Chapter 544: Schemes in Motion!

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After a day of sailing, Zhou Yi arrived at Leiting Wharf, and he immediately headed to Yancheng with Bai Shang to report on the war situation.

Upon learning that Gaoli had agreed to conduct trade with the Black Shark Trading Firm, Zhao Xu laughed.

His scheme this time had succeeded.

In fact, when he had ordered Zhou Yi to attack Gaoli, he had known that Gaoli would inevitably compromise.

In the modern era, during the Black Ships incident in the mid-nineteenth century, the United States threatened Japan with gunboats to force them to open their doors to trade, and Japan submitted.

Faced with the sturdy ships and powerful cannons of the Black Shark Sea Bandits, the shock to Gaoli would be no less than that of Japan at the time.

It was not strange that they made this choice.

As for Gaoli's reliance: the Beidi.

Faced with Zhou Yi and his men, they could not even hold their own Ningjin Dusi, so how could they possibly hold the maritime borders for Gaoli?

Gaoli's coastline was much longer than that of Ningjin Dusi.

Gaoli was clear on this point, and he believed the Beidi were as well.

"Your Highness, this time your subordinate seized quite a lot of things; the gains were substantial, no less than what we would earn from trade. These Gaoli people are so detestable, it would be better to just keep raiding them." Bai Shang raised his fist, feeling it wasn't enough.

He and Zhou Yi had already formulated a plan to head north from the Nanpu River and attack the Gaoli royal city.

Zhao Xu smiled helplessly, "Do you kill your hen to eat its meat, or keep it to lay eggs?"

"Of course, keep it to lay eggs; once it can no longer lay eggs, then kill it for meat," Bai Shang blurted out.

"That is the point. To this Prince, Gaoli is currently a hen that lays eggs. For now, Yanzhou can nourish itself with the egg of trade, while plundering is no different from killing the hen to get the eggs; the short-term profit is high, but it is a loss in the long run," Zhao Xu said after pondering for a moment.

Gaoli had a large population; even if he plundered all the Gaoli people, he would not have enough grain to feed them.

It was better to leave them in Gaoli to engage in farming and other production.

By then,

as long as Yanzhou's goods were popular in Gaoli,

they would use Silver to buy them, which was equivalent to handing over the wealth in their hands to Yanzhou.

Therefore, this attack on Gaoli was only to open up trade; the essence was to occupy the market, not to compete with the Beidi for control of Gaoli.

He was very clear that as long as the Beidi were there, Gaoli would remain the Beidi's loyal lackeys.

Only by defeating the Beidi could he intervene more deeply in Gaoli.

"Now that Your Highness puts it this way, this subordinate understands," Bai Shang scratched his head.

Zhou Yi also suddenly realized, no longer dwelling on the matter, and handed the list of war spoils to Zhao Xu.

"Your Highness, this time we successively seized over ninety thousand able-bodied men from Gaoli, all of whom are under the jurisdiction of Wang Yanzhong. Additionally, there are over three million taels of Silver, seven hundred thousand shi of grain, sixty thousand bolts of cloth..." Zhou Yi reported the numbers of the spoils as if reciting his own family treasures.

Zhao Xu nodded slightly; although these numbers were not many, they were not few either.

Converted, it was nearly five million taels.

The annual tribute the Great Song paid to the Beidi was only five million taels.

"Give six hundred thousand taels to reward the soldiers, and put the rest into the treasury," Zhao Xu laughed.

Every time they won spoils in battle, Zhao Xu would always take out a portion to reward the soldiers.

Since the soldiers risked their lives for him, giving them some benefits was necessary.

Furthermore, every soldier had a family behind them.

If the soldiers were wealthy, it would drive the consumption of their families.

This could also further promote the development of trade in Yanzhou.

"Thank you, Your Highness." Bai Shang and Zhou Yi were overjoyed.

As the three were speaking, Feng'er reported that Yang He had arrived.

Ordering Yang He to enter, Zhao Xu soon heard bursts of laughter.

This laughter continued all the way to the study, and it was indeed coming from Yang He.

"General Zhou, General Bai, you have worked hard this time. Thank you, thank you. From now on, even if the powerful clans blockade Yanzhou's trade routes, Yanzhou's trade will not stagnate." Upon arriving at the study, Yang He first saluted Zhao Xu, then cupped his hands toward the two men.

"You are too kind, you are too kind; we were all acting under the orders of His Highness," Bai Shang and Zhou Yi said in unison.

Zhao Xu looked at Yang He; it was he who had summoned Yang He.

Since the trade with Gaoli had been secured, the next step was for the Black Shark Trading Firm to sell Yanzhou's goods to Gaoli.

This was Yang He's task.

"When you go back this time, gather the merchants of the Black Shark Trading Firm and have them transport the goods to Jinyin Island. The Gaoli merchants will trade with you on Jinyin Island. I have conquered this market for you; how many goods you can sell depends on your own abilities," Zhao Xu said.

He paused, then continued: "As the saying goes, the marketplace is like a battlefield. I hope you can also win a great victory."

Upon hearing this, Yang He immediately patted his chest vigorously, "Your Highness, rest assured. Within three months, this subordinate will have Yanzhou's goods appearing in every corner of Gaoli."

Zhao Xu nodded.

At this moment, Zhou Yi remembered something and said, "Your Highness, now that the matter of Gaoli has come to an end, what shall we do next?"

When Zhou Yi asked this, Zhao Xu's eyes immediately narrowed.

Looking toward the direction of Ningjin Dusi, he said, "Next, while you coordinate with the merchants for trade, wait for orders at any time. This time, I want to take back Ningjin Dusi."

"Ningjin Dusi!" Bai Shang and Zhou Yi were both shaken.

The defeat at Ningjin Dusi was an unspeakable pain in the heart of every Great Song person.

For over ten years, perhaps some people had forgotten that Ningjin Dusi was the territory of the Great Song.

But they had not forgotten.

Living in Yanzhou and facing the Beidi's military edge, this reminded them every moment.

Before following Yan Wang, they would not have dared to even think about the words "reclaim Ningjin Dusi."

And hearing these words from Yan Wang was so deafening and made their blood boil.

The homeland they lost is like a child snatched away by an enemy, waiting in the distance to return to their embrace.

"Thinking back, when this subordinate was young, I once followed my father to Ningjin Dusi. Although it was not wealthy, it was peaceful and comfortable. Over these years, Ningjin Dusi has been occupied by the Northern Di, and this subordinate often dreams of the scenery from back then," Yang He said with slight excitement. "This subordinate thought I would never be able to go to Ningjin Dusi again in this life. With Your Highness saying this, this subordinate is looking forward to revisiting the old place."

Zhao Xu said, "When the time comes, you can stay as long as you like."

Hearing this, the three of them all laughed.

Bai Shang and Zhou Yi only felt as if they had inexhaustible strength in their bodies, their spirits soaring.

Zhou Yi said, "For this attack on Ningjin Dusi, as long as Your Highness gives the order, this general will climb a mountain of blades and descend into a sea of fire without hesitation."

Bai Shang also nodded vigorously.

Zhao Xu revealed a satisfied smile, chatted for a few more moments, and the three of them returned.

At this time, Zhao Xu stood up and looked at the map on the wall.

At the same time that Zhou Yi and Bai Shang were attacking Gaoli, the Propaganda Department, the Government Office, and the Prince's Personal Army had already begun to act.

News that Smallpox had broken out in a certain village in Wuan County reached Yancheng.

However, Mi Wen debunked the rumor in the Newspaper.

Some merchants who had great trust in the Prince's Mansion calmed down from their panic, while other merchants chose to leave Yanzhou.

At the same time, some rumors also spread out from Yanguan that Smallpox had also appeared in the military camp.

A trap aimed at the Northern Di was unfolding.

And besides reaching the ears of Mule Hongzhen, this news...

He believed it would also reach the ears of the powerful clans and the Emperor Zhao Heng.

As for whether they would be worried, gloat over the misfortune, or take the opportunity to pull some small tricks, he did not know.

Shaking his head, Zhao Xu stopped thinking about it.

For him, the most important things at the moment were the application of the Steam Engine and the equipping of the Rifled Musket.

In the time that followed, he let the rumors of the plague run rampant, while simply immersing himself in the Armory Bureau with Wang Chong while lecturing at the Three Great Academies.