Chapter 631: Court of State Ceremonial

"Beat him to death!"

A Qi soldier roared, and the roar that followed was like a mountain collapsing and a sea churning.

It was as if fire could erupt from their eyes; each of them clenched their fists so tightly that they longed to rush up and beat the actor playing the Rich Clan member to death on the spot.

If not for the Wangfu Army soldiers blocking them, they really would have rushed up.

Zhao Xu stood to one side, while Chang Wei stood beside him with his hands on his hips, smiling like a bear that had just stolen honey.

"Your Highness's tactic is truly effective; in these past two days, over six thousand Qi soldiers have begged to stay," Chang Wei said.

He had always been worried about the matter of the captives.

Letting so many captives return made his heart ache, but forcing them to stay wouldn't work either.

Now, he didn't need to keep them; these Qi soldiers were crying and shouting to stay.

Waiting for the day they could join the Wangfu Army soldiers to build a dynasty without Rich Clans and powerful families.

Zhao Xu smiled smugly.

Because there were too many Qi soldiers, they could only arrange for three thousand at a time.

Before he arrived, this play had already been performed several times.

In addition to the folk plays, he also had Mi Wen invite Qi soldiers onto the stage to air their grievances after the play ended.

What kind of grievances? Naturally, the suffering they endured under the bullying of the Rich Clans.

Their family's fertile land was seized by Rich Clans, they borrowed usurious loans from Rich Clans to buy food, and when they couldn't pay it back, their children were sold off.

With real cases before them, the Qi soldiers were naturally even more moved, and the effect was naturally even better.

"Remember, this is a set of propaganda methods for captives from now on. Continue to innovate; in this way, as we fight in the future, our soldiers will become more numerous with every battle, while the Rich Clans' soldiers will become fewer."

After a pause, he continued: "Also, you must coordinate with the Propaganda Department to use the Hot Air Balloon Troop to scatter leaflets to the other side of the Jin River to shake the hearts of the Qi people."

"Yes, Your Highness." Chang Wei was greatly invigorated.

Zhao Xu nodded and turned his head to continue watching the play.

Just then, a Cavalryman hurried over and handed him a document.

This document was sent by Zhou Yi; after flipping through it, Zhao Xu's expression darkened.

Seeing this, Chang Wei asked: "Your Highness, what is wrong?"

Zhao Xu said: "This month, Zhou Yi has intermittently discovered that the merchants on several Merchant Ships have all died, but the ships were flying the flags of the Black Shark Sea Bandits."

"Your Highness, this is someone trying to frame the Black Shark Sea Bandits." Chang Wei reacted immediately.

"You are right. These Merchant Ships belong either to the Franks or the people of Stedan. Clearly, someone wants to create more enemies for us." Zhao Xu narrowed his eyes.

"Hmph, if this wasn't done by the Eastern Japanese, it was done by the Qi people. They just suffered a crushing defeat and must be unwilling to accept it, wanting to cause us trouble." Chang Wei snorted.

Zhao Xu closed the document and paced back and forth a few times, "No matter who it is, we absolutely cannot let their conspiracy succeed, otherwise we will be stuck carrying this black pot forever."

Currently,

his primary goal is to resolve the internal chaos of Da Song, rather than pouring his energy into struggles with more external forces.

Although he will certainly go to war with the Xitu Guo over the issue of colonies in the future.

But for strategic considerations, he currently needs to handle his relationship with the Xitu Guo flexibly.

As far as he knows, the Eastern Japanese have been spreading word of his threat throughout the seas of Dongtu for some time.

He cannot let the Eastern Japanese continue to stir up trouble.

Furthermore, after the twenty-four Warships are launched, he also plans to expand the trade partners of Yanzhou.

With this black pot on his back, business will be impossible to conduct.

Thinking of this, he said to Chang Wei: "I will leave the matters here to you; this King needs to make a trip back to Yancheng."

Yan Wang's expression was serious, and Chang Wei knew this was no small matter, so he said: "Leaving it to this subordinate is fine."

Leaving Pingyuan City, Zhao Xu went straight back to Yancheng.

After arriving at the Wangfu, he immediately summoned the Court of Diplomatic Relations Envoy.

Before long, Dong An appeared in the study.

After returning from Jinling, Zhao Xu had originally wanted to let Dong An manage the Yan Commandery Trading Firm together with Yang He.

When they were not together, the two were quite close.

But when they were together, they often argued until their faces were red due to differing opinions.

Helpless, he decided to transfer Dong An directly to the Court of State Ceremonial to serve as the Court of Diplomatic Relations Envoy.

After all, Dong An was skilled at negotiating with merchants; sometimes diplomacy and business negotiations were not much different.

If Dong An could negotiate business well, there should be no problem with diplomacy.

"The matter of your Court of State Ceremonial extorting the powerful families last time was done well; this time there is another important matter to entrust to you." Zhao Xu said to Dong An.

Because there was little interaction between Yanzhou and other forces, the affairs of the Court of State Ceremonial were few.

Aside from going to the Government Academy to attend lectures every day, the officials spent their time drinking tea and chatting at the Government Office.

Dong An had long been bored to the point of discomfort during this time, and upon hearing this, he immediately became excited, "What matter does Your Highness intend to entrust to this subject?"

Zhao Xu said: "This King wants you to take some officials out to sea, head to Malka City in Yizhou to explain the incident of the attacked Merchant Ships, and afterwards, make contact with the people of Sam Country, the British, and the Franks to probe their bottom line."

Having said that, he explained the matter of someone framing the Black Shark Sea Bandits.

Dong An nodded, "This is truly a difficult task, but this subject will do his utmost to give Your Highness a satisfactory result."

He was a restless person who did not like a life as dull as water; this task did not scare him, but rather suited his tastes.

Zhao Xu patted his shoulder, his expression grave: "This task is not only difficult but will also involve life-threatening danger; you must think clearly, it is not too late to regret it now."

"Your Highness underestimates this subject. Rather than staying in the Court of State Ceremonial and growing weeds from boredom, this subject would rather go to the crest of the waves to ride the tide. Besides, going to sea has always been this subject's wish." Dong An rubbed his large belly, "This subject also wants to go out and see the world."

Zhao Xu showed a satisfied expression, and he said: "I will have Zhou Yi dispatch two Warships to escort you along the way. This mission of yours is very important; it basically counts as the first formal diplomacy of Yanzhou."

"This King needs you to resolve this framing while stabilizing the Xitu Guo to prevent them from overly intervening in the affairs of Da Song."

"When negotiating with them, you must carefully judge their attitude toward Great Song and record it; in this way, this Prince will be able to determine who can be won over and who will be our mortal enemy."

Upon hearing this, Dong An made a mental note and replied in the affirmative.

Then, he gave Dong An some of the bottom lines for Yanzhou.

He let him weigh these during negotiations, and furthermore ordered him to use both soft and hard tactics, with no need to be servile.

After all, he was unwilling to provoke a war, but that did not mean he feared the nations of the Western Lands.

The thirty-six Warships of the Yanzhou Navy were his source of confidence.

If they insisted on being his enemy, then there would be no other way; he would have no choice but to fight.

After all, these colonists did not come to Dongtu to perform acts of kindness.

Did the contemporary Great Qing not want to be on good terms with the various nations? But in reality, no one was willing.

The Great Powers only wanted to bleed them dry and eat their flesh; sometimes, only by hurting them will they be willing to come to the negotiating table.