Chapter 582 Xiao Family Stands
Chapter 582 Xiao Family Stands
Half an hour later, Li Luming arrived at Prince Jin's official residence and placed a silver box worth one thousand taels in front of Xiao Xia.
Xiao Xia laughed in silence, "You want to buy the secret of Iron Fire Thunder for one thousand taels of silver?"
"Your Highness, Chief Duan offered 10,000 taels of silver, and the other party returned 3,000 taels of silver. In the end, they compromised and settled on 6,000 taels of silver. This 1,000 taels of silver is just a deposit."
Xiao Xia nodded, "Six thousand taels of silver is too low. The head of the Yuan family asked for three hundred thousand strings of silver. Can Duan be exposed to gunpowder?"
"He can get access to the secrets of gunpowder and paper fire bombs, but not iron fire bombs!"
Iron fire bomb is nitrocellulose, which is completely different from gunpowder. It is top secret. Only Xiao Xia knows its complete formula. Even the operating craftsmen are separate, and each person only knows a small part.
For example, sulfuric acid was secretly refined by twenty craftsmen in Yongjia County, nitric acid was refined in Danyang County, but it was synthesized in Piling County. If the other party wanted to obtain the secret of the iron fire bomb, they had to take away all the hundreds of craftsmen involved. Without even one person, they would not succeed.
As for gunpowder, it is relatively simple and easy to obtain. As long as you know that the basic raw material is saltpeter and get some samples, alchemists like Xiao Jianli can make it. Historically, gunpowder was first invented in the Sui Dynasty. Sun Simiao recorded the refining of gunpowder in "The Alchemy Classic of Sulfur", but it was not used in military affairs.
What Xiao Xia has to do now is to lead Goguryeo astray.
Xiao Xia handed Li Luming a piece of paper and said with a smile: "Ask Duan Zhubu to give this formula to the other party, and also give them two paper fire bomb samples."
The note was opened and read: "Seven ounces of coal, four ounces of sulfur, three ounces of old snake powder, and one ounce of charcoal powder."
"Your Highness, what is Jet?"
Xiao Xia spread his hands, "I don't know either!"
Li Luming couldn't help laughing and said quickly, "I understand. Then, will the paper fire bombs be real to them?"
"All three are real!"
Li Luming bowed and walked away quickly.
Xiao Xia pondered for a moment, then sent someone to find Zhang Liang.
Zhang Liang is currently in charge of intelligence, and his top priority at present is to establish intelligence networks in various places.
"This is a humble post, Your Highness!"
"Director Shen, how is the progress of the intelligence network now?" Xiao Xia asked with a smile.
"Reporting to Your Highness, I have already established thirteen intelligence points in various places, and I am now trying to find ways to go deeper into them, such as planting spies in Wagang Village, and planting spies among the Guanlong nobles, etc."
Xiao Xia nodded and said, "It is feasible to plant intelligence spies in Wagangzhai, but it is not necessary to plant intelligence spies among the Guanlong nobles. Only a very small number of people in the Dugu family and the Yuan family know that their real chess piece is Taiyuan Li Yuan. The former crown prince is just a decoy. In order to attract the emperor's attention, the Intelligence Agency should always pay attention to Li Yuan's movements."
"I understand the humble position!"
Xiao Xia pondered for a moment and said, "I'm here to ask you to come here today because of something. We gave the imperial court two thousand porcelain fire bombs before, but I found that the imperial court did not use them in the Goguryeo campaign, but the Guanlong nobles were very interested in them. I want you to investigate where these two thousand porcelain fire bombs went."
"I understand. I'll arrange it right away!"
"Just do this as soon as possible!"
Zhang Liang bowed and left.
Xiao Xia tapped the table lightly, thought for a moment, and then instructed Lu Miao: "Arrange a boat tomorrow. I want to go to Jiangdu."
Xiao Xia received news that Xiao Cong had returned to Jiangdu, and he wanted to visit him.
Jiangdu belonged to the imperial court only in name, but in reality it had long been firmly controlled by the Jiangnan Province Administration's Office. Apart from the power to appoint and dismiss officials, all other lands, population, tax sources, security and assets were controlled by the Jiangnan Province Administration's Office.
At present, Jiangdu County has 3,000 soldiers, all of whom are from Jiangnan Province. Jiangdu County officials cannot command them at all. Before, the imperial court was very concerned about the situation in Jiangdu County, but since the disastrous defeat of Goguryeo, the imperial court gradually gave up Jiangdu County and almost ignored it.
In the morning, Xiao Xia arrived in Jiangdu County under the escort of three thousand soldiers. He came to visit the head of the family, Xiao Cong.
When Xiao Cong heard that Prince Jin had arrived, he went to the gate to greet him in person.
"Your Highness sent someone to deliver a message, and I went to Jingkou to pay my respects. How dare I trouble Your Highness to come to Jiangdu in person?"
Xiao Xia smiled slightly and said, "The head of the family is an elder, so I will pay my respects to him."
"Your Highness is too polite, please take a seat in the mansion!"
"Master, please!"
Everyone surrounded Xiao Xia and led him into the inner hall. Xiao Cong told everyone to leave, leaving only Xiao Cong, Xiao Yu and Xiao Xia in the inner hall.
Xiao Xia asked Xiao Yu with a smile: "How is Balang doing now?"
Xiao Yu smiled bitterly and said, "Balang originally wanted to resign and come back, but the princess wanted to come back with her. The queen refused to let her daughter leave, so the emperor did not approve Balang's resignation and he remained the Minister of the Imperial Household Department."
Xiao Xia nodded, "I also wrote to the emperor, asking him to stop the attack on Goguryeo, but it was useless. The emperor had made up his mind, and even I couldn't persuade him, let alone others."
Xiao Cong sighed and said, "The emperor has always been very stubborn. He was stubborn when he was young, and now that he is old, he is even more stubborn. No matter what you say, he won't listen. Now I know how rare it is to have a monarch who listens to advice. If the monarch is humble, the dynasty will surely be revived."
Xiao Xia pondered for a moment and said, "I heard a rumor that the Xiao family in Jiangning is selling off various assets. Has the head of the family heard about it?"
Xiao Cong nodded and said, "It is true. I even wrote to Xiao Hong to ask him about it, but he did not reply to my letter. I just found out yesterday that he is now in Jiangling."
"Are you in Jiangling?"
Xiao Xia was puzzled and asked, "What do you mean?"
"I can't be sure now, but I know they bought a lot of land and houses in Jiangling. I guess they have some tacit understanding with Xiao Xin."
"Does Xiao Xin want to rebel?" Xiao Xia asked bluntly.
Xiao Cong and Xiao Yu looked at each other, both of them had a hint of embarrassment on their faces. Xiao Cong said after a while: "It is undeniable that the Xiao family has always been divided into two factions. One is the pro-Sui faction, which is mainly composed of the Jiangdu Xiao family, and it is also because the current queen was born in the Jiangdu Xiao family.
The other faction is the anti-Sui faction. This faction is relatively scattered, but Your Highness should also be a little bit involved, such as Xiao Moke, Xiao Yan, Xiao Huian, and the Xiao family of Jiangning. They always say that they are centrists, but in fact, they are also anti-Sui in their bones. "
"I know Xiao Yan, he is Xiao Jianli, Xiao Xin's master, but who is Xiao Huian? Why haven't I heard of him?"
"Xiao Huian is the son of Xiao Cen, the head of the Luoyang Xiao family. He can be considered my cousin! The Luoyang Xiao family moved to Xiangyang in the early years of Daye."
Xiao Xia thought for a moment and asked again, "If Xiao Xin wants to rebel, what will Xiao Lin's attitude be?"
Xiao Yu explained, "Xiao Yan and Xiao Lin turned against each other because of their different political views. Xiao Yan wanted to revive the Liang Dynasty, but Xiao Lin was adamantly opposed. As a result, the two of them turned against each other, which also led to the split of the Xiao family in Piling into two factions. When the Sui Dynasty was strong, Xiao Lin had the upper hand. Xiao Yan had been training warriors in secret. It is said that he has more than 500 disciples. If the Xiao family in Jiangdu leaves, then we estimate that Xiao Yan and his supporters will also go to Jiangling."
Xiao Xia came to visit the Xiao family in Jiangdu just to understand the Xiao family's movements. After all, the Xiao family was too closely tied to him. If the Xiao family supported Xiao Xin, he would be in a passive position.
Xiao Xia nodded and smiled, "Are the Patriarch and Second Uncle interested in serving in the Jiangnan Dao General Administration Office?"
Xiao Cong smiled slightly and said, "If His Highness needs us, we should give you our full support!"
(End of this chapter)