Chapter 537 Everything went smoothly

On New Year's Eve, at the Great Xia Imperial Palace, Wang Yushi issued an edict summoning Prince Heng and his concubine, Narita Kai, to the palace for a banquet.

A royal banquet is a great honor, and generally only the most trusted close advisors are qualified to attend. They enter the palace to get close to the emperor and say auspicious words. There are many rules at the banquet, and basically, they just look and do not eat.

But this time, the banquet hosted by the Empress Dowager was much less formal. The three adults and one child sat cross-legged on the heated kang (a traditional heated brick bed) and ate heartily.

"When we hold the ancestral worship ceremony tomorrow, you don't need to give way to them. Just stand in the front row. If anyone gives you a hard time, just throw it in their face. They're a bunch of bullies who pick on the weak and fear the strong. Don't pay them any attention!"

Wang Yushi downed the juice in her glass in one gulp and slammed the glass on the table with a "bang". Today, the Imperial Clan Court brought her, the regent, the list of those to be honored for the royal ancestral sacrifice, and Qin Mo's name was not on it. The reason given was that her bloodline was not pure.

Wang Yushi retorted, "Qin Mo's birth mother is an elven royal. Whose bloodline is more revered than his?"

In the end, Wang Yushi forced Qin Xiaoxin, the Minister of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices, to add Qin Mo's name to the list in front of the Prince of Yan.

This is the flaw in the bloodline theory: the blood of non-Han peoples can disrupt the Han bloodline. But what if it's royalty among non-Han peoples? The bloodline theorists of the Great Xia Dynasty would ignore this point and instead believe that it would make their bloodline purer and nobler.

Qin Mo's mother, Luna, did not say whether she was of elven royal blood, and Allen only vaguely hinted at it. Therefore, Qin Mo could not be sure of the strength of his elven bloodline, but since Wang Yushi had said so, he did not object.

"They always play these little tricks. I may not be qualified to offer sacrifices to my ancestors, but does that mean I'm not qualified to sit on that chair? The key is strength. If you have strength, even a beggar's son can sit on the dragon throne." Qin Mo raised his glass to Wang Yushi, downed it in one gulp, and said boldly.

Wang Yushi couldn't drink alcohol because of her pregnancy, so she could only have a glass of juice to accompany it. She really liked drinking, but after Qin Mo told her that drinking alcohol was harmful to the fetus during pregnancy, she immediately searched through Fengning Palace and carried out two baskets of strong liquor.

Kaihime was breastfeeding, so she could only drink juice. The two beauties, one on each side, held juice and urged Qin Mo to drink, making Qin Mo feel as if she had returned to her student days in China.

“I’ve encountered a lot this year, and it has made me see the true colors of many people. But luckily… with you by my side, I was able to advance to the Heavenly Realm… If it weren’t for you, I wouldn’t know…” Although she was drinking juice, Wang Yushi’s emotions still fluctuated strongly.

"Hiccup... No more alcohol..."

Qin Mo let out an exaggerated hiccup, stopping Wang Yushi from continuing her emotional outburst, which angered Wang Yushi so much that she almost hit her again.

"Aren't we family? Why are you talking like that? Go get the wine!"

Qin Mo's tone was somewhat rude, but Wang Yushi couldn't get angry; instead, her sharp phoenix eyes showed signs of moisture.

The domineering empress dowager got up and slipped off the kang (a heated brick bed) like a wronged little wife, quickly bringing over two bottles of wine.

"Here... the offering from the temple... Bordeaux red wine. I'm out of spirits here, but if you don't like it, I'll have them get a few bottles!"

"Hmm, the red wine is good too. Everyone celebrates the New Year on New Year's Eve. Palace maids and eunuchs are human too, let them rest!"

Qin Mo filled a glass, pretended to swirl it, smelled the tart aroma, and sighed, "Back then, my dream was to treat my goddess to a glass of top-quality Bordeaux red wine... I never imagined! I have the wine, and I've also won over my goddess!"

"...What is he saying?"

"Oh! Your Majesty, please don't take offense. He often says such delusional things," Kaihime quickly explained to Wang Yushi.

"It tastes alright! By the way, did Charles and Page go back to the Temple?" Qin Mo tasted the Bordeaux red wine and thought it was just so-so, but he remembered the Temple's aid and asked casually.

"They've all gone back. They can't make the final aid list; they have to go back and ask their council elders. They're too greedy, insisting that we provide them with breech-loading artillery. They're insatiable. I really don't understand why you sold them ordinary cannons and muskets, and at such a low price."

"They already have the technology to manufacture muzzle-loading artillery. Instead of letting them figure it out through trial and error, why not give them what they already have, thus limiting their technological development?"

"Do you guys think I'm stupid? Sigh... Kai, listen to me, let me explain."

"Oh!!" Kaihime immediately put the child aside, knelt down properly, and looked like she was humbly accepting instruction.

Qin Mo would occasionally explain some seemingly strange questions to her and Lin Ruoxi, and subsequent events proved that Qin Mo's casual remarks were insightful and far beyond the reach of this era, completely overturning Kaihime's previous understanding.

"Cannon casting belongs to heavy industry, which is characterized by large investment and slow returns. Even if the Temple obtains the blueprints for cannon manufacturing and skilled craftsmen, it will still take them a considerable amount of time to produce on a large scale, and a large amount of money will be required."

"What would they do if the Temple's people went through all that trouble to build the cannons, only to find that the cannons we sold them were better and cheaper?"

Wang Yushi thought for a moment and said uncertainly, "They are very angry, but they still have to buy our cannons. At least until they can no longer mass-produce cannons, they will buy cannons from us."

“You’re thinking too simply. We supply the Temple’s middlemen at cost price. They might sell to the Temple’s Knights at the original price without hesitation, or they might mark up the price to make a profit. If it’s the latter… then their artillery workshops will be forever hampered in various ways, and they will eventually lose the ability to continue to improve and research new types of artillery.”

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