Chapter 719: The Visitor Means No Good

"If Your Majesty thinks this way, you have misunderstood His Highness the Yan Wang. These sailing warships are not meant to show off before Wu; they are merely for display. On the warships currently overseas, there are full sets of blueprints for sailing warships, which can be gifted to Your Majesty at any time," Sun Zheng said slowly.

"What?" Liang Kai could not believe his ears.

"Your Majesty heard correctly, the blueprints for the sailing warships," Sun Zheng emphasized once more.

Liang Kai's eyes darted around, and he chuckled softly, "Pies never fall from the sky. The Yan Wang sending such a large pie certainly isn't out of kindness. Speak, what exactly do you want to do?"

"His Highness hopes the Liang Family will not be deceived by the Dongying and the Westerners. Their ultimate goal is to swallow the territory of the Great Song; the confrontation between Wu and the Imperial Court will only benefit them," Sun Zheng said. "If Yanzhou falls, Wu will not escape the fate of destruction either. Do not forget, the British once wanted to invade Wu, and the Dongying also eye Wu covetously."

Liang Kai's brows knitted together.

He naturally knew that the Dongying and the British had ill intentions, but for Wu at this moment, the most profound crisis came from the Yan Wang.

Therefore, he had decided to join the Eastern Land Alliance.

Thus, he sneered, "In any case, if I am not destroyed by you, the Yan Wang, then I will be destroyed by the Dongying and the British. Since that is the case, why can my Wu not join the Eastern Land Alliance and destroy the Yan Wang first?"

After a pause, he continued, "Since the Yan Wang is so righteous, why does he drive us power-clans to extinction and press us step by step? If he wants us dead, he cannot blame us for joining hands with outsiders to deal with him."

When Sun Zheng came to Wu, he had long anticipated the various challenges Liang Kai would pose to him.

He said, "Your Majesty is wrong there. It seems it was you power-clans who formed the Anti-Yan Alliance, attempting to destroy my Yanzhou, but it was resolved by His Highness. Could it be that you can strike His Highness, but not allow His Highness to strike you back?"

Liang Kai choked, and he glared fiercely at Sun Zheng, "You certainly have a glib tongue. Regardless, I have decided to join this Eastern Land Alliance, and today, a batch of steamships and sailing warships from Tianzhu will dock at my Lincheng Wharf. From now on, your Yanzhou troops can forget about crossing the Jiujiang."

Sun Zheng's eyes narrowed. That day, the Yan Wang had told him many things, including the British steamships docked in Tianzhu.

According to the Yan Wang, the speed of the steamships was very fast.

They could travel twenty-four kilometers in half an hour, and five hundred seventy-six kilometers in a day and night, nearly six hundred kilometers.

Even deducting the time for docking and resupply, it would only take ten days from Tianzhu to Lincheng.

During their chat, the Yan Wang's greatest concern was the British steamships entering the Jiujiang to block the advance of the Yan Wang's troops to the south.

After all, steamships could travel upstream without needing wind power.

While sailing warships had to rely on wind power to enter inland rivers.

Even so, they were not as flexible as steamships.

Unexpectedly, this matter had happened after all.

It was no wonder His Highness the Yan Wang had ordered the Prince's Personal Army to slow their advance.

Otherwise, if they crossed the river only to have their retreat cut off by the Eastern Land Alliance's fleet, it would be troublesome.

After all, fighting a war required food, fodder, and ammunition supplies.

Especially ammunition supplies.

"Then I must congratulate Your Majesty. It seems the blueprints for the sailing warships are not meant for Wu, and the crucible steel technology is also not meant for Wu," Sun Zheng said with a look of resignation. "Since His Highness has chosen to fight, then my Yanzhou will accompany you to the end."

Having said that, Sun Zheng turned to leave.

"Wait!" Liang Feng immediately called out to Sun Zheng and walked quickly to his front, "What is this crucible steel technology?"

"Simply put, the steel refined using a crucible is like water. The artillery and muskets made from it are tougher, which can greatly increase the range and power of the artillery and muskets," Sun Zheng said.

Liang Kai's eyes darted around; he was not a foolish man.

He chose to see Sun Zheng because he smelled an opportunity to play both sides.

He joined the Eastern Land Alliance for self-preservation, but he had no desire to continue fighting the Yan Wang.

Living in Jiangnan and ruling the land divided by the river with the Yan Wang was the result he wanted.

However, he was very clear that the Dongying and the British would certainly urge him to go to war.

This was the price of joining the Eastern Land Alliance.

In fact, what he hoped for most was to drift between the Yan Wang and the Eastern Land Alliance, using the Yan Wang to balance the Eastern Land Alliance, and using the Eastern Land Alliance to balance the Yan Wang.

And in order to win him over, both sides would offer him benefits.

Only then could Wu become strong.

Now, Sun Zheng was clearly bringing the Yan Wang's goodwill.

Thus he said, "Up to now, you still haven't said what the Yan Wang actually wants my Wu to do."

"It is very simple. His Highness hopes that Wu will pay tribute to the Imperial Court; in this way, the two sides can cease hostilities," Sun Zheng said loudly.

"Pay tribute?" Liang Kai shook his head; this was absolutely impossible. "This is equivalent to betraying the Eastern Land Alliance and also betraying the power-clans. My Wu would have no place to be buried."

After thinking for a moment, he said, "However, I can write a letter to His Highness. As long as His Highness's troops do not cross the Jiujiang, my Wu will absolutely not dance with the Eastern Land Alliance to crusade against His Highness. How about that?"

"That is acceptable. However, we can only give Wu the blueprints for the sailing warships; the blueprints for the crucible steel will not be given for the time being, unless within two years, Wu can keep its promise," Sun Zheng said.

The Yan Wang saying that Wu should pay tribute was only one of their asking prices.

If Wu did not agree, they would have to settle for the next best thing.

Their most important goal was to make Wu sway back and forth between Yanzhou and the Eastern Land Alliance, rather than leaning completely toward the Eastern Land Alliance.

And two years was enough to clear away the interference of external forces, or perhaps even less than two years.

"This... very well," Liang Kai hesitated for a moment before saying.

Just by looking at the warships of Yanzhou, he was already hooked—he dreamed of letting Wu possess such warships.

Therefore, he was very eager for the blueprints of the sailing warships.

Of course, he also wanted to obtain the crucible steel technology.

It was just that the Yan Wang was very shrewd and would not release the hawk until he saw the rabbit.

If his Wu violated the promise, this crucible steel technology would naturally not be obtained.

And having only sailing warships was clearly not enough; without sufficiently excellent artillery, they would also suffer a great loss in naval battles.

Having settled this matter, Liang Kai immediately went to the study, wrote a letter, stamped it with the seal of Wu, and handed it to Sun Zheng.

Sun Zheng did not linger; he took the letter and prepared to return to Yanzhou to report.

Boarding the warship, the fleet was preparing to set sail.

It was then that Gong Ying, who was responsible for escorting Sun Zheng, suddenly picked up a telescope to look toward the south.

Through the Telescope, columns of smoke rose from the sea surface in the south.

Beneath the smoke columns were Steamships, one after another.

Behind the Steamships were Sailing Warships being towed.

There were twelve such Steamships in total.

"Is this a Steamship?" With a grave expression, Gong Ying slowly lowered the Telescope.

Immediately, he ordered the Warship to set sail.

Once he returned to Yanzhou, he would report this news to the Imperial Court.