Soren’s two great economic pillars were salt and magic mirrors.
The monthly gold coin revenue they brought was completely astronomical, far exceeding the entire Southeast Province’s tax revenue, sufficient to support Soren’s military expansion.
Moreover, whether salt or magic mirrors, Soren’s market faced the entirety of the human kingdoms.
Earlier, because Soren was at a disadvantage in his struggle with Zhili, both magic mirrors and salt had been banned by eighty percent of the feudal lords and prefectures of the Kingdom of Nu Lang. Only after the victory in this great battle did the vast majority of the Kingdom of Nu Lang’s markets open to Soren.
But even so, the Kingdom of Nu Lang’s market accounted for less than a quarter of all revenue, far inferior to the Yan Empire, and even inferior to the Eastern Li Kingdom.
In the Yan Empire’s market, sixty percent was transported by sea, with only forty percent by land. As for the Eastern Li Kingdom, it was completely sea transport.
Therefore, for Soren at this time, maritime transport was truly a lifeline. Tianshui City had long since surpassed Luan Yang City, becoming the Kingdom of Nu Lang’s greatest maritime merchant. Over sixty percent of monthly revenue came from sea routes.
And Pirate Harbour was the world’s largest transit hub for maritime trade. Over half of Soren’s maritime trade was conducted at Pirate Harbour.
Now, the Soren clan’s trading houses had become, without dispute, the largest commercial organisation in all of Pirate Harbour.
Yet relying solely upon the Soren clan’s naval forces, it was difficult to maintain such vast maritime trade. Like other maritime merchants, Soren regularly paid protection fees to the Maritime Guild according to established rules.
And the so-called Maritime Guild was completely a pirate organisation.
Previously, the Maritime Guild’s top seat had been held by the Hai clan of Yingzhou Island. But after several crushing defeats, the Maritime Guild’s top seat had now become Yanmo, King of the Rock Pirates.
Nowadays, the protection fees Soren paid to the Maritime Guild each month exceeded twenty thousand gold coins. This was completely an astronomical figure, accounting for roughly a third of all protection fees received by the Maritime Guild.
For any maritime merchant who paid protection fees, no pirate was permitted to plunder them. This was written clearly upon the Maritime Convention.
And the most recent protection fee payment had been made just four days ago at Pirate Harbour.
Unexpectedly, Yanmo had torn his face apart immediately after receiving the money, robbing and killing Soren’s maritime merchant fleet.
This maritime merchant fleet had fully thirty vessels, twenty of them transporting salt, one transporting magic mirrors. These were goods about to be sold.
Another eight vessels transported weapons, armour, and iron materials, essential necessities for military expansion.
And one vessel transported money, over one hundred thousand gold coins in cash, to be carried back to Tianshui City.
All thirty vessels were seized. The monetary and goods losses exceeded two hundred thousand gold coins. Even with Soren’s immense wealth, this was somewhat damaging to his foundations. Not to mention that the eight vessels of weapons and armour were crucial to the present military reorganisation. Once seized, the reorganisation of at least ten thousand troops would be completely delayed.
Yanmo was truly bullying beyond endurance.
The first time, he had personally kicked Soren into an abyss of ten thousand zhang. Soren had not gone to demand justice.
The second time, even when his mother Yan Chuor went to beg for aid, she was flatly refused. Not only that, he had kicked a man when he was down, dispatching five thousand rock pirates to follow Gui Xingfu’s navy and strike while the iron was hot.
As a half-brother, Yanmo had repeatedly come knocking at Soren’s door, yet Soren had not retaliated.
And now he had gone even further, seeking to directly sever Soren’s lifeline, to completely cut off sixty percent of his revenue.
At this moment, Soren’s prestige was at its zenith, having first defeated Zhili, then destroyed Fang Qingshu. No one in the entire Kingdom of Nu Lang dared provoke him. Countless nobles and feudal lords held their breath in his presence.
Unexpectedly, Yanmo had directly stepped forward and delivered Soren a fierce slap to the face.
Even more critically, Yanmo declared he would completely seal off Soren’s maritime trade.
Nowadays, whether for the expansion of Tianshui City’s army or the governance of the Southeast Province, astronomical sums of gold coins were needed.
Because Soren had prepared for the worst. If the King should suddenly pass away one day, Soren would need to confront the entire Kingdom of Nu Lang with a single province.
Whether for the final decisive battle with Zhili or for suppressing all feudal lords and nobles after Zhiyan’s ascension to the queenship, Soren needed an army of over three hundred thousand troops.
And an army of three hundred thousand was completely a gold-devouring beast.
All of this could not be separated from money, and all money, sixty percent depended upon maritime trade.
Therefore, Yanmo’s robbery of the Soren clan’s merchant fleet was directly seeking to castrate Soren, to sever his path to survival.
Acting decisively, Soren immediately returned to Tianshui City, leaving Southeast Province affairs to Gui Xingfu and Yan Wuzhi. With Ashi Liren’s ten thousand cavalry stationed at Donghai City, he believed no one could stir up any storms.
…
Luan Yang City!
“I cannot allow others to butcher me at will. I must master my own fate!” Tulingduo murmured to herself, seated in her wheelchair.
At this moment, her wheelchair was at the top of the castle, below which were dozens to hundreds of steep steps.
She had clearly recovered long ago, but to avoid going to bed with Tu Liyang, she had continuously pretended to be paralysed.
Now, she was about to lie with Zhili, about to become pregnant, so she could no longer pretend to be paralysed. She needed to recover.
But on clear days, Tulingduo would watch the sunset from the castle’s summit. So each time, Tu Liyang would personally carry her and the wheelchair up hundreds of steps, then after watching the sunset, painstakingly carry her down again.
Moreover, each time Tulingduo watched the sunset, she was alone. Even Tu Liyang could not be by her side.
“Aduo, the sun has set. The weather will soon turn cool. Let me carry you down.” Tu Liyang called from below the castle.
Tulingduo looked down. Across several dozen metres, it seemed Tu Liyang was not so ugly anymore, nor so short.
Such a good man, if she truly killed him, would she not suffer heaven’s punishment?
This thought suddenly welled up in Tulingduo’s mind. Then she smiled at Tu Liyang and waved her hand.
A happy smile appeared on Tu Liyang’s face. Then he set his short legs in motion, about to rush up the steps to carry Tulingduo down.
And at this moment, Tulingduo, as though by accident, tilted slightly.
“Ah…” A scream, and she tumbled down together with her wheelchair, rolling all the way down the steep steps.
Below, Tu Liyang was as though struck by lightning, standing frozen in place. A moment later he let out a fierce roar, “Aduo!”
Then, like a madman, he rushed up desperately.
“Thud thud thud…” Tulingduo rolled all the way down.
Finally, several dozen steps below, she was caught in Tu Liyang’s embrace.
At this moment, Tu Liyang’s face was devoid of colour, his heart and liver seemingly torn apart. He wailed, “Aduo, how are you? How are you? Do not frighten me!”
Wailing and weeping, he held Tulingduo tightly.
“It is all my fault, all my fault. I should not have left you alone up there.”
And at this time, many servants, warriors, and maidservants also rushed up swiftly.
“Get away, get away…” Tu Liyang shouted, simply holding Tulingduo desperately.
Then, she woke up faintly, bloodstains still at the corner of her mouth.
“Yang, I hurt so much…” Tulingduo said.
“Where does it hurt, where does it hurt…” Tu Liyang shouted.
“My leg hurts, my knee hurts…” Tulingduo said, then reached to roll up her trouser leg, revealing a slender, snowy white calf. At the knee was a clear impact wound, a bloody gash.
Tu Liyang carefully blew upon the wound, then shouted loudly, “Quickly bring strong wine and medicinal ointment, and bandages. Quickly go call a medical cultivator…”
Then, he used clean silk to wipe the wound upon Tulingduo’s knee.
“It hurts, it hurts so much…” Tulingduo sucked in a cold breath.
Suddenly, Tu Liyang was as though struck by lightning, gazing at Tulingduo in disbelief. Then a trace of wild joy surged upon his face.
Previously, Tulingduo had been paralysed, so her legs had no sensation. Now she actually knew pain. That, that meant her legs had sensation, meant she had recovered.
“Aduo, you can feel pain. Your legs have healed…” Tu Liyang said excitedly.
Then, Tulingduo also pretended to be stunned with disbelief. Then she struggled to support herself on Tu Liyang, pretending to stand up tremblingly, then weeping with joy, “Tu Liyang, my legs have healed, my legs have healed!”
Her legs had healed long ago. She had merely pretended to be paralysed for several months to avoid sleeping with Tu Liyang. It had truly been hard on her.
Yet Tu Liyang knew nothing, holding her with utter excitement, weeping and laughing.
But Tulingduo’s heart was incomparably conflicted. She was no longer pretending to be paralysed. Her legs had stood up, which meant Tu Liyang would soon be cuckolded, soon be murdered.
Immediately after, Tulingduo suddenly smelled a stench of urine, then looked down to discover that Tu Liyang’s trousers were soaked in a large patch.
Tu Liyang also discovered this, instantly dying of shame, wishing the ground would crack open so he could crawl inside.
If this had been before, Tulingduo’s heart would certainly have been filled with utter disgust and contempt. But now she felt even more conflicted and pained.
Tu Liyang had been so frightened he wet himself. After she pretended to fall from the castle summit, Tu Liyang had actually been so terrified he urinated on himself. One could see how much he cared for her, how much he loved her.
And just at this moment, a warrior rushed into the castle, shouting, “Letter from the royal city, letter from the royal city!”
This was a letter from Duke Tulintuo and Zhili.
Half a month later, Zhili would marry Tulingmo, inviting Tu Liyang and Tulingduo to enter the royal city and attend the wedding!
…
Tianshui City!
Under the protection of Zhuang Zhixuan and Zhiyan, Soren directly put out to sea, boarding Yan Chuor’s flagship, heading directly to Pirate Harbour to meet Yanmo.
“Aunt, after reorganisation, how many naval forces do we currently have?” Soren asked.
Yan Chuor said, “Twenty-five thousand naval troops, thirteen thousand rock pirates among them, twelve thousand ordinary sailors. But rock pirate warships number only fifty. The remaining two hundred vessels were all captured.”
Soren said, “Then this naval force should currently rank third in the entire eastern seas?”
Yan Chuor said, “Excluding the two colossi of the Yan Empire and the Eastern Li Kingdom, it should be third!”
Though the Yan Empire did not emphasise its navy, it was after all the world’s foremost power, with considerable coastal territory. Though its navy was completely insignificant compared to its army, it far surpassed the Soren clan’s navy.
As for the Eastern Li Kingdom, there was no need to speak of it. Its coastline exceeded ten thousand li, truly deserving the title of foremost maritime power.
However, whether the Yan Empire or the Eastern Li Kingdom, their navies paid almost no attention to maritime trade disputes.
So nowadays in the eastern seas, the foremost naval power was Yanmo, second was the Hai clan of Yingzhou Island, third was the Soren clan.
Soren said, “How large a fleet did Yanmo lead south this time?”
“Fifty thousand rock pirates!” Yan Chuor said.
Soren’s brow instantly twitched. Powerful rock pirates could nearly fight one against two. Fifty thousand rock pirates could nearly sweep across the entire eastern seas.
And the Soren naval forces had twenty-five thousand, but they were a mixed force, far from being a match for Yanmo’s fifty thousand rock pirates.
Yan Chuor said, “Not only that, he has also assembled over a dozen pirate forces from the entire eastern seas. Together their warships number nearly a thousand, their naval forces nearly one hundred thousand!”
The last time Yan Chuor had gone to the New Rock Islands to beg for aid, she had told Yanmo that this time, Yanmo must be either ally or enemy. And Yanmo had chosen to be enemy!
As a result, Gui Xingfu’s forty thousand allied army had been crushingly defeated in the attack on Rocky Island. The five thousand rock pirates Yanmo had dispatched had suffered two thousand casualties and three thousand captured.
The victor becomes king, the loser a bandit. Logically, Yanmo should have proactively sent someone to apologise and pay substantial compensation in gold coins.
Unexpectedly, he had done the exact opposite. Without waiting for Soren to come demand justice, he had instead come knocking with overwhelming ferocity.
“Aunt, according to your inference, what is Yanmo’s intention?” Soren asked.
“Strike first with shock, strategic extortion!” Yan Chuor said.
Soren nodded, indicating agreement.
Yanmo was an extremely domineering, overbearing man. Such a man could only gain advantage, never suffer loss.
Moreover, the more such a man was in the wrong, the more ferocious and unforgiving he became.
At this moment, for Yanmo the greatest interest lay in swallowing Yingzhou Island, destroying the Hai clan, occupying the nest and driving away the dove, and reaching towards the mainland.
With Soren, apart from enmity, there was no fundamental conflict of interest.
On the contrary, the two of them were the best natural allies!
Yet unexpectedly, he had assembled one hundred thousand naval forces with such overwhelming momentum, seeking to destroy Soren’s maritime economic lifeline and sever the Soren clan’s path to survival.
“Where does he plan to negotiate with me?” Soren asked.
“On the sea surface, aboard a third-party vessel.” Yan Chuor said.
…
Soren’s fleet sailed for three days and three nights, finally reaching the location Yanmo had designated for negotiations.
This place was still four hundred li from Pirate Harbour, a vast and boundless sea.
At this moment, across the entire sea surface were fully over a thousand warships, blotting out the sky and covering the sun, boundless and infinite.
Half of these were Yanmo’s rock pirate army, the other half were the pirate allied forces.
This force was sufficient to sever all of Soren’s maritime lifelines, to seal off all of the Soren clan’s maritime trade routes.
Yanmo had deployed this astronomical number of warships precisely to bully with overwhelming force!
Ten thousand metres from this vast fleet was a magnificent tower ship.
Yanmo sat upon the deck. Kneeling beside him was an incomparably beautiful young woman, wearing thin gauze clothing, her enchanting and alluring body faintly visible.
This woman was Yanmo’s wife, the legitimate daughter of Hai Gang.
Soren’s fleet had only a mere several dozen vessels, several thousand naval troops. Compared to the vast fleet behind Yanmo, it was completely a drop in the ocean, utterly insignificant.
Soren’s vessel gradually drew closer, nearer and nearer to the tower ship where Yanmo sat.
“Soren, I have brought only one woman aboard this ship. You too need bring only one woman.” Yanmo shouted loudly.
Zhiyan released her spiritual power to explore the tower ship where Yanmo sat, then nodded, saying, “Indeed there is no one else, only Yanmo and his wife. I shall accompany you aboard.”
Then, Zhuang Zhixuan lowered a small boat. Soren and Zhiyan boarded, rowing towards the magnificent tower ship where Yanmo sat.
Soon, the small boat drew alongside the magnificent vessel.
Soren and Zhiyan climbed the ropes and boarded this tower ship.
This tower ship had no sailors. Its sails were lowered, drifting alone upon the sea surface, over ten thousand metres from both fleets.
Yanmo gazed upon the incomparably beautiful Princess Zhiyan, his eyes blazing brightly. He shouted loudly, “This must be my sister-in-law? Brothers are like hands and feet, women are like clothing. Soren, you are my younger brother. How about this? I shall give you my wife to enjoy, and you give me your wife to enjoy. Then we need not negotiate. This dispute shall be written off with one stroke. I shall return all the seized fleets to you! We shall settle our enmity with one shot, what say you?”