Chapter 712: The Strategy of Delaying Tactics

"Yes, Your Highness." Wang Ying stroked the howitzer.

After staying at the Armaments Department for a while, Zhao Xu returned to the Prince's Mansion.

Next, he summoned Sun Zheng, the Vice Director of the Court of State Ceremonial.

This Sun Zheng was a student of the Government Academy who had topped the examination for selecting officials for the Court of State Ceremonial and was chosen as Vice Director to assist Dong An.

After Dong An went south, he had been managing all the affairs of the Court of State Ceremonial.

Thinking of Dong An, Zhao Xu's brows knitted together.

Quite some time had passed since Dong An left, and there had been no news of whether he was dead or alive.

His father, Dong Yuan, was so worried that he could neither eat nor sleep, and had come to see him several times.

In the end, both would sigh, and Dong Yuan would leave wiping away tears, leaving him in a heavy mood.

But this was unavoidable; the Great Song's exploration of the seas had started too late.

So much so that the seas of Dongtu were dominated by the warships and Privateer Ships of the Westerners.

Even Dongying had previously held more extensive control over the oceans than the Great Song.

It was not until he established the Yanzhou Navy that this situation changed.

However, the southern seas of Dongtu remained a paradise for colonists.

Pushing this matter to the back of his mind for now, he said to Sun Zheng: "I need you to make a trip to Wu. Tell them I do not wish to see Wu fall into the traps of Dongying and the Westerners, becoming enemies with each other, and that I am willing to turn hostility into friendship."

"As long as Wu is willing to submit to the Imperial Court and stop moving south, to show my sincerity, I am willing to gift the blueprints for Sailing Warships to Wu."

Upon hearing this, Sun Zheng was greatly astonished and said: "Does Your Highness not wish to unify the world anymore?"

Although he was only an official of the Court of State Ceremonial, every student in the Government Academy knew that Yan Wang's ambition was to clear away the Rich Clans of the world and let the common people live and work in peace.

Now that Yan Wang suddenly wanted to compromise with the powerful clans, it shook his convictions, and he could not help but tremble.

Zhao Xu shook his head and said: "You are overthinking it. It is just that some situations have arisen, and we must endure for now and adopt some strategies to avoid letting foreign nations intervene in the internal chaos of the Great Song."

Having said that, he told Sun Zheng about the Eastern Land Alliance and other matters; after all, if he was to send him to Wu, he had to let him understand these things.

"So that is how it is." Sun Zheng breathed a sigh of relief. "In that case, Your Highness is doing this to win over Wu, to prevent it from leaning entirely toward Dongying and the Westerners, and to make them think they can profit from both sides and remain neutral. In this way, you can focus on dealing with Dongying, the Northern Di, and the Western forces."

"Exactly." Zhao Xu looked toward the south.

He was waiting for a turning point, and that turning point was the launch of the Shipbuilding Department's steamship.

As long as he had a steamship, he could cut off the contact between Dongying, the Westerners, and the Great Song.

At that time, he could turn around and focus on dealing with Wu.

But before that, he had to lull Wu into a false sense of security to prevent them from ordering their Navy to join the Westerners' warships in encircling the Yanzhou Navy after joining the Eastern Land Alliance.

After all, it was very likely that Britain would send Sailing Warships towed by steamships to join the battle.

If several forces joined together,

it would be no small trouble.

"This subject understands. This trip to Wu will certainly not fail Your Highness's expectations," Sun Zheng said.

Zhao Xu outlined some bottom lines for Sun Zheng, then told him to go to Leting and take a Navy Warship to Wu.

This was for convenience, and also to demonstrate the strength of the Yanzhou Navy to intimidate Wu.

In this way, when Wu cooperated with Sam and the British, they would be more hesitant.

Having settled this matter, Sun Zheng bowed and left.

Zhao Xu then went to the Steam Engine Workshop.

During this time, he had been working with Wang Chong to promote the construction of the steam locomotive.

Now, it was just one final step away, and Yanzhou's steam locomotive would be born.

Once the railway was laid to connect the important cities within the Great Song, allowing various mineral resources to be imported into Yanzhou, Yanzhou's industry would take off even further.

Of course, most importantly, he would be able to expand the Great Song's sphere of influence through the extension of the railway.

After all, he had just received intelligence that Wulanba had returned from Ross.

He was currently having Xu Ke probe for information to understand what agreement Wulanba had reached with Ross.

Lincheng.

At the same time Zhao Xu was giving Sun Zheng his mission, Liang Kai was feasting with the ministers of Wu.

However, besides the ministers of Wu, there was also a man from Sam at the banquet.

Liang Kai toasted him from time to time, his face full of pride.

While the fighting in Jiangbei was in full swing, the man from Sam arrived in Lincheng, bringing news that excited the entire state of Wu.

They were willing to mediate the conflict between Wu and Britain.

Although Wu had been preparing to resist the British during this time,

that was a precaution they had to take after learning that Britain was going to attack Wu.

Deep down, they did not want to have a conflict with Britain at all.

After all, the court of Wu understood what a powerful existence Britain was.

If they fought Britain, they would not win, and they would lose their maritime trade routes, suffering a blow to their commerce.

Therefore, they were naturally happy about this mediation by Sam.

Afterward, the man from Sam proposed the Eastern Land Alliance and demanded that Wu join it to unite against Yan Wang.

Currently, in Jiangbei, the three Rich Clans were retreating steadily, and he naturally felt the threat.

He was also tempted by this matter.

However, realizing that Dongying, the man from Sam, and the British all seemed to have requests of Wu and were trying to win him over,

he took the opportunity to demand the northern part of Yizhou, allowing Wu to obtain the greatest benefit.

Therefore, these past few days, he had been in an exceptionally good mood.

The crisis had dissipated, and his Wu had even unexpectedly gained quite a few benefits.