Chapter 263: Determining the Strategy

After signing the contract at the Prince's Mansion, Han Shu decided to return to Qizhou.

Yan Wang invited him to stay for a banquet, but he was in no mood and politely declined.

Two million four hundred thousand taels of silver, just like that, given to Yan Wang.

And without even seeing the artillery, he had to pay one million two hundred thousand taels first.

This was practically robbery.

His heart ached fiercely.

"The craftsmen in Qizhou are all trash; it would be better to just kill them." Sitting on his horse, Han Shu muttered resentfully.

If the craftsmen could replicate the artillery, why would his Han Family have to act so subserviently before Yan Wang?

However, thinking of the immense power of the artillery, he suddenly felt relieved.

This silver seemed worth spending after all.

The Prince's Mansion.

Zhao Xu handed the contract to Feng'er for safekeeping and went straight to the Armory Department.

The Han Family was the first to come.

He believed the other influential clans would certainly be unable to resist for long.

The Eight Great Influential Clans had always been united when it came to dealing with the Imperial Clan.

But they valued their own interests highly.

Internally, they were also full of intrigue, wanting to get the upper hand over one another.

Therefore, they would not let the Han Family get ahead of them.

"Divide and conquer." On the way to the Armory Department, Zhao Xu suddenly thought of this phrase.

When he dealt with the Zhang Family, he had used the strategy of division.

Firstly, this could prevent them from focusing their fire on him.

Secondly, it could make them wary of each other, tying up their energy.

Now, the Xie Family, one of the Eight Great Influential Clans, had always had the idea of winning him over to support the Deposed Crown Prince.

This might be an opportunity.

According to what he knew, Zhao Heng had not deposed the Crown Prince willingly.

It was merely out of pressure from the officials of the influential clans.

In fact, he had always harbored the intention of reinstating the Deposed Crown Prince.

Therefore, if he chose to support the Crown Prince, not only could he gain the trust of the Xie Family and create a rift between them and the other influential clans, but he could also satisfy Zhao Heng.

At the same time, by doing this, he was also expressing an attitude to everyone: he, Yan Wang, had no intention of vying for the position of heir, thereby reducing the malice coming from Jingshi.

After all, storing grain, delaying the claim to the throne, and building high walls—this was his way of survival.

Arriving at the Armory Department.

Zhao Xu immediately joined Wang Ying in the research and construction of the drilling machine.

For the next three days, he lectured at the Three Great Academies in the morning and spent his afternoons at the Armory Department.

At noon on the fourth day, an urgent decree arrived from the Imperial Court.

Arriving almost simultaneously was intelligence sent back from Jingshi by the Flame Guard.

Zhao Xu immediately called Chang Wei and Liu Fu over.

"The Emperor has ordered this Prince and the new Head of the Family of the Ma Family, Ma Chong, to lead troops to Jinzhou and retake Jincheng. What do you think?" Zhao Xu asked.

"Ma Chong? What kind of person is he?" Liu Fu asked.

"According to the intelligence I have received, this Ma Chong is not a legitimate son, but he is the eldest son of the Ma Family. He is greedy and obsessed with pleasure, has achieved nothing at the Imperial Academy, and it is said he has close dealings with Dou Wei's eldest son, Dou Kuang."

"The Dou Family." Liu Fu's eyes shifted. "Your Highness, why does this matter feel overly suspicious to me?

First, the rebellion of the generals in Jincheng, followed by the tragic deaths of the father and son of the Ma Family—this is too much of a coincidence. It looks like someone is deliberately stirring up chaos in the northwest of Da Song."

Chang Wei hadn't thought much of it at first, but with Liu Fu saying this, he immediately became suspicious as well, his eyes narrowing.

"Whether it is a coincidence is no longer important. Now that it has become a fact, someone must settle the chaos in the northwest," Zhao Xu said.

He knew Liu Fu was suspicious of the Dou Family, and he believed there were people in the Imperial Court who were also suspicious of the Dou Family.

But no one could conclude that the Dou Family did this just because the eldest son of the Dou Family had close dealings with Ma Chong.

And even if the Ma Family's affair could be linked to the Dou Family's suspicion,

the rebel generals in Jincheng could not be connected to the Dou Family in any way.

Therefore, the cleverness of this matter lay in the fact that even though he and many others were suspicious, there was absolutely no way to prove it.

What's more, after this Ma Chong inherited the Ma Family, he might move closer to the Dou Family.

In this way, the Dou Family would undoubtedly become the number one power in Da Song.

It is estimated that Zhao Heng is also extremely wary in his heart right now.

"But if this is really the case, I believe this is clearly targeting Your Highness," Liu Fu said with a worried expression. "It's just that Your Highness doesn't seem to have provoked the Dou Family."

Chang Wei's face flushed red; the more Liu Fu spoke, the angrier he became. "Even if Your Highness had provoked him, for the sake of his own selfish interests, how could he watch the eighty thousand Imperial Guards in Jincheng die!"

Liu Fu frowned and looked at Chang Wei. "Naive! What does the life or death of the Imperial Guards have to do with his Dou Family? These influential clans wish for the Imperial Guards to die out completely, so their own troops can control Jingshi."

"If that is truly the case, this Dou Wei deserves to be torn to pieces!" Chang Wei's fists clenched, making a cracking sound.

Zhao Xu paced back and forth.

When the Ma family members came to ask him that day, he had felt a thick scent of conspiracy spreading across the northwest of Da Song.

It seemed someone was deliberately trying to create a quagmire of war for him, to trap him, while simultaneously cutting off the Ma Family, his relatively reliable backup.

"If this is indeed the work of the Dou Family, it shows that the conflict between the Imperial Clan and the influential clans has reached a point of irreconcilability," Zhao Xu said slowly.

Right now, he is Zhao Heng's source of confidence.

If they want to suppress the Imperial Clan again, they must, of course, deal with him.

As for the Ma Family, perhaps they are a piece buried very deep.

But in order to deal with him, they were activated ahead of schedule.

Yet this also cast suspicion upon the Dou Family.

Perhaps Dou Wei weighed the pros and cons and ultimately felt that dealing with him was more important.

As long as there is no evidence, what can the suspicions of others amount to?

Of course, the premise for all of this is that their guesses are correct.

Liu Fu and Chang Wei exchanged a glance upon hearing this.

After a moment of contemplation, Liu Fu said, "Just as Your Highness said, the powerful clans and the Royal Clan are like fire and water; since Dou Wei is capable of such a deranged act, Your Highness must be vigilant at all times from now on, if..."

Having said this, Liu Fu stopped speaking.

Chang Wei listened, and seeing that Liu Fu would say no more, he spoke bluntly, "If the world falls into chaos, Your Highness must be prepared."

Zhao Xu nodded.

In his view, there will inevitably be a bloody conflict between the powerful clans and the Royal Clan in the future; either the east wind will overwhelm the west wind, or the west wind will overwhelm the east wind.

But before they manage to kill him.

He reckons they do not yet have the guts to tear off the mask with the Imperial Clan.

And as for wanting to kill him, he certainly will not give them that chance.

"Let us not discuss this matter for now; let us talk about the situation in Jinzhou. Even without an imperial decree, allowing Xiliang to expand west of Yanzhou is a threat to Yanzhou," Zhao Xu said.

In his view, this battle must be fought, if only for the sake of the population and coal resources of Jinzhou.

"We must certainly fight, but the Ma Family is unreliable in their current state, so this general believes Your Highness should request the Emperor to delay for three months, giving Yanzhou three months to train new troops," Chang Wei said.

Liu Fu said, "General Chang is right; we absolutely cannot rush into battle this time, otherwise, if the Northern Di take the opportunity to attack, Yanzhou will be in danger."

Zhao Xu nodded.

He agreed very much with their views.

However, besides training new troops, he had another idea.

That was to produce a batch of Flintlocks as much as possible during these three months.

That way, he would have more confidence in the battle against Xiliang.

Having decided on this matter, he immediately wrote a memorial requesting Zhao Heng to allow him to march troops to Jinzhou in three months.