Chapter 896

“Welcome to Britain. There, the great Queen Victoria will personally receive you and bestow upon you noble titles and beautiful estates.”

The salty sea breeze continuously blew from the sea. Carey’s hair fluttered in the wind, but his mouth spoke sweet, tempting words.

“Thank you, Earl Carey,” the three said in unison. The translator’s words made them clearly understand what Carey had said.

Choosing to betray was indeed a difficult decision for them. In fact, during their years at Bowen Academy, they really liked the atmosphere in Qingzhou city. The endless emergence of new technologies filled every student with passion.

However, their parents and families were in Cao Kun’s hands, so they had no choice. Moreover, Cao Kun had told them that as long as they cooperated, they could go to Britain and live a noble life with their families, without worrying about being assassinated.

“More haste, less speed. The Great Yu Empire’s Emperor must be very angry that we stole his talents,” Basile said lazily, glancing at Carey. “What do you say, Earl Carey?”

“Oh, I’d like to stay in Fuzhou for a day.” Carey’s eyes gleamed. He wouldn’t believe the damned French. Once he entered the East India Federation, he would have no choice but to be at Basil’s mercy.

So, from the very beginning, he had no intention of returning the way he came. Instead, he would take another secret route back to India, and then from India, return to Britain.

Moreover, he believed that Cao Kun would definitely support him on this matter, because he knew Cao Kun’s background and also knew that Cao Kun would not be able to last until the very end.

At that time, fleeing to Britain was his only option. For this escape route, he dared not act recklessly.

Basile’s eyes narrowed. This was now Cao Kun’s territory, and he could not take any excessive action. After all, both sides were in a cooperative relationship.

“Then, I hope we don’t meet again,” he said, lightly snorting, then led the three men into the city.

Seeing this, Carey breathed a sigh of relief. He said to Cao Kun, “No matter what, you must ensure these three reach Britain. It is crucial for us.”

Cao Kun nodded. Xiao Ming’s army was formidable. He had to strive for any force he could gain. Although he had left a way out for himself, he still preferred to follow the path of the merchants’ council.

Because every time he woke up from a midnight dream, he dreamed of becoming the supreme ruler of the Great Yu Empire.

“Rest assured, I will escort you back safely. I hope Lord Earl can say a few good words for me in front of Queen Victoria then,” Cao Kun said.

Carey smiled. “That is natural.”

Having agreed, Cao Kun dispatched soldiers to escort Carey westward. Now that they had occupied Dali, they could reach British India from this direction.

…

Qingzhou Province.

After the good news from Goryeo, good news also quickly arrived from Lin’an in a short time. At the same time, a large amount of gold, silver, and various other supplies arrived with the news.

Qingzhou Station. Looking at the train cars full of supplies, Xiao Ming and the Grand Secretaries all had broad smiles on their faces.

These supplies departed from Lin’an pier, directly arrived at Dengzhou pier, and then were transported to Qingzhou via steam locomotive. The entire process flowed smoothly.

“Your Majesty, this is the account book.” Pang Yukun tremblingly handed a ledger to Xiao Ming. The numbers on it truly shocked him.

After just a quick glance, Xiao Ming’s heart suddenly accelerated. One could only say that this time, extracting wealth from the State of Chu truly satisfied him. Even the pure gold and silver alone were equivalent to four or five years of his tax revenue.

“Congratulations, Your Majesty! Felicitations, Your Majesty! With so much silver, the Great Yu Empire’s construction will have ample funds!” Ge Yiren aptly flattered him.

New emperor, new courtiers. Now that Ge Yiren was an official of Xiao Ming, his mindset had changed remarkably quickly, and he soon became a staunch supporter of Xiao Ming.

Seeing Ge Yiren speak this way, the other ministers also echoed, and for a time, compliments were incessant.

Xiao Ming was willing to accept this praise this time. After all, this was truly a great joyous event. For these past few years, the Great Yu Empire’s industry had mainly concentrated in Qingzhou city.

Now that he had silver, he could develop industry in other cities.

“Undoubtedly, this is a great joyous event. However, with so much silver now, we must not waste it. Every copper coin must be used in the right place. In my opinion, this silver should primarily be used for coal mines, railways, cement roads between prefectures and counties, the Guandong industrial base, the Songjiang trade port, and large-scale urban industrial construction, agricultural production, and bridge construction.”

There were many things that needed to be done in the Great Yu Empire now. Xiao Ming could only speak generally; the specifics still needed to be detailed by the Grand Secretariat. Among these many tasks, his only regret was probably the absence of a large bridge over the Yangtze River.

After all, with the current industrial level, he simply could not build a cross-river bridge over the Yangtze River, and this problem meant that economic exchange between north and south would be hampered, as it would imply that railways could not extend to the south in the short term, and the Great Yu Empire would remain divided north and south.

As Xiao Ming spoke, the Grand Secretaries all noted down his words.

Zhan Xingchang said excitedly, “Your Majesty, this time we must allocate more funds to the army and the military machinery department. Without them, we surely could not have obtained so much wealth. Moreover, although commercial taxes have increased considerably these past few years, much of the wealth was seized by the army from the enemy. Your Majesty once said that Western powers only achieved their current formidable strength through plunder. Now, we can emulate them and reclaim wealth from Western powers.”

The Grand Secretaries all nodded upon hearing this. The war profits now made them no longer oppose justified wars.

Yang Chengye said, “Not to mention that Goryeo has profited handsomely from plundering the Great Yu Empire’s coast these past few years, and Japan even more so. And these barbarians, they took even more. Now, there’s also Tsarist Russia occupying the Great Yu Empire’s northern territory, acquiring wealth from the Great Yu Empire’s land. We must reclaim all of this.”

Xiao Ming nodded slightly. Now, these officials were increasingly seeing the truth of the world. In contemporary terms, the current world was merely a true reflection of Darwin’s law of the jungle.

Even in contemporary times, it was the law of the jungle. Great powers made the rules, and others played within the rules. At this time, great powers were merely playing the role of the banker in gambling, no matter how much others bet, he was only responsible for taking a cut, also known as “shearing the sheep.”

In his era, European powers were setting the rules of the game. The emergence of the Great Yu Empire, a country not bound by the rules of the game, would inevitably lead to a redistribution of world power.

And in modern history, whenever international power was redistributed, a world war would inevitably break out. The victors would set new rules, and the losers would be bound by them.

The novel has already been fully translated up to the final chapter. You can access it on my Patreon at https://www.patreon.com/caleredhair