Cursed Mountains and Seas

Chapter 218 Wang Cheng: Everything within the cannon's range is a tax zone (Seeking votes)

"This is bad! Mori Motonari has gotten involved too; he's no small fry."

This daimyo of the main island currently directly controls four provinces: Aki, Iwami, Suo, and Nagato, and his influence extends to ten surrounding provinces!
Of the four countries directly ruled, the latter three names are quite familiar.

The Northern Nine Domains are separated from the main islands of Suo and Nagato by the Kanmon Strait, the only sea route, so the opposite side is actually the territory of Mori Motonari.

If we can conquer the Otomo family, he will be the next one we face.

The Iwami Silver Mine in Iwami Province is the largest silver mine in Eizou.

Silver production was extremely high, reaching over one million taels annually at its peak, accounting for one-third of the world's total. This provided the Mori family with massive funds for their expansion over the years, making Wang Cheng extremely envious.

Even the name of the first domain, Aki Province (west of Hiroshima), the birthplace of the Mori clan, is very similar to Pinghu Port (west of Nagasaki), the headquarters of the Tokai Kingdom. They are all acquaintances.

Besides.

The Mori family also possessed a powerful navy through the branch family Kobayakawa, effectively dominating the Seto Inland Sea between the two islands and intervening in maritime trade with Daisho.

If the Otomo clan is a fierce tiger sitting on a mountain, then the Mori clan on the main island is a dragon crossing the river!
Mori Motonari was a first-rate powerful feudal lord in terms of both financial resources and military strength. If it weren't for the fact that he was too far from the capital, he would have been fully capable of marching to Kyoto and vying for the throne of "the ruler of the land".

Wang Cheng racked his brains, quickly considering the other party's motives for suddenly intervening in the civil war in the Nine Provinces.

"Motoru Mori and Yoshishige Otomo have fought tooth and nail over the years for control of the Kanmon Strait. Their hands are stained with the blood of each other's retainers, making reconciliation almost impossible."

Under normal circumstances, if he saw me fighting against Yoshishige Otomo, his reasonable attitude would be to sit back and watch the two tigers fight.

The best course of action is to wait until the snipe and the clam are exhausted from their fight before delivering the fatal blow to the winner.

His sudden abandonment of his hatred for the Otomo family is definitely not due to self-interest, but rather because of some external factor!

At this moment, the only answer Wang Cheng could think of was:
"The upright and virtuous gentry of Guishan Bookstore!"

Many of them commanded fake Japanese fleets and had intricate connections with wandering samurai and various vassal states in mainland Japan.

Given that Mori Motonari controlled the Iwami Silver Mine and valued maritime trade, there must have been an unknown connection between them.

It's obvious how strong the reaction of Guishan Publishing House and the local gentry to "The Influence of Sea Power" will be, and how fierce their countermeasures will be.

It became logical for them to spend a considerable sum to have the Mori clan take advantage of their misfortune and ensure the destruction of the Tokai Parliament in the conflict.

Thinking about this, Wang Cheng felt somewhat fortunate:
"Fortunately, I sent the Lucky Boy to the Tuya Cannon Factory in advance."

The time was slightly earlier than expected.

Inside the Tuya Artillery Factory, a stinking manure cart in a corner shuddered slightly as someone quietly opened the sealed lid from the inside.

Two agile figures, covered in excrement, crawled out of the car.

All garbage and excrement generated in the factory area are transported outside for composting. A special manure truck is arranged to enter and exit the factory area, and a seventh-rank [Night Fragrance Gentleman] is responsible for regular cleaning.

These World Demons fought more like ninjas than the Steel Rock Clan; the two seventh-rank World Demon Ninjas did not act recklessly like the Steel Rock Clan.

Moreover, they cleverly took advantage of this loophole, which is in the blind spot of normal people, to secretly sneak into the factory.

Of course, this was nothing special in the eyes of the ninjas of Yingzhou; their attempts to infiltrate toilets to assassinate important targets were common throughout history.

Ninja, ninja, the most persistent ninja way is just one word: "endurance".

They can endure what ordinary people cannot, and withstand all kinds of harsh environments, all for the purpose of delivering a fatal blow to their target!
The two changed out of their spare clothes from their bundles and applied deodorizing powder to each other before using stealth techniques to sneak towards the factory's water source with the poison they had prepared in advance.

They didn't even notice the cute-looking Lucky Boy in red standing behind them when they opened the manhole cover to poison the plants.

Tilting its head and thinking for a moment, its internal organs turned inside out, transforming into a statue a full ten feet tall, revealing the terrifying nature of a great evil spirit. With a single reach, it twisted off the heads of the two ninjas.

"Ahhhhh."

The two ninjas, like snakes with their heads cut off, were not completely dead for a while.

In its final desperate attack, the demon tattoos on its skin erupted, each extending countless sharp claws to scratch wildly at Zhao Cai's body.

It emitted a piercing "sizzling" sound, but failed to harm this inhumanly evil spirit in the slightest.

At this moment, Wang Cheng also used the power of the [Debt Collector] to descend to the side of the Wealth-Bringing Boy and praised him:
"Good job, Zhao Cai."

They discovered that these two members of the Mori clan's Seikiku were wearing the same clothes as the members of the Otomo clan's Kouwakuku, and they also wore the same Otomo clan crest.

Knowing how to frame someone makes them seem more professional than the former.

The various ninja clans scattered throughout Yingzhou are essentially technical clans with special professional skills.

Some are powerful, self-governing, and economically self-sufficient, and can take on missions from other daimyo; others are attached to a daimyo, exchanging resources for survival through contracts, and forming exclusive loyalty due to history or geography.

The Steel Rock Clan and the World Demon Clan are both exclusive ninja groups under two daimyo, but their fighting styles are completely different; the latter is more secretive and harder to defend against. Wang Cheng quickly activated the [Four Seas Treasure] to buy the encrypted memories in the minds of the two men.

"The ninjutsu skills of the World Demon Clan all rely on various ghosts and evil spirits."

They brought a total of four ninjas this time, an elite genin squad, plus a biwa mage to appease the spirits and provide intelligence; they didn't bring any cannon fodder.

The planned tactic was to first poison the water source to disable the arsenal's armed forces, and then...

Wang Cheng raised an eyebrow and instructed Zhao Cai:
"It's lunchtime now. In fifteen minutes, they'll use the flares on their bodies to signal the backup outside to make their move."

In a secluded grove of trees on the outskirts of the arsenal.

A blind monk holding a pipa and two ninjas dressed as members of the Otomo clan were resting on the ground.

The younger seventh-rank [World Demon Ninja] ninjas were particularly anxious and sought out their seniors to chat with.

"Uncle Yasuke, aren't we the sworn enemies of the Otomo family? Why don't we attack the Otomo family, but instead come here to attack the Tang people?"

Wouldn't a successful operation benefit the Otomo family? My sister failed her mission and fell into the Otomo family's hands; this is what happened to her.

Upon hearing his younger comrade's questioning, the older ninja immediately rebuked him:

"We ninjas are merely tools of war. Who we attack and why we attack them are not things we should consider. We are only responsible for how to attack and what kind of results we can achieve."

Even if it's a sacrifice, it's the inevitable fate!

The young man was so frightened that he dared not utter a sound and apologized repeatedly.

The last pipa-playing monk suddenly plucked his pipa and reminded the monk:
"The signal is coming."

As soon as he finished speaking, a signal flare exploded in the night sky.

They waited cautiously for a while longer and found that the arsenal under the cover of night had indeed become lifeless, with only sporadic shouts that were no longer a cause for concern.

The two vanguards did indeed accomplish their mission.

"Do it!"

The sixth-rank [Pipa Master] placed a pitch-black urn of corpses on the ground and began his ritual. The other two ninjas stood in a triangle with him, forming hand seals and using the World Demon Ninjutsu to assist them.

“Crack!”

The ground shook, and two black and yellow bone hands gripped the mouth of the earthenware urn, suddenly pulling out a huge skeleton as tall as a two-story building.

Its body was black and yellow, covered with stinking, rotting flesh, and bound with iron chains and covered with blood-red talismans.

As soon as it appeared, it roared to the sky, and dark clouds gathered overhead, obscuring the starlight.

The bones buried in the nearby soil crawled out of the ground and gathered on its body, causing it to swell even further.

Great Evil Spirit - Wild Skeleton!

It is composed of the remains of countless dead people from the Warring States period, with generals who were full of resentment and longed for victory as the core. Some of them have long since decomposed into white bones, while others are still covered with bloody, stinking flesh.

Wherever it goes, it is comparable to the infamous "ghosts borrowing the way" and "a hundred ghosts walking at night". Any living thing that stands in its way will not live to see tomorrow.

All human bodies become part of it after death!

The blind monk-like "Pipa Master" played the pipa, causing the chains on the skeleton to tighten and the talismans to light up.

The great evil spirit let out a strange cry and took a step forward, rushing towards the artillery factory, intending to turn all the defenseless craftsmen and guards into pieces of rotten flesh from its own body.

However, it was only about 300 meters away from the fortress wall of the factory area.

Suddenly, countless torches lit up the city walls.

It illuminated the dozen or so newly cast golden bronze cannons on the city wall.

These new artillery pieces were only half the length of long-barreled cannons of the same caliber. Although the caliber was not small, the weight was much lighter than that of cannons, making them very convenient to move around on artillery vehicles.

In a flash, the firing arc was adjusted and aiming was completed.

Wang Cheng waved his hand.

"Fire!"

The yang energy furnaces emanating from the numerous professional artillerymen behind the cannons manifested under the effect of the [Secret Scroll of Military Strategy], instantly consecrating each cannonball.

boom! boom! boom! boom! boom!
(End of this chapter)