"What? Such a thing actually happened?!" Chen Shijie laughed and scolded, "Look at you, Zhao Xing, I didn’t expect you to be so improper."
"How can you tarnish my reputation!" Zhao Xing argued, "That’s called a mission, understand? A mission!"
"However, although I don’t indulge in pleasure, I have a friend who is quite well-versed in it."
"Long Xiao, once we get to Nanyang County, you won’t even have the strength to draw your sword!"
"Hahaha, I’m looking forward to it!"
...
Nanyang County is in Dayuan Prefecture and is more than forty thousand li away from Datong Prefecture’s Wanfeng Mountain if you travel in a straight line.
On the way here, they took the route through the Li Fire Taoist School’s fire pits, but they couldn’t do that on their return.
Because they now carried so much with them—the Qilin Flying Boat, a Bronze War Chariot, a Green-eyed Dragon Lion—such items would not be suitable to transport through the fire pits, as the cost would be too great.
Even for a single person to pass, it would take returning a distance of eighty thousand li. With so many items, the increased load would make the cost even higher, and those expenses would have to be borne by the owner.
If that were the case, they would have nothing else to do but run back and forth, paying off their debts for half a year.
Zhao Xing had also purchased many goods in the Military Realm; Lu Bang alone had sent him a ship full of fine wine.
Then there was Xia Jing, Heir Ji, Wu Zhengting, and various friends and ntors; just Zhao Xing’s own belongings filled up fourteen Flying Boats.
Add to that the items Long Xiao and Chen Shijie had purchased, and they had a total of twenty vessels.
Plus three Qilin Flying Boats.
The three of them together had twenty-three Flying Boats.
Zhao Xing’s Qilin Flying Boat was a late addition; he wanted to return ho in glory. How could he do so without fitting the part?
This ti, they planned to fly back and had already chosen their route.
First, they would control twenty-three Flying Boats and fly to the Prefecture City of Datong Prefecture.
Then they would board a publicly-managed Tower Ship that traverses prefectures, to Dayuan Prefecture.
Once in Dayuan Prefecture, they could fly directly to Nanyang County.
"A straight distance of forty thousand li, avoiding all no-fly zones, will actually amass to over one hundred thousand li. Aboard a seventh-rank ship, it should take about thirty ’shichen’ or so," Chen Shijie said.
"But that also includes the waiting ti for the Tower Ship to take off and the ti for the Flying Boats to register; all together, it’ll take about five to six days," Chen Shijie said.
"That’s really slow," Long Xiao said, "We should get our own warship."
"Can you afford it?" Chen Shijie looked at him with a hollow gaze, "You know how many chanical Masters and operators a warship needs. With just your ninth-rank title, you would go bankrupt in six months."
"Zhao Xing can afford it," Long Xiao said.
"Even if I could afford it, I wouldn’t buy it," Zhao Xing rolled his eyes, "Not to ntion the cost of maintaining personnel and the ship, the paperwork is a headache."
"Warships are for military use only, unless you are a Prince, then you can have a private warship for personal transport."
"Inland areas can only have comrcial Tower Ships, and the paperwork for those is very complicated; it basically can’t be approved in less than one or two years. If you have a large family business and travel across states frequently, then it might be worth considering, otherwise, it’s more convenient to travel on public Tower Ships."
Great Zhou tightly controls the airspace within its borders, especially warships, due to their imnse power.
Sixth or seventh-rank warships can truly conduct a city slaughter in an extrely short amount of ti!
There were precedents for this.
During the Grand Ancestor period, warships were a common sight in the skies. At that ti, two Marquises at the borders of their feudal lands had a dispute and, in a fit of rage, they brought out their warships for a bombardnt.
The ensuing conflict caused countless deaths and injuries and destroyed over a dozen counties. Such actions shocked the entire world and forced the Grand Ancestor to execute the two founding Marquises in order to appease public anger.
As a result, the "Great Zhou Airspace Managent Regulations" were enacted, permitting only Princes and Dukes the use of warships for travel.
By the ti of Emperor Wen, who led by example in frugality, the ostentatious ans of transport by warship beca much less common.
During Emperor Jing’s reign, he simply anded the law and strengthened its enforcent.
Even the warships of Princes and Duke-level persons had to dismantle ninety percent of their weapons.
Since then, most Princes and nobles switched to Tower Ships lacking weapon systems.
All ranks of Tower Ships, on the other hand, were widely used for comrce and public utility.
The likes of Yi Zhiwen from the Leiyang Chamber of Comrce, when they brought warships back, they weren’t ant to be used directly but were stripped; warships were built with robust materials, so disassembling one could provide enough for two, or even four, comrcial Tower Ships. Whether sold or used for business, it was a lucrative deal.
Once Zhao Xing, Chen Shijie, and Long Xiao flew to Datong Prefecture, they were originally supposed to wait for the deploynt of a public Tower Ship.
But not long after his arrival, an official of the fourth secondary rank nad ’Li Yan Cheng’ from the Prefecture City’s Tower Ship Departnt imdiately ordered a special arrangent for Zhao Xing—a seventh-rank Tower Ship.
"Sir, why bother?" asked Zhang Zheng, a fifth-rank official who received the order, perplexed; "They are just three minor sixth-rank officials and idle Marquises. Do they really warrant your personal intervention?"
"Why? Because his teacher, Liu Tianning, is the Two Prefectures Transfer Officer, and right now it’s warti. Our departnt is under the jurisdiction of the Transfer Officer," Li Yan Cheng said.
"If Liu Tianning wants to trouble you and , he can take any small mistake we make, blow it out of proportion, and have us flattened to the ground."
"It seems I’m at an equal level with Liu Tianning, but in reality, I am bound by his constraints."
There was also one thing Li Yan Cheng didn’t ntion—that Liu Tianning was expected to be promoted to a full fourth-rank this sumr.
A single level difference in rank could be crushing, let alone the distinction between acting and full ranks.
He, an official of secondary fourth-rank and over four hundred years old, would likely find it very difficult to rise to the third rank, whereas Liu Tianning’s future was exceedingly promising.
Wasn’t Li Yan Cheng afraid that this kind of currying favor could backfire?
Not at all.
Because Li Yan Cheng was well-inford.
The three kings of the Ten Suns Cave Heaven had set the tone for Zhao Xing and his companions’ return as ’returning ho in glory.’
In other words, Zhao Xing had to return to his hotown gloriously, with the pomp and circumstance fully laid out.
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