Chapter 489: The Trend of Separatism

Latest website: "What exactly does Prime Minister Dou want to say?" Xie Duan suddenly looked displeased and set his wine cup down heavily.

The current situation was extremely favorable for his Xie Family.

He had already ordered Empress Xie to whisper in Zhao Heng's ear.

This failure of the Northern Expedition, besides punishing the commanding general Yang Feng, must also charge the Second Prince with the crime of deceiving the Emperor.

In this way, with the Third Prince ruined and the Second Prince convicted, wouldn't it be easy for him to push the First Prince into the Eastern Palace?

As for the Fifth Prince supported by the Liang Family, not to mention having no achievements in the Imperial Court, he was not a legitimate son; what qualifications did he have to compete with the First Prince?

"Why is Minister Xie in such a rush? At least listen to the Prime Minister finish speaking." Liang Kai cast a dissatisfied look at Xie Duan.

He was naturally aware that the entire Xie Family was feeling very smug right now.

The First Prince had the best chance of entering the Eastern Palace and was also flirting with Yan Wang.

The Xie Family was certain that once the First Prince ascended the throne, they would become the head of the powerful clans.

However, he would soon shatter all of Xie Duan's beautiful dreams.

"I will not hide it from you all: this time when I inspected Wuguan, the Northern Di gifted the Art of Cannon Casting to my Dou Family to thank us for facilitating the peace talks." Dou Wei did not care about Xie Duan's attitude.

He was confident that this time he could unite the powerful clans with him.

"What!" Han Zheng and the others almost stood up upon hearing this.

They had already learned that the range and power of the Northern Di's artillery were almost the same as the artillery Yan Wang sold to them.

With the Dou Family obtaining the Art of Cannon Casting, it meant they would no longer need to be controlled by Yan Wang in the future.

"Prime Minister Dou, although the Northern Di has made peace with our Great Song, it is inappropriate for you to accept bribes from the Northern Di; this seems to smack of colluding with the enemy and betraying the country." Han Zheng's jealous heart felt like it was being roasted on a fire, and he spoke in a sour, cynical tone.

Wang Zi'an echoed, "That is the implication."

Liang Kai was greatly shocked; he valued artillery more than anyone else, so his words carried a fawning tone, "Prime Minister, my Liang Family has already shared the Art of Cannon Casting with everyone; you wouldn't hide it for yourself, would you?"

The others nodded one after another.

Dou Wei was in an exceptionally good mood and did not care at all what Han Zheng and the others said.

He said, "Peace talks are in the overall interest of both our Great Song and the Northern Di. My facilitating the peace talks is a great merit. The Northern Di is returning a favor for a gift; how can this be colluding with the enemy and betraying the country? Even if this matter is taken to the Emperor, the Emperor would have nothing to say. After all, it was the Northern Di that gave the Art of Cannon Casting to me, not me giving it to the Northern Di."

Han Zheng and Wang Zi'an opened their mouths, suddenly speechless.

Liang Kai and Fan Xinglun tried their best to agree, while Xie Duan chose silence.

"However, do not worry, everyone. I invited you all here today precisely to share the casting method with you." Dou Wei clapped his hands.

Immediately, six servants each holding a booklet came before Han Zheng and the others.

Liang Kai immediately took a booklet, flipped through it, and fell into a frenzy of joy, "Thank you, Prime Minister, thank you, Prime Minister."

Han Zheng and the others were also very excited, their hands holding the booklets trembling continuously.

"Prime Minister, we were reckless just now." Han Zheng bowed to Dou Wei; it was indeed rare for Dou Wei to give them such an important thing.

He asked himself, if it were him, he certainly would not be so generous.

Hearing this, Dou Wei stroked his beard and chuckled softly.

This was originally something the Northern Di had instructed him to do; by saying this, he immediately won the gratitude of the other powerful clans.

Thus, the following matters would be much simpler.

So he said, "I know that you all have actually been feeling uncomfortable during this period, the reason being that you need to purchase artillery from Yan Wang at a high price, and thus you must be controlled by the Imperial Clan."

Everyone nodded.

Dou Wei continued, "Now, this problem is easily solved. Next, we must think about the future of our respective families; do not forget the long-term prosperity of the powerful clans."

Han Zheng and Wang Zi'an exchanged a glance, and then he glanced at the jade-faced young master standing behind Wang Zi'an.

He thought to himself that this time Dou Wei seemed to have thought of the same thing as them.

The Northern Di and Yan Wang were in a standoff along the Yanzhou line.

Whether it was the Northern Di or Yan Wang, neither would have time to look south.

At that time, once the two of them decided the winner, no matter who lost or won.

They would all face a more dangerous environment.

After all, if Yan Wang won, how could they fight against an Yan Wang who could single-handedly resist the Northern Di?

If the Northern Di won, they would certainly continue to move south. Once the Northern Di occupied the Great Song's territory, the fate of their powerful clans would not be up to them.

Therefore, this time they must take advantage of the two tigers fighting to completely break free from their shackles and develop and strengthen their own forces.

This was the strategy proposed by Wang Zi'an's nephew, Wang Xie, after the peace talks.

"Prime Minister Dou's words are reasonable. The current situation is changing rapidly; we can no longer follow the old ways and must think about the future of the powerful clans." Liang Kai pondered, "Whether the Northern Di or Yan Wang wins, it will be a disaster for our powerful clans. Even if our families fight each other, once a winner is decided, the Great Song is still the Great Song, and the powerful clans are still the powerful clans."

Previously, the Liang Family's artillery still needed to rely on Yan Wang.

Now, the Dou Family had given him the Northern Di's cannon-casting method, making up for the Liang Family's last shortcoming.

With his Liang Family's capital, as long as they were not restricted by the Imperial Court, they could boldly recruit soldiers and buy horses.

His Liang Family would fear no one.

"I don't want this thing." Just then, Xie Duan suddenly stood up, "Are you all trying to truly carve out your own territories?"

Having said that, he turned to leave.

But Liang Kai suddenly blocked his path, "Minister Xie, we know what you are thinking. Do you really think your Xie Family can send the First Prince to the throne?"

"What does Minister Liang mean?" Seeing the mockery in Liang Kai's eyes, Xie Duan became vigilant.

Liang Kai laughed coldly, "If the Emperor knew that while he was trapped in Xian City, the First Prince was trying on a Dragon Robe in his mansion, what do you think he would feel?"

Hearing this, Xie Duan's face changed drastically, "Stop spouting blood and slandering people."

"Human evidence and material evidence, if I want them, I can get them right now. Minister Xie, do you want to make a bet?" Liang Kai narrowed his eyes.

Xie Duan's face struggled, and finally, he sighed and sat back down, "What exactly do you want to do?"

"It's very simple: control the military and political power within the prefectures and counties of each family." Dou Wei said loudly, "Now that we have artillery, we no longer need to be controlled by the Imperial Clan regarding artillery. And while Yan Wang and the Northern Di are both our great enemies, they can be utilized for now, but in the future, they will be great threats. We should take advantage of their fighting to sharpen our weapons and prepare for the unexpected."

"But how could the Emperor agree to this? This is a great taboo," Xie Duan said.

Wang Zi'an signaled to Wang Xie at this moment, and Wang Xie nodded and spoke up: "This junior does have a method. This peace negotiation requires an annual tribute of five million taels of Silver, and the national treasury is already overburdened. We should memorialize the Emperor to increase taxes; the Emperor, in order to raise the tribute, will surely agree."

Upon hearing this, Dou Wei's eyes lit up, and he looked at Wang Xie with quite a bit of admiration.

"You all should be clear: if we let the officials below collect one tael of Silver, they will find a way to collect ten and line their own pockets. Therefore, the common people will certainly be unable to bear the burden, and when the time comes, if we send someone to stir things up a little, we can incite a popular uprising," Wang Xie continued.

"Hahaha... I understand," Fan Xinglun suddenly laughed. "When the time comes, we will fan the flames and make a big scene. With Yan Wang held back by the Northern Di, the Emperor will be unable to mobilize forces and will have no choice but to let us suppress it. At that time, demanding the great military and political power of our own province will be only natural."

"High, it is truly high," Liang Kai said, his face flushed red.

Although they, the powerful clans, were basically local emperors in their own provinces, the power granted by the Imperial Court was not very great.

Many things could only be done sneakily, and if they were targeted by other powerful clans, there would be no small amount of trouble.

But if the Emperor formally granted them great military and political power, they would have no more scruples from then on, and both their military and financial strength would be greatly enhanced.

Therefore, he was extremely in favor of this proposal.

After all, although the seven families were sitting together to discuss things for their common interests now.

He was very clear that, in reality, each family was unconvinced by the others.

Wait until Yan Wang and the Northern Di decide the victor, leaving both sides severely wounded.

At that time, they would already have strong troops and sturdy horses, and would fear no one.

After joining forces to wipe out the side that won a pyrrhic victory, the seven families could then compete with one another to finally determine the new successor to the imperial throne.

"Your expressions tell me that you agree," Dou Wei said at this moment.

He was a member of a powerful clan and naturally understood the minds of the powerful clans.

Who wouldn't want to be a true local emperor?

And now, an opportunity was placed right before them.

As long as they agreed, with the profits of the Border Market, they believed the combined Dou and Xiao families would surely be the most powerful in the future, and the Third Prince's imperial throne would be secure.

"I agree," Han Zheng and Wang Zi'an said.

Liang Kai and Fan Xinglun also nodded.

After hesitating for a moment, Xie Duan said, "Very well."

Everyone had agreed to this matter, and Dou Wei let out a heavy sigh of relief, "In that case, this matter is settled."

Having said that, he raised his Wine cup.

Han Zheng Jia also raised their Wine cups and drank them down in one gulp.

"There is one more thing: between Yan Wang and the Northern Di, who exactly are we supporting?" Remembering something, Liang Kai suddenly asked.

Dou Wei had also been thinking about this matter these past few days.

The Northern Di had helped him this time without asking for any conditions; in fact, after a little thought, he understood the Northern Di's intentions.

Their goal was nothing more than to break the balance within Da Song.

It was just that whether the Northern Di helped or not, the conflict between the powerful clans and the Imperial Clan would drive them to this point anyway; it was only a matter of time.

Therefore, he felt no gratitude toward the Northern Di; it was merely mutual exploitation.

"For the time being, we shall help neither side. If Yan Wang shows hope of winning, we will cut off his trade to restrain him. If the Northern Di gains the advantage, we will give Yan Wang some support. It is best to let them keep fighting until both are severely wounded," Dou Wei said, pondering.

After a pause, he said, "However, our plan this time will cause a certain amount of chaos, which will more or less affect Yan Wang's trade first. There is no help for that; let's just consider it a way to suppress Yan Wang first."

Liang Kai nodded. He opened his mouth, wanting to say something, but in the end, he did not.

The sudden appearance of sea bandits this time had attacked the Northern Di fleet.

This matter had aroused his vigilance.

In his view, even if the sea bandits were not a force secretly supported by Yan Wang, they were extremely closely related to Yan Wang.

And this already threatened the interests of his Liang Family.

He could ignore Yan Wang's trade within Da Song, but if Yan Wang wanted to engage in maritime trade, his Liang Family would have to ask some questions.

Thinking of this, he looked toward Han Zheng.

The fact that Han Zheng and the Wang Family were so active regarding military and political power this time meant they must have felt the threat from Yan Wang.

After all, their two families were adjacent to Yanzhou.

On this matter, he did need to make contact with Han Zheng.

Jointly demanding the military and political power of the province was one thing, but forming alliances for one's own interests was another matter entirely.