Become a feudal king from today

"Your Highness, the Emperor has officially issued a decree to hand over the military and political power of each state to the state pastor." Xu Ke took a deep breath and told the news he had just received.

"What? So fast!" Zhao Xu said.

The efficiency of the imperial court has always been slow, but this time it surprised him.

So far, less than a month.

"It's not that the tax collection has been completed, but Dou Wei, an old thief and a powerful official, proposed to first raise taels of silver to pay the annual tribute to the Beidi people, and then wait for the taxes to be collected, and then divide the money. When the money is sufficient, the emperor will issue an order. "Tsu Hark said.

Zhao Xu frowned when he heard this, "The powerful people really can't wait."

He believed that powerful people could definitely do such a thing.

After all, no one can owe money to powerful people.

Zhao Heng does not have the final say on the tax collection alone.

In this way, when they obtain military power in advance, they will not lose a penny of money.

After all, Zhao Heng was still afraid of powerful clans without formal separatist rule.

Now that they have officially become the Tu Emperor, Zhao Heng is even less likely to provoke them.

He loves his wealth more than anything else, and all his decisions are based on this.

"What a shame." Zhao Xu then sighed.

Zhao Heng, the emperor, is now no different than a puppet.

But he deserves it.

If it hadn't been for his arrogant operations in the northwest, there would have been no peace talks.

Afterwards, the powerful clan would not take advantage of the empty treasury to force him to issue an edict.

The most disgusting thing is that up to now, he has not felt any guilt about the peace negotiation and is still trying to meet Beidi's peace negotiation conditions.

But he, the Ninth Prince of Dasong, has always been a pawn in the balancing clan in his eyes.

It was only now that he was cornered by the powerful clan that he restrained himself.

"That's all. This is good. At least the veil of hypocrisy has been torn off. From now on, everyone can show their talents." Zhao Xu said.

The separatist clan will definitely need time to accumulate strength.

And Zhao Heng is still alive and well, so Da Song will not be in chaos for the time being.

But now that the fuse has been lit, it depends on when the powder keg is burned.

Xu Hark also sighed and thought of something. He said: "I also found out something. The seven powerful families seem to have mastered the forging method of artillery. This casting method seems to be related to copper. The powerful people under their command Merchants are buying copper everywhere, and the price of copper is even rising.”

"You mean, they mastered a new method of forging cannons at the same time?" Zhao Xu frowned.

It's no wonder that the powerful clans stopped giving new artillery orders to King Yan.

Thinking of Beidi's bronze cannon, Zhao Xu's eyes narrowed slightly.

"Maybe it's Beidi!" Zhao Xu and Xu Hark said almost in unison.

"No wonder they have the courage to separate their empires, it turns out that's the reason." Zhao Xu said thoughtfully.

No longer relying on Yanzhou's artillery means no longer being constrained by Yanzhou.

Thinking again of the border market Beidi had run outside Wuguan, Zhao Xu's intentions towards Beidi became clearer.

"How is the escape route I asked you to arrange?" Zhao Xu asked.

Since the separatist trend of Dasong cannot be reversed.

Then when the landslide and tsunami came, he needed to be sure to get Concubine Mi and the Mi family out.

After all, Concubine Mi is the biological mother of the Ninth Prince, so it would be too cruel to ignore her.

"Go back to Your Highness, it's ready. As long as the empress comes out of the palace, we can send her out of the city." Tsui Hark looked confident.

Zhao Xu nodded with satisfaction, feeling relieved.

However, once it comes to the need to rescue Concubine Mi, Jinling will definitely be in chaos.

You still need to adapt to the situation.

After telling King Yan two important pieces of news, Xu Hark turned to leave.

"Wait a minute, I will ask Bai Shang to cooperate with Zhou Yi in attacking Goryeo in a few days. You can take the opportunity to send people to find Chai Wu." Zhao Xu stopped Xu Ke who was about to leave.

"Yes, Your Highness." Tsui Hark was delighted, with a smile on his face.

There has been no news from Chai Wu for such a long time.

There is no doubt that this is a great opportunity.

Wait for Tsui Hark's figure to disappear.

Zhao Xu came to the map of Dasong. This was often the case before the fall of a dynasty. Internal and external troubles often arose together.

Dasong cannot escape this fate.

"While we are still calm, we must quickly get on with rifles and steam engines." Zhao Xu murmured.

Now, he felt a growing sense of urgency.

Only a strong economy and a strong army are the guarantees for Yanzhou to move forward steadily in the troubled times.

These two are undoubtedly the foundation of the future.

His eyes moved towards Ning Jindusi, and he frowned slightly.

At the moment, there is another problem, that is Beidi.

Before Da Song had any problems, he had to find a way to break Beidi's layout in Ningjin Dusi.

He doesn't want to fight on both sides.

Just thinking about it.

Suddenly Feng'er announced that Wang Chong was coming.

Hearing this, Zhao Xu was delighted, it must be about the steam engine.

Sure enough, after a while, Wang Chong came over with a happy face and said: "Your Highness, I want to give your Highness a surprise."

"Did your steam engine test succeed this time?" Zhao Xu felt slightly happy when he heard this.

"Hehe, that's right." Wang Chong said with a smile, knowing that he couldn't hide this from King Yan.

It's just a deal with Yan Guan.

Zhao Xu nodded happily. Compared with annihilating the Wufeng Island pirates, what he looked forward to most was the steam engine.

After all, this thing can fundamentally change Yanzhou.

Thinking of this, he said: "Let's go and take a look."

It is still the laboratory of the Science and Technology School.

When Zhao Xu and Wang Chong arrived, the roar of steam engines was heard inside.

Wang Chong had already told him on the way.

Since the last explosion, he and his students learned from the lessons of failure and made some improvements to the steam engine process.

Now the newly built steam engine has been working continuously for half a month without a single failure and is fully ready for use.

"Your Highness, my father said that the Bingzhan Division is in urgent need of a steam engine. Do you want to deliver this steam engine to the Bingzhan Division first?" Wang Chong asked.

There was nothing he could do. Every time he came home, the thing his father asked about the most was the steam engine, which was really annoying.

"Okay, Chief Wang has also urged me several times, so I'll give this to him." Zhao Xu said.

Stroking the fuselage of the steam engine, he continued: "And I'm afraid one is not enough. Now that the technology has matured, you and the students will build a batch of them during this period to meet the needs of the Military Division. Of course, the most important thing is The key is to cultivate a group of skilled craftsmen in this process.”

It was impossible for him to keep Wang Chong in charge of building steam engines.

There are also many machines that emerged with the steam engine that he needs to solve.

Then this requires him to teach some craftsmen.

After that, he established a steam engine workshop specifically and put these craftsmen in charge of production.

"Yes, Your Highness." Wang Chong said.

After explaining the matter, the two talked for a while about the application of steam engines.

At this time, Liu Fu suddenly ran over panting.

He also looked happy, "Your Highness, the craftsman given to us by the court has arrived."