Chapter 903

“Hahaha…”

Hearty laughter burst from Lu Fei and Luo Xin’s mouths. In their opinion, it was not easy for Lin Youde to infiltrate the merchants’ council for so long and relay many important pieces of information.

After exchanging pleasantries, Lin Youde’s expression suddenly turned serious. He said, “Now is not the time to relax. The Cao family father and son, and the Azure Dragon King, took away a large amount of wealth they had plundered. This wealth was likely secretly transported to British territory months ago.”

“Damn them!” Lu Fei cursed. “Those killers! If I catch them, I’ll skin them alive and pull out their tendons!”

Lin Youde’s expression showed a hint of regret. He said, “This was also my mistake. However, the three of them concealed themselves too deeply. Even now, many council members are still unaware.”

“How much did they transport away, roughly?” Luo Xin asked.

“After repeated defeats in war, they began acting abnormally. They continuously demanded money from council members to buy weapons, and at the same time, they would kill and plunder gold and silver every time they reached a new place. I estimate they stole at least one million taels of gold and six million taels of silver, and many jewels as well,” Lin Youde said. “This is still considering they didn’t have enough manpower to transport it. If they did, probably more would have been moved.”

“That’s still a lot,” Lu Fei said with a pang of pain. This was real gold and silver, not land or residences.

“Don’t just sigh. Now, it’s probably too late to recover it, unless we fight all the way to their territory.” Luo Xin advised, “Let’s first gather what we can seize now. There are quite a few big fish in the city this time.”

Lu Fei’s face immediately lit up. He called out to his division commanders, ordering them to collect the spoils of war.

After the imperial army entered the city, the battle in Guangzhou City quickly drew to a close. Large numbers of soldiers surrendered to them. When they rushed to the council headquarters, they found that the council members had basically been slaughtered.

The enraged common people and soldiers had already vented their hatred upon them.

Lu Fei and Luo Xin were indifferent to this. Anyway, if they fell into their hands, these powerful families would also die. Now, it saved them a lot of trouble.

After taking control of Guangzhou City, they immediately purged the council members’ wealth under Lin Youde’s guidance. Now, they all understood a principle.

War, like doing business, had to be increasingly profitable. A losing war was a heavy burden on the nation, but a profitable war would make the nation richer and richer.

In this southern expedition, the existence of the merchants’ council gave them a reason to purge powerful families. Almost every powerful family that fiercely resisted in every prefecture and county had their property confiscated.

Land was distributed to the common people. Residences and shops that could be sold were sold. Gold and silver were all transported away. The war profits made this time were far greater than what their industry and commerce had earned in all these years.

It was then that they understood why the barbarians were so keen on marching south. Because plundering the Great Yu Empire was a profitable business for them, while the Great Yu Empire fighting them was a losing business.

If this continued, the Great Yu Empire would only lose its foundation.

…

February 25th, Qingzhou Province.

News of the victory in Guangzhou reached Qingzhou City with the cheers of the courier officials. The courier official, carrying the victory report, rode into Qingzhou City, shouting as he rode.

Upon arriving at the imperial palace, he immediately presented the battle report to Du Boyuan, the commander of the Imperial Guard. The news quickly reached Xiao Ming.

At this point, officials in the outer palace also heard the news. Pang Yukun rose and headed to the imperial study.

“Guangzhou City has fallen. Most of the merchants’ council members are dead. Now the merchants’ council exists in name only. The only pity is that the Cao family father and son, and the Azure Dragon King, escaped,” Pang Yukun said, a regrettable expression on his face after reading the battle report.

Xiao Ming frowned, “What’s most detestable is that they also transported away a lot of gold, silver, and jewels. These three fools, do they really think the British will always protect them?”

Coming from modern times, he naturally understood the true nature of these bandit nations. The Cao family father and son fleeing to Britain with their wealth would surely result in the British taking advantage of them.

“This Britain is truly detestable, constantly opposing our Great Yu Empire. Now that the merchants’ council is annihilated, we can free up our hands to deal with them!” Pang Yukun said fiercely.

“That is also what I was thinking. However, there is a more difficult problem now.” Xiao Ming handed the intelligence report sent back by Wang Xuan to Pang Yukun.

After just a glance, Pang Yukun exclaimed, “The barbarians have joined Tsarist Russia! How is that possible?”

“Nothing is impossible. The Great Yu Empire is changing, and the barbarians are also seeking a way out. According to Wang Xuan’s account, after losing Guandong, the barbarians are also being squeezed by the Ottoman Empire in the west. Facing us, their ancient enemy, and the Ottomans, Tsarist Russia is the only force they can rely on,” Xiao Ming said, his brows tightly furrowed.

In truth, he had been vaguely worried about this matter, but now it had come to pass. Similar to contemporary history, the nomadic peoples of the north preferred to side with Tsarist Russia rather than integrate internally. This could be called the nomads’ dignity, or it could be the wolves’ disdain for a flock of sheep. Perhaps, deep down, the barbarians would never submit to the Great Yu Empire, which they once called “two-legged sheep.”

Pang Yukun was now no stranger to the current world situation. He knew that Tsarist Russia was a great power with a population of over forty-six million, and this country was adept at annexing other nations.

Now that the barbarians had embraced Tsarist Russia, coupled with their Cossack cavalry, they would become the Great Yu Empire’s strongest enemy in the north.

“Truly, one wave has not settled when another rises,” Pang Yukun said with a wry smile, shaking his head. Their internal troubles had just been resolved, and now external threats arrived one after another.

“Hahaha, Senior Grand Secretary Pang, do not worry! The Great Yu Empire of today is not the Great Yu Empire of ten years ago. We can retaliate against any invasion at any time. Moreover, once the railways to Guandong and Chang’an are completed, we can quickly transport troops there. Then, neither barbarian cavalry nor Cossack cavalry will have the advantage of mobility,” Xiao Ming said loudly.

Pang Yukun regained his composure. He chuckled, “Your Majesty is right. I was momentarily confused. Since the bandits have come to our door, we can only contend with them.”

Xiao Ming nodded. He said, “You needn’t worry about the north for now. Qi Guangyi and Luo Hong are there; they won’t be able to turn things upside down for the time being. Now, the most important thing is to integrate Jiangnan and Jiangbei, achieving national unification. Only then can the southern expeditionary forces be recalled.”

“Yes, Your Majesty. I have already drafted a new administrative division plan for the Great Yu Empire. Next, I will prepare to implement it as quickly as possible to achieve unification of north and south.”

“Excellent. Now that Guangzhou has fallen and the overall situation is settled, the remaining task is to establish provincial offices and eliminate the remaining bandits. I will leave a portion of the army in the south to assist you in management. We must ensure the south recovers as quickly as possible.”

As he spoke, Xiao Ming looked at the world map before him. The civil war had ended, but he did not feel much relief. The world’s map was now largely divided by the great powers.

The rising Great Yu Empire, in this brutal era, would surely not escape the Thucydides Trap.

This meant that a newly rising great power would inevitably challenge an existing great power, and the existing great power would inevitably respond to this threat. Thus, war would become unavoidable.