Chapter 828

The cicadas chirped outside the imperial study, their incessant noise irritating.

Xiao Ming paced back and forth before the three, lost in thought. While the industrial revolution was in full swing, the Great Yu Empire still faced security challenges.

The Prince of Chu, the barbarians, Japan, Tibet, and so on—these hostile forces needed to be dealt with one by one. His task was still immense.

“Feudal lords are ultimately a major concern for the Great Yu Empire. As long as they remain, the Great Yu Empire will remain in a state of division. What’s most regrettable is that I cannot intervene in the internal affairs of the feudal states,” Xiao Ming said. This was a rule established by Great Ancestor. In Xiao Ming’s view, these feudal states were like independent federations, pledging loyalty to the imperial family while maintaining their own internal systems.

And this was precisely why he hated it so much: because the feudal lords were like ticking time bombs. If the imperial family was strong, all would be peaceful. If the imperial family weakened, these feudal lords would seize the opportunity to replace them.

After all, this had happened just a few years ago; it was by no means his conjecture.

Fei Ji’s face showed contemplation. Xiao Ming’s words were enough to make him understand what Xiao Ming intended to do. He said, “Your Majesty, this matter cannot be rushed. The north is not yet completely stable, and Japan is eyeing Goryeo covetously. The Northern Expeditionary Army will need to recuperate after returning to the capital. Rashly reducing feudal lords’ power might push them to the Prince of Chu’s side, causing trouble in the rear.”

“Elder Fei is absolutely right. Currently, most of the Great Yu Empire’s forces are tied down in the north. Even with the triumphant returning soldiers, we can only muster sixty thousand men. Moreover, it takes time to gather grain and fodder, and prepare ammunition. This Northern Expedition has already consumed greatly, and the plundered slaves consume a lot of rations. Your Majesty, I believe now is absolutely not the time to dispatch troops. We should currently focus on stabilizing Guandong and Goryeo, at least until Guandong can provide grain for the stationed troops,” Pang Yukun advised. Due to the delay in spring plowing, Guandong currently had no grain production at all.

Currently, not only could it not provide grain to the Great Yu Empire, but the imperial court also had to subsidize grain. After reclaiming the six cities, the provincial office’s statistics quickly emerged.

Now, the six cities of Guandong had a total population of 2.2 million, which was very significant.

Xiao Ming glanced at Pang Yukun. In his memory, this fellow was always like this: whenever there was a war, he would complain about lacking grain and money, never being happy.

However, he understood that Pang Yukun was a cautious person, who never liked to fight battles without full confidence.

“If that’s the case, then let’s reconsider next autumn. But before that, I need to find a way to make the Prince of Huainan and the Prince of Yong surrender their military power,” Xiao Ming mused.

In fact, he also didn’t want to fight his own people. Internal strife was meaningless. If the Prince of Chu could surrender his military power and be a wealthy prince, he wouldn’t do anything to him.

But now everything was too late. The Prince of Chu was now digging his own grave. Once the parliament led by Cao Kun was established, the State of Chu would change its nature. At that time, he might not be facing the Prince of Chu, but a capitalist parliament.

However, even so, he was not very worried. The State of Chu was developing, but the north was also developing, and his development speed was much faster than that of the State of Chu.

This was like the tortoise and the hare race. An extra year would only widen the gap between north and south. Perhaps then, he would eliminate the Prince of Chu with an overwhelming advantage. After all, Song Changping was already developing a Sharps breech-loading rifle that used paper cartridges as ammunition.

This Sharps rifle was very similar in construction to the Conqueror Musket currently used by the Great Yu Empire. It also used an external percussion cap and hammer ignition, with paper cartridge cases. The difference was the addition of a breech-locking mechanism.

Thus, the Great Yu Empire’s Conqueror Musket could become a breech-loading rifled musket with just a slight modification and upgrade.

The reason for this was, of course, no coincidence. Xiao Ming had guided Song Changping in this direction from the very beginning of the design, precisely to facilitate the upgrading of firearms.

Currently, the Great Yu Empire had over one hundred thousand modern firearm troops. If they frequently changed weapons, he couldn’t afford it. Moreover, according to news from the battlefield, many Conqueror Muskets were lost during the northern expedition.

These firearms might have fallen into barbarian hands. If so, he believed that Japanese and Western spies had very likely already obtained this new type of firearm.

For him, he could not tolerate his own weapons losing their advantage on the battlefield. Otherwise, he, a man with the technology crystal, would truly be disgraced.

Besides this reason, another reason he chose the Sharps rifle was the issue of bullet production. This rifle could fully use the Minié bullets currently used by the Conqueror rifle, without requiring a specialized matching bullet production line.

The only problem now was whether Song Changping could manufacture a qualified breech-locking mechanism, as this would affect the firearm’s airtightness.

In the coming period, he would need to specially manufacture a set of production machinery for the breech-locking mechanism.

After discussing the issue of the Prince of Chu, Xiao Ming said to Li San, “I am temporarily not attacking the Prince of Chu, which does not mean I fear him. You are doing very well. Now, you must immediately cooperate with the security bureau to seal all of the Cao family’s businesses.”

“Yes, Your Majesty,” Li San responded.

Having settled this matter, Xiao Ming dismissed the three. If it had been before, he would surely have worried himself sick over the Prince of Chu, but now it was completely unnecessary, for he had full confidence in his ability to control the situation.

Now, his plan could not be disrupted. The current priority was still to deal with the barbarians and Japan, and at the same time stabilize Guandong and Goryeo, turning these two places into the Great Yu Empire’s granaries and dumping grounds for goods.

Thinking of this, he had Qian Dafu summon Hwang Ja-man. The Goryeo delegation was waiting for his reply to report back.

Soon, Hwang Ja-man, who had been waiting in the restaurant for several days, arrived. Seeing Xiao Ming, he immediately knelt down with a fawning expression.

Xiao Ming did not let Hwang Ja-man rise. At this moment, he wanted to demonstrate danger in front of him. After a moment of contemplation, he said, “Hwang Ja-man, since you are willing to work for me, I will not treat you unfairly. You need to faithfully fulfill the conditions I proposed to Goryeo.”

“Your Majesty, I, your humble servant, would fulfill Your Majesty’s grace even if it meant being shattered to pieces,” Hwang Ja-man said sincerely.

Nodding, Xiao Ming continued, “The Great Yu Empire’s army is stationed in Ryukyo City, which is enough to protect your life. But you will need to find your own way to resolve any conflicts that arise during the implementation of the treaty. My principle is that, under the premise of fulfilling the treaty, I will not interfere in your internal affairs.”

“I understand Your Majesty’s meaning. I, your humble servant, will never cause trouble for Your Majesty.”

Xiao Ming had said what needed to be said. Among the terms of this treaty, the most controversial would probably be the cultural issues. In this regard, he had been quite heavy-handed, but only heavy-handedness could assimilate Goryeo.

Otherwise, bland and ineffective education would not assimilate this place even in a thousand years. Once Goryeo’s culture revived, this place would separate again. The historical grievances between England and Ireland were enough to prove the dangers of leaving loose ends.

And what he wanted to do was solve it once and for all.

The novel has already been fully translated up to the final chapter. You can access it on my Patreon at https://www.patreon.com/c/caleredhair