The Villain's Counterattack

In the first year, Jiaodong was prosperous, with 800,000 people, 10,000 naval troops, 10,000 infantrymen, 8,000 cavalrymen, 2,000 security officials of various kinds, and 8,000 commercial guards. They paid tribute of 10 stones of snow salt, a set of huge fish bones, 10 exquisite corals, 10 giant clams, and 100 rare pearls, which directly offset the taxes of that year.

At the beginning of the following year, Yang Kang, the Marquis of Jiaodong, made a fortune trading with Korea and Japan, acquiring countless valuable goods. His only trade was silks, pots and pans, handicrafts, and discarded, defective weapons and armor. His first trade yielded over 100,000 taels, and his second, with increased investment, netted over 200,000 taels. The gold and silver he harvested were stored directly in the warehouse, while the ancient Korean ginseng, coral, pearls, and other valuables were shipped to Zhongdu, sparking the envy of countless people.

On the third voyage, the Goryeo navy suddenly attacked the merchant fleet. The fleet fought back, ultimately holding out until the Jiaodong navy arrived and annihilated the Goryeo navy. Yang Kang then launched a surprise attack on the Goryeo port, seizing all the remaining Goryeo navy ships and looting them, reaping over 300,000. A combined force of 20,000 soldiers, including navy, cavalry, and infantry, marched directly onto the Goryeo mainland, demanding a reasonable explanation from the country.

Goryeo was in the wrong and paid a large amount of compensation and ceded Jeju Island. Yang Kang returned satisfied. Two coastal cities of Goryeo were looted. Only then did Goryeo realize that the Marquis of Jiaodong was a young prince of the Jin Dynasty, with a cruel and brutal nature. It was good that he didn't rob you, how dare you rob him? Don't think that doing business makes you a good person. People who do business always carry knives with them.

Jeju Island boasted beautiful scenery, excellent conditions, and a rich pearl production. Yang Kang immediately organized his forces to seize the island and aggressively recruited local pearl farmers, offering them improved wages, housing, clothing, and food, and teaching them pearl cultivation techniques. Because the island was located overseas, Yang Kang dispatched 3,000 infantry and 2,000 naval reserves to ensure safety. He also relocated 100,000 refugees, completely transforming the island into a Sinicized land.

Qiu Chuji personally went to the island to take a look and was quite fond of it. He called it a paradise and no longer resisted Yang Kang's move to relocate the Han people.

It's hard to leave one's hometown. Who would want to starve to death when life is good? But now, as long as you are not a lazy person, anyone in Jiaodong can make a living.

Moreover, he had seen the sea chart provided by Yang Kang. From the Wa Island, he went south to Zhoushan, Ryukyu, and then to Luzon. The area there was vast, and most importantly, there was a lot of food. A large amount of food in Jiaozhou was bought from there. One piece of cloth was worth a thousand kilograms of food, and spices could be picked at will. It was simply a treasure island.

Qiu Chuji was now completely convinced of the wealth of the sea, and naturally increased his investment. Hundreds of Quanzhen disciples were active throughout Jiaodong, even traveling with the fleet to survey the terrain. Through Quanzhen's channels, a wide variety of talents poured into Jiaodong, filling the area with vibrant vitality. Yang Kang brutally suppressed the so-called Confucian scholars and instead favored the various schools of thought. Mohism, military strategy, Taoism, and medicine all emerged and flourished in Jiaodong.

How much money is there in Jiaodong?

In fact, Yang Kang never had much money. All he had were abundant supplies, which he often exchanged for. He had grain and spices from Luzon, silks, pens, ink, paper and inkstones from the Southern Song Dynasty, cattle and horses from Liaodong, ginseng, deer antlers, medicinal herbs, corals and pearls from Goryeo, and gold, silver and saltpeter from Wa Island. After all, Yang Kang's greatest reliance was his powerful navy.

If we have to say something that truly belongs to him, it would be seafood, sea salt, handicrafts and shipbuilding. These are the industries developed by Yang Kang himself. The others rely on sea trade to exchange what they have. However, this trade is entirely controlled by Yang Kang himself, and the so-called merchant ships are all naval warships.

Jiaodong's wealth is shared by the people. Yang Kang encourages loans, but loans require collateral, and the collateral is often what the loan is used to buy, such as: a house!

Yang Kang drew out several key development areas, and then built houses on a large scale with unified standards and planning. They were all two-story buildings with small courtyards. Not only was the environment beautiful, but it was also clean and safe. Such concentrated residential areas often had security guards stationed there, and some were even right next to the army.

Jiaodong is located near the mountains and the sea, with many hills and little arable land, but it supports 800,000 people. Only 30% of these people farm, 30% work, 20% live near the sea, 10% do business, and the last 10% is a complex group, covering all walks of life.

Farming in the hills was not very profitable, so Yang Kang focused on promoting fruit trees and adopted a large-scale unified planting, picking, processing, and sales model. Fresh fruits, dried fruits, fruit wine, fruit vinegar, and jam were luxury goods in the desert and grassland. Yang Kang only needed to transport them to Zhongdu. Wanyan Honglie intercepted a part of them, and the rest was sold to Mongolia and Western Xia in exchange for a large number of war horses and oxen. He made a fortune.

Before the end of the second year, Yang Kang sent two hundred thousand taels of gold and silver, as well as a bunch of luxury goods. When the Jin emperor heard that Yang Kang had overpowered Goryeo and looted a lot of good things, he couldn't help laughing, thinking that this boy had the style of his ancestors. After receiving these offerings, he did not wait until the third year and directly issued an order to promote Yang Kang to the King of Jiaodong, with military and political power in his hands. Outsiders were not allowed to interfere, and the throne was inherited from generation to generation, and he would live and die with the country!

However, the annual tax is 100,000 taels of silver, which can be replaced by other treasures. It will not decrease, but it will not increase either.

Many Jin nobles, seeing Yang Kang's treatment, were filled with envy and resentment, wishing they could replace him. But when they looked back at the annual tax of 100,000 taels of silver, they immediately reveled in their misfortune. "You plundered Goryeo this year and raised 200,000 taels, but what about next year? And what about the years after that? Can you continue to do this year after year? Is Goryeo rich enough to sustain your yearly plunder? This isn't a sustainable solution."

Yang Kang didn't care. "The sea is full of treasures. I don't have that much money, but you do. I don't believe you wouldn't be tempted by such goodies." Furthermore, the Zhongdu Jiaodong Seafood Restaurant was raking in a fortune, with an annual net profit of 50,000 to 70,000 taels. Besides the share given to Wanyan Honglie, the majority went to Yang Kang himself. The seafood alone in Zhongdu could make up the 100,000 taels, not to mention all the other goodies.

When the pearls he cultivated came out, that would be the real money-making machine. Yang Kang did not take money too seriously. Sometimes even money could not buy good things. What he lacked now were people, all kinds of talents.

Shandong has no shortage of iron mines, coal mines, and even gold mines, but what it lacks is people. Yang Kang was unwilling to make his territory dirty, so he set his sights on Goryeo's coal and iron resources. In the third year, he once again lured Goryeo's border troops to attack his fleet. This time, they forcibly seized two cities. In the end, although he returned one city after bargaining, he also rented a city and several hilltops for ninety-nine years for ten thousand taels of silver.

The leased land must be returned eventually. After much hesitation, Yang Kang agreed to this condition, but he reiterated that everything in the concession was under the control of the Jin Kingdom. The Jin army would not cross the border, and the Goryeo side could not cross the border at will. If the Jin Kingdom needed to recruit workers, the workers would be temporarily under the management of the Jin Kingdom, and would be under the management of the Goryeo people only when they returned to Goryeo.

Goryeo agreed to this request without a second thought. At most, they could just set up a blockade to prevent people from crossing the border. But they didn't expect that when recruiting workers, they could just sail along the coast to recruit workers. When a Han blacksmith came here, he would at least be a foreman.

Korean workers were given two new pieces of clothing every year, free food and lodging, and wages. They were also given two vacations a year, each lasting half a month. They could also bring home food, fruits, vegetables, and even meat each time they went home. This attracted more Koreans to come and work as laborers.

In the end, there was even a situation where Goryeo soldiers secretly went there to do hard labor. That's a story for later. With Goryeo's iron and coal mines, a large number of iron ingots could be produced to supply Jiaodong. Jiaodong blacksmiths could directly make finished products, which could be sold at high prices to Goryeo, Japan, and even Luzon. Forget about the Southern Song Dynasty, as they didn't lack them. As for the grasslands and deserts, they could never be sold, as it would be aiding the enemy.

In the third year, the population of Jiaodong exceeded one million. The number of Yang Kang's troops in Jiaodong remained unchanged, but he stationed 8,000 troops on Jeju Island and 8,000 troops in the Goryeo Concession. In addition, he sent 5,000 horse thieves and bandits to the Japanese island, providing them with weapons, armor, food and clothing, allowing them to seize a place and try to occupy Iwami Silver Mine. Subsequently, a steady stream of Han craftsmen and "martial artists" were sent there.

This year, Yang Kang turned eighteen (in lunar years). The newly appointed Princess Zhao finally gave birth to a daughter, named Wanyan Ping, for Wanyan Honglie. Yang Kang immediately led eighteen guards, two hundred personal soldiers, and dozens of large ships back to Zhongdu. This was not only to celebrate the birth of a younger sister, but also to express gratitude and report on his work. The prosperity of Jiaodong attracted considerable attention.