Chapter 1101

The Yuan court, from the monarch to the ministers, was greatly encouraged.

He Lingchuan dropped the letter and fell into deep thought, looking at the heavy rain outside the window.

The sky gradually darkened, and two bolts of lightning struck in mid-air, almost touching the eaves of Shuyu Pavilion.

The barn swallow had already fallen asleep, but was scared awake.

The civil strife in the Yuan Nation was perhaps like the sky right now.

The Soul-Stealing Mirror asked He Lingchuan: "The Grand Marshal has gone to war with your father; who do you think will win?"

"The Grand Marshal's army couldn't take Shi Huan after five months of attacking, so morale must have been affected. He Chunhua, however, has been raising a strong army in Yazhou, and only now has he gone north to suppress the rebellion. Heh, one is exhausted from long fighting, the other is rested and ready."

"So your father will win?"

He Lingchuan shook his head: "What kind of person is He Chunhua? He couldn't possibly use all his strength to defend the country for his enemy."

He had long since seen through He Chunhua's ambition. This cheap father of his original body had never forgotten the blood feud of the He family for a single day; how could he possibly give his all for his enemy? "He originally had two choices." He Lingchuan analyzed. "Either wait for the Grand Marshal to defeat the court army and not yet be firmly established, then go and attack fiercely."

"Wanting to be the oriole catching the mantis, right?"

"Even if the Grand Marshal could take the Yuan capital, he would be weak himself, which is indeed a good opportunity for He Chunhua. But such calculations are undisguised; others are not blind and can see it at a glance." He Lingchuan pondered. "If he shows his desire to seize the throne so blatantly to other forces, He Chunhua will not only fail to get help in the future but will probably be secretly plotted against by others. This is called losing the way and having little help."

"Let He Chunhua fight the Grand Marshal himself, and then fight off other forces; even if he wins in the end, he will be severely injured." He shook his head. "If that were really the case, let alone the Grand Marshal fighting alone, wasn't He Chunhua also fighting a lone battle? He probably thinks this account is not worth it."

"The Grand Marshal didn't start his rebellion alone either; there was a Nian Zanli echoing him in Xunzhou; what kind of person is He Chunhua, how could he put himself in such a situation?"

"You two are truly worthy of being father and son, both cunning and crafty." The Soul-Stealing Mirror sighed. "Probably only you see him most clearly."

He Lingchuan smiled: "There are plenty of smart people in the Yuan court, but so what? Why wouldn't the Yuan King have doubts in his heart? But he can only persuade himself to believe in He Chunhua. People only believe what they want to believe, especially when it's the last straw; heh, believe it or not, he has to believe it."

"You said He Chunhua had another choice, which is to go north to serve the king?"

"Morality is the most useful banner." He Lingchuan said leisurely. "Under the banner of serving the king, he can not only lead a large army north but also use the resources of the Yuan royal court. Last time I returned to the Yuan Nation, one of the main reasons He Chunhua refused to go south to suppress bandits was the fear of logistics collapsing; but today is different from the past, there are only these few teams left that can resist the Grand Marshal, and they are all straws for survival. As long as there is a glimmer of hope, the nobles of the Yuan capital cannot shirk their responsibility and must do their best to raise military supplies for him."

With the Grand Marshal already at the city gates, the nobles of the Yuan capital couldn't care about their own interests anymore.

"Think about it, how many years of the people's fat and blood have they scraped? To save their lives, they have to spit out seven or eight tenths of it this time. Otherwise, if those few teams turn around and leave, the Yuan capital is finished." He Lingchuan couldn't even catch up to He Chunhua's grasp of the ins and outs after having been immersed in the Yuan officialdom for so many years. "As long as He Chunhua is confident in his strategy and military strength, choosing to go north at this time is the most comfortable. Heh, why wouldn't it be better than fighting alone?"

He sighed: "Shi Huan and the capital have been fought into such a ghostly state; it's truly hard on the common people of the Yuan Nation."

War is a meat grinder, and the first to be crushed into it are the common people.

"You analyze He Chunhua more, but don't say much about the Grand Marshal." After a few years of getting along, the mirror's understanding of this master has grown day by day. "It seems you still think He Chunhua will win."

"If I stand from the perspective of the Yuan Nation's common people, I would hope the Grand Marshal could win."

The mirror wondered: "Why?"

"The Yuan Nation's accumulated ills are too deep, and it's hard to return from the burden. Even if the Yuan court wins, it's just patching up this mess and lingering for a few more days; if He Chunhua wins, he was once a pro-emperor faction, and wanting to eradicate old ills is not easy. Not to mention anything else, the Yuan Nation owes so much foreign debt; can he not find a way to repay it? If he wants to repay the debt, he will have to make the people suffer again."

"If the Grand Marshal wins, the Yuan Nation at least has a chance to overthrow the old regime and start over completely." Such reform would at least be more thorough. "For the common people of the Yuan Nation, perhaps it would be better?"

But He Lingchuan always felt that He Chunhua's skills were more than that.

Or rather, the calculations of Naluo Heaven were more than that.

"In a few months, this matter might be clear, let's wait and see."

￥￥￥￥￥

With Island Master He's permission, the Bailong tribe held a ceremony on Suoding Island to elect a new tribal leader.

At the same time, this tribe officially joined the Yangshan Archipelago.

In the half-month that followed, Lei Ni, Guan Ke, and Qiu Hu were all busy arranging accommodation and work for these tens of thousands of people. Just as He Lingchuan said, the archipelago was still in the development period, and the work on the islands could never be finished. The guard team needed people, the Chamber of Commerce needed people, Suoding Island, which received the Golden Route, needed people, and agriculture, forestry, animal husbandry, and sideline industries also needed people. Having more hands just meant speeding up the progress.

Smart Bailong children were already learning to sail and fish. Because the large yellow croaker and cuttlefish season this season would follow the ocean currents through the Yangshan Archipelago!

During this period, the density of fish schools in the waters was astonishing; it was truly casting nets casually with eyes closed, and every net was money!

Not to mention forty thousand people, even if forty thousand more came, everyone would still have work to do.

As for the warriors of the Bailong tribe, except for the two hundred or so who were seriously injured in the Battle of Storm Bay and were still recuperating, the others were incorporated into the Yangshan Guard and began practicing water combat.

Most of the Bailong people were landlubbers and would get seasick when the wind and waves at sea were a bit strong, but after arriving at the archipelago, they not only had to learn to swim and dive but also had to apprentice themselves to former pirates like Min Tianxi to study basic skills such as steering, boarding, and underwater combat.

Qiu Hu didn't give them much time to adapt; on the eighth day after forming the team, he took them out to start clearing out pirate nests on the Golden Route.

It didn't matter if they weren't skilled; they could practice while fighting.

Combat is the best way to promote team integration and improve combat power.

But not all the news He Lingchuan waited for was good.

Just seven days after the Bailong people arrived at the Yangshan Archipelago, three branches of the Yangshan Chamber of Commerce opened in the Ya Nation were suddenly investigated. The local Shipping Department and government office found undeclared ironware, medicinal materials, ores, and consolidated shipping lists in the store warehouses.

Needless to say, the branches were heavily fined, the contraband goods were confiscated, and the shops were closed for rectification for two months.

(End of chapter)