Chapter 739 |
Liaodong's labourers cheered and shouted as though they were trying to inform the entire world that Yangzhou has returned to do business with them. They continued until the ships drew nearer. The three Monarch-class warships were so large that these labourers froze with their mouths open.
No one had ever seen warships of this size before. Yangzhou's ships were already large but they were tiny compared to the three Monarch-class ships.
Liang Chen who saw their reactions with his telescope laughed. “General. Look at those Liaodong people. Their reactions are so funny!”
“What Liaodong people? These are all people of our Han Dynasty!” Gan Ning scolded unhappily.
“Yes. Yes!” Liang Chen quickly replied.
Yang Chen was not a military commander so he did not have a telescope. He could only listen to the two generals argue. Suddenly, Gan Ning remembered Yang Chen and said. “Master Yang. I will lend you my Qianliyan (Thousand mile eye)” Liu Mang called it a telescope but the rest of his army called it a Qianliyan because ordinary people could not see so far. Since they refuse to call it a telescope, Liu Mang eventually gave up.
“Thank you, General Gan!” Yang Chen took the telescope from Gan Ning's hands and looked through it. Sure enough, he saw the Liaodong he was familiar with.
“Give yours to me!” Gan Ning stretched out his hand and shouted to Liang Chen.
“Huh?” Liang Chen was shocked for a moment but pretended to not hear anything as he continued to observe Liaodong. Gan Ning soon slapped Liang Chen in the face.
They almost reached Liaodong's harbour. “Lower the sails and cruise along the shore.”
“Understood!” The sails were quickly lowered.
“Take it back!” Gan Ning said as he handed the telescope back to Liang Chen.
Just as Liang Chen was thinking of how good his superior officer is to quickly return the telescope, he was slapped again.
“Hurry back to your ship!” Gan Ning added.
Liang Chen was the captain of the Dahan but he had been shamelessly staying on Gan Ning's flagship the entire time. This was fine during the journey but since the war was about to start, Liang Chen had to return to his own ship.
“Haha.” Liang Chen laughed as he got off Huaxia. He got on a small ship and returned to his warship.
“Master Yang. How do you want us to fight? Do we attack the port directly?” Gan Ning asked. Yang Chen was the actual Commander and Gan Ning would simply attack wherever Yang Chen wants to attack. As long as Yang Chen gave the order, Liaodong's port would be turned to rubble.
“No. Do not attack right now. We start with diplomacy then we use force.” Yang Chen stopped Gan Ning.
“Diplomacy first?” Gan Ning did not understand the civil official's way of doing things. In his opinion, it was better to strike first. However, Gan Ning did not object. Yang Chen ordered for a soldier to go to the port using a small ship.
Meanwhile, the labourers were wondering why Yangzhou's ships haven't docked. Some believed it was becaue the ships were too big while there are those who believe that it is because Gongsun Kang did not treat Yangzhou well in the past and that Yangzhou was here to fight.
When the small ship docked, the labourers surrounded the soldier asking if Yangzhou needed help to transport goods.
Eventually, the constables quickly arrived to talk to the soldier.
“I am an envoy sent by His Highness the King of Shu.” The soldier said to the constable.
“An envoy sent from Yangzhou?” The constable wondered if Yangzhou would continue trading with Liaodong. As long as trade continued, they would get small benefits so it would be good for them.
“Envoy, please take a seat! I will immediately go and inform the county magistrate who will then inform the Governor.” The constable said politely.
However, the soldier shook his head. “No need. I am not here as a guest this time. I am under His Highness' command to issue a decree!”
“A decree?”
“That's right!” The soldier took out the imperial decree and started reading without caring as to whether the other party was willing or not.
“Gongsun Du of Liaodong guards the border and is a loyal Governor of Liaodong. Unfortunately, the tiger has a dog for a son. Not only did his son, Gongsun Kang, disrespect's the King's authority. He even commits to robbing under the guise of trading. He is a disaster that brought shame to Liaodong. We are shocked to hear this and is issuing the order for General Wuwei, Gongsun Du, to tie up his son Gongsun Kang and send him to the Ministry of Justice in Yangzhou for a trial. This is Our decree!” The soldier spoke before handing over the decree to the county magistrate.
“This…” The magistrate felt like crying. What kind of mess did get forced into? Gongsun Kang was the future heir of Liaodong so Gongsun Du would definitely not send him away. If the magistrate took the decree, Gongsun Kang would be furious. If he did not, he would be made a scapegoat for not accepting an imperial decree.
The magistrate trembled as he put away the decree and asked. “What if Milord does not send the Young Master to Yangzhou?”
“Haha. If you don't send him, we will arrest him in person! We will give you one day to reply. If we do not get an answer by this time tomorrow… Do not blame us.”
After saying this, the soldier got back onto the small boat and returned to the ships.
“They will arrest him in person? What does that mean?” The crowd who had been listening in and now asked each other.
“What else could it be? It means war!”
“War? Then those must be warships!” The whole port erupted into chaos. Places near the port had been experiencing peace for many years under Gongsun Du's rule. Now that they heard war was coming, they quickly panicked.
“I told you that Gongsun Kang is asking for trouble! Now there is going to be war!” The people all rushed to evacuate their families.
***
“What?” Gongsun Kang had been flirting with a servant when he heard the news. His interest immediately vanished.
“The envoy from Yangzhou really said that?”
“Yes, Young Master. They said that if the Governor does not hand you over to the Ministry of Justice, they would come and claim your dog head themselves!” The county magistrate decided to pour oil into the fire. It was better that Gongsun Kang get angry at Yangzhou rather than a lowly official like himself.
“How hateful!” Gongsun Kang shouted murderously. “That brat Liu Mang! I must kill him for this insult!”
“Who do you want to kill?” A voice said sternly. Gongsun Kang turned to see his father. The former King of Liaodong still had a majestic appearance.
“I will kill that Yangzhou Liu Mang!” Gongsun Kang's lowered his killing intent after seeing his father but his hatred was still there.
“You want to kill the King of Shu? With what ability?” Gongsun Du sneered at his son. “Yangzhou is far from here and the same King of Shu defeated one hundred thousand of Sun Ce's troops at Wancheng and also sent Liu Bei's men fleeing. You? What have you done?”
“I defeated Buyeo's army!” Gongsun Kang replied defiantly.
“Haha. The Buyeo Army?” Gongsun Du sneered even more. At that time, the Buyeo Army had a total of less than twenty thousand men. In order to increase his son's prestige, Gongsun Du gave his son fifty thousand men. Goguryeo's help was also obtained, causing the total number of troops to reach eighty thousand. Despite that difference, Gongsun Kang suffered a 1:1 casualty rate. It was simply embarassing. Even though Gongsun Kang won, Gongsun Du had been too embarassed to bring the matter up.
“You mean the battle where you had eighty thousand men fighting against twenty thousand?” Gongsun Du was not polite to his son at all.
“So what? In the end, we won and Buyeo ceded thirteen cities to us!” Gongsun Kang was still unconvinced.
“The King of Shu is like a monkey claiming to be King on a mountain with no tigers. If Liaodong was next to Yangzhou, I would have already taught that brat on the art of war!” Gongsun Kang was of the same age as Liu Mang so he was jealous of Liu Mang's success.
“Hmph!” Gongsun Du snorted not bothering about his son's boasting. “I told you to keep Yang Chen but you did not. Now there is trouble! The Yangzhou Navy seems to be powerful!” Gongsun Du's spies have already sent news about the appearance of the warships.
“Father. Isn't just Yangzhou's navy? Watch me destroy them!” Gongsun Kang was confident as he had already read the military intelligence. Yangzhou had sent forty two ships but there were only three warships. The rest were transport ships.
The three warships were useless and half the transport ships were empty. Apparently there were about three hundred soldiers in one ship which means a total of about six thousand land troops. No ballista were spotted as well.
“The Heavens is on my side!” Gongsun Kang laughed. It is not possible for three warships to protect so many transport ships. Liaodong have their own navy. They had forty warships all equipped with ballista. This is not including their over one hundred support ships. The three warships might as well be free food.
“Don't worry Father. I will feed those Yangzhou troops to the sharks!” Gongsun Kang was full of confidence. “Pass down my orders! An Laixu is to send troops to Liaodong's port. Make sure all of Yangzhou's troops stay in Liaodong! Anyone who lets the enemy escape will be held accountable!”
The Commander of Liaodong's Navy was An Laixu. He was from Goguryeo but he was framed and his wife and children were killed. He joined up with Liaodong after Gongsun Kang avenged him and trained the navy for Gongsun Kang.
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