Wearing a Diyi decorated in dragons, Concubine Hu appeared rather dignified instead of her former fragile appearance.
Laying on the bed beneath her was the Emperor, whose expression appeared to be rather dull, similar to what one could expect of an imbecile. One could not associate him with the man that had campaigned against the North many years ago.
The imperial physician examined the pulse of the emperor, before giving a glace containing joy toward Concubine Hu, who responded with a rather ambiguous smile, before walking away.
The dragons on her robes appeared to dance happily.
It has been 219 years since the founding of Sui, the harsh Winter months has passed, bring forth Spring, yet in the Central Plains, the fields were not harvested, nor were there any signs of a festive mood.
Instead, cities were covered in blankets of white, the officials and commoners both mourned for the loss of the Emperor, while nearly all the shops had been closed. All government facilities and much of the private business had been closed, as indicated by the white cloth placed in front of their doorsteps.
Concubine Hu had presented an edict written by the Emperor had appointed his youngest son, barely three months, to be the ruler of the Empire, while the original crown prince had been sent to the Southern tributaries on a diplomatic mission.
Naturally, the edict was falsified, while the diplomatic mission could have been taken by any official, however, the entire court was under the rule of Concubine Hu, thus no one had argued against her.
Typically, after the death of the Emperor, armies would stop campaigning, and return to their hometown to mourn, thus the attack against the revolutionaries was halted. However, much of the army loyal to Xu Jin had taken this opportunity to journey toward Changtian province in secret.
Changtian province, which already had the majority of soldiers of the Empire stationed at their border against the Southern barbarians, is now in control of a total of one million two hundred thousand soldiers, while the empire is only left with eight hundred thousand, most of which are garrisons around the various cities of the Great Sui Dynasty.
By all means, this would be an excellent time for the revolutionaries to expand into the Sui Dynasty, however, very little was done outside a few skirmishes.
Two factors had stopped the revolutionaries from expanding through the central plains. The attack launched by the Northern Empire, and the assassination of Li Ming.
For the first threat, Li Ming had already planned for, tens of thousands of troops were stationed throughout the mountains terrain that forms the border for the two civilizations, allowing little advancements to be made into the territories of the Great Sui Dynasty.
However, none had anticipated the assassination of Li Ming, which had essentially halted the bureaucracy of the revolutionaries. All administrative tasks centralised around the silver-haired girl, compared to the military had Liu One to take command as their head figure, however, Li Ming had been personally overseeing the vast amount of paperwork responsible for the administration of the empire, and had no one to replace her.
Though the various collectives at local can thrive on their own, Li Ming is the sole pillar that supports the entirety of the revolution.
Appearing still in the bed, Xu Xiaomeng appeared no different from a sickly child, especially if one considers her childish appearance.
Her silver hair appeared even whiter now, while the black eyes appeared much darker than before, however, one cannot tell if it’s the change in her disposition, or if her features truly had changed.
Regardless, Xu Xiaomeng had not let out any tears in grief but had simply laid still on the bed, before closing her eyes to sleep once again.
Some time passed, it the Sun had set over the Wu Oceans, and Xiao Xi had arrived at Xu Xiaomeng’s residence.
A wooden container was held in her hands, noticing Xu Xiaomeng was still asleep, she carefully placed the container on the bedside table.
Another day passed, and Xu Xiaomeng had awakened, as if not noticing the rising Sun, she remained still in the bed, before noticing the wooden container.
Opening its lid, a still-beating heart could be seen, the flesh appeared slightly green, while the veins contained a hint of silver.
Xu Xiaomeng did not close the lid, and once again laid on the bed, yet kept her eyes opened, but other than that, she appeared no different to being asleep.
Xiao Xi arrived after an unknown amount of time passed, noticing Xu Xiaomeng had awakened, she began to speak.
“The weapons used by the assassins were coated with a form of poison, originating from the Yaonan. The poison was created by placing exactly ninety-nine poisonous creatures within a confined area, forcing them to devour each other until the poison had been concentrated into a single entity,” Xiao Xi explained.
“The past emperors had all wanted to utilise this poison but was denied by the members of the Southern tribe, yet for it to appear in the hands of the Imperial Palace Guards mean that either the emperor had finally obtained the acknowledgement of the Southern tribes, or that Concubine Hu had taken control of the Imperial Palace Guards,” Xiao Xi said.
“Of course that is impossible, since the Emperor had been on his deathbed, and is now dead,” Xiao Xi said rather apathetic.
“Once the poison made contact, will travel directly to the heart, before spreading around the body, causing the skin to appear green, while the internal organs will dissolve into fluids,” Xiao Xi explained without a hint of disgust.
“Therefore, I had taken the liberties to carve out lady Xu’s heart, I beg for your forgiveness,” Xiao Xi said as she took a deep bow.
If Li Ming was responding to Xiao Xi, only a benevolent smile would surface, however, she was no longer here. Therefore, it was Xu Xiaomeng that had to respond to Xiao Xi.
In the end, only a ‘hmm’ sound was given out, before Xu Xiaomeng once again returns to her silence.
Xiao Xi was slightly curious as to why Xu Xiaomeng’s warm attitude has disappeared, yet did not attempt to delve further.
This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.
“I am sure lady Xu had already seen the heart,” Xiao Xi said with composure,” it is truly fortunate that lady will last as long as the heavens, and have the ability to regenerated the missing organ,” Xiao Xi congratulated.
Xu Xiaomeng once again gave off a ‘hmm’ from the bed.
“I’m going to sleep for a while,” Xu Xiaomeng said, remaining motionless on the bed.
Ever since Li Ming had arrived in this world, not a moment had been spent sleeping, thus, she was going to catch up on all the sleep she had missed.
Xiao Xi closed the lid of the wooden box, before leaving Xu Xiaomeng within the room.
Giving off a slightly desolate look in her eyes, Xu Xiaomeng turned her body toward the box which contained the heart, before closing her eyes.
Thus, five months passed, Xu Xiaomeng had not woken once, and the court at Dongan had begun to run largely independent of her.
As a person had once said in Li Ming’s former world,” There are decades where nothing happens and there are weeks where decades happen.”
During this time, the young emperor had died mysterious, undoubtedly under the plot of Concubine Hu, while she personally took the dragon throne, granting herself the regal name of Empress Wunan, and had proclaimed the dissolution of the Great Sui Dynasty, and the establishment of the Yao Dynasty.
Soon afterwards, Xu Jin and his supporters had proclaimed the creation of the Yun Sui, as a successor to the Great Sui Dynasty, primarily situated at Changtian province. Thus rebelling against Empress Wunan.
Still, the Southern Tributaries remained loyal to the court of Longjing and had continued to pay tribute.
The Sun still rises from Tianshan mountain, and still set at the Wu ocean.
Ling Ping drank the warm tea by his side, staring toward the centre of the palace, before giving off a long sigh.
Though not long, Li Ming had still personally tutored him on the field of administration upon seeing the attachment Ling Ping had toward the common people.
Therefore, he was elected by the court to govern the revolution while Xu Xiaomeng remained asleep, however, unlike Li Ming, he was not able to maintain control over the military, causing them to lose out on the opportunity to expand throughout the central plains.
Shaking his head, Ling Ping finished the cup of tea, before leaving for court. The sun had yet risen, yet Ling Ping had.
Sitting next to the president’s chair, Ling Ping acted as vice president and paid close attention to the matters spoken by the officials, especially those regarding the life of the peasant.
Liu One was still sitting on the location designated toward him, as the head of the military, only second to Xu Xiaomeng, yet there was now a mahogany desk in front of him.
Liu One stared at Ling Ping, who reached for the tea on his own table, perhaps feeling slightly uncomfortable.
Before Li Ming was both the head of the military, and the president, yet after the assassination, she no longer appeared, causing a rift between the two.
The current court had been called in regard to the very first establishment of a proper military-industrial complex.
Liu One began with some pleasantries, appearing rather stiff, before going into the main point.
“I would thus request the increase of funds allocated into the military to aid in the strengthening of our position against the Yao Dynasty and the Northern Empire,” Liu One said.
“The funds shall be used to expand Bingjiang Arsenal, so they are able to create the new bolt action rifles, and further research into the piece of artillery seized after the battle of Guying village,” Liu One continued, sitting on his chair rather still.
The Bingjiang factory, as indicated by its name, was set in the city of Bingjiang, established by Liu One after the edict was received, it was a continuation of the group of craftsman that had been responsible for the production of the muskets.
“The current factory can only produce a few hundred weapons every day, which will not be sufficient to equip the entirety of the army as Lady Li had wished, thus, I wish for more funds to be allocated toward the further expansion of the factory, is there any rebuttals,” Liu One finished while looking expectantly at Ling Ping.
“General Liu, one-third of the state expenditures is given to the military already if it increases even further, the infrastructure for the city and roads would certainly suffer,” surprisingly, it was first Chen Ju who had spoken.
Liu One frowned, for he disliked arguing with woman, it would be far easier if he had been discussing with Ling Ping.
“Lady Chen, the current land reforms allow thousands of soldiers to join the military in service, we only need to provide them with sufficient weapons to create an army that rivals the size of the Yao and Yun Sui,” Liu One responded.
“Furthermore, the Northerns are launching incursions into our territories, do you believe that we have the luxury to build new infrastructure,” Liu One reprimanded.
“Why does it have to be in the form of those new weapons, are the old muskets not enough,” one of the officials asked.
“Empress Wunan, after she had proclaimed herself to be the new emperor, had been promoting trade with the Far Eastern nation of Theudo, and have imported mass amount of weapons in exchange for our goods,” Ling Ping had expected spoken in favour of Liu One, perhaps shocking the official slightly.
“Furthermore, you have seen the increase in accuracy, range and the reload speed that come with these new weapons if we do not catch up, we will undoubtedly be ultimately defeated by the Yao,” Ling Ping said, feeling his lips a bit dry, he drank the tea placed within his hands.
“However, general Liu, I believe that sufficient fund has been already allocated to you, why do you need any more,” Ling Ping asked, staring at Liu One, the scene of a meek scholar staring at a military man seemed rather humorous.
“That is for two reasons,” Liu One began,” First, the research of the artillery pieces had not been completed, and many models had been sent toward the Northern borders, limiting the number of liberties we can take. Second, there are many deficiencies in the rifle itself, therefore, I propose to have more money sent toward further research.”
“The army is already using the same weapons as the Northers and the Yao Dynasty, however, we are far behind them in industry, do not forget that the advisors from Theudo had brought with them not only weapons but also new methods of exploiting coal,” Ling Ping said.
“The current situation demands us to increase our productions and the widespread adoption of these new engines will allow us to rival the productive forces of the Yao Dynasty with a far smaller population,” Ling Ping concluded, before giving a glance toward Chen Ju
“After the capture of Dongan, all its steel production had come under the hand of the central government to ensure that the largest quantity of weapons could be produced, and efforts had been made to recreate the machines developed by the Theudorians,” Chen Ju said, giving a glance toward Liu One before continuing,” However, the current increase in population from the migration policies implemented by Lady Li Ming demands the increase in facilities, such as those regarding housing, sewage, and education, who will supply us with the population to manage these machineries.”
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_industrialization - for those who don’t know, the Song Dynasty had allowed for steel to be produced in great quantity, same here in this fictional setting)
“Currently, the expansion of the cities, especially Dongan, had made the area unsanitary, with our current funds, we can barely maintain with the increase in the size of Dongan and Bingjiang,” Chen Ju concluded.
Ultimately, the discussion had not brought any result, and the court was dismissed.
Ling Ping stared toward the residence of Xu Xiaomeng, breathed out a long sigh, before leaving.
Concubine Hu, now Empress Wunan, sat on the dragon throne, her body covered behind a curtain of beads.
Appearing before she was a foreign diplomat from the nation of Theudo, who had brought numerous interesting types of machinery before her, the most peculiar of which was a mechanism that utilised steam to replace the labour of man.
While many of the other inventions they had brought were already used in the Yao Dynasty, such as their method of steel production, textile mills, paper production, chemical processes, and many others, and that Empress Wunan remained mightly, as befitting of an emperor, she had shown no sign of arrogance against their unconventional inventions.
Empress Wunan gave off a gentle smile, before mentioning some matters to a eunuch, who had then relayed it toward the diplomat.
The foreign diplomat was temporarily shocked but had recovered after some time, before taking a peculiar form of bow practised in the courts of Teudon before her. Afterwards, he had carefully trotted away, carrying a slightly fearful, yet satisfied expression, it seemed that he had gotten what he had come here for.
The inventions he had brought remained within the imperial court before Empress Wunan had ordered them to be taken away, carefully stored.
Later at the residence of the Emperor, Empress Wunan sat rather satisfied, soaking her feet in a jade basin. After some time, she gave off a frown, causing the maid next to her to panic, before quickly, yet meticulously poured hot water into the basin, careful not to disrupt the emperor.
Empress Wunan once more returned to her satisfied expression.
“What is your name,” Empress Wunan, who appeared to be in a good mood, had taken the opportunity to ask the girl.
“This servant does not have a name,” the maid replied.
“That cannot do,” Empress Wunan ‘hmm’, before once more speaking,” from this day onward, you are Yu Pen (jade basin),” Empress Wunan said as she looked toward her feet, which appeared unnaturally delicate as if it had never been used.
Yu Pen felt a bit surprised but quickly kowtowed, not daring to at the jade basin before her.
“The old emperor had once had a similar meeting with the foreign barbarians twenty years ago,” Empress Wunan said, yet it was undoubtedly not toward Yu Pen.
“He had rejected their inventions and had proclaimed that the Empire needs nothing, yet twenty years later, their inventions had once again improved,” Empress Wunan continued, looking at the centre of the bed, as if toward the already gone Emperor.
“Even if they are barbarians, it is important to keep an open mind,” Empress Wunan concluded, giving a slightly mocking smile.
Yu Pen felt slightly curious, from the words Empress Wunan had said, it appeared that she was already a major figure in court twenty years ago, yet her appearance appeared to be still that similar of a fourteen-year-old.
Empress Wunan, as if sensing the thoughts of Yu Pen, gave a chilling smile, causing the maid to instantly cease her thoughts.
If one looked closely enough, one could see white at the roots of Empress Wunan’s hair.