Chapter 643: The Edo Incident

Dongying.

Watanabe and Masho Taro were at the Edogawa, north of Edo, looking toward the Sailing Warships currently under construction.

The moment he learned that Yan Wang of Dayan possessed Sailing Warships, he had ordered this news to be sent to the British.

After confirming the facts, the British finally agreed to help Dongying build Sailing Warships.

Three months ago, the British sent the first batch of personnel to arrive in Dongying, and the construction of the Sailing Warships was officially put on the agenda.

For this, he gathered all the shipbuilders in Dongying, but the British were only willing to build eighteen warships for Dongying at the same time.

He understood that the British were using the same policy of balance they employed in the Western Lands on him and Yan Wang of Dayan.

While using him to contain Yan Wang, they also did not wish for Dongying to grow strong and threaten their interests in Dongtu.

"It will take another ten months for these warships to be launched; it is truly agonizing." Masho Taro tucked his hands into his sleeves and shook his head slightly.

He was somewhat impatient.

Watanabe's expression dimmed; just as Masho Taro said, the construction time for the warships was too long.

It was just that the current war was coming too quickly, leaving them no time for leisurely waiting.

Once they participated in the alliance to crusade against Yan Wang, they would only be able to engage in a decisive battle at sea against Yan Wang's navy with their current warships.

Of course, he had also thought about delaying this war until Dongying's Sailing Warships were launched.

However, he was also worried that Yan Wang was building more warships.

Therefore, his thinking was the same as the powerful clans of Dayan: they could not give Yan Wang any more time for stable development.

They had to strike Yan Wang immediately and not give him a chance to catch his breath.

Moreover, if this maritime alliance could succeed.

Eight Sailing Warships, combined with Dongying's three hundred warships, would be enough to destroy Yan Wang's fleet.

Once Yan Wang's fleet was destroyed and the Sailing Warships were launched, their Dongying would rule the seas of Dongtu.

"Everything beautiful is worth waiting for." Watanabe looked toward the dark clouds surging in from the east.

The river wind was biting; a heavy snow was likely about to fall.

"The General is always so poetic," Masho Taro flattered.

With the increase in contact with Western nations, Watanabe had also been deeply influenced by them in recent years; he often studied books sent from the Western Lands and had become increasingly refined.

Then, he said, "General, I have ordered eighty thousand Dongying soldiers to prepare. If we can defeat Yan Wang's fleet in the naval battle, these eighty thousand soldiers will land on the territory of Qi and fight alongside the soldiers of Qi to eliminate Yan Wang."

Watanabe nodded; this was a matter he had instructed Masho Taro to do.

Ever since the establishment of the Qingcheng Trading House, a massive amount of intelligence had been sent to the Edo Shogunate.

Through this intelligence, he could almost feel the threat of Yan Wang rushing toward him.

The Flintlock with a range of one hundred and fifty meters, the Hot Air Balloon flying in the sky, and commodities full of the industrial flavor of the Western Lands like Soap and Glass were all telling him:

This Yan Wang, for Dongying,

was extremely dangerous.

He never worried about the powerful clans of Dayan.

Because even if these powerful clans were as wealthy as a nation and had many soldiers and generals, they lacked endless innovations in craftsmanship.

On the contrary, judging from Yan Wang's development, the level of firearms in Yanzhou was constantly improving, and the variety of commodities was increasing.

This explained one problem: the various crafts in Yanzhou were constantly climbing and currently surpassed those of Dongying.

But as it stood now, this transcendence was not yet too far, and fortunately, the territory controlled by Yan Wang was small, and the population under his command was few.

If they could not eliminate Yan Wang while in such a period, then in the future, the only one to be eliminated would be Dongying.

Therefore, he had almost agreed to all of Qi's demands; after the news of the alliance arrived, he had chosen to join with almost no hesitation.

This was to do everything possible to destroy Yan Wang before he could threaten the territory of Dongying.

"The construction of the Fort at the port cannot be relaxed either; we must consider every possibility," Watanabe said. If they were defeated at sea, they had to guard against Yan Wang launching an attack on the Dongying mainland.

Thus, he had Masho Taro prepare in advance.

As the two were speaking, a Dongying official walked over, "General, a Merchant Ship from Sam Country requests to enter Edo port to meet with the General."

"Sam Country." Watanabe frowned.

In recent years, this Sam Country had constantly come to Dongying via the eastern route, hoping to establish trade relations with Dongying.

But he had chosen to refuse every time.

Because according to his understanding, the current British were suppressing Sam Country on a global scale.

Befriending Sam Country would only provoke the anger of the British.

This time, the British were gathering warships from their homeland, preparing to launch a war against the Wu established by the Liang Family.

Besides the huge trade deficit, another factor was that the Liang Family was blinded by greed and had not refused trade with Sam Country.

"Do not see them." Thinking of this, Watanabe decided to execute his previous decision once again.

Having said that, he and Masho Taro returned to the Shogunate.

Just as he sat down, preparing to brew a cup of tea for himself, he suddenly heard the sound of rumbling cannons coming from the sea in the distance.

Watanabe's face changed drastically, and Masho Taro said, "General, this is bad. It must be that the people of Sam Country have lost their patience and are attempting to use force to compel Dongying to trade with them."

After gaining some understanding of the Western nations, he knew this was a tactic they habitually used.

Watanabe slammed the table and stood up abruptly, preparing to order the Dongying Navy to sortie.

But his eyes turned, and he sat back down.

After hesitating for a while, he said to Masho Taro, "Perhaps we should accept the request of Sam Country."

"Why?" Masho Taro was startled, "The British will surely resent us."

Watanabe shook his head, "No, the situation seems to have become different now. Compared to us in Dongying, whether it is the British or the people of Sam Country, they certainly do not want to see Dayan unified by Yan Wang."

"Otherwise, their colonies in Dongtu would be threatened, so they will certainly compete to win over our Dongying."

"Whoever loses us loses their bargaining chip against Yan Wang in Dongtu, so we can sway between Sam Country and the British to gain the greatest benefit, and perhaps even blackmail Yan Wang in the future."

Although this was only his judgment, he felt it was necessary to take a risk.

Otherwise, falling out with Sam Country was clearly not what he wanted.

Masho Taro pondered for a moment and slowly nodded, "Since that is the case, we can give it a try."

"Go to the Edo Pier immediately and invite the Sam Country envoy to the Shogunate," Watanabe An said upon hearing this.

Masho Taro nodded, stood up, and left; before long, the sound of cannon fire on the sea ceased.

About an hour later, Masho Taro led a Sam Country man wearing a black bowler hat, a black jacket, and leather boots into the Shogunate.

Watanabe An revealed a smile and ushered the Sam Country man into the room.

He would have Dongying formally establish trade relations with Sam Country.