Chapter 734: Defection

"From now on, the export of goods to Yanzhou will also be smoother. Of course, the population of Gaoli is also quite good," Zhao Xu thought to himself.

Laying railways and infrastructure are, after all, bitter and tiring work.

Rather than having the people of Great Song build them, it is better to get some cheap labor from Gaoli to do it; at that time, only provide food, not Silver.

He believed that as long as he brought it up, the King of Gaoli would certainly be very happy to send him a batch of people.

This is the treatment of a suzerain state.

However, how the situation in Gaoli will change remains to be seen.

In the following days, Zhao Xu continued to be busy with various government affairs, while simultaneously participating in the research and construction of various machinery with the Research Institute.

Of course, it was also a matter of waiting.

And at this time, the atmosphere between Gaoli and Dongying became increasingly tense.

Rang City, Royal Palace.

At this moment, the Dongying envoy stood in the great hall, his face fierce.

Throwing the declaration of war in his hand onto the ground, the Dongying envoy said loudly: "King of Gaoli, our Great General demands that you return the captured Dongying fishermen within six days, otherwise we will launch a war against Gaoli. You decide for yourselves!"

On the throne.

Hearing this, the King of Gaoli was so frightened that his face turned deathly pale.

At the same time, he was also furious, wishing he could kill the Dongying envoy before him.

Pointing at the Dongying envoy, he said tremblingly: "During this period, I have already ordered Gaoli officials to investigate clearly; we have not captured your fishermen at all. You are slandering us."

The Dongying envoy sneered, "You Gaoli people are truly good at quibbling. Could our fishermen fly? But no amount of quibbling is useful. Since you do not admit it, our army will find them on your territory."

Having said that, the Dongying envoy laughed and left.

The King of Gaoli dared not stop him, fearing that it would cause even greater trouble, so he could only break his teeth and swallow them into his stomach.

After the Dongying envoy left, the King of Gaoli looked at the gathered Gaoli ministers, his face sorrowful, and he said: "My dear ministers, what... what is going on? Why are the Dongying people suddenly making things difficult for our Gaoli, refusing to let it go, and now they actually want to use force against our Gaoli!"

Left State Councilor Yin Boming said: "Your Majesty, the Dongying people are simply being unreasonable. These are all excuses; they just want to attack our Gaoli, nothing more! Now that Dongying has declared war, we must prepare to meet the enemy."

Right State Councilor Li Wancheng nodded, "Your Majesty, we must now seek aid from Northern Di, to let the Dongying people understand that attacking our Gaoli will come at a price. The great Northern Di will not allow them to set foot on the territory of Gaoli."

The King of Gaoli nodded. Historically, Dongying had attacked Gaoli several times.

Toward Dongying, they had always been both hateful and fearful.

But ever since they became a vassal state of Northern Di, they had never worried about this matter again.

Because he believed that the Dongying people would certainly not dare to provoke Northern Di.

Thus, he said to Li Wancheng, "Since that is the case, you shall go to Northern Di and personally ask Khan Mule Hongzhen for help. Tell him that the situation in Gaoli is critical, and soon the Dongying army will set foot on the land of Gaoli."

"Yes,

Your Majesty." Li Wancheng nodded. He had the closest relationship with Northern Di, and whenever major matters were involved, he often went personally.

In his triumph, he cast a provocative look at Yin Boming.

The meaning was that at critical moments, one still had to rely on him.

Having decided on this matter, the King of Gaoli looked dejected and announced the end of the court session.

The Gaoli ministers left one by one, and Yin Boming returned to his mansion with a trace of gloom.

If Northern Di saved Gaoli this time, Li Wancheng's status in Gaoli would be even higher.

While thinking this, he had just stepped into the doorway when he suddenly heard a sound of piercing through the air.

An arrow landed right at his feet, with a note tied to the arrowhead.

Picking up the note and glancing at it, Yin Boming's expression changed slightly.

Immediately, he ordered someone to bring an oil lamp and burned the paper until nothing remained.

Then, he acted as if nothing had happened, ate, and went to sleep.

At midnight.

He suddenly opened his eyes and quietly went to the side room.

At this time, someone was waiting for him inside.

"I didn't expect you to be a man of Yan Wang." Sitting down in front of the visitor, Yin Boming's gaze was sharp, "Are you not afraid that I will kill you?"

Chai Wu looked at Yin Boming with a smile: "If you wanted to kill me, you wouldn't have let the Steward dismiss the guards and let me in."

"Hahaha..." Yin Boming laughed upon hearing this, "You are truly a smart person; no wonder even Li Wancheng speaks highly of you."

"You flatter me, you flatter me." Chai Wu's expression remained unchanged.

Ever since Gaoli secretly began trading with Yanzhou, he had long used Li Wancheng's trust to build an intelligence network for the Four Courts in Gaoli.

Including within the Royal City of Gaoli, he also had his informants.

He even cooperated with the Yan Prefecture Chamber of Commerce to bribe a large group of Gaoli merchants.

After all, merchants willing to cooperate with them could more easily obtain Yanzhou goods.

Merchants are profit-driven, so naturally, some were willing to work for him.

Of course, they had also given Yin Boming plenty of generous gifts.

The purpose was to win him over.

During his time under Li Wancheng, he discovered that Li Wancheng was stubborn and obstinate, regarding the Northern Di people as his own parents, and would absolutely never betray them.

But Yin Boming was different; this person only wanted to use Northern Di and was resentful of Li Wancheng's relationship with Gaoli.

Most importantly, he was also a typical fence-sitter.

When things were unfavorable to him, he would even set aside his dignity to curry favor with Li Wancheng.

Therefore, as long as he was given enough benefits, it was not impossible to make him betray Gaoli.

So he said: "Actually, I came here this time to save the life of the Left State Councilor."

"Oh? What do you mean by that?" Yin Boming frowned.

Chai Wu continued, "The matter of Dongying declaring war on Gaoli is not merely the desire of Dongying itself, but a conspiracy of the entire Eastern Land Alliance. Soon, hundreds of thousands of troops will land in Gaoli. Does Lord Left State Councilor believe that, relying on Gaoli's soldiers and horses, you can withstand the army of the Eastern Land Alliance?"

"What!" Yin Boming was greatly shocked; he had thought this was merely bullying of Gaoli by Dongying, and had not expected it to involve the Eastern Land Alliance.

He had also only just heard of this alliance, which seemed to have been established to deal with Yan Wang.

It included the Eastern Japanese, the powerful clans of Great Song, and two countries from the Western Lands.

If it were just the Dongying invasion, they could still put up a fight, but if this Eastern Land Alliance were to attack Gaoli, how could they possibly resist?

Thinking of this, his face turned ashen.

Immediately, he pointed at Chai Wu and said, "You are lying. Why would they want to attack my Gaoli? What exactly is your purpose?"

Chai Wu said, "Whether I am lying or not, you will know once the Dongying army sets foot on your territory. However, whether Lord Left State Councilor will still be alive by then is unclear."

"I will certainly survive. With Northern Di there, what does it matter how many troops they bring?" Yin Boming said, his hands trembling slightly as he used Northern Di to bolster his courage.