Chapter 870

Lin’an, Prince of Chu’s Residence.

Li Chuyuan’s face was ashen as he threw the returned battle report to the ground.

“It’s been half a month! Six thousand men died, yet we haven’t even taken a single Wuxian. This Jiang Ying is truly useless! At this rate, who knows when we’ll capture Suzhou City.”

Li Chuyuan sounded extremely irritable as he spoke.

He couldn’t afford not to be anxious now. To purchase flintlock guns and ammunition, the State of Chu had spent twelve million taels of silver this year. Moreover, he was forced to exchange the silver for Great Yu Empire Dragon Coins, and the unequal exchange rate led to him being exploited a second time.

When he was still the Prince of Chu’s heir, he didn’t understand. Now that he was the Prince of Chu, he realized the cost of basic necessities was high.

Although Jiangnan was known as the wealthiest region under heaven, and the State of Chu was the wealthiest in Jiangnan, this much silver was still enough to make his heart ache. However, as long as he could defeat the merchants’ council, this small price was insignificant.

But now, the war situation clearly left him dissatisfied.

Sima Hao sat below Li Chuyuan. After the Cao family fled to Suzhou, he immediately allied with the powerful families of the State of Chu to enthrone Li Chuyuan. A few days later, an imperial decree from the imperial court also arrived. At this point, Li Chuyuan was legitimate both in the imperial court and in the State of Chu.

Gently stroking his beard, Sima Hao looked calm. He said, “Your Highness need not worry. How can war be resolved overnight? This Jiang Ying comes from a family of renowned generals and is very outstanding compared to other generals. As far as I know, the council army is very cunning. They have dug many trenches and built many earthen walls in Wuxian. It is by relying on these trenches and earthen walls that they can stop Jiang Ying’s attack. In my humble opinion, we must find a way to conquer the trenches.”

“Alas, the current Emperor’s Northern Expeditionary Army took only a few days to capture Pingzhou, and Jinzhou only a few more days. Why is our war here so difficult?” Li Kaiyuan sighed deeply.

Sima Hao gently shook his head, “This matter is actually very simple: the firearms His Majesty sells us are all those phased out by the imperial army.”

“I am aware of that, Your Majesty. However, even so, these obsolete weapons are still more advanced than those of the merchants’ council. After all, besides smoothbore flintlock guns, we also purchased rifled flintlock guns. No, the problem is not the firearms, but the artillery. The artillery we use was left by Father King, while the artillery used by the merchants’ council was sold to them by the French.” Li Chuyuan suddenly understood.

Sima Hao pondered for a moment. He said, “It seems that is the case. Jiang Ying’s battle report states that our artillery’s range is inferior to that of the merchants’ council.”

Li Chuyuan suddenly stood up. He said, “Previously, Father King purchased the earliest cannons from Qingzhou Province. These cannons could sweep across all the princes at the time, but now they are not very useful. Now, we must purchase cannons with longer range and greater power from Qingzhou Province.”

“Your Highness, these eighty thousand firearms alone cost so much. If we also purchase cannons, the imperial treasury’s silver will be largely depleted. This is equivalent to losing the State of Chu’s century-long accumulation in a single day to the imperial family,” Sima Hao said, his heart aching somewhat.

Although the State of Chu was wealthy, its treasury was not inexhaustible. Moreover, most of Jiangnan’s wealth was in the hands of powerful families.

Li Chuyuan immediately grinned mischievously. He said, “Uncle, don’t you want to purchase some cannons for the Sima family’s private army?”

At these words, Sima Hao’s pupils suddenly dilated.

Now that Jiangnan was in chaos, the greatest reliance for powerful families was not Li Chuyuan, but their private armies. Therefore, they had been coveting firearms and cannons for a long time.

“Is Your Highness planning to lift the ban on firearms?” Sima Hao said in shock. Previously, when the King of Chu was alive, he had ordered a strict prohibition on powerful families’ private armies possessing firearms.

Li Chuyuan nodded firmly, “The merchants’ council, relying on wealthy merchants and prominent figures, is using civilian militias to oppose me. Why can’t I rely on powerful family private armies to deal with them?”

Sima Hao’s eyes darted around. Ever since the old Prince of Chu died, the Sima family had actually held no reverence for the Li family. Serving Li Chuyuan as the Prince of Chu was merely a temporary and unwilling measure.

After all, a portion of the powerful families in the State of Chu still supported Li Chuyuan. If not for that, the Sima family would have already taken his place. Why would they still suffer under someone else’s rule?

He coughed softly and said, “Your Highness possesses great talent and strategy. Such a plan truly makes me, your humble official, immensely admire you.”

“Uncle, you flatter me. This is merely my last resort,” Li Chuyuan’s smile was somewhat complex.

Sima Hao was somewhat excited. He said, “If that’s the case, I, your humble official, will return to prepare the silver.”

With that, Sima Hao bowed to Li Chuyuan and turned to leave.

Watching Sima Hao disappear into the main hall, Li Chuyuan slammed his fist heavily on the table before him.

“Bastards! Do you really think I’m a fool?!” Li Chuyuan’s eyes held a hint of despair.

He had merely been testing Sima Hao just now, but the result made him clearly see the reality. In the past year, almost everything he did was met with obstruction. He knew very well who was behind all this mischief.

After living in Qingzhou city for two years and returning, he had lost all his foundation. He finally understood why Xiao Ming had asked him that question in the imperial study.

It turned out that even if he returned, he was powerless to change anything; he could only become a puppet of the Sima family.

“You all forced me to do this,” Li Chuyuan muttered. Perhaps he had once harbored a glimmer of hope that he could restore the State of Chu, but now he only wanted to secure a wealthy second half of his life for himself, for he already had a wife and children.

This time, his lifting the ban on firearms was to test Sima Hao and also to show goodwill to Xiao Ming. Before the State of Chu was completely devastated, through arms trade, the State of Chu’s wealth would be transferred to Qingzhou. With his understanding of this Emperor, he would surely be very pleased.

However, he was not without conditions. After the larger arms trade began, he would have Xiao Ming reserve an escape route for him.

Thinking of this, he immediately drafted a memorial and had Xiao Ming dispatch officials to Lin’an for negotiations.

Four days later, the memorial arrived in Qingzou city.

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