Demoness, where are you Fleeing to?
Chapter 1017 - 825: Dragon Shock’s Experience_2

Chapter 1017: Chapter 825: Dragon Shock’s Experience_2

As a result, the Germans had to focus on improving the range of their artillery, forging another path to the heavens.

Yet the people of this world are peculiar; Li Xuan merely produced a diagram and explained the principles. Within less than a year, the contemporary Mohist Giants had developed similar artillery.

Although their firing rate was still far from quite a match for the ’Miss Seventy-five’ Li Xuan knew from his previous life, they were still impressive, capable of firing twelve shots within sixty breaths, on par with firearms, with a remarkable range of thirty-five miles.

Yet, Li Xuan wasn’t surprised by this achievement given the world he found himself in.

The existence of Mechanical Techniques, such as those embodied by mechanical generals, which could astonish modern people, was already a reality. The presence of Runes greatly reduced the difficulty of mechanical design.

However, when the new breech-loading cannons were introduced, Li Xuan’s first reaction was not joy, but a headache over the upcoming issues.

Leng Yurou set a high price of thirty-seven thousand silver yuan for each breech-loading cannon.

To convert all the artillery Li Xuan had into breech-loaders would require nineteen thousand silver yuan each. Although their power and firing rate would be somewhat lower than standard breech-loading cannons after the conversion, the performance was still significantly improved.

By this time, Li Xuan’s Heavenly Army had reformed its military system, adopting a division-brigade structure from the Zhou Dynasty, and substantially expanded to eighteen divisions, nearing a total of one hundred seventy thousand troops.

According to the standard of one artillery brigade per division with a total of seventy-two cannons, this meant needing one thousand three hundred breech-loading cannons, costing a total of four hundred million.

Beyond that, his thirty-six Taixu Battleships, along with The Xuanhuang Emperor, needed to have over four thousand muzzle-loading cannons converted.

However, the silver coins he had plundered had already been squandered on the twelve thousand sets of Black Gold Divine Armor, two newly built Kunpeng Warships, and seventy-two Taixu Battleships, nearly bankrupting him.

※※※※

"So, the primary purpose of the upcoming campaign to Xi’an is to acquire money?"

In a corner of the Heavenly Court of Xuanhuang, Li Lexing watched his great-grandson Li Chengji practice with a sword, whilst inquiring about the exact situation, "Are our finances really that tight?"

The person he addressed was none other than Li ShanChang, the ’grand scholar of Lingguan Hall’ in the Heavenly Court.

The two had been implacable political rivals hundreds of years ago.

However, after joining Li Xuan’s Heavenly Court, their relationship had actually become quite amicable.

Li ShanChang, seasoned in politics, was able to let go of his pride. Li Lexing, with his broad-mindedness, recognized ShanChang as one of Li Xuan’s trusted advisers and treated him with due respect.

He knew he was more suited to offering strategies than governance.

In matters of finance, not only was he no match for Li ShanChang, but few famed ministers from ages past could compare.

"Not exactly tight,"

Li ShanChang explained with a mild tone, "Just from this year’s grain trade with the Outer Void of Taixu, the income can reach three hundred million. Add to that the tributes from the South Sea, Dragon Palace, Fusou, and other places, which are nearly seventy million. Additionally, there are dividends from His Majesty’s factories in the mortal realm and the profits from fleet trades, roughly amounting to eighty million silver yuan.

This annual income exceeds the tax revenue of the early years of The Court’s renewal and is sufficient to support a million heavenly soldiers. The issue is, His Majesty intends to expand to four hundred thousand heavenly soldiers and build five Kunpeng Warships before the First Emperor’s Seal shatters. Our current income is far from sufficient for these plans. He also wants to reserve enough grain to supply the entire world’s population for three years, both to solve the problem of grain devaluation hurting farmers and to prepare for the chaos that will follow the Annihilation of the First Emperor’s Seal."

Li Lexing responded with a wry smile, "So he has set his sights on the South Palace of Jinque? The Dasiming must not have much money left, right?"

"The problem is they also sell grain abroad; they haven’t made much money, but instead have pushed down the prices for both parties. His Majesty believes that the grain trade is best when monopolized,"

Li ShanChang, with hands clasped behind his back, spoke leisurely, "I deeply agree. Therefore, this time, it would be best to lure down the True Spirit of the Changsheng Emperor of the South."

"The Changsheng Emperor of the South?"

Li Lexing murmured to himself, then nodded slightly, "His Majesty’s faith in the Liaodong area is as solid as rock; it is indeed time to make a move."

If one were to say where the faith in the Xuanhuang Great Emperor was most solid, it was, without a doubt, Liaodong.

The nine million settlers there believed in the ’Great Emperor of the Highest Heaven Miluo’ and were devout followers.

What Li Lexing anticipated the most at this moment was the impending baby boom in the region of Liaodong.

It was foreseeable that within at most ten years, the population of the Jin Dynasty would double, which would further solidify the foundations of the Xuanhuang Great Emperor.

The future demographic dividend of the Jin Dynasty was enough to make the Dragon Qi intensity of the Heavenly Court and the Jin Dynasty surge to unprecedented levels.

Li Lexing was talking about this when he suddenly frowned deeply, then in a flash, appeared in front of Li Chengji, picked up a folding fan, and started knocking it on Li Chengji’s head.

"You blockhead, why are you so dumb? Can’t you understand the simple reversal of this cold technique? Didn’t your son explain it very clearly before? The so-called temperature is generated by the movement of objects, the faster the objects move, the higher the temperature. So what’s the problem with reversing the cold technique, with the conversion between ice and fire?

You stubborn fool, how did I end up with a descendant like you?

With you like this, how are you going to achieve the Rule of Extreme Heaven in the future, how are you going to take on the mantle of the ’Supreme King’?"

In front of Li Xuan and Li Yan, Li Chengji was imposing and full of grace. However, facing his ancestor, Li Lexing, he could only cover his head and nod agreement, daring not to utter a word.

Li Yan, who was watching from the side, couldn’t help but break out in a cold sweat.

The reversal of the cold technique and the conversion between ice and fire, he also couldn’t understand it now.

He secretly cursed Li Xuan, why did he have to find this troublesome ancestor and bring him back to torment them? How great would it have been if he just kept drifting in the Outer Void?

At that moment, everyone present subtly changed their expressions and stopped their actions, sensing a slight trembling in the Heavenly Court that spanned a hundred miles.

Including Li ShanChang, everyone’s faces were somewhat peculiar.

They knew this was the ’Dragon Shock.’ Just over half a month ago, Li Xuan and Ao Shuying had finally married.

This ’Dragon Shock’ would occasionally occur in the Heavenly Court of Xuanhuang, and the newlywed couple seemed oblivious to the impact their activities were having on the entire Heavenly Court. For half a month, they indulged without end, and no one had the courage to mention it in front of them.

Fortunately, this ’Dragon Shock’ didn’t happen all the time, usually occurring towards the end.

This also meant that Li Xuan and the Immortal Master Shuide were about to come out of their bridal chamber.

"It’s broad daylight," Li Yan glanced at the sky outside the Heavenly Court, then shook his head, "It’s been more than ten consecutive days like this. How can he so shamelessly declare himself the Heaven Emperor with such debauchery?"

Li Chengji then glared at him, "Nonsense! What Xuan is doing now is a top priority for the Heavenly Court. You understand nothing!"

Now in Li Xuan’s chambers, there was still no male successor. The several children born were not surnamed Li, which annoyed Li Chengji immensely.

On hearing this, Li Lexing also nodded slightly; he disapproved of Li Chengji’s crude words, yet unusually, he didn’t punish him.

Li Yan didn’t dare to speak, but he was secretly looking forward to the moment Luo Yan and Xue Yunrou returned.

Since Li Xuan’s marriage to Ao Shuying, these girls, following the wedding banquet, looked for excuses to leave the Heavenly Court of Xuanhuang this month, allowing Li Xuan and Ao Shuying some privacy.

Li Yan maliciously enjoyed speculating about what expressions Luo Yan and the others would have when they sensed the ’Dragon Shock’.

But then again, how exactly did his brother manage to mate with a dragon?

Li Yan felt as if there was a cat inside him, scratching at his curiosity.

Shortly after this, the figures of Li Xuan and Ao Shuying appeared before them.

Ao Shuying’s face still held a blush, and she somewhat shyly hid behind Li Xuan.

Li Xuan looked directly at Li Lexing and Li ShanChang, "Since you’re both here, I request that you immediately join forces with Master Zhongliu and Daxueshi Song to swiftly mobilize the entire army. Yan just sent a message to me, Randeng and the True Spirit of Maitreya have descended upon the mortal world again, and we must resolve the issues with Xi’an and the Book of Jinque without delay."

Daxueshi Song was Song Lian, serving in the Heavenly Court as the ’grand scholar of Xingguan Hall’.

For such an Extreme Heaven powerhouse that didn’t require the consumption of his Power of Xinyuan, Li Xuan had no reason to reject him.