12dz Chapter 1214 - 1203: The Wealthy Merchant
Chapter 1214 - 1203: The Wealthy Merchant
Throughout the banquet, Ye Qiu and Chen Gaoxuan went back and forth, and in the end they still reached a cooperation agreement. Using the fact that he had black gunpowder as his bargaining chip, Chen Gaoxuan pressed Ye Qiu to send more troops, and Ye Qiu ultimately did not object.
Seeing the alliance settled, Ye Lu secretly let out a breath of relief. Noticing that the black gunpowder formula she had produced had played a key role, she was so proud she could hardly contain herself.
"We’re all on the same side, so I won’t say anything extra. Prince Ye, let me toast you." Chen Gaoxuan was extremely pleased, as if after today’s little conference, the throne was already firmly in his grasp.
"Prince Linsan is too polite." Ye Qiu still wore that cold, indifferent expression, and even looked somewhat displeased.
Chen Gaoxuan felt all the more settled at heart when he saw this. Why was Ye Qiu unhappy? Wasn’t it because he had to send more troops? If he could agree to even this condition, then Chen Gaoxuan felt he wasn’t all that impressive. Perhaps it was only because Prince Donghe’s administrative ability was lacking that things had come to this state.
As for commoners, whoever can keep them fed is the one they’ll listen to. The Ye Family has plenty of money; if they want to buy grain, isn’t it the easiest thing in the world?
Once Ye Qiu’s men charge at the front this time, he himself only needs to bring out black gunpowder and part of his forces to assist. After the King of Xichuan and Prince Donghe are taken, he will still have a robust and powerful army. How could Ye Qiu possibly be a match for him then?
As for those scattered little rebels, Chen Gaoxuan had never taken them seriously.
"Lu’er, go pour him a cup of wine and ask him to forgive you for the mistake of leaving home." Chen Gaoxuan, in high spirits, beckoned Ye Lu forward.
Ye Lu was just about to get up when Ye Qiu’s face darkened. "No need. I don’t have the habit of randomly recognizing younger sisters."
Ye Lu’s movement to rise halted, and her face turned even darker than Ye Qiu’s, both embarrassed and angry.
Instead, Chen Gaoxuan felt that Ye Qiu’s reaction was exactly as it should be. He had just suffered a huge loss here at his hands, and his own blood sister had cast him aside to throw herself into Chen’s arms; if this wasn’t a colossal humiliation, then what was?
The alliance had just been struck, and he himself felt he firmly held the upper hand, so Chen Gaoxuan couldn’t very well push his luck any further. He just said perfunctorily, "Since Prince Ye is feeling upset, Lu’er, you should withdraw for now. We can talk about it some other time."
That was what he said on the surface, but in his heart he thought, after such a rejection today, once he ascends the throne in the future, no matter how Ye Qiu comes begging, he won’t give him any face.
Similarly, Ye Lu was thinking the same way. She felt Ye Qiu was simply ungrateful. So he doesn’t acknowledge her—fine, who would even care for that?
"Tsk, the way she acts all smug over a tiny success is really unbearable to look at." On the way back, Ye Cheng’s face was full of resentment and displeasure. "In the future she’ll know who the true master of the World is."
Bai Xianyi also asked in puzzlement, "From the looks of it, Prince Linsan’s concubine doesn’t seem all that clever. Why does Prince Linsan trust and rely on her so much? Just because she’s the birth sister of the two Your Highnesses?"
"It’s said that the black gunpowder formula Prince Linsan uses was produced by her, and the design drawings for the Heavy Crossbow and the Crossbow all came from her as well."
"Her?" Bai Xianyi clearly did not believe in Ye Lu’s ability. "We also have these things in our army. Did she steal the drawings and the formula from us?"
"Of course." Ye Qiu answered very naturally. "The destructive power of black gunpowder is too great. When our Ye Family ancestors first obtained it, they were actually quite alarmed, worried it would cause even more casualties among the commoners. Later the formula was locked away at the bottom of a chest. Father only thought that if we didn’t make black gunpowder, it would look suspicious, so we might as well modify the formula to make fireworks or something. Who knew we’d never manage to work it out before Ye Lu stole it away."
Ye Cheng gnashed his teeth. "She really is outrageously bold."
Ye Qiu’s face remained expressionless, but in his heart he was thinking that no matter where Ye Lu’s formula actually came from, now that he had said this today, then that formula was stolen from the Ye Family. Otherwise, how was she going to explain its origin?
Even if she were to bring up her transmigration, who could prove such talk of Gods and Ghosts? Which was more believable—his version, or hers?
He would make Chen Gaoxuan and Ye Lu understand who really was that oriole behind the mantis stalking the cicada. They wanted to first whittle down his forces and then sit back to reap the benefit—when has the World ever offered such a bargain?
Why couldn’t it be that he exhausted their limited stock of black gunpowder, and then launched a counterattack against them?
It wasn’t that Ye Qiu lacked the strength to argue terms with Prince Linsan for a bigger share of the spoils; he just felt that the Ye Family Army’s Iron Cavalry, which he had painstakingly trained, were about due to be unleashed so everyone could see them. Otherwise, once he took the World, people would think he’d done it through trickery.
In addition, he intended to use the Ye Family Army’s Iron Cavalry to intimidate those rebels. Some rebels had been forced into revolt by sheer inability to survive, while others acted purely for personal gain, including some mountain bandits who harbored wild fantasies. They didn’t reason, much less govern. Wherever they went, they sacked the place, and the commoners were suffering unspeakably.
In order to restore peace to the World, he needed to raise high the prestige of the Ye Family Army, so that those who took advantage of the chaos to tyrannize the people would tremble in fear at the mention of their name.
In the Spring of the fifth year of Changwu, the armies of the King of Xichuan and Prince Donghe clashed head-on with the combined armies of Prince Ye and Prince Linsan. Thus began the two-year Four Princes War, and the Ye Family Army’s Iron Cavalry emerged into prominence from this very battle.
Because they focused solely on guarding against Prince Linsan’s black gunpowder, the King of Xichuan and Prince Donghe both neglected the Ye Family Army, and so they suffered a crushing defeat in the first battle.
Though they had won, Prince Linsan was still left shaken. "Fortunately we joined hands with him back then. Fortunately we agreed from the start that he would send the bulk of the troops. Otherwise, in the future we really wouldn’t have been able to say for sure who would win and who would lose."
"The King of Xichuan and Prince Donghe surely didn’t expect, just like us, that Prince Ye still had such a formidable Iron Cavalry up his sleeve. How on earth did he train them?" Prince Linsan’s Generals were deeply curious. Only those who truly led troops knew how difficult it was to train an army that both fought fiercely and obeyed orders, yet Prince Ye had done it—and in how many years?
"Fortunately this battle forced Prince Ye to reveal his trump card; this way it’ll be easier for us to guard against him in the future."
"Exactly. And it’s also to our good fortune that the King of Xichuan and Prince Donghe joined forces, and now that the Ye Family Army’s Iron Cavalry are in play, the King of Xichuan and Prince Donghe are no longer a threat. That too is a good thing."
"Congratulations, Your Highness, congratulations, Your Highness. Your Highness’s great enterprise is about to succeed."
In the Sixth Year of Changwu, the armies of the King of Xichuan and Prince Donghe were in full retreat, and the Ye Family Army was only a step away from the capital.
In the Sixth Year of Changwu, in winter, Prince Donghe was captured, and the King of Xichuan fled to the Northwest. At the same time, Prince Ye and Prince Linsan turned against each other and began the final war of partition for the throne.
There was only one last opponent left. This was exactly the same as what Prince Linsan had envisioned from the start, and even though the production and supply of black gunpowder were insufficient, he still couldn’t help his surge of excitement.
"Your Highness, now is precisely when the Ye Family Army is exhausted. We should press the attack and take Prince Ye in one go."
"That’s right, the Ye Family Army’s Iron Cavalry are truly frightening. If we let them recover their Primordial Energy, we’ll be in danger."
By coincidence, Prince Linsan was thinking the exact same thing. He shouted loudly, "All soldiers, hear my command! Our great enterprise is about to be achieved. Follow me in attacking Shangjing. After this battle, we will sit down and discuss rewards and merits."