Chapter 947

“Good news? What good news?”

Zhang Xian excitedly grabbed Yue Yun’s arm. Life in Yizhou was as calm as water, and a little ripple was enough to make him anticipate something.

“It’s said that the Mining Department has taken an interest in Yizhou’s mineral resources and will soon come to prospect. If minerals are found, a batch of people will quickly be transported from Japan to mine.”

“Mine? That’s indeed good news.” Zhang Xian paced back and forth happily. In his opinion, the construction of a mine involved many subsidiary projects, the most important of which was roads.

If the imperial court wanted to open mines in Yizhou, then it would surely have to build roads here. If roads were built, then cement factories and brick factories would also be established. By then, Yizhou would truly be bustling.

“Do you know what kind of minerals the Mining Department wants to mine?” Zhang Xian asked again.

After a moment of thought, he said, “That’s no secret in Qingzhou Province. It’s just that you are not well-informed here. The Mining Department says that Yizhou’s minerals are mainly coal, sulfur, gold, and copper. It is said that coal is mainly in the north, and gold and copper are mainly in the northeast, from the Central Mountain Range to the coast. However, the Mining Department people say that your sulfur here is particularly abundant.”

“Oh? No wonder I saw common people transporting baskets of sulfur to sell in Yizhou’s market a few days ago. So that’s how it is. Excellent, excellent!” Zhang Xian said gleefully.

Yue Yun continued, “And that’s not all. Before we captured Yizhou, the Spanish had just landed in northern Yizhou and were later repelled by the Dutch. Now, cooperation between the Great Yu Empire and the Dutch is deepening. They finally told the truth: it turns out the Spanish discovered an open-pit gold vein in the north. This place was called Jinjiashi by the Spanish. It is said that the gold mine is very rich. The Dutch originally wanted to mine it themselves after driving out the Spanish, but they didn’t expect us to seize Yizhou.”

“Gold vein!” Zhang Xian felt his heart pound faster and faster. “Wonderful, truly wonderful!”

The sugarcane had been eaten, and what needed to be said had been said. Yue Yun stretched. He ordered his generals to return to Zeelandia. After resting for another four days, the Great Yu Empire’s warships slowly headed towards Bohol Island.

…

Bohol Island, Spanish Governor’s Mansion. Miguel was reading battle reports about the Hwayeon Kingdom. After this period of massacre, over seventeen thousand people of the Hwayeon Kingdom died under their gunfire, and three thousand more fled into the deep mountains.

“Your Excellency Governor-General, the Hwayeon Kingdom has basically been destroyed. This time, we seized a total of seven million taels of silver and five hundred thousand taels of gold from the Hwayeon Kingdom.”

The lieutenant in charge of the operation reported with a somewhat cruel smile.

“Well done, Joseph! These low-born scoundrels actually stole so much money from us right under our noses! I should have killed them all long ago!” Miguel said coldly. For him, the lives on the battle report were merely numbers, because in his eyes, these natives were not people at all.

Joseph complimented, “Your Excellency Governor-General truly has foresight. I have already ordered the confiscated silver, gold, jewels, and porcelain to be sent to your Excellency Governor-General’s private warehouse. In one week, these items can be transported back to Spain.”

Miguel stood up. He excitedly patted Joseph’s shoulder. “You are truly a clever man. I always enjoy working with intelligent people. My term as Governor-General is almost up. I will recommend you to be the new Governor-General here.”

“Thank you, Your Excellency Governor-General,” Joseph said excitedly. This was what he had dreamed of.

He then added obsequiously, “Your Excellency Governor-General, I have also saved a few beautiful Great Yu Empire women to serve you. These people should have died anyway; it is their fortune to serve the Governor-General with their lives.”

“Who says otherwise? It is their honor, these low-born scoundrels, to serve us noble Spanish,” Miguel said with a cruel smile.

Joseph cautiously glanced at Miguel. He knew very well how cruel this Governor-General was.

In fact, anyone sent to Bohol Island as Governor-General was bound to be a fierce and cruel person. This was because distant overseas colonies were generally places where their own country’s criminals were exiled.

This was like Australia being Britain’s overseas prison, and Indochina being France’s overseas prison. And the governors were the supervisors of these places of exile.

Without a cold heart, how could he subdue these unruly criminals?

And this massacre of the Hwayeon Kingdom was premeditated by Miguel. In his opinion, Miguel just wanted to make a final profit before leaving office.

However, he was very clever, fully utilizing Spain’s current dissatisfaction with the Great Yu Empire, because the Dutch became increasingly aggressive after cooperating with the Great Yu Empire, which made them uneasy.

With Miguel’s instigation, the homeland finally granted Miguel the authority to handle all affairs here. Thus, the massacre against the Hwayeon Kingdom began.

Of course, he had no sympathy for these people of the Hwayeon Kingdom. Massacring natives was a common occurrence in Europe. Why shouldn’t they, if in their eyes, Europeans were a superior race?

“Your Excellency Governor-General, I shall not disturb you further. Please enjoy yourself,” Joseph bowed.

Miguel waved his hand, signaling Joseph to leave. At this time, night fell, and he was going back to enjoy his delicious meal.

At the same time.

The combined fleet led by Yue Yun and Eric had reached one hundred nautical miles off Bohol Island. According to their plan, they would launch a surprise attack on the Spanish fleet early the next morning.

In this battle, they would completely destroy Spain’s fleet in Asia and eliminate the Spanish colonizers in the local area.

Under the cover of night, Yue Yun and Eric had the crew take turns on duty and rest. At this time, the darkness became their camouflage.

They encountered no obstacles during their all-night voyage. When the coastline showed a sliver of dawn the next day, they appeared at the Spanish military port on Bohol Island.

“Form a battle formation and seize the advantageous position!” Yue Yun issued the military order.

As his words fell, the leading steamship used its own power to quickly blockade the Spanish port, while also turning its broadside towards the Spanish warships inside the port.

Eric also ordered his warships to cooperate with the Great Yu Empire’s operations. However, their warships appeared too clumsy in front of these agile warships.

The sudden appearance of the massive fleet in front of them almost drove the Spanish soldiers in the outpost crazy. They urgently blew their whistles.

The Spanish soldiers on the warships, hearing the sound, quickly moved into combat positions. However, their speed was simply too slow. By the time they adjusted their ships, it was already too late.

With a roar, the opposing warships opened fire.

“Boom, boom, boom…”

Amidst continuous explosions, the first concentration of warships shattered like popcorn.

Eric was dumbfounded, his heart felt as if it was being squeezed. Now, he finally realized the disparity between Dutch warships and Great Yu Empire warships.