Chapter 610: Depressed Xie Family

Latest URL: "This is indeed troublesome," Sato Masahisa sighed.

When fighting a war, the most feared thing is for the army to be infected with a plague, as this would lead to the army collapsing without a fight.

If Yan Wang truly uses Smallpox as a Weapon, this would be very ominous news for them.

"What exactly does this Yan Wang want to do?" Sato Masahisa asked.

If Yan Wang were truly prepared to use Smallpox as a Weapon, he would not have dispatched officials to come to Lu City.

Now that he has sent officials from Yanzhou to mention this matter, he must have his own objective.

"Yan Wang says that as long as we do not stop the merchants of Qi from traveling to Yanzhou for trade, he swears he will never use Smallpox in the war; he will engage in a fair and just duel with us like swordsmen," Han Zheng said with a bitter smile.

Sato Masahisa's brows knitted together, "An enemy's promise is nothing but a scrap of paper. If he loses in the end and still uses Smallpox as a Weapon, wouldn't he have taken advantage of us for nothing?"

Han Zheng thought the same, and he said, "But what other way is there at the moment?"

Sato Masahisa also fell silent; he truly had not expected Yan Wang to come up with such a devious trick.

This Yan Wang is truly unusually difficult to deal with.

Their Great General's judgment was indeed sharp; at a single glance, he determined that this Yan Wang would become a threat to the Northern Di.

After thinking for a moment, he said, "If this is the case, we can only agree to him for now. However, I believe that since Yan Wang has mastered this method, this method must exist elsewhere as well. I will report this difficult problem to the Great General and have him send people to find this method."

He did this not only for Qi but also for Dongying; he believed that Dongying and Yan Wang would eventually have a war.

Han Zheng sighed. The current situation is that they must either agree to Yan Wang or endure the ravages of Smallpox in Qi, losing nearly half the population and soldiers.

Compared to this, the losses caused by trade are smaller.

"I hope Lord Sato can bring good news soon," Han Zheng said, full of expectation.

Ever since he witnessed the Flintlock of Dongying, he is now deeply superstitious about Dongying, even believing that Dongying is several times stronger than the Northern Di.

With the support of the Eastern Japanese, Qi will stand in an invincible position.

Of course, it would be even more perfect if the threat of Smallpox could be resolved.

Helplessly agreeing to this matter, he dismissed the eunuch to take this news to the official who had come from Yancheng, and told him to get lost back to Yancheng.

He did not want to see the officials from Yanzhou.

After the eunuch's figure disappeared, his eyes rolled, and he said to Sato Masahisa, "Lord Sato, you have seen and heard it with your own eyes and ears; you should be able to understand how despicable this Yan Wang is, right?"

"He is not only a threat to our Qi, but he will also surely be a threat to your Dongying in the future. After all, our Qi does not have Warships that run rampant on the sea, but Yan Wang does."

Sato Masahisa was silent for a while and said, "I will have someone go back to see the Great General and request that he send another batch of Flintlocks."

He is currently stationed in Qi, only communicating with the Shogunate through the Eastern Japanese at the Qingcheng Japan Trading House who travel between Qi and Dongying, in order to reduce his own danger.

Han Zheng was overjoyed; ten thousand Flintlocks were far from enough to satisfy his ambition, and he wanted more.

He said this precisely to make the Eastern Japanese feel the danger of Yan Wang; in this way, the Eastern Japanese would provide him with more support.

So he said, "In that case, I must thank Lord Sato."

In front of Sato Masahisa, he never referred to himself as 'Zhen' (the Imperial 'I'); this was to win Sato Masahisa's favor.

Sato Masahisa nodded, "However, Yan Wang said he wants to have a fair duel with Qi like a swordsman, so we can just test whether he keeps his promise."

Moreover, they already had a plan, which was to send a thousand-man unit into Yanzhou to test the true strength of the Yanzhou soldiers.

This was also a mission given to him by the Shogunate.

Facing other clans of Great Song, they naturally had no need to worry, but facing Yan Wang directly, it was always good to be careful.

If they discovered the situation was not right, they would adjust their tactics to deal with Yan Wang.

In short, their Dongying strategy is very simple.

If they could eliminate Yan Wang, they would let the Han Family take Yanzhou in one go.

Great Song without Yan Wang is nothing but meat on the chopping block to Dongying; they could cut it however they wanted.

If the attack was thwarted, they would provide the Han Family with continuous support, letting Qi and Yan Wang reach a stalemate to consume Yan Wang's strength, buying time for them in Dongying to build Sailing Warships.

After all, through this period of propaganda, the countries of the Western Lands basically believed that the Yan Wang in the North Territory of Great Song would pose a threat to their colonization of Great Song.

To make Dongying act as a vanguard, helping Dongying build Sailing Warships to confront Yan Wang was naturally a matter of course.

Mentioning this matter, Han Zheng's eyes narrowed.

He knew very well that if he did this, it would be a provocation to Yan Wang, and they might face Yan Wang's retaliation afterward.

But he also knew very well that Qi and Yan Wang would eventually have a war, so when Sato Masahisa proposed this plan, he did not object.

This probe would be composed of nine hundred Qi soldiers and one hundred Eastern Japanese soldiers.

Thinking of this, he said to Sato Masahisa, "Everything shall be done as Lord Sato says."

At the same time.

The official who set out from Yanzhou continued to travel south, and seven days later, an official arrived in Jinling and similarly declared Yan Wang's warning to the Xie Family.

"Hahaha, when did Yan Wang become so stupid? Yanzhou and Ning City are separated by Qi; if anyone is to be unlucky first, it would be them. Now Yan Wang wants to come and blackmail us, it is too early,"

In the Jinling Imperial Palace, the First Prince said to the Yanzhou official below the steps.

Beside him was a chair, and Xie Duan was sitting on it.

Since the First Prince ascended the throne, Xie Duan had sat with the First Prince to discuss politics.

As the First Prince said this, a burst of laughter erupted in the Golden Throne Hall.

Without a doubt, this was the officials of the Xie Family mocking him.

Xie Duan had a strange smile on his face, and he said to the Yanzhou official, "Compared to a plague, I would rather chop off your head and send it back to Yan Wang. This rebel actually dares to come and threaten the true Emperor of Great Song."

The Yanzhou official's expression was calm; he only said lightly, "Have you forgotten that Ningzhou is by the sea?"

Xie Duan pondered this sentence for a while, and suddenly his expression changed drastically.

That's right, Yanzhou and Ningzhou are indeed separated by Qi, but Yan Wang has a fleet that is invincible on the sea.

They could completely spread Smallpox to Ningzhou via the sea.

Thinking of this, he was so depressed he almost vomited a mouthful of blood.

Rising from his chair, Xie Duan clenched his fists tightly.

His eyes darted around, but in the end, he slowly loosened his grip, a smile creeping onto his face, "In the past, we have always had close dealings with His Highness Yan Wang, so there is no need for things to become this unpleasant. Is it not just trade? From now on, we will not stop merchants from traveling to Yanzhou."

The Yanzhou official revealed a smug smile and turned to leave with a flourish.

He left behind a hall full of astonished Xie Family officials, as well as a depressed First Prince and Xie Duan.