Chapter 2051: The Final Journey 19

In December, on the Lingding Sea, fierce winds stirred up waves, and towering swells crashed in succession. In an ordinary year, this area beyond the Pearl River estuary would already have entered its quiet season—let alone in the twenty-ninth year of Kaibao, after the "Barbarian Uprising" had just occurred in Guangzhou.

In fact, the impact of that disturbance on Guangzhou Prefecture's economy and overseas trade would only be seen after spring arrived, by observing the shipping conditions on the Lingding Sea. At least one thing was certain: in the short term, the traffic of those Arab and Persian merchants—more precisely, those Muslim merchant ships—would plummet sharply. On this point, men like Liu Changyan had already poured out their grievances to the old Emperor, or rather, given him advance warning that Guangzhou's—and even Guangnan East Circuit's—tax revenues for the coming year would drop sharply.

Having performed "admirably" in the rectification of the foreign religion and the subsequent suppression of the rebellion, and having won the old Emperor's favor through his toughness, resolve, and decisiveness, he had been promoted to Deputy Administration Commissioner of Guangnan East Circuit. Until the new Administration Commissioner arrived, all circuit affairs were under his charge.

As for Liu Changyan's complaints, the old Emperor gave him another merciless dressing-down. In the old Emperor's view, the prosperity of Guangzhou Prefecture was built by the hard work and sweat of countless subjects of the Great Han—not by those Arabs and Persians.

It had always been the case that those foreign merchants were the ones seeking something from the Great Han, and most of the goods the Great Han needed were non-essentials. Even for precious metals like gold, silver, and copper, if there were no Arabs, there were still other peoples and states overseas—or the Han army and people could simply use swords to carve out and seize them. There were always alternatives.

Arab merchants were not indispensable. Their arrival had certainly added luster to Guangzhou Prefecture's prosperity, and they had established some chains of interest, even being relied upon by some as a source of wealth and by petty commoners as their livelihood—even creating the illusion that Arab merchants had brought prosperity to Guangzhou.

Yet some officials of Guangnan East Circuit, whether from vested interests or being blinded by a single leaf, simply could not see the essence beneath the surface. Instead, they magnified that added luster and exaggerated its importance.

Since some people's minds were unclear, the old Emperor used thunderous means to pour enlightenment over their heads and wake them up. In the remaining days of November, Guangnan East Circuit's officialdom experienced another great upheaval. In essence, it was a rectification of Guangnan's political style and a strengthening of central authority; on the surface, it was a purge of Guangnan's military and civil officials over the "Barbarian Uprising," with additional charges of deceiving the sovereign, violating the law, forming cliques, usurping power, and embezzling to harm the people. Especially those who had profited under the pretext of repair and maintenance projects at the Panyu traveling palace—no punishment, however cruel, would have been excessive for them.

One could well imagine how much upheaval the old Emperor's arrival in Guangzhou Prefecture had brought to the officials and commoners of Guangnan East Circuit. The common people were powerless, and the bureaucrats were powerless too. Looking at everything the old Emperor had done since his southern tour began, the powerful figures of the southern prefectures and circuits had thoroughly realized one thing: this tour of the old Emperor's was meant to smash their stage and overturn their rice bowls...

What was certain was that after this upheaval in Guangzhou Prefecture, no matter where he traveled next, no one would genuinely welcome the old Emperor anymore. No official was willing to serve a capricious, murder-loving emperor, and no city wanted to experience the taste of a decade of economic stagnation and regression. Not every city was called Guangzhou Prefecture...

The old Emperor naturally had foreseen this situation—he simply did not care. His mind was not set on making everyone like him. He was the Kaibao Emperor, not a Kaibao coin that everyone treasured. On the other hand, this was also related to the old Emperor's current mental state—truly one of unbridled recklessness and following his every whim.

What distressed the upper and lower ranks of Guangnan East Circuit was that the old Emperor seemed to intend to spend the winter in Guangzhou Prefecture. He had already thrown everyone into chaos for over a month, yet showed no sign of departing.

The old Emperor also had not the slightest self-awareness of being a "plague god." Far from thinking of leaving, he instead chose a day of cold wind and clear skies to go out to sea with the Guangzhou naval fleet for drills.

This was the second time in his life that the old Emperor had sailed out to sea. The first time had been during his early northern tour, when he went out to sea off Hebei for a look. Back then, the old Emperor had been in the prime of his life, spirited and ambitious, pointing at mountains and rivers. Now he was aged and decrepit, his whole condition like a ship rocking on the waves—at constant risk of capsizing.

The ocean stretched without bound, filled with deep, cold shades of blue. Seeing the same monotonous scenery over and over could drive one to depression. Of course, the old Emperor had not come out to sea to admire the view. This was both an inspection of the Guangzhou navy and an observation of its training—and not ordinary naval tactical training either. The training waters were far from land, far from normal trade routes, with emptiness all around; only a few scattered islets and reefs could be seen in the distance, keeping the scene from being too monotonous.

Even the main warships, like great beasts, were but specks of dust on the vast ocean. The hulls swayed continuously under the impact of the waves, but the old Emperor paid it no mind at all at this moment.

Standing on the bridge, wrapped in a heavy sable robe, both hands gripping the railing tightly, his aged eyes stared fixedly at the "training ground" in the distance.

The distance was simply too great. With the old Emperor's current eyesight, he clearly could not make out the details. Looking from afar, he could only see some blurry outlines.

However, the old Emperor's ears were still sharp, and the commotion at the training ground was indeed considerable. At this moment, apart from the howling of the wind, this stretch of sea was filled with "boom boom" thunderous sounds. Such noise was no longer surprising to many in the Han army these days—it was the roar of cannons.

Needless to say, what the Guangzhou naval fleet presented to the old Emperor was naturally an attack drill of gunboats. Since the birth of cannons, they had gradually been adopted by the Han army and had quickly gained recognition from top to bottom. Some senior generals were especially enthusiastic about promoting improvements to cannons that were more powerful, simpler to operate, and easier to transport.

If the army was like this, so was the navy. After so many years of development, the use of cannons in field battles, siege warfare, offense, defense, and other modes of war had grown increasingly mature, even systematic.

In comparison, how to move cannons from land onto warships had become a difficult problem that plagued the Han navy for years. Through the efforts of many parties and the expenditure of over a decade of time, the first generation of combat gunboats of the Great Han was finally built at the Jinling Shipyard.

It had to be said that this was nearly a comprehensive test of the Great Han's shipbuilding craftsmanship, as well as a technological upgrade lasting more than ten years. After all, compared with ordinary warships, gunboats had far higher requirements for craftsmanship, workers, and materials.

Even so, this first generation of gunboats was still only experimental vessels. The Jinling Shipyard had built only five in total, distributed to the naval fleets of various regions for their trials. Guangzhou, as the most important anchorage of the Han navy in the south and the location of its main force, had also received one.

Since the old Emperor was touring here, he naturally could not miss it. The gunboat was also one of the landmark products of his push on the course of history. With this vessel out, his "South Seas strategy" had gained another powerful pillar of support.

The first-generation gunboat was naturally primitive and crude. Its gunnery was not continuous either—after each shot, the barrel had to be cleaned, gunpowder and shell reloaded, and aim adjusted, with accuracy far from guaranteed.

But every roar was so pleasing to the old Emperor's ears—it was like the cry of this era he had created. Perhaps because His Majesty's presence brought heaven's blessing, this time during the drill, before the cannons were worn out, the target ship was successfully sunk.