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Chapter 705 Sea City - Mirage
"What? Tens of millions?"
Meng Tian looked at Zhang Xiaoshan in disbelief, but after his initial shock, Zhang Xiaoshan nodded.
The civil officials who were to take over the Jin dynasty had not yet arrived, but the Zhang family had already begun to lay out plans for the entire three provinces outside the Great Wall, with the total investment reaching a staggering ten million taels of gold.
Zhang Xiaoshan hadn't made any secret plans; the Imperial Net and the Black Ice Platform were not to be underestimated.
He was making a legitimate investment in the plains beyond the Great Wall, and it was a huge investment.
In this way, even the empire would only think that Zhang Xiaoshan was just making an investment.
The Zhang family has invested in Japan and Goguryeo before.
As long as there is a sufficient reason, the Zhang family can openly and legitimately plan their expansion across the entire area outside the Great Wall.
"The land outside the pass is fertile, especially this black soil, which is top-quality farmland."
Needless to say, the mountain forest resources here include ginseng ("620"), mink fur, deer antlers, etc. It can be said that this place is a veritable Jiangnan region beyond the Great Wall, making it worthwhile for the Zhang family to exploit the mountain forest resources here on a large scale.
Furthermore, this place has an advantage that Jiangnan lacks: abundant mineral resources!
Hiss...
Upon hearing Zhang Xiaoshan's reason, Meng Tian looked at Zhang Xiaoshan with admiration in his eyes.
Even if Zhang Xiaoshan didn't possess terrifying strength, his strategic business acumen would ensure a worry-free life and allow him to reach heights unattainable by others.
"Ahem...Young Master, I wonder if the Meng family could participate in this?"
The Meng family was a large family, but they were short of money.
Especially for those who are Imperial Generals, they not only have themselves, but also a group of brothers and confidants under them.
Therefore, the Meng and Wang families were also short of money.
Upon hearing Zhang Xiaoshan's vision, Meng Tian immediately saw a huge path to wealth, as did the other senior generals.
However, they did not have the status of the Meng family, and were not qualified to cooperate with the Zhang family, so they could only look on with envy.
"General Meng's joining us is naturally welcome."
However, the total investment is too large, and there are at least a dozen smaller investments in the subcategories, so now is not the right time.
Once the Zhang family has finalized their plans, if they need the assistance of the Meng or Wang families in any aspect, Zhang will definitely send someone to visit them.
"Then Meng Tian will await your good news, young master!"
With a total investment of ten million gold, Meng Tian naturally knew that they were not qualified to be included in the overall plan.
Leaving aside mineral resources, they didn't even include the Zhang family's workshops and road businesses.
However, he was satisfied with just the following investment categories.
He knew exactly how the Zhang family made money from their business, after all, they had benefited greatly from it over the years.
As for ten million taels of gold?
The Zhang family didn't have to spend a single penny, even though they had plundered most of the city's nobles' gold this time.
Apart from the imperial palace and treasury, which remained untouched, the princes' mansions, the prime minister's mansions, and the mansions of noble generals were all key targets of Blood Thorn. Even within the princes' palace, all the treasures had been stolen by Zhang family experts.
The gold and silver alone would be more than enough to cover this huge investment, and there would even be half left over.
After all, besides the capital, the Zhang family also possessed a line of noble treasures that were shared equally with the empire, totaling no less than ten million gold coins.
Therefore, Meng Tian did not doubt Zhang Xiaoshan's investment.
As for the empire's part, it wasn't something Meng Tian dared to touch on his own. Even if they got a share afterward, everything still had to be decided by the Dragon Emperor.
Moreover, this includes 500,000 soldiers, plus Wang Li, Li Xin, and dozens of commanders of ten thousand...
Even as the commander-in-chief, Meng Tian wouldn't get much.
However, Meng Tian did acquire quite a few high-end spoils, such as ginseng, sable fur, and pearls...
Bringing these back to Montgomery would significantly improve their quality of life.
···
"what is that?"
"What a huge ship, is it a mirage?"
"No way, there aren't that many ships in a mirage, and these ships are clearly heading this way."
At this time, the Zhang family's newly built Zhangjia Wharf in Sanghai was the place where the mirage was moored.
On either side of the mirage, eight large Zhang family boats stood guard, providing tight security.
This Mirage Project involves not only the Empire, but the Zhang family also holds a 50% stake and even wields absolute control.
Who made the Mirage Pavilion Master the Mysterious Woman!
The reason Zhang Xiaoshan chose Xuan Nu was because of her extremely cold constitution, which allowed her to travel freely to the Antarctic continent at the ends of the world.
Besides the Mystic Maiden, three thousand imperial guards and one thousand Zhang family sailors maintained the Mirage's protection and operation.
"This is a real, large ship, not a mirage!"
“It’s huge. Look, the eight escorting ships are Zhang’s large Fujian ships. They look like ants in front of this huge ship. It’s no exaggeration to say that it is a floating city.”
"Yes, such a huge ship, it's like something out of a myth."
There is no such thing as Noah's Ark in Kyushu. However, if it were in the Jiangnan region, many Western merchants would probably be calling it Noah's Ark.
"Imperial Mirage! I never imagined that the Empire could actually build this miracle on the sea in just ten years!"
Upstairs at the Guanhai Tower, the three Confucian scholars looked at the enormous mirage from their private room, their eyes filled with horror.
It should be noted that those were mirages comparable to cities, and their difficulty was far greater than that of building the Great Fu Ship. Even though the Zhang family recruited many shipbuilding masters and mechanical experts, their craftsmanship was only enough for a flagship of about fifty feet.
The difficulty of building such a massive mirage is increased by a hundred, a thousand, or even ten thousand times, yet the empire actually managed to create it.
"The decade-long scheme of the Empire, the Zhang family, the Yin-Yang School, and the Gongshu family has finally come to fruition today, proving its reputation is well-deserved."
The three had different feelings, but all were deeply moved.
···
"A mirage? Ten years of planning, all for that elusive dream of immortality!"
Gai Nie knew from the beginning that the Dragon Emperor Ying Zheng's purpose was—
longevity.
However, Zhang Xiaoshan replied that there might be a "2.0 version" of immortality in this world, but there is absolutely no such thing as immortality overseas. The purpose of the Zhang family's voyage was to explore the end of the world.
"Immortality? Does immortality really exist in this world?"
"exist!"
Everyone was stunned by Gai Nie's answer and looked at him in disbelief.
"According to the intelligence gathered by the Empire, the Bad Commander that Young Master Zhang killed back then was an immortal, the first Bad Commander who existed since the beginning of the Li Tang dynasty."
"how is this possible?"
Although the Bad Commander is incredibly mysterious, no one would ever imagine that he is an immortal.
However, Gai Nie remained by the side of the Dragon Emperor Ying Zheng. Although the empire's intelligence was somewhat absurd, various pieces of evidence corroborated that the Grand Marshal was indeed immortal.
However, he did not expect the Mohists to believe him; this was merely imperial intelligence.
Chapter 706 Zhang Xiaoshan's Scheme: Visiting the Mirage
"so big!"
A small fishing boat slowly approached the enormous mirage.
Zhao Longxiang, who had already arrived at the escort fleet, waved his hand, ordering the escort fleet to clear a path for the young master and young lady of the Zhang family.
The seven or eight people on the boat, dressed in Confucian robes, were actually three or five friends brought by Zijun and Zizhong.
Previously, from the shore, I only experienced large ships leading small ships.
But once they got to the core, they discovered that even the escorting 'small boats' were huge ships, as large as fortified cities.
It was even much larger than the large Fujian ship they had seen at the Sanghai City dock.
These are the Zhang family's escort ships, about 30 zhang long and 12 zhang wide. Each large Fu ship has 30 red-coated cannons, 20 three-bow crossbows, and over 100 divine crossbows.
In terms of personnel, a warship carries eight hundred people:
Five hundred elite imperial soldiers, fifty sailors, twenty cooks, and thirty servants.
The additional two hundred people were representatives of various forces. Zhang Xiaoshan did not intend to do it all by himself, but planned to unite the eight major forces to explore together.
Of the eight escort ships, aside from those belonging to the Empire and the Zhang family, even though the Zhang family holds a dominant position, there are actually many variables.
In that case, why not bring in more forces to go out?
There is strength in numbers, and it can also balance the power of all parties, even if the Zhang family's home advantage disappears.
Another objective was to weaken the power of the major forces in the Central Plains.
After all, with only 200 slots available for each faction, those who can participate are at least elite-level experts.
How many elites does a faction have?
If chaos ensues in the Nine Provinces, it will inevitably lead to a situation of insufficient strength.
Even if they clashed with the Zhang family, the Zhang family would only lose one female Grandmaster and a few hundred guards from the merchant guild. These were not the core members of the Zhang family.
It should be noted that in addition to the guards of the Zhang Family Trading Company, the Zhang Family also has a maritime base.
Over the years, the Zhang family has been forging steel themselves and has long since created their own Ironclad Armor – the Heavenly Tribulation.
Moreover, the original one thousand people have been expanded to three thousand. With the training provided by the Zhang family, each Iron Pagoda Guard is selected from high-intensity jobs such as steelmaking and iron smelting, making them highly skilled in physical training.
Moreover, in a ten-person squad, one is a captain who has mastered the Body Tempering Technique, in a hundred people there is a captain who is at the peak of the Body Tempering Technique, in a thousand people there is a deputy commander who is at the peak of the Martial Arts Technique, plus a commander who is at the peerless level. This team of three thousand people can definitely be called the most terrifying Ironclad Cavalry.
On the contrary, the openness and dispersed nature of the merchant guild's guards meant that Zhang Xiaoshan had no absolute trust in them.
This wasn't because Zhang Xiaoshan was inherently suspicious, but because the spies from the Bad People, the Net, and various other forces were not to be underestimated.
He was naive to think that the merchant guild's guards didn't have spies they had arranged.
As for Lei Laowu, the Heavenly Official of the Tomb Raiders? He is a force that can never be made public.
The Zhang family cannot afford the crime of digging up graves and causing the extinction of their lineage.
Therefore, the Heavenly Official of the Tomb Raiders was a man of the Golden-Faced Buddha, not a guest of the Zhang family. Once this was discovered, the Zhang family's reputation would be instantly ruined.
In addition, the power of the empire is also involved.
Of the 15,000 elite troops of the empire, 4,000 were on the Great Fortune Ship, 10,000 served as guards for the Mirage, and a large number of other elites of the empire were all tasked with helping the Dragon Emperor set sail to find the elixir of immortality.
Therefore, if something happens to the empire, these people will not only be unable to provide timely support, but they will also be completely unaware of the major events in Kyushu.
Therefore, Zhang Xiaoshan had planned everything in advance.
···
"Aunt Xuan!"
Above the mirage, a group of Confucian students climbed the suspended ladder and saw a vast deck that resembled a football field.
What they found themselves in was a protective railing like a strong city wall, three zhang high and two zhang wide, with a ten-zhang wide staircase leading up to the deck from the front. Everyone was dumbfounded by this magnificent and open scene.
And this is only the tip of the puzzle.
At the center of the mirage was a vast palace complex, divided into three palaces—
Heavenly Palace, Moon Palace, Mirage!
These were the headquarters of the Empire, the Yin-Yang School, and the Zhang Family, respectively.
The Imperial Palace is divided into three levels, and is the largest building occupying the center of the ship, as well as the main entrance to the cabin; the fifth level, the Moon Palace, is the residence of the Moon God of the Yin-Yang School; the Mirage, also known as the Heavenly Mystery Tower, is the tallest building in the entire Mirage, with a total of seven levels.
At this moment, Zi Zhong was greeting a woman dressed in white, who looked as beautiful and aloof as Chang'e in the moon palace, who was looking at them from the seventh floor of the Tianji Tower.
However, apart from Zian, Zizhong, and Zijun, the others were all ordinary students and naturally couldn't see that tiny dot clearly.