Daqian Night Emperor

Chapter 189 The Uncrowned King of the East China Sea!
Dingbo Marquis Ruan Shenxiu is a veteran minister who has served three dynasties.

He was also the commander-in-chief of the Daqian Navy, commanding 300,000 navy soldiers to expand Daqian's territory at sea, greatly expanding Daqian's territory.

However, after Emperor Tianwu succeeded to the throne, he massively disbanded the navy, withdrew the troops inland, and left only a naval force of 30,000 to 40,000 people to guard the maritime territory.

The reason for this decision is that the cost of maintaining a navy of 300,000 is too high.

The ocean in this world is much more vast than that in Zhao Qi'an's previous life, and the cost of each voyage is an astronomical figure.

Maintaining this 300,000-strong navy accounts for almost one-third of the annual treasury revenue.

But what's in exchange?
It was just some barbarian countries overseas that kowtowed to him, and the tribute they paid was just some strange but worthless things. Even so, Daqian still had to reward him.

The effort and reward are totally disproportionate, and the country has become an irreversible burden for the Daqian Kingdom.

Emperor Chengping Taizu and Emperor Shengde Xianhuang both wanted to have the credit for "expanding the territory" to some extent and hoped that their names would go down in history.

But Emperor Tianwu didn't care about these things. He was born in the common people and had to beg for food to survive. Why would he care about his face and reputation?

It's a pure losing business, whoever wants to do it can do it!

For this reason, not long after Emperor Tianwu took office, he began to disband the navy, leaving only 30,000 to 40,000 people to guard the coastline of Daqian Kingdom to prevent sea pirates from invading Daqian territory.

The former naval commander, Dingbo Hou Ruan Shenxiu, retired after the navy was disbanded and returned to his own sect, Lingying Island, to concentrate on training his disciples.

Lingying Island is a sect and also an island overseas. It is located where the East China Sea and the Yellow Sea meet, and it is also the place where the waters of Yangzhou and Xuzhou meet.

This sect is very powerful and has many celestial warriors, and the best among them are Ruan Shenxiu's direct disciples.

Nguyen Shen Xiu never married and had no children. Among his disciples there was a pair of twin siblings who were orphans he raised since childhood and were given the surname Nguyen.

Ruan Yu is the younger brother of the twins, which means that he is not only Ruan Shenxiu's disciple, but also the adopted son of Dingbo Hou.

Therefore, to kill Ruan Yu, one must not only consider him personally, but also Ding Bo Hou behind him.

Ruan Yu loves killing, but Dingbo Hou... is not someone who can be easily dealt with.

Zhao Nishang didn't know the full picture of these considerations, so she couldn't think so much.

Zhao Qi'an looked at Zhao Nishang and asked, "Have you found any records of our family's dealings with Lingying Island over the years?"

Zhao Nishang shook her head: "I have checked all the news from Haiqing City over the years, but there is no record at all, except that five years ago the old patriarch went to Anhuai County in Yangzhou for three months, which is not far from Lingying Island."

Zhao Qi'an snorted and said, "It's impossible that Ruan Yu came to the Zhao family for no reason. Now, there are more than a dozen disciples from Lingying Island serving in the Zhao family in the East China Sea. I didn't know about this. I still need Master Tie to give me some advice."

Zhao Nishang immediately understood: "Foster father, what you mean is... our family deliberately concealed this information and did not let it leak to Kyoto City for you to know?"

Zhao Qi'an did not comment, but lowered his eyes, as if in deep thought.

I don't know if my father wanted to take back the control of the Zhao family while I was away, so he approached Dingbo Hou for cooperation. Or maybe Dingbo Hou noticed what the Zhao family of Donghai did in Donghai and wanted to get a piece of the pie...

No matter which one it is, the alliance between the Duke of Donghai and Marquis Dingbo is a foregone conclusion.

But the purpose is to deal with his own son!
Zhao Nishang was very puzzled: "But, foster father... why? Isn't you the only heir of the old patriarch? Everything in the Zhao family should belong to you, why would he team up with outsiders to deal with you?"

Although she was an orphan, after being adopted by Zhao Qian'an, she felt the warmth of home and cared about her family more than anyone else.

This is the case even without any blood ties.

My adoptive father and the old patriarch are father and son who are related by blood, how could he end up in such a situation?

Zhao Qi'an said calmly: "If my father was dying and didn't have much time left, he would naturally want me to be as capable as possible. But if he was in his prime and had great ambitions..." He stopped talking, and his eyes became somewhat meaningful.

This is the current situation between father and son.

How can there be two tigers in one mountain?
Don’t say that even a tiger won’t eat its own cubs. Since ancient times, power has been able to move people’s

Zhao Nishang volunteered, "Foster father, why don't you let me take the people back to the East China Sea?"

Zhao Qi'an shook his head: "You don't understand the situation in the East China Sea. It's useless for you to go there."

Zhao Nishang followed Zhao Qi'an only after he left the East China Sea, and therefore she didn't know much about Haiqing City, the Zhao family, and the situation on the East China Sea.

Now that Zhao Wanjin has formed an alliance with Dingbo Hou, Haiqing City has become uncontrollable.

If Zhao Nishang was defeated in Haiqing City, at the hands of "their own people"...

Zhao Qian didn't want to think about the consequences.

"For this matter, I have to go back myself."

Zhao Qi'an paused for a moment, then sneered: "However, I'm afraid they will do everything they can to prevent me from returning."

"Why?"

"Because they dare not!"

His words were calm, but underneath them was absolute confidence.

The crisis of Haiqing City is actually nothing in Zhao Qi'an's view.

Haiqing City was given to Zhao Wanjin by Zhao Qi'an, and only Zhao Wanjin can control it.

But there are some things that Zhao Wanjin can never get if Zhao Qi'an doesn't give them.

For example...military power!
Since ancient times, power has been born out of armed force.

The Zhao family has never been a merchant family that makes money through harmony!

Why was Emperor Tianwu willing to give out the title of "Grand Duke" and even marry into the Zhao family?
Is it really because the Zhao family generously donated money to solve the urgent needs of the national treasury?
If that were true, then the Zhao family would be a fat sheep to be slaughtered at will. The moment the Donghai Zhao family was targeted by Emperor Tianwu, the entire Zhao family would be swallowed up by the Daqian Dynasty without leaving even a bone or a residue.

But the reality is that the Zhao family became a duke's family and became royal relatives!

This is because the Zhao family has the capital to sit down and have a good talk with Emperor Tianwu!
The result of the negotiations was that the Zhao family spent all their wealth to help Emperor Tianwu solve the urgent problem of the national treasury, as well as the massive amount of taxes that were subsequently added to the national treasury every year.

He got a lot in return, even the title of Duke was just a bonus.

What Emperor Tianwu really gave to the Zhao family was the operating rights of the East China Sea. All the sea areas opened up by the Zhao family belonged to the Zhao family.

In addition to this, Zhao's Trading Company had the green light in the Daqian Kingdom. Otherwise, how could Zhao's Trading Company have been able to expand across the nine states of Daqian in just over a decade?

As for some other agreements...it's not worth mentioning for now.

Zhao Qi'an came to Kyoto City largely because of Emperor Tianwu.

But this does not mean that he has completely lost control of the East China Sea.

As long as Longyuanwei is still in his hands, when he sets foot on the East China Sea, he will still be the uncrowned king of the East China Sea!
(End of this chapter)