Chapter 244: Selling Guns

Chapter 244: Selling Guns

The grand strategies for the military, industrial, and agricultural fronts were all finalized without a moment's delay; after Fuxi presented a more detailed blueprint and Chen Jian and his companions gave it their seal of approval, the plan was set into motion at once.

The first thing they did was to set the mountains ablaze.

In truth, even though Fuxi had already commanded the engineering crew of Project 011 to clear the surrounding area, and the second‑tier beasts had already seized swaths that once belonged to the trees, a forest that had stood for three centuries was no jest.

It could not be felled, not even in part.

Thus, after bulldozers carved a firebreak in advance, the people at the base began to torch the low‑value timber in sections.

The tar produced by the coking plant served as the cheapest kindling; a few Saint‑Blood men lugged oil canisters and sparked flames everywhere, and in no time the entire forest was set alight.

Flames surged skyward, and the scorching air swirled around the ruins, driving away the bitter mid‑February chill.

The displaced workers on the base’s fringe shed their heavy garments, and during a brief respite climbed to higher ground to gaze, entranced, at the distant blaze.

Such a fire, in most cases, heralds disaster—something they have always shunned.

But now they understood clearly that the power they served had seized complete command of fire itself.

The land devoured by flame is poised to welcome rebirth.

——

So what crops shall be sown upon those fertile soils?

The refugees turned their curious eyes toward the area outside the main tunnel, now leveled into a “plaza,” where Chen Jian was receiving merchants from the Jiangnan Chamber who had just arrived from Jinling City.

“Sir, as per your orders, we have gathered seeds of almost every crop cultivated in Jinling.”

“Potatoes, peanuts, corn, rice, wheat… and a host of vegetables.”

“These are all premium seeds, some even procured at a high price from the great farm owners.”

“In quantity, they are sufficient to sow thirty square kilometres of land.”

“Spring is imminent; you need only scatter the seeds, and after a few spring rains they will grow on their own.”

“Very good.”

Chen Jian seized a handful of soybeans, examined them closely, then clapped his hands and said:

“Then let us prepare the trade—what is the total worth of these seeds?”

When he posed the question, Chen Jian had already made a rough mental calculation.

Based on the area of Jinling and its surrounding fields, and the city's grain consumption, a square kilometre—about 1,500 mu—of harvest could sustain fifty to sixty souls.

In other words, the yield of roughly thirty mu would be equivalent to 365 grams of gold.

Of course, that figure reflects the final grain output; when translated to seed cost, covering thirty mu of seedlings would fetch at most about ten grams of gold.

Now, the other party claims these seeds can be sown over thirty square kilometres; a rough estimate puts the deal at fifteen thousand grams of gold.

That price

is not exorbitant, yet Chen Jian is reluctant to part with it.

After all, Project 011’s gold reserves are modest; even after countless trades and plunders, the stockpile totals only 240,000 grams of gold.

To expend fifteen percent in one stroke would brush against the fiscal safety line.

Thus, Chen Jian is prepared: should the other side demand too high a price, he will barter equipment instead.

And, as he had anticipated, the counterpart indeed quoted an exaggerated sum.

“Eighteen thousand grams of gold.”

The merchant cleared his throat, and before Chen Jian could speak, continued:

“Of course, you may exchange other valuable items.”

“I suspect the Huaxia army has not been in commerce long, so its gold reserves are scant, yet what you possess is coveted by many.”

“For instance, your weapons.”

“I have heard you hold a sizable stock of automatic rifles.”

“You know, in Jinling, someone has offered a hundred grams of gold per rifle.”

“If you are willing to trade those weapons, I think a mere eighteen thousand grams of gold is a trivial price for you, is it not?”

He makes a compelling argument.

Chen Jian gave a slight nod.

To be frank, the pristine, high‑performance Model 191 rifles our side fields are hard currency wherever they go; though ammunition is cheap these days, a hundred grams of gold per rifle is a fair exchange.

Sell a few hundred and the Huaxia army would achieve fiscal freedom outright.

That is, in fact, a viable path.

——

But of course, Chen Jian would not take that route.

He has something better in mind.

So, with a calm shake of his head, he addressed the merchant:

“We can sell the guns, but you must first inspect the goods.”

“Of course, of course!”

The merchant’s face lit with surprise; Chen Jian gave a subtle glance to Huang Yu, who had been waiting nearby, and he hurried over, handing the merchant a Type‑75 rifle.

Along with it, he added considerately:

“This is our new firearm, lighter and more powerful than the previous model.”

“Huh?”

The merchant was taken aback.

He stared at the rifle in his hand, so rough it bordered on shoddy, and wondered whether the other party was merely jesting.

Does this contraption differ from the single‑shot rifles forged by the Mechanical Cult??

Perhaps it just has a larger magazine?

In these days, any merchant roaming the wasteland knows a thing or two about arms.

Yet when he actually lifted the gun, its featherlight feel only deepened his doubts about its performance.

“The rounds are already chambered; give it a try.”

“Fear not, the test ammunition costs you nothing.”

“Thank you, thank you!”

The merchant, half‑believing, followed Huang Yu to the edge of the range, grasped the stock as instructed, and slung the gun at his waist.

Then he pulled the trigger.

“Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang—”

The bullets poured out like a torrential rain, and the massive recoil nearly sent him sprawling.

Fortunately, he quickly let go of the trigger, sparing the bullet from flying to a place it should not have.

“Full of force!!”

The merchant’s eyes lit up.

He drew a deep breath, shifted his stance ever so slightly forward, grasped the fore‑stock again, and took aim at the trees ahead.

“Bang bang bang bang bang—”

This time, he emptied the entire magazine in one breath.

Without delay, he rushed to the tree to assess the damage, and upon seeing the trunk shattered into fragments, he spoke almost without hesitation:

“This is the one!”

A faint smile touched Chen Jian’s lips; just as he was about to speak, the merchant’s eyes flicked, and he blurted out:

“But this gun’s performance can’t quite match the rifle the elders use, can it?”

“So perhaps the price should be a little more…?”

“Fifty grams of gold, bulk orders get a discount.”

“This is a bit too steep… forty grams?”

The merchant ventured cautiously.

“Deal!”

Chen Jian snapped his decision, fearing the other might backtrack.

Forty grams!

The cost to forge this thing translates to roughly three grams of gold; selling it for forty grams is already a windfall.

Of course, for now he merely uses this batch of guns as barter.

If later production catches up and the weapons become a dumping‑goods venture, the price can be pressed even lower.

As long as Jinling City still trades enough steel, this gun’s production line will never be shut down.

Seeing Chen Jian’s expression, the merchant instantly realized his offer was too high.

He thought of reneging, but on reflection this was only the first transaction; ample room for future negotiation still lay ahead.

So he stopped agonizing, and with a grin said:

“Then let’s seal the deal.”

“Sir, I must return to Jinling today; can I take the gun with me?” “I’m afraid you can’t.”

Chen Jian shook his head and replied:

“The gun isn’t finished yet.”

“What?!”

The merchant stared, dumbfounded.

“Sir, this gun… you forged it yourselves?!”

“Not unearthed from some relic’s treasury?!”

“Of course not.”

Chen Jian gestured for the merchant to follow, then led him straight to a makeshift “arsenal” beside a half‑built brick wall, merely shielded by a few timbers and a sheet of waterproof cloth.

When the curtain was pulled back, a roaring stamping machine lay exposed before the merchant.

The merchant’s eyes bulged wide.

He had long noticed that noisy “shed” on the edge of the plaza, thundering with activity.

Unlike the obvious steel‑smelting plant and the coal‑fueled coking works whose purposes were at least guessable, this shed was tiny and crude; at first he even thought it was a blacksmith’s forge for shaping metal.

But when he saw massive hammers rhythmically shaping parts, which then slid along conveyor belts into the hands of a few workers assembling them, he was utterly astonished.

A gun could be made like this?!

Indeed, the Mechanical Cult had long embraced division of labor and assembly‑line methods, yet compared to this, its famed “efficiency” and “cooperation” seemed a mere joke.

He watched the lead female “Holy Blood” worker, astonishingly swift, assemble a complete rifle in under twenty seconds, then toss it without looking into a huge wooden crate behind her, as if she were flinging an ordinary iron rod.

That was a rifle—capable of rapid fire and fierce power!

The merchant’s lips trembled slightly, and he asked:

“Sir, how many of these guns can you produce in a day?”

“Five hundred to six hundred, give or take.”

Chen Jian answered offhand:

“Right now steel supply limits output, so when you have steel, ship it straight to us.”

“Sending it to the Mechanical Cult’s charlatans would be wasteful, wouldn’t it?”

“Yes, exactly.”

The merchant nodded eagerly, then hurried:

“Sir, may I lodge here for a night?”

“Tomorrow morning, if the guns are finished, I’ll take them back with me!”

“Of course.”

Chen Jian replied warmly:

“I’ve prepared a special chamber for you and your caravan.”

“Perhaps you can take a proper tour and see what kind of world this truly is.”

Two hours later.

Inside Project 011, the living quarters, within a secluded rest pod.

A merchant named Li Chen savored the juice of a canned yellow peach, sighing repeatedly:

“If there truly is a heaven on earth, it must be here.”

His words prompted the few merchants beside him to nod in agreement.

They knew nothing of “Liu Laolao entering the Grand View Garden,” yet everything they experienced after entering Project 011, and their reactions, vividly embodied that very tale.

They had never bathed in a shower that spouted hot water automatically.

They had never seen robots serve them meals.

They did not understand why the lights illuminated themselves.

They could not grasp the lilting, soaring music that echoed through the living area.

Yet every corner of this place filled them with boundless curiosity.

“Before this, I only knew that the Huaxia army's combat power was excessively strong.”

“Now it seems they may not even belong to the same world as us.”

“No wonder even saints call them ‘angels’.”

“Perhaps they truly are angels.”

“Otherwise, how could the Mechanical Cult have unearthed so many ruins yet never discovered a place like this?”

“It is likely that these treasure vaults were prepared for angels; without their arrival, the vaults within the ruins would never reveal their true form.”

Li Chen continually strategized on his own, while the others echoed his thoughts.

“Very reasonable.”

“Indeed, it is so.”

“So, in that case, perhaps our future trade focus will truly shift here?”

“Of course!”

Li Chen said, as if it were obvious:

“The elders of the Huaxia army already possess everything; the only thing they now lack is food.”

“And today, they have already purchased a great many seedlings.”

“When autumn arrives this year, they will become the greatest landowners of this soil!”

“Do not think they cannot; they can achieve anything!”

“The fire has already been lit; in a few days they will begin sowing.”

“Once this batch of seeds is planted, this world may begin to change, slowly.”

As the words fell, everyone fell into silence together.

At this moment they were still immersed in the awe wrought by the 011 installation.

Yet they did not know that the seed Chen Jian was about to sow would not grow merely in the earth.

Elsewhere, in the battle command room.

Chen Jian and a few others sat in a circle, watching the merchants’ reactions through a camera while debating their next move.

“.From their reactions, our strategy has worked perfectly.”

“I believe soon they will spread the news about this place far and wide.”

“When that happens, our commercial difficulties will be resolved flawlessly.”

“Perhaps next we can select some of these merchants for training?”

“They are mobile propaganda machines; if we can spread our ideals through them, our subsequent unification plan should become much easier, shouldn’t it?”

After Chen Jian finished speaking, Lei Jie asked:

“Should we not approach the Ring Chamber of Commerce? Our cooperation with them is actually more stable, isn’t it?”

“No.”

Chen Jian shook his head and said:

“They are not pure merchants; we find them hard to control.”

“But now that you mention it, I do have a task for them.”

“Summon Wang Lizhi tomorrow; he’s been active in Jinling lately, and I need to speak with him.”

“Talk about what?”

Lei Jie asked curiously.

“What else could there be?”

“Of course it’s to have them fetch the rocket fuel you need!”

“They haven’t done us a favor in ages; it’s time to put some pressure on them.”

(End of Chapter)