More than five years ago, the United Matrix launched the Battle of Red Eagle Valley, where armed helicopters appeared on the battlefield for the first time, shocking the entire Western Region.
Moreover, as the empire was in civil strife, the embargo on weapons of mass destruction to the Western Regions began to loosen.
King Baoyue even bought an armed helicopter. After all, he was very rich and powerful, and ordinary city-states could afford it but could not afford to maintain it.
However, the helicopter was not used in the war. Instead, it crashed in bad weather while King Baoyue's eldest son was riding on it, and his eldest son died.
King Baoyue was so sad that he even issued a decree prohibiting any aircraft from appearing in the southern city-state.
Of course, in reality, apart from him, no one in the southern city-state could afford an aircraft, so this decree was unnecessary.
But today, a helicopter landed in the square in front of the temple in Baoyue City, and King Baoyue brought his entourage dressed in luxurious clothes and played welcoming music to welcome the guests, which caused a sensation in the whole city.
…
The temple is magnificent and golden, and the huge statue is made of pure gold. The tableware and dining table are also pure gold, shining brightly, and the dishes are extremely luxurious.
King Baoyue and his favorite concubine hosted Lu Ming for a banquet, saying that the three of them were having a secret conversation, but there were dozens of male and female servants serving them.
To King Baoyue, these slaves were certainly not human beings, and there was no chance for them to leak secrets.
Lu Ming only tasted a little of the dishes in front of him. Bao Yue Wang said with a smile: "Village wine and wild vegetables, I am sorry to make Representative Li laugh!"
He was a fat white man who looked like a mountain of flesh, like a lump of meat, lying there, so pale that he could hardly move. I wonder if An Lushan was the same as him back then.
In fact, even though Madam Sanjin's vocabulary was certainly softened when she translated, Lu Ming could see the arrogance in King Baoyue's eyes. He obviously felt that he didn't know what these dishes were, nor how precious they were, so he just tried them simply without any hesitation.
For example, there was a plate of roasted tongue tips of an extremely rare bird. This kind of bird is small, and the tip of its tongue is even smaller. There must be hundreds of tongues in a full plate.
Including the translator, Mrs. Sanjin, each of the four people had a plate on the table in front of them, which contained thousands of birds. This is a bird that is endangered in the Western Regions. It is similar to a parrot and can learn human language. Therefore, the nobles in the Western Regions believe that eating the tongue of this bird can prolong life. But nowadays, this bird is rarely seen in the Western Regions. I don't know how many people have to be mobilized to catch birds to make this simple roasted bird tongue.
Lu Ming smiled at King Baoyue and said, "Sir, these are not important. If you really have great ambitions, not only to restore the glory of your ancestors, but also to not be dominated by the northern city-states, you should also live frugally now. If the treasury is full, you should spend more on military preparations!"
King Baoyue's expression changed slightly. He naturally rarely heard such harsh words from Lu Ming.
Concubine Bao Yue, who was standing next to him, looked very young, with a childish look on her face. She was obviously only thirteen or fourteen years old, but she could become the head of the Bao Yue King's harem. It was obviously not just because of her pretty face and graceful figure. Her deep eyes like black gemstones looked at Lu Ming with interest, and she chuckled and said, "What Representative Li said is true, but my lord is rich in the world, with gold carts and buckets, but he has no way to buy heavy guns and artillery in the East. Please ask Representative Li to help me."
Lu Ming nodded: "That's fine, but for war, weapons are important, but the people who use them are the key. As far as I know, at the beginning of this year, when His Excellency King Baoyue was fighting with the northern city-states, except for the 'Moro' soldiers, the rest were vulnerable. Did the 'Shilenis' take the opportunity to rebel?"
Moro is a professional soldier in the southern city-state, similar to a military household that has been passed down from generation to generation, but with a very high status.
'Shileni' were soldiers temporarily recruited from civilians and slaves.
After listening to Madam Sanjin's translation, Prince Baoyue slammed the table and muttered a few words in a stern voice.
Madam Sanjin beside Lu Ming paused but didn't translate it. She thought that King Baoyue was angry and scolded Lu Ming.
Lu Ming smiled and said, "I think the conditions for us to have in-depth communication are not yet mature. I'll take my leave first!" He stood up, turned around and walked out.
Mrs. Sanjin translated hastily and hurried to follow.
Lu Ming heard a commotion of dishes behind him, and he knew that King Baoyue had overturned the table in anger.
There was no sound of the golden plates and bowls breaking.
…
In the evening, King Baoyue's younger brother Bao Riluo came to Huilun Palace.
The temples, palaces and noble manors in the city center can actually be seen as an integrated cave building complex, covering an area of tens of thousands of acres. In Lu Ming's previous life, it was an extremely magnificent ancient monument that embodied a high level of architectural skills.
The Huilun Hall where Lu Ming lives is part of the temple.
Lu Ming and his personal attendants were arranged to live here, which was the most solemn courtesy, at least that was the case when they first arrived in Baoyue City.
Baoyue City is located in the southern part of the Western Regions. It is extremely hot in the summer. Lu Ming feels that this might be the equatorial zone, and the surrounding mountains and deserts prevent the high temperature from dissipating.
Even though it is now the end of October and late autumn, the city is still as quiet as a steamer.
Therefore, the gloomy cave building with extremely thick stone walls is like a paradise here, completely isolated from the external heat, cool and comfortable.
Moreover, the caves are not only spacious and grand, but also have modern furniture.
The temple cave where Lu Ming lives is divided into more than a dozen spaces, which can be generally seen as three floors. One can enter the upper caves from huge stone steps, but the layout is of course completely different from the three-story modern buildings.
The main hall is right inside, and you can see with your naked eyes the huge stone steps leading to the majestic statue, as well as three tiered cave entrances.
The main function of the main hall is basically to meet guests, hold banquets, etc.
The huge stone statue in the Samsara Temple, which is five stories high, is called the Samsara Dharma King. He is a very important god in the mythological system of the southern city-state. He is in charge of purgatory on earth, has a hideous face, wears a golden helmet and armor, and is covered with colorful curtains.
The nobles of the southern city-states were not averse to gods. Instead, they believed that they were qualified to live with the gods, and that the gods would protect their families.
The most formal seat in the Huilun Hall is actually the huge stone toes of the Huilun Dharma King, and Lu Ming is sitting on it now.
Bao Riluo was sitting on a stone bench behind a low table a few steps away, at the end of the silk ribbon on King Huilun's body.
Bao Riluo is in his early forties, the opposite of his brother. He is handsome and elegant, with deep black eyes full of wisdom.
"Dear representative, my lord the king is willing to spend thirty-six caves of gold to purchase military supplies, but they must be the latest weapons. Can you do it?" Bao Riluo smiled.
Lu Ming felt helpless. King Baoyue was losing his temper just to show him how wealthy and powerful he was.
However, this response and the provocation I used when we first met did work.
According to the southern city-state's unit of measurement for gold, one cave of gold is approximately half a ton, and thirty-six caves would be eighteen tons.
Gold is calculated based on the imperial standard of three taels of gold bars. One standard gold bar is about 1,000 yuan, and one ton of gold is about 6 million imperial coins.
Eighteen tons, worth more than 100 million imperial coins.
Bao Riluo lowered his voice, "Sir, my daughter told me what you said in front of the king, so you don't have to take the king's joke too seriously. I understand that although the empire's ban on sales is dead in name only, the outside world is still somewhat cautious about sending weapons to our Western Regions, and they don't want to be caught. It's difficult for you to deal with weapons worth hundreds of millions of yuan, but since you have been recognized by the king, please work hard to buy as many excellent weapons as possible for our army!"
Lu Ming nodded. In fact, coming here was somewhat like waging a proxy war.
Prepare to arm the southern city-states to contain the central city-state group supported by Punk Trade.
He came with a budget of 200 million yuan, of which 100 million yuan was used to scam Punk Trade.
Of course, the 200 million yuan is the entire recent budget of the Special Work Department in the Western Region, and not all of it will be provided to the southern city-states free of charge.
But now it seems that not only is there no need for free support, but there is an unexpected surprise that can enrich the principality's gold reserves.
The Baoyue King family has ruled the southern part of the Western Regions for thousands of years, and it seems that they have accumulated a lot of hard currency such as gold.
King Baoyue asked for thirty-six caves of gold. I'm afraid that his family may have as much as a hundred caves of gold.
Lu Ming thought about it and smiled: "As for the thirty-six holes of gold, I think two destroyers will do. However, if we use them in combat, we need to take off from the airport in Soloston to support the combat. It is also convenient to refuel there, but we cannot participate frequently. We can bomb the enemy at a critical moment. It is best to fight at night so that the enemy does not know where our attack aircraft comes from. Otherwise, there will be some trouble. Of course, sooner or later, we will be unable to hide it. We should delay the time for the enemy to discover the truth as much as possible."
"Destroyer? Attack aircraft?" Bao Riluo obviously didn't understand, but was very excited and curious.
Madam Sanjin is a direct transliteration of these two words, but if it is translated literally, Bao Riluo will not understand it.
Lu Ming smiled and said, "I'll tell you later. Let me think about it first. Well, for the rest, we'll buy conventional weapons. My think tanks have analyzed and studied the weapons supplied by Punk Trade to the Central City-State Group. We can choose targeted weapons. However, I still say that the most important thing in war is people. Moreover, it takes time to train your Moro army to use new weapons and equipment proficiently. So, you still have a choice. If you provide the necessary funds, I can help you contact mercenaries. If the Central City-State finds something wrong or has unusual movements in the near future, you can use mercenaries to temporarily hold it off."
"Mercenaries?" Bao Riluo's eyes lit up.
"It's called the Joint Matrix." Lu Ming smiled.
In fact, the real United Matrix no longer exists. The United Matrix that was originally stationed in the Western Regions has been reorganized into the regular army of the Principality.
The joint matrix that still exists in the Western Region today belongs to the second generation. Its successors are all local soldiers trained by veterans. They are all local fighters, and only senior officers are from Central China. They are the first line of defense to safeguard the interests of the Oil City. If they encounter an enemy they cannot deal with, then the Oil City's Oil Corps can immediately assemble into a powerful armed force.
Over there, Bao Riluo's eyes lit up when he heard Lu Ming's words. "Sir, can you tell me about the combat effectiveness of the joint matrix you mentioned?"
Lu Ming smiled and said, "They..."
Lu Ming and Bao Riluo chatted for more than four hours until late at night.
Bao Riluo left with a smile on his face.
…
In the bathroom cave on the second floor, Lu Ming lay comfortably in the stone bathtub. It was steaming hot. There were countless slaves making fire outside to heat the water, which was poured into the bathtub and flowed out from the drain on the side. It was a bit like an artificial hot spring, but the artificial hot spring in this temple was entirely supported by huge manpower.
There were light footsteps and Lu Ming opened his eyes, only to see Madam Sanjin and Papaya standing beside the bathtub. Both of them were wearing thin snow-white nightgowns. Papaya lowered her head, not daring to look at Lu Ming, her snow-white slender hands twisted together nervously.
Madam Sanjin's beautiful eyes were calm, as if it was nothing unusual. She whispered, "Master, you have been traveling non-stop since you came to the Western Regions. I think you must be very tired. Today you finally have some free time to wash away your tiredness. Will Papa Ya and I wash away the dirt for you?"
In fact, of the two of them, it is Madam Sanjin who is innocent and has always been a saint serving God, but it is natural.
Lu Ming smiled and said, "There's no need to scrub the body. You guys can take a bath together. It's tiring following me. Besides, it saves time and saves the poor people outside from having to light the fire and fetch water all the time." As he spoke, he picked up the snow-white bath towel on the stone table and covered his lower body in the water.
My current mentality seems to be that I don't care about these things anymore. They are two girls who I can't drive away. In fact, there is no need for anything between men and women, but they are like my property, a kind of object, there is nothing to be too cautious about.
There was a hint of joy in Mrs. Sanjin's beautiful eyes, but Papaya was nervous and at a loss. He followed Mrs. Sanjin's example, apologized first, and then entered the water carefully. Then he came to Lu Ming's left and right, saying that he didn't need to help his master clean the dirt, but he still sat very close to his master.
Lu Ming had already closed his eyes comfortably on the soft water pillow. After a while, he asked, "Sanjin, what do you think of Bao Riluo?"
"He is very smart. If the master intends to support him to replace King Baoyue, I think it is inappropriate." Madam Sanjin said softly.
Lu Ming nodded and asked, "In our Bat City, there is no custom of nieces marrying uncles."
Madam Sanjin said, "Yes, this is a southern barbarian land, and there are many old customs and practices here."
The Princess Baoyue was actually the daughter of Bao Riluo. Bao Riluo and King Baoyue were brothers, that is, they had the same father and mother.
Therefore, although Princess Baoyue was the niece of King Baoyue, she became King Baoyue's most beloved concubine and the local princess.
Southern barbarians? Lu Ming laughed in silence. It turned out that there was a chain of contempt between city-states.