Chapter 544

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A gentle river breeze blew, carrying away the summer heat.

Xiao Ming and Fiji walked along the riverbanks of the Xiaoqing River, talking. After a moment of thought, Xiao Ming said, “Since that’s the case, we will continue to cooperate with the King of Chu. As Grand Councillor Fei said, my biggest threats are currently the Prince of Zhao, the Prince of Liang, the Prince of Yan, and the barbarians. The current priority should be to stabilize the northern lands.”

“Yes, Your Highness. Throughout history, founders of dynasties have always campaigned from north to south. It won’t hurt to let the King of Chu have his way for a while,” Fiji, too, was a shrewd figure.

He had discussed this matter with Pang Yukun before coming, and Pang Yukun also supported his idea because, in his opinion, the fief was indeed isolated and had many enemies at the moment, so they should seize this opportunity.

After all, for the King of Chu, all he wanted was the land south of the Yangtze River.

“Hmm, in that case, I will go back and agree to this matter.” Xiao Ming’s brow unfurrowed.

The barbarians, Japan, Goryeo, the Prince of Zhao, the Prince of Liang, and the Prince of Yan were Xiao Ming’s main enemies at present. Among them, except for Japan being at sea, the rest of the forces were in the north, and none of them were easy to deal with.

Especially the barbarians, who were a grassland empire stretching from East Asia to Central Asia. In the west, the barbarians were even fighting the Ottoman Empire, which showed the vastness of their territory.

Fighting such a large empire would surely be long and arduous. With Xiao Ming’s current fief’s land and resources, merely consuming the barbarians would be enough to exhaust Xiao Ming.

Therefore, for whatever reason, he had to unify the North, and only then would he have enough manpower and resources to completely defeat the barbarians.

Pondering along the way, Xiao Ming and Fiji headed towards Qingzhou City.

Upon returning to the royal residence, Xiao Ming met the King of Chu’s envoy.

“Your Highness.” The King of Chu’s envoy showed a respectful attitude when he saw Xiao Ming.

This time, besides the King of Chu’s envoy, Li Wei was also present. As the person consistently in charge of artillery trade matters in Qingzhou, Li Wei also played a significant role in this alliance.

During this period, Li Wei had been acting as an undercover agent in Chu territory with Xiao Ming’s money, and unknowingly, he had cultivated a group of officials close to Qingzhou.

From this, it can be seen that in any era, the allure of money is still infinite.

“Gentlemen, please take a seat. Grand Councillor Fei has already conveyed the King of Chu’s intentions to me. After careful consideration, I find the King of Chu’s idea to be good.”

The envoy sent by the King of Chu this time, Chai Lingfei, held a high position in Chu as the King of Chu’s son-in-law, showing the King of Chu’s emphasis on this alliance.

Chai Lingfei became nervous as Xiao Ming entered. Unlike the Prince of Wei’s ignorance-is-bliss attitude, the King of Chu had witnessed the strength of the Dutch ships and artillery. After being utterly routed by the Dutch in the Battle of Qiantang, the King of Chu decided to focus heavily on developing firearms.

Because of this, the King of Chu was very worried that Xiao Ming would tear up the original trade agreement due to his declaration of independence. This time, he hastily sent Chai Lingfei to plead for an alliance.

“Your Highness is wise. The King of Chu deeply feels that Your Highness is fighting alone in the North and it is very difficult. His Majesty also feels the bond of brotherhood. If Your Highness is willing to ally, both sides can complement each other’s strengths.” Chai Lingfei said excitedly, beaming.

After a pause, Chai Lingfei continued, “Your Highness, His Majesty said that if Your Highness agrees to this alliance, we are willing to continue purchasing fifty thousand matchlock guns. Li Wei will also discuss the specific details of this matter with Your Highness.”

“Fifty thousand matchlock guns. Chu territory truly lives up to its reputation as being the wealthiest in the world, such a grand gesture,” Xiao Ming said with a faint smile.

Now that steam-powered drilling machines had replaced water-powered ones, the production speed of matchlock guns had reached a new level, and matchlock guns were simple in structure and extremely easy to manufacture.

Thinking that matchlock guns were extremely easy to imitate, he felt there was no need to refuse this transaction, because Li San had extracted another piece of intelligence from Yang Zhen that made him very displeased.

When Xiao Wenxuan was seriously ill, Wang Xi had already acquired the forging technology to replicate matchlock guns. Although this forging technology produced matchlock guns slowly, the technology had ultimately been replicated.

Rather than letting the King of Chu also find a way to imitate them, it was better for him to sell matchlock guns, which could both earn money and make the King of Chu feel there was no need to imitate them.

Chai Lingfei smiled upon hearing this and said, “Your Highness, the Prince of Ruyang and the Prince of Huainan are taking the opportunity to invade royal lands, and the Prince of Zhao is covetously eyeing Shu. For the sake of Great Yu Empire’s ancestral lands, His Majesty has no choice.”

Xiao Ming’s smile grew wider. At first, Chai Lingfei spoke of the King of Chu, then he brought out the Third Prince.

Now, in Chang’an, the Prince of Zhao had installed an emperor, and in the South, the King of Chu had installed an emperor. He, the true heir to the imperial throne, had become the one they were all vying to win over.

Thinking of this, Xiao Ming felt more and more that he was right not to make the last will public. Being able to play both sides was far more important than a title.

But even so, Xiao Ming would not pledge allegiance to the Third Prince. He said, “Since that is the case, I will agree to this matter.”

Chai Lingfei immediately felt relieved. His trip to Qingzhou had successfully achieved its purpose.

After exchanging a few more pleasantries, Xiao Ming called for Fiji and Pang Yukun and had them formally sign the alliance with Chai Lingfei in the government office. The alliance stipulated non-aggression between the two parties, and that trade between them would remain unaffected and continue normally.

After drafting the agreement, Xiao Ming officially signed and stamped it with his seal, and Chai Lingfei also affixed the seal he brought.

With the agreement reached, Chai Lingfei cupped his hands and said to Xiao Ming, “Your Highness, after this matter, I hope Your Highness can provide more support in terms of firearms. Of course, we will not let Your Highness suffer a loss either.”

Among the various vassal kings, the King of Chu had the deepest understanding of Xiao Ming’s strength. Precisely because of this, he would set aside his pride to win over Xiao Ming.

Of course, the King of Chu had also chosen the right moment to come this time. He had seen Qingzhou’s current predicament and thus dispatched an envoy at the opportune moment. Indeed, as the King of Chu expected, the alliance was successfully concluded.

Xiao Ming handed the alliance agreement to Pang Yukun to keep. He sighed faintly. The cruel reality truly taught him how to play the strategy of allying with distant forces to attack nearby ones.

No wonder even the powerful Russian military of today still had to beg the “Rabbit family” for money. This was all driven by money; no matter how many advanced weapons there were, without financial support, they were just a pile of scrap metal.

And back then, Emperor Wu of Han only truly won the war against the Xiongnu by sending Zhang Qian on a diplomatic mission to the Yuezhi to attack the Xiongnu from both sides.

“Since the alliance has been signed, I will naturally not violate it, and I hope the King of Chu can also abide by the alliance.” Xiao Ming smiled faintly. With this, he had basically completed the first step of allying with distant forces to attack nearby ones, and the war against Wei would have fewer constraints.

And after signing the agreement with the King of Chu, Xiao Ming suddenly had a bold idea, an idea with the same purpose as Zhang Qian’s mission to the Western Regions back then.