The sixty thousand pirates who attacked Friendship City did not even last past the afternoon before they all surrendered.
Nearly 30,000 pirates were buried in the city. After the war, the entire outer city was in a mess, corpses were everywhere, and the strong smell of blood permeated the streets and alleys. Even if there was a sea breeze, it would not dissipate for a long time.
Gu Xiuwen, the governor of the Friendship City, took responsibility to clean up the city, appease the people in the city, extinguish the fire, and count the casualties and financial losses. Everything was in order.
The restless people gradually calmed down.
In the governor's mansion, Ouyang Shuo, who had won the battle, was not happy and had a straight face. First, it was just a group of pirates defeated in the battle, there was really nothing to show off. Second, Farah escaped again, which made Ouyang Shuo quite depressed. Third, there was a lot of suspicion behind this matter, as if there was an invisible hand secretly manipulating everything.
The attack on the Friendship City was not an accident.
Although the pirates were repelled this time, it was a huge impact on the reputation of the Friendship City as a "commercial capital", and even on the reputation of the Grand Line.
As the news spread, this negative impact would gradually spread, and it would be difficult to eliminate in a short time.
Just imagine, in the face of a city that could be attacked by pirates at any time, would the ocean merchants dare to stop here for supplies? In the face of an unstable sea route, how many merchants would be deterred?
The answer was obvious.
Behind this attack, the target was the trade foundation of the Great Xia Dynasty, and the intention was sinister.
In the afternoon, the commander of the Black Snake Guards, Black Snake, hurriedly teleported from Rabat City to the Friendship City. Ouyang Shuo's instructions to Black Snake were very simple: "Thoroughly investigate for me, find out who else participated in this pirate attack."
Intuitively, Ouyang Shuo suspected that there should be Farah in Somalia.
"Yes!"
Black Snake did not dare to neglect, and immediately mobilized a capable force, starting from interrogating the captured pirates, to find out the mastermind behind the scenes.
The captured second leader naturally became the focus of the interrogation target of the Black Snake Guards.
However, Ouyang Shuo knew that Farah was the key figure and the soul of the pirate group.
Therefore, Ouyang Shuo ordered the former Mediterranean Fleet, which had been renamed the Atlantic Fleet, to arrange the fourth and fifth groups to immediately cross the Mediterranean Sea and rush to the Gulf of Aden to arrest "Pirate King" Farah.
Only by taking down Farah, completely wiping out the Sirius Pirates, beheading him in public and bringing him to justice can the lost credibility of the Friendship City be restored and the prosperity of the Grand Line be ensured.
This time, Ouyang Shuo would absolutely not allow the tiger to return to the mountain.
Just as Ouyang Shuo was pondering about the situation in the Gulf of Aden in the study room of the city lord's residence, Xu Chu came to report, "Your Majesty, the division commander of the Friendship City Guard Division is outside, requesting to see you."
Ouyang Shuo's brows jumped when he heard this, and he was instantly infuriated as he fiercely said, "He still has the face to see this Prince? Pass on the order that there is no need to see him. Immediately detain him and hand him over to the Bureau of Military Justice of the Bureau of Military Affairs to deal with. "
In this battle, a dignified Garrison Regiment that had the geographical advantage and a strong city to defend against the attack of 60,000 pirates actually lost the outer city in less than three hours. It was truly a disgrace to the Great Xia Dynasty.
Pirates were cruel, but it was also an objective fact that the Garrison Guard Division had neglected their training and failed to command properly during the war. If it were any other Garrison Division, they would not be in such a sorry state.
Under such circumstances, how could Ouyang Shuo not be furious?
"Yes, Your Majesty!"
Xu Chu rarely saw the King this angry. He dared not say much and could only mourn for the division commander. It would have been better if he did not come to see His Majesty as the King might have given him a lighter sentence. Now that he was in trouble, no one could help.
From the poor performance of the Friendship City Guard Division, Ouyang Shuo thought of other Garrison Guard Divisions.
"It seems that there is a need for the Bureau of Military Affairs to conduct a major assessment on the various Garrison Guard Divisions," Ouyang Shuo thought to himself. It was a taboo for a dynasty to rule a place with lax military equipment.
…
That night, Ouyang Shuo personally hosted a banquet at the residence of the city lord to entertain the merchants in the Friendship City.
To receive an invitation from Emperor Xia, it was a great fortune for the merchants.
Naturally, Ouyang Shuo's action was to appease the hearts of the merchants. He tried his best to reduce the impact of the attack on the trade in the Friendship City and to restore the confidence of the merchants. Originally, this matter could have been handled by the mayor, Gu Xiuwen. However, the effect of Gu Xiuwen's appearance and Ouyang Shuo's appearance were different.
In the huge banquet hall, Ouyang Shuo raised his glass and the entire place quietened down. Ouyang Shuo looked at the merchants and said, "The Friendship City was attacked by pirates and the imperial court will not tolerate it. The Atlantic Fleet of the dynasty has set sail and will arrive at the Gulf of Aden in a few days. They will completely annihilate the Sirius Pirate Crew and return peace to the Gulf of Aden."
"Emperor Xia is wise!"
The merchants were overjoyed. They had been doing business in the Mediterranean Sea for many years and they knew the prestige of the Atlantic Fleet. They knew that with this fleet, the Sirius Pirate Crew would not be spared.
Their restless hearts gradually calmed down.
Ouyang Shuo continued, "The imperial court has a responsibility to defend its territory. Everyone trusts the imperial court, that's why you stopped at the Friendship City to resupply. The imperial court will compensate you 100% for the losses caused by the pirate attack. Tomorrow, you can go to the residence of the city lord to register your losses. After verification, compensation will be made immediately. "
"This …"
The merchants looked at each other. They did not expect such a good thing to happen. According to the normal rules, even if the imperial court did not give any compensation, the merchants had nothing to say. This kind of full compensation was unheard of.
"Thank you, Emperor Xia, for your grace!" The merchants were so grateful, especially those who had suffered huge losses, they almost cried. Although the ocean trade was profitable, if all the goods were stolen, they would lose everything.
The imperial court's action had saved the future of many merchants.
Ouyang Shuo nodded. This move of his was similar to buying a bone with a thousand gold. He would rather spend a little money to restore the merchants' confidence in the imperial court. This was more important than hundreds of thousands of gold coins.
With this good news, the rest of the banquet was a joyous one.
Ouyang Shuo bought people's hearts in the Friendship City, but he did not expect to receive bad news the next day.
The Atlantic Fleet's Fourth and Fifth Formation were ordered to cross the Mediterranean Sea. They were met with a collective protest from the lords of the Mediterranean Sea, so much so that they did not hesitate to stop the ongoing negotiations.
In their words, "Since the Great Xia Dynasty has promised that the Atlantic Fleet will not set foot in the Mediterranean Sea, they should keep their promise from now on. The Atlantic Fleet's action is undoubtedly a breach of the promise. "
"We deeply doubt the sincerity of the Great Xia Dynasty." Caesar said.
In desperation, the head of the negotiation team, Violet, could only urgently ask Ouyang Shuo how to handle this matter.
When Ouyang Shuo received the news, he was speechless for a long time. This time, the Great Xia Dynasty was in the wrong.
"But, isn't the timing a little too coincidental?" Ouyang Shuo could not help but be suspicious. Was there a connection between the negotiation and the pirate attack on the Friendship City? Ouyang Shuo could not easily come to a conclusion.
Last night, Ouyang Shuo had promised the merchants that he would send the Atlantic Fleet to exterminate the pirates. If he broke his promise, it would be a slap in the face. All of Ouyang Shuo's previous efforts would be in vain.
Faced with this dilemma, Ouyang Shuo finally set his sights on the southernmost part of the African continent. There was a magical place called the Cape of Good Hope.
Before the Suez Canal was built, the sea route from Europe to Asia could only go from Western Europe to West Africa, and then around the Cape of Good Hope in South Africa to Asia. The Cape of Good Hope route became the only sea route for Europeans to go to the East.
After the Suez Canal was opened, the role of this route decreased, but it was still an indispensable and important passage between Europe and Asia. Some large ships could not pass through the Suez Canal and had to make a detour here.
Speaking of the Cape of Good Hope route, one had to mention the famous Crusades in European history.
In 1000 AD, Europe began to change dramatically. The Roman Catholic believers hoped to drive the Muslims out of the Middle East. The Crusades launched by the Holy See began in 1096 and lasted for about 200 years.
The appearance of the European army in the Middle East promoted the development of ocean trade.
The Italian merchants in Venice and other places made a fortune by transporting and providing supplies to the warring parties. At the same time, when the Crusaders returned to Europe, they brought back spices, perfumes, silk, steel, and medicines from the Middle East, which became Europe's hot sellers.
The ocean trade led to the rise of cities and towns, and also created a large number of wealthy European merchants.
The power of European countries continued to grow. They set up armies and governments, and the taxes paid by the taxpayers were enough to maintain the operations of the armies and governments.
By the 15th century, European countries were ready to move and were ready to explore.
The Portuguese were the first to act. In 1400, they wanted to control the spice trade with the East. They wanted to bypass the middlemen in Venice and Arabia and directly do business with the East.
If they could directly go to Asia to buy these goods by sea, they could greatly increase their profits.
The Portuguese explorers had been to the west coast of Africa, hoping to find a route to India and East Asia. They finally arrived at the southernmost tip of the African continent, the Cape of Good Hope.
Compared to the Suez Canal, the Cape of Good Hope was not an ideal route.
Because the Cape of Good Hope was located at the convergence of the Indian Ocean's warm current and the Antarctic's cold current, the strong westerly jet stream set off stormy waves all year round. In addition to storms, "killer waves" often appeared here.
The front of these waves was like a cliff, and the back was like a gentle hill. They appeared frequently in winter, and from time to time, they were coupled with the rotating waves caused by the polar wind. When these two kinds of waves overlapped, the sea conditions were even worse. Moreover, there was a very strong coastal current here. When the waves and currents met, the entire sea surface would roll like a boiling pot, and ships that sailed here would often suffer.
Therefore, the Cape of Good Hope had become the most dangerous sailing area in the world.
Ouyang Shuo's plan to let the Atlantic Fleet bypass the Cape of Good Hope and open up a route to Somalia was also a helpless choice.
The destruction of the Sirius Pirates was related to the credibility of the dynasty.
As the king of the Great Xia Dynasty, Ouyang Shuo's words carried enormous weight. Since he had made a promise to the merchants, he had to fulfill it. Otherwise, he would be breaking his promise to the people and the world.
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