Chapter 735

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Liang Dahai’s face was stern.

Not long after Yue Yun sent back intelligence from Haigucheng, news about capturing slaves in Goryeo spread like wildfire in Qingzhou City.

Some merchants had even gone to Dengzhou, preparing to head to Goryeo to enjoy the war’s profits.

All of this naturally made Liang Dahai, the Great Yu Empire’s number one human trafficker, extremely displeased, because he had regarded Goryeo as his personal ground the moment he received the news.

But amidst his anger, he also felt something peculiar, because such confidential intelligence would generally not be spread so easily.

It was this doubt that prompted him to go to the temporary palace to inquire thoroughly.

“This news was released by me through Senior Grand Secretary Pang.”

In the imperial study, Xiao Ming gave Liang Dahai the precise answer, which made Liang Dahai’s eyes widen.

“Your Majesty, why hand over the slave-catching business to these merchants? They didn’t even contribute silver to this war,” Liang Dahai asked, puzzled.

Xiao Ming rubbed his brows. Two days ago, he had just dealt with the matter of the steamship, and then Yue Yun’s battle report arrived from Haigucheng.

In the battle report, Yue Yun revealed his entire plan, also mentioning the plan to seize the opportunity to capture slaves.

He approved of Yue Yun’s approach of supporting Li Cheng-jae as a puppet to manage Haigucheng. Countless historical examples proved that the simplest way to rule an unfamiliar country was to use native to control natives; otherwise, it would come at a huge cost of war.

As for the matter of refuge-catching, he also approved of it. After all, there was no justice to speak of in this bloody era. When Europeans continuously eliminated indigenous people, there was only profit, no mercy.

However, for him, slave-catching was merely the lowest-level means of acquiring slaves. This method was most suitable for merchants to use.

From a national level, refuge-catching was naturally not very glorious. Hence, there was the concept of overseas laborers. So he said, “Any merchant can do this refuge-catching business. Why should you, Liang Dahai, personally handle it? I now have a more important matter to entrust to you.”

Liang Dahai scratched his head. Xiao Ming’s words left him a bit bewildered, because he had been in this line of work for years, but now Xiao Ming’s meaning was that he should change.

“Please enlighten me, Your Majesty.” Liang Dahai felt a sense of crisis that his livelihood was about to be lost.

After a moment of contemplation, he said, “Goryeo is currently experiencing frequent wars, and its common people are displaced. Many are starving and struggling to survive. If, at this time, they are given an opportunity for guaranteed food and lodging, to travel to the Great Yu Empire to build railways, do you think they would be willing?”

“They would certainly be willing,” Liang Dahai said without hesitation. “In chaotic times, people are worse off than dogs. As long as they agree, at least they won’t die of hunger.”

“That’s right, I think so too. Therefore, this time I am asking you to withdraw from the slave-catching business and go to Haigucheng to recruit a batch of Goryeo people for the Great Yu Empire to lay railways here,” Xiao Ming said.

Building railways in this era was a very arduous task. It could be said that every railway line was built with blood and tears.

Now that the six prefectures were to build railways, manpower was one of the problems. However, relying solely on the Great Yu Empire’s own labor to build railways would be much slower.

That was why he came up with the idea of conscripting Goryeo common people to build railways in the Great Yu Empire. He would give the Goryeo common people food, and they would be responsible for building railways. This was a very fair exchange.

Relatively speaking, the chance of dying on the railway line was much lower than the chance of dying in Goryeo now.

Liang Dahai suddenly understood. He immediately smiled and said, “Your Majesty, this is a great business

Xiao Ming gently tapped the table with his left hand. “It seems you are still intelligent. If this matter succeeds, it will be much more useful than those few refuge-catching ships.”

“Yes, Your Majesty, I understand. I will set off for Haigucheng now,” Liang Dahai said excitedly.

In fact, compared to the shadowy role of a slave catcher, he also longed for a more respectable status. The method Xiao Ming offered him now undoubtedly provided him with a change in identity.

Nodding, Xiao Ming gave Liang Dahai a few more instructions before dismissing him. This time, with Liang Dahai in the open and the merchants’ refuge-catching ships in the shadows, he would surely extract the greatest benefits from Goryeo.

And these benefits would accelerate the Great Yu Empire’s progress on the path of the industrial revolution.

…

Shengdu, Golden Tent.

The Goryeo envoys knelt on the ground. Before them was Dolgor, the Khan of the Golden Tent Khanate. Also present in the tent were Beshan, Wuzhugu, Anba, Bodo, and Erhe, all Golden Tent Khanate princes.

“Khan, the Great Yu Empire is too deceitful! Now they have not only occupied Haigucheng but also threatened to attack Ryukyo City! We implore the Khan to send troops to punish them!”

The Goryeo envoy, Ryu Shi-gyeong, cried to Dolgor, his face streaming with tears and snot, like a bullied woman.

A burst of laughter erupted in the tent. Beshan and the others were not angered; instead, they were amused by the Goryeo envoy’s humble demeanor.

Ryu Shi-gyeong looked up. The happier these princes laughed, the more miserably he cried.

Dolgor then stopped the laughter of the princes. His face was stern. “The Great Yu Empire is pressing closer step by step, and you can still laugh! If Goryeo is occupied by the Great Yu Empire, we will be attacked from the flank. From then on, it will not be us attacking the Great Yu Empire, but the Great Yu Empire being able to attack the Khanate at any time.”

“Father Khan is wise.” Beshan might be laughing, but he understood the current crisis. For him, Goryeo was indeed a dog, but if this dog was killed by the enemy, they would have no dog to guard the gate.

“The Great Yu Empire is now incomparable to its past with its firearms. Their taking Ryukyo City is definitely not a joke. Father Khan, it is indeed necessary now to dispatch the Khanate army to help Goryeo retake Haigucheng,” Beshan said.

After the New Year, the atmosphere in the Golden Tent Khanate grew heavier. Those living on the grasslands and in the Changbai Mountain region keenly sensed that a protracted war was imminent.

Because during the more than ten years that the Golden Tent Khanate had been at war with the Ottoman Empire, they had also experienced such an atmosphere.

And the recent order that all males aged thirteen and above must join the army further confirmed their suspicions.

Wuzhugu then said, “According to the information I’ve received, the Great Yu Empire’s siege tactics are nothing more than that one trick: relying on artillery to bombard city gates. This is something we can also do, but it requires ensuring our cannons are not destroyed by the Great Yu Empire’s cannons.”

As his words fell, the Third Prince, Anba, cruelly said, “That’s easy enough! This time, let Goryeo drive its common people to walk in front of our cannons. Then, when the cannons get close to the city gate, we fire. This way, we can breach Haigucheng’s city gate in one fell swoop. Once the city gate is breached, the few Great Yu Empire soldiers in Haigucheng will be no match for us.”

The Fourth Prince, Bodo, nodded and said, “If this method can conquer Haigucheng, it will surely be able to conquer the passes of the Great Yu Empire as well. Perhaps this year, we will be able to ride our horses all the way through the Great Yu Empire.”