Chapter 423 Science and Technology Leaders

Since Qin Yumu became the commander of the Shenji Battalion, he has become Wang Yushi's confidant and has gained a deeper understanding of the entanglements between Wang Yushi and Qin Mo, and has come to understand what Wang Yushi meant by "owing someone".

Over the years, Wang Yushi has become incredibly wealthy, expanding the royal workshops and establishing the Royal Guard and the Divine Machine Battalion, spending astronomical sums of money, all supported by her vast business empire.

The spice business is the core pillar of her most powerful business conglomerate.

Every year, Qin Mo transported spices from the sea to Tongzhou Wharf by the ship, and Wang Yushi never transported them to the capital. Instead, large merchants from various provinces distributed them at Tongzhou Wharf. It can be said that Qin Mo had taken on all the risks of sea transportation, and Wang Yushi simply made a fortune by reselling the goods.

Although Wang Yushi used her imperial background to shield Qin Mo from a lot of trouble, she wasn't the only one in the Great Xia Dynasty with this ability. Prince Yan, Qin Mu, who had high hopes for Qin Mo, also had this ability, as did General Zhao Qirui, who had a long-standing relationship with Qin Mo's father.

But why did Qin Mo choose Wang Yushi, with whom she had a "grudge"? It's worth noting that Qin Mo had rejected Wang Yuyan's marriage proposal back then.

Later, Wang Yushi repeatedly brought back recipes for strong liquor and methods for making cannons from Dayuan. In the end, she even obtained a large number of cannons for free. Qin Yumu vaguely felt that something special must have happened between his silly brother Qin Mo and the Empress.

Two years ago, rumors suddenly spread in the capital that Qin Mo and Wang Yushi had a mysterious relationship. Although the imperial family suppressed the rumors at the time, the rumors gradually subsided after Qin Mo went to Xizhou.

Now that Wang Yushi is unwilling to purchase large-scale firearms from Qin Mo, Qin Yumu believes that this is Wang Yushi's way of trying to clarify the boundaries between herself and Qin Mo. So he wrote a very formulaic letter asking Qin Mo if he would be willing to sell firearms to the Shenji Camp.

Qin Mo quickly replied with just two sentences: "Enough with the nonsense. Take it or leave it, twenty taels of official silver. You owe me a favor!"

Qin Yumu held a grand banquet at Tianxiang Tower in the capital. During the banquet, he proudly took out Qin Mo's handwritten letter and passed it around, showing off his relationship with Qin Mo. When he was half drunk, he arrogantly said that those free cannons were obtained by him, Qin Yumu, from Dayuan!

"My lord, Qin Yumu was not only completely drunk last night, but also spouted wild claims, saying that he deserved most of the credit for the establishment of the Divine Machine Battalion. He is truly shameless. Should I send someone to teach him a lesson?"

Qing Ning, a brave man who had just returned from the Western Regions, was probably feeling cooped up for the past two months. Upon his return, he kept tattling to Wang Yushi.

"Forget it, he's just a fool who values ​​loyalty. Since I dare to owe someone a favor, I'm not afraid of being used against me. Why should he take the blame for me?"

"...My lord, we truly owe Prince Heng of Qin a debt this time. The hundred cannons were given away for free, and these ten thousand rifles were practically sold off...Alas!"

Although Qing Ning had always disliked Qin Mo, she had to admit this time that Qin Mo was an extremely generous person.

"Qingning, there are many people you can't see through. In the future, when dealing with Qin Mo, you need to think carefully before making any judgments!"

"My lord, Qingning has remembered this and will never misunderstand His Highness Prince Heng again... His Highness Prince Heng is a good person!"

Wang Yushi rolled her eyes at the confident Qing Ning, wanting to say something but ultimately remaining silent, only irritatedly telling her to retreat.

"Hmph! I really underestimated you!"

While replying to Qin Yumu, Qin Mo also sent a letter to Wang Yushi, which began with a series of questions.

"Why is it Qin Yumu who wrote to me? Isn't the Shenji Battalion under your command?"

"Is there some new rumor going around? Do I need to distance myself from you?"

"Have you already decided to cut ties with me?"

Then the letter stopped mentioning the matter between the two of them and instead discussed the sale of muskets. Qin Mo proposed that muskets could be provided to the Royal Guard at a fair price until the Royal Workshop could reduce the cost of imitation.

Wang Yushi was deeply moved as she read the letter, and almost shed tears. However, when she turned to the last page, she was so angry by the last sentence that she almost lost her temper.

"Danfeng, you don't need to feel indebted to me, really you don't... Do you know why my rifle is called the Type 1 rifle?"

Wang Yushi didn't react for a moment until she recalled the first time she went with Qin Mo to purchase the Imperial Guard armor. At that time, she was aiming to buy the No. 1 armor for the high-ranking official, only to find out later that Qin Mo already had the better No. 2 armor.

"You bastard, you mean you already have a Type 2 rifle? I really want to strangle you..."

Sometimes, when someone is always very good to you, you feel indebted to them. But one day, after they make you furious, you suddenly take all the kindness they showed you for granted and don't feel indebted to them at all.

Wang Yushi now feels that... all the good things she received from Qin Mo were her due.

Achoo! Achoo!

"Simman, where are you pumping this water to? You're pumping it all over my side! The humidity is too high..."

Qin Mo sneezed twice in a row, which was very unusual for someone with his health. He figured it must be because the water pump's outlet was pointing directly at him, causing him to get damp.

"Oh! Your Highness, this water pump can't be moved for the time being... Would you mind moving to another location?"

This chapter is not finished, please click the next page to continue reading!