Chapter 809: The Great Bridge

The crowd burst into laughter, but no one thought that Liu Bei’s words were inappropriate. On the contrary, they all felt that it was perfectly fitting. After all, both Yuan Shao and Liu Bei were engaged in actions solely to irk the other side. They all knew it had no real impact—it was just to satisfy their own hearts.

"Three, two, one!" Chen Xi, staring at the dark clouds overhead, began counting down with a cold smirk. As soon as he reached one, he unleashed his maximum spiritual energy output. The three others with him followed suit, and the cloud, which had been hovering over the river, was immediately pushed to the opposite bank. Before Yuan Shao’s forces could react, a torrential downpour began!

"Damn it!" Xin Pi and the others scrambled in chaos, but they were still soaked through by the rain, leaving them drenched like drowned rats.

"Ding!" Wen Chou used his spear to deflect a silver-blue arrow, which disintegrated into powder. Following the arrow came Liu Bei’s booming voice.

Yuan Shao, drenched from head to toe, stood fuming. Although his advisors quickly dispersed the clouds, the irritation in his heart was not so easily dispelled.

"Liu Xuande!" Yuan Shao roared in anger.

Before Shen Pei and the others could take the blame for the mishap and try to console Yuan Shao, a single arrow had already arrived, and the words it carried nearly caused Yuan Shao to explode with rage.

"This was our negligence, my lord. We failed to go all out, which led to this incident. Please punish us," Shen Pei said bitterly. Many of the sharper minds, like Dong Zhao and Xu You, hadn’t even acted. They were merely probing, never expecting the other side to unleash such a strong burst of spiritual energy in an instant.

"Hmph, return to camp!" Yuan Shao took a deep breath, regaining his composure. Even though Liu Bei’s words were grating, they were true. If he wanted to observe, he should do it openly and not hide behind subterfuge.

Tian Feng, Ju Shou, Shen Pei, and Xu You exchanged helpless glances before returning to camp, thoroughly embarrassed. Their strategists weren’t pushovers, but they had still been caught off guard and humiliated.

"What do you all think?" Liu Bei asked, glancing at the opposite bank, now devoid of Yuan Shao’s towering platform, before turning to his advisors.

"It doesn’t really change anything. We’ll fight as planned. Yuan Shao might be angry for a moment, but with Shen Pei, Xu You, Tian Feng, and Ju Shou by his side, even if he does nothing, it won’t be easy for us to defeat him," Chen Xi replied, casually picking up a piece of meat. "As long as Yuan Shao doesn’t sabotage himself, it’ll take time for us to win."

"It’s a shame there’s no bridge across the Yellow River. If there were, both we and Yuan Shao could just get on with it and start the fight," Liu Bei said, half in jest.

At this moment, Sun Qian, returning from fishing with Jian Yong, heard Liu Bei’s remark. He looked at Liu Bei with a peculiar expression before turning to Chen Xi, unsure if he should speak. Although he had been one of the earliest members of Liu Bei’s group, his presence was relatively low-key compared to the others, even though he was renowned for his construction skills.

"Public Administrator, if you have something to say, just say it. Are you afraid of us?" Guo Jia teased with a grin. He had never been one to care much about formalities, and being quite familiar with Sun Qian, he gave him a playful nudge.

"Public Administrator, do you have something to say?" Liu Bei asked, noticing Sun Qian’s expression. He found it odd that Sun Qian seemed hesitant to speak—did he really think Liu Bei was so imposing that he couldn’t even talk?

"In fact, I’ve discussed this with Zichuan before. With our current technology and materials, we are capable of building a bridge over the Yellow River, or even the Yangtze River," Sun Qian finally said after some thought.

While building a bridge over the Yellow River would indeed pose technical challenges, they were not insurmountable. Sun Qian had already conducted several scale model tests, and the final model was proven to be successful. The bridge’s strength was not an issue.

Everyone except Chen Xi was stunned by Sun Qian’s statement. Liu Bei’s earlier comment had been a casual joke, but coming from Sun Qian, one of the foremost bridge-building experts in the country, it meant that such a feat was indeed feasible.

"Can we really build a bridge?" Liu Bei asked in disbelief, looking at Sun Qian.

"It’s possible, but the difficulty is immense, and now isn’t the right time. The required measurements, materials, and skilled labor would be substantial," Chen Xi replied, frowning.

Sun Qian had previously submitted a report on the feasibility of constructing a bridge over the Yellow River. Under normal circumstances, Chen Xi would have dismissed such a proposal as unrealistic. However, since the proposal came from Sun Qian, he had taken the time to study it.

Chen Xi had discovered, to his surprise, that while the plan had its flaws, it was indeed executable. The advancements in materials science in this world, especially the spiritual technique of nurturing materials, surpassed those of the future. Special steel couldn’t even compare to the effects of nurturing through inner energy!

Chen Xi had taught Sun Qian how to create scale models of the bridge. After dozens of failed attempts, Sun Qian had finally developed a workable model that could meet the technical requirements of a Yellow River bridge, and the load-bearing capabilities were more than sufficient.

When Sun Qian had excitedly brought the model to Chen Xi, he had been at a loss for words. A Yellow River bridge, a technological feat that wouldn’t become possible for another 1,700 years, was now achievable. Sun Qian seemed to be competing with Zhang Heng to see who could accomplish the more extraordinary feat.

Chen Xi had then vaguely dismissed Sun Qian’s proposal, knowing that constructing such a bridge would cost at least 3 billion coins. Furthermore, the Yellow River’s banks weren’t even under Liu Bei’s control yet. If Yuan Shao were to destroy the bridge after its completion, it would be a devastating loss.

"So, it’s possible to build?" Liu Bei asked, frowning at Chen Xi.

"Yes, to be precise, we could even get it right on the first try and build a bridge that would last over a hundred years," Chen Xi nodded, while Sun Qian enthusiastically nodded along.

"Then why didn’t you say so earlier? If we had started earlier, it might already be done by now," Liu Bei sighed, feeling a little regretful.

"We didn’t have the technology before. By the time we could build it, it would still take at least two years. The cost is enormous, and we’d need an initial investment of around 800 million coins. The problem is, we don’t have that money in this year’s budget," Chen Xi explained, shaking his head.

"Exactly. The bridge is feasible, but it wasn’t until the end of last year that the technology caught up. By then, Zichuan had already finalized and distributed this year’s budget. We’ll need to wait another five months to secure the 800 million coins required," Sun Qian added, nodding understandingly. He harbored no resentment toward Chen Xi, knowing full well that Chen Xi had explained everything clearly at the time.

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