person like Master Li is enough, I as a scholar do not need to interfere!”
The empress narrowed her eyes, rejecting it so easily, this guy must have a problem!
“Okay! Then I will hand this matter over to Sir Li to be responsible for!” The empress nodded.
“Understood!” The Minister of War bowed once again.
At this time, Lin Beifan turned around and said to the Minister of War, “Master Li, this water-based military training exercise is of great importance and cannot afford any mistakes! I suspect that someone will cause trouble. Master Li, please be extra careful!”
“I have arranged everything myself, Principal Lin needn’t worry!” The Minister of War sneered.
He didn’t have a good impression of Lin Beifan. His own child was studying in the Imperial Academy, and he didn’t know how much money he was swindled away by Lin Beifan.
Moreover, the matter of training soldiers was originally their specialty in the Ministry of War. Did they need a scholar to point out the way?
Joke!
Lin Beifan smiled faintly and didn’t care.
At that time, you will cry!
So, the matter was settled.
On the first day of next month, the court will hold a water-based military training exercise.
They will transport a large amount of military supplies with the newly manufactured hovercraft, starting from the mother river in the capital and flowing straight to Shangzhou, a distance of 300 miles.
The main purpose is to test the long-distance transportation effect of the hovercraft.
At the same time, it shows the might of our country and shocks other nations.
This news caused a sensation among the people.
“I heard that the hovercraft is a new type of water transport ship made by the court. It can carry people and goods, and its cargo capacity is several times that of ordinary ships. It’s really extraordinary!”
“After the hovercraft is deployed, it will form a small land mass that people can walk on as if on even ground. It’s a magnificent sight!”
“I heard that the cost of building this ship is very cheap, and the production process is very simple. The court was able to produce thousands of ships in less than three months. I wonder if it can be promoted for commercial use?”
“This water-based military training exercise is a rare opportunity. We must go and see!”
“Who says no!”
…
For the common people, it is mainly for entertainment.
But for the kings and emperors of various countries, this is a great opportunity to seize the airbags.
Usually, these airbags are locked in the Ministry of Industry.
Heavily guarded, heavily fortified—it is almost impossible to breach and emerge alive.
Now, the Great Wu Empire is conducting a water-based military training exercise, using hovercraft to transport military supplies, with a battle line that spans 300 miles.
They don’t believe that on such a long journey, there won’t be any opportunity to take advantage.
So, the ambitions of all kinds of people are excited.
“This time, we must get our hands on the airbags!”
“Send out our top experts to seize the hovercraft!”
“No matter how much it costs, we must bring back several airbags!”
…
So, various ambitious people sent their experts to the capital.
In a private room, Lin Beifan and Wang Fugui were drinking and chatting.
Lin Beifan smiled at Wang Fugui, “Boss Wang, I have arranged everything for you! With Master Wang’s ability, there should be no problem seizing a few airbags, right?”
Wang Fugui was very excited and raised his cup to Lin Beifan, “Principal Lin is indeed a capable person. With your help, there is nothing that cannot be achieved. Thank you on behalf of His Highness!”
Lin Beifan said displeasedly, “Boss Wang, we are all on the same side. Why thank me so much? It’s too polite!”
Wang Fugui slapped his forehead, “Oh, Principal Lin is right!”
Lin Beifan said, “Money is more practical!”
Wang Fugui said, “F*ck!”
So, Wang Fugui took out a sum of money and gave it to Lin Beifan.
He looked at it and saw that there were 300,000 taels.
Lin Beifan became even happier and raised his cup. “His Highness is so generous. Let’s continue drinking!”
Then, Lin Beifan got some money from others.
Although it wasn’t much, it added up to 3 million taels.
Adding the previous amount, Lin Beifan made a small profit of over 8 million taels.
As time passed, Lin Beifan kept an eye on the preparations for this water-based military training exercise.
He found that he was worthy of being an experienced Minister of War, and that the arrangements for this military training were well organized and orderly.
However, a major flaw was also discovered, and that was the lack of troops.
The Minister of War had only arranged for 20,000 soldiers and horses.
Although this was enough for normal water military exercises, it was not enough for this one. They were facing various powerful opponents, not only from domestic vassal kings but also from other countries. They would definitely send out their strongest experts to seize the airbags.
20,000 troops wasn’t even close to enough, 30,000 or even 40,000 soldiers would be barely sufficient.
Lin Beifan thought of reminding the Minister of War, but quickly discarded the idea. He and the Minister had a very cold relationship, so he doubted if the Minister would even listen to him.
Therefore, Lin Beifan decided to find the head-catcher of the Six Doors, whom he had worked with before. They had established a good relationship, so he could entrust this matter to them.
One night, Lin Beifan brought some gifts and went to the Six-Door headquarters.
“Lin Beifan, it’s rare for you to visit. What brings you here? Come in, come in! Dongmei, prepare some good tea for Principal Lin!” Guo, the leader of Six Doors, was very welcoming.
If it weren’t for Lin Beifan’s intervention before, helping to solve the problem of the two grandmasters having to fight, Guo and his men might have lost many brothers.
Therefore, Guo was very grateful to Lin Beifan.
Lin Beifan smiled and said, “Master Guo, there’s no need to be so polite! I came here because I have something important to discuss with you. After we finish, I will leave immediately.”
Guo’s expression became serious, and he extended his hand to make way, saying, “Principal Lin, please come to the study!”
The two of them walked into the study while chatting and laughing.
After a servant brought in two cups of hot tea and left, only the two of them remained in the room.
After taking a sip of tea, Chief Guo spoke with a serious tone, “Principal Lin, what important matter do you have?”
“This is about the upcoming water military exercise. It may not end well,” said Lin Beifan with a stern expression.
“What do you mean?” Guo’s face also became serious.
Lin Beifan told him, “I heard that the Prince of Northern Hebei and the Prince of Southern Jiang are ambitious and will send their experts to seize the airbags during the exercise!”
Guo was surprised, “There is such a thing? Is this information reliable?”
“This information comes from my two friends, the Sword Immortal and the Saber Saint, who are also experts in their own right. They unintentionally overheard this important message while traveling outside and passed the information back to me!”
Chief Guo envied him greatly for having two Grandmaster friends.
“But, Principal Lin, this exercise is under the responsibility of the Minister of War. Shouldn’t you inform Minister Li about this instead of coming to me?” Chief Guo asked, puzzled.
Lin Beifan smiled bitterly. “Master Guo, do you think Minister Li would believe me given our relationship?”
“That’s true!” Chief Guo nodded.
Although his focus was on the Jianhu rather than the court, he was well aware that the relationship between Lin Beifan and the Minister of War was like water and fire.
To be precise, Lin Beifan was at odds with everyone in the court. It was a matter of life or death for either side.
In such a situation, who would believe what he said?
“You could inform the Empress…”
“That’s not a good idea! After all, the source of this information is still questionable. I trust my two friends, but Her Majesty may not believe it. Even if she believes it and makes preparations, if nothing happens, the blame will fall on me!” Lin Beifan said with a bitter smile.
“With such a good opportunity to attack, do you think the court officials will give up? They will surely take advantage of the situation, and then my future may be ruined!” Lin Beifan continued.
“Sir Lin, you’re really in a difficult situation!” Chief Guo patted Lin Beifan’s shoulder sympathetically.
“As they say, as a high-ranking official, you eat the ruler’s food and carry his worries!” Lin Beifan looked serious and thanked the heavens above. “Since I know about this matter, I cannot just sit idly by. Otherwise, it would be a disgrace to the emperor’s grace. This is why I came to ask for your help, Guo!”
“What do you want me to do?” asked Chief Guo.
“It’s simple!” Lin Beifan smiled. “Master Guo, you can arrange for Embroidered Uniform Guard experts to follow the soldiers secretly during the exercise. If nothing happens, it’s okay. If something does happen, your people can take action! This way, you can maintain the court’s dignity and earn a great merit for yourself. Isn’t that a beautiful thing?”
Master Guo was very tempted.
If nothing happens, it’s okay. But if something does happen, he can earn an incredible merit. There is no harm to him!
For Guo, it was a win-win situation with no drawbacks.
“Okay!” Chief Guo slapped his thigh. “Principal Lin, you’re right! There haven’t been any major events in the Jianghu recently, so I can arrange for my men to go and have a look. If nothing happens, then it’s okay, but if something does happen, then we can take action and fulfill our duty to the court and the empress! Haha!”
Lin Beifan smiled and said, “Master Guo, you’re absolutely right!”
After that, Chief Guo went to visit the Commander-in-Chief of the Embroidered Uniform Guard and informed him of the situation. He hoped that they could send some experts to keep an eye on the soldiers during the exercise.
As this was a critical matter, the Commander-in-Chief was reluctant to make a decision on his own, so he reported the matter to the Empress.
Upon hearing about the situation, the Empress’s face twitched. She already knew what Lin Beifan was up to: he wanted both money and power.
But she couldn’t deny that this plan was excellent and aligned perfectly with her interests.
Excitedly, she said, “Since Sir Lin is so certain, we should send more people! We should send half of Embroidered Uniform Guard’s innate experts!”
“So many?” The Commander-in-Chief was stunned.
“It might not be enough!” The Empress paused for a moment and then said, “Also, half of the East Depot and half of the West Depot’s innate experts should be secretly mobilized for this! This time, I must ensure that they do not return alive!”
The Commander-in-Chief was dumbfounded.
