1890 King of Southeast Asia

"Your Highness, good news, great news!" Lord Yuan walked into the Regent Prince Chun's mansion in a hurry, his face was red, and it was a great joy at first glance.

"Oh~ Lord Yuan is here, what great joy makes Lord Yuan so happy, he came directly to the yard, you dog servant, you didn't even know to report Lord Yuan's arrival, is there any rule?" Zaifeng was sitting in the yard taking a nap, looking at the second housekeeper unhappily.

"Your Highness, I have already reminded Lord Yuan, but Lord Yuan insisted on coming in, and I couldn't stop him!" The second housekeeper on the side said aggrievedly.

"I said you have no sense, does Lord Yuan need to be reported when he comes here? Why don't you hurry up and serve tea? I think you don't want to do it anymore." Zaifeng lay on the recliner, only caring about scolding people, leaving Lord Yuan aside.

"Okay, okay, Your Majesty, it's my fault. I was reckless. I just got some good news and came to tell you." Lord Yuan was prepared and didn't get angry. He changed the subject.

"What's the matter? If Lord Yuan, who holds great power, is so happy, I have to listen carefully." Zaifeng rolled his eyes at him and stood up slowly.

"Hanyeping can produce cannons! Look, this is the photo that the Japanese envoy gave to Yang Xizi. It looks like a heavy cannon. If Japan dares to invade again, we will have more confidence." Lord Yuan said happily.

"It's a good thing, but it costs money to buy it!" Zaifeng took the photo and looked at it, with a hesitant expression on his face.

"How much will it cost? It's cheaper than importing, right? If we go to war again in the future, we won't be afraid of the sea route being blocked and affecting the land battle. We should not look at the monk's face, but the Buddha's face. Hanyeping is on our territory, and we can always get the goods. As for the money... Isn't it paid in installments?"

It means that Lord Yuan came to solve the problem, otherwise he would have started to choke Zaifeng now. He sent tens of millions of taels of silver with a big stroke of his pen, and used it to buy artillery shells to consume Japan to death.

"Your Highness, I heard that Prince Ning sent people to Huguang. Is it related to this matter?" Lord Yuan saw that Zaifeng didn't say anything, so he could only go straight to the point.

"It has nothing to do with this matter. Zaixun just went to handle military affairs, integrate the Hunan Army, and rebuild the new army in Huguang. It's not a big deal to always leave the 11th Town somewhere." Zaifeng also denied it flatly.

"Prince Ning went there in person? Is the commotion in Hunan so big?" Lord Yuan's heart skipped a beat. It seems that Zaifeng also agreed with this matter.

"Yes, people's hearts were in turmoil some time ago, and rebellions occurred in various places. The only difference was the scale. Hunan was the worst." Zaifeng was also bitter.

During this period, there was always a feeling of impending storm. There were assassins under the emperor's feet who publicly assassinated him on the street.

The most uncomfortable thing was that he couldn't kill the assassins. Instead, he had to keep them. At least he had to protect them during this period to appease the people.

During the Qing Empire, which emperor/regent was so bad? In the past, he would have killed so many people.

It was this assassination that reduced his confidence in continuing the empire and reviving the government. He even thought about making money like Prince Qing so that he could enjoy life after the change of the dynasty.

After all, every time the royal family of the previous dynasty changed, they did not have a good end. Zaifeng had already started to purchase properties abroad and sent some illegitimate sons there.

It was a pity that the current emperor of the Qing Empire was his son, and he couldn't bear to let go of the court.

The Han people are growing dissatisfied, and the situation of pretending to obey but secretly disobeying is happening from time to time. The governors and governors in various places have formed their own factions. Zaifeng wants to change it, and he must first control the military power.

Although the new eight towns are dispersed, they are still a considerable force. Especially after being dispersed to the local areas, the central government's control over the local areas has been strengthened a lot, which makes Zaifeng more eager for military power.

To obtain military power, we must first overthrow Mr. Yuan and take control of Beiyang.

Beiyang has a huge industry, a machinery bureau that can produce ammunition and weapons, as well as the Beiyang Navy, five army towns, and dozens of battalions of coastal defense, factory guards, etc. After taking it down, Zaifeng will have the power to control the entire empire.

By concentrating this power, he can wipe out those disobedient local forces and stabilize the country of the Qing Empire.

"Alas~ People from Nanhua have repeatedly protested to me, saying that the chaos has affected the progress of the project, and asked us to send troops to pacify the area. Now there is a war in Hunan. How can Prince Ning, who is worth a lot of money, go to danger easily?" Lord Yuan said while looking at Zaifeng's expression.

Zaifeng lowered his head and drank tea, covering his hideous and twitching face.

"To say that Nanhua is really amazing, you say, Hanyeping has not been able to produce qualified heavy artillery whether in the hands of Zhang Nanpi or Zhao Gongrang...

How long has it been in the hands of Nanhua? They can produce it. Do you think Tianjin Factory and Jiangnan Factory can produce it?" Zaifeng drank several sips of tea before suppressing his expression.

Tianjin Factory refers to the Machinery Bureau, and Jiangnan Factory refers to the Jiangnan Manufacturing General Bureau. They are two comprehensive large-scale manufacturing plants built by Lord Li with all the strength of the Westernization Party.

Especially the Tianjin Factory, which is a more pure arsenal that has not been destroyed by the Eight Powers. It is still large in scale and is the main source of supply for the six Beiyang towns.

It's just that the aging equipment, poor management, and rampant corruption restrict the production capacity of the Tianjin Factory.

"This... Jiangnan Factory does not have the ability to produce army rapid-fire guns, unless additional equipment is purchased, Tianjin Factory can try." Lord Yuan hesitated for a moment before revealing some.

"Isn't Jiangnan Factory larger and more advanced? Why can Tianjin Factory try, but Jiangnan Factory can't?" Zaifeng was furious.

Why didn't he know this? When he was placing people, he sent most of them to the Jiangnan Factory.

"When we purchased weapons from Nanhua before, we purchased some equipment to repair weapons and produce ammunition."

"After the war, the people below thought that they couldn't let the machines sit idle, so they tried to produce land-based rapid-fire cannons. Now they can produce seven-to-five rapid-fire cannons, and I heard that they are thinking about ten-to-five rapid-fire cannons."

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"However, I heard that there were some problems with this matter. A memorial was submitted to add equipment, but the current national affairs are difficult and the treasury can no longer take out money, so it was delayed."

Of course, Lord Yuan didn't dare to say directly that he bought a cannon production line. He didn't report this thing.

The purchase of production raw materials was also under the guise of producing cannons, but those workers hadn't figured out the machines yet, and only produced a few scraps.

"Yuan Gongbao!" Zaifeng slammed the table, but it was made of stone, and he only felt his palm numb.

"Your Highness, Your Highness, calm down!" Lord Yuan knelt on the ground.

"Calm down? Such a big thing, why don't I have any information? If there is no such thing, why would you hide it from me?" Zaifeng pointed two fingers at Lord Yuan, spitting.

"Your Highness, I am innocent!" Lord Yuan dared to do this, he had already settled all the procedures.

"I dare not hide it from the Regent. This was approved by the Empress Dowager when the late Emperor was alive. At that time, Li Wenzhong sent troops to the DPRK and signed a military equipment cooperation agreement with Nanhua. These machines were all signed at that time and delivered after the war.

Li Wenzhong submitted these procedures to the Empress Dowager for review, and then submitted them to the Ministry for discussion. After the Ministry passed the discussion, the Tianjin factory was allowed to act at its own convenience. These can be verified."

"I was still in Korea at the time and did not participate in this matter at all. Later, the contract for purchasing military equipment in Nanhua was executed according to this contract precedent. I only heard about it recently!"

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Mr. Yuan played a pitiful game, skillfully muddied the water, and took himself out. At most, he was guilty of negligence, and he is now the Minister of Military Affairs, not directly in charge of Beiyang, so he cannot be held accountable.

On the other side, Zaifeng looked at Lord Yuan, who was kneeling in front of him and trembling, and felt a sense of comfort for no reason.

"Lord Yuan, please stand up quickly." Zaifeng said reluctantly after letting Lord Yuan kneel for a while.

"Your Highness, if the Tianjin factory adds some more equipment, it can produce heavy artillery. Why do you have to rob it? It will be bad if it gets out!" Lord Yuan stood up and persuaded again.

"Robbery?" Zaifeng was stunned, and then laughed.

"Do you think Zaixun went to rob the arsenal? That's wrong, very wrong!" Zaifeng felt a sense of superiority for no reason.

"Zaixun went this time to inspect the industry on behalf of the court. Hanyeping still has shares of the court. By the way, he just cleared the local area and did not rob it." Zaifeng looked at Lord Yuan with a funny face.

Zaifeng was thinking about how to take over the Tianjin factory, not only to seize power, but also to ensure production.

Lord Yuan frowned.

"May I ask your Highness, did the Japanese tell Prince Ning about the heavy artillery produced in Hanyeping?" Lord Yuan rubbed his brows, feeling a bad feeling in his heart.

"Yes, I have several photos here, all of which were given to Prince Ning by the Japanese and passed on to me by Prince Ning. What's wrong?" Zaifeng felt something was wrong, but he couldn't tell what was wrong, so he signaled his servants to take out the photos.

"How many?" Lord Yuan took seven or eight photos.

They were photos of qualified subordinate factories of Hanyeping Iron and Steel Plant, two of which were of artillery, and the others were of improved production workshops.

"Your Highness, I still think that the Japanese have bad intentions." Lord Yuan couldn't understand the Japanese's purpose, and he was helpless.

It's impossible for Zaixun to disobey Zaifeng, right? Although they are brothers, there is no family affection in front of the imperial power...

Yes! The regent has feelings! The regent cannot be hereditary, and no matter what Zaixun does, he will not be punished much because of his status.

"Your Highness, Mr. Yuan's housekeeper is waiting at the door." The servant came and interrupted Mr. Yuan's thoughts.

"Didn't you say what it was?" Mr. Yuan asked.

"No."

"Your Highness, I..."

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"Go and do your own things first, don't worry about this." Zaifeng waved his hand. He was going to consider plotting against the Tianjin factory, at least to figure out the production capacity of the Tianjin factory.

"Master, Li Songqing called back, the 11th town surrounded the steel plant, he was powerless..." Before Jia Shun finished speaking, he saw Mr. Yuan, who had already left the gate of the palace, rushing back again.

"Your Highness! Prince Ning dispatched troops to surround Hanyeping, did you know?"

"What!"