Chapter 203 Someone Else's Wedding Dress
"Your Majesty, I believe Qin Su's words are inappropriate. Qin Mo is the Great Xia Heng King, personally appointed by the Imperial Family, and has the power to make decisions within his territory. If Your Majesty needs a weapon, you should discuss it with him politely. You must not seize it by force and rob it, lest you chill the hearts of the foundation of the Empire."
As the leading figure among the nobles of the Great Xia Dynasty, Qin Mu naturally couldn't allow those civil officials to bully Qin Mo. Besides, he was Qin Mo's uncle by seniority. Although he also wanted Qin Mo to present the "Wrath of Kai" to the empire, if the court could freely demand the private property of nobles, how could the nobles' transcendent status be guaranteed in the future?
“Your Highness, if this thing truly possesses the power that Qin Su described, it certainly cannot remain in the hands of Prince Heng. It must be returned to the court. Otherwise, the suspicion between the emperor and his ministers will be a calamity for our Great Xia!”
Once the Prince of Yan spoke, Qin Su could not refute him; his influence was insufficient. Grand Secretary Xiao Xinyan stepped forward to explain the advantages and disadvantages to Emperor Zhaowu. If a minister possessed military power far exceeding that of the imperial family, the emperor would certainly be suspicious of him, especially since Qin Mo also held a large overseas territory.
"Lord Xiao, as you say, if any rare or unusual items come into the possession of your subjects, they must be handed over to your court?"
The speaker was Qin Sui, the Marquis of Xinyang. Although his fief was in Xinyang, he was a Grand Secretary of the Inner Cabinet and lived in the capital year-round. His elder brother was Qin Ying, the Prince of Hejian, and Qin Yuanze, the mirror seller, was his nephew. Both for public and private reasons, he had to speak up for Qin Mo. Moreover, he was originally a nobleman who had been placed in the Inner Cabinet to annoy the civil officials.
“Lord Xinyan, don’t spout nonsense. What do you mean by ‘my court’? My loyalty to the country is as clear as the sun and moon.”
Xiao Xinyan was disgusted by Qin Sui. He did have his own selfish motives this time. Putting such a powerful tool in the hands of civil officials would be of great help in the power struggle between civil officials and nobles. But how could he let the emperor hear him say "my court"?
"Alright, stop arguing! Today, during this grand court assembly, I will take you to broaden your horizons."
After Emperor Zhaowu finished speaking, he stepped down from his throne and left the Qin Zheng Hall. The ministers, who were unaware of what was going on, followed the eunuchs out of the palace gates. Some took carriages, and some took sedan chairs, and they followed the imperial palanquin heading north of the city.
Compared to the Fengtai barracks in the south of the city, the Changping barracks in the north of the city were much larger, but because they were located in the mountains, they were also much more secretive.
The group walked until the afternoon before arriving at the Changping camp. Many military officers who had been there before were surprised to find that the once loosely guarded Changping camp had changed completely. It was now heavily guarded, and officials below the fifth rank were not allowed to enter.
When the group finally arrived at a wide valley, Qin Mu and the others vaguely guessed why Emperor Zhaowu had sent them there, because two big, clumsy, and rough-looking things were squatting at one end of the valley, while several walls made of bricks and rammed earth were built at the other end.
Several eunuchs brought over a number of chairs and arranged them for Emperor Zhaowu and several important ministers to sit down. Then, with excitement shining in his eyes, Emperor Zhaowu said, "Let's begin!"
After Emperor Zhaowu gave the order, several soldiers dressed in red quickly began to tend to the black iron lump. Judging from their extremely agile movements, they were all cultivators.
"boom!"
A thunderous roar echoed throughout the valley, and then a distant earthen wall collapsed with a crash. Most of the civil officials on this side also fell down, and many of them had water stains on their trousers.
The thunder continued incessantly, and a few shells blasted down the earthen walls, brick walls, and stone walls.
"This...it must be about four miles away..."
Marquis of Faith was also a cultivator, so he was naturally not frightened by the loud noise. He even used his superhuman eyesight to catch the trajectory of the cannonball. He approached Prince Qin Mu of Yan and murmured his confirmation.
"Four li and three hundred paces, the earthen wall should be three feet thick. Qin Su wasn't lying; we misunderstood him."
Qin Mu's face showed neither sorrow nor joy, but the burning passion in his eyes was obvious to everyone.
"Your Majesty, I offer my congratulations! May Your Majesty enjoy boundless blessings and may the Great Xia Dynasty last for a thousand generations."
Xiao Xinyan, the head of the civil officials, was the first to react. He then began to use his expertise as a civil official, leading his cronies in praising Emperor Zhaowu to the skies, saying that this was the kind of enlightened ruler that was the best he had seen in centuries.
"Your Majesty, this creature should be named! That Japanese woman is a barbarian; how can our Great Xia's divine object be named after a woman?"
Qin Su, the Assistant Minister of Rites, once again made a startling statement, which drew unanimous agreement from the civil officials: "Please, Your Majesty, bestow a name!"
"This item was inherited by Prince Heng from his mother and made in Dayuan. Its original name was 'Wrath of the Spirits,' also known as 'Cannon.' The Japanese have mistakenly renamed it 'Wrath of Kai,' which is truly disrespectful. Since Prince Heng has already presented this item to me, how can I change its name again? Let it remain 'Wrath of the Spirits'!"
Emperor Zhaowu stopped his ministers from flattering him and slowly revealed the origin of the cannons and the fact that Qin Mo had presented the treasure. The group of officials were dumbfounded. Just moments ago, they were urging the emperor to rob the other party! Now they realized that the other party had already sent the treasure to the emperor. What a disgrace!
"Your Majesty, Prince Heng is exceptionally loyal and trustworthy, and deserves a great reward!"
Marquis Xinyang, Qin Sui, once again demonstrated his disgusting and extraordinary abilities. "Didn't you want to severely punish Prince Heng? Then we should reward him handsomely." Xiao Xinyan felt a surge of anger rising within him, his head pounding wildly.
"I have already given Prince Heng a satisfactory reward, so my ministers need not worry. My Great Xia will never mistreat the cornerstone of the empire."
Emperor Zhaowu's words once again piqued the curiosity of the crowd, wondering what important reward could be exchanged for such a powerful weapon as "Wrath of the Elves".
At Xiao Xinyan's prompting, Minister of Works Xia Li finally stepped forward and declared loudly, "Your Majesty, thousands of master craftsmen in the Ministry of Works are willing to dedicate themselves to Your Majesty's great cause, even unto death."
Qin Mu had nothing more to say. After all, the Ministry of Works had indeed strong forging capabilities and the most craftsmen. The royal workshops mainly produced energy equipment, so it was indeed most suitable to hand over such heavy items to the Ministry of Works.
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