Munitions Empire-Chapter 918 - The 841 Furious Emperor
Chapter 918: The 841 Furious Emperor Chapter 918: The 841 Furious Emperor In the Dahua Empire, within the Imperial City of the Imperial Capital, Zhao Kai was throwing a tantrum in his own room. He had truly never felt so miserable and oppressed before.
For such a long time, every advancement made by the Dahua Empire failed to bring him a sense of achievement; instead, it plunged him deeper into fear.
The tax revenue from Fengjiang City was gradually increasing, the profits brought in by one city, or rather half a city, already far exceeding the combined income of over a dozen cities in the Dahua Empire.
Originally, everyone was very excited, because this real silver would become the cornerstone of the development and growth of the Dahua Empire.
But whenever he thought of the fact that the Great Tang Empire possessed even more cities like this, Zhao Kai felt as if there were thorns in his back, and he was uneasy in both sleep and meal.
Today, the Dahua Empire built two new large textile factories, but the Great Tang Empire had already moved similar large textile factories to Chu Country—the gap wasn’t narrowing, it was continuously widening.
Now even Chu Country was competing with the Dahua Empire in the light industrial economy, causing the Dahua Empire to frequently lower the prices of its products to vie for that little bit of export share with countries like Laines of Chu Country.
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Due to shipping costs, the light industrial exports of the Dahua Empire actually weren’t very competitive: countries on the Western Continent all had some industrial basis of their own, and the technology of the Dahua Empire was considered relatively slow-developing in their eyes.
And with the added cost of overseas shipping, the products of the Dahua Empire hardly had any competitive edge on the Western Continent: what it could sell to the Western Continent was nothing more than some specialties.
Like Pan Yiping, for example, who managed one of the Dahua Empire’s dried fruit specialties, mixing in the sale of teas and the like.
Therefore, the light industrial products of the Dahua Empire, in most cases, could only be sold to Shu Country and Qin Country. But as the economy of these two countries developed, the export ability of the Dahua Empire’s products was becoming increasingly worse.
To be squeezed into such a state by a circle of former vassal states, the Dahua Empire might as well have lost all its dignity. Zhao Kai, who had always placed great importance on face, how could he not be furious?
With a smack on the table, he even felt that the two women who were completely naked beside him were no longer as enticing. In his irritation, he waved his hand and the two women, clutching their clothes, exited Zhao Kai’s bedroom just like that.
They were not Zhao Kai’s concubines, but palace maids… After all, there was still some etiquette that had to be considered in the Empire. It was not possible for two concubines from the harem to serve the Emperor at the same time; that was a rule.
Lately, Zhao Kai frequently felt inexplicable rage, so he began to find some delicate palace maids to vent on… He was increasingly unable to suppress his impulses, like a restless wild beast.
This time, Zhao Kai’s irritation stemmed from the news that Qin Country had once again purchased a batch of munitions from Tang Country, even buying an entire production line for artillery shells.
Qin Country, which had always depended on the Dahua Empire for military weapons, had now virtually become a mini Tang Country. Whether it was the weapons and equipment of soldiers or the command system, they were frantically copying the Tang Army.
The influence of the Dahua Empire over Qin Country was weakening by the day, alarming to the point where if it wasn’t for the geographical advantage in transportation the Dahua Empire still had, Qin Country might very well have gone off to be Tang Country’s lackey directly.
Just a few hours earlier in the imperial court, the Prime Minister Chu Muzhou and the Minister of War Shen Chuan both expressed their concerns about the situation.
They feared that once Qin Country and Tang Country both began to refuse paying the material border fees, a new war might well erupt.
This time the Dahua Empire would face a pincer attack from both the Tang Army and the Qin Army, and the Dahua Military would not be able to cope with such a situation.
So the Dahua Empire must prepare against the possibility of war on two fronts, and diplomatically make a series of efforts to avoid such a situation from happening.
On one hand, the military hoped to establish more complex and expensive border defenses, at least to withstand the attack of Tang Country and buy time to mobilize more troops.
On the other hand, the Dahua Empire should strive to charm some neighboring countries to avoid an actual two-front war: after weighing the options, Chu Muzhou believed befriending the Great Tang Empire was the most cost-effective solution.
Because the shadows of the Great Tang Empire loomed behind both Qin Country and Shu Country, trying to court Qin Country and Shu Country was clearly not so easy—because if relations with Tang Country were tense, these countries were very likely to lean towards the stronger side.
Supported by this theory, the Three Departments and Six Ministries of the Dahua Empire all believed that maintaining a close cooperative relationship with Tang Country as much as possible and satisfying most of Tang Country’s demands could avoid a complete fallout with Tang Country in the short term.
Furthermore, the Dahua Empire side needed to fervently incite antagonism between the Great Tang Empire and the Western Continent: only by propagating the rhetoric of “recapturing Brunas” in public opinion could they possibly divert the Great Tang Empire’s attention to the west.
It was the simplest tactic of leading troubles elsewhere, also known as “Let the friends die, and not myself.” After all, as long as the Great Tang Empire was not an enemy of Dahua, it didn’t matter who it fought.
But there was one major problem with this plan—Zhao Kai, the Emperor of the Dahua Empire! His Majesty The Emperor wasn’t exactly the best at staying low and keeping small…
To fully engage in cooperation with Tang Country, Dahua would definitely need to lower its own stance, even placing itself in a position of a de facto vassal state.
The Empire had to concede as many benefits as possible, develop discreetly, run its country earnestly and make money, convincing the Great Tang Empire that the Dahua Empire posed no threat.
Even so, if they grasped this play, the Dahua Empire could consider, with the support of the Great Tang Empire, the annexation of both Qin Country and Shu Country, to reduce the trade costs of the Great Tang Empire.
Regrettably, the plan had hardly been implemented before it was met with fierce opposition from Emperor Zhao Kai: he could not tolerate the Dahua Empire turning from the hegemon of the Eastern Continent into a mere follower of the Tang Empire under his rule.
Thus, the intense court debate began once again, and the ultimate result was that Zhao Kai made a slight concession by reducing some transit tariffs while making it clear that the Dahua Empire was willing to take on some industries already looked down upon by the Tang Empire.
But this was far from enough for the court officials. They hoped Zhao Kai would make greater concessions and even, on behalf of the Royal Family of the Dahua Empire, express friendly attitudes toward the Tang Empire.
This was rather difficult, how could Zhao Kai willingly cozy up to Tang Mo? He had repeatedly berated Tang Mo in court, and now, to use his own face to kiss up to Tang Mo’s ass would make him the laughingstock of the world, would it not?
Recalling every detail that had just occurred in court, the anger Zhao Kai had just vented on a palace maid rose again.
He grabbed a teacup at hand, and upon realizing it was part of a set of his favorite, expensive imported porcelain from the Great Tang Empire, he clenched his teeth and set it back down.
However, this only made him feel stifled, so he grabbed something cheaper and hurled it to the floor, immediately causing the guards outside the door to rush in.
“Get out!” Zhao Kai barked, causing the guards to retreat. But before they closed the door again, he ordered, “Someone, clean up this mess on the floor!”
“Bring the Crown Prince to me!” As he watched servants crawl at his feet, tidying the room, Zhao Kai seemed to regain a feeling of imperial authority.
He enjoyed the sensation of watching others grovel at his feet, the feeling that with just a stretch of his leg, he could tread on their heads.
In truth, as someone who had become Emperor of an empire, Zhao Kai did have some brains. It was just that after many years in a lofty position, he was not quite accustomed to the state of “there are some people he could not provoke.”
After venting, he eventually returned to reason, considering that if the Dahua Empire was indeed caught between Qin Country and Tang Country, it would be as precarious as the courtiers had said.
Therefore, he also thought that he should change the current state, at least he should resolve the trouble on one side.
Those courtiers who only knew how to take advantage but not be loyal were unreliable – the Great General Feng Kezhi, Qian Jinhang, and the like had already confirmed this opinion.
So, he could only summon some people he deemed trustworthy to discuss properly and see if there was any better way to resolve the crisis facing the Dahua Empire.
And clearly, his own son, the future heir to the Empire, his own son Zhao Ji, was an excellent choice.
Zhao Kai, having sacrificed Feng Ke for the sake of imperial power, naturally had to rely on the Royal Family to maintain his authority. The newly entrusted Zhao Jie and Zhao Chen were his trusted royal relatives.
“Yes!” A servant immediately went to convey His Majesty The Emperor’s edict, while the rest continued to clean up the scattered fragments on the floor.
“Your Highness! His Majesty has just summoned the Crown Prince into the palace for a discussion.” Very soon, a palace maid passed the news out of the Imperial Palace, and the message was directly delivered to Prince Zhao Yu.
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“My imperial father still ultimately trusts that bastard Zhao Ji more, huh.” Zhao Yu dismissed the messenger with a wave and turned to a young confidant with a sneer, “Does he even deign to hear my opinion when seeking advice?”
“Your Highness need not be hasty… because in the end, he will realize that you are the future of the Dahua Empire.” The young man fiddled with the dandelion ring on his finger, offering comfort without even looking up.
“Moreover, your opinion matters! Your father has just not realized that yet.” He blew on the ring, satisfied with the cleaning, and continued, “You have gained favor with Lord Nangong and are the Prince who advocates for good relations with the Tang Empire. Soon, ministers will see that you are the hope of the Empire.” He lifted his head, “If they don’t choose you, would they have to select another Emperor as obstinate as your father and continue to oppose them?”
“What you say makes sense!” Zhao Yu found the argument very much to his liking, and he also felt he was better suited to inherit the throne than that Zhao Ji.
After all, he was the true chosen one! He thought proudly to himself, then composed the smile on his face and looked to his strategist, “Then what do you think… How should we express our intentions to the ministers?”
“Don’t worry, Your Highness… we have already taken care of it for you…” The young man stood up and walked over to Zhao Yu, “Just wait for the good news.”
Fool, no need to think. He looked at Zhao Yu and thought so.
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There will be two more chapters today, slightly later. Everyone can read them tomorrow morning.
