Chapter 630

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Linnan City.

At midday, bursts of beautiful orchestral music drifted from the King of Chu’s mansion in Lin’an City.

The main hall of the princely mansion was filled with guests. On both sides sat officials and generals of Chu, and there were also two particularly striking individuals, due to their appearance being different from the people of the Great Yu Empire.

These two were none other than Richard and Basil. After their trip to Jinling City, they came to Lin’an City, and they would likely spend a long time there.

“Two envoys, as long as you can train my army to be like Prince Qi’s army, I will certainly not treat you poorly.”

After three rounds of wine, the King of Chu, his eyes blurred with drink, wished to express all his displeasure.

Despite his alliance with Xiao Ming, he felt truly wronged. If it weren’t for Qingzhou’s cannons and muskets being so slow to arrive, why would he have to be so subservient?

Now that more than half of the southern prefectures and counties had fallen into his hands, his ambition swelled even further, and he was already envisioning himself unifying the Great Yu Empire.

Richard enjoyed the delicacies in the princely mansion, occasionally translating the King of Chu’s words to Basil. This time, the King of Chu had reached an agreement with Ocaso, the French governor responsible for East Asian affairs.

The French obtained exclusive trading rights with Chu, and at the same time established a trading port between the Great Yu Empire and Annam. In return, the French sold firearms to the King of Chu and sent military officers to train Chu’s army.

Basil was the instructor whom the King of Chu had hired with heavy money. Every month, the King of Chu had to pay Basil a salary of one thousand taels of silver, and also pay Richard five hundred taels for translation.

Richard translated the King of Chu’s words, and Basil frowned, “Your esteemed King of Chu, your current firearms are too poor. With matchlock guns and cannons with a range of only 500 meters, you cannot defeat Prince Qi.”

“Envoy, you jest. Xiao Ming also uses these firearms; it’s just that my army training is not as good as his,” the King of Chu had not yet realized anything.

Basil frowned. He said, “King of Chu, do you not understand yet? You have probably been tricked by this Prince Qi. We learned from the Dutch that Prince Qi’s army is equipped with flintlock guns, and their cannons have a range of three to four li. Moreover, they also have field guns. The gap in your weaponry is not small.”

“What are these flintlock guns and field guns?” the King of Chu asked, puzzled.

Basil showed a look of disdain. To him, the natives of this place were no different from those in America or Africa.

Despite having a large population, their rulers were still very ignorant. They knew nothing of science and had no faith, merely autocratic and brutal oppression of their own common people.

However, they were happy to see such rulers, because it was conducive to them extracting benefits from them.

“This flintlock gun is a more powerful firearm than the matchlock gun. Not only does it have a long range, but its loading speed is also very fast, and it is more adaptable to combat in rainy weather. And the field gun is a very convenient cannon. This cannon can advance with the musketeers and be deployed on the battlefield at any time,” Basil briefly introduced. “This time, I also brought firearms with me to your esteemed country for self-defense. This is a flintlock gun.”

With that, Basil stood up and presented a short-barreled flintlock gun to the King of Chu.

The King of Chu was now fully sober. He picked up the flintlock gun and looked at it, instantly understanding where the differences lay. Then his surprise turned into an extraordinary anger.

“Damn it! Xiao Ming has been deceiving me all this time!” the King of Chu roared.

The officials and generals in the main hall also showed indignant expressions, each whispering among themselves, clearly cursing Xiao Ming.

Li Chu Yuan, the King of Chu’s Crown Prince, and the Third Prince were seated on the left and right sides of the King of Chu. At this moment, Li Chu Yuan fanned the flames, saying, “Imperial Father, this Xiao Ming is simply too malicious! My devastating defeat against the Dutch last time was all Xiao Ming’s fault! If he hadn’t sold us those kinds of cannons, how could I have lost?!”

The last disastrous defeat had made Li Chu Yuan lose face. Now he had finally found an excuse. Although his words were cursing Xiao Ming, the excitement in his eyes was hard to conceal.

The King of Chu looked at Li Chu Yuan and said slowly, “Imperial Father was wrong to blame you.”

“Imperial Father being wrong to blame me is nothing to fear. It is right for me to suffer some grievances. I only hope that Imperial Father will no longer trust the imperial family. This Xiao Ming is so cunning, and others are probably the same,” Li Chu Yuan said, looking at the Third Prince.

After Prince Zhao enthroned the Thirteenth Prince, they had enthroned the Third Prince as their sovereign. If by seniority, they should all call the Third Prince “Emperor.”

However, the reality now was that the Third Prince was nothing more than a puppet, but even so, Li Chu Yuan remained wary of the Third Prince.

In his heart, this state of Chu belonged to him; how could it be someone else’s turn to lay hands on it?

Li Chu Yuan’s indirect accusations reached the Third Prince’s ears, but the Third Prince merely pretended not to hear, continuing to eat his dishes and drink his wine, as if Li Chu Yuan’s words had nothing to do with him.

Just as everyone was cursing Xiao Ming over the firearms, an imperial courier arrived outside the door and said, “Your Highness, an urgent dispatch from Qingzhou.”

“Qingzhou!” The King of Chu became even angrier upon hearing this. He said to all his civil and military officials, “Hmph, I want to see what tricks this Xiao Ming is playing now! Present it!”

The imperial courier, hearing this, handed the letter from Qingzhou to the King of Chu.

The King of Chu took the letter, tore it open, and read it. After just one glance, he threw the letter to the ground, his face turning from red to purple.

Li Chu Yuan carefully glanced at the King of Chu. He picked up the letter from the ground, looked at it, and was instantly shocked. “Xiao Ming is going to ascend the throne!”

As the words spread, the Third Prince, who had been feigning nonchalance, stiffened, then calmly continued to eat.

However, a faint, imperceptible smile appeared at the corner of his mouth.

He no longer viewed Xiao Ming with apprehension, nor did he hate him, nor did he harbor any of the suspicion and jealousy among princes. After living in Lin’an for a year, the cruel reality made him understand that he was merely a dog of the King of Chu.

What imperial throne, what realm, were to him merely illusions. He only resented that he had been blinded by the throne and met such a fate.

From the time he left Chang’an, he knew that Xiao Wenxuan would pass the throne to Xiao Ming. Now that Xiao Ming had ascended the throne, he felt a sense of relief and ease.

“Xiao Ming actually ordered us to attend his enthronement ceremony! What a joke!” Li Chu Yuan said furiously. “Imperial Father, in my opinion, why not learn from Xiao Ming and bombard Jinling City? Consider it a grand gift for him.”

The King of Chu gasped violently. Xiao Ming’s ascension meant his ambition was for the entire realm, which negated the legitimacy of the Third Prince he had supported. Although Li Chu Yuan’s suggestion made him somewhat impulsive, he understood that now was not the time to openly break ties with Xiao Ming.

Although Xiao Ming did not give him the best firearms, they were enough to deal with other vassal princes.