The Villain's Counterattack

"The King of Jiaodong has returned to Beijing."

"The Prince of Jiaodong is returning to the capital today, and the Prince of Zhao is personally welcoming him."

"Have you heard? The King of Jiaodong returned to the capital, and his motorcade stretched for five miles. The five-foot-high blood-red coral was flawless and visible clearly."

"What's the point of coral? There's a ten-foot-long giant clam, a five-foot-long fish skeleton, and fresh seafood. Tsk tsk, seafood in the past was generally not fresh. But the King of Jiaodong is different. He brings live seafood to the capital in carts."

"What's that? Didn't you see those young women? They were all young Korean women. The King of Jiaodong forcibly seized a piece of territory from Korea and captured many women. Most of them were assigned to soldiers, and the beautiful ones were trained for a year or so and then sent to important officials of the court."

"I heard the King of Jiaodong has opened a treasure house. He's going to be showcasing the many treasures he's brought from the sea in five days. Everyone can go and buy them. The highest bidder wins. After the price is posted, you can bid within three days. Just leave your name and the price. You'll be notified on the last day to pay and pick up the goods. This method is unheard of, but it's quite good. I once spent a few taels of silver on a conch shell about the length of my forearm. I can hear the sound of the waves when I hold it to my ear, and it's also beautiful to look at."

"I wonder how many of these delicious dishes are for the Jiaodong Seafood Restaurant. Although the prices are a bit high and only the wealthy can enter the second floor and above, you can still eat delicious food in the first floor hall. Brother, I can't forget the delicious food there."

"You? You still want to go to Jiaodong Seafood Restaurant? I think you should buy a few pounds of salted fish to go home and drink."

"Go away, what are you talking about? How can salted fish go well with wine? Smoked fish is the best. It tastes really delicious. It's made with crystal salt, spices, and even sugar. It's much more expensive than salted fish."

Prince Yang Kang of Jiaodong returned to the capital. His motorcade didn't travel five miles, but at most four and a half. The city gates were under martial law for half a day. After entering the city, the motorcade split into three groups: one headed straight for the Imperial Palace, one for Prince Zhao's residence, and the last for the Treasure House. The Jin emperor dismissed his morning court early, but many civil and military officials didn't return home immediately. Instead, they gathered outside the palace to watch the excitement. They had long known about the Prince of Jiaodong's wealth, and not just him, but all of Jiaodong.

Tsk tsk, this guy is actually quite daring! He robbed Goryeo again, and this time he went so far as to take two cities. He's still occupying one and hasn't returned it yet. He used the money he robbed to rent it for ninety-nine years. What a business! I heard that place is rich in iron ore, and now it's the largest supplier of iron ingots in Jiaodong. All they paid was some food, cloth, and manpower. Pure profit.

This time when the Prince of Jiaodong came to Beijing, it was said that even the Prince of Zhao was jealous of the things he presented to the emperor and wanted to snatch them away for his own son. However, some things were unique and could only be presented to the emperor first. What was unique?

For example, the five-foot-long, three-foot-wide, and two-foot-high ceramic fish tank is decorated with viewing rocks, seaweed, and seaweed, and is paired with some colorful thumb-sized fish. It is simply too beautiful.

Who wouldn’t be tempted by this thing?

The corals and giant clams are the same as usual, but I heard that the highlight this time is pearls, pink, gold, and black pearls, each one is plump and round, totaling 9981 pieces, each of which is very precious. It is said that these treasures were looted by the King of Jiaodong from Goryeo and Japan, but no one knows how he got them.

Half of the live sea cucumbers, abalone, red shrimps, jellyfish and other seafood went to the palace, and the other half was sent to Prince Zhao's mansion. It goes without saying that Prince Zhao will definitely hold a banquet tomorrow, and these things cannot be kept fresh for a long time even with sea water.

Sure enough, after the court was dismissed, King Zhao began to send invitations on the spot, and the names of the names of people were drawn up on the spot. There were quite a few civil and military ministers, as well as many royal relatives. However, the emperor was not included. With him around, the princes and ministers would not have fun.

This time, Yang Kang was ready to bring them along. He had also taken a fancy to Lushun. The two places had similar environments and could easily be connected. However, Yang Kang also knew that too much was as bad as too little. Moreover, they were definitely not as rational as he was. If they were unwilling to share too much of the profits with the people below, their development would definitely not be as good as Jiaodong.

The emperor summoned Yang Kang and Wanyan Honglie and listened to Yang Kang's work report in full. He was concerned about how he borrowed the people's labor to build houses, lent them money to buy houses, and then collected the money back. In the end, those people had to pay back the money. Although the interest rate seemed outrageously low to the emperor, he had basically not invested much and was definitely making a lot of money.

As for finding an excuse to plunder Goryeo, that is not a big deal. The Jin Kingdom did not need an excuse to attack the Song Kingdom before. Kang'er is still too conservative, but the price he asks for is not low at all, which is worthy of praise.

When the Jin emperor heard that Yang Kang was catching horse thieves and bandits all over Shandong and then transporting them all to the Japanese island to help him seize territory and dig up silver, he laughed out loud. It turned out that these lawless people could be used in this way.

It has been decided that in the future, we will no longer exile people to the bitter cold places outside the Great Wall. We will all be sent to the Japanese island. No one will be allowed to come back until they have dug up 10,000 taels of silver. Hehe, that place is across the sea, and there is no navy to support them. It will not be easy for them to come back.

As for the reactions of Goryeo and Japan?

He could do whatever he wanted with his fists. He was the emperor, not some corrupt scholar-officials, so he would only approve without a single objection. Even if there were, it was because he was too conservative. If it were him, he would have sent 500,000 troops to take them all. However, the sheer number of troops would be too costly, tantamount to a national war. Regarding Yang Kang's idea of ​​expanding the army, the Jin emperor gave the go-ahead: an additional 20,000! "I don't have to pay for the military anyway. If you have the money, then expand it yourself."

Yang Kang controlled Jiaodong tightly and did not allow the civil and military officials in the court to interfere at all, which made the Jin emperor very satisfied. Except for his father, Prince Zhao Wanyan Honglie, the child hardly interacted with other civil and military officials in the court, making it clear that he wanted to be a lone minister guarding a place, which was exactly what he wanted.

As long as the King of Zhao stood firm, the child would be safe. Furthermore, he had issued a decree that the throne would be hereditary. Even if someone tried to interfere in the future, as long as he remained firm, no one would be able to stop him. However, he still had to make some further arrangements, lest his descendants, in the future, were unfilial and force the child to pay taxes. One hundred thousand taels a year, no more. If he wanted to pay filial respects, that was another matter. If he didn't want to, he couldn't force him.

Yang Kang ordered people to set up the fish tanks and count and store all the seafood. At the same time, Yang Kang told the emperor and the imperial chef the taboos of pairing seafood with other things, asking them to be careful and not make any mistakes. At noon, Yang Kang personally directed the imperial chef to cook, and then had a good meal with the Emperor of Jin and King Zhao.

Yang Kang admitted that he liked many things, but he usually didn't use large or fine items when he was alone. The fine items were either sold at high prices or used as tribute. This time, he ate something that was given to him as a gift, and even earned a favor, which was a good deal!

Yang Kang's mercenary look reminded the Jin emperor of this little guy who borrowed the people's labor to build houses, and then lent money to the people to buy houses. He won the hearts of the people and made money, but only paid a blueprint and a piece of land. He had a better understanding of the way this little guy took advantage, and couldn't help laughing.

After eating and drinking, the Jin emperor gave Yang Kang a house. Yang Kang had no choice but to accept it. The emperor's meaning was very clear. He wanted to separate the titles of King of Jiaodong and King of Zhao. This was an attitude. As for where you want to live, it depends on your own idea.

Yang Kang immediately dispatched his two hundred personal guards to take over the Jiaodong Palace. He and his eighteen personal guards moved into the Zhao Palace, much to Wanyan Honglie's delight. Upon entering the palace, Yang Kang met Princess Zhao and presented her with a large box of gifts, overflowing with gold, silver, and jewelry, valued at at least one hundred thousand taels. This stunned Princess Zhao. Wanyan Ping, who had been married for three months, wasn't shy about seeing Yang Kang, and seemed to enjoy his aura. Quanzhen Taoist Qi naturally possessed a friendly nature.

Looking at Wanyan Ping, Yang Kang was overwhelmed with emotions. Could this still be the little girl who loved his son in the original novel (The Return of the Condor Heroes)? Probably not. After all, he had changed her origins, but she was still the Princess of the Jin Kingdom, his nominal sister!

"Since you are born in the Zhao Palace and are my sister, the Prince of Jiaodong, I will guarantee you a lifetime of wealth and honor. My sister, the Prince of Jiaodong, should be worth a million!" Yang Kang's promise was quite high, but he was slapped back by the Prince of Zhao. "You might as well give me a million in wealth to support my army. Do you think that the daughter of my son, the Prince of Zhao, Wanyan Honglie, must be supported by my son?"

Yang Kang smiled and didn't take it seriously. However, Wanyan Honglie proposed something at this time, which was to summon martial arts masters to seize Wu Mu's will hidden in the palace. The Jin people had a superstitious obsession with Yue Wu Mu. Yang Kang didn't want to change his mind, but just told him not to hold out too much hope. If the Song court really had this thing, just let them use it as tribute. Then he would know the truth by looking at their attitude.

"Military strategies and battle formations are different from martial arts secrets. No matter how stupid the Song people are, they will not give away such treasures." Wanyan Honglie shook his head and rejected his idea. He also thought that the Song people themselves might not have reacted, so it would be better for him to take it secretly.

Yang Kang disagreed, saying, "Many Song ministers are close to the Jin. Wouldn't it be better to let them take it secretly? Then we can let them take it with them on their diplomatic mission, and we can give them a decent gift and take credit for it."

"If we fail to take it by force, it will not be too late to try this strategy again." Wanyan Honglie felt that with the cowardly character of those Song ministers, they might really do such a thing. They really don't take military affairs seriously. Humph, they are a bunch of short-sighted people.