Chapter 170: The Attribution of River Heart Island
Translator: Transn Editor: Transn
On that day, Junior Leopard led the navy to destroy the water bandits at the Broken Dragon Beach and brought back the spoils of war. Apart from the treasures acc.u.mulated by the water bandits, there were still over 20 boats. These boats were a little smaller than the boats of the navy; however their quality was much better. Their design was also extremely compatible. When they ran on the Luo River, they were two to three times faster than the navy’s wars.h.i.+ps. Just based on these wars.h.i.+ps, it was able to fill the gap in the navy’s lack of wars.h.i.+ps. The navy’s power had gone up another level. Still, of course what was most eye-catching was Junior Leopard’s new ride, the “Black Pearl”.
Riding on the Black Pearl, the navy brought the water bandits as captives and the head of the bandit chief Li Sanbao with them. They went back full of spoils. The moment they entered the dock, they aroused the attention of the whole of Jiang City.
Li Sanbao had been dominating the Luo River for over 10 years and he was gone just like that. This was out of the expectations of the whole Jiang City, including the Magistrate and Guard Ding.
However, the truth was placed before them. They had to believe it. Li Sanbao had dominated the Luo River for so many years. There were plenty of people who recognized him. So did the Magistrate and Guard Ding.
After seeing the decapitated head, the two of them were happy. They sent this information to the imperial court to ask for merits and hung Li Sanbao’s head on the port’s entrance for three days as a warning to others.
The whole Jiang City was in a buzz because of Li Sanbao’s death. Everybody was happy, especially the businessmen within the city. On the second day after the subjugation, the people of Jiang City manufactured an Umbrella of Thousand People and sent it to the navy barracks. At the same time there were countless invitation cards to thank the navy for removing a big harm in Jiang City. They wanted to invite Junior Leopard and the soldiers.
Junior Leopard had a headache upon seeing this. Apart from what the Magistrate and Guard Ding had organized, he did not partic.i.p.ate in one of them.
In actual fact, when he came back from the island, his mind was on those medicinal herbs. The medicine was enough to create dozens of Bone-Forging Pills. Furthermore, there were enough ingredients to create Tendon-Changing Pills.
Yes, sufficient. An immensely sufficient amount of ingredients.
If these ingredients were used to create the Tendon-Changing Soup to wash the body, it was far from enough. However Junior Leopard did not need to use them to wash his body. He only needed to create Tendon-Changing Pills. The ingredients from the River Heart Island were at least enough to create 20 Tendon-Changing Pills. Its effect was the same as was.h.i.+ng in the Tendon-Changing Soup 100 times. What kind of concept was this?
Even if it was those barons, millennium families and 10,000 years schools, it was an impossible thing to let a Bone-Forging Realm disciple wash in the Tendon-Changing Soup 100 times.
Junior Leopard believed that when he had refined all these ingredients, it was only a matter of time before he would step into the Tendon-Changing Realm. It would be faster by five years compared to his previously estimated time. This would of course get him excited.
It was also because of this reason that he decided to increase his training and step into the Bone Forging Realm earlier.
In actual fact, before this, he already had sufficient acc.u.mulation to enter into the Bone Forging Realm.
He had consumed 18 Bone-Forging Pills, which was the same as was.h.i.+ng his body in the Bone-Forging Soup over 80 times. His Nine Dragons Heavenly Fire Technique cultivation had reached the Full Closure state. Both of his External Elixir’s cultivation had reached Level Six.
Especially his Fiery Eye which was the same as the Internal Qi within his body. At the same time that it was exerting a large amount of stress on his body, it was also was.h.i.+ng and refining his skeleton. It could be said that his body’s toughness had already reached a certain degree and he was ready to enter into the Bone Forging Realm anytime.
In the past he was unwilling to step into the Bone Forging Realm because he was afraid of the suspicion he would incur if he was to progress too quickly. But now it was different, he had a whole batch of ingredients from the River Heart Island. He could openly wash his muscles and bones and step into the Bone Forging Realm.
Hence, when he came back from the River Heart Island, apart from going to a jointly organized banquet by the Magistrate and Guard Ding, he did not go out at all. He practiced his martial arts, while all the matters within the navy were as they were in the past, being handled by w.a.n.g Cheng.
Of course, the most important thing in the navy now was to build a drill ground at River Heart Island. In this period of time, w.a.n.g Cheng had been running everywhere for this matter.
Junior Leopard also thought that this matter was nailed-on and that there shouldn’t be any problems. It came as a shock when w.a.n.g Cheng had told him that it couldn’t be done. This was grossly out of his expectations.
“Why did the Magistrate and Guard Ding not agree to it?”
“It’s because of the Yellow Dragon Gang. They have their eyes on the Broken Dragon Beach. The river there is deep and the bank is wide. It’s also placed strategically. Now that Li Sanbao has died and his underlings have been cut down by us, the entire Broken Dragon Beach is open for travel again. The benefits here are immense. To give the River Heart Island to us is akin to giving us this new route!” Speaking till here, w.a.n.g Cheng’s face revealed an expression of regret and hatred. “I’m to be blamed. I thought of this too simply and didn’t think of this!”
“Yellow Dragon Gang?” It was not the first time that Junior Leopard had heard of this name. This Yellow Dragon Gang was the same as Qingyang Market’s Black Dragon Society. They were of the same nature, similar to the Jiang City County Administration’s power. What was different was that Qingyang Market only had one Black Dragon Society. Jiang City was much bigger than Qingyang Market and was more complicated. There were five to six gangs like the Yellow Dragon Gang. Jiang City’s docks were occupied by these gangs and ran by them. They had a lot of power in Jiang City.
“The River Heart Island is so big, could it be that all of it has been given to the Yellow Dragon Gang?” Junior Leopard asked.
“Of course not. The Magistrate and Guard Ding agreed to demarcate the place of the bandits on the Broken Dragon Beach for us to build a drill ground. The island is too big and the terrain is flat. Just that piece of land is enough for our soldiers to train on. It’s because of this reason that I’m not able to say anything more!”
w.a.n.g Cheng said depressingly.
“En, let’s not bother about the port first. We’ll set up the drill ground first. This matter can’t be blamed on you. I’m also at fault for not thinking it through. I only thought of getting the island in my hands but didn’t think that the place was too big and couldn’t be swallowed by us. Oh right, have the things in the treasure vault all been carried back?”
“It’s all transported. The rewards are also meted up. Those fellows are all very grateful and they’re praising your goodness!” w.a.n.g Datong hurriedly said, the smile on his face becoming increasingly radiant. In truth, as a navy quartermaster, he had never been this generous before.
“En, good. The brothers have worked hard and they shouldn’t be doing that for nothing!” Junior Leopard nodded, “Excellency w.a.n.g, go and find people to build a barracks on the island. Although the original camp on the Broken Dragon Beach is not bad, it belonged to the bandits. It’s not good to use it straightaway. It’s better for someone to repair!”
“Yes!”
“Besides, when occupying the land, put more effort in. Occupy as much as you can, the bigger the better!”
“Yes!”
“Excellency Jiang, you remain. The rest should go!”
“Yes!” w.a.n.g Cheng and the others glanced at Junior Leopard, then at Jiang Xiao who was surprised. They did not dare say much and retreated.
“Excellency Jiang, sit!”
After the four people left, Junior Leopard pointed at the chair within the house and said to Jiang Xiao.
“I don’t dare!”
“If I want you to sit then you should sit. Why all this bulls.h.i.+t!” Junior Leopard said irritatedly, “There’s something I want to talk to you about!”
“Yes!” Knowing that he couldn’t refuse, Jiang Xiao sat down.
“Your Excellency, you got me to remain, is there anything for me to do?”
“Regarding the island, how do you see it?”
Jiang Xiao’s gaze flashed. He thought for a while before raising his head and said, “What Your Excellency said is true. We thought too simply of this matter. The island is really too big. If it’s anyone else, it’s impossible to give it wholly to the navy. It’s not bad that they allowed us to set up a camp there!”
“Is it that we think of it too simply or that you didn’t remind me because you saw that I’m too happy?”
“Ugh?” Jiang Xiao’s heart trembled, his back instantly drenched by his sweat, “Your Excellency must be joking!”
“I’m not joking!” Junior Leopard said, “Within the navy, only you can see through this point. You merely didn’t say it. I don’t have the intention of blaming you; I only want you to know that regarding future matters, you should just say it straightaway. This is to prevent me from being heated up and losing my face like now!”
“Yes!”
Jiang Xiao responded in a low voice. Now that words were placed in front of him, what else could he say?
What Junior Leopard said was all true. On the island when he heard Junior Leopard’s words, he knew it was very hard to realize it. It was only that Junior Leopard was excited then and it was not good for him to say anything. After all, he was in a subordinate relations.h.i.+p. They were not familiar with each other. If Junior Leopard’s excitement got killed off and he went into a rampage, he would be unable to take it.
“Okay, let’s not talk about useless things. Excellency Jiang, you had stayed in Jiang City for a long time, so you are more familiar with the situation in Jiang City than me. On this island, how can we gain the biggest benefits?”
“That’ll depend on what kind of benefits Your Excellency is looking at!”
“I’m the Navy Commander. Naturally I’m concerned about the navy’s benefits. Additionally, the Admiral wanted me to come to Jiang City to firstly clear the bandits and secondly to ensure that the sea routes are smooth. These two matters may sound like the same issue but in my opinion they’re different. There seems to be other problems to the Jiang City’s water routes!”
Jiang Xiao didn’t speak. Junior Leopard’s words were vague. He was unable to deduce Junior Leopard’s real intentions. However, since words were spoken till here, there was no benefit for him to reveal anything.
“Your Excellency had only just visited Jiang City and you’re not familiar with it. Hence you don’t know about the pros and cons of the relations.h.i.+ps. Since you trust me so much, then I shall be bold to a.n.a.lyze for you!”
“I am all ears!” Junior Leopard smiled.
Jiang Xiao came before Junior Leopard and without courtesy, he used his hands to dab on the water within the teacup. He began drawing on the table, “Look, here is the Luo River, and here is Jiang City. Here is the River Heart Island. The island is 30 km away from Jiang CIty. Hence it’s nearer to Flower Town. It should be the territory of Flower Town!”
“Then why does it belong to Jiang City now?”
“It had never belonged to Jiang City in the first place. Neither does it belong to Flower Town. Due to this island’s dangerous position, it had always been occupied by all sorts of bandits!” Speaking till here, Jiang Xiao’s face revealed a smile, “The reason why it belongs to Jiang City now is because you have s.n.a.t.c.hed the island. You’re the Navy Commander of Jiang City, so naturally this belongs to Jiang City. Adding on to its sensitive status and position, this island could be said to be on the throat of Jiang City. Hence, it can only belong to Jiang City!”