Chapter 701: Liaodong Port

Liaodong Port.

It is likely the most bustling place in Liaodong Commandery.

Likewise, it is also the place in all of Liaodong with the climate most suitable for human survival.

Because to the east of Liaodong Port lies the endless sea.

In summer, it is surprisingly cool here. In winter, it is unexpectedly warm.

However.

Despite this, there are not many people stationed at Liaodong Port.

In fact, there are no civilians living near this port, nor are there any commercial institutions.

There are only thirty thousand of the Liaodong Army.

The heavily guarded Liaodong Army lives within the fortress of the port, making it very difficult to approach.

What is even more surprising is that this Liaodong Port, known as a place of bitter cold, can handle a staggering number of ships. This port can accommodate hundreds of Merchant Ships entering, exiting, and docking at the same time. At this moment, over a dozen ships are docked near the pier.

Under the command and whips of some people, a group of men and women, looking like walking corpses, are boarding the ships.

"Hurry up, what are you dawdling for!"

"Can you move a little faster?"

"Crack!"

The eyes of these people have already become dull; although the whips land on their bodies, they have forgotten to dodge, perhaps because they have been tortured to the point of exhaustion, or perhaps they have lost the slightest hope for life.

They quicken their pace symbolically.

"Kind sir, kind sir, where are we going, where are we going..."

Naturally, there are still one or two outliers in the crowd, wailing as they ask.

"To a good place... a place where you will regain your freedom, isn't that good?"

The soldiers laugh out loud.

But the whips in their hands still fall without mercy.

"So much nonsense, haven't you been starved enough for three days? Go, there is food on the ship!"

Hearing there is food.

The eyes of these tens of thousands of slaves suddenly brighten, and their steps truly quicken.

A person wearing general's armor walks over slowly, with an impressive aura.

"General!"

"General!"

Seeing the person arrive, the soldiers salute one after another.

The general looks indifferent, nods, looks at the slaves boarding the ships, and asks calmly: "Have the funds arrived? For this batch of goods, the King has said, payment first, goods later; he won't give anyone face!"

Several mid-level officers hurriedly smile and say: "General, rest assured, we have counted the gold and silver, there is no mistake. The Nanyang people are quite decent in their dealings."

"General Ji, the kickbacks this time are quite substantial..."

Several mid-level officers look at each other and laugh out loud.

General Ji.

Ji Yong is the number one fierce general under Qiao Yuan in the Liaodong region, deeply trusted by Qiao Yuan, and specifically responsible for the affairs of Liaodong Port.

Hearing this, a look of ruthlessness flashes across Ji Yong's face: "The kickbacks, I will distribute them to you later, but if I find out that anyone dares to play any tricks on the way again, don't blame me for being impolite!"

"We wouldn't dare, we wouldn't dare..."

"Your subordinates will obey!"

The group of people are as silent as cicadas in winter.

Ji Yong says coldly: "Don't think I don't know what you fed these people on the road last time—pig slop! Are you so poor you've gone mad? You're even skimming off this little bit of profit? Half of them died last time! If such a thing happens again, all of you will be brought to justice!"

The subordinates all agree.

Watching these tens of thousands of people finally board the ships and crawl under the decks under the whips of the soldiers, a ship begins to slowly sail out of Liaodong Port.

Only then does Ji Yong turn and leave.

"General, General, the King has an order, commanding you to return to the Wanggong immediately!"

At this moment, a messenger rides over.

"Oh? Have new goods arrived again?"

Ji Yong laughs out loud.

The messenger whispers: "People from over there have come..."

Ji Yong's eyelids twitch: "That Vice Minister Liu?"

The messenger nods.

With a slightly darkened expression, Ji Yong mounts his horse and, without saying another word of nonsense, gallops toward the direction of the Wanggong.

In the mountains of Liaodong.

The palace.

Qiao Yuan is still wearing a loose robe, with several beauties lying horizontally around him in various poses.

However, today's atmosphere is not as lively as that day, with singing and dancing.

The officials sitting on the left and right are all as silent as cicadas in winter, heads lowered and silent.

The air in the hall is somewhat frozen.

"One hundred thousand prisoners..."

Qiao Yuan suddenly laughs out loud: "One hundred thousand prisoners, so what? Are you all scared? Hmm? Have we not eaten one hundred thousand people before? What's wrong this time, why have you all turned cowardly? In this Liaodong of mine, with an army of five hundred thousand, who is there to fear!"

As he speaks, with a bang.

He slammed his palm fiercely against the table, his eyes sinister: "Just because these one hundred thousand prisoners are here to pave the way for that Vice Minister Liu, have you all lost your sense of order?"

"Great King..."

"This..."

"Great King, this Vice Minister Liu, after all, is..."

Although the group did not state it explicitly, it could be seen from their trembling attitudes.

What they wanted to say was that this Vice Minister Liu was, after all, the newly appointed Liaodong Regional Commander and the leader of Liaodong development personally selected by the Emperor, Xie Tianyao.

It was not that they were afraid of a single Vice Minister Liu.

It was that the situation before them made people feel somewhat uneasy. One hundred thousand prisoners arriving in Liaodong first. This made them feel both covetous and fearful. One hundred thousand people—according to the prices in Nanyang, this was worth one million taels of silver! But, could these people be touched? Did they dare to touch them?

The civil and military officials of Qiao Yuan were divided.

Some believed.

The one hundred thousand people could be consumed; in any case, given the current situation, Qiao Yuan, this local emperor, did not intend to hand over power smoothly to Vice Minister Liu. Regardless of the method Vice Minister Liu intended to use to arrive, both sides would surely have a falling out!

This was inevitable.

One reason was that Qiao Yuan would not relinquish power, and the second was that this Liaodong did not just have three hundred thousand garrison troops, but five hundred thousand!

Five hundred thousand fierce lions!

A place with a population of two million had an army of five hundred thousand!

With the natural barrier of Wangchuan City blocking the way, no one could do anything about it!

But others believed.

This Vice Minister Liu, after all, had risen to fame in Longyan and held a noble status. If Qiao Yuan truly wanted to deal with this Vice Minister Liu, he should not strike at these one hundred thousand prisoners, but rather let these one hundred thousand people pass through Wangchuan City safely to paralyze Vice Minister Liu, and then, when Vice Minister Liu arrived, find a way to keep his life forever in these terrifying mountains.

In this way.

One could avoid offending the imperial court while also destroying Vice Minister Liu's plan for Liaodong.

The best of both worlds.

The two sides with different opinions argued in a mess.

"What the hell are you afraid of? If we eat them, we eat them. At worst, we rebel against Longyan; what can they do?"

Someone cursed like this.

But others retorted: "Nonsense! You are a man with a tattooed face who has no family in Longyan, so of course you can say that! What about us?"

"Exactly... Great King, although we are loyal to you, we also have many family members who are still in Zhongyuan... If we truly rebel against Longyan, then we..."

"Great King, please think twice..."

Qiao Yuan watched these two groups coldly as they argued until their faces were red and their ears were hot.

A cruel smile began to curl at the corners of his mouth.

Bang!

The wine goblet was thrown out by him once again.

The entire hall fell into silence once more.

He broke free from the entanglement of those beauties and slowly paced out.

Those civil and military officials hurriedly knelt on the ground.

Qiao Yuan came before the civil official who had just expressed concern about his family in Longyan being implicated, and then squatted down...

The civil official trembled all over, covered in cold sweat: "Great King, Great King..."

"Worried about your family, are you..."

"Great King, Great King, I..."

Qiao Yuan smiled lightly: "From a large family, aren't you..."

"No, no, I... just a few thousand people..."

Qiao Yuan suddenly stood up, drew a sword from the waist of a personal guard nearby, his movements extremely fast and fluid.

The long sword fell.

The civil official's head rolled away.

The entire hall was deathly silent.

Qiao Yuan placed the sword in his hand near his mouth, licked a bit of the scalding blood, and chuckled: "Who else has family in Longyan? It is hard for me to deal with thousands of people, but dealing with one person is easy..."

"Who else is there?"

"Great King..."

"These one hundred thousand people! They can be eaten!"

"Great King, long live, long live, long, long live!"