Munitions Empire

The Dahua Empire, Imperial City, the Grand Court Assembly.

Emperor Zhao Kai sat on his throne, looking down at the Ministers below with an expression neither sad nor joyful, inscrutable as to his thoughts.

As an emperor, he wouldn't easily reveal his stance at such a grand assembly, believing it an effective method of controlling his subordinates.

But an Emperor is, after all, human. Zhao Kai liked to think he was inscrutable, but many Ministers had already figured out his tactics, and were using certain habits of the Emperor to their advantage.

It was a game of wits and courage, with the Ministers guessing at the Emperor's thoughts and the Emperor calculating every Minister's move. It wasn't easy to say who won or lost. Maybe they all won, or maybe… they all lost.

The key issue at this Grand Court Assembly was how the Dahua Empire should handle the subsequent development of Tang Country replacing Zheng Country. In fact, this matter had been discussed twice already, making today the third time.

Everyone knew what His Majesty's intentions were, judging from Emperor Zhao Kai's frequent meetings with Minister of War Shen Chuan and Great General Feng Kezhi.

This was not a secret. Because Zheng Country was a vassal state of the Dahua Empire, if Zheng Country were to be annihilated and the Zheng family met their demise, how would the Dahua Empire then exert authority over its other vassal states?

Unfortunately, the war between Zheng Country and another nation had spurred the Dahua Empire's military. Great General Feng Kezhi insisted on replacing weapons, while Chief of Staff Shen Chuan supported learning new tactics and training new troops.

This reform made the originally cumbersome and decaying military of the Dahua Empire even more chaotic, and it was almost certain that it was now incapable of further combat.

Of course, Zhao Kai trusted the abilities of Feng Kezhi and Shen Chuan very much. They were both supporters and confidants during his rise to the throne, and they both had the capacity to know when to advance or retreat.

The main purpose of their meddling with the troops was to help suppress local powers for Zhao Kai and to restore the military's combat effectiveness.

The minor chaos that this caused was actually part of military reform, a natural pain in eliminating factions and cutting out the rubbish, which naturally had Zhao Kai's support.

Despite the Dahua military's diminished power during the reform, after its completion, the Empire's forces would be transformed completely.

First off, in terms of numbers, this reform aimed to train over 400,000 direct troops for Zhao Kai, which could be commanded at will, were well-equipped, and had formidable combat strength.

These troops would be equipped with the latest bolt-action rifles, have sufficient artillery, and even be outfitted with machine guns and automobiles. They were familiar with modern tactics and were incomparable to the outdated forces of the Dahua Empire.

Shireck, taking a leaf from the Great Tang Group, also researched the impact of weapons on tactics. New tactics such as trench warfare were turned into teachings by Shireck, sold along with the firearms.

After encountering these new tactics, both Chief of Staff Shen Chuan and Great General Feng Kezhi soberly realized that war had changed discreetly, and the old tactics were no longer effective!

At the same time, the War Department ambitiously aimed to modernize the military as well as establish a complete military supply system and build sufficient modern military industries.

The money spent on purchasing hundreds of thousands of Shireck Type 1 rifles was not just for arms. It was also for the capacity to manufacture arms.

Shireck guaranteed in the contract that over the next year, ten fixed-scale military production factories would be constructed within the territory of the Dahua Empire.

Meanwhile, Shireck also displayed their secret new type of war vehicles and other heavy weaponry like armored cars to the military officer delegations of the Dahua Empire.

Feng Kezhi's close associates immediately approved the purchase of these new equipment for tactical research and also commenced the construction of new armoured vehicle factories within Dahua.

It was because of these reasons that the military's purchasing costs were so high during this period, and why the Dahua Empire was able to make no response when Zheng Country was annexed.

"Your Majesty, the nation is weak. Mobilizing the army rashly at this time... is not a wise choice," an official stepped forward, bowing as he voiced his opinion.

These minor officials were often the pawns before an assault, almost like sacrificial pieces for the bigwigs to test their political enemies' reactions, as well as to gauge the Emperor's disposition.

It doesn't matter if they're lost; it's no great loss…

Chief of Staff Chu Muzhou squinted his eyes as if asleep. He didn't even need to bother about who the initiator was behind this expendable piece, because he already knew the overall situation was settled, and this Grand Court Assembly was not as tumultuous as it appeared.

The War Department's reluctance to send troops was obvious, and His Majesty's stance had been worn down to ambiguity.

Since the main player, the War Department, was unwilling to move, it had already been determined that the war would not break out. Essentially, His Majesty was beginning to shift his thoughts, using the prospect of deploying troops to ponder over the surplus in the national treasury. Discover more content at My Virtual Library Empire

In the opinion of the Chief of Staff, as long as the war did not happen, it was worthwhile and necessary for the War Department to spend some money, especially for capable officials like Feng Kezhi and Shen Chuan to spend on revitalizing the military's might.

Therefore, he squinted sleepily, not wishing to get involved in this grand show of force.