Munitions Empire-Chapter 1106 - 1028 Chu Residence

In the Imperial Capital of Dahua Empire, at the former residence of the Prime Minister, a young man sat opposite the old Prime Minister Chu Muzhou, lifting his teacup to size up the elder beside him.

Chu Muzhou was also sizing up the young man sitting beside him. Both had their own schemes; an old fox and a young fox sat there drinking tea, neither uttering a word for a long time.

After stewing in silence for quite a while, it was Du Jia who spoke first. He sighed and said to Chu Muzhou, "Old Prime Minister Chu... Dahua Empire has no future left. Great Tang Empire admires your abilities and has reserved a suitable position for you... "

"I’m too old and can’t withstand any more turmoil..." Chu Muzhou lifted his teacup and took a gentle sip; the fragrant tea rushed to his lungs, the young man’s gift was indeed exquisite.

So, he could not help but exclaim, "Good tea."

"If the Old Prime Minister likes it, then this junior will send some more over." For a capable minister like Chu Muzhou, Great Tang Empire still coveted his service.

Great Tang Empire needed experienced and prudent officials to serve as deputies in certain positions, steering young officials to ensure that policy implementation could align more closely with reality.

We oftentimes curse the decay of a nation at the brink of collapse, but we must also acknowledge that sometimes experience and prudence have their benefits, and steadiness is a virtue.

If there’s any political legacy left in Dahua Empire, old ministers like Chu Muzhou might just be the most precious of that legacy.

Thus, Du Jia’s visit was to seek Chu Muzhou’s personal opinion, to see if this Imperial Chancellor could, or would be willing to, take up a post elsewhere.

Chu Muzhou did not refuse Du Jia’s offer, saying that he was old and could not endure much anymore—the implication was to see if Great Tang Empire could really make it to the Imperial Capital.

If Great Tang Empire took control of the Imperial Capital, he could continue working for Great Tang Empire. If Great Tang couldn’t make it, then he would spend the rest of his days in peace in the Imperial Capital.

For Du Jia, this was already good news: "Old Prime Minister Chu need not worry, Great Tang Empire’s sincerity is substantial, as long as you agree, everything is negotiable."

"Logically speaking, an old servant like me should perish together with the Empire." Chu Muzhou’s gaze dropped, and he uttered these words lightly.

With a chuckle, Du Jia responded, "Old Prime Minister Chu jests; Dahua Empire still stands, what demise would you need to follow?"

"Is that so? Great Tang Empire has no intentions of destroying Dahua Empire?" Chu Muzhou’s eyebrows twitched, as if he had heard some remarkable news.

From his perspective, the demise of Dahua by Great Tang seemed natural, virtually guaranteed; if Great Tang could restrain itself from acting, it would seem overly cautious and timid.

Since Du Jia was trying to win over Chu Muzhou, he had no reason to hold back, explaining, "Naturally, Dahua Empire cannot continue to exist... However, special arrangements can be made for Kingdom of Dahua for a while longer."

"After all, His Majesty Zhao Yu still needs to have a position." As he spoke, he gently blew on his tea, took a sip, and glanced at Chu Muzhou, "You see, Old Prime Minister Chu, His Majesty Zhao Yu’s Kingdom of Dahua will inevitably be a vassal to Great Tang Empire. Since Dahua will be a vassal of Great Tang, you... would not be considered to have changed allegiance, would you?"

"Well put, an external minister becomes an internal minister... Indeed, that’s very clever." Chu Muzhou smiled bitterly and nodded; he truly hadn’t expected that to win his loyalty, Great Tang Empire would pave the way so smoothly.

"However, there’s some intelligence we have that you, Old Prime Minister Chu, might want to be aware of," said Du Jia, setting down his teacup and looking again at Chu Muzhou, offering a word of caution.

"Oh?" Chu Muzhou, shrewd with age, immediately sensed something, and his graying eyebrows knitted together, "When it comes to intelligence work, you all excel. What are the recent rumors that this old man is unaware of?"

"Zhao Kai’s health has deteriorated." Du Jia gave a response that somewhat surprised Chu Muzhou, yet seemed so plausible.

Chu Muzhou instantly realized the waters had been muddied with Zhao Ji still contending with Hezhe; Zhao Kai arranging Zhao Ji’s departure from the Imperial Capital.

"Zhao Ji’s two younger brothers... the brothers in the Imperial Capital, are already becoming restless. But compared to Zhao Ji, they are obviously still too green," continued Du Jia.

"Trouble brews within the walls, the way to chaos... Dahua is finished." Chu Muzhou exhaled a sigh; he knew that if Du Jia dared to tell him, the problem must be irreparable, and the outcome already unchangeable, "Have you taken action?"

"There was no need; Zhao Kai’s health worsened due to his refusal to address his illness and his reckless use of restoratives," Du Jia admitted candidly, "Our power within the Imperial Palace is not strong enough to assassinate Zhao Kai—circulating the news was already at our limit."

"So you’re not omnipresent after all." Chu Muzhou teased; he certainly knew that being able to smuggle secrets out of the Imperial Palace was an impressive feat in itself.

"Besides the two Princes starting to make their moves, there’s news that even Zhao Kai might not know." Du Jia continued, "It seems there’s also action from Zhao Jie’s side."

"Zhao Jie? Ha! Hahaha!" Chu Muzhou took a moment to react, but when he did, he burst into laughter, filled with bitterness and thick with scorn.

He truly hadn’t expected that at such a life-or-death juncture, there would still be those with boundless ambition eyeing that perilous position.

And among those with crooked thoughts, there were even those in the royal family who seemed more visionary and capable—Had they all gone mad? Could they not see that the Empire was already teetering on the edge?

Greed? Greedy enough to disregard their own lives? Greedy enough not to consider the consequences? Fighting over and over, they turned an Empire into a Kingdom; fighting over and over, they turned a throne into a grave!

Originally, if it were just a few clowns causing havoc in the Imperial Capital, Chu Muzhou might still have some hope, hoping that there were still some sensible Ministers within the Capital who could quickly quell the chaos and save the day.

But now, a military general in command of heavy troops, especially one from the royal family who is rather intelligent, has also joined the fray, making it impossible to suppress the succession chaos.

And then there’s the calculation of Zhao Ji’s return from Hezhe to the Imperial Capital... it seems I’ve also forgotten that behind Zhao Ji, there might be another capable man, Zhao Chen...

This turmoil within the Empire, even without the formidable Qin to the west, or the covetous and overwhelmingly powerful Great Tang Empire, the Dahua Empire might not survive.

And yet, the Great Tang Empire has always been meddling in Dahua’s internal strife! In the distant Fengjiang, there’s Zhao Yu waiting to reap the benefits of the fisherman!

It’s done, everything is finished. As long as the intelligence from the Great Tang Empire is accurate, the fate of the Dahua Empire is already sealed—has the intelligence from the Great Tang Empire ever been wrong?

After laughing his fill, he regained his composure and said desolately, "It seems that the Imperial Capital is about to experience chaos again, isn’t it?"

"This is also why I came here, to ensure the safety of your family, Elder Chu, which is of utmost importance to us." Du Jia did not deny it, but emphasized directly: "Many pillars of society like Elder Chu, we must ensure their safety."

Presumptuously, Chu Muzhou asked, "Does Zhou Qiang count as a pillar of society?" He had always had complaints about the Minister of Personnel, who had sided with Zhao Yu and had always had an unsavory reputation. If there was a future, he did not want to serve under such a person.

"Master Zhou will naturally also be safe, but he will not serve as a Minister; instead, he can enjoy wealth and honor, as someone who has made contributions to the Great Tang Empire, the Empire will not let him down," Du Jia was reluctant to reveal the fate of others, but he made an exception to explain to Chu Muzhou.

Chu Muzhou nodded and thanked him, "The old man will heed Sir’s arrangement; the lives of this family, I entrust to you."

Du Jia stood up, nodded slightly: "Please rest assured, Elder, as long as there is a Silver Fox in the city, no one can harm the Chu family by even a hair."

The heart of Chu Muzhou, who had lost all hope, was no longer entangled with loyalty or betrayal; what he could do now was to protect the safety of the Chu family as much as possible in the upcoming Imperial Capital turmoil.

As for the outcome of the Dahua Empire, to which he had dedicated most of his life, he truly had no desire to inquire. After all, if the Zhaos didn’t care, why should Chu, who bears a different name, be anxious?

What Chu Muzhou didn’t expect was that a sudden change would occur just three days later...

In the Patrol Office of the Dahua Empire’s Imperial Capital, an arrest officer greeted a familiar colleague, caught the gaze of a few people around him, and then walked straight to the armory manager.

He handed over a cigarette to the other party, and the two began to chat idly. The armory manager clearly envied the arrest officer’s job, praising, "You guys earn more on the outside, huh, even smoking such good cigarettes now?"

The quality of tobacco in the Dahua Empire really wasn’t great, the good stuff that was produced wasn’t much. Even if they were smoking what was considered good cigarettes, they were actually not that great.

"Hey! This is nothing, you know, I’m one of the Fifth Prince’s men; I got some benefits by hanging out with the Fifth Prince," bragged the arrest officer in a low voice.

Upon hearing this, the armory manager realized something was wrong, as he was one of the Sixth Prince’s men, and under normal circumstances, the other party wouldn’t talk about this with him.

The now-alert manager seemed to sense the tense atmosphere and immediately forced a clumsy smile, stammering, "Wha-what I mean is, I’m just here to make a living, just to eat."