Chapter 783: New Developments

Gugongcheng.

When the Beitiao father and son were having an audience with Zhao Xu in Yancheng.

A samurai hurried to the Domain Lord Mansion and said a few words to Ono Zhen.

Upon hearing this, Ono Zhen's expression darkened.

At this moment, he was discussing the future of the Luzhong Domain with members of the Ono Clan.

"Everyone, the Beitiao father and son have already set off for Yanzhou with heavy gifts; we cannot continue to hesitate. I have seen the Steam Industry of Yanzhou with my own eyes. If the Beitiao Clan gains the support of Yan Wang, in just half a year, he will possess an army invincible in Dongying, not to mention that Yan Wang will provide them with convenience in every way," Ono Zhen said sternly.

In the great hall, twelve core members of the Ono Clan sat kneeling opposite Ono Zhen, looking at one another.

Ono Zhen's younger brother, Ono Heimu, said: "The Beitiao Clan and our Ono Clan have always been at odds. If we let them grow stronger, will there still be any good days for our Ono Clan? We cannot delay any longer; we must also go to Yanzhou immediately to pay respects to Yan Wang and obtain the same support."

"That's right. During this time, the Domain Lords of the North Territory have been quite dissatisfied with Watanabe. Yan Wang plundered the North, yet Watanabe has only cared about his own southern domains, ignoring our North. Why should we continue to follow such a heartless person?" another person said.

These words resonated with the others, and they nodded one after another.

One person added: "It is said that Yan Wang left a fleet at Wufeng Island to patrol the Dongying coast. From now on, Dongying is a bird in a cage locked by Yan Wang; how much longer can Watanabe stir up trouble?"

"Well said. Moreover, Yan Wang's army keeps harassing the south, and Watanabe is overwhelmed. Even if we declare independence, they will have no heart to attend to us."

"..."

Everyone spoke one after another, basically agreeing with the idea of going to Yanzhou for an audience.

Of course, the most important reason for this was the Beitiao Clan.

Secondly, it was the dissatisfaction with Watanabe.

The next day, Ono Zhen boarded a Merchant Ship and set off for Yanzhou, carrying heavy gifts.

People from the Zhida Jia and Maoli clans had been restless ever since returning from Yanzhou, hesitating between having an audience with Yan Wang and continuing to follow Watanabe.

But when news of the Beitiao and Ono clans heading to Yanzhou arrived one after another, they could no longer sit still.

If these two large northern domains rose to power, they would inevitably devour the smaller domains.

Once the small domains between them and those two were devoured, it would be their turn.

Having seen Yan Wang's strength, they knew in their hearts that Watanabe could not protect them, so they also headed to Yanzhou one after another to seek support.

Yanzhou.

The Beitiao father and son stayed in Yanzhou for two days before returning to Dongying.

Zhao Xu gave the two an order to deliver to Zhou Yi, commanding Zhou Yi to withdraw two thousand marine soldiers from Wufeng Island to be stationed in Andong City.

From now on, the stationed troops would rotate every two years to prevent the soldiers from being too homesick, and at the same time, the soldiers stationed overseas would be given some military pay subsidies; this portion of the subsidy would naturally be paid by the Beitiao Clan.

Having received the order, the Beitiao father and son returned with profuse thanks.

Accompanying them were merchants from the Yanzhou Trading Firm.

Ever since taking over Gaoli, the merchants of the firm had tasted the benefits and attached increasing importance to overseas interests.

As soon as troops were deployed to Dongying, they set their sights on it, running to Yang He's house one by one, asking Yang He to visit the Prince's Mansion more often to bring up trade terms regarding Dongying.

Now that the Yutian Domain had agreed, they went impatiently; after all, the first to eat meat gets the soup, and the third only gets to lick the bowl.

Moreover, the merchants who joined the trading firm needed to share their profits with the Prince's Mansion, making them official merchants.

Therefore, Zhao Xu let them be.

Once they opened up the market, it would not be too late for private merchants to go; after all, the first to eat crab also takes the greatest risk.

Several days after the Beitiao father and son left, Ono Zhen arrived in Yanzhou, followed by Oda Shanze and Maoli Yousheng.

The four Domain Lords arrived one after another, and Zhao Xu was satisfied.

Originally, he thought he had only incited one of the four domains, but the result was that all four were in place.

Facing the three Domain Lords, he simply gave them the same conditions he had given the Beitiao Clan.

Whether to agree or not was their own choice.

Learning that the Beitiao father and son had accepted everything, they naturally had no reason to refuse.

Upon learning that the Beitiao father and son had requested that Yan Wang station troops, they made the same request.

They were not fools; having Yan Wang's troops stationed within their domain was equivalent to guaranteeing the safety of their domain.

In the future, their original domains would be their capital, and no one could touch the other's original domain.

As for how many small domains they could annex, that depended on their own abilities, and they could only fight each other on the lands of other domains.

Regarding this, they were also very satisfied.

It was like four people in a village; no one could touch the other's old house.

As for fighting over other houses in the village, no matter how badly one was beaten, at most they would lose the houses they had seized and could retreat to their old house to recover, without damaging their foundation.

After another month of tossing about, the Ono, Zhida, and Maoli clans each returned to Dongying.

Zhao Xu likewise ordered Zhou Yi to dispatch one thousand garrison troops to them.

Immediately, he ordered the Armament Department to produce Smoothbore Guns.

The quality of Smoothbore Guns made of Converter Steel could withstand more Black Gunpowder, allowing the Smoothbore Guns to reach their peak range.

Equipping Domain Lords like Beitiao with such Smoothbore Guns was enough to deal with Watanabe.

As for Field Artillery, he only needed to provide them with Grey Cast Iron Cannon; with the current industrial level of Yanzhou, he could also make Wrought Iron Cannon reach peak levels.

After all, during the Opium War, most of Britain's Artillery were still Wrought Iron Cannon.

Most importantly, with the support of the Steam Industry, the cost of producing these two types of firearms had been greatly reduced.

Selling them to Domain Lords like Beitiao would allow the Armament Department to earn rich profits.

Thus, the Armament Department would no longer be just a money-pit, but could slowly transform into a major profit-maker.

"Once the Beitiao, Ono, Zhida, and Maoli clans receive the firearms and train their armies, Dongying will see a reshuffling of power. I would like to see how Watanabe hides then; at that time, without wasting a single soldier or horse, Dongying can be made to submit to the feet of the Great Song."

The situation in Dongying was completely under control, and that day, Zhao Xu called for Chang Wei.

After briefly speaking with him about Dongying, he handed him a piece of intelligence.

He did not call Chang Wei here this time for the sake of Dongying, but for the matter of the southern expedition.

Xu Ke sent intelligence that during the time he was dealing with Dongying, Britain seemed to have shifted the focus of its support from Dongying to Wu.

Presumably, Britain also understood that Dongying was beyond saving.

Therefore, the British Governor Bolt met with the Frankish Governor Markwen, and made this news public.

It seemed they reached a consensus on some issues, or perhaps there was an exchange of interests.

Afterwards, firearms from the Western Lands entered Jinzhou, which was controlled by Wu—that is, modern-day Guangxi—via Jiaozhi.

The number of Mercenaries mingling in Wu also increased from eight thousand to twenty thousand.

This situation actually surprised him a little; Frank and Britain were old rivals in the Western Lands, so Britain must have cut off quite a bit of meat to give to Frank to win their support.

However, this also showed from another perspective that Britain would not let the matter rest.

After all, a dignified superpower had one of its fleets destroyed by him, and it was impossible for them to swallow this insult.

And for Zhao Xu, it became even more necessary to take Jiangnan as quickly as possible; otherwise, this Jiangnan would always become a bleeding wound for Great Song, being stabbed from time to time by Xitu Guo.