GBP Chapter 106 Economic Strength
Chapter 106 Economic Strength
On the third day after Chen Er went to the arsenal, Andeli sent news from the arsenal that the technician who leaked the technology had been found. Instantly, the entire Yuyang was on edge. Countless people were shocked by the news. Those who were involved and those who were not were nervous. Those who were involved were afraid of being exposed, and those who were not involved were afraid of being implicated.
The only one who remained unmoved was Chen Er himself, because Chen Er was gradually coming to a clearer answer in his heart.
Meanwhile, news came from Xuzhou in the south that the musketeers in Yanzhou and Xuzhou had been attacked, and several skilled craftsmen had been assassinated or gone missing.
In an instant, turbulent currents surged across the Central Plains. Yuan Shao was furious! The kind-hearted Tao Qian was also furious. Chen Er had actually started to disregard the rules of the game. However, the two envoys returned with only one sentence: "Whoever first disregards the rules of the game is the one with the clearest mind. Since you can win people's hearts, why can't I eliminate a few scourges?"
A menace? What a menace! At this moment, Chen Er played the game of power politics with impeccable skill, and no one dared to say anything. There was nothing anyone could do; this was the nature of power politics.
As the saying goes, political power grows out of the barrel of a gun. Chen Er's military and economic strength was enough to crush Yanzhou and Xuzhou. Yuan Shao and his men were helpless and could only accept their bad luck. They strengthened the protection of the arsenal and their craftsmen to make up for the loss. Anyway, as long as there were finished products, the other craftsmen, although they did not have mature technology, were not afraid because they had finished products and quickly learned them.
However, Chen Er's intentions were not so kind. His actions were twofold: first, to issue a warning, and second, to delay the deployment speed in Yanzhou and Xuzhou.
Knowing that flintlock technology had been leaked, Chen Er simply sent his intelligence agents, disguised as opportunists, to various powerful factions to promote his flintlock technology. Of course, they only promoted the flintlock ignition technology; as for the rifled technology, forget about it—Chen Er would never reveal it. After all, Chen Er wanted to maintain his technological lead while simultaneously preventing Yuan Shao and Tao Qian from gaining an absolute advantage.
Therefore, after discussing with Guo Jia, Xi Zhicai, and others, Chen Er decided to make the flintlock musket technology public to prevent Yuan Shao, Tao Qian, and others from surpassing him. A south with equal strength would be more in line with Chen Er's current plan.
He would not stand idly by and allow any of the southern lords to become too powerful, as that would be detrimental to Chen Er's future plans.
Moreover, by acting as a speculator, Chen Er could also make some money from those feudal lords. Although it wouldn't be much, it was better than nothing, and it would at least break even. Chen Er comforted himself with this thought.
As the autonomous region's spies began their operation, the entire empire fell into a state of calm once again. Gongsun Zan, who had originally planned to take action against Xiliang, even halted his plans, as he also needed to upgrade his equipment. At the same time, he kept cursing Chen Er for using so much outdated equipment to gain personal benefits. Upon seeing the two thousand flintlock muskets that Chen Er had sent him, Gongsun Zan not only felt no gratitude towards Chen Er, but instead wanted to curse Chen Er as cunning and treacherous. This was only because Chen Er had 'given' Gongsun Zan the flintlock ignition technology for 'free'; otherwise, Gongsun Zan would have done far more than just curse Chen Er as cunning.
As Chen Er moved, an undercurrent stirred up beneath the surface of the entire empire. Countless lives were lost and reborn within this surging current, and the undercurrent in Yuyang City seemed to be growing ever stronger.
The secret of the flintlock musket has been revealed; it turns out that the reason why the Youzhou army has been invincible is because of this.
Therefore, Chen Er was not worried at all that the spread of flintlock technology would have a significant impact on his advantage. The military concepts of the autonomous region's army were absolutely superior. Whether it was tactics, army organization, or logistics and supply, they were ahead of the other warlord armies. This was a gap that the other warlord armies could not close in a short period of time. Even the military system reforms initiated by the Chang'an group army, represented by Gongsun Zan, could not fundamentally change the legacy problems of the cold weapon era.
Because Gongsun Zan only learned the basics. Although the central army of the imperial court had begun to learn the organization of the autonomous region's army, its command system was still based on the old system. It still had a superficial understanding of modern warfare models, and its role was relatively minor.
On the contrary, Yuan Shao carried out his military reforms more thoroughly. Although he was defeated by Chen Er several times, Yuan Shao was very discouraged. However, Yuan Shao had a very important advantage: his perseverance in adversity. Unlike Chen Er in his previous life, Yuan Shao in this world had a very difficult life. Although he was still quite arrogant, after repeated defeats, Yuan Shao's patience was no less than that of Liu Bei. Moreover, Yuan Shao was now willing to listen to advice and dare to admit his shortcomings. Although this may have been forced by his circumstances, none of that mattered, because people only cared about the results.
In Yanzhou, a place of constant warfare, Yuan Shao's situation was remarkably similar to that of Chen Er in history. The two worlds of Yuan Shao and Chen Er were in completely opposite geographical locations. However, in this world, Chen Er was far stronger than Yuan Shao in Earth's history, and he was not as arrogant and self-willed as Yuan Shao in Earth's history.
Yuan Shao faced immense pressure, but the northern autonomous regions were in the midst of a new reform phase and had not yet shown a strong desire for external expansion. In fact, the most important thing was that Chen Er had not yet fully digested the two territories of Bingzhou and Qingzhou. At the same time, Chen Er's naval fleet was not yet fully established; at this stage, it was merely a framework. The fleet consisted of a dozen or so large ships suitable for ocean navigation, which were already quite impressive, but they were not yet capable of sustaining large-scale warfare.
"My lord, according to intelligence from the past two weeks, all the forces in the south have ceased their war activities. Apart from some bandit suppression operations, only the Liangzhou region is still experiencing relatively frequent battles," Xi Zhicai reported to Chen Er on the recent major events in the country.
Chen Er nodded slightly and said, "Those guys in Liangzhou only know how to fight and kill. They don't know how to develop the region at all. They blindly learn from the new policies of our autonomous region. It's normal for uprisings to keep happening."
“What you say is very true, my lord. However, the peace among the lords is not good for our next plan,” Xi Zhicai said. “According to our original plan, now should be the time for our autonomous region to develop quietly and watch the tigers fight from the sidelines. But now the entire empire is almost at peace, which is not a good thing.”
"Zhicai, don't worry, this is a good thing." Chen Er said confidently.