Chapter 495: Convergence

"Your Highness, Zhou Yi has sent word that the Wufeng Island warships have appeared in the waters near Yanzhou these past few days. Warships were seen tailing the Wufeng Island vessels, and they were discovered heading to Lai County in Qizhou, docking at the Lai City pier."

Xu Ke entered the study, and Zhao Xu dismissed Mi Wen.

"Wufeng Island!" Zhao Xu frowned upon hearing this.

Wufeng Island held a long-standing grudge against him; it was not strange for their warships to appear again, but what was strange was that they had gone to the Han Family's territory.

There was a problem here.

"It seems the Black Shark Sea Bandits have already made some people unable to eat or sleep well. But why has the Han Family suddenly made contact with the Wufeng Pirates?" Zhao Xu added.

Xu Ke said, "Your subordinate suspects that it is not just the Han Family involved here, but also the Liang Family, who are stirring up trouble."

"Oh?" Zhao Xu said, "Have you uncovered any important information?"

"When Your Highness ordered your subordinate to deploy agents in Zhezhou and Yizhou, people from the Four Courts were dispatched to these two places," Xu Ke said. "Although they have not infiltrated the interior of the Liang Family or Wufeng Island, they have obtained quite a bit of hearsay. It is rumored that the Liang Family has always had dealings with the Wufeng Pirates."

When the Wufeng Pirates attacked the Shipbuilding Department twice before, he had already suspected a connection between the Wufeng Pirates and the Liang Family.

However, he had no substantial evidence.

If the Liang Family was indeed involved in this matter, it could only be said that the Liang Family, the Han Family, and the Wufeng Pirates had temporarily banded together.

And their goal was the Black Shark Sea Bandits.

After all, the Liang Family had always viewed Da Song's sea trade as their own exclusive domain.

Now that Zhao Heng had granted the Sea Trade Rights, the Liang Family must hate him to the bone.

Furthermore, since the Black Shark Sea Bandits had made a name for themselves in battle, the Liang Family would likely suspect a connection between the Black Shark Sea Bandits and him.

Wufeng Island was even worse than the Liang Family, viewing the entire eastern sea region as their own backyard and allowing no one to touch it.

With the sudden rise of the Black Shark Sea Bandits, how could they remain indifferent?

As for the Han Family, it was even simpler.

After he took control of the entire Yanzhou, Qizhou, which bordered Yanzhou, naturally had to be on high alert.

Moreover, the Han Family had taken in his mortal enemy, Yuan Li.

It was not impossible for these three parties to unite against him.

"Hmph, it is just as well that they have come; I shall deal with them all at once." Zhao Xu looked toward the east.

The Liang Family and the Wufeng Pirates were the two bullies of the Da Song seas.

To conduct trade in these waters, one must first break through their blockade.

At the very least, he had to control the Bohai Bay and the Yellow Sea region first.

He was still very confident in his own fleet.

Twelve Sailing Warships were a force that could rampage through this region.

Unless the Western powers of this world gathered all their warships from their East Asian colonies to encircle and annihilate him.

Thinking of this, he said to Xu Ke, "Send everyone who was monitoring the Yuan Family to Lai City."

"Yes, Your Highness." Xu Ke acknowledged the order and turned to leave.

Once Xu Ke's figure disappeared,

Only two words surfaced in Zhao Xu's mind: "Build ships."

After the first batch of twelve warships was launched, Chen Shou was already building the next batch of twelve.

Just as Mi Yan said in his letter, if he could provide Yanzhou with one hundred thousand carpenters,

Then a portion could be allocated to the Shipbuilding Department, allowing the Shipbuilding Department to begin construction on twenty-four warships simultaneously.

In this way, his fleet could take shape much faster.

Of course, his request to Zhao Heng for one hundred thousand shipwrights was just an exorbitant demand.

It was impossible for Da Song to have that many craftsmen with shipbuilding experience.

Therefore, Mi Yan changed his wording to one hundred thousand carpenters, among whom a portion could be shipwrights.

But something was better than nothing, and it would ultimately be of great benefit to the Shipbuilding Department.

……

Lai City.

Han Qi stood on the pier, with Yuan Li at his side, and before him stood Lu Zheng, who called himself the Five Peaks Island Master.

"There have never been any Black Shark Sea Bandits on the high seas; they must be the subordinates of Yan Wang," Lu Zheng said.

Ten days ago, people from the Liang Family found him and told him about the Black Shark Sea Bandits destroying over three hundred Beidi warships.

He was deeply shocked by this.

When the Liang Family proposed joining forces with their Wufeng Island and using the Han Family's assistance to wipe out the Black Shark Sea Bandits, he was tempted.

Because his first instinct was to suspect that these Black Shark Sea Bandits were Yan Wang's own warships.

After all, they had burned Yan Wang's warships before; the skeletons on the beach at Jinghai County at that time were very large, and one look told them they were not ordinary warships.

If his guess was correct, Yan Wang clearly possessed a fleet that made him wary.

For Wufeng Island, this would be a severe, life-or-death issue.

Therefore, even without the help of the Liang and Han families, he would concentrate all his strength to annihilate this fleet.

"It is just that Yan Wang does not admit that they are the Black Shark Sea Bandits," Han Qi said. "But this is also fine; if he does not admit it, once we wipe out the Black Shark Sea Bandits, Yan Wang will have to swallow his teeth along with the blood."

"Island Master Lu, if you need manpower, my Yuan Family can provide it at any time." Yuan Li's face was twisted, his eyes filled with hatred.

He had fled to Qizhou, thinking that if he hid for a few days, Zhao Heng would reprimand Yan Wang.

Then he would be able to return to the Southern Three Commanderies.

He had not expected that Zhao Heng would actually give the Southern Three Commanderies to Zhao Xu.

Now, he was truly a stray dog.

Although the Han Family was willing to take him in, he could only serve as a dog for the Han Family.

For someone always so proud, this was naturally hard for him to accept.

But for the sake of the Yuan Family and the soldiers under his command, he could only swallow his pride.

Therefore, when Han Qi asked him to select elites to cooperate with Wufeng Island to eliminate the Black Shark Sea Bandits, he did not hesitate at all.

He immediately led his soldiers to arrive at Lai City.

According to Han Zheng's intentions, this time they were not only going to cooperate with Wufeng Island, but also take the opportunity to establish their own Navy.

The Liang Family also tacitly consented to this matter.

After all, for the Liang Family, as long as the Black Shark Sea Bandits could be eliminated, he was willing to give the Han Family a share of the spoils.

They also did not want to let Yan Wang get involved in maritime trade.

And for the Han Family, the existence of the Black Shark Sea Bandits would give Yan Wang the ability to attack Qizhou directly from the sea.

This point, they had to guard against.

Thus, the alliance of the three families today came to be.

"It is not needed for now; naval warfare does not care about the number of men, as the one hundred thousand-strong army of the Northern Di was buried in the sea," Lu Zheng said, "However, I fear the three of us are indeed not enough, and we still need to pull another faction into the fold."

"Who?" Han Qi asked.

"The Northern Di," Lu Zheng said, "The ones who hate the Black Shark Sea Bandits the most right now are the Northern Di. Although the Northern Di have no warships, the Gaoli Navy still has some. If the Northern Di order the Gaoli Navy to join us as well, our chances of victory will be even greater."

Upon hearing this, Yuan Li's eyes lit up, and he nodded repeatedly.

Han Qi also nodded slightly, but thinking of something, he said, "However, it is inconvenient for our Han Family to have direct contact with the Northern Di."

"No matter, this matter can be handled by our Wufeng Island," Lu Zheng said, "You only need to provide supplies for our warships."

Having said that, the three of them laughed at the same time.

Yuan Li laughed especially loudly.

This time, through the link of Wufeng Island, they were once again echoing the Northern Di from afar.

As long as the Black Shark Sea Bandits were destroyed, they would be able to cooperate with the Northern Di and help the Northern Di transport troops by sea.

At that time, Yan Wang would surely be defeated in the contest against the Northern Di.

And this was the result he looked forward to most.