I m the Farmgirl You Can t Mess With - Chapter 1341: Side Story: Having the Whole World in View (18)
Chapter 1341: Side Story: Having the Whole World in View (18)
Editor: Atlas Studios
Seeing that the situation was getting increasingly dire, the governors of the various countries stationed here could not sit still anymore. The English governor-general in India immediately invited all the countries to discuss.
The first thing he said at the meeting was, “Friends, England couldn’t possibly have lured a wolf like Great Qi in. What benefits will this bring to England?”
The various countries fell silent. During this period of time, they had already calmed down and realized that they had been deceived by Great Qi. When Great Qi attacked the Indian Ocean region, England had indeed suffered the most damage because they were the most powerful in this area.
Great Qi was too close to the Nanyang and Indian Ocean. If this lion was also interested in this place, their territory would be compressed like never before.
No matter how many conflicts the various countries had back home, at least for now, they shared common interests in these territorial waters. They were collectively threatened by Great Qi.
Someone said, “We should protest to Great Qi…”
The envoy from Spain, which was also a maritime power, mocked, “Are you going to protest against them for annihilating the pirates who robbed the Great Qi merchant ships?”
The expressions of the envoys from various countries changed slightly. The Spanish envoy continued, “Our country has long warned everyone that Great Qi is different from the cowardly and tolerant Great Zhou. Look at their policies in the territorial waters of Guangzhou. They are very domineering and will not allow the robbery of their merchant ships to happen on such a large scale.”
The Governor of England said unhappily, “These are not the territorial waters of Guangzhou. This place is too far from Great Qi to be within their sphere of influence. They have extended their reach too far.”
The Spanish envoy shrugged. He wanted to say that this place was actually even further from England, but since Spain also had a colony here, there was really no need to mock his own country as well to defend Great Qi.
The Governor of England said, “We can’t let this continue. We have to talk to Great Qi!”
The Governor of England had apparently softened his stance by changing the “protest” to “talk.”
The other countries looked at each other and nodded.
Then, they quickly chose an envoy who was to set off for Great Qi the next day.
However, Zhou Zhou and the others did not stop. The military salary, ships, freshwater rations, and other supplies of 80,000 soldiers were expensive, so it was impossible for them to stop. Moreover, their arrival was warmly welcomed by the Nanyang countries and India.
Even if it was for the prestige of the Great Qi, they could not retreat just like that!
Great Qi had always been the dominant country in this area. In the face of provocation from the Western countries, they had to make their stand clear.
Hence, Zhou Zhou did not feel burdened at all. As he fought the pirates, he collected the spoils of war while waiting for the Imperial Court’s conclusion.
The Imperial Court had also fallen into chaos because of this.
The military expenditure for three months was more than 200,000 taels of silver. The calculative officials argued that this money could be used to build two large water conservancy facilities or repair the river channel of the Yellow River to prevent floods in the rainy season, saving tens of thousands of people from the perils of natural disasters.
The officials expressed that it was not worth the Imperial Court making such a big fuss just for a few merchants.
As soon as the urgent document from the magistrate of Guangzhou was sent to the capital, half of the officials in the imperial court expressed that Great Qi could take this opportunity to reconcile with the Western countries and get them to compensate them. This way, Great Qi’s reputation would be preserved and they would also be in the right.
Qi Haoran scoffed at this and sent a personal letter to his two sons, asking them to think of a way to take root in Nanyang and resist the Westerners outside the country.
Although this letter was said to be an expectation of his two sons, it was more like an instruction for Zhou Zhou. Since Qi Haoran was only King Rong now and not the Deputy Minister of the Ministry of War, he could not give Zhou Zhou explicit instructions on the surface, but he could still give guidance in private.
Besides, Zhou Zhou was where he was today all thanks to him.
The letter was delivered to Little Lion first. Afraid that Tiger Head wouldn’t understand it, he raised his pen and added, “After reading this, hand the letter to Assistant Commander Zhou.”
Zhou Zhou looked at Tiger Head, who had happily come to deliver the letter, and then at the last line of words. The corners of his mouth twitched. Couldn’t Little Lion have added this sentence to another piece of paper? Otherwise, Tiger Head could have torn off this last line after reading it. That way, Zhou Zhou wouldn’t have found out something he wasn’t supposed to know.
After reading it, Zhou Zhou returned the letter to Tiger Head. Seeing that he had folded it and placed it in his sleeves, he couldn’t help but say, “Third Young Master, why don’t you burn this letter?”
Tiger Head blinked and asked, “Why? Is there any secret that can’t be revealed to others?”
Zhou Zhou braced himself and replied, “Alternatively, you could rip off the last sentence and destroy it.”
There was no problem with this letter from beginning to end. At most, it was King Rong’s hope for his two sons to make a contribution. However, it was different when Little Lion’s words were added at the end. Even a fool would know that King Rong was instructing him, an Assistant Commander serving the Imperial Court.
Meanwhile, Little Lion who was currently in Luzon was also patting his head in distress. “I forgot to get Tiger Head to take back the letter and destroy it. Forget it, Zhou Zhou would probably do that, right? I mean, he can’t be so stupid as to not do that, right?”
With this thought in mind, Little Lion tossed the matter aside with a clear conscience and began to brainstorm how to carry out his father’s plan to take root in Nanyang and reject the Westerners from the country.
The countries from the West now had colonies in Nanyang. Back then, when Qi Haoran killed the pirates in the territorial waters of Guangdong, in order to let the countries in Nanyang restrain these Westerners more, he had provided them with food and weapons.
However, that only slowed down the invasion of the Western countries. Over the years, many territories in Nanyang and the east coast of India had been occupied, and the natives had been enslaved.
Now, all the countries in Nanyang knew that the western countries had angered the suzerain state by robbing Great Qi’s merchant ships. And now, the suzerain state was sending troops to eliminate these monstrous pirates.
The rulers of the various countries submitted credentials to their suzerain state one after another, hoping that Great Qi could enter their own countries and help them chase out the invaders. In return, they were willing to increase the annual tributes.
The various countries in Nanyang finally understood that the pirates from the western countries not only took a fancy to their land, but also their citizens. They completely treated them as non-sovereigns and immediately staked flags and claimed that this no-man’s-land belonged to them.
The natives who had lived on this land for more than a thousand years: “…”
Over the years, they had to pay a lot of taxes and were even robbed by the Westerners and enslaved in the farms. Also, they were forced by the Westerners to work for them, build houses, and even make handicrafts. Of course, they received zero compensation for their services. Thus, when they heard that soldiers from the suzerain state had come, they almost cried tears of joy.
At most, the suzerain state would take a fancy to their gold and silver mines, and the natives could still get money from mining. Other than that, there were no other conflicts of interests. If they could get the suzerain state to chase these Westerners out of their country by handing over a few gold and silver mines, they were very much willing.
No one thought that Great Qi would seize their land like the Westerners because the former was abundant in resources and land. While the Qi citizens enjoyed prosperity, the countries in Nanyang were plagued by poverty. Take Luzon for example. In most of Luzon, the tribal system was still in use. The tribal folks were still wrapped in animal skins and leaves, and very few could afford to be dressed in cloth.
There were many disadvantages to Great Qi occupying such a region, and almost no advantages. Most importantly, the suzerain states of the Central Plain had never gone out to sea to occupy this region. Thus, the Nanyang countries only needed to acknowledge the Central Plain as their suzerain state and give them the respect in accordance. Although they had to pay tribute every three years, they often received more gifts than the tribute they paid.
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