Chapter 394: The Role of the Tomb Raiders
Chapter 394: The Role of the Tomb Raiders
September 25, 2017
After Wang Jun began to cut back on fiscal expenditures, the already struggling business in Qiangyin became even more dismal.
Within a few months, this city, once one of Bingzhou's economic centers, was transformed. The once tidy streets were now filled with uncollected garbage, and half-built construction projects were abandoned throughout the city.
In this city, one could sense the desolation of faded glory.
This sense of desolation drove away the last of Lu HaiKong's business, originally sourced from the aristocratic families. Merchants from Youzhou chose to bypass Qiangyin and head to Jiuyuan instead, leaving Lu HaiKong's business in Qiangyin completely forgotten.
This was the nature of this world—a world where the winner took all.
As a 'loser,' Lu HaiKong could only become a laughingstock in people's conversations, while the current star of Bingzhou was Ding Yuan, the last man standing.
In everyone's memory, Lu HaiKong no longer possessed the bravery he once had, when he could wipe out tens of thousands of troops with a wave of his hand, nor did he have the grandeur to overthrow the Zhang family with a flip of his wrist. Under the radiant victory of Ding Yuan, Lu HaiKong had become a pathetic, comical side character, serving only to highlight Ding Yuan's brilliance.
In all of Bingzhou, there were only two places where Lu HaiKong was not viewed this way. One was Qiangyin, which had already declined, and the other was a mountain fort hidden in the shadow of Qiangyin, which had been developing for over half a year.
For the past half year, the name Lu HaiKong had been closely associated with Qiangyin, causing many to forget that he had a hidden lair, one that no one could enter.
In the past half year, the population of the mountain fort had not grown significantly, as the valley could only accommodate so many people.
However, construction within the fort had never ceased.
Today, the mountain fort was no longer the same as before. Its fortifications had been greatly improved, and the living conditions inside were far better than before.
The greatest change, however, was in its military strength. Half a year could pass in the blink of an eye, yet it was also a long time. In this period, Lu HaiKong's military might had grown beyond recognition, even though the number of soldiers had not increased; their quality had improved significantly.
In the past half year, the overall structure of Lu HaiKong's army had not changed much.
In terms of cavalry, the Hei Feng Legion, led by Zhao Gang and Zhao Er, and the Third Camp, led by Wang Ti, remained the primary forces.
For infantry, they were divided into two parts. One was the Personal Guard Legion under Pan Feng, and the other was the Assault Legion commanded by Gao Shun.
These four forces were Lu HaiKong's primary military strength at present.
Aside from these, there were other soldiers, some of whom were far more powerful than those in the legions. However, due to various issues, they were not yet ready to become the main force.
These four legions were already formidable over half a year ago. After investing a significant amount of resources into the mountain fort, the extent of their power was beyond imagination.
Just one statistic would suffice: Pan Feng's Personal Guard Legion had been expanded to two thousand men, nearly all of whom were Mountain Bandit Escort-level experts. Each was equipped with an Elite-level set of armor.
The Hei Feng Legion, which had also been armed and upgraded, now numbered two thousand men.
With just these two legions, Lu HaiKong had the confidence to sweep away all enemies, let alone with the Third Camp and the Assault Legion as backup. Although they did not have Elite-level equipment, their gear was still top-notch.
In just half a year, Lu HaiKong had spent tens of millions on these legions alone. Could such a heavily invested force not be powerful?
It might seem that Lu HaiKong's business in Qiangyin was on the verge of collapse, and he wasn't making much profit, but this was an illusion.
The Qiangyin market had been operating for nearly half a year, during which Lu HaiKong had made at least thirty million gold, possibly even more. Although Zhang Ran had sent people to keep an eye on him, it wasn't difficult to deceive a few clever eunuchs. Under Lu HaiKong were talents like Xin Ping and Xi Zhicai, who could easily fool anyone.
So, on the surface, it seemed that Zhang Ran had taken half of Lu HaiKong's profits from the Qiangyin market, but how much had he actually taken?
However, one thing was certain: under Ding Yuan's pressure, Lu HaiKong's livestock market was indeed struggling to stay open. After February of the year 181, Lu HaiKong had almost given up on struggling, and the livestock market was now operating at a loss.
But this didn't mean Lu HaiKong was broke and defeated. On the contrary, during this time, he was somewhat troubled about how to spend his money while pretending to be poor.
The reason for this was a legion. A legion of unfortunate men, the Tomb Raiders, sent by Lu HaiKong to dig for gold.
In the 169th chapter of the 19th book, it was evident that these unfortunate men had finally struck gold after digging for two or three times. Wu Sanzhi found Lu HaiKong, approached him with great seriousness, requesting an opportunity to prove himself and his team. Lu HaiKong agreed.
Subsequently, after some preparation, Wu Sanzhi led a thousand Tomb Raiders, divided into several teams, and departed from the mountain fort.
Wu Sanzhi was a clever old man. In the past three months, he had barely mined any gold himself, leaving it to his subordinates. With his expertise in feng shui and tomb exploration, he had scouted almost all the tombs in Qiangyin.
He had mapped out all the locations with tombs and, with Lu HaiKong's permission, quickly pinpointed their positions and began his frenzied work.
As the thousand Tomb Raiders started their mission, the mountain fort's wealth began to grow at an astonishing rate.
Almost every day, they brought in hundreds of thousands, even millions, in profits. Wu Sanzhi demonstrated to Lu HaiKong that the wealth buried underground far exceeded that on the surface.
In three months, Wu Sanzhi had scoured almost all the tombs under Qiangyin, bringing Lu HaiKong tens of millions in gold and countless ancient treasures of even greater value.
With this influx of wealth, Lu HaiKong's army could develop rapidly, and he gained the confidence to prepare for a particular endeavor...
Chapter end
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