Chapter 690

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Lying askew in his seat, Xiao Ming slightly squinted his eyes at the sunlight streaming through the window.

Out of intuition, he instinctively believed that the British would inevitably play a disgraceful role again, and the most likely beneficiary country would be Japan.

After all, a troublemaker is a troublemaker. Creating national conflicts has always been Britain’s forte. In contemporary times, as the former British Empire, before the collapse of its worldwide colonies, Britain deliberately left behind a heap of regional conflict hidden dangers around the world.

For example, contemporary India: the plan for India and Pakistan to govern separately was originally good, but Britain insisted on leaving behind the Kashmir region, thus leading to several conflicts between India and Pakistan.

At the same time, Britain unilaterally drew the McMahon Line in South Tibet, China, and also ceded large tracts of Chinese territory to India. This is the origin of the current Sino-Indian border dispute.

In the Middle East, Britain transformed Kuwait from a province of Iraq into a British protectorate. Later, the two countries gained independence separately, but this still gave Iraq an excuse to launch the Gulf War.

And most importantly, as an island nation outside mainland Europe, Britain has long pursued a policy of “splendid isolation.” To prevent the rise of a powerful great power on the European continent that could contend with it, today it would cause trouble for France, tomorrow it would strike at Germany, making Europe restless.

Although the inherent contradictions between European mainland countries were the main factor, Britain’s instigation was also inseparable from the situation.

Xiao Ming naturally abhorred such a country with an innate “troublemaker” aura. Of course, other European mainland countries were not good either, always looking at other races with discriminatory eyes.

Putting down the memorial, Xiao Ming fell into deep thought. The British warship’s bombardment of the Dreadnought this time was nothing less than an act of war. He was not Empress Dowager Cixi, who would rather appease foreign friends than her own servants, nor would he disregard China’s resources to please other nations.

From the moment he came to this world, he was destined to end the rampant bullying of the West in the world. However, the Great Yu Empire’s border troubles had not yet been resolved, and Goryeo and Japan were watching covetously. He did not have the energy to deal with these foreign visitors.

However, it was impossible for him to swallow his anger. So he picked up his pen and wrote a reply on the memorial: “Once the said British warship is discovered, it shall be immediately sunk.”

After writing, Xiao Ming handed the memorial to Qian Dafu, asking him to deliver it to the courier station to be sent back to Qingzhou.

No sooner had Qian Dafu left than Pang Yukun arrived in a hurry. Upon reaching the imperial study, he said to Xiao Ming, “Your Majesty, General Niu Ben has returned.”

Xiao Ming was overjoyed upon hearing this. Most of the army had been drawn away for this war, leaving Qingzhou basically like an empty city. This had caused Xiao Ming some unease.

Now that the army had returned, he felt relieved.

After a pause, Pang Yukun continued, “Your Majesty, this time General Niu Ben has brought back Prince Zhao and his son, and Empress Zhao and the Thirteenth Prince, all to Qingzhou.”

As he spoke, Pang Yukun watched Xiao Ming intently, as this matter was somewhat sensitive.

“Empress Zhao and the Thirteenth Prince?” Xiao Ming suddenly sighed, “You really know how to leave me with difficult problems.”

With that, Xiao Ming left the imperial study and headed towards the council hall. Since Niu Ben had brought the people back, he naturally had to deal with them.

Upon reaching the council hall, Niu Ben and others were already waiting.

Xiao Ming sat down on the dragon throne and said, “General Niu Ben has toiled. Holding Juyong Pass and conquering Chang’an are both great merits. This time, I will surely reward you heavily.”

Lu Fei, Qi Guangyi, Bai Mu, and the other generals all smiled upon hearing this, while Niu Ben’s expression remained calm. He said, “Your Majesty, this time my merits and demerits are fifty-fifty. I am ashamed before Your Majesty and dare not accept the reward.”

Xiao Ming was momentarily stunned. He had once criticized Niu Ben for delaying the war and not breaking through Qingzhou earlier, and Niu Ben’s words now were undoubtedly because of this matter.

However, to Xiao Ming, there was another meaning in Niu Ben’s words: that he was worried about his merits overshadowing his lord.

The current Niu Ben was no longer the Niu Ben of the past. After laboring in the mines, the current Niu Ben had lost his sharp edge. What he most desired now was probably to live out the rest of his life in peace.

Therefore, in Xiao Ming’s view, Niu Ben deliberately made some minor mistakes this time to achieve the purpose of not continuing to be officially enfeoffed.

After all, the current Niu Ben was almost beyond further enfeoffment.

At this time, Xiao Ming looked at Pang Yukun, who nodded to Xiao Ming. Clearly, his meaning was for Xiao Ming to balance the merits and demerits this time and not to further enfeoff Niu Ben.

He nodded and said, “Even so, General Niu Ben’s merits outweigh his demerits. However, to silence the idle talk of officials, I will not bestow any additional titles this time. I will instead reward you with three thousand taels of silver.”

Niu Ben breathed a sigh of relief in his heart. He hurriedly said, “Thank Your Majesty for your immense grace.”

After a moment of contemplation, Xiao Ming asked, “Where are Prince Zhao and his son now? And where are Empress Zhao and the Thirteenth Prince?”

“Reporting to Your Majesty, Prince Zhao and his son have been sent to the Qingzhou prison. Empress Zhao and the Thirteenth Prince, also being rebels, have also been sent to the Qingzhou prison.”

Fei Ji was also in the hall. He immediately became anxious and said, “Nonsense! How can Empress Zhao and the Thirteenth Prince be imprisoned? Empress Zhao is nominally the Emperor’s mother. Aren’t you making the people of the world point fingers at the Emperor?”

Pang Yukun frowned. Filial piety and integrity were the foundation for ministers and monarchs throughout history. Niu Ben’s handling of this matter was indeed somewhat inappropriate. He said, “Your Majesty, Empress Zhao cannot be punished with the same crime as Prince Zhao.”

As he arrived, he had been thinking about Empress Zhao’s problem. Having been in this world for five years, he naturally understood the importance of filial piety and integrity. It was precisely because of this that he said Niu Ben had left him a big problem.

After a pause, he said, “Elder Fei, you immediately go to the Qingzhou prison and bring out Empress Zhao and the Thirteenth Prince. Find a residence for her to temporarily settle.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.” Fei Ji nodded and turned to leave.

Seeing Fei Ji leave, Pang Yukun spoke frankly, “Is Your Majesty preparing to deal with Empress Zhao and the Thirteenth Prince?”

“Even if Empress Zhao did not make the Thirteenth Prince ascend the throne, she indirectly caused the death of the late Emperor. I can only demote her and the Thirteenth Prince to commoners. What do you think?”

“I think so too, Your Majesty. However, even so, Empress Zhao and the Thirteenth Prince cannot be allowed to leave Qingzhou, lest unscrupulous individuals exploit them in the future,” Pang Yukun said.

Xiao Ming understood Pang Yukun’s meaning. In the future, someone might use the names of Empress Zhao and the Thirteenth Prince to revolt, after all, the Great Yu Empire currently only had the north under his control.

“I understand your thoughts. Therefore, I plan to execute Prince Zhao and his son in the East Market as a warning to others, to show those with malicious intentions the consequences of rebellion.”

Pang Yukun smiled. He seemingly casually said, “Your Majesty probably intends to show this to the Crown Prince of Chu, right? Also, Your Majesty, are you really not going to reclaim military power from the Prince of Yong?”