Chapter 229: New Firearms

"A ceasefire? A Border Market?"

In the prince's study, Zhao Xu frowned after hearing the news from Yanzhou.

Liu Fu happened to be there as well, and he said, "The last time the Northern Di requested a ceasefire was over forty years ago. Back then, the Northern Di and the Imperial Guards were evenly matched, but it wasn't long before they provoked war again. In this subordinate's opinion, this is nothing more than a delaying tactic by the Northern Di."

Zhao Xu nodded.

This was indeed a delaying tactic, but the Great Song Dynasty court often fell for it.

As long as the Northern Di people requested a ceasefire, the court would immediately agree.

To them, a few years of peace was a good thing.

"This is an open scheme," Zhao Xu said. "And they are also requesting to open a Border Market this time; I suspect there are ulterior motives hidden within."

Liu Fu sneered, "Naturally, they want to make it easier to spy on Your Highness's Artillery. However, even so, this subordinate feels this is a good thing."

Zhao Xu looked at Liu Fu in surprise and asked, "In what way is it good?"

"Currently, the Rich Clan is constraining Your Highness in trade. Once the Border Market opens, the profits will be substantial, which can compensate for some losses. Moreover, if the Rich Clan wants to participate in the Border Market, they will have to look to Your Highness's favor. We can completely use the Border Market as a bargaining chip with the powerful clans. Therefore, this is a good thing," Liu Fu mused.

Zhao Xu looked at Liu Fu, his smile filled with satisfaction.

The current Liu Fu was increasingly resembling a mature politician.

If it were in the past, he would have shouted that his Yanzhou and the Northern Di were irreconcilable enemies, that they could not exist under the same sky, and that there would absolutely be no border trade.

But now, he was able to proceed from the overall interests of Yanzhou.

Yanzhou and the Northern Di were like fire and water.

This hatred would inevitably end with one side completely falling.

But since the Northern Di had sued for peace, he felt there was no need to refuse.

The Northern Di people needed a breather, and he needed a breather just the same.

After all, he currently lacked the ability to attack the Northern Di.

It was not cost-effective to let the Northern Di continue to drain his energy at this moment.

Furthermore, in this way, the Border Market could become his bargaining chip.

"Well said," Zhao Xu said to Liu Fu.

Turning to the soldier who had come from Yanguan, he said, "Tell Mo Yu to just let them pass."

As Yan Wang, he himself did not have the authority to refuse the envoys of an enemy state.

For now, this was just his own thought.

He was not clear on what would happen once the Northern Di envoys reached Jinling.

However, based on his understanding of Zhao Heng, he would basically accept everything.

After the soldier left, Zhao Xu handed the two copied booklets to Liu Fu, telling him to take them back to read first, while rubbing his sore wrists.

At this moment, he suddenly missed the printers of the modern era.

Liu Fu flipped through them and scanned them for a moment; the content inside immediately dazzled him.

Yet, it gave him the impression that this was something very powerful.

"Your Highness, this subordinate will take them back and have people copy more of them. We must at least ensure every student at the Government Academy has a copy," Liu Fu said.

"Copy?" Zhao Xu paused.

It was one thing for him to copy them, as he had to turn the things in his mind into text.

But for Liu Fu to have them copied again—how long would that take?

The number of students at the Political Academy would not be small.

From this, he could not help but think of a problem.

There was another reason why reading in ancient times could not be popularized among the common people.

That was that books were expensive, and the common people simply could not afford them.

If he wanted more children of the common people in Yanzhou to be able to read, he had to find a way to lower the price of books.

Viewed in this light, it was necessary for him to establish a printing workshop in Yanzhou.

Nodding, Zhao Xu let Liu Fu return.

This matter was not urgent; he would take it slowly.

For him, there was a more important matter at the moment, which was to possess the military capability to sit securely in Yanzhou.

Currently, the Liang Family most likely possessed Matchlocks.

He naturally could not fall behind.

Besides Artillery, he also had to develop firearms.

However, just like with the Artillery, he would not follow the beaten path and repeat the development history of these firearms.

There was no need for that.

Because the path of development for these firearms had many detours to begin with.

With ready-made experience in his mind, he naturally wanted to reach the goal in one step.

With his existing technical capabilities,

he would create what could currently be created.

For example, he wanted to skip the Matchlock and create the Flintlock.

After all, the essence of these two types of firearms was merely a difference in the ignition method.

One used a match cord, and the other used Flint.

The difficulty lay in the firing mechanism of the Flintlock.

This thing involved both materials and craftsmanship, which might consume some time.

But this was still faster than equipping Matchlocks first and then developing Flintlocks later.

Thinking of this, he shook his wrist, took a piece of paper, and began to draw.

……

Jinling.

Zhao Heng was taking a walk in the Imperial Garden, and by his side was Imperial Concubine Mi Fei.

After the great chaos in Yanzhou, he still had lingering fears regarding the Yuan Family affair, and his trust in the powerful clans had fallen to its lowest point.

Relatively speaking, Zhao Xu stabilizing Yanzhou and repelling the Northern Di people gave him a sense of reassurance.

Compared to these powerful clans, he was still more at ease with his own son.

Most importantly, Zhao Xu had caused the prestige of the Imperial Clan to soar, allowing the Zhao Clan members in Jingshi to hold their heads high for a time.

"This Great Song still has to rely on us, the Imperial Clan." This was the thing most often said when some of the clan members were drinking Wine.

Because of all this, the status of Zhao Xu in his heart was not inferior to those Imperial Princes who had the support of powerful clans behind them.

Even because Zhao Xu held Yanguan, his status was a cut above.

This favor toward Zhao Xu naturally also fell upon Imperial Concubine Mi Fei.

In recent days, Zhao Heng often set aside time to accompany Imperial Concubine Mi Fei.

The two were walking together when a eunuch approached and handed a Memorial to Liang Cheng.

Liang Cheng then presented it to Zhao Heng.

"It is a Memorial from Xu." Zhao Heng showed it to Imperial Concubine Mi Fei.

Upon hearing this, Imperial Concubine Mi Fei immediately missed Zhao Xu; she restrained her smile and appeared unhappy.

Seeing this, Zhao Heng said, "Is my beloved concubine missing Xu?"

"Come to think of it, Xu has been in Yanzhou for nearly a year," Imperial Concubine Mi Fei said. "In these days, many nobles and ministers have come to see me, all wanting to marry their daughters to Xu. Speaking of which, Xu will be seventeen after the New Year; he is not young anymore. Perhaps it is time to choose a Princess for him from among them."

Zhao Heng nodded and said, "Currently, the great chaos in Yanzhou has just been quelled, and Xu must have many affairs to attend to. After some time, when Yanzhou is settled, I shall have him return to visit his family."

"Thank you, Your Majesty." Imperial Concubine Mi Fei immediately revealed a smile.

Zhao Heng then began to read the Memorial; he frowned when he saw Zhao Xu mention granting the Yan Commandery Trading Firm the status of Imperial Merchant, and his brows furrowed even deeper when he saw the mention of maritime trade rights and the establishment of the Yan Prefecture Navy.

But further on, when he saw that he said he would transport a batch of Artillery to present to him, his brows immediately smoothed out.

From the information he had received, a large part of the reason Yan Wang was able to repel the enemy at Yanguan was because of the Artillery.

Therefore, although he did not say it, he had long been thinking about them in his heart.

He had even once wanted to have Yan Wang hand over the casting method for the Artillery.

However, after thinking about it carefully later, he dismissed this idea.

The reason was simple: the current imperial court was filled with people from the powerful clans everywhere.

If he were to demand the casting technology for the Artillery from Yan Wang, would that not be equivalent to handing it over to the powerful clans on a silver platter?

In that case, how could he regain the prestige of the Imperial Clan?

So, after deep consideration, he did not want the casting technique.

But Yan Wang must supply Artillery to the Forbidden Army.

Now that Yan Wang was so sensible, it seemed he could not reject Yan Wang's request either.

After all, the request Yan Wang made was not excessive.