A Pawn's Passage

The hall used for business negotiations was enormous. The spot where Qi Xuansu sat resting against the wall was some distance away from the long table where the negotiations were taking place. The space itself was not huge, yet it somehow accommodated numerous samples of firearms, models of warships, and even a Kun opera troupe, which was undoubtedly Xie Jiaofeng’s doing. He had always been good at arranging such things. Only he could come up with having weapons on one side and musical instruments on the other. The effect was surprisingly good.

At that moment, Chen Shuwen and the Westerners’ representatives rose and walked toward Qi Xuansu.

Qi Xuansu also stood up. Without needing any instruction from him, Chen Jianchou stopped his report about Zhang Yuelu.

“This time they ordered eight 4,500-tonne ironclad warships, four troop transports, and six cargo ships,” Chen Shuwen said with a smile to Qi Xuansu. “The total comes to 9.1 million Taiping coins!”

The Westerners, unlike the people of Nanyang, certainly had the technology to build ironclad warships. However, constructing such warships required time. With the ongoing war, there was no time to slowly build new vessels to fill the gaps. Even if they could be built, sailing them from their homeland to West Shakya would still take a long time.

With the pressing military situation, they had no choice but to purchase ironclad warships nearby from the Daoist Order.

The Daoist Order happened to have some secondhand ironclad warships, which they refurbished and sold to the Westerners at the price of brand-new ships. This was equivalent to the Daoist Order upgrading its fleet without spending a single coin, a truly enormous bargain.

Xie Jiaofeng also smiled, his expression filled with excitement.

With this deal secured, more than half of this year’s targets had been achieved. This practically guaranteed Qi Xuansu’s transfer to Jade Capital and Xie Jiaofeng’s own promotion to a second-rank Taiyi Daoist.

In the end, results were what mattered, and these were the results that the higher-ups wanted.

Having reached his current position, Qi Xuansu had naturally cultivated the ability to remain calm in the face of major events. Whether it was the bad news from Chen Jianchou earlier or the good news from Chen Shuwen now, there was little expression on his face. He remained calm and unfazed.

Qi Xuansu nodded slightly. “Great. Have someone draft the contract. Escort the representatives to the Taiping Inn to rest. Once the contract is ready, sign it immediately.”