Chapter 93: The Family Martial Record

“This is top-quality stuff, of course it is. And it is definitely top-quality stuff you never expected.” Wang Qinian first kept stressing with a heavy tone. After building up his momentum, he suddenly switched his tone to a shrewd one. “But since it is top-quality stuff, the price will definitely not be cheap.”

With a sound of “clack—ding-a-ling!”, George reached out and threw his money bag directly onto the counter in front of him. He said, “If there is good stuff, show it to me. Hearing is not as good as seeing! Good stuff that is only talked about cannot be called good stuff.”

Actually, this small money bag could not hold many Gold Coins. The real valuable and portable items were the Gold Vouchers issued by the Temple of the Goddess of Wealth, and James Potter had just used one to pay the bill. However, George would definitely keep such things close to his body. The Gold Coins in the money bag were just small change for George that was easy to use. But the money bag filled with Gold Coins was still very heavy. Facing the flattering smile of Wang Qinian, that greedy old fox, George always had an urge to just throw the money at him to kill him.

Wang Qinian struggled to move his eyes away from the money bag George had thrown onto the table. Then he spread his hands and made an embarrassed expression. He said, “I cannot show it to you directly. If your memory is too good, and you look at it once but do not buy it, then I will lose a huge amount. I can at most show you one or two pages.”

‘He just made such a huge sum of money a moment ago, yet now he cannot take his eyes off a small money bag. If he is not pretending, he is truly stuck in a money hole with no hope. But he guards that thing so tightly. It seems this time is a bit different from those ordinary goods in the past.’ George thought for a moment and deliberately made an impatient face. “Alright, speak quickly. What kind of good stuff is it?”

Wang Qinian pretended to be mysterious and lowered his voice. “This is a family Martial Record from Wu Jianggai, who served as the General of Dingyuan in the previous dynasty.”

‘Martial Record? What exactly is that? Why do I feel a sense of ‘I don’t know what it is but it sounds impressive’?’ This unfamiliar term confused George for a moment. He asked angrily, “I say, give me a clearer introduction! What exactly is this family Martial Record?”

“That is right. As someone from the Western Continent, you probably do not know much about this. Even within the Xianglong Empire, there are probably not many people left who remember this.” Wang Qinian paused for a moment and said, “This is a type of reward for Military Merit from a dynasty in the past. These Martial Records are usually made of Brass or Silver and plated with gold paint. On the surface, they record articles about loyalty to the monarch and love for the country, as well as the life stories of the recipients. However, special spells are hidden inside. As long as you wipe them with cinnabar, the hidden content will appear. They contain military martial arts suitable for generals as well as methods for leading and training soldiers. This is not ordinary good stuff!”

Centralized power in a great unified empire should have strict control over military force. Unless there is also a powerful organization, in most cases, the farming techniques of the common people cannot be compared to the killing martial arts used in the army. Just like the beginning of Mr. Jin Yong’s novel “The Legend of the Condor Heroes” describes, when a copy of the “Nine Yin Manual” was released from the inner palace, it caused blood and rain to fall over the Jianghu.

However, in this world with True Gods and supernatural abilities, people’s desire to obtain and inherit power is probably much stronger than in the world before crossing over. It is likely that for most of the long history in Xianglong, family clans have been collecting various high-level martial arts or other types of books on how to gain power. There are also many other active folk organizations that are eyeing this greedily. As for ordinary Commoners, besides the farming techniques in their hands, it is quite difficult for them to see real martial arts. How much more so is this kind of officer-level military martial arts?

After listening to Wang Qinian’s explanation, George laughed and scolded based on his understanding. “It is likely that the seller did not know the whole truth, which is why you got a bargain. According to your description, if this thing had been made public while still in Xianglong, even the most prestigious families in ordinary places would have fought to the death to get their hands on it.”

Wang Qinian had a very self-satisfied look, stroking his beard as he said, “The world is ignorant and does not recognize treasures. Even if I got a bargain, it is my own skill. I suppose the descendants of that General of Dingyuan not only saw their family fortunes decline but also forgot the teachings of their ancestors. Otherwise, they would not have sold such a family heirloom at a low price. As for the sea merchants on the way not recognizing this, that is understandable.”

“Stop putting others down to lift yourself up. If you want to do business, hurry up and take it out for me.” Seeing Wang Qinian show such a self-satisfied look, George could not help but want to knock him down, so he said the above words very impatiently.

“Do not rush. I will be back in a moment.” After saying this, Wang Qinian turned around and walked through a small door to the unopened area behind the shop.

Even through the curtain, George could still hear the “ding-ding-dang-dang” sounds coming from the other side of the door. George was already used to such situations. He closed his eyes slightly to rest his spirit, preparing for the price negotiation that was coming.

“It is here! It is here! How does it look?” Wang Qinian placed a special metal book on the counter.

George picked it up and gently opened it, carefully admiring and appraising it. This family Martial Record was made in a folded accordion style. Judging from the weight in his hand, every page was made of thin sheets of bronze. They were connected by extremely fine braided copper wire. The entire Martial Record was painted with gold paint, which gave it a gorgeous appearance while also serving a protective function. The first two pages of the Martial Record had been washed with cinnabar to reveal different text. “When raising an army and leading troops, the general is… the fate lies in being open-minded, not sticking to one… assign positions according to ability, each taking what suits them… change with the times, making it the discipline…”

Although George had worked very hard over the years to learn the main written language of the Eastern Continent on this world. Because of its similarity to Ancient Chinese, George found it quite easy to learn. But here, many obscure characters indeed appeared.

However, the System would not lie to George. “Tactical warfare records detected. Knowledge check failed to identify… failure…”

After understanding the value of this thing, George spoke directly. “Give me a price! Old Wang.”

“1000 Gold Coins, no bargaining.” Wang Qinian seemed to know that George might have a determined look for this thing. He immediately opened his mouth wide with a high price.