189: 131: Yan Nai’er, I’m here!
189: 131: Yan Nai’er, I’m here!
Earl Gui Xingfu’s extortion of thirty thousand Gold Coins was successful, and together with the twenty thousand Gold Coins advanced by Duke Zhi Ting, Suo Lun now possessed a total of fifty thousand Gold Coins.
This sum was already sufficient as an estimated fund to hire twenty thousand mercenaries.
What followed was the wait for the storm brewing in the capital.
No matter what, the storm would yield a result.
While Duke Zhi Ting was still leisurely lingering in the seas of Chaos Stone Island, he was keenly aware that his good days were about to end.
His troops’ obliteration of Gui Xingfu’s naval forces was something for which an explanation was due.
Without implicating Suo Lun and Chaos Stone Island, the assault on the Gui Clan’s naval forces would cease to exist, and it would simply become a one-sided annihilation by Zhi Ting’s forces, a grave crime indeed.
Taking advantage of the days before the storm, both Zhi Ting and Suo Lun were making final preparations to protect Chaos Stone Island.
Numerous ships traveled back and forth between Chaos Stone Island and Izumo County.
Millions of pounds of salt were transported from the storage, and thousands of salt slaves from the other two salt fields were brought in.
What also arrived in abundance was food, vegetables and fruits, and military supplies.
Most importantly, there were the forces guarding the two salt fields.
The island’s defenses were too weak, relying solely on the hundred samurai from the Suo Family was far from enough.
The guard units from Duke Zhi Ting’s other two salt fields totaled nearly a thousand men, filling the gap in the island’s military might.
Furthermore, within the three thousand marines Zhi Ting brought, over a thousand were stricken from the military rolls, as if they had perished in the sea battle with the Gui Clan’s forces.
This fictitious missing thousand plus naturally stayed behind on Chaos Stone Island, safeguarding the salt fields there.
As a result, Suo Lun’s Chaos Stone Island now had nearly ten thousand salt workers and over two thousand troops, inflating its strength by nearly tenfold.
Now, digging new salt pans was no longer the most pressing matter.
Instead, building docks and fortresses became the top priority.
With these troops and the newly constructed fortress, Chaos Stone Island might not be impregnable, but breaching it without five thousand marines would prove exceptionally difficult.
With the Gui Clan’s naval forces entirely decimated, it was unlikely that any Rage Wave Kingdom’s coastal power could muster five thousand marines.
Thus, for the time being, Chaos Stone Island Salt Fields ought to be safe.
Moreover, of the eighteen large ships Duke Zhi Ting brought with him, ten were also struck off the records as lost, alleged to have been sunk in that night’s sea battle.
Then, these ten ships were repainted black to become the protective fleet of the Chaotic Stone Peninsula.
For the unbelievable wealth of Chaos Stone Island, Duke Zhi Ting had nearly exhausted everything at his disposal, including his thick-skinned and unscrupulous nature.
Eleven days later, the storm finally erupted from the capital.
The eunuchs sent by the palace, along with Jian Ning leading two thousand cavalry, entered Izumo County City, bringing with them the King’s decree.
Duke Zhi Ting left Chaos Stone Island to receive the order in Izumo County City.
Suo Lun, in disguise and concealing his identity, went along.
In the Prefectural Governor’s office in Izumo County City, Duke Zhi Ting knelt down to accept the decree.
In the decree, the King chastised Zhi Ting for his ridiculous behavior, burdening the people and wasting resources, his audacity knowing no bounds.
Not only did he trespass into a noble’s sea territory, but without proper assessment, he attacked another noble’s troops, a crime truly unforgivable.
But considering that Zhi Ting had submitted a letter of atonement to the capital immediately and offered a sincere apology to Earl Gui Xingfu, his death penalty would be waived, but punishment was unavoidable.
His noble rank was demoted by two degrees, from Duke to Earl.
Furthermore, the Dragon Guard Army of the palace was commanded to escort Duke Zhi Ting back to the capital, confine him to his estate with an indefinite detention.
Moreover, Prefectural Governor Zuodao Jin was also implicated, stripped of his office, and brought back to the capital for questioning, since he had provided the ships and marines to Zhi Ting.
All the officers and soldiers that Zhi Ting had brought to Chaos Stone Island and who participated in the attack on Gui Xingfu’s navy were dismissed from military service and stripped of their knightly titles, reduced to commoners, and escorted to the capital for questioning.
All soldiers were disbanded, expelled from the army, exiled thousands of miles away, and sentenced to hard labor.
Upon receiving this decree, Duke Zhi Ting’s heart shuddered, his whole body turning cold!
This punishment was unprecedented in its severity.
Could the collective power of the nobility and the nobles, when combined, really be so formidable?
To the extent that they forced the King to issue such a harsh decree.
Even though Zhi Ting’s fleet shouldn’t have intruded into Gui Xingfu’s waters, nor should it have obliterated the Gui Clan’s navy, it was necessary to provide an explanation to the noble Gui Xingfu.
However, this punishment seemed excessively harsh and cruel.
But after the initial shock, Duke Zhi Ting still exhaled a long breath of relief.
At least, Chaos Stone Island was preserved, and the annual revenue of hundreds of thousands of Gold Coins was secured.
In the decree, there was not a single word about Suo Lun, nor a single word about the Chaotic Stone Peninsula as if the storm had nothing to do with Suo Lun at all.
It was as if Zhi Ting alone was acting unruly, abusing his power to bully others.
Zhi Ting was about to be taken to the capital, but before leaving, he bid farewell to Suo Lun at the inn outside the city gates.
“Suo Lun, you’ve seen and felt it,” Duke Zhi Ting said.
“Their power is so astonishing that even His Majesty had to yield.
A decade ago, who would dare be so disrespectful to His Majesty?
Now, they dare to confront him directly.”
With a sorrowful sigh, Duke Zhi Ting’s voice trembled, “Just for one reason…
His Majesty has no son.
Zhi Li’s power is now substantial, and those nobles and earls have found their backbone, actually seizing the opportunity to revolt.”
Once Zhi Li, the nobility, and the coalition of earls came together, their united front was unprecedentedly strong, and even the King had no choice but to concede.