“Your Highness, since that’s the case, I will now proceed with the research following the design of the rifled gun.”
In the military machinery department, Chen Qi’s resolve was strengthened by the encouragement of Song Changping and Xiao Ming.
“Go ahead and try boldly. The power of cannons is immense, something firearms cannot replace. In future battlefields, field guns will become increasingly important,” Xiao Ming said to Chen Qi.
During this period, Chen Qi had suddenly felt that the status of cannons seemed to have declined, which made him feel a bit sour, believing his research to be of little value.
But now, Xiao Ming’s words once again ignited a surge of motivation in his heart.
Having specified the future research direction for cannons to Chen Qi, Xiao Ming asked, “Let’s put that aside for now. How many field guns have you produced? The army is clamoring for equipment every day, and the situation is unpredictable. I need the army to start practicing the coordination of field guns and infantry from now on.”
“Reporting to Your Highness, we have now produced ninety-six 6-pound field guns and forty-two 12-pound field guns. As for naval cannons, we have also been continuously producing them and can meet the needs of the warships that are about to be launched. In addition, there are the city-defense cannons needed by various prefectures and counties. During this time, we have provided two hundred cannons to Yunzhou city, three hundred cannons to Dengzhou, and one hundred and eighty cannons to Yizhou in the south. Besides these, there are also export-model cannons,” Chen Qi rattled off like a household inventory.
Xiao Ming was slightly satisfied with the cannon production. One thing he was very confident about was that his current cannon casting technology was definitely more advanced than Europe’s, because Europe was still using lost-wax casting technology.
This technology required continuous mold manufacturing, while his iron mold casting technology eliminated this step, truly realizing assembly-line production for artillery.
For this reason, he believed that his cannon production would not be inferior to that of European countries.
“Thirty-six 6-pound field guns and twelve 12-pound field guns will be kept for the Qingzhou Army, and the remaining field guns will be sent to the Youzhou Army,” Xiao Ming said after a moment of contemplation.
The Qingzhou Army could be said to be his guard army, so Xiao Ming naturally had to prioritize them, and the Youzhou Army directly faced the barbarians, so they also needed special attention.
As for the Dengzhou Army, the coastal defense cannons would be enough to withstand attacks from Japanese pirates and the direction of Goryeo, and the Yunzhou Army facing Prince Yong basically had nothing to worry about.
After allocating all the military supplies in stock, Xiao Ming and the two discussed production matters before he returned.
Now, the number of his troops had reached its limit, and the next priority was to replenish their equipment. After all, apart from the Qingzhou Army, the armies of the other prefectures were basically still purely cold weapon forces.
These cold weapon forces did not have much advantage when war broke out. He had personally come today because of his anxiety.
Although the military machinery department had not been idle in the slightest, the equipment still could not meet the needs of the armies of various prefectures, and the situation in the Great Yu Empire was not very good right now; perhaps war was not far off.
And as he was worrying about the future, his battle report finally arrived in Chang’an.
When the Qingzhou postal envoy delivered the memorial from Qingzhou to the imperial palace, he was stopped by the imperial guards.
“This is Prince Qi’s memorial. Why are you stopping it?” the postal envoy said angrily.
Emperor Xiaowenxuan had once promised Xiao Ming that memorials could be delivered directly to the imperial study, without going through the layers of review by the Secretariat. It was for this reason that the postal envoy was so angry.
The imperial guard commander at the palace gate frowned upon hearing this. He said, “The Emperor issued an edict yesterday, ordering His Royal Highness the Crown Prince to supervise the state immediately. From now on, memorials from enfeoffed states must pass through the East Palace before being handed to the Emperor.”
“The Crown Prince supervising the state?” The postal envoy was slightly surprised, but recalling Chief Minister Pang’s words before his departure, he took out the memorial. “In that case, please hand the memorial to the East Palace, General.”
When he left, Pang Yukun had told him to be careful in Chang’an and avoid causing trouble, and this memorial was originally intended for Empress Zhao and the Crown Prince anyway.
The imperial guard commander took the memorial and nodded.
After delivering the memorial, the postal envoy rode away. At this moment, a eunuch, accompanied by a group of eunuchs, walked towards the palace gate. Stopping at the gate, the leading eunuch asked in a soft voice, “What just happened?”
Seeing the newcomer, the imperial guard commander was startled. This was Wang Xi, the highly influential Imperial Secretary and Empress’s confidant in Chang’an. He immediately bowed and said, “Reporting to Imperial Secretary Wang, this is a memorial from Qingzhou.”
“A memorial from Qingzhou?” Wang Xi’s eyes narrowed, making his triangular eyes instantly become a line.
“Yes.” The imperial guard commander presented the memorial with both hands.
Wang Xi took the memorial, directly tore off the outer envelope, and after scanning the contents of the memorial, Wang Xi’s face turned somewhat ugly. He said, “I will hand this memorial to Empress Zhao.”
The imperial guard commander’s forehead broke out in a cold sweat. He smiled fawningly and nodded continuously.
Tucking the memorial into his sleeve, Wang Xi raised his head and walked into the palace. Now that the Emperor was seriously ill in bed, all major and minor affairs in the court were handled by the Empress acting on his behalf. The Crown Prince, without the Emperor’s supervision, was now indulging in pleasures and paid no attention to the ministers.
Watching Wang Xi’s figure disappear into the palace gate, the imperial guard commander breathed a slight sigh of relief. However, he was a little worried. From Wang Xi’s demeanor, it seemed he didn’t care about Prince Qi at all.
And now, who didn’t know Prince Qi’s status in the Great Yu Empire?
Inside the palace, Wang Xi took the memorial directly to Empress Zhao’s residence. At this time, Empress Zhao was dressing up.
“Your Majesty, I met Qingzhou’s postal envoy at the palace gate, delivering a memorial to His Majesty, so I intercepted it,” Wang Xi’s expression instantly changed from arrogant to obsequious.
“Prince Qi’s memorial.” Empress Zhao’s body trembled slightly, clearly showing great emotional fluctuation. “Let me see it.”
“Yes.”
Wang Xi walked over with a smile, dismissed the palace maid who was combing Empress Zhao’s hair, and began combing Empress Zhao’s hair himself.
Taking the memorial and glancing at it, Empress Zhao suddenly chuckled, “This barbarian attack on Shanhai Pass is indeed timely. I’m afraid it’s a false pretense by the barbarians, and his real intention is to build up his own military power.”
“Indeed. In my opinion, this Prince Qi is clearly threatening Your Majesty and His Royal Highness the Crown Prince. His intentions should be condemned,” Wang Xi said indignantly while carefully combing her hair.
Empress Zhao sighed, “With the Emperor’s illness, all the princes are restless. I think that this pledge of allegiance is just a piece of waste paper.”
“Your Majesty, I believe that this pledge of allegiance still has some use. If the pledge of allegiance is proclaimed to the world, then if these princes harbor ill intentions, it would be disloyal and unjust,” Wang Xi said with a smile.
“But if princes’ rebellion is disloyal and unjust, then if the Crown Prince intends to kill other princes in the future, wouldn’t that also be disloyal and unjust?” Empress Zhao frowned deeply.
Wang Xi continued, “Your Majesty, this is not difficult. At that time, simply accuse these princes of rebellion, and wouldn’t that not violate the pledge of allegiance? In short, this pledge of allegiance is entirely beneficial to us and has no harm. I considered this point when I first came up with this idea.”