Chapter 793: An Unexpected Joy

Latest website: A gust of wind blew by, and the smoke of gunpowder gradually dissipated.

The corpses of the Franks soldiers lay scattered across the battlefield, and the dust was stained red with blood.

After detaining a portion of the surrendered Franks soldiers, Pan Zhang came to Zhao Xu's side, "Your Highness, after interrogation, the Franks' surrender this time was indeed a conspiracy. They buried a large number of Gunpowder Barrels under the city gates and the roads inside the city, just waiting for us to enter the city to detonate them!"

"Damn it, not a single word from these Westerners can be trusted. It is fortunate that the Four Courts also have informants in Yizhou, otherwise we would all have died here. We shouldn't have saved this bastard in the first place!" Zhou Yi cursed upon hearing this.

Although the Franks' conspiracy had failed, he still broke out in a cold sweat.

If anything were to happen to Yan Wang here, he would surely be skinned alive upon his return.

Zhao Xu also had lingering fears, and he gave a bitter smile, "This King had already speculated about them with the greatest malice, but even so, this King still thought too highly of them. They are truly just a group of beast-like robbers."

After a pause, he continued: "However, you don't need to blame yourself for saving him. Times change; at that time, we needed Fei Wen's intelligence to divide the maritime alliance of Dongying, but now we are fighting for our own respective sides."

Sighing again, he said: "This incident is also a reminder to us. In the face of Westerners, we don't need to treat them with the mindset of benevolent gentlemen. They are merely barbarians draped in the cloak of civilization, ultimately fearing power but not cherishing virtue. Even so, one only needs to use guns and cannons to reason with them."

"Your Highness is absolutely right; these bastards just need a good lesson." Pan Zhang clenched his fists and looked at the corpses of the Franks, feeling a sense of vengeance.

For these past two hundred years, no one knows how many Song People have died at their hands.

This time, Yan Wang was calm and peaceful, allowing them to withdraw from Yizhou with dignity, but they refused.

Instead, they were so vicious, wishing to put Yan Wang to death; it is simply unforgivable.

Having figured out the Franks' conspiracy, Zhao Xu and the others naturally would not walk into the trap themselves.

Pan Zhang ordered a team of soldiers to use Scaling Ladders to climb the walls of the city of Malka and enter the city, avoiding the locations where the Franks had buried the Gunpowder Barrels.

According to the captives' confessions, there were still hundreds of soldiers in the city responsible for detonating the Gunpowder Barrels.

Not long after,

Bursts of gunfire and the sound of Hand Grenade explosions came from within Malka.

After about half an hour, the gunfire ceased, and Pan Zhang ordered another team of soldiers to enter through the main gate to dig up the Gunpowder Barrels and clear the hidden danger.

"Your Highness, you may enter the city." After another half hour, Pan Zhang trotted over to Zhao Xu.

Zhao Xu nodded and walked slowly into Malka with Zhou Yi.

Before entering the city, he glanced at Fei Wen's corpse.

He had been blown to death when the marine soldiers threw the Hand Grenades.

Fei Wen had wanted to scheme to kill him, never expecting that he and his soldiers would be wiped out in one fell swoop.

If they had held their ground and defended, perhaps the marines would have had to put in some effort to take Malka.

Entering Malka, Zhao Xu went straight to Fei Wen's Governor General's Office.

There were a large number of documents here, and looking at an open logbook on the desk, he picked it up to flip through it.

After reading only a few pages, a surge of anger rushed from the soles of his feet to the top of his head.

Slamming the logbook onto the table, he said: "Hmph, this King will one day trample your arrogance firmly underfoot."

Fei Wen's logbook was filled with derogatory terms for the Song People and overseas Song People, such as "piglets" and "yellow-skinned monkeys."

Between the lines, it was filled with the arrogance unique to Westerners.

The logbook also recorded his meetings with the Governor of Stedan, the Governor of Britain, and the Governor of Frank in Calcutta.

In his words, he stated, "I am personally very eager to join the Eastern Land Alliance, but that yellow-skinned monkey king, Yan Wang, is too ferocious; I can only temporarily submit to his lewd power, but my heart belongs to the Western world..."

Besides this, the logbook also revealed the purpose of this meeting.

The British Governor, Bolt, was lobbying countries with interests in the East to form an alliance to wipe him out together.

He even sent people from Tianzhu to Tibet to meet with the Northern Di and the Ross people; it can be called deep-seated planning.

While laying out plans for the East, Bolt had already requested the parliament to send reinforcements to Tianzhu to shift Britain's focus to the East.

"Your Western double standards truly have existed since ancient times. Since you say this King is ferocious, then this King will show you just how ferocious I can be." Zhao Xu's anger burned fiercely, "Pan Zhang, set up wooden stakes on the coast and hang all the corpses of the Franks on them."

Dong An had returned from the southern seas and said that the colonists in the Southern Region would kill the Song People who escaped from the farms and hang them on wooden stakes to show the public.

He would give them a taste of their own medicine!

"Yes, Your Highness." Pan Zhang glanced at the logbook; the characters were like tadpoles, and they couldn't recognize them at all.

How did Yan Wang understand it, and why was he so angry?

It was unclear what exactly the book said.

Pan Zhang left, and Zhao Xu flipped through other documents; at this moment, one document caught his attention.

This document mentioned that five days ago, a Merchant Ship loaded with Rubber Tree seeds arrived at the port of Malka, preparing to plant Rubber Trees in Southern Yizhou.

The document also mentioned that because Rubber had appeared in the Western Lands and had become increasingly prosperous in recent years, the natural rubber forests of the New Continent would gradually become insufficient.

The British had already taken the lead in planting Rubber Trees in the colonies near Malacca.

Furthermore, the Stedan people were also planting them in Yajia and the maritime islands they controlled.

They, the Franks, were not to be outdone and were preparing to cultivate rubber forests in Manila and Malka.

"Truly, I searched for it everywhere, only to find it without any effort," Zhao Xu muttered to himself.

At present, the industry in Yanzhou actually already had a demand for Rubber, such as for electric cables.

It was only because there was no Rubber that he could only use oilcloth for wrapping.

And as industry continues to progress, there will be more and more places that need Rubber.

When that time comes, Rubber will become a strategic resource that could be used to throttle him.

Now, having obtained this ship of Rubber Tree seeds, he could have his own rubber plantation in Yizhou.

Once Rubber Trees are planted, they can generally be tapped for rubber within five or six years.

This time is a bit long, but according to the document, the rubber plantations of the British and Stedan people in the East Land Southern Region were planted years ago and were already able to provide stable rubber sap.

Since the Western world has torn off the mask with him and wishes to destroy him, he naturally must take over the rubber plantations here.

However, his main energy right now is still on Jiangnan.

The scope of the war should not be spread too wide yet.

This is to avoid spreading forces too thin and suffering a major setback at any single point.

One should consolidate the fruits of victory already seized.

Therefore, he will not let the Navy continue south for the time being.

Furthermore, compared to Malka City, the East Land Southern Region is the old lair that the colonists have managed for two or three hundred years, and what they will face are seasoned Western Lands troops.

If the Navy and the Marine Corps go, they will inevitably be dragged there for a period of time.

Of course, most importantly, he needs the naval ships to coordinate with the Prince's Personal Army.

Passing through Jiujiang requires preventing attacks from the Wu Navy, which naturally necessitates an escort from the fleet.

Jiangnan has many mountains and waters; some strategic locations are easier to reach by waterway, which likewise requires the assistance of the Navy.