Afterward, Wang Chengen took out imperial edicts, one by one, and read them outside the Meridian Gate.
These were the rewards for Cao Bianjiao and Wang Tingchen, as well as the deployment arrangements for other generals in Liaodong.
After the two men kowtowed their thanks, the day-long ceremony of presenting captives officially concluded.
In the Jingying army outside the city, Zhu Youjian had already bestowed a banquet for the Liaodong soldiers, awaiting their return to enjoy it.
Inside the imperial palace, after Wang Xuance finished detailing the current situation in Liaodong, Fang Er asked: “Are you sure that with their combat strength, they can secure the areas beyond the pass?”
Wang Xuance nodded: “Duke, rest assured. Cao Bianjiao, Wang Tingchen, and Yang Guozhu, the three of them are sufficient to quell the remaining Tartars.”
Historically, the primary reason the Liaodong campaign devolved into such a mess was not the soldiers’ lack of combat effectiveness, but the issues with logistics and the main generals.
Now that the Ming treasury was abundant and the generals had been adjusted, as long as Zhu Youjian did not court disaster, the battles beyond the pass would not last much longer.
By then, the Liaodong army, freed up, would enter the pass, and the so-called Eight Kings would be mere clowns in front of the battle-hardened Liaodong army.
Fang Er calculated the time. Less than forty-eight hours remained until the spatial通道 closed. It was time to prepare to leave.
He asked Ge Luoyang to inform Song Yingxing, Hu Zhenyan, and Fang Yizhi, while he took Li Shimin with him to Zhu Youjian’s imperial bedchamber.
After ascending the throne, Zhu Youjian, who had felt stifled for thirteen years, was very excited today.
The pacification of Liaodong, in terms of merit, was comparable to Wanli’s three great campaigns. Fantasizing about how his achievements would be evaluated in future history books, he pulled Empress Zhou into his arms.
“Come, Feng’er, let us also celebrate~”
“I want to enter you with a hundred million~ Hehehehe~~”
Saying this, he scooped up Empress Zhou by the waist and walked towards the bed.
“Ah~~”
Although they were an old couple, Empress Zhou was still startled by his sudden action.
She looked up at Zhu Youjian. This face, which she had seen for more than ten years, suddenly looked different today!
In the past, this face was filled with worry and vexation.
But now, the confidence in his brows and the unprecedented brilliance flashing in his eyes made her, unknowingly, mesmerized.
“Your Majesty, the Old Ancestor and Duke Fang have arrived!”
Just as the imperial bedchamber was filled with an ambiguous atmosphere, Wang Chengen’s voice suddenly came from outside the hall.
“Ah~~~~”
Zhu Youjian stretched out his hands and clawed at his hair, his expression utterly collapsed!
These two, they really knew how to pick a moment!
He quickly pulled the brocade quilt over Empress Zhou and, throwing his robe on haphazardly, shouted outside.
“Please let the Old Ancestor in~”
Upon entering the hall, Li Shimin felt something was not quite right. His nose twitched, and a decadent scent wafted towards him.
He looked at Zhu Youjian and asked: “Are you causing trouble?”
Fang Er also came to his senses. So the couple was preparing to conceive, and he, bringing Li Shimin, had interrupted their good deed.
However, Li’s question made his forehead instantly black. Was it really that direct?
“Ah? Oh! Zhu Youjian was also stunned by the question, and subconsciously replied, “Has the Old Ancestor done it yet? If not, then shall we do it together?”
“Go to your grandma!”
Li Shimin raised his leg and kicked him.
Only then did Zhu Youjian realize he had spoken incorrectly and quickly explained.
“Little Emperor misspoke. Little Emperor originally wanted to ask if the Old Ancestor had eaten. If not, let’s eat together~~”
“Bang!”
Li Shimin kicked him again: “I want you to eat! As the sovereign of a nation, you actually have this preference!”
Fang Er: !!!
Damn, Li’s imagination is truly unmatched!
Zhu Youjian looked bewildered. I just wanted to ask if you had eaten. Where did the Great Ancestor get that idea?
Then, Li Shimin looked at Fang Er and asked: “Kid, why did we come here?”
Zhu Youjian almost spat blood on the spot. You don’t even know why you came, and you’re kicking me around like this?
On the dragon couch, Empress Zhou hid her face in the quilt, her cheeks burning with shame. “Doing it together,” and “eating together.” Neither of these emperors was proper!
Fang Er affectionately pulled Zhu Youjian up from the ground and dragged him outside.
If he guessed correctly, on the dragon couch must be a naked empress or some concubine. Continuing to talk here was obviously not appropriate.
After leaving the palace, he sat down on the steps and pulled Zhu Youjian to sit beside him.
“Your Majesty of Ming, this Duke actually wants to do business with you. I just don’t know if you are interested~”
Zhu Youjian asked with some confusion: “Duke Fang, just say what you have to say. I wonder what in the Great Ming has caught your eye?”
Trained special forces, cannons that traversed battlefields, and repeating firearms. He truly did not know what in the Great Ming was worth Fang Er’s attention.
“It’s nothing much. It’s just that this Duke and His Majesty will return to Tang tomorrow, and I want to sell you the firearms I brought this time.”
Fang Er said, taking an AK from behind him and handing it to Zhu Youjian.
“This item can already be mass-produced in the workshop. You can have as many as you want when we return.”
He had two purposes in selling these items to Zhu Youjian. The first was to improve the Ming Dynasty’s military equipment, and the second was aimed at Li Shimin.
He had previously said that bringing back one extra person would cost one million taels of silver.
The silver from the Shi Jin Yinshan mine had all been exchanged for points, and he couldn’t come up with the money.
Although he didn’t lack points, he still had to present some silver to put on a show in front of Li Shimin.
Zhu Youjian excitedly took the AK and asked in a trembling voice: “Is Duke Fang speaking the truth?”
“My son-in-law is a man of his word, why would he joke with you?”
Behind him, Li Shimin said as he sat down on Zhu Youjian’s other side.
Under the moonlight, outside the Kun Ning Palace of the Great Ming, two emperors and one duke sat side by side, with Zhu Youjian sandwiched in the middle, creating an extremely bizarre scene.
The imperial guards stationed outside the hall wisely retreated far away. In such a situation, the further away the better~~
Fang Er seemed not to notice that he was sitting at the same level as Li Shimin at this moment, and leisurely pointed at the AK in Zhu Youjian’s hand, saying.
“Your Majesty of Ming, the structure of these guns is actually very simple. This Duke brought a total of one hundred this time, and they can all be sold to you.”
“The price is not expensive either, ten thousand taels of silver per gun!”
“Hiss~~”
Zhu Youjian couldn’t help but gasp. Ten thousand taels per gun, one hundred guns, would cost ten million taels of silver!
However, in the next moment, he readily agreed to the price.
What he was thinking about was not how powerful the gun was, but the silver in the national treasury!
All this money was obtained for him by Fang Er. Although it was confiscated from Ming officials, without them, he would never have been able to get this money!
Compared to the silver reserves in the national treasury, ten million taels of silver was just a drop in the bucket.
“Agreed, whatever Duke Fang says goes. I will issue an imperial decree now and have the silver delivered to your residence.”
Fang Er smiled slightly: “Your Majesty of Ming, do not think that this Duke is taking advantage of the Great Ming. The structure of these guns is simple. Have the officials from the Ministry of Works dismantle and replicate them.”
“The most troublesome part, the primer, this Duke will also leave you the formula.”
“As descendants of the Han family, these are considered the last things this Duke has done for the Great Ming.”
Saying this, he took out a formula from his怀, which was the manufacturing process of mercury fulminate.
Li Shimin, with a sour expression, patted Zhu Youjian’s shoulder and said: “Even the Ministry of Works of the Great Tang did not get this primer formula.”
“You pig-headed fellow, with these two items, if you don’t forge a Great Ming where the sun never sets, I will skin you alive next time I come and hang you outside the Meridian Gate!”