These words further solidified Liu Gan's determination to leave the Central Plains by sailing Venetian ships.
"It seems we can't visit the Central Plains now!" Venice said. "Let's change ships and go to West Asia, and come back after our envoys have established good relations with the people of the Central Plains!"
Venice said, half-jokingly and half-seriously, "Li, I originally wanted to explore whether your hometown is as my ancestors boasted. If it doesn't meet my expectations, I'm afraid I'll have to fire a cannon."
Li, however, didn't seem to care and said, "Alright, Mr. Venice, you saw the crushing defeat of the Shenyas pirate crew. That ship was clearly fleeing."
Finally, Venice suppressed its ambition, a hint of resentment and regret, and turned its ship away from the Central Plains' sea borders.
As a hawkish officer under Prince George, the news later brought by Venice dispelled the hawkish ideas of Anluo that wanted to invade the Central Plains.
Marilyn, however, was simply after money in the Central Plains. She wasn't a military strategist and didn't know the full extent of the weapons used in the new Tianjing; she only knew that the Central Plains people had won battles. The Central Plains people excelled in land warfare and possessed tens of thousands of firearms.
Even the most sophisticated weapons in Anluo Kingdom numbered no more than ten thousand. The Central Plains, however, possessed tens of thousands. This sheer numbers gave Marilyn a vague idea of the Central Plains' strength. Although their weapons were slightly inferior, Anluo might not necessarily have a complete advantage. Therefore, waging war against the Central Plains was simply a pipe dream!
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Chapter 226 The Future of the Western Jin Dynasty
The Delta Force campaign came on strong but ended just as quickly. Many of Xie Bing and the Imperial Guards, who had initially felt helpless in the face of powerful warships, gradually became more composed.
Having gained experience in dealing with enemy ships, they were no longer terrified of naval warfare. Even if pirates dared to come again, they would be able to handle them one by one.
Afterwards, Xie Bing and the Imperial Guards boarded the warship in a small boat and captured the surviving pirates. Although the pirates were quite skilled, they were easily defeated by Xie Bing in just a few moves. Then, the pirates were collectively beaten until they questioned their existence.
While Xie Bing may lack the strength in terms of firearms, his individual combat skills are the best.
With the assistance of the Imperial Guards, Xie Bing and his men captured a total of five hundred pirates. The rest of the pirates were almost all killed.
The Jingwei Army and Xie Bing also suffered heavy losses, with 13,000 killed in battle. The Yue and Shi Kingdoms' military and civilians numbered 60,000, bringing the total casualties to 73,000. In addition, 7,000 people were seriously wounded.
To prevent their own people from drifting and drowning at sea, everyone searched day and night, and only managed to find 300 people.
Unable to see the sea at night, they took down the pirates' oil lamps and continued their search. They searched for seven days and seven nights, searching everywhere they could find.
When Ma Hu was found, he was lying on a pile of shipwrecks and almost sank in, but fortunately the Imperial Guards arrived in time.
After being carried ashore, Ma Hu immediately asked, "How is the pirate ship now? Did we win?"
The Imperial Guards were immediately overjoyed to tell him, "General, we not only won, but we also captured five hundred pirates."
"Unfortunately, he still managed to escape on the last pirate ship."
"However, we have already taken back the Delta."
"The marshal also sent orders to find a way to drag the pirate ship wreckage back to Tianjing."
Ma Hu roughly understood the marshal's thoughts. This pirate ship was simply too powerful; if ten more such ships came, they would definitely be powerless to fight back.
The Marshal and His Majesty both need these pirate ships to provide the Ministry of Works with reference. If such powerful ships can be replicated, then the Great Jin will no longer be afraid of powerful enemies!
Ma Hong became increasingly excited as he thought about it, and he quickly said, "The Marshal is right, we absolutely cannot miss that iron contraption. With it, we'll have no worries about defeating the Northern Xiongnu!"
"No, the Northern Hu and Xiongnu are no longer qualified to be our opponents."
The Imperial Guards and the nearby Xie soldiers all agreed with his statement.
These were soldiers who had been tempered by the battles of driving out sea monsters and the Delta Force. They finally realized that the real enemy was not in the Central Plains, but in the open sea.
Furthermore, the outer seas have become so developed that even pirates possess warships, making it difficult for people from the Central Plains to imagine the extent to which major powers in the outer seas have developed.
Now they are no longer afraid of enemies. As long as they possess such powerful technology as warships, they can deter all sides and in the future, no one in the world will dare to invade the East!
News of the narrow victory in the Delta Campaign reached the new Tianjing (Nanjing), and even the entire southern Central Plains, causing countless people to rejoice.
Although the common people had never seen a pirate ship and did not know how powerful it was, an enemy that the entire Great Jin Dynasty had to be wary of must be a tough nut to crack.
But now, even the toughest enemies have been overcome by the soldiers of the Great Jin. What can't they defeat!
Xie Lanzhi also left Shuntian Prefecture. The moment she stepped out, Si Xitong was already waiting for her with his officials at the gate.
The officials bowed to her, some even lowering their hands halfway, silently expressing their respect.
Xie Lanzhi was slightly taken aback, and she looked at Si Xitong.
Si Xitong's dignified face broke into a faint smile: "Lanzhi, we have defeated the Sea King."
"This battle not only drove out the sea monsters, but also became the founding war of our Great Jin, no, the Western Jin."
"From now on, we will be neighbors with people from all over the world, and with our singing and dancing talents, our Western Jin Dynasty will have no equal!"
The ministers nodded in agreement. Their faces beamed with the joy of a resurgence of past glory. "Your Majesty is right," they said. "This battle was not only a war of national founding, but from now on, all nations will kneel and submit at the mere mention of the Western Jin's Delta campaign, daring not to covet the Central Plains again!"
Xie Lanzhi walked up to her, and Si Xitong took the initiative to open her palm and tightly grasp her hand. Then the two turned around and walked towards the luxury cars behind them.
This scene left Xie Lanzhi somewhat dazed, yet it also seemed very familiar.
She suddenly remembered that she and Little Phoenix had also experienced something similar when they were in Chenxiang Mansion.
However, this time the owner of the luxury car is a little phoenix.
Xie Lanzhi watched her retreating figure and smiled happily.
After the two boarded the carriage, the officials all said, "Respectfully seeing off Your Majesty, respectfully seeing off the Marshal."
Xie Lanzhi didn't forget to lean out of the window and instruct Wu Qiu, "The rest is up to you."
Wu Qiu stepped forward and said, "This humble official understands."
After the imperial carriage left, the officials, led by Li Ling and Wei Zhao, surrounded Wu Qiu and asked him what to do next.
Wu Qiu was surrounded by people, and someone even accidentally stepped on his toes.
He had to prop himself up with his hands to stop them from getting any closer: "My lords, please don't be in such a hurry. What we're about to do is very simple."
"His Majesty also instructed me that this matter cannot be handled by anyone other than the esteemed officials."
Li Ling probably guessed what was going on, and he specifically said to Wei Zhao, "Lord Wei, it seems you're going to be busy again."
Wei Zhao sighed, "I said that as long as I agree to the Delta Campaign, I don't care how busy I am. After all, everyone is preparing for the establishment of the Western Jin Dynasty."
When Si Xitong personally decided on the new name of the state, the ministers quickly changed their tune and stopped calling it Great Jin, instead referring to it as Western Jin.
The Western Jin Dynasty represented a new nation distinct from the Great Jin Dynasty. From then on, it was different from the old Great Jin Dynasty. Although it was a continuation of the same lineage, the Western Jin Dynasty would never follow the old path of the previous rulers of the Great Jin Dynasty.
The general public and the officialdom will also usher in a completely different new atmosphere.
Wu Qiu then announced in front of everyone: "I urge you gentlemen to raise funds from the people to jointly build coastal defense works, such as ships, cannons, and canals."
"The Western Jin Dynasty needed at least 50 million in funding in its early days!"
The mention of fifty million immediately caused an uproar among the officials, but surprisingly, many did not complain about the difficulty of the task. This was because His Majesty had not stipulated that people were not allowed to donate their own money.
Wu Qiu also specifically told the officials: "His Majesty said that donations can be made under a specific category, or you can do as you please."
Si Xitong is clearly telling everyone that she hopes everyone will donate, and that they can donate without any reservations, even if they have had ulterior motives or possess wealth accumulated by their ancestors.
But if someone donates, they are considered a hero, and she will forgive and forget where the money came from.
Wu Qiu did not originally speak of the common people, but in the blink of an eye he deliberately shifted the focus to the officials, clearly implying that they should try not to take advantage of the common people.
Many of the esteemed officials realized what was happening but dared not utter a sound. They all knew that once their superiors donated, how could they dare not donate?
Now that the Western Guard is cracking down hard, who would dare to target the common people? In the past three years, His Majesty has only made minor adjustments to taxes for the people, with little increase, or even no increase at all.
If it weren't for the increasing number of taxes, which could significantly boost the national treasury and alleviate its burden, the pressure of tax increases would generally not be easily passed on to the people.
Upon realizing this, many ministers understood. They also remarked that the people now lived much better lives than they had twenty years ago, and no longer worried about hunger.
That day, the officials returned to their homes and began to have their stewards and wives calculate their family assets. They then withdrew a portion of the assets to donate to the imperial court for the construction of coastal defense works.
Wu Qiu donated five thousand taels. Li Ling donated his entire fortune, but that only amounted to two thousand taels. Wei Zhao of the Ministry of Works, who had received many rewards in recent years, personally donated eight thousand taels. The Xie family donated an additional ten thousand taels. The officials of the six ministries all donated a little, totaling fifty thousand taels.
The money donated by all the gentlemen is recorded in the register.
However, merchants in the community soon spontaneously donated 60 million coins, led by a man named Gongsun Fan, and donated it to the imperial court.
It caused an instant sensation among the people and the government.
When Xie Lanzhi and Si Xitong learned of this, they specially met with Gongsun Fan. In fact, both of them knew in their hearts that Gongsun Fan was just a representative, and the money he had was not his own.
Instead, it was a white glove pushed out by a group of officials.
Xie Lanzhi and Si Xitong decided to turn a blind eye. They both knew this money was accumulated by the ancestors of powerful families and noble clans, and where it came from was easy to find out. Twenty years ago, the Great Jin Dynasty had only a few types of taxes, and commerce was also limited. The money that could be made was either from tenant rent or shop rent. Or, one could cut off their lineage by opening casinos or brothels.
These old forces have essentially distanced themselves from shady dealings in order to whitewash their image.
Sixty million taels went into the national treasury and were immediately poured into the Ministry of Works to expand its enrollment and open schools to train various craftsmen.
Wei Zhao and Wei Gong took the initiative to hold a selection examination to recruit talented people from the common people.
At the same time, news also came that Xie Ji had been injured and lost a limb.
When Xie Lanzhi learned of this, she sent people to offer her condolences and specially arranged for a boat to take his wife, second wife, and children to him.
And Xie Guang. She heard that the matriarch had already sent people to these places to rescue him.
Then came the remaining pirates on land.
Shi Guofu still had 2,000 men left, while Mu Ye led 5,000 men to the Central Alliance.
It's the third day now.
It's likely that Muye has already received the news and is planning to flee. Si Xitong has sent people from Xiwei to search for him.
Xiwei did indeed find the pirate group, but the pirates were all lost in the mountains, wandering around in circles. By the time they had pinpointed the exact location, Xie Ying had already secretly led a thousand Jingwei soldiers and five Type 94 cannons into the mountains.
Once ashore, the pirates were like plucked eagles, unable to escape.
Xie Ying never expected that after firing just a few shots, five thousand pirates would immediately kneel on the ground with their hands behind their heads, begging for mercy and surrendering in a dry Central Plains dialect.
They almost gave up resistance and didn't fire a single shot.
Xie Ying initially thought it was a trap, until the pirates even threw away their guns. Only then did she realize that these men were genuinely afraid of death.
Xie Ying told the pirates to cut down trees and find vines to tie themselves up. Unexpectedly, these pirates didn't even know how to tie themselves up with vines. She had to have her men strip the pirates of their clothes, tear them into bundles of strips to use as ropes, and tie them up like sheep. They arrived in the State of Lu without any trouble.
The pirate who led the surrender was named Jack.