Empire Conquest

The meeting ended and when he returned to the hotel, it was already early morning. Because he was extremely exhausted, Bai Zhizhan didn't bother to wash up or even take off his clothes; he just lay down on the bed and fell asleep.

He slept until the evening of the next day.

Since no one had come to unlock it for half a day, and the door was locked from the inside, Gui Boyong had the staff bring a spare key to open the door and went in to drag Bai Zhizhan out of bed.

"The headquarters has made its decision."

Gui Boyong said this as Bai Zhizhan was brushing his teeth.

"Following the Principal's suggestion, we'll conduct a war-game exercise, with each side taking turns to be party A."

"Playing the enemy's role, huh? When does it start?"

"In the next few days," After Bai Zhizhan came out of the bathroom, Gui Boyong continued, "We've still got a lot of preliminary work to do, so the Southern Fleet will go first. According to Commander He's wishes, you should prepare for the second round of exercises; you don't need to participate in the first round."

Bai Zhizhan didn't say much, just nodded to indicate he understood what was going on.

"Make a list of what you need, and I'll help you get it."

"People."

Gui Boyong was taken aback at first, then laughed and said, "Give me a list of names, and I'll find a way."

"Do you need it now?"

"There's no hurry, tomorrow is fine."

When Bai Zhizhan started to get changed, Gui Boyong turned away.

Though all men, the Navy, priding itself on elegance, always valued privacy, and its officers were educated in etiquette.

"The man sitting across from you yesterday, who was he?"

"The Brigadier General sitting next to Admiral Liu Changhe? That's the Liu Family's second-generation heir, Liu Xiangbin, cousin of Liu Xiangdong—though they're nothing alike."

"No wonder."

"Actually, he's the only black sheep in the Liu Family; the rest are all pretty decent."

Bai Zhizhan didn't respond, knowing that Gui Boyong was just trying to ease his mind, not to dwell on a quarrel with a privileged heir, without any other intention.

"Are you done?" Gui Boyong turned around without waiting for Bai Zhizhan to answer. "I've spoken to the restaurant, had the chef fry a few small dishes, so we can have a good drink later. We were too busy yesterday to arrange this, just making it up temporarily, and we'll properly welcome you after all the hustle."

"Gui, you're making too much of a fuss."

"Why be so formal between you and me?"

With Gui Boyong saying that, Bai Zhizhan couldn't refuse. After all, he was already hungry and would have to go down for dinner anyway; there was no need for politeness.

The key was that Gui Boyong definitely wanted to take the opportunity to ask Bai Zhizhan some questions over the meal.

Bai Zhizhan had already guessed what was on his mind.

If it were just about calling Bai Zhizhan to get up for a meal, why would Gui Boyong make the trip himself? A phone call to He Pengfei, also staying in the hotel, would have sufficed.

By the time they arrived at the restaurant, a few exquisite dishes were already on the table, along with a bottle of erguotou.

This was a specialty of the Imperial Capital.

Actually, Gui Boyong was just worried.

At yesterday's meeting, Bai Zhizhan had fiercely slapped the Conservative Faction in the face but hadn't put forward any specific views or reasons.

For someone with Gui Boyong's sensitive character, it would be truly strange if he could sleep soundly without worrying!

However, the hotel's restaurant was clearly not a good place to discuss business.

Not half an hour later, as the sky grew completely dark, guests began to arrive at the restaurant, most of them officers from the Southern Fleet.

Gui Boyong didn't linger either, taking his leave before the place became overcrowded.

Bai Zhizhan didn't ask them to stay longer, and as he began to eat, he had been pondering one thing, whether to take this opportunity to give a few of his sworn brothers a hand.

After finishing his meal, Bai Zhizhan had made up his mind.

He definitely had to help them, and do so thoroughly at that.

Through his experiences at the 21st Sub-fleet Headquarter, overseeing work at the Puzhou Navy Shipyard, or now at the Imperial Capital's Navy Commander headquarter, Bai Zhizhan's most direct feeling was that, in the Empire's Navy, if you didn't have some backing you would sooner or later be devoured alive.

Just like the old saying goes, "A fence needs three stakes, and a hero needs three gangs."

Not to mention the still somewhat green Bai Zhizhan, even Zhu Shijian, without the support of a noble family's power, found it difficult to act with ease at the Navy Commander headquarter.

Bai Zhizhan had never thought of setting up his own faction, but he also didn't want to be fish meat on someone else's chopping board.

Speaking of backing, naturally, it was those five sworn brothers who had struggled and grown together for five years at the Naval Academy, his ironclad buddies from the same dormitory top and bottom bunks.

The next morning, Bai Zhizhan took He Pengfei to the Navy Commander headquarter to submit a list of personnel.

To be on the safe side, and after being reminded by He Pengfei, Bai Zhizhan also sent out six telegrams to inform the concerned parties of their transfers in advance.

The sixth telegram was sent to the Puzhou Navy Shipyard, and the recipient was Colonel Liu Xiangdong.

However, Bai Zhizhan wasn't inviting Liu Xiangdong, even though, as Gui Boyong said, Liu Xiangdong and that good-for-nothing second-generation Liu Xiangbin were not cut from the same cloth; after all, his surname was still Liu.

Bai Zhizhan was asking Liu Xiangdong to help forward a message.

The person he was inviting was that half-witted Hereditary Count.

Bai Zhizhan was very aware of his own abilities and was even clearer about those of his diehard buddies. Despite being excellent students who had earned their places at the Naval Academy through their own abilities, none of them were scholars, let alone engineers.

Planning military operations and commanding battles were all no problem, but asking them to design battleships was clearly too much to ask.

Without a doubt, this was Zhao Yu's specialty.

Even though there was no immediate need to design battleships, in the course of war-game simulations, it was necessary to predetermine the capabilities of various weapons systems.

For battleships not yet built, unquestionably, engineers would have the final say.

Of course, Bai Zhizhan had his own calculations in mind.

Don't forget, Zhao Yu was a descendant of one of the Eight Pillars, the Great Country Maker Zhao Chengxun, and his great-grandfather, grandfather, and father were all renowned scientists and engineers.

And he had also inherited the title of a noble count.

To Bai Zhizhan and other commoner officers, even if this Hereditary Count were a lunatic, he was still an unattainable mountain.

Of course, now it was about having a powerful benefactor.

When the time came for trouble to arise, pulling Zhao Yu into the picture would be enough to shut up those guys from the Southern Fleet, without needing the He Family to get involved.

But then, a problem arose.

The guesthouse at the Navy Commander headquarter was already full to bursting, and all the rooms were occupied; even with Gui Boyong stepping in, the manager couldn't conjure up an empty room.

Fortunately, there was He Pengfei, the know-it-all.

More accurately, he was like a cure-all.

Don't forget, He Pengfei was from Imperial Capital, though he moved to Puzhou with his parents as a child, lived there for several years, and even after reaching adulthood, he worked in Puzhou and seldom returned to Imperial Capital.

His home in Imperial Capital had always been unoccupied.

Strictly speaking, it was actually a well-furnished villa, just not very large in size.

It could accommodate not just a few people, but dozens, without any problems at all.

Through this matter, Bai Zhizhan finally understood that He Pengfei wasn't just a peripheral member of He Family, but rather a direct descendant, ranking even above He Yongxing in terms of kinship. Because he was a junior and his parents died early, He Pengfei didn't hold a high position within the He Family, nor did he have great ambitions.

In his own words, he wasn't the kind of person who could make it big. He was content to live a happy and joyful life.

To each their own, there's nothing wrong with that.