Chapter 540

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“Firearms!”

The Prince of Wei lightly uttered these two words.

Thinking of this, his mood became somewhat gloomy. He said, “I had craftsmen imitate matchlock guns, but so far there has been no progress. It’s truly a headache.”

Mi Wenyi said, “Your Highness need not worry. While firearms and cannons are indeed powerful, they are by no means invincible. Otherwise, why does Xiao Ming guard Shanhai Pass and not venture out? This shows that even with firearms, Xiao Ming still fears the barbarian cavalry. Moreover, King Qi has fewer people while your highness has more, King Qi is poor while King Wei is rich. As long as Pengzhou can be defended, King Qi’s army will have to retreat within a few months.”

Xiao Qi frowned. What Mi Wenyi said seemed reasonable, but the Battles of Cangzhou and Jizhou had both proven the ferocity of the Qingzhou Army. Although King Wei had vast land and many people, and was very wealthy, its people had always lived in peace, and the Wei army had not experienced a major war for seven or eight years. If the two sides were to engage in battle, the outcome would be unknown.

Hesitating for a moment, he said, “Royal Uncle, I believe we should continue sending envoys to the Dutch, Japan, and even southward to seek methods for forging cannons and firearms. Now that other vassal kings have witnessed the power of firearms, they have all seen their might. We must not be careless in this matter.”

“Chief Clerk Mi and my virtuous nephew both speak sense. Since that is the case, Chief Clerk Mi will be responsible for the defense of Pengzhou, and my virtuous nephew will be responsible for the method of forging firearms, how about that?”

Mi Wenyi and Xiao Qi exchanged glances and replied in unison, “Yes, Your Highness.”

The Prince of Wei nodded with satisfaction. He was just thinking of going out for a stroll in the city with the two when a guard suddenly rushed to the main hall.

“Your Highness, the intelligence from Chu reports that King Chu’s army has reportedly taken Quanzhou and other former royal territories.” The guard said.

“Quanzhou!” The Prince of Wei was startled. “In such a short time, King Chu’s fief has doubled in size. If this continues, won’t the southern lands all be occupied by King Chu?”

“That’s not surprising. King Chu has painstakingly managed the south for years, and he has long bought off officials from many surrounding prefectures and counties. Now that the world is in chaos, these officials immediately defected to King Chu.” Xiao Qi analyzed.

The Prince of Wei felt a bit sour. “Hmph, this King Chu is truly cunning. He occupied a good place. It’s a pity that the Prince of Yan and King Qi around me are not easy to get along with.”

It must be said that King Chu was now in the most favorable position in terms of timing, geographical advantage, and popular support. Although the two had no good feelings for King Chu, they had to admit this point.

Mi Wenyi sighed and said, “Most importantly, King Chu’s navy dominates the river. This is a natural moat, and no one can do anything about him.”

The Prince of Wei snorted upon hearing this. He said, “This matter is quite disheartening, so let’s not mention it. King Chu is wealthy, and I am no worse than him. It’s not yet decided whose world this will be.”

Mi Wenyi nodded. He suddenly remembered something and said, “Your Highness, I just recalled something. King Qi’s warships need to stop in Tongzhou for resupply every time they go south. This could be leverage we can use against King Qi. After all, without Tongzhou, it would be quite difficult for their warships to go south.”

The Prince of Wei’s eyes lit up. He gently stroked his beard and said proudly, “Chief Clerk Mi has truly reminded me. Hmph, in that case, we might as well make an issue out of Tongzhou. If Xiao Ming dares to covet Pengzhou, he should not blame me for prohibiting his warships from docking for supplies.”

“More than that, Your Highness, perhaps we can even demand that King Qi send us some cannons and firearms,” Mi Wenyi said.

The more the Prince of Wei thought about it, the more he found Mi Wenyi’s words reasonable. He said, “Hmm, in that case, I will send someone to Qingzhou to discuss this matter.”

With that, the Prince of Wei laughed heartily.

…

Qingzhou, after Xiao Ming left the Qingzhou Barracks, he went directly to the government office. As soon as he arrived, Li San followed him in.

“Is there any important intelligence?” Li San seemed to be in a hurry, Xiao Ming couldn’t help but ask.

Currently, Xiao Ming was completely in the dark about matters outside Qingzhou and could only rely on Li San and Wang Xuan to collect information and analyze the current situation.

Li San said with a chuckle, “Your Highness, Yang Zhen has honestly confessed all the Lijinmen’s informants and secret codes. I have even unearthed quite a few Lijinmen members in Qingzhou.”

“He confessed so quickly. It seems this Yang Zhen is nothing but a coward who fears death,” Xiao Ming said disdainfully.

“Your Highness is right. I just mentioned the ten great tortures, and he wet his pants before the torture instruments were even used, hehe.” Li San seemed very proud.

“Get to the point,” Xiao Ming glared at him. This kid still hadn’t changed his glib tongue.

Li San chuckled and said, “All these Lijinmen people have been arrested by me. Upon learning that Your Highness holds the last will, these people, persuaded by Yang Zhen, are willing to obey my dispatch. Moreover, I have already sent people to incorporate other Lijinmen personnel.”

After a pause, Li San continued, “Your Highness, this Lijinmen is truly ubiquitous, spread throughout Great Yu Empire. Yang Zhen confessed that there are Lijinmen spies around every vassal king. This way, we will be able to keep abreast of the situation in other vassal states at all times.”

“Besides that, did Yang Zhen not provide any other valuable intelligence?” Xiao Ming was most concerned about this.

Li San said, “Yes, Yang Zhen said that the barbarians agreed to the Prince of Zhao’s condition for sending troops: to obtain half of the spoils of war. And the Prince of Liang also pledged allegiance to the barbarians in exchange for their support.”

“Prince of Liang? Hmph, another one who acknowledges thieves as his father.” Xiao Ming said angrily. He now understood more clearly why the Great Ming Dynasty fell. Internal strife and external threats, coupled with so many Han traitors leading the way, how could it not fall?

However, thinking of his current predicament, he felt the situation was even more difficult.

“Yang Zhen also said that the barbarians promised not to interfere with the conflict between the two, meaning if the Prince of Zhao and the Prince of Liang clashed, the barbarian troops would not participate. However, if they were to use troops against Your Highness, the barbarians promised to fully support them.”

Xiao Ming frowned. He had originally wanted to play a proxy war, but he didn’t expect the barbarians to start playing it first. He clearly understood the barbarians’ intentions: they undoubtedly wanted to use the Prince of Zhao and the Prince of Liang to deplete his forces, while they themselves would wait behind them for an opportune moment to strike.

“However, Your Highness, the Prince of Zhao seems more interested in the King of Shu, while the Prince of Liang has quite a bit of criticism regarding the Prince of Zhao’s occupation of Chang’an,” Li San said again.

“The Prince of Zhao doesn’t seem to be foolish. The land of Shu is known as the ‘Land of Abundance’ and is a major grain-producing area of Great Yu Empire. If he takes Shu, he won’t have to worry about grain. Emperor Qin Shi Huang also first took Guanzhong, then Bashu, and only then unified the six states. It seems the Prince of Zhao is quite keen on learning from the First Emperor.”

Li San said, “That’s right. This Prince of Zhao has always called himself the ‘Little Qin Emperor’.”

With a cold sneer, Xiao Ming dismissed the topic and asked, “If the Prince of Zhao has that intention, it buys me time to conquer Wei’s territory. Tell me about the situation in Pengzhou.”