Chapter 522: Leaflets

The latest website: "Your Highness, this is what Lu Zheng provided."

In the Prince's Mansion, Zhao Xu took the information dictated by Lu Zheng and read it through once.

This made one thing clear to him: Dongying currently lacked the ability to avenge Wufeng Island.

Moreover, they did not necessarily have the desire to do so.

According to Lu Zheng's account, he was not entirely under the orders of Dongying; the two merely shared mutual interests.

This time, he had attacked the Black Shark Sea Bandits simply to maintain his own hegemony on the sea.

At the same time, he gained further understanding of the current situation in Dongying.

Compared to the Great Song's two-hundred-year ban on maritime trade, although Dongying had reduced its interactions with the West for a period due to the infighting among Daimyo.

The Watanabe Family, however, had been secretly conducting maritime trade all along.

This was the reason why, much like the Liang Family of the Great Song who monopolized maritime trade, they had filled their coffers.

Therefore, the final result of the Daimyo infighting was that the Watanabe Family established the Shogunate.

Afterward, the Watanabe Family completely opened up maritime trade, and in the early stages, they even sent envoys to Europe.

Which is what the people of the Great Song call the Western Lands.

And it seems that from a young age, they were influenced by the family's interactions with the Western Lands.

Watanabe An seems to admire the colonists very much.

For the thirty years since the Shogunate was established, they have been actively imitating the Western Lands.

It is just that, clearly, the colonists of this era are extremely arrogant and do not hold Dongying in high regard.

They merely treat Dongying as an export destination for their goods.

But even so, Dongying is still far superior to the Great Song in terms of firearms.

Of course, his Yanzhou is an exception.

"A bit troublesome." Zhao Xu chewed over the information he had obtained, feeling quite overwhelmed.

He discovered two very bad signs.

The Central Plains dynasty is in a period of decline,

and Dongying is temporarily leading the Central Plains dynasty in technology.

With these two factors combined, contemporary history already provides a reference for what will happen next.

"In 663 AD, the Wa army of about 32,000 men and over 170 warships engaged in a fierce naval battle with 20,000 Tang troops at the Baijiang Mouth of Baekje. The Tang army won despite being outnumbered, and the Wa navy was soundly defeated. This established the political, economic, and cultural landscape of the Northeast Asia region for the next thousand years, and the Wa nation feared their might and dared not advance."

"In the early Great Ming, the Wa nation became arrogant again. Zhu Yuanzhang sent envoys to the Wa nation, who were then beheaded by them. During the Jiajing era, the Wa pirates raided the coast of the Great Ming, and during the Wanli era, the Wa Daimyo Toyotomi Hideyoshi sent troops to occupy Chaoxian."

"At that time, Toyotomi Hideyoshi had already formulated a plan to destroy the Central Plains dynasty: first, after destroying the Ming Dynasty, have the Emperor reside in Beiping; second, reside in Ningbo himself to continue the conquest of Tianzhu and Nanyang," Zhao Xu recited softly.

Since then, this plan has been treated by the Wa nation as a ancestral instruction; the invasion of China during World War II almost replicated Toyotomi Hideyoshi's plan.

It is evident that from ancient times to the present, Dongying has never abandoned its covetousness for the Central Plains.

Being obedient for now is only because they were beaten into fear; their ambition has not vanished.

Once they encounter a suitable opportunity, they will bare their fangs once again.

Based on these facts, Zhao Xu believes that the Dongying of this world will certainly not be obedient.

Occupying half of Yizhou is merely the beginning of their expansion.

Besides this, there is one more point: this is the nature of an island nation.

Because the island nation is isolated overseas, its resources are limited.

To obtain more resources, the only path to take is aggression.

"I must settle the Northern Di and stabilize the country as soon as possible," Zhao Xu muttered.

If not for the knowledge he brought, he would truly be unable to turn the tide.

Fortunately, the Steam Engine and the Rifled Musket are currently being equipped.

This will allow the small Yanzhou to maintain a slight technological advantage.

However, even so, these advantages make him unable to deal with too many enemies.

After all, Yanzhou's resources are limited, whether it be manpower or various other resources.

Therefore, while continuing to improve technology, he must also continue to absorb population.

At the same time, he must find a way to make Chaoxian an export destination for Yan Wang's goods.

He knows this is difficult; after all, Chaoxian has been a vassal to the Northern Di.

Therefore, besides needing Zhou Yi to put in some effort, he must also win in this confrontation with the Northern Di.

If he can manage to drive the Northern Di out of the Ningjin Dusi, then Chaoxian will have to reconsider its attitude toward him.

Furthermore, the interior of the Great Song is currently like a Gunpowder Barrel.

No one knows when it will detonate.

He does not want to be dealing with the Northern Di in the Ningjin Dusi while internal chaos occurs; a formal showdown with the Northern Di in the Ningjin Dusi is imperative.

Thinking of this, he tore Lu Zheng's confession to shreds, "Execute him."

Xu Ke acknowledged the order and turned to leave.

Once Xu Ke's figure disappeared, Zhao Xu ordered for Mi Wen to be called over.

Before long, Mi Wen arrived, looking travel-worn.

He is very busy now; after the first Newspaper was published, it spread rapidly throughout Yancheng.

So, in order to run the newspaper better,

he recruited another batch of scholars to serve as the "reporters" that Yan Wang mentioned.

"Your Highness." Seeing Zhao Xu, Mi Wen called out, his mind still on the layout.

Zhao Xu knew Mi Wen was busy, but the matter he was about to address was very important.

So he said: "Find a few people who are good at writing, and have them write several articles about homesickness aimed at the Song People in the Ningjin Dusi. Remember, keep them concise and include illustrations."

Mi Wen was stunned for a moment, "What does Your Highness want these articles for?"

"You have had your mind entirely on the newspaper these past few days and have forgotten the true duty of your Propaganda Department." Zhao Xu snorted, "Do not forget that this Prince is currently in a standoff with the Northern Di; it is either them or me. The things I am having you make are called leaflets, and their purpose is to shake the resolve of the Song People and prepare for the upcoming actions."

"But how will Your Highness get these leaflets into the hands of the Song People in the Ningjin Dusi?" Having served as the head of the newspaper for several days, Mi Wen now quite enjoyed getting to the bottom of things.

Zhao Xu could not be bothered to pay him any mind, "This Prince has his own ideas. You only need to get the leaflets done. Remember, the leaflets do not need to be very large, but they must have both pictures and text; even if they cannot read the words, they should be able to guess the meaning by looking at the pictures."

"Yes, Your Highness." Mi Wen nodded heavily.

From the serious expression on the face of Yan Wang, he sensed that this matter was very important.

He waved his hand to let Mi Wen leave.

Zhao Xu went straight to the Armory Department.

At this moment, the sound of machines roaring filled the Armory Department.

Hearing this, Zhao Xu felt joyful; to him, this was even more pleasant than celestial music.

Upon learning that Zhao Xu had arrived, Wang Ying and his son immediately came out to welcome him.

Wang Ying first took Zhao Xu to the Firearm Workshop.

"Your Highness, in the past, once a gun barrel was made, it was sent directly to be assembled into a flintlock. Now, once a barrel comes out, it first comes to this room to have the rifling cut," Wang Ying said, pointing at the Steam Engine.

Currently, the broach was being driven by the Steam Engine, steadily performing linear reciprocating motion.

The craftsman responsible for cutting the rifling only needed to move the gun barrel.

"How long does it take to finish one gun barrel now?" Zhao Xu asked.

Wang Ying was exceptionally delighted and replied to Your Highness, "One can be finished in an hour; twenty-four a day is no problem, and a skilled craftsman can reach thirty."

Zhao Xu nodded; the power of the Steam Engine was much greater than human strength, and the speed of the reciprocating motion was very fast.

It was not surprising to have such efficiency.

However, the only pity was that having one Steam Engine drive only one broach was truly a waste.

Thinking of this, he called Wang Chong over, "This Prince will teach you a method; you focus on studying it these next few days and get it done."