“General Zheng, this is a small token of my appreciation. I hope the general will not refuse it!”
Jin Feng finished speaking and opened the lid of the wooden box.
Inside the box lay a water jade bead the size of a pigeon egg.
“General Jin, is this the legendary water jade?”
Zheng Chiyuan sat up straight and looked curiously at the water jade bead.
Although he belonged to neither the pro-war faction nor the pro-peace faction, to hold the position of naval general, he was naturally no ignoramus.
He also had backers in the capital.
Nowadays, water jade beads were being hyped furiously in the capital and Jiangnan by Luo Lan and Tang Xiaobei. Zheng Chiyuan had heard of them many times.
He had simply never seen one before.
“Yes, this is water jade!” Jin Feng replied. “And it is the finest quality among water jade!”
“General Jin is truly generous. To offer such a precious water jade right away!”
Zheng Chiyuan asked, “Placed in the capital, this water jade bead would fetch a considerable sum, would it not? Are you truly willing to give it to me?”
“Wealth is but an external possession. The escort brothers trust me, Jin Feng, and are willing to follow me through life and death. Now that they have fallen into the hands of villains, I cannot ignore them!”
As Jin Feng spoke, he pushed the box a little closer to Zheng Chiyuan. “I still hope General Zheng will lend his aid.”
“No wonder the escorts of the Zhenyuan Escort Agency are all fearless in battle. You are truly a man of righteousness!”
Zheng Chiyuan sighed in admiration, yet he made no move to take the wooden box.
Jin Feng’s brow furrowed slightly. He signalled to Da Liu again.
Da Liu took another wooden box from his breast pocket and handed it to Jin Feng.
Jin Feng accepted it, opened it, and inside was another water jade bead.
Only its colour and lustre were inferior to the previous one.
“General Jin, what are you doing?”
Zheng Chiyuan waved his hands repeatedly. “That is not what I meant.”
“General Zheng, we are both military men. Whatever you want, just say it outright. As long as it is something I, Jin Feng, can provide, I will do my utmost to satisfy the general!”
Jin Feng was growing a little impatient.
“Since General Jin puts it that way, I shall be bold and speak plainly.”
Zheng Chiyuan said, “Recently, pirates coming from the Wo Kingdom have become more numerous and more rampant. Moreover, their ships are very fast, and we simply cannot catch them. I want some of the heavy crossbows and catapults equipped on Mr Jin’s ships!”
Jin Feng looked at Zheng Chiyuan with some surprise.
He had assumed the man would ask for gold, silver, or treasures, but unexpectedly, he wanted weapons to deal with the Japanese pirates.
This changed Jin Feng’s view of Zheng Chiyuan once more.
Since Jin Feng had dared to sell heavy crossbows and catapults to Qing Xinyao, giving some to Zheng Chiyuan now was no issue.
With this thought, Jin Feng gathered his focus and asked, “May I ask how many General Zheng wants?”
“I have a total of three hundred vessels, large and small, under my command. Therefore, I want one thousand heavy crossbows and one thousand catapults!”
Zheng Chiyuan declared.
Hiss!
Da Liu and the others behind Jin Feng all drew in sharp breaths.
Their gazes towards Zheng Chiyuan also turned sharp.
What a bold demand!
Did he think heavy crossbows and catapults were as common as radishes?
One thousand of each!
Even combining everything at Xihe Bay, there might not be that many.
“General Zheng, you are making things difficult for me!” Jin Feng shook his head directly.
“General Jin, I will not take them for nothing. I can purchase them!”
Zheng Chiyuan thumped his chest and said, “I know you sold a batch to Lord Qing. Whatever price he paid, I will pay the same!”
The East Sea was full of saltworks. As the biggest local power there, Zheng Chiyuan naturally had grey income.
“General Zheng, it is not a matter of money. It is truly too many. I simply cannot produce them!” Jin Feng said with a wry smile.
“Then how many can Mr Jin provide me?” Zheng Chiyuan asked.
Jin Feng did not answer but held up three fingers.
“Three hundred of each?” Zheng Chiyuan’s eyes widened. “No, that is too few!”
“General Zheng, you misunderstand. It is not three hundred of each,” Jin Feng interrupted him with a smile. “It is thirty of each!”
Cough cough!
Da Liu could not hold back and choked violently on his saliva.
Today he had truly broadened his horizons.
It was said that one should ask for the sky and settle for the ground.
Bargaining between both sides was normal, but haggling like Jin Feng was something he had never seen before.
He had thought cutting the price in half was already impressive, but Jin Feng had started chopping from the ankles.
The other side asked for one thousand, and he countered directly with thirty…
Most people truly could not do something like this.
This forced Da Liu to look at Jin Feng with newfound respect.
Zheng Chiyuan was also rendered speechless.
In fact, when he mentioned three hundred vessels of all sizes earlier, he had even counted single-man rafts.
Asking outright for one thousand heavy crossbows and catapults was merely to leave room for Jin Feng to bargain down later.
But he had not expected Jin Feng to bargain so ruthlessly.
“G… General Jin, that counter is far too harsh!”
Zheng Chiyuan put on a tearful expression. “I have three hundred ships. Even one per ship would not be enough!”
“General Zheng, when you usually fight pirates, you do not deploy every man and every ship at once, do you? What would you do with so many heavy crossbows and catapults? Buy them to gather dust in a warehouse?”
Jin Feng said, “I have a suggestion. I wonder if General Zheng is willing to hear it.”
“Please speak, General Jin!”
Zheng Chiyuan quickly perked up at this.
Jin Feng had fought two battles this year, each time winning against superior numbers and turning the tide.
Zheng Chiyuan attached great importance to Jin Feng’s suggestions.
“Weapons are like soldiers. Quality matters more than quantity! If I were General Zheng, I would select a group of elites from the navy and specially form a special operations team.”
Jin Feng said, “The special operations team need not be large, but every member must be elite. Not only strong in individual combat, but also skilled in cooperation.
The ships need not be numerous, but they must all be good vessels. That way, when pirates attack, they can respond swiftly!”
“A special operations team?”
Zheng Chiyuan fell into thought.
It was the first time he had heard the term, and for a moment he could not fully grasp it.
“Mr Jin, I do not quite understand. Could you explain it more clearly?”
“It is complicated to explain, but in truth it is simple. My Black Armoured Team is precisely such a special operations team!”
Jin Feng said, “In Xichuan, I sent three hundred Black Armoured Team members, along with two hundred female soldiers, to seize the north gate of Xichuan City. Danzhu sent five thousand men to block them, but not only did they fail to stop them, they were pierced straight through the enemy formation and fought their way out!”
“What? Five thousand men could not stop five hundred? And among them were two hundred female soldiers?”
Zheng Chiyuan leapt to his feet. “How is that possible?”
“There are plenty of salt merchants who come to the Yangtze mouth from Xichuan to haul salt, are there not? If General Zheng does not believe me, just ask anyone casually, and you will know whether I have deceived you.”
Jin Feng said proudly, “That is a special operations team!”
Zheng Chiyuan also understood that Jin Feng had no reason to tell such a lie that could be easily exposed, but he still found it unbelievable.
Five thousand men besieging five hundred, yet the five hundred fought their way out.
No matter how he thought about it, it seemed impossible.
Seeing Zheng Chiyuan’s expression, Jin Feng suddenly had an idea and said, “General Zheng, if you do not believe it, how about we make a wager?”
