Chapter 465: The Jailed Wang Chong!
Translated by: Hypersheep325
Edited by: Michyrr
"Old Eagle, what's the situation outside?" Wang Chong asked, slightly raising his head.
"The Court of Judicial Review and Chamberlain of Dependencies are currently on high alert, and there are also people in the Imperial Army opposing us," Old Eagle replied. "However, the Wootz Steel swords have meant that those opposing us have a very small voice. The majority of the Imperial Army still supports us. Without their help, I probably wouldn't have been able to get inside, and the Court of Judicial Review and Chamberlain of Dependencies would have dragged Young Master into their own prisons." His voice brimmed with discontent.
Wang Chong smiled. He had begun unrestricted selling of Wootz Steel weapons in the Imperial Army some time ago, and it was now becoming one of his biggest advantages. Just like Old Eagle said, even if the Imperial Army was split into two factions, probably neither side hoped to see him die, only protect him.
After all, the secret of the Wootz Steel swords was still his alone.
"How is my big uncle doing?" Wang Chong asked.
"Not well!"
Old Eagle shook his head, grimacing for a moment.
"The Court of Judicial Review and Chamberlain of Dependencies have no intention of letting anyone from the Wang Clan in. It was only after King Song paid a massive price and got me a token from the Bureau of Military Personnel that I was able to get inside. Even so, I still spent a long time waiting outside. I'm afraid that Lord Wang won't be able to come inside for the short term!"
"Tell him that no matter what, he has to come in and see me!"
Wang Chong suddenly turned serious.
"In addition, tell Big Uncle that no matter what happens next, no matter what he hears, until he meets me, neither he nor His Highness King Song should issue any opinions! Not a single one! This is very important. Old Eagle, can you remember that?"
"Ah!" Old Eagle gave a small yelp of surprise. Wang Chong had spoken these words with incredible gravity, an attitude that Old Eagle had rarely seen from Wang Chong.
"Young Master, is something big about to happen?" Old Eagle asked.
He had spent quite some time with Wang Chong, and so he knew that every time Wang Chong got this look on his face, some major event was about to take place.
"Old Eagle, remember my words. Relay them to him, and leave not a single word out!"
Wang Chong shook his head, his face unprecedentedly solemn.
"Also, I have an important mission for you! I need you to finish it as quickly as possible!"
"Young Master, please speak, and your subordinate will do all he can to complete it!" Old Eagle solemnly replied.
"Excellent!"
Wang Chong's right index finger shot out, striking a thin slip of paper on the ground. This light jab caused this sheet of paper to immediately fly forward like an arrow into Old Eagle's hand.
"This is a map that I've drawn. Old Eagle, in this period of time, I need you to help me sell the spirit vein!"
"!!!"
Old Eagle's composed expression instantly dissolved at these words.
"Young Master!!"
Old Eagle recoiled in alarm, looking at Wang Chong in shock.
"Why does Young Master want to sell off the spirit vein?"
This news was so sudden that Old Eagle's first reaction was that he had misheard. Wang Chong possessed a massive amount of capital, like the Hyderabad ore, a huge fortune, and Deflecting Blade Manor. However, the most important and most unique of these was not the Hyderabad ore, but that spirit vein several dozen li from the capital.
The Hyderabad ore would be consumed eventually, but the spirit vein could continue to be passed on through the generations, providing an endless stream of talents for Wang Chong, and perhaps even the entire Wang Clan.
As long as it had the spirit vein, then no matter how the times changed or what dynasty reigned, the Wang Clan would always be able to maintain its status.
The Wang Clan perhaps had no foundation in the past, but ever since Wang Chong discovered the spirit vein, the spirit vein had undoubtedly become its foundation.
Only a madman would sell it off!
If he had planned to do this, why had he bothered to offend the First Prince at the start?
"Old Eagle, listen to me. I know what you're thinking. I'm not crazy, nor have I lost my sanity! As for the spirit vein, just follow my orders! You must carry this out," Wang Chong said.
His expression was calm, his eyes bright, and there was no madness in his appearance. And there was no way he wouldn't know what Old Eagle was thinking. In normal circumstances, he would have never made this decision.
But he had already been imprisoned for six days, and selling off the spirit vein had been a decision he had reached after long and careful thought.
It was impossible for the Wang Clan to continue for one hundred generations.
Old Eagle would never know that a terrible calamity was approaching. The crisis brewing in the southwest was not some local war, but the prologue to a worldwide catastrophe.
And when that catastrophe arrived, no one would be spared. If everything went as he expected, even that spirit vein would blow up. How could it be passed on for one hundred generations?
At the moment, Wang Chong's concern was not the benefits the spirit vein could provide to the Wang Clan, but that war in the southwest that was about to shake the entire empire.
'Preparedness ensures success while lack of preparation ensures failure.' Whether or not his plans were effective, if they succeeded in stopping this war, Wang Chong had to prepare for the worst scenario.
The entire empire was still ignorant. Many people didn't even know that Geluofeng had attacked the Great Tang and that a city in the southwest had been lost.
Solitary Wolf's information had arrived much faster than the Imperial Court's. The chess piece that Wang Chong had placed at the start had finally proved its worth.
Wang Chong had been informed of the events in the southwest before the ministers of the court, and he had known far earlier about what was to come.
But Wang Chong could not warn those ministers.
A matter of state could not be decided with only Solitary Wolf's letter. The Great Tang had its own channels of information, and Wang Chong could only quietly wait for that news to explode onto the scene.
After several decades of peace, the Great Tang, Mengshe Zhao, and Ü-Tsang were about to engage in a war of unparalleled scale.
This war would involve over 500,000 enemy soldiers and 180,000 Great Tang elites, totaling almost 700,000 combatants in all.
Such a war had never happened, not in Youzhou, Beiting, Anxi, or Longxi. Even if one surveyed the history of the Great Tang, the number of wars involving almost 700,000 soldiers could be counted on one hand.
The Great Tang was already sliding into the abyss!
What Wang Chong wanted to do was avoid this war as much as possible. And once this war became unavoidable, Wang Chong had to prepare for the worst-case scenario.
A war of unprecedented size, involving 700,000 soldiers, was not something one man or one faction could resist.
To alter the course of this war and change the Great Tang's fate, he needed one thing: money! Massive amounts of money! A massive fortune that surpassed the imagination of any person!
War had never been a simple clash of weapons. It was a war of economies! In order to start a war, one had to have a thriving economy and enormous reserves.
Similarly, in order to intervene in a war, one had to have sufficient fortune, an unfathomably massive fortune.
The larger the fortune, the more right one had to intervene in a war.
In normal circumstances, the full fortune of any clan in the capital would be incapable of reaching this level, let alone Wang Chong's wealth.
This was no longer within the scope of a single clan, but at least several great clans.
For Wang Chong, only selling the spirit vein could allow him to gather sufficient wealth.
At present, the news that Geluofeng had attacked the Great Tang and taken a city was still on the road. It hadn't reached the capital yet, but it would before long.
So Wang Chong did not have much time.
Before that news reached the capital, Wang Chong had to completely sell off the spirit vein. Otherwise, the news of war in the southwest would dilute the impact of any activity in the capital.
When that time came, Wang Chong would have no chance to accumulate that enormous sum of wealth!