Chapter 238: Popular

"Your Majesty, this artillery is really powerful. No wonder Beidi was scared away. Read"

The Hall of Nourishing Heart.

Zhao Xu took off his dragon robe before falling asleep.

Today's drink not only did not make him drowsy, but made him more sober.

It can be said that people will not get drunk even if they drink a thousand cups during happy events.

"Indeed, I'm lucky to have you supporting me today." Zhao Heng recalled the scene during the cannon test, "I didn't expect King Yan to be able to tinker with such a powerful firearm."

"It's not just artillery. King Yan has tinkered with a lot of things recently, and they are all lovable." Liang Cheng said while beating Zhao Heng's legs.

Zhao Heng nodded lightly, then frowned, "I just hope he won't be conceited about his talent and forget his duty like King Jin back then."

Liang Cheng's expression changed when he heard the word Jin Wang.

Then he pretended as if nothing had happened.

Jin Wang Zhao Qi was ranked eighth among the princes and was Zhao Heng's eighth brother.

Like King Yan, King Jin's mother also came from a humble background.

The fiefdom of King Yan is in Yanzhou, while the fiefdom of King Jin is in Jinzhou.

Because he was deeply favored by the emperor, he also commanded 200,000 troops in Jinzhou to resist Xiliang.

Zhao Heng's father, the then Emperor Tianbao, once had the idea of ​​making Zhao Qi the crown prince.

However, the royal family had an agreement with the powerful clan that princes whose mother's family was not from a powerful clan were not allowed to occupy the East Palace.

For this reason, the powerful people chose to support Zhao Heng.

At the same time, in order to completely cut off the King of Jin's hope of taking over the East Palace, they planned the Jinzhou Mutiny.

The northern gate of Jinzhou was opened at Tongguan, giving Xiliang the opportunity to invade Jinzhou.

This is why to this day, half of Jinzhou’s territory is in the hands of Xiliang.

At that time, King Jin angered Emperor Tianbao because he lost Tongguan.

He was immediately stripped of his position as vassal king and escorted back to the capital.

Then he died suddenly in prison.

"Actually, we can ask Concubine Mi to give King Yan a reminder to prevent him from having unrealistic fantasies." Liang Cheng said cautiously.

After Zhao Heng ascended the throne, he felt that the powerful clan had deep roots, and he also tried to win over officials from poor families to fight against the powerful clan.

But every time he suffered a counterattack from a powerful family, he decisively abandoned the humble family, such as the Nian family a few years ago.

But even so, Zhao Heng had always been taboo about princes from poor families participating in the battle for the throne due to the incident with Prince Jin.

Of course, his reminder was definitely not because he liked King Yan.

But I don’t want to lose the cash cow of King Yan.

Zhao Heng nodded, "When giving sweet dates, give sweet dates, and when it's time to hit him with a stick, hit him with a stick. He did a good job with the artillery, so I will reward him with thirty thousand taels of silver and three thousand pieces of cloth."

After a pause, he continued: "This will also allow him to provide artillery to the Forbidden Army."

"Your Majesty is wise." Liang Cheng smiled.

…

Dou family.

Dou Weiyi looked unhappy.

Today, their powerful clan was at a disadvantage in front of the royal family.

King Yan's artillery hit them hard in the face like a slap.

"Father, calm down. It's not good for your health to be angry." Dou Kuang hurriedly picked up the calligraphy and paintings that fell on the ground. These are all valuable antiques.

"Get out! Who asked you to come to the study?" Dou Wei became even more angry when he saw Dou Kuang come in.

Staring at Dou Kuang with bloodshot eyes, as if he was his enemy.

Dou Kuang's face turned pale and he withdrew.

Just at this moment, the third prince came over accompanied by his servants.

Seeing Dou Kuang standing outside the door, he asked, "Why don't you go in, cousin?"

"I have met His Highness." Dou Kuang bowed hurriedly.

Late at night, still at home, Zhao Mu called him his cousin.

To express intimacy, he should also call him cousin.

But he did not dare not to salute. He still remembered that when he was a child, he was severely whipped by his father because he did not salute Zhao Mu.

Zhao Mu seemed to be used to it, smiled softly, and entered the study.

"Your Highness came so late, why didn't you tell me in advance so that I could send someone to pick you up, hahaha..." Dou Wei's laughter came from the room.

Before Dou Kuang could walk far, his eyes were slightly red.

Among the children of the eight powerful families, he has always been the most glamorous outside.

But I'm afraid no one knows that his father loves his prince nephew a thousand times more than he, the eldest son of Dou, does.

…

Liang Mansion.

Liang Kai was restless.

The image of King Yan's artillery kept coming to mind.

Although their Liang family's artillery was outclassed.

But he was extremely excited.

King Yan's artillery was exactly what he was looking for.

Beautiful and powerful.

With this cannon, the power of the Liang family's warships will be even greater.

Facing privateers, the Liang family had confidence.

As for Lu Zheng, the giant sea pirate who wreaked havoc on the sea and claimed to be the owner of Wufeng, the Liang family did not need to pay huge tolls.

"Your Majesty, this is what you promised us. If you regret it, don't blame us powerful people for not knowing the rules." Liang Kaixin felt anxious and worried.

He didn't know if Zhao Heng would give the artillery to them after seeing its power.

Had a hard night.

The next morning he had to go to the palace to ask for an audience.

But he didn't expect to meet the eunuchs in the palace halfway and inform them to come to the palace to see him.

This time Ma Yuan was also called, and the eight powerful families gathered together.

"Yesterday, you must have seen the power of the artillery. I promised you that I will not go back on my promise. After all, you are all my servants. After getting the artillery, I hope you will not forget the royal favor, obey the emperor's orders, and obey the dispatches. Let’s guard Dasong’s territory together,” Zhao Xu yawned and said slowly.

"Thank you, Your Highness!" Dou Wei and others showed a look of surprise.

Like Liang Kai, they were jealous of the King of Yan for making such excellent cannons.

But they were very eager for cannons.

Zhao Heng nodded with satisfaction, "In this case, you should contact the King of Yan. This cannon is the result of the King of Yan's hard work. If you want to buy it, you must pay for it."

"That's right. Cannons are rare at first glance. Besides, there is no such thing as giving it away for free." Han Zheng exchanged glances with the others.

The remaining seven people nodded one after another.

"Well, that's good." Zhao Heng continued to yawn.

He called these people so early because he was worried that they would find a scapegoat to steal the cannons given to them by the King of Yan and take them back to imitate.

So he made this clear to them.

He got up and walked to the back hall, wanting to take a nap. He remembered something and said to everyone: "The King of Yan said that the cannon he sent was five thousand taels of silver per piece."

After that, he turned and left.

"Five thousand taels per gun!" Han Zheng exclaimed after Zhao Heng left.

In this way, ten guns would cost fifty thousand taels, and one hundred guns would cost five hundred thousand taels.

This King of Yan is really black-hearted.

Thinking of this, Dou Wei looked at Liang Kai.

The Liang family also made guns, and they wanted to know if the price was reasonable.

"Although it's a bit more expensive, it's about the same." Liang Kai touched his nose. It would be good if his own guns could have one qualified one out of a hundred guns.

What's more, the power of King of Yan's guns is greater than his own.

Dou Wei closed his eyes painfully. They have been controlling King of Yan.

This time, there is no doubt that King of Yan controlled them on the guns.

But even so, they had to buy.

The eight powerful families can certainly unite when fighting against the royal family.

But when it comes to their own interests, they will be scattered.

He doesn't buy, but other families will buy.

In this way, the army controlled by his family will naturally be inferior to those equipped with guns.

When Dou Wei was thinking secretly, the others had almost the same idea.

Finally, they looked at each other and laughed guiltily at the same time.

Thinking of something, Dou Wei suddenly said to Liang Kai: "Even so, you still have something you didn't give us."