"As for the specific handling method, Zhou, you should be clear, you know more about the servant army than I do. From now on, this army will be under your command. You don’t need to worry about the court having any opinions, I will take care of the court. You just need to think about, how to work this rabid dog to death for me."
"However, this will require a large amount of manpower and resources, and Wei will also need to formulate a detailed battle plan to cooperate with it, not just fight a senseless battle for others to benefit. Therefore, before that, you need to stay in Dongying, keeping an eye on the servant army!"
"While I’m still here, Zhou, you will have to take on more work, and eradicate quickly all the thorns and nails in the servant army, crush them to death."
"As for the land of Dongying, my opinion is a sixty-forty split."
"Everything west of Kinki has already been devastated into barren land by the servant army, let’s leave that to Lianhuan Fort and the Xiang Family to mess with. There are great benefits there, and if they want to seize these benefits, they will have to invest a large amount of manpower and resources, which is equivalent to the civilians exerting three parts strength to help Wei conquer Dongying."
"None of you are outsiders, I won’t couch my words in high-sounding terms... I don’t care who came with me to Dongying, as long as they exerted their utmost effort, I can’t let them return empty-handed. As for how the court will wrangle with them later, it’s none of my business. Even if the court sends troops to eradicate Ming Sect and the White Lotus Sect, as long as the Yang Family and the twelve branches are spared, I, Yang Erlang, will not say one more word about it."
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"When brothers fall out, sharp tools may be exposed, but you must prevent external insults. As brothers, I hope you can understand me, and I also hope the allure of Dongying can motivate the Ming Sect and the White Lotus Sect to channel their efforts outward."
"Everything east of Kinki, including the Central region, Kanto, the Northeast and even Hokkaido, will belong to the court."
"The overall direction, as I mentioned before, is to manage Dongying as the main base of the servant army, continuously exploiting every generation of Dongying’s youth to expand the territory for Wei..."
"As for how to do it specifically, I also have two modest opinions."
"The first is to follow the example of Qin Shi Huang’s burning of books and burying of scholars, to completely sever the original cultural heritage of Dongying, and to replace it with our Han culture."
"The second is to stifle the development of firearms in Dongying, promote strongly their warrior loyalty and martial spirit, keeping them always in an environment of cold weapon warfare, not giving them the slightest chance to rise."
"Hmm, these are just some modest views, laughable in their simplicity."
"Regarding implementation, I will later find the court and get those who are best at the art of ’keeping the people ignorant’ to provide plans, and select the best plans to be sent here."
"But this matter can only be done by you, Qin, and Nangong. You’ve seen how vicious and brutal these Dongying pirates are by nature, and understand the purpose of our actions. If it were someone else, I’m afraid they would be deceived by the superficial compliance and obedience of these pirates, and if their heart softens they might teach them real skills..."
"Have you all understood? You mostly can’t go back in a short time, you need to take charge here."
"Don’t look so somber, this task is not in vain. Think about it, before the court officially incorporates Dongying into Wei’s territories, this place is still the land of barbarians beyond the reach of civilization, and none of you even hold an official position here... Do you understand what that means?"
"It means: as long as you don’t neglect the important matters, you can be as ruthless as you want in taking money, land, scrape the ground three feet deep, and no one has a pretext to trouble you. In three to five years, you could amass wealth that ten generations of spendthrifts couldn’t squander!"
"Rest assured, if there’s some short-sighted Confucian in the court who dares to nag, you just tell me, and I’ll make him shut up!"
"Such a good opportunity is only available to you because you are the first batch who went to sea with me. Had it been at another time, no matter how hard you squeezed your brains, you couldn’t compete with the sons of princes, dukes, and ministers of the court, believe it or not?"
"With such a good deal, if you don’t send me a few ham hocks during the holidays, you would feel too ashamed to do so!"
He tried to relax his tone, speaking unhurriedly and steadily.
After talking a lot, he finally began to relax, finding a bit of the ease he had in the past, and the aura around him was no longer as heart-stopping for Zhou Fu and the others as it had been earlier.
Eventually, he began to laugh first...
Zhou Fu, Liu Tang, and Nangong Feiying laughed along with him.
Liu Tang even mustered up the courage to joke with Yang Ge: "Ham hocks? That’s not nearly enough. Mountains of gold and silver, Dongying women, as long as Second Master speaks up, I, Old Liu, will dig deep and make sure to deliver them to Second Master’s residence."
Nangong Feiying also nodded eagerly, his eyes shining: "Yes, yes, Second Master treats us brothers as his own, and we in turn see Second Master as our elder brother. Whatever share we have, Second Master has a share too!"
As soon as they thought about how soon the vast Dongying would be under their command, all the techniques of corrupt officials from generations past sparkled like sparks in their minds...
They were practically drooling!
"If I said pig’s feet, then it’s pig’s feet."
Yang Ge waved his hand, "Bringing anything else would change the taste. Besides, I made a pretty penny this trip, which is enough. Having too much would actually be a burden."
Liu Tang grinned and bowed, "Second Master is truly noble and principled, we commoners can’t compare to Second Master. As for money, the more the better... Wouldn’t you say so, boss of the fourth rank?"
Nangong Feiying gave him a sidelong glance, his fists clenched hard.
Zhou Fu, however, was more pure-hearted than these two. He carefully pondered the words Yang Ge had spoken, feeling a mountainous pressure suddenly fall upon his shoulders, so heavy that his scalp tingled.
He wasn’t unwilling to take on the responsibility.
He was just afraid that he would not do well and let down the great situation Yang Ge had forged with his blood and sweat...
He hesitated for a moment, then asked in a somewhat flustered and uncertain voice, "From what you’re saying... are you going back to Wei?"
"I definitely want to return. It’s been so long since I’ve been out; I miss home," Yang Ge replied softly. "But I have to finish up the work here before I leave. I can’t leave things half done!"
He had already considered that with his current level of mental strength and the total amount of True Qi, he should have enough to directly take his sword and cross the sea.
But that was just enough for him alone to cross the sea; adding Erhei to the equation wouldn’t work...
Not to mention people from the Western Sea Road like Yang Tiansheng, Li Jincheng, Xiang Wudi, and others.
Those who came together should return together. That’s only right.
Zhou Fu felt slightly relieved, thinking to himself that there was still time... With the current state of the servant army, he truly lacked the confidence to keep things under control!
The four of them sat side by side on the hill, silently staring at the plain filled with campfires, lost in thought.
At dawn, Yang Ge ordered the troops to mobilize and set out in the direction of Heian-kyō.
The journey was smooth and unimpeded, and they arrived at Heian-kyō around noon.
The then Emperor of Dongying, Emperor Nara, leading the entire Dongying imperial family along with all civil and military officials, knelt in the snow outside the White Tiger Sect, holding up the golden seal of the king of the Han Japanese vassal state, to welcome them.
Yang Ge ordered Zhou Fu to represent him in retrieving the golden seal of the king of Han Japanese vassal state. He then ordered the removal of Emperor Nara’s crown, detained the entire Dongying imperial family, and ordered the servant army to enter the city and close all city gates.
It was merely a quarter of an hour after the servant army entered the city when billows of thick black smoke rose within Heian-kyō. Even from beyond the city gates, cries of agony could be heard from within...
Yang Ge turned to Zhou Fu and others and said, "You have to bear witness for me, I truly have issued no orders this time."
Zhou Fu and the others nodded vigorously, they could attest to Yang Ge. Aside from the order to enter the city, he truly had not said an extra word.
In the fourteenth year of Xiping of Wei, Dongying fell, the imperial lineage was severed, the Ashikaga Shogunate collapsed, and Heian-kyō was reduced to ashes!
The mission to Dongying was accomplished!