Hearing this, Lu Xiangheng couldn't help blurting out, "Ah!"
So they were planning to build an ironworks here.
The value of an ironworks was obvious. It could forge weapons, manufacture firearms, and even cast cannons.
In other words, Shangnan County was directly carrying out the "military preparedness" clause of his Ten Proposals and Eight Regulations.
What was there left to say?
This was simply too efficient.
Lu Xiangheng was so delighted that his spirits soared. In all the territories under his authority—five circuits, eight prefectures, nine provinces—he had never once encountered local officials who implemented his policies with such enthusiasm and initiative.
He hurried like a gust of wind into the county yamen.
The moment he entered, he saw Luo Xi and Zheng Gouzi bent over a table…
Eating.
Li Daoxuan, however, was not at the table.
He sat alone on a chair nearby, motionless, rigid, his eyes wide open and unblinking, like a carved wooden statue. It was deeply unsettling.
Lu Xiangheng was utterly baffled.
"You two are eating," he thought, aghast, "and you didn't invite Li Daoxuan to join you? How can you be this casual? Look at him—staring without blinking. And you can still eat under that gaze?"
"These military men really are crude," he sighed inwardly. "No understanding of human feelings or social etiquette whatsoever."
He cleared his throat deliberately.
The two men eating looked up. Luo Xi's eyes lit up with joy.
"Ah! Governor Lu!" he exclaimed. "You're here? Why didn't you send word ahead? This subordinate would have gone out to welcome you! Come, come—sit down and eat with us."
Lu Xiangheng's eyelid twitched.
"So now you suddenly understand etiquette?" he thought. "You remember to invite me, but it never occurred to you to invite Li Daoxuan?"
He turned his head toward Li Daoxuan and asked carefully, "Li Daoxuan, why are you sitting over there? Have you eaten? Would you like to join us?"
Li Daoxuan did not respond.
He didn't move.
He didn't blink.
His gaze remained fixed, unwavering, like a frozen lake.
A chill ran through Lu Xiangheng's spine.
"Has he… been angered to the point of madness?" Lu Xiangheng wondered uneasily.
With that thought, even though he was a bit hungry, he suddenly felt far too awkward to sit down and eat. He could endure hunger, at least for now.
"This official already ate on the march," he said stiffly.
"Oh?" Luo Xi replied. "That's a shame. Li Daoxuan's logistics team just delivered a fresh batch of supplies. Look—newly arrived lunch meat. Smells amazing."
Lu Xiangheng instantly broke out in a cold sweat internally.
"You're eating food sent by Li Daoxuan," he screamed in his heart, "and you didn't invite him to eat even once? Is that how you treat people?"
Terrifying.
Absolutely terrifying.
"Ahem!" Lu Xiangheng hurriedly changed the topic. "Shangnan County is developing quite well."
Luo Xi chuckled. "Yes, it's going very smoothly. All thanks to Li Daoxuan—he contributes both money and manpower."
Lu Xiangheng nearly collapsed internally.
"Stop mentioning him," he begged silently. "He's sitting right there, staring without blinking! If eyes could dry out, his would already be dust."
Aloud, he continued, "Shangnan County is doing splendidly. These methods can be extended to Wuguan Pass, Shanyang County, and Shangzhou City. This official will instruct their officials to come here and learn. I only wonder… does Li Daoxuan still have sufficient resources?"
"He does!" Zheng Gouzi immediately answered with enthusiasm. "As long as Governor Lu gives the order, our people can go over right away to help them develop."
Lu Xiangheng pressed his lips together.
"Li Daoxuan is clearly so angry he can't even speak," he thought, "and you, his subordinate, can't read the room at all. Charging in with answers like this—utterly tactless."
Forget it.
The atmosphere here was suffocating. Staying any longer would shorten his lifespan.
"Indeed," Lu Xiangheng said hurriedly. "Keep up the good work."
With that, he turned and practically fled the yamen. He truly could not endure someone staring at him so intently, wide-eyed and motionless. It was deeply unnerving.
He hadn't gone far when a messenger rushed up again.
"Report! Rebels are heading toward Miejia Gully and Shiquan Dam!"
"Send reinforcements immediately!" Lu Xiangheng ordered.
"Report! Rebels are ravaging Kangningping and Lion Mountain!"
"Divide the troops and reinforce them!"
"Report! Rebels are advancing simultaneously on Taiping River, Zhumu Bian, and Jingkou!"
"I…!"
Lu Xiangheng suddenly remembered something. He spun around and ran straight back into the county yamen.
He grabbed Luo Xi, who was still chewing lunch meat.
"Dispatch troops at once! This official will handle Miejia Gully, Shiquan Dam, Kangningping, and Lion Mountain. You handle Taiping River, Zhumu Bian, and Jingkou!"
"Hey, hey, hey—!" Luo Xi protested. "This subordinate hasn't finished his meat yet… it just arrived, a fresh delivery…"
Lu Xiangheng exploded.
"Li Daoxuan sent this food, and he hasn't taken a single bite! And you're happily stuffing your mouth with it? You're not eating anymore. Prepare for battle immediately!"
Luo Xi was struck speechless.
Zheng Gouzi followed them out, laughing loudly as he dragged Luo Xi away.
"Alright, alright," he said cheerfully. "You'll still have lunch meat to eat on the march!"
As he spoke, he flicked his wrist and tossed a bamboo box toward Lu Xiangheng.
Lu Xiangheng caught it and opened the lid. Inside was a perfectly square, brick-like block of meat.
"…This is the lunch meat Luo Xi was talking about?" he asked.
"Just heat it up and eat," Zheng Gouzi replied. "It's truly delicious."
With that, he had already pulled Luo Xi off toward the barracks to muster the troops.
Lu Xiangheng shook his head, holding the bamboo box, and returned to his Tianxiong Army, quickly issuing orders to move out.
Then another problem hit him.
"What about the three thousand captives?"
Lu Xiangheng's head immediately began to ache.
At that moment, a man wearing a Blue Hat approached respectfully.
"Sir, if you have no way to settle those three thousand captives, why not entrust them to us? We need manpower for heavy labor here. We have plenty of grain to feed them."
Lu Xiangheng's eyes widened.
"What?!"
That evening, halfway to Miejia Gully, the Tianxiong Army halted to rest and cook.
Lu Xiangheng's personal guards heated the lunch meat and respectfully presented it to him.
He took a small bite.
His expression instantly relaxed.
"…Mm? This is actually quite good," he murmured. "No wonder that fellow Luo Xi likes it so much."
And while Lu Xiangheng had earlier been terrified by Li Daoxuan's unblinking stare…
Li Daoxuan's consciousness had not been in that body at all.
At this very moment, it was in Xi'an.
Outside Xi'an's North City Gate.
A brand-new railway station stood proudly just beyond the gate.
A large sign hung above it:
Xi'an North Station
In the lower left corner, a smaller inscription read:
Prince of Qin's Residence.
From the station, a railway stretched northward, vanishing into the distant horizon.
This was the Xi–Yan Railway, heavily funded and constructed by the Prince of Qin's heir.
At present, it extended only twenty li. The latter half of the tracks had yet to be laid, rendering it temporarily unusable.
And now, the most difficult obstacle in the entire project lay ahead—
The Wei River.
The Wei River was not wide, less than a hundred meters across.
Stone bridges, wooden bridges, suspension bridges—bridges of all kinds had existed here for years.
Yet none of them could withstand the weight of a heavy train.