Chapter 599: Taking the Stage

Latest website: Zhezhou, Lincheng.

Liang Kai had been back here for some time.

When news of the establishment of Southern Liang arrived, he summoned his officials and generals to prepare for the matter of declaring independence and founding a state.

After deliberation, he finally decided to set the state name as Wu.

Because in history, a state had once appeared here in Zhezhou, and its name was the state of Wu.

His Liang Family had also always considered themselves descendants of the state of Wu.

Choosing this state name was most appropriate.

Aside from the matter of founding the state, Liang Kai spent his time in Lincheng with Fan Xinglun.

After the great chaos in Jinling, Fan Xinglun had also chosen to leave.

However, he did not return directly to Yunzhou, but instead followed him to Lincheng.

"Brother Fan, I must thank you for your warning this time; otherwise, our Liang Family would still have been kept in the dark. These son-of-a-bitch British, they lost money on business, yet they blamed my Liang Family and actually harbored such evil intentions," Liang Kai cursed angrily.

"Brother Liang is too polite. I only heard it from a Frankish merchant; I could not just watch Brother Liang suffer a disaster," Fan Xinglun said.

He had his own motives for coming to Lincheng this time.

The Liang Family had immense power in Jiangnan, while his Fan Family was tucked away in Yunzhou, and in terms of strength, they could not compare to the two families.

With Dou Wei causing such a great mess this time, he was very clear that the entire Great Song empire would likely fall apart.

When news of Dou Wei establishing Southern Liang arrived, and seeing Liang Kai preparing to establish the state of Wu, he knew that great chaos was about to begin and could no longer be averted.

Worried that Liang Kai would unify Jiangnan and it would be disadvantageous for his Fan Family, he seized the opportunity to arrive in Lincheng to curry favor with Liang Kai.

However, he knew that merely currying favor might not stop Liang Kai's ambition to annex the Fan Family, so while currying favor, he deliberately brought up the Frankish people.

The Liang Family had participated in overseas maritime trade for years, and he knew very well that the Liang Family was very familiar with the Western nations.

By obscurely mentioning that his Fan Family had a partnership with the Frankish people, the Liang Family should be wary of the consequences.

In this way, his Fan Family would be safe and could continue to be a local emperor in Yunzhou.

Upon hearing this, Liang Kai laughed, "I didn't expect Brother Fan to be so deep; you have been trading with the Frankish people for so many years. However, I will give Brother Fan a piece of advice: like the British, these Frankish people are not good things either; what they covet is merely the wealth of the Central Plains."

"I am naturally aware of this. If the Frankish people do business honestly with my Fan Family, that is fine, but if they have ulterior motives, my Fan Family is not to be trifled with," Fan Xinglun smiled lightly.

Liang Kai nodded, seemingly in tacit agreement, and said no more.

Several more days passed.

The Enthronement Ceremony began. On this day, surrounded by numerous officials and generals, Liang Kai donned the Dragon Robe and announced the establishment of the state of Wu.

Fan Xinglun participated in Liang Kai's Enthronement Ceremony and set off to return to Yunzhou the next day.

In the carriage, he recalled the high spirits of Liang Kai when he sat on the Dragon Throne, and his own heart grew warm.

The Dou Family and the Liang Family had successively founded states; why couldn't his Fan Family?

Not long after Fan Xinglun left, Liang Kai, who was immersed in the glory of being an emperor, called his eldest son, Liang Feng, into his bedchamber.

The state of Wu had been established.

Then the next step was to ensure the long-term peace and stability of the state of Wu.

After pondering for a while, he said, "According to Fan Xinglun's meaning, these British are likely to be detrimental to our state of Wu. You go now to inspect the coastal defenses, especially the Forts at the important Piers. If the British truly dare to invade the coast of the state of Wu, let them see the might of our state of Wu."

"Yes, Imperial Father," Liang Feng said.

Liang Kai nodded, "Also, you secretly send people to Yunzhou to investigate the relationship between the Fan Family and the Frankish people, and at the same time, find a way to make contact with the Frankish people. The British firearms are very powerful, but the Frankish firearms are not bad either, and it is said that they have always been at odds; perhaps we can use them as an aid."

"Imperial Father is wise!" Liang Feng's smile was almost sycophantic; after the state of Wu was established, he was the Crown Prince of Wu.

He naturally had to please his father so that he could inherit the throne in the future.

………

Qizhou, Qingcheng, Han Zheng, under the introduction of Han Qi, was meeting with the Dongying envoys.

Just two days ago, the news that the Dongying envoys had arrived in Qingcheng was sent to Lu City, so he set off immediately.

Today, he was able to meet with the Dongying envoys at the Dongying Huiguan in Qingcheng.

In the past, he had attached great importance to the exchanges between the Han Family and Dongying.

Now that the Great Song was in a state of chaos, he attached even more importance to the relationship with Dongying.

After all, this might involve the rise and fall of the Han Family.

"Lord Han, to make a long story short, we have come this time under the orders of General Watanabe, hoping to form an alliance with the Han Family to jointly deal with the threat of Yan Wang."

At the Dongying Huiguan, three Dongying officials were currently sitting opposite Han Zheng, Han Qi, and Yuan Li.

The Dongying person sitting in the middle was named Sato Masahisa, who was the Deputy Envoy of the Dongying Foreign Affairs Office.

During this period, the Black Shark Sea Bandits had expanded their scope of activities, which made them in Dongying very vigilant.

Recently, more than ten Warships of the Wufeng Pirates had been sunk by the Black Shark Sea Bandits, and their Merchant Ships heading to Qingcheng had also been plundered.

Fortunately, the ocean was large enough that the Warships of the Black Shark Sea Bandits could not defend the ocean without a single gap.

Moreover, to reduce losses, they ordered the Wufeng Pirates and Dongying Merchant Ships to find islands to hide during the day and enter the Qizhou sea area at night.

But even so, they did not believe this was a long-term solution.

The threat of the Black Shark Sea Bandits to Dongying had already made them unable to ignore it.

And after Yan Wang, who was behind the Black Shark Sea Bandits, defeated the Northern Di, they became even more vigilant.

A Yan Wang rising in the North Territory clearly did not conform to the interests of Dongying.

In Dongying's plans, they had always had a blueprint for invading Gaoli.

Previously, the Northern Di was the obstacle, but this obstacle had become Yan Wang.

But as far as they knew, the tentacles of the Black Shark Sea Bandits had already reached Gaoli, bringing it into their sphere of influence.

As such, if they in Dongying launched an attack on Gaoli, they would certainly come into conflict with the Black Shark Sea Bandits.

Clearly, this was proof that the rise of Yan Wang was damaging the interests of Dongying.

Therefore, through Han Qi, they learned that a great disaster had occurred in the Capital City of the Great Song, and that the Great Song would likely fall into division next.

The Dongying informants at the Dongying Huiguan then relayed this news back to Dongying.

After deliberation, their Great General Watanabe finally made up his mind to prepare to participate in the internal strife of the Great Song and stir the waters of the Great Song even further.

At the same time, he intended to curb the further rise of Yan Wang.

"An alliance, haha, this is a good thing," Han Zheng said with great joy upon hearing this.

This was exactly what he had been expecting.

Qizhou faced Yan Wang directly, and felt the greatest threat.

Although he had the help of the Wang Family, he still did not feel very secure in his heart.

If he could obtain more assistance, it would naturally be excellent.

Sato Masahisa nodded, "However, the Great General has one request: he hopes that Lord Han will officially break with the Royal Clan of the Great Song and establish a country independently; in this way, we in Dongying can interact with the Han Family in a legitimate manner."

"This..." Han Zheng frowned upon hearing this and began to hesitate.

Seeming to anticipate Han Zheng's thoughts, Sato Masahisa said, "I have also brought one hundred Dongying soldiers with me this time; to dispel Lord Han's doubts, I would like to let Lord Han witness their capabilities."

Han Zheng's eyes lit up when he heard this.

He had long since learned that Dongying soldiers used a type of firearm different from that of the Great Song soldiers.

Now, he could finally see it for himself.