Chapter 1068: Intentions

"Your Majesty, I have come specifically to bid you farewell. After returning to Gaoli, I will still think of Your Majesty every day."

Returning to Wuji Palace, Zhao Xu summoned the kings of the various nations to the Deliberation Hall.

The King of Gaoli was the first to step forward, looking as if he were on the verge of tears.

Because the various nations were now vassal states of Great Song, and Zhao Xu was now the Emperor of Great Song.

Naturally, the kings of these nations were his subjects in front of Zhao Xu.

Thus, they no longer addressed Zhao Xu as 'Your Highness', but instead referred to themselves directly as subjects.

After the King of Gaoli, the kings of the four Dongying nations and the Southeast Five Nations also came forward one after another to bid Zhao Xu farewell.

Zhao Xu nodded, "You have traveled from afar and brought me many rare treasures. As you are returning, I have also prepared some gifts for you."

Having said this, he gave Xiao Guizi a look.

Xiao Guizi immediately left the great hall, and before long, he led some young eunuchs in to move some items.

However, because there were so many items, they were only placed in the plaza outside the Deliberation Hall.

"You may go and take a look," Zhao Xu said with a smile.

The kings of the various nations replied in the affirmative and turned to go outside.

Before long, they returned, each of them wearing a look of joy.

Yan Wang had gifted each of them ten Bicycles, six finely crafted pendulum clocks, a box of finely crafted Pocket Watches, as well as Perfume, Glass wine glasses, and the like.

These items were different from those on the market; they were all specially customized, inlaid with gold and silver, and could not be bought on the open market.

"Many thanks, Your Majesty," the kings said, each of them full of gratitude.

Zhao Xu nodded and smiled. Remembering something, he said, "Before you leave, I have one more matter to discuss with you."

Hearing this, the group looked toward Zhao Xu, waiting for him to continue.

"Recently, Sam Country Warships have been running rampant in the waters of Great Song, severely disrupting maritime trade in Dongtu and harming all our nations. In order to ensure trade remains unaffected, I intend to establish a Joint Escort Mechanism, requiring the navies of all nations to participate together to strike at this act of piracy by Sam Country. What do you think?" Zhao Xu said.

After marking the region east of Malacca as being within the sphere of influence of Great Song,

he had already had this idea in his mind.

The sea area of the entire Dongtu region was too vast.

It was extremely difficult to find a single enemy Warship in the vast ocean.

This was also the reason why, even now, the Great Song Navy had not yet completely cleared out the Sam Country Warships.

After all, even in modern society, it is sometimes impossible to avoid pirate attacks.

Therefore, relying on the strength of one nation to guard the entire Dongtu sea area was not as effective as having all the nations of Dongtu participate.

Just as Britain integrated the Xitu Guo to deal with Great Song.

He could naturally also integrate the nations of Dongtu to counter them.

This joint escort was an attempt to integrate the nations of Dongtu.

"We are naturally willing, but our Warships are too crude; I fear they would be unable to contend with the Warships of Sam Country," the King of Gaoli said, feeling somewhat embarrassed.

When the Sam Country Warships attacked Merchant Ships, they did not distinguish between those of Great Song or Gaoli.

Since the arrival of the Sam Country fleet, several of their Gaoli Merchant Ships had also been attacked, and many people had died.

Regarding this, he was equally filled with resentment.

But he was mostly just helpless, and could only hope for the Great Song Navy to clear out the Sam Country Warships.

The words of the King of Gaoli clearly gained the agreement of the other kings, and they nodded one after another.

"I have naturally anticipated this situation, so I am prepared to make the construction technology for Sailing Warships public to you; you may build your own Sailing Warships," Zhao Xu said slowly.

After a pause, he continued, "Furthermore, I will allow you to order First Generation Steamships and Naval Cannons from Great Song to enhance the combat power of your Sailing Warships."

When these words fell, the kings of the various nations were all stunned.

This Great Song Emperor was actually making the construction technology for Sailing Warships public to them?

They could hardly believe their own ears.

Then, a wave of wild joy surged in their hearts.

They secretly rejoiced that they had come here; following Great Song, there was indeed meat to eat.

"Since Your Majesty is so generous, if we were to push back and refuse, it would be ungrateful," Beitiao Chuanqing said hurriedly. "This Sam Country is truly detestable. I originally thought they were a proper Xitu Guo, but I never expected them to engage in the business of piracy. We must certainly not let them off easily."

In the past, when Watanabe was in charge of Dongying, the Westerners had helped them build Sailing Warships.

But after the Westerners left, the technology was naturally taken away as well.

And the Sailing Warships they had built were destroyed by Great Song.

So, it was equivalent to Dongying now being in the same position as Gaoli and the others—a blank slate in the field of Sailing Warships.

"Indeed, indeed," the others echoed one after another.

They all had their own thoughts.

When they were under the enslavement of the Westerners, they naturally dared not hope to have their own Sailing Warships.

Because the Westerners were not of their own kind, their hearts were surely different, and they would not allow them to have Sailing Warships.

But they had submitted to Great Song, and they had inextricable ties with Great Song in terms of bloodline and history, so their thoughts were naturally different.

It was like having an older brother in the family who had become successful and dominated a region; as the younger brothers, they naturally wanted to follow behind the older brother and have a sip of soup.

Today, they could escort the trade routes of Dongtu together with Great Song; one day, they could sail far away with Great Song and trade with other distant nations under the system established by Great Song.

And this naturally required the support of some military force.

After all, the Great Song Warships could not protect them forever.

"Then it is settled. After you return to your countries, just send some craftsmen to Great Song, and there will be people to train them," Zhao Xu said with a smile playing on his lips.

Great Song was prepared to completely phase out the technology of Sailing Warships, and using it to trade for the loyalty of these vassal states was well worth it.

Furthermore, his goal was not only for escorting, but also for business.

He mentioned selling the First Generation Steamship and Naval Cannon.

These two things are business.

Once they have their own Sailing Warship, they will naturally crave the Steamship and Naval Cannon.

Otherwise, they still won't be able to defeat the Warship of Sam Country.

By then, he can sell them the Steamship and the weakened version of the Naval Cannon.

It is simply the best of both worlds.

However, with things this way, this matter of joint escort will have to wait at least a year or more.

Regarding this, he is not in a hurry.

Because for now, the operational range of the Great Song Navy is still limited to the waters of Dongtu, and it can still manage.

If he waits until the Western Lands Allied Forces of Tianzhu are defeated and the operational range of the Great Song Navy expands globally, the Warship will be stretched thin by then.

Because the defeated Westerners will certainly launch even more frantic pirate activities, and might even encourage private piracy like at the very beginning of the Age of Discovery.

In order to protect trade routes, it will be necessary to commit more Warship to protect trade.

With the participation of Dongtu countries, the pressure on Great Song will naturally be much smaller.

And the outdated technology he exports will not pose a threat to the Great Song Navy.

Having settled this matter, the kings of the various countries left with profuse thanks.

If it could be said that their submission to Great Song before was only out of fear.

Then this time, they were somewhat willing.

Great Song eats the meat, they drink the soup; why not be happy to do so.

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