“Father King! Father King! Who was it? Who did it?”
Li Chuyuan in the Prince of Chu’s residence looked utterly heartbroken, but the coldness deep in his eyes betrayed his true feelings at this moment.
When his father put him under house arrest for the merchants’ council, their father-son relationship had already fractured.
For years, his father had been an obstacle preventing him from gaining power. Now, that obstacle had finally disappeared.
Of course, he also guessed who assassinated his father. In the world today, only that Emperor in the north could do it.
At this moment, he finally understood what Xiao Ming had said in the imperial study.
“Your Highness, now is not the time for sorrow. His Highness the Prince of Chu has passed away, but the State of Chu still needs someone to inherit. Your Highness, as the legitimate eldest son, should inherit the Prince of Chu’s throne.”
When the Prince of Chu’s corpse returned to Lin’an City, all the various forces in Lin’an City stirred. For them, every change of the Prince of Chu was a moment to re-evaluate their allegiance.
The minister who spoke was Sima Hao, Li Chuyuan’s maternal uncle. As the foremost powerful family in Lin’an, almost every generation of the Prince of Chu would choose to intermarry with the Sima family.
It was also because of the Sima family’s existence that Li Chuyuan’s position among the princes was as stable as Mount Tai.
“Uncle, it must have been the Cao family. The merchants’ council has coveted the power of the State of Chu for a long time. Now, they can no longer hold back,” Li Chuyuan said, almost gritting his teeth.
Sima Hao looked confident. He said, “The State of Chu’s gentry have long been dissatisfied with the merchants’ council. They will support us, but before that, you must inherit the Prince of Chu’s throne, so that we have a legitimate cause.”
Li Chuyuan nodded fiercely. How could he tolerate an uncontrollable force emerging within his own territory?
After a pause, he continued, “Those two Frenchmen are no good either. If not for their incitement, Father King wouldn’t have trusted the Cao family so much. Uncle, you should execute the two of them immediately.”
Sima Hao nodded. They could cooperate with merchants in trade, but they absolutely could not tolerate the Cao family coveting power.
Pacing back and forth, Li Chuyuan gritted his teeth and made another decision. He said, “Uncle, to ensure foolproof success, we should now seek help from Xiao Ming, to leave ourselves a glimmer of hope.”
Sima Hao deeply agreed. If it had been before, he naturally wouldn’t have paid any mind to the Cao family. But now, the merchants’ council, led by the Cao family, had grown too quickly.
He had just received news that the moment the Prince of Chu’s death was confirmed, three fire-arm battalions stationed outside Lin’an City, totaling nine thousand men, all defected. They protected Cao Kun and Cao Zhengtong as they headed towards Suzhou.
“The Cao family has planted countless secret agents in the State of Chu over the past few years. I suspect the merchants’ council not only controls these few firearm battalions but perhaps even more. At this moment, we truly need to show weakness to Xiao Ming,” Sima Hao said thoughtfully.
Li Chuyuan said, “If that’s the case, I will immediately write a letter and send it to Qingzhou Province.”
With that, he had someone bring paper and brush and meticulously recorded the current situation in the State of Chu.
At the same time, upon learning of the Prince of Chu’s death, Cao Kun and Cao Zhengtong immediately fled Lin’an City with their families.
They knew very well what the consequences would be if they continued to stay in Lin’an. After all, Lin’an was firmly controlled by the Sima family, and their own power was very weak.
“Father, once Li Chuyuan inherits the throne, he will surely target the Cao family. We have endured for so long; it’s time to act, otherwise, the Great Yu Empire will no longer have a place for us,” Cao Zhengtong said, looking towards Lin’an City, his heart filled with unwillingness.
In the carriage, Cao Kun sat opposite Cao Zhengtong. At this moment, he had his eyes closed. After hearing Cao Zhengtong’s words, he slowly said, “What’s the rush? For these past few years, we’ve exhausted our financial resources to establish the merchants’ council. How can a boy like Li Chuyuan, who hasn’t even grown his hair yet, deal with that? As for the Sima family, they are merely old-fashioned antiques who stick to old rules. They are powerful in Lin’an, and we cannot defeat them. But to be our opponents, they are not qualified.”
After a pause, he said, “Once we reach Suzhou, we will immediately take control of the new army and recruit soldiers. Then, defeating those disobedient powerful families will be a simple matter.”
Cao Zhengtong nodded. Prince Wei, until his death, never knew that Fan Zilong, the current Governor-General of Suzhou, was already their man. Most importantly, this Governor-General commanded precisely the new army recruited in the past two years.
With this new army equipped with firearms, they were not at all worried about any trouble Li Chuyuan might stir up. Their only concern was Xiao Ming in the north.
While Lin’an was in turmoil, the instigator, Li San, and his subordinates fled all the way.
Four days later, they arrived at Jinling Province. After staying there for several days, it took another four days for them to return to Qingzhou Province.
“So, the Prince of Chu is dead?”
In the imperial study, Xiao Ming stopped writing. He was writing about penicillin, which was all for biology.
“Yes. We even sent someone to Lin’an to confirm when we were in Jinling Province. The Prince of Chu is indeed dead. Now, Li Chuyuan and the Sima family control Lin’an City. The Cao family has gone to Suzhou. Now, both sides are gathering forces, preparing for war,” Li San said.
A faint smile appeared on Xiao Ming’s lips. The situation had finally become interesting. He said, “Then let them fight.”
Li San was startled for a moment. He said, “Your Majesty, are we not sending troops south now?”
“It’s not time yet. These two factions, one representing powerful families and the other ambitious capital, are both a headache for me. Even if I march south now and defeat them, it will leave hidden dangers. Rather than that, it’s better to let both sides suffer mutual destruction. This way, the south I receive will be a clean land, free of powerful families and ambitious capital,” Xiao Ming said with a smile.
“Your Majesty is right, but in my humble opinion, this Li Chuyuan may not be a match for the Cao family,” Li San said with some concern. “If the Cao family controls the south, it could be troublesome.”
Xiao Ming chuckled, “Do you think I would give them this opportunity?”
As the two were speaking, Qian Dafu suddenly entered with a letter. He said, “Your Majesty, Li Chuyuan’s letter has arrived.”
Xiao Ming was in a good mood today. He took the letter from Qian Dafu and, after reading it, said to Li San, “Li Chuyuan is asking me for help. Since that is the case, I can only make war profits again. Isn’t this Li family as rich as a nation? I will first empty the Li family’s silver and then march south to deal with them.”
Li San helplessly shook his head. He basically understood the Emperor’s meaning now. In fact, because weapon innovation in Qingzhou Province was too rapid, the army now had a large accumulation of obsolete firearms. These firearms used to be real gold and silver, and simply letting them sit there was too wasteful.
Moreover, in the northern war, they had also captured many firearms. These firearms were worthless to them, but for Li Chuyuan, who urgently needed firearms now, it was different.