Chapter 609: Extortion Strategy

"Your Highness!" Yang He entered from outside the door and bowed to Zhao Xu.

Unlike his usual smiling self, a faint look of worry hung on Yang He's face.

Upon seeing this, Zhao Xu shook his head helplessly.

With the Rich Clans declaring independence one after another, they naturally would no longer allow merchants within their borders to trade with Yanzhou as they had before.

Therefore, the trading firm had accumulated a significant amount of inventory during this period.

Furthermore, as the Steam Engine was put into use across various industries, Yanzhou's production capacity was about to enter a period of explosive growth.

Although the Black Shark Sea Bandits had opened up the Gaoli market, the Gaoli market was too small.

It could only serve as a backup when Yanzhou's trade fell into a desperate situation, unable to absorb Yanzhou's massive volume of goods.

Once the goods could not be sold, various Workshops would have to cease production.

In this way, the trading firm could only continue to pay monthly wages to the craftsmen in the Workshops, yet could not obtain any profit from them.

If this continued for long, the trading firm would suffer constant losses, and Yanzhou's industry would inevitably be dealt a blow.

"Your Highness, you must think of a way. The Workshops aren't making money and are even losing it; this is a big problem. If things go on like this, what will we use to pay the officials' salaries and the soldiers' wages?" Yang He said.

He was in charge of Yanzhou's trade and Workshops, and seeing the Workshops wither day by day was more painful to him than being killed.

Hearing this, Liu Fu sighed, "It's just that the Imperial Clan isn't the one calling the shots in Great Song now; I fear Your Highness has no way either."

During this time, he had also been fretting over this matter.

After all, this was no longer just a problem for the trading firm itself; it would affect the revenue of the entire Yanzhou treasury, which was a matter of great consequence.

Yang He did not speak, but gazed at Zhao Xu gloomily, like a resentful woman.

The fake plague had caused Yanzhou to suffer heavy losses.

Now that the Rich Clans had declared independence, the impact on trade was even greater.

Yan Wang had once said he would compensate for the losses in trade, and at that time, he had absolutely believed in Yan Wang.

But now it seemed that even Yan Wang had times when he stumbled.

He certainly had not expected that just when the situation was looking great after defeating the Northern Di, Great Song would suddenly fall apart.

"Cough, cough..." Facing Yang He's resentful gaze, Zhao Xu's face burned slightly.

He truly had not anticipated that the Imperial Concubine of Prince Chun would stir up trouble in Jinling, leading to the division of Great Song and, consequently, adding insult to injury for Yanzhou's trade.

If not for the substantial accumulation in the treasury over these past few years, Yanzhou would likely have been finished after the Ningjin Battle.

However, there is always a time when one eats through their savings, and he indeed needed to think of a way.

In fact, he had been thinking about this during this period, and he already had a preliminary idea.

And the solution to this matter was the Smallpox plague he had mentioned back then.

If Great Song had not fallen apart, his plan at the time was to sell the method of Smallpox Inoculation to the Rich Clans for a high price.

However, judging by the current situation, selling it for a lump sum was clearly not cost-effective; it would be better to use it to blackmail the Rich Clans.

So, he said to Liu Fu: "What if this Prince uses Smallpox to scare the Rich Clans,

and threatens them that they must not obstruct the trade between merchants in their territories and Yanzhou?"

Yang He and Liu Fu looked at each other, their eyes brightening, and the corners of both their mouths turned upward.

Yang He said: "Your Highness, this is truly a great idea. Let's just scare them like that."

Liu Fu nodded slightly; they knew that Yan Wang would not commit the evil act of spreading Smallpox.

After all, when the time came, the Rich Clans and powerful families would have more ways to save their own lives, and it would still be the common people of Great Song who died the most.

But the Rich Clans could not gauge Yan Wang's character; in their eyes, Yan Wang was heinous and unforgivable.

Perhaps he really could use Smallpox to intimidate the Rich Clans and force them to open up trade.

"It is absolutely worth a try!" Liu Fu gave a thumbs up.

At the moment, there was no method more effective than this.

After all, when facing Yan Wang's troops, they still had soldiers and city walls to defend, but Smallpox was impossible to guard against.

Especially malicious spreading; it was simply impossible to defend against.

Zhao Xu nodded, feeling satisfied in his heart.

This was practically equivalent to him mastering a Weapon of mass destruction.

Although he could choose not to use it, he could still deter the enemy.

This was just like a nuclear weapon; the countries that first developed nuclear weapons back then did not do little in the way of nuclear blackmail against other countries to exchange for benefits.

If he could succeed in this blackmail, Yanzhou's trade would be able to recover.

That is to say, even if they were fighting to the death, trade could still proceed as usual.

At the same time, he decided to bring up Smallpox for another consideration.

The Ross, the Eastern Japanese, and in the future, the British, the Franks, and the Stedan would arrive in Great Song.

Who is to say that some among them might understand the method of Cowpox Inoculation.

If he could use it now but chose not to, once they handed the method of solving Smallpox to the Rich Clans, his Smallpox blackmail would lose its meaning.

Therefore, he had to implement his blackmail before the method of preventing Smallpox spread to Great Song.

As for how long this blackmail could last, that would depend on luck, though naturally, the longer, the better.

Even if it could not last long, it would at least allow Yanzhou to sell off its accumulated goods first.

However, according to his memory, Cowpox Inoculation only appeared in the early 19th century in his original world.

Early on, it was only conducted on a small scale within its own country, and only later did it slowly spread to other countries.

So at this point in time, it would not be that easy to encounter a Westerner in the East who understood Cowpox Inoculation.

After all, this was also high-end technology for this era.

Having settled this matter, Zhao Xu asked Liu Fu to first select officials from the Court of State Ceremonial.

In the Great Song, the Court of State Ceremonial is the office responsible for diplomacy, equivalent to a Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

He would have these officials travel to Jinling of Qi, Southern Liang, and Wu to negotiate this matter.

Two days later, seven officials departed from Yancheng for their respective destinations.

The first official arrived first at Lu City, the Du of Qi.

At this time, Han Zheng, who had ascended the throne as emperor, was playing chess with Sato Masahisa in the palace.

Upon learning that an official from Yancheng had arrived, he was very surprised.

"Yan Wang has actually sent an official to Lu City; is he not afraid that I might kill them!"

Then he asked, "What has he come for?"

The eunuch responsible for reporting stepped forward two paces and whispered a sentence into Han Zheng's ear.

The chess piece in Han Zheng's hand suddenly fell from his hand onto the board, making a "clack" sound.

"Despicable and shameless, despicable and shameless!" Han Zheng roared in anger.

Sato Masahisa revealed a look of confusion; he had never seen Han Zheng lose his temper so badly, so he asked, "What is the matter?"

Han Zheng then told Sato Masahisa the words Yan Wang had used to threaten him.

Sato Masahisa's expression also changed; they in Dongying also had no way to resist Smallpox.

On this issue, he could not provide any help to the Han Family.

Han Zheng noticed Sato Masahisa's expression, his heart sank, and he sat down dejectedly.

Sato Masahisa was still somewhat incredulous, and he asked, "Could it be that Yan Wang has truly mastered a way to resist Smallpox, and from now on need no longer fear Smallpox?"

Han Zheng nodded solemnly, "It cannot be false; Yan Wang defeating the Northern Di is proof. This time, I fear we must make a heavy decision."