Chapter 83: Production is Also Combat Power

"Second Brother, why didn't you stop the Emperor? What is the meaning of this?"

Zhao Fang was bursting with anger; that morning at the early court session, he had been the first to oppose allowing the Yan Wang to expand his military.

His reasoning was that this was merely a minor achievement, and rewarding him with some gold and silver would suffice.

He had assumed the Second Prince, Zhao Qu, would support him, but the Second Prince never spoke a word.

"The Yan Wang beheaded two thousand Beidi soldiers; such a feat is rare in recent years. How can you call it a minor achievement?" The Second Prince shook his head.

In the clashes between the Great Song and the Beidi, there were rarely times when they held the advantage.

Not to mention Yanzhou, even within the imperial court, a sense of fear toward the Beidi permeated the air.

Ten years ago.

The three hundred thousand Forbidden Army of the Ningjin Dusi suffered a crushing defeat at the hands of the Beidi, nearly wiping out all the elite forces of the Great Song Forbidden Army at the time.

It was also from that time on that the strength of the Great Song Imperial Clan sharply declined, leading to the breaking of the balance between the powerful clans.

Therefore, he knew very well that this achievement of the Yan Wang would certainly make his father, the Emperor, very happy.

His speaking out in opposition would have no effect; on the contrary, it would only displease his father.

"Second Brother, that is wrong. My uncle beheaded five thousand Beidi soldiers this March, and all the heads were sent to Jingshi. His achievement is far greater than the Yan Wang's, yet we didn't see Father so happy. It is clear that Father simply does not trust my uncle," Zhao Fang retorted.

Zhao Qu sneered, "Enough. Although Father enjoys pleasure, he is not stupid. He didn't pursue the crime of the Yuan Prefect killing civilians to claim merit, which was already an act of extra grace toward the Yuan Family."

"You..." The Sixth Prince choked, then fiercely flicked his sleeves.

Those five thousand heads were indeed not Beidi, but the skulls of the people of Yan Commandery.

On the other side, the Third Prince, Zhao Mu, was also watching the Sixth Prince and the Second Prince.

Beside him were the Fifth Prince, Zhao She, and the Seventh Prince, Zhao Ji.

"Third Brother, what do you think of Father granting the Yan Wang permission to expand his military?" Zhao She looked toward the top of the city wall; at this moment, his father, the Emperor, had already appeared on the gate tower.

Beside Zhao Heng was Empress Dou.

"What Father fears most is the Beidi, which is why he sent General Mo Di to Yanguan. It is also because of this fear that after the great defeat of the Ningjin Dusi back then, Father relied heavily on the Yuan Family, ordering them to recruit troops to hold Yanzhou," Zhao Mu said.

Glancing at the Sixth Prince, he continued: "Who would have thought that the Yuan Family is now strong and well-equipped, yet not only do they not exert themselves to suppress the Beidi who invade Yanzhou every year, they even attempt to control Yanguan.

Now, the Yan Wang has gained a firm foothold in Yan Commandery, and his first achievement is the beheading of two thousand Beidi soldiers. How could Father not be happy? Ordering the Yan Wang to expand his military is within expectations. If the Yuan Family cannot be used, there must be someone who can."

Zhao She nodded, "So, Father intends to make heavy use of the Yan Wang."

"That goes without saying. Having an extra chess piece to curb the Yuan Family is always a good thing." The Seventh Prince, Zhao Ji, yawned, "Third Brother is smart, sending gifts to the Yan Wang so early."

Hearing this, Zhao Mu smiled smugly, "Regardless of whether it is useful, placing a chess piece in Yanzhou is always good. Father is likely thinking the same."

As his voice fell, a rumbling sound of drums suddenly erupted, like rolling thunder in the sky.

Then, one hundred prisoners of war were escorted to the Meridian Gate.

Seeing the faces of these captives, the officials and nobles nodded one after another.

The appearance of these captives was clearly different from the Song People, and one could tell at a glance that they were the vassal troops of the Beidi.

According to what they knew, after the Beidi Khan unified the Grassland, he fought north and south, expanding his territory to the far west and far north, occupying many nations; even Gaoli, which originally paid tribute to the Great Song, had now surrendered to the Beidi.

These vassal troops came from those nations.

"It seems the Yan Wang beheading two thousand Beidi soldiers was not a lie," one minister said.

"No wonder the Emperor is so happy."

"Much stronger than the Yuan Family. They say the Yuan Family's soldiers are tigers when they encounter civilians, but become mice when they encounter the Beidi."

"The Yan Wang is truly a newborn calf that is not afraid of the tiger. The Beidi are vengeful; he won this round,

but I fear he will lose his life because of it."

"..."

While the crowd whispered, Zhao Heng's voice rang out from the gate tower.

Everyone immediately bowed and listened quietly.

"The Beidi are border barbarians, akin to beasts. In recent years, they have repeatedly raided the borders and offended our Great Song... We have captured over a hundred; today, they shall be beheaded at the Meridian Gate as a warning to others!" After Zhao Heng finished reading, he drew the sword at his waist and pointed it at the Beidi captives.

The executioners, who had been waiting, swung their blades down, and a hundred heads fell to the ground.

"Long live our Emperor, long live, long live!" The ministers and nobles shouted in unison.

The commoners watching the ceremony outside the Meridian Gate also knelt down one after another, shouting "Long live."

On the city wall, Zhao Heng revealed a satisfied smile, feeling even content.

"Your Majesty, I heard you want to send the Prince of Chun to Yan Commandery. Gang Er is idle anyway, so why not let him go?" Empress Dou looked straight ahead, maintaining a polite smile on her face; this was for the ministers to see.

"The Prince of Chun is more suitable, lest he go to Yan Commandery and fail to control himself, causing the opposite of the desired effect," Zhao Heng said lazily.

Letting the Prince of Chun go was, on one hand, for the military supplies of Yanguan, and on the other, he did not want the Imperial Princes to argue with him over this matter again.

Empress Dou's smile stiffened, and she did not speak again.

"Xu Lie, come, strike me!"

Yancheng, North Camp.

Lv Chang was wearing a new style of Armor; unlike Scale Armor, this set of Armor was like a complete garment worn on the body, with every part of the body covered by metal.

This was the Plate Armor that the Armory Bureau had sent not long ago.

Zhao Xu was also there, sitting on a chair watching the effect of the two men fighting.

Since Yuan Li left, Yan Commandery had become peaceful and tranquil once again.

However, beneath the appearance of tranquility, none of the agencies under the Prince's Mansion were idle; they were all actively preparing for war to cope with the upcoming Beidi Autumn Hunt.

Among them, the Armory Bureau had also delivered one thousand sets of Plate Armor for the first time.

Seeing this strange Armor, the generals of the North Camp were all attracted.

In order to let the soldiers have an intuitive feeling about the Plate Armor, he ordered Lv Chang and Xu Lie to put on the Armor and spar.

"Clang, dong..."

The two men began to fight, and the crowd only saw their blades hacking at each other, constantly emitting the sound of iron buckets being struck.

However, aside from being knocked back or falling down by each other's strength, they remained full of vigor.

The hacking of the blades could not hurt them at all, making it seem as if they were playing a game.

By the end of the fight, both were exhausted; Lv Chang simply threw his sword away, lunged forward, and used brute force to pin Xu Lie to the ground.

"Hahaha..." The soldiers all burst into laughter at the sight.

While laughing, they also realized that wearing this thing was practically like locking oneself inside an iron bucket, with every part of the body safe from blades.

Chang Wei's eyes lit up, and he said to Zhao Xu, "Your Highness, this Armor is formidable, though it is a bit heavy."

"That is why this Armor is for the Heavy Infantry and Heavy Cavalry," Zhao Xu said with a smile.

In the era of cold weapons, Heavy Cavalry and Heavy Infantry were the backbone of war.

For the Cavalry, a Heavy Infantry phalanx was a nightmarish existence.

Charging into Heavy Infantry was almost like charging into a wall.

And for the Infantry, the Heavy Cavalry was likewise a nightmare.

A charging Heavy Cavalryman slamming into them was no different from a one-ton rock flying at them.

However, because heavy armor is difficult to manufacture and high in cost, these two types of troops could only be maintained in small numbers in any army.

Yet his Armory now possessed Water-Powered Trip Hammer technology, which could mass-produce this kind of Armor.

To him, this was the most important thing.

Because this meant that as long as they were trained properly, he could easily mass-produce elite troops.

It could truly be said that production was also combat power.