Speaking of gains, not only Cui Lichen looked at Yan Liqiang with curiosity, but also Lei Sitong next to him. Everyone is curious, which is inevitable.
Seeing Yan Liqiang didn't say anything, Cui Lichen smiled calmly and said, "Everything I encountered and gained during this meditation is a personal secret in Yu Luo Palace. There is no need to tell others. I just said it casually. Liqiang, you don't need to care!"
"Senior, you misunderstood me. I was just thinking about what to say!" Yan Liqiang smiled and said, "Emperor Yuluo did teach me some things, but these things are neither martial arts secrets nor secret methods, but other things..."
"Ah, did the Emperor of Heaven teach you, Li Qiang, something else?" Cui Lichen and Lei Sitong looked at each other, both of them were a little surprised, and Lei Sitong even shouted loudly.
Cui Lichen's brows suddenly furrowed, with a puzzled look on his face, "This... Since the establishment of Yuluo Palace, I have never heard of anyone being able to receive teachings other than secret techniques from the Emperor of Heaven..."
"Strictly speaking, what the Emperor of Heaven taught me was also a secret method, but this secret method has nothing to do with martial arts, but is related to various mechanisms and methods of studying things. Some of these things can increase the efficiency of smelting and producing steel by dozens or hundreds of times, and the cost is less than one-tenth of the current cost..."
Cui Lichen was stunned. He didn't expect that Yu Luo Tiandi would actually teach Yan Liqiang such a secret method. When Lei Sitong heard what Yan Liqiang said, his face changed completely. Cui Lichen might not quite understand what Yan Liqiang said about increasing steel production by dozens or hundreds of times while reducing the production cost to one tenth of the original. But as the governor of a state, Lei Sitong knew very well what it meant.
Steel is an extremely important thing, and it is related to all aspects. As the governor of Ganzhou, the most important point for him to contain the seven Shatu tribes is to control the Shatu people from obtaining steel from Ganzhou. Once these things are in the hands of the Shatu people, they will become armor, weapons and arrows, which will greatly increase their strength. If they can be controlled, the Shatu people will be wolves without claws and fangs, and it will be much easier to deal with them. One of the important reasons why the Shatu people were defeated on the Gulang grassland this time was that the Shatu people did not have enough weapons and equipment to arm their warriors. Among the Shatu people, except for a few nobles in each tribe, almost no warriors had armor. In many Shatu tribes, fathers and sons only had one sword, and iron arrowheads were in urgent need of attention. In order to save iron, some Shatu people did not even have horseshoes on their rhinoceros horses and mounts.
Ganzhou's current steel production capacity is just barely enough, but the cost of many equipment in the army is also very high and difficult to popularize. If it is true as Yan Liqiang said, not to mention increasing steel production dozens of times and reducing costs to one tenth, even if the current steel production can be doubled and the cost reduced by half, it will be extraordinary and will have a huge impact on all aspects.
"This... Why would the Emperor of Heaven teach you such a secret method?" Cui Lichen asked in disbelief.
"Because I asked for it..." Yan Liqiang said calmly.
Actively requested? It was a great blessing to be able to sense the existence of the Emperor of Heaven in meditation. How could someone actually make a request to the Emperor of Heaven? Cui Lichen was almost petrified when he heard Yan Liqiang's answer.
"Li Qiang, do you know what you are talking about?" Lei Sitong placed his big hands heavily on Yan Liqiang's shoulders, and then looked at Yan Liqiang with a solemn look, "If there is really a way to increase steel production tenfold and reduce the cost to one tenth of the previous cost, and then arm a large army, wouldn't it be possible to sweep the world?"
"Brother Lei, that's exactly what I was thinking. Now that something has happened in the Imperial Capital, the imperial court is in name only, and chaos is about to break out. At this time, no matter how strong a person's martial arts skills are, how much can he do?" Yan Liqiang looked at Lei Sitong with burning eyes, "And if we can arm Qiyun County, Ganzhou, and the millions of soldiers in the entire northwest with steel, they will definitely be able to do things that no other masters can do. Brother, you should also know about the five-year agreement between me and the Luo family of Jinzhou. I must win this bet..."
"The world is in chaos now. Li Qiang, do you want to dominate the world?" Lei Sitong asked directly, his eyes flashing.
"I used to just want to live a peaceful life, but this trip to the Imperial Capital made me realize how naive my previous thoughts were. Now the evil is in power, bringing disaster to the world, the treacherous are in power, bullying the people, and the Han Empire is in turmoil. It is no longer possible for me to live a peaceful life. I just want to fight for all the people in the world who want to live a peaceful life and don't want to be bullied anymore!" Yan Liqiang looked at Lei Sitong calmly, not afraid to speak out his inner thoughts completely.
Lei Sitong looked at Yan Liqiang for a while, and suddenly smiled, "If you want to dominate the world, you can't do it with willpower and determination. To be honest, with the conditions you have now, although you have money, land, and some people, you are still far from dominating the world. Your foundation is still weak, and you can't even get a state, so how can you pacify the world? This time, my master called me here, and he originally wanted to meet with me and you, Liqiang, to discuss how to deal with the current chaos and retain more vitality for the Han Dynasty. Since you, Liqiang, made a bet with the Luo family of Jinzhou, I will not hold you back. But now is the time for you to show your ability. The situation in Gulang Grassland has changed drastically. As long as you, Liqiang, have the ability to take over Gulang Grassland and make you, the governor of Qiyun, legitimate, I will do my best to help you in the future. If others can sit on the throne of the world, we in Yuluo Palace can naturally sit on it too!"
"Okay!" Yan Liqiang said firmly, "Brother Lei, just wait and see. Within a year, I will be able to take over the Gulang Grassland and let the flag of the Qiyun Protectorate fly over the Gulang Grassland again!"
"One year?" Lei Sitong's eyes narrowed.
"One year!" Yan Liqiang nodded heavily.
"Well, I'll wait and see what you can do, Li Qiang!" Lei Sitong laughed, "I'll give you all the profits from the Yuntao County Salt Field this year. I hope you can help me. Let's see how you can take back the Gulang Grassland for me, Li Qiang!"
Yan Liqiang smiled slightly, "Money matters are nothing to me. We will distribute the profits from the Yuntao County Salt Field as usual. However, I would like to borrow 10,000 cavalry from the Ganzhou Army for one year. After one year, I will return the borrowed troops to you, and give you 20,000 rhinoceros horses and 500,000 kilograms of high-quality steel..."
"Hahaha, I'm making a lot of money from this business. So I'll make a deal with you, Li Qiang. When I go back this time, I'll transfer your troops to Qiyun County and you'll have full control over their operations!"
(End of this chapter)