Chapter 389: Humiliation

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The great hall was silent, with only Zhao Heng's heavy breathing remaining.

"Immediately dispatch an envoy to Xiliang. If his terms are not excessive, then so be it if he is willing to hand back the Third Prince; otherwise, mobilize the army to attack Xiliang and take back Qinzhou and Yongzhou as well!" Zhao Heng roared.

Despite his extreme rage, Zhao Mu was his son after all, an Imperial Prince of the Great Song.

If he did nothing, the dignity of the Imperial Clan would be completely wiped out.

Having decided this matter, he glared fiercely at Dou Wei and left on his own.

Dou Wei remained distracted, and it was only after a long while that he slowly left the Golden Throne Hall.

……

Xiliang, Wuwei.

At this moment, in the Chengqing Hall where court officials discussed state affairs.

The Xiliang ministers and officials burst into loud mockery the moment Zhao Mu knelt down.

Zhao Mu closed his eyes, his body trembling; he wished he could find a crack in the ground to crawl into.

Right now, he was in a very sorry state.

The Armor on his body had been stripped off, his hair was a mess, and his long robe was covered in dust and holes.

Two Xiliang Imperial Guards stood behind him, their Long Blades half-drawn, threatening him to kneel.

After being captured, he knew he would certainly suffer humiliation at the hands of the Xiliang people.

He had once wanted to die, for after being captured this time, even if he could return, he would no longer be able to contend for the throne and would even be shunned by Zhao Heng.

But having been pampered since childhood, he lacked the courage to face death.

"Your Majesty, the Great Song's fate is truly exhausted. Ma Jin defected and somehow became the Prince of Qin of our Xiliang, and now the Great Song Imperial Prince has also been captured by our Xiliang. All of this indicates that Xiliang will conquer the world." Li Xin bowed, glancing at the pale-faced Zhao Mu.

Tuoba Hao nodded slightly, had it not been for the defeat in Jinzhou, which caused Xiliang's vitality to be severely damaged.

These two consecutive events would certainly make Xiliang rise like the midday sun.

There would also not have been the alliance he signed with the Northern Di at Yin Mountain.

At the same time, he hated that these two events came too late; otherwise, he would not have signed the alliance either.

He wanted to renege, but he feared the Northern Di would be enraged and attack, not to mention his eldest son was still a hostage in the Northern Di.

However, at the very least, he believed that the Great Song losing two provinces and the Imperial Prince being captured by him offset the hatred of losing Jinzhou and his younger brother Tuoba Wuji being killed.

"Your Majesty, having captured the son of that Great Song dog emperor, that dog emperor will surely come to ransom him. This time we must extort a large sum of Silver from the Great Song," a general laughed loudly.

Tuoba Hao looked at the person who spoke; it was Gule, one of the four leaders of Xiliang.

Tuoba Hao shook his head, "Wouldn't asking for Silver be too easy on the Great Song? At the very least, we must exchange him for Jinzhou; otherwise, it would be better to keep this Great Song Imperial Prince by my side to lead my horse."

"Hahaha, as expected of Your Majesty's foresight. Our Xiliang is not lacking in Silver; what we lack is people and land. Keeping this Imperial Prince to humiliate the Great Song is even better," another general said.

Upon hearing this, the cold sweat rising on Zhao Mu's body quickly soaked his clothes.

He said urgently, "Your Majesty, Silver is better. With Silver, you can buy anything you want. My Imperial Father will at least pay five million taels, no, twenty million taels of Silver to ransom me back."

"Buy anything you want? Can you even buy Artillery?" Tuoba Hao mocked.

A few days ago, Mule Hongzhen ordered him to hand over all of Xiliang's copper to the Northern Di.

He had already ordered it to be collected and sent off, and it was evident that the Northern Di was currently mass-producing Artillery.

In this way, among the Great Song, the Northern Di, and Xiliang, only his Xiliang lacked Artillery.

"It may not be impossible." Zhao Mu lowered his body even further.

Tuoba Hao and the ministers and generals exchanged glances.

Then, they burst into loud mocking laughter again.

"Is that so? Then let us see what kind of price your Imperial Father is willing to pay," Tuoba Hao said, "But before that, you had better lead my horse!"

Having said that, he began to laugh coldly.

……

Yancheng.

Zhao Xu had just arrived at the Prince's Mansion after returning from Fanyang.

Xu Ke hurried over and told him some rather shocking news.

"The Third Prince was captured and taken to Wuwei?"

"Yes, I received the news three days ago. After ordering people to verify it at Wuguan, it was confirmed that the news is true," Xu Ke said.

Chang Wei had followed Zhao Xu to the Prince's Mansion to discuss the defense of Yanzhou.

Hearing this, he sneered, "This is what they call trying to steal a chicken only to lose the rice. The Third Prince must have gone to Wuguan to gain some military merit to add to his credentials, but he is clearly still too green."

Zhao Xu frowned; he had no friendship with the Third Prince.

Although this Third Prince had not bullied him like the Sixth Prince and the others.

But he knew that the Third Prince was merely disdainful, not truly viewing him as a brother.

So, as for him being captured, he had no particular feelings.

What frustrated him was that this matter was clearly extremely favorable to Xiliang.

Ma Jin had given Xiliang a point, and now this Zhao Mu continued to give them more.

"Is this the legendary phenomenon of a dynasty's end?" Zhao Xu muttered.

Historically, there were always many strange occurrences during the end of a dynasty.

"You knew three days ago; the news has likely already reached the Capital City. We shall just wait and see," Zhao Xu said with a calm expression.

It was not his turn to worry about this matter.

Zhao Mu was the Third Prince of the Great Song, Zhao Heng would have to make a choice, and since he was also Dou Wei's nephew, the Dou Family would not sit idly by either.

Thinking of the pirates, he said to Xu Ke, "During this period, send some people to Zhezhou to monitor the Liang Family. Primarily monitor their maritime trade, and also Wufeng Island, though that is relatively difficult to infiltrate."

Upon hearing this, Chang Wei said, "Your Highness, the annihilation of the sea pirates in Fanyang this time relied entirely on the confession of one sea pirate. Currently, this sea pirate is locked in the Fanyang prison; perhaps he can be used, and furthermore, he is a man from Yanzhou."

Xu Ke's eyes lit up upon hearing this, "It is worth a try. If it succeeds, he will be an informant; if it fails, he is just a sea pirate, and we can simply say he escaped."

Zhao Xu nodded.

After discussing this matter, Xu Ke turned and left.

Zhao Xu spoke with Chang Wei about the defense deployment, and Chang Wei also returned.

At this moment, he picked up a pen and began to draw on the blueprint.

Before long, something short and thick, with a base like a rotating tray and resembling artillery, appeared on the paper.

This was originally something that was to be researched and manufactured by the Armory Bureau in the past few days, but it had been delayed by the matter of the sea pirates.

"Mortar!" Zhao Xu said, picking up the blueprint.

In the war in Jinzhou, the smoothbore cannon had an obvious flaw: it could not attack enemies hiding behind obstacles.

After all, smoothbore cannons fire in a straight line.

However, this caused great problems for sieges.

Therefore, he had thought of the mortar back then.

Simply put, a mortar is a primitive portable mortar or howitzer.

The cannonball falls in a parabolic arc, capable of attacking enemies hiding behind city walls.

In the sixteenth century, this kind of mortar was equipped in various armies.

Although its range is short, relying on explosive shells, the power of a mortar cannot be underestimated.

Currently, the Prince's Army only has smoothbore cannons; in order to expand the types of artillery and gain an advantage in warfare, he felt it was necessary to build this kind of artillery.

At the same time, the most primitive explosive shells must also be researched and manufactured.

During the contemporary Ming Dynasty, there were already basic explosive shells.

Compared to solid shot, this kind of cannonball causes area damage and is likewise a lethal weapon for killing.

Furthermore, one cannot always have soldiers throwing lit lime firecrackers by hand.

The portable mortar is undoubtedly an excellent substitute for throwing.