The World Online

Chapter 1104 – Don’t Play with Fire

9th month, Great Zhou, Great Qing, and Jin Country that had just allied with one another finally made moves.

Based on the intel from the Shanhai Guards in Jingdu, recently, there were Great Zhou merchants who arrived in Great Qing. On the surface, they were conducting trade, but in the dark, they were transporting weapons and equipment.

Large quantities of armor and weapons were disguised as normal goods and shipped back to Great Zhou.

When he got the news, Ouyang Shuo immediately smelled that something going on, “With the Great Zhou’s military industry, do they still need to purchase items from Qing Dynasty? That does not make sense.”

The intel that was passed back proved that point.

These items were not shipped to Handan City but down south toward Haijin Port. Under the direct supervision of the Handan Squadron, the items disappeared into the vast ocean.

At this stage, Ouyang Shuo basically understood what was going on.

If it were as Ouyang Shuo had expected, these batch of weapons were for Jin Country, and Great Zhou was just acting as the middle man to help transport it.

One must know that Jin Country did have a port, and if one shipped through the ocean, no one would notice.

After taking down Korea and merging it into the Beijiang Province, the operational range of the Binhai Squadron was not limited to the Bohai Sea. The Yellow River and the Japanese seas were also within their control.

With the two prefectures of Korea to rely on, Buhai Squadron could go up against the Handan Squadron.

Although that was the case, to protect the interests of Great Xia, Great Zhou, and Great Jin on the Pacific ocean, the Great Xia Binhai Squadron did not announce its presence too strongly.

It took a more neutral position in the region.

Now, it seemed like Di Chen was taking it too far, using the route to help his allies smuggle goods, directly affecting Great Xia’s core interests.

“It’s time to teach Great Zhou a lesson!”

If the Handan Squadron wanted to ship the weapons to Jin Country, they had to pass through the Straits of Korea. At the current moment, these straits were managed by Great Xia and Great Zhou.

As Great Zhou occupied Kyushu, they had a certain amount of power over the Straits of Korea.

However, once the Handan Squadron entered the Japanese sea, they were totally under Great Xia. Great Xia, who took control of Yingzhou Prefecture and Korea, had absolute control.

Ouyang Shuo immediately ordered the Binhai Squadron and the Pacific Squadron to set up defenses in the name of a joint exercise to search all ships to ensure the safety of the exercise.

The real goal was to pin down the merchant ships of Great Zhou. As long as they got actual proof of Great Zhou participating in Great Xia’s war, Ouyang Shuo had his mind set out.

…

The Great Xia Army was always lightning quick.

Along with Ouyang Shuo’s orders, the Great Xia navy immediately acted.

The 3rd, 4th, and 5th divisions of the Binhai Squadron along with the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th divisions of the Pacific Squadron entered the Japanese sea. They spread out like a huge net, awaiting the Handan Squadron to take the bait.

A sudden collision occurred.

Now, it was all down to whether Di Chen was prepared for such a scene or not.

…

Handan City, palace.

After the ascension, Di Chen renovated the palace into a really majestic one. Different from Ouyang Shuo, as a son of an aristocratic family, the feudal times blood flowed within him, and he once had dreams of being a king.

His surname Di showed it.

Within the Imperial Reading Room, Fenghua Juedai, who was promoted to advisor of the Great Zhou Administrative Mentor Court frowned, as she said in worry, “I feel that we were reckless on this matter.”

Di Chen was dressed in a purple dragon robe, “What reckless? Helping the Jin Country and stopping Great Xia from expanding in the north? Wasn’t that the strategy we had set out?”

“That’s right. But the Japanese sea is Great Xia territory, and we just enter just like that. Are not you afraid they will misunderstand?”

As she said that, Di Chen got furious.

After the Battle of Japan, Great Zhou had lost the people’s sentiment, and they also only got two small islands while the biggest one went to Great Xia.

What made Di Chen even more unhappy was that along with the Binhai Squadron moving out of Bohai Sea, the entire surrounding ocean region power was reshuffled. This made the Handan Squadron, who had once ruled this area, really uncomfortable.

Di Chen had arranged the Handan Squadron to protect the ships with some slight intentions of spiting Ouyang Shuo.

“So what if we do? That old fox cares about his face. Will he take the risk of causing an internal war and initiate a war with us?”

One had to say that Di Chen understood Ouyang Shuo’s thoughts perfectly.

Hence, he did not have any fears about provoking Great Xia, “As long as we do not initiate a war, Great Zhou will remain safe.”

Xiong Ba and the others agreed with that.

Although they agreed, they did not feel good, “Since when did the safety of Great Zhou depend on Great Xia? How ironic.”

The Great Zhou that had just been established not only had little room for expansion, but it was also riddled with problems internally. Let’s not mention how Xiong Ba, Zhan Lang, and Chun Shenjun each held one area.

Along with the Battle Map ending, Great Zhou had Great Song and Great Ming at their borders. Be it either of them, they were stronger than the Great Sui and Shu Han near Great Xia, giving Di Chen a headache.

If it were not for Great Zhou expressing friendliness to them, Great Zhou’s situation would be worse.

Next, there was the negativity due to their performance in the Battle of Japan. Great Zhou was facing a loss of talents. Although the number was not large, it was enough to make Di Chen worry.

This showed that the trust of the Chinese players toward Great Zhou was slowly being lost.

“A loss of talent is a sign of a declining dynasty.” To stabilize the situation, Di Chen had to increase his support toward them and give them better policies.

This was a huge expenditure.

After the Battle of Japan ended, Great Xia and Great Jin had entered the Pacific trade channel. This had started to influence Great Zhou trade, reducing their profits. To increase their expenditure now was like adding oil to the fire.

Under such circumstances, Di Chen resisted all the pressure and chose to work with Jin to go up against Great Xia. He wanted to wipe out the Beijiang Province and give Great Zhou a larger strategic space.

Think about it, the moment Great Zhou had the entire Great Xia Beijiang Province under their rule, how good would it be? At that very moment, someone reported, “My king, the Handan Squadron has an emergency.”

Di Chen’s heart dropped, and he immediately had a bad feeling.