Chapter 512: Center of Gravity

"Your Highness, this is Wufeng Island Master Lu Zheng."

In the front yard of the palace, Lu Zheng was pinned to the ground by two soldiers.

After returning to Leting Wharf, Zhou Yi personally detained Lu Zheng to Yancheng.

In this naval battle, they crushed the conspiracy of Goryeo, the powerful families and Wufeng Island like a whirlwind.

Among the three families, Wufeng Island is the real threat to them.

Now, the fleet of Wufeng Island was defeated by them, and the island master Lu Zheng was also captured.

He was naturally excited and wanted to ask for praise in front of him.

"Lu Zheng?" Zhao Xu was slightly surprised. He was confident that Zhou Yi could deal with this crisis.

But he didn't expect that he even caught Lu Zheng. He nodded slightly and said, "Zhou Yi, you did a good job. I didn't misjudge you at the beginning."

Zhou Yi was so happy when he heard this.

What he wanted most was the recognition of King Yan.

After all, he and Liu Fu entered the palace at the same time.

Now Liu Fu is the tutor of the palace, and he doesn't want to be left too far behind.

Otherwise, it would be too embarrassing in front of Liu Fu.

"The warships built by your highness are still powerful. Whether it is the warships of Goryeo or Wufeng Island, they are just chickens and dogs in front of us..." Zhou Yi was still in the excitement of victory, spitting all over.

"Humph, the Black Shark Pirates are indeed your King Yan's henchmen!"

Zhou Yi was still talking to himself, Lu Zheng suddenly looked at Zhao Xu, snorted angrily, and looked fierce.

Zhao Xu and Zhou Yi's attention returned to Lu Zheng again.

Looking Lu Zheng up and down, Zhao Xu said: "So what if the Black Shark Pirates are my king's henchmen, at least they are fighting for the interests of the Dasong people, and you are just a scum who kills his comrades, forgets his ancestors, and is willing to be a dog for Japan!"

"You..."

The words of King Yan were like needles, and Lu Zheng was immediately angry, but he couldn't say a word to refute.

Because what King Yan said was all true.

"What do you mean by you? Is what I said wrong? You are not forced to do it, nor are you persecuted by others. You just want the wealth and glory that Japan can give you. To put it bluntly, you just want to eat the dog food that Japan can give you!" Zhao Xu shouted loudly.

"I will kill you!"

Lu Zheng was born a pirate and a desperate man.

In anger, he immediately tried to break free from the soldiers like a mad dog and attacked Zhao Xu.

Seeing this, Xu Lie snorted angrily and kicked Lu Zheng in the stomach.

Lu Zheng immediately curled up like a shrimp, and cold sweat broke out in pain.

Zhou Yi looked at Xu Lie and couldn't help but feel scared.

This close guard of His Royal Highness the King of Yan is really good.

"Take him away for interrogation and get all the information you can get out." Zhao Xu shouted.

"Don't even think about getting a word out of me." Lu Zheng still refused to give in and said with gritted teeth.

"The last person who said harsh words like you has now even told what he did when he was three years old." Zhao Xu smiled coldly.

Zhuo Ge, the deputy commander of the Black Iron Guard, was indeed very hard-mouthed at first.

He applied various punishments, but still said nothing.

Later, he decided to try a punishment that seemed mild but was actually very cruel.

That is, let the jailers take turns watching him day and night, neither beating nor scolding, but just not letting him sleep.

After five days and five nights, this "tough guy" almost went crazy, and finally honestly told everything he knew.

It also verified the fact that the Yuan family was indeed colluding with the Northern Di.

It's just like he said, in the current situation of Dasong, the facts are not important, who has the final say is the most important.

So, he didn't waste time and continued to make a fuss.

"Really? I'd like to see what you, King Yan, can do!" Lu Zheng laughed evilly.

Zhao Xu was too lazy to pay attention to him, just waved his hand and asked the soldiers to take Lu Zheng away.

"Your Highness, on the way back, I also destroyed the Han family warship at Laijun Wharf." Zhou Yi said after seeing Lu Zheng's figure.

Zhao Xu nodded, "Very good, it's time to teach these powerful families a lesson. Don't think they can rest easy after provoking me."

Then he said, "But in the near future, the activities of your Black Shark Pirates will be controlled to the west of Treasure Island. Don't continue to go to Japan, and focus your main energy on Goryeo."

"Your Highness is worried about Japan?" Zhou Yi was puzzled.

In fact, when he saw the warships of the Black Shark Pirates, he understood.

The Wufeng Pirates, like their Black Shark Pirates, are all secret forces supported by each other.

They belong to King Yan, while the Wufeng Pirates belong to Japan.

The defeat of the Wufeng Pirates this time is equivalent to their cutting off an arm of Japan.

Zhao Xu rolled his eyes upon hearing this, "Who has this king ever feared? But you have to eat one bite at a time. If you take too big a step, you'll easily get hurt."

After a pause, he continued, "This king's original intention of dealing with Goryeo was not just to teach Goryeo a lesson. The main purpose was to import goods from Yanzhou and get the necessary resources from Goryeo. It was not to fight for the sake of fighting."

This is a question of strategic direction. The current focus is still Beidi and Goryeo, as well as Dasong.

There is no need to spread the war further.

Zhou Yi suddenly realized.

He almost forgot that he belonged to the Black Shark Company.

The threat from Beidi has not been lifted yet, and the situation in Dasong has become serious again.

Once the powerful families have a falling out, domestic trade is cut off, and resources are restricted, Yanzhou will be in trouble.

So, their most important task is to find alternative markets and resource supply areas for Yanzhou.

If they just fight and kill, they will consume a lot of resources without any benefits.

The fleet will only become a heavy burden for the King of Yan.

This is why the King of Yan decided not to waste resources on Japan.

"Yes, Your Highness, I understand." Zhou Yi said.

"Let the navy soldiers rest for a few days, and then we will collect the debt owed by Goryeo over the years." Zhao Xu laughed.

Zhou Yi chuckled twice, with expectation in his eyes.

After Zhou Yi left, Zhao Xu looked towards Japan.

He didn't know much about Japan in this world.

But from the little information he got, Japan in this world did not follow Dasong's ban on the sea, and there were still many exchanges with the West.

This made Japan's technical level higher than Dasong.

Wufeng Island has warships loaded with artillery as proof.

But the colonists have never been good.

He believed that Japan would not get any important technology.

This is why Wufeng Island is still using dilapidated flat-house ships.

Therefore, defeating Wufeng Island this time will give Japan enough deterrence.

Before finding out his details, he should not act rashly.

Of course, this victory will also bring corresponding negative effects.

The name of the Black Shark pirates will surely spread further.

More people will see them as a threat.

But there is no way around it. In the era of sea navigation, the most brutal thing is the struggle for maritime hegemony.

This is the price he must pay for going to the ocean and developing maritime trade.

He was thinking when Feng Er informed him that Xu Ke was coming.

He put away his thoughts and asked Xu Ke to come in.

Not long after, Xu Ke came to him in a hurry.

He looked gloomy, as if there was bad news.