Chapter 779: Whale Swallowing

"Your Highness, how shall we deal with these two?" A Marine soldier kicked the two men in the knees, forcing them to kneel. Zhou Yi looked the two over and asked.

Zhao Xu looked toward the Beitiao father and son, and seeing the lingering unwillingness and a hint of fear in their eyes, he could not help but reveal a smile at the corners of his mouth.

"Bring them along to see for themselves how we conquer the various domains of the North," Zhao Xu said.

He did not intend to directly persuade the Beitiao father and son to declare independence and resist the Shogunate rule of Watanabe An.

Because sometimes words are pale; witnessing it with one's own eyes is more shocking.

The Battle of Andong must have already left a deep impression on the two.

Next, he would have the two board the Yanzhou Steamship and then have them go to Yancheng as prisoners to witness the Steam Industry of Yancheng.

These things would be more effective than a few short words.

Therefore, for the moment, he had no need to converse with the Beitiao father and son.

Ordering the Marine soldiers to take the two away, Zhao Xu gave the order to sack Andong City.

He intended to support the Northern Domain Lords in declaring independence, but he still had to continue the sacking.

This was equivalent to giving the Domain Lords a big stick, the same principle as the ancient practice of slaughtering a city to intimidate the opponent.

If they were to go all the way down the same path as Watanabe An, they had to be prepared for their other cities to be continuously sacked.

Secondly, the Eastern Japanese had stirred up internal chaos in Da Song, increasing the cost for him to unify Da Song; an Eastern Expedition to Dongying would be another huge expense.

He naturally had to put this Silver on the account of Dongying; looting was merely collecting a debt.

Besides wealth, he also had the Marine soldiers select the most robust young men and women from Andong City, waiting for Wang Yanzhong to transport them back to Da Song.

The population of Dongying was around three thousand; grabbing some young and strong people to go back and add bricks and tiles to the infrastructure of Da Song was also equivalent to paying off the debt they owed.

As for whether this would affect the strength of the Northern Domain Lords? This naturally would not.

Because Gong Ying was still continuing to harass the South.

And Andong City was merely one of the many cities within the territory of the Yutian Domain.

After lingering in Andong City for three days, Wang Yanzhong arrived.

This time he transported another thirty thousand young and strong people back, while the empty Slave Ships continued to follow the fleet to the Luzhong Domain.

Like the Yutian Domain, the Luzhong Domain was also a large Northern domain; the Domain Lord was Ono Zhen, and the Domain Lord Mansion was in Gugongcheng.

This was also a coastal city; after all, the territory of Dongying was narrow and long, and the interior was mountainous, so coastal cities were convenient whether for maritime trade or acting as sea pirates to rob on the sea.

It was no wonder that the large cities were along the coast.

"Woo woo...", the steam whistle sounded.

The fleet departed from Andong, rounded the northernmost tip of Dongying, and then headed south, arriving at the Luzhong Domain on the east coast of Dongying.

Along the way, the Beitiao father and son were detained on a Steamship.

During the voyage, they spent most of their time in the cabin, only occasionally being allowed on deck.

"Watanabe An really spent his whole life hunting birds, only to have his eyes pecked blind by a bird; he provoked a master he shouldn't have. This Da Song is truly not something Dongying can covet."

"

This day, the fleet was only a little over ten li away from Gugongcheng.

The Beitiao father and son were again allowed on deck, and looking at the fleet that stretched for several li in a straight line, Beitiao Chuanqing suddenly sighed.

Beitiao Cang nodded.

When they were first detained by the Yan Wang, the two still harbored hatred for Da Song in their hearts.

But after calming down, recalling the process of the Yan King Army attacking Andong City, and witnessing the Steamships that did not rely on wind power to sail, their hatred gradually turned into awe for the Yan Wang.

In front of the Yan Wang, they were simply like ants, liable to be crushed to death at any time.

"But what exactly does the Yan Wang want to do?" This was the point that puzzled Beitiao Cang the most.

The Yan Wang did not kill them, but instead kept them drifting on the sea; it was truly strange.

Beitiao Chuanqing also could not figure it out.

Shaking their heads, they could only continue to wait.

However, they immediately stopped thinking.

From afar, they caught sight of a city.

Seeing this city, especially the city tower at one corner of the city that looked like an awl, they were greatly shocked.

They immediately recognized this as Gugongcheng.

Thirty years ago, their neighboring Yutian and Luzhong domains were mortal enemies, with constant disputes for years.

When he was young, his father had once led an army to the foot of Gugongcheng, but in the end, he had returned in defeat.

So he had a deep impression of Gugongcheng.

Even now, the relationship between the people of the Beitiao family and the Ono Clan was extremely poor.

"Hehe, you Ono Clan won't be able to escape either." At this moment, Beitiao Chuanqing not only felt no worry for the Ono, but instead felt a sense of schadenfreude.

This was like the mentality between two people who did not get along when one suffered a disaster and the other suffered as well.

When the father and son looked toward Gugongcheng.

Zhao Xu and Zhou Yi were on the deck of the Leting Flagship, looking at the two on the deck of the Steamship in front.

Immediately, the two men's gazes turned toward Gugongcheng.

"Quick battle, quick decision!" Zhao Xu said to Zhou Yi.

Whatever the battle of Andong was like, this battle of Gugongcheng would be the same.

Zhao Xu was too lazy to get off the ship again and visit the battlefield in person.

Half an hour later, the fleet arrived at the Gugong Pier.

After a round of shelling, the Marines landed.

By evening, Pan Zhang sent back the news that Gugongcheng had been taken, and at the same time, Ono Zhen and a group of core members of the Ono Clan had been captured.

Immediately after, it was the looting of the wealth and young, able-bodied men of Gugongcheng.

After clearing out Gugongcheng, Pan Zhang had the people of the Ono Clan escorted onto the Steamship where the Beitiao were waiting.

Unlike the robust Beitiao Chuanqing, Ono Zhen was very short in stature.

When the two met, Ono Zhen was stunned for a moment, then sneered: "It seems there is someone even more disgraceful than my Ono Clan."

Beitiao Chuanqing said: "To use the words of the Great Song, you are merely the pot calling the kettle black; what is there to be proud of?"

The two snorted simultaneously and ignored each other thereafter.

This scene was seen by Zhao Xu, and he nodded secretly.

The intelligence from the Four Courts was indeed reliable; this Beitiao Head of the Family and the Ono Clan head truly did not get along.

Over the next month or so, he successively attacked the northern great clans of the Benjian Clan, the Zuozhu Clan, and the central Dongying great clans of the Nara Clan, the Yuanjiang Clan, the Junhe Clan, and the Fushan Clan.

However, because news of the Yanzhou Fleet attacking coastal cities spread simultaneously from both the south and the north.

Four of the heads of these six great clans had already fled before the attacks.

Only the Oda Clan head of the Nara Clan and the Maoli Clan head of the Yuanjiang Clan were captured.

But for Zhao Xu, this was enough.

Immediately, he ordered the fleet to return to Wufeng Island to unload the looted spoils.

In fact, during the attacks on central and northern Dongying, the Warships had been filled several times and had already traveled back and forth to Wufeng Island many times to unload cargo.

Otherwise, this attack would not have dragged on for over a month.

Wang Yanzhong was the same, having eaten his fill along with the fleet.

The Slave Ships came and went, transporting at least six hundred thousand young, able-bodied Dongying people to Yanzhou.

And upon returning to Wufeng Island, it was discovered that Gong Ying had also captured young, able-bodied people during this time and stockpiled them on the island.

Although the southern clans had prepared against them, the fleet was elusive and untraceable on the sea.

Coupled with the intelligence provided by the Four Courts' agents lurking in Dongying, they still managed to catch some who had slipped through the net.

This trip to Dongying could be described as a whale-like swallow; they had eaten their fill.