Kays Translations
Just another Isekai Lover~
Chapter 293: The Civil War Intensifies
The auction of the iron-hulled ships was unusually lively. All ten iron-hulled ships were 80 meters long and 18 meters wide, with a rather bulky design and relatively slow sailing speeds.
Compared to warships, these iron-hulled ships were much more fragile, completely unarmored. However, Anyang had designed them with double hulls and sealed compartments, making them much safer.
Each iron-hulled ship had a maximum sailing speed of 40 kilometers per hour and could travel up to 4,000 kilometers, with a cargo capacity of about 4,500 tons.
The average transaction price for the ten iron-hulled ships ranged between 380,000 to 390,000 taels of gold. Clearly, there was still great wealth among the people. Especially some of Anyang’s trading companies—each capable of producing a massive fortune of 400,000 taels of gold. The phrase “wealth comparable to a nation” had become a true reflection of Anyang.
After the merchant ship auction ended, the shipowners received their first batch of orders: from the Anyang military. Transporting fuel, transporting machinery and port equipment, transporting vehicles, transporting cement, and more. For this nascent maritime commerce, Anyang introduced early-stage support policies.
Then came a large number of trading groups from Anyang lining up—locomotives, agricultural machinery, mountains of fabric, and countless dazzling goods. In just a few days, over a hundred large warehouses were built along the eastern coast of Anyang. The power of capital had fully erupted in Anyang.
The pursuit of wealth, and the use of commerce to plunder fortune, had become a true portrayal of Anyang. In the past, only emperors and officials in an empire could plunder fortune; but in Anyang, one could gather fortune through a vast commercial network.
However, the fortune gathered through commerce was only wealth-related, and its efficiency was only about one-tenth that of an empire. But that didn’t matter—an empire’s land was ultimately limited, while commerce could expand indefinitely!
The outline of a “Commercial Kingdom” in Anyang had already emerged. A “Commercial Empire” could slowly take shape only after this kingdom was solidified.
Amid the vast and magnificent sea, ten iron-hulled ships moved forward in formation, cutting through the waves; on both sides of the merchant ships were two 80-meter-long warships. With naval escorts and sailors personally teaching navigation skills, the merchants who had just purchased sea vessels were genuinely moved.
Anyang’s support for commerce was not just talk—it was real and thorough. In negotiations with the Jin Kingdom, Anyang had secured many commercial benefits; and now, it personally guided merchants to step into the vast oceans. Invisibly, the interests of Anyang and the merchants had become one. Anyone who dared to cause trouble for Anyang—these merchants would be the first to oppose it.
Still, being the first voyage, some people had to suffer a bit. Take Guo Youcai, Liu Shuren, and Huang Youquan for example. These three met at the first industrial expo, gradually started working together, and eventually jointly established the “Sancai Group.” This time, the Sancai Group sold everything they had and even borrowed 50,000 taels of gold from the bank just to buy an iron-hulled ship.
Excited, Guo Youcai, Liu Shuren, and Huang Youquan decided to personally take charge of their first voyage and explore the vast ocean—but ended up all getting seasick together!
In fact, not just those three—on this maiden voyage, more than 40% of the crew got seasick! Having never been on a ship before and unprepared mentally, many crew members just lay on the deck playing the “corpse” game.
Luckily, the Anyang military had anticipated this and sent the navy to help, offering various tips and training.
For those seasick, they just used more magic to fly instead; the ship’s swaying caused a kind of “allergic” physiological reaction, but most people could gradually adapt.
This voyage lasted over two days, as the sea ships traveled over 2,000 kilometers and arrived at the southeastern coast of Jin Kingdom, in a concession area spanning 30 kilometers. This area lay at the mouth of the Daqing River, where it entered the sea. Because the coastline was mostly barren land, such a large area was possible. This place was named “Shanhai City” by Anyang.
Currently, Shanhai City was still desolate, with nothing but a few Golden Core stage cultivators using magic to temporarily clear the riverbank so ships could dock. Once the ships couldn’t get closer, they had to temporarily freeze the water’s surface with magic and move goods across the ice to land.
Soon after, a large number of people emerged—these were hired locals from the Jin Kingdom. With money in hand, Anyang could easily spend a few thousand taels of gold to hire over a hundred thousand workers.
This barren “Shanhai City” was undergoing unprecedented change. At the outset, the construction followed Anyang’s current architectural style—high-rise buildings and wide roads.
Naturally, the first thing built was—the Judicial Plaza. The Judicial Plaza had become a symbolic “architectural complex” of Anyang. At its center was a square engraved with stone tablets listing all of Anyang’s laws. Surrounding it were five offices: court, bank, commerce bureau, tax office, and police. Even if temporarily built, they stood out prominently.
The Judicial Plaza was a microcosm of Anyang’s government.
In addition, in this desolate Shanhai City, there was actually a squad of the Jin Kingdom’s Imperial Guards. They came to receive goods—including a set of basic machine tools, related blueprints, and more. There were even over a dozen basic technicians assigned to provide application guidance—though these dispatched technicians were actually just newly qualified apprentices.
Of course, don’t think this was Anyang’s goodwill—it was bait! Only by guiding others could they be made to forever follow behind. Once the Jin Kingdom established an industrial-commercial system like Anyang’s, they would forever live under its shadow.
But the current situation was: the Jin king and his ministers weren’t stupid, but they had no choice!
In the south, the Liu Kingdom was introducing Anyang’s technologies, laws, and commerce; in the west, the Qi Kingdom had long started industrial-commercial reforms; in the north, the Great Xia Kingdom was fragmented, but its chaotic environment had accelerated technological development. Jin Kingdom’s earlier defeat with a million troops had already proven the changing nature of warfare and technology.
With everyone else advancing, the Jin Kingdom could only pinch its nose and go along!
The construction of Shanhai City signaled that Anyang had officially embarked on an alternative path of expansion. And with the spread of technology, Anyang’s influence was rapidly swelling.
Over a month since the war with the Jin Kingdom ended, terms like “Anyang” and “Li Xian” had already spread far and wide, for thousands of miles.
………………
In Nanyang County, the prisoner-of-war camp – around 250,000 Prisoners in grand columns. After several consecutive battles, the combined forces of Nanyang County, Dongyuan County, and Anyang County captured approximately 400,000 Jin Kingdom prisoners. Jin had dispatched troops twice in total, with more than 850,000 troops sent overall (including civilian laborers).
In the end, more than 70,000 from Jin died in battle, fewer than 70,000 managed to flee back to Jin, nearly 400,000 were captured, and around 300,000 completely disbanded and scattered. On such vast battlefields, deserters were inevitable—especially among the civilian laborers.
In group battles, particularly foreign campaigns, it was normal for up to a third of the troops to desert. Everyone was a cultivator with a long lifespan—no one wanted to die.
Cultivators pursued longevity, strength, and even ascension. At its core, it was a “selfish” pursuit. As such, cultivators often put themselves at the center when thinking or dealing with matters.
In war, regardless of victory or defeat, the ones who benefit are the state and the officers; soldiers gain little yet face the greatest risks—often death.
Of course, not everyone was so pessimistic or lazy. Some cultivators were quite proactive—these were the ones who might become generals in the future. Cultivation itself was a process of survival of the fittest.
Of the nearly 400,000 prisoners, 250,000 ended up under the control of the stronger Nanyang County; the remaining less than 150,000 were held by Dongyuan County. With these prisoners in hand, Nanyang and Dongyuan could threaten Jin—”Don’t attack us, or we might just wipe out 400,000 heads.”
However… however, none of this had anything to do with Jin’s Northern General, Wang Zhouzhi. Now, Wang Zhouzhi was a prisoner—a high-ranking prisoner. His true essence had been sealed, his spiritual consciousness sealed, his Purple Mansion sealed, and his meridians and qi sea sealed. Now, Wang Zhouzhi was nothing more than a slightly healthy and robust ordinary man.
Standing in front of the prison camp tent, looking up at the geese flying south, Wang Zhouzhi gave a bitter smile. “As expected—‘when geese fly south, men don’t return.’ Iron-Mouth Yan Wang is indeed Iron-Mouth Yan Wang. Though his words were unpleasant, his divinations were always so accurate!”
A ragged group approached—it was Wang Zhouzhi’s personal guards. But now, these guards were burdened with heavy labor every day.
Since Anyang, the mistreatment of prisoners had drawn wide attention. Nanyang didn’t dare to offend Jin too much. Still, daily labor was necessary—to exhaust the prisoners, to leave them without the energy to escape, and to make use of them. After each labor session, sealing reinforcements were constantly and repeatedly applied.
Seeing his guards return, Wang Zhouzhi sighed and had no choice but to get up and prepare food and water. Once one of Jin’s prestigious Four Generals, now Wang Zhouzhi was cooking and serving.
The personal guards sat silently, accepting Wang Zhouzhi’s “service” as if it were perfectly natural. This had been going on for more than a month.
Some gratitude didn’t need to be said aloud. The guards, exhausted to the point of near collapse, silently accepted the meals and warm water handed to them by “Housekeeper” Wang Zhouzhi.
After eating and regaining some strength, one of the guards suddenly spoke, “General, I went to the mines today, and I overheard Nanyang soldiers discussing that Gaobin, the governor of Songzhou County, allied with the Wang family from Guangling County to launch a surprise attack on Nanyang with an army of 500,000—including 200,000 civilian laborers.
Although Nanyang had defenses, they were quickly overwhelmed. It’s said that on the first day, the first defensive line collapsed. This was news from three days ago.
According to those Nanyang soldiers, the County retreated 30 li (approx. 15 km), and over 30,000 soldiers were killed, wounded, or captured.”
Wang Zhouzhi’s eyes immediately flashed. “What else? Don’t dismiss any gossip—tell me everything.”
The guard thought for a moment and added, “Those Nanyang soldiers cursed Anyang for being untrustworthy and called Li Xian a profiteer. They said Anyang sells weapons everywhere, and that ‘Anyang provides milk, so they call her mother.’ Some soldiers were quite vulgar, saying Anyang is like a prostitute—only loyal to money, not people.”