Chapter 43 is all treasures

  It's New Year's Eve, and I'm here to wish all my friends a happy new year! Also, thank you to the guardian angel of stinky eggs for your reward. Here, I'd like to wish all my friends a happy new year, may everything go as you wish, may you be prosperous and successful, and don't forget to bring red envelopes! ~

  Li Yuan looked at the row of warehouses, somewhat embarrassed, and said, "It's all because of those people downstairs who don't understand things. These were transported from the East Capital Arsenal, but the armorer made a mistake and brought some unnecessary equipment, thinking it was a batch of shields. They only realized their mistake when the goods arrived, so they had to put them in separate warehouses. It's also our dereliction of duty."

  He said that Chen Kefu suddenly became very curious, "Tang Gong, I don't know if it's possible to take us in and have a look, what kind of equipment is inside."

  Li Yuan saw how curious they were and could only say, "Alright, follow me then. They're just some crude objects, there's actually nothing much to see."

  Entering the warehouse, Li Yuan said to his followers, "Each of you take a few items and open them for the two gentlemen to see." After finishing speaking, he turned around and looked at Chen Kefu and others, saying, "This matter is also my dereliction of duty. Please, when we return to the palace, speak on behalf of me in front of His Majesty and cover up a bit for the Imperial Guard Command; otherwise, if the Censors find out, there will definitely be an interrogation."

  After Chen Kefu and others nodded in agreement, the several personnel of the Weiwei Temple also carried over several wooden boxes and opened them one by one in front of them. Looking at the various weapons and armor in the boxes in front of him, Chen Kefu and Yuwen Huaji couldn't help but gaze at them, wanting to see what kind of equipment Li Yuan had mistakenly transported.

  The first thing that caught Chen Kefu's eyes was a very strange sword. It was strange because the sword was extremely long, estimated to be at least 1.4 or 1.5 meters in length, almost as tall as a person. Moreover, the hilt of the sword was also extremely long, estimated to be about 40 centimeters in length. Chen Kefu had never seen such a weapon before and couldn't help but turn his head to ask Li Yuan, "Tang Gong? What kind of sword is this? Why does it have such an unusual shape?"

  "General Chen, this is a long sword made by craftsmen during the Han Dynasty, called a horse-cutting sword. This type of sword has blades on both sides and is about as long as a person's arm, specifically used for cutting off horses' legs. However, our dynasty's military has never equipped with such weapons. The imperial sword of our dynasty has always been used for ceremonial purposes in the palace. This time, that useless guy actually brought this thing along too, isn't this causing trouble?"

  Chen Kefu stretched out and took the beheading sword from the box, it felt very heavy in his hand, estimated to be at least twenty or thirty kilograms, no wonder such a long handle was needed, probably not even a few soldiers could swing such a long sword to cut off a horse's leg.

  Looking at the sword in his hand, Chen Kefu felt more and more familiar with it. After thinking hard for a long time, he finally remembered that this was similar to the most famous Mo Dao of the Tang Dynasty. Thinking back to the prosperous Tang Dynasty, the most famous Mo Dao team, Chen Kefu couldn't help but get excited. As far as he knew, the Mo Dao of the Tang Dynasty seemed to have evolved from the Zhan Ma Jian sword. The only difference between the Mo Dao and the Zhan Ma Jian was that the Mo Dao was longer, whether it was the blade or the handle. The weight of the Mo Dao was also heavier, directly changing from over 20 catties to over 50 catties, and its length reached over 2 meters, even around 3 meters. Such a weapon on the battlefield, forming into phalanxes, charging against enemy cavalry like a wall, just thinking about it made Chen Kefu's blood boil.

  "Duke Tang, how many of these horse-beheading swords are there here?"

  "Not many, about a thousand, the sharpness of the horse-cutting sword is not enough, it needs to be coordinated with a special formation, first shooting with crossbowmen and archers, then attacking with halberd array, and finally guarding with cavalry. Every time an attack is made, the formation must be reorganized. In this way, repeated attacks will cause the enemy to collapse. However, such tactics are not necessary for the conquest of Goguryeo, as the people of Goguryeo only dare to hide in their cities and do not dare to engage in field battles with our Sui army. Especially since Yi Jeung-bok was defeated by two of our generals this time, it is estimated that there will be no more opportunities for field battles in the future."

  Chen Kefu knew that the halberdiers needed something else to be invincible, and that was heavy infantry armor. This is as powerful as the cavalry's equipment, and with heavy armor, the halberdiers are like tanks in World War II, unstoppable. Even if they encountered heavily armored cavalry, these two most luxurious battle formations would likely end with the heavily armored cavalry retreating. After all, no matter how powerful the heavily armored cavalry is, those four horse legs cannot be armored.

  Alas, Chen Kefu sighed in his heart, he was a cavalry general, and this slashing horse sword was the equipment of heavy infantry, even if he wanted to take it with him, he didn't have one.

  "General Chen, I see you like this weapon so much, why not take one away and collect it? Anyway, leaving it here is just a waste. Lord Yuwen, would you like to take one too?" Li Yuan was very generous, after all, giving away public property as gifts didn't cost him anything.

  Chen Kefu was quite fond of the Zhǎn Mǎ Jiàn, and upon hearing this, he immediately exclaimed with delight, "Then thank you for your kind intentions, Tang Gong. Brother Yuwen, would you also like to collect one?"

  Yu is interested in fine culture and beautiful women, but not in cold weapons. If it weren't for accompanying Chen Kefu, he wouldn't even bother coming to such a place, and would rather go to a brothel to have some fun and drink some flower wine.

  Having received this beautiful beheading sword, Chen Kefu was in a great mood and laughed as he pointed at the other boxes, "Tang Gong, what's in these other boxes?"

  "Oh, the remaining two boxes are all armor, one is infantry armor that matches the slashing horse sword, it's heavy armor, General Chen doesn't need it. The other one is also armor, but it's cavalry equipment, there are 2,000 sets here, if General Chen wants them, just take them away, as long as you give me a receipt later, this thing has been transported here, putting it here is just taking up space. Nowadays, the cavalry equipment of our dynasty, except for General Chen's Broken Army Camp, only the Imperial Guard of the Emperor in the capital city is left, but those people wear them just to show off, to demonstrate the martial arts of our heavenly dynasty in front of foreign envoys, the ones that are actually used are few. General Chen this time broke through tens of thousands with 1,000 heavy cavalry, it's a great general who uses this cavalry equipment, I heard that the Emperor has ordered General Chen to establish a 3,000-strong heavy armored cavalry, I'm just borrowing flowers to offer Buddha, it's actually congratulating General Chen."

  The wooden box was opened, and the Sui-made armor was revealed inside. At first glance, Chen Kefu's emotions became excited. It turned out to be armor, and the craftsmanship of this large Sui was many times better than that of the Goguryeo people. The entire armor had a layer of faint light on its surface, full of texture. He really didn't expect that he would have such an unexpected gain today. Although he now has three thousand sets of armor, he is very aware of the power of heavy cavalry. If at a critical moment he had five thousand heavily armored cavalrymen, even if he encountered another situation like the 700,000 cavalrymen of Yuwen Wende, he would dare to charge head-on into the enemy's formation.

  "Good, this is indeed the best gift I will receive. Thank you, Duke Tang! In the future, if there's anything to be ordered, I will definitely not decline. Duke Tang, just prepare two thousand sets of cavalry equipment, ten thousand sets of bright armor for the cavalry, ten thousand horizontal knives, and forget about the horse spears - I know they're precious, but it so happens that we captured six thousand horse spears last time, probably also made at great cost by the Goguryeo people. Originally, I was planning to send the remaining ones over, but now it's convenient for both of us. You won't have to ask me for them, and I won't have to ask you for them either. As for the rest, one thousand crossbows, one thousand light bows, fifty thousand arrows, and ten thousand cavalry lances. That's all, just to make the numbers even and convenient for receipt. If there happens to be any damage or something when the time comes, I won't have to come find Duke Tang again, right?"

  Li Yuan was also startled by Chen Kefu's numbers, and couldn't help but admire his audacity. Each item was basically double the amount received, which would not be guaranteed even if it were another general, let alone the commander of the 24th Army. However, Chen Kefu, who was now a red person in front of Li Yuan, plus the backing of the Yuwen clan, made Li Yuan hesitate for a moment before finally agreeing.

  "General Chen, please be at ease. I will immediately have the supplies you requested counted out and prepared for transport. You can send your soldiers to collect them at your convenience. If that is not convenient for you, I can also arrange for them to be delivered directly to the military camp."

  Chen Kefu had originally thought that he would make a big opening offer, ask for the sky, and then haggle with Li Yuan over the price. He would be satisfied if he could get 60 or 70 percent of what he asked for. But to his surprise, Li Yuan agreed to all his conditions without hesitation, leaving him momentarily stunned. However, once he regained his composure, Chen Kefu naturally didn't feel embarrassed at all. After all, it was all the court's property, and even if he took it, he wouldn't sell it for money to spend. As for Li Yuan being willing to give it to him, he was of course even more delighted to accept it.

  Borrowing the Chinese books and stationery from the warehouse, Chen Kefu directly drafted a list in the warehouse. Anyway, this thing is just going through the motions, to show that he took the things away, not that Li Yuan embezzled them. As for whether he can take so many at once, no one will bother him about it.

  Yuwen Shu looked at Chen Kefu on the list and walked to Li Yuan's side, saying in a low voice, "Shude, I have something to tell you. My brother Chen seems to have taken a liking to your third sister. I know that your third sister has not been promised to anyone yet. Now, looking at Chen's young and promising talent, although his family background is a bit humble, his abilities are not low. Besides, if your third daughter marries into the Chen family, she won't be bullied, right? Shude, what do you think of my matchmaking skills?"

  Li Yuan also said with some disbelief, "Yuwen brother, is this true? Did Chen Pojun really say such a thing to you and ask you to be the matchmaker?"

  "This is a big deal, how could I possibly lie about it? On the way here, he even asked me specifically about your family's San Niang. Unfortunately, his family doesn't have any elders, so this matter can only be helped by me, his sworn brother. Brother Shu De, don't hesitate! Tomorrow, His Majesty will reward those with merit, and Chen Po Jun is the first to achieve it, he will definitely rise higher. This imperial favor is not something that other families can get. If your San Niang follows him, she will also be happy. Moreover, if you have a son-in-law who has received such imperial favor, won't the Li family also benefit from it in the future?"

  Yu Wen Jie's thoughts were actually very simple: one was that he really considered Chen Ke Fu as a brother, and thanked him for saving his life. When he came, because of Chen Ke Fu's words, he thought that Chen Ke Fu really liked Li Yuan's daughter, so he wanted to help Chen Ke Fu out. Two, he also wanted to use Chen Ke Fu to win over Li Yuan and gain more support for Yu Wen Jie.