Søren's two main economic pillars were salt and magic mirrors.
The monthly income was astronomical, far exceeding the taxes of the entire Southeast Province. It was enough to support the expansion of Søren's army.
Moreover, whether it was salt or magic mirrors, Søren's market was open to the entire human kingdom.
Previously, because Søren was at a disadvantage in the battle with Zhi Li, both magic mirrors and salt were banned by 80% of the Raging Wave Kingdom's vassals and counties. It wasn't until the victory of this war that the majority of the Raging Wave Kingdom's market was opened to Søren.
But even so, the Raging Wave Kingdom's market was less than a quarter of the total income. It was far less than the Yan Empire, and even less than the Dongli Kingdom.
In the Yan Empire's market, 60% was transported by sea, and 40% by land. As for the Dongli Kingdom, it was completely transported by sea.
Therefore, for Søren, sea transportation was a lifeline. Tianshui City had long surpassed Luanyang City and became the number one sea merchant in the Raging Wave Kingdom. More than 60% of its monthly income came from sea transportation.
As for Pirate Bay, it was one of the world's largest transit stations for maritime trade. More than half of Sauron's maritime trade was carried out at Pirate Bay.
Now, the Suo Clan's trading company had unquestionably become the largest commercial organization in the entire Pirate Harbor.
And it was very difficult to maintain such a huge sea trade with just the Suo Clan's navy. Søren, like other sea merchants, paid protection fees to the Ocean Guild regularly according to the rules.
And the so-called Ocean Guild was completely a pirate organization.
Previously, the Ocean Guild's first seat was Yingzhou Island's Hai Clan. But after a few defeats, the Ocean Guild's first seat was now Rock Bandit King, Rock Demon.
Now, Søren's monthly protection fees to the Ocean Guild was more than 20,000 gold coins. This was an astronomical figure, accounting for about one-third of the Ocean Guild's protection fees.
Pirates were not allowed to plunder sea merchants who had paid protection fees. This was clearly written in the Maritime Convention.
The most recent protection fee was paid four days ago at Pirates Cove.
Unexpectedly, as soon as the Rock Demons received the money, they immediately shed all pretenses of cordiality and attacked Søren's merchant fleet.
There were a total of 30 ships in this maritime trade caravan. Twenty of them carried salt, while one carried magic mirrors. These were the goods that were about to be sold.
There were also eight ships that carried weapons, armor, and iron materials, which were essential for the expansion of the army.
There was also a ship carrying money, more than a hundred thousand gold coins back to Tianshui City.
These 30 ships had all been robbed, and the total loss of money and goods was more than 200,000 gold coins. Even with Søren's wealth, it was still a little painful. Not to mention, the eight ships' weapons and armors were related to the reorganization of the army. Once they were robbed, the reorganization of at least 10,000 soldiers would be completely delayed.
The Rock Demon had gone too far.
The first time, he had personally kicked Søren into the bottomless abyss, but Søren did not seek justice.
The second time, even when his mother, Yan Chao 'er, went to ask for help, she was flatly rejected. Not only that, he even added insult to injury, sending five thousand Rock Bandits to follow Gui Xingfu's navy to take advantage of the situation.
As his half-brother, Søren had not retaliated even when the Rock Demon had attacked him time and time again.
Now, he was even more ruthless. He wanted to directly cut off Søren's lifeline, completely cutting off sixty percent of his profits.
The current Søren, because he had first defeated Zhi Li and then killed Fang Qingshu, was now at the height of his power. No one in the entire Raging Wave Kingdom dared to provoke him. Countless nobles and feudal vassals had to raise their noses in fear of him.
Unexpectedly, the Rock Demon had directly slapped Søren in the face.
What was worse was that the Rock Demon had claimed to completely block Søren's sea trade.
Now, whether it was the expansion of Tianshui City's army or the governance of the Southeast Province, they all required an astronomical amount of gold coins.
This was because Søren had almost prepared for the worst. If the king suddenly died one day, Søren would have to fight against the entire Raging Wave Kingdom with just one province.
Whether it was for the final battle with Zhi Li or to suppress the feudal vassals and nobles after Jung Yeon ascended the throne, Søren needed an army of more than three hundred thousand people.
And an army of three hundred thousand people was completely a gold-devouring behemoth.
All of this was inseparable from money, and sixty percent of all money came from sea trade.
Therefore, the Rock Demon's attack on the Suo Clan's caravan was to directly castrate Søren's lifeline and cut off his way of survival.
Making a prompt decision, Søren immediately returned to Tianshui City and handed over the affairs of the Southeast Province to Gui Xingfu and Yan Wuzhi. With Ashita Liren's ten thousand cavalrymen guarding Donghai City, he believed that no one would be able to cause any trouble.
…
Luanyang City!
"I can't let myself be trampled on, I want to be the master of my own fate!" Tu Lingduo sat in her wheelchair and muttered to herself.
At this moment, her wheelchair was at the top of the castle. Below her were dozens of steep steps.
She had already recovered, but in order to avoid sleeping with Tu Liyang, she had been pretending to be paralyzed.
Now, she was about to have an affair with Zhi Li and needed to get pregnant. Therefore, she could no longer pretend to be paralyzed and needed to get better.
Whenever it was a sunny day, Tu Lingduo would watch the sunset from the top of the castle. Therefore, Tu Liyang would personally carry her and her wheelchair up the hundreds of steps. After watching the sunset, he would painstakingly carry her back down.
Moreover, Tu Lingduo was alone every time she watched the sunset. Even Tu Liyang couldn't be by her side.
"Ah Duo, the sun is setting and the weather will turn cold soon. I'll carry you down," Tu Liyang shouted from the bottom of the castle.
Tu Lingduo looked down. Dozens of meters away, Tu Liyang didn't seem so ugly or short anymore.
He was such a good man. If she really killed him, she would probably be punished by the heavens, right?
Tu Lingduo suddenly had this thought. Then, she smiled at Tu Liyang and waved her hand.
Tu Liyang's face revealed a happy smile. Then, he strode up the stairs with his short legs and carried Tu Lingduo down.
At this moment, Tu Lingduo tilted slightly as if she was careless.
"Ah …" With a scream, she fell down with her wheelchair and rolled down the steep stairs.
Tu Liyang, who was below, seemed to be struck by lightning. He stood there in a daze. After a moment, he suddenly roared, "Ah Duo!"
Then, like a madman, he rushed up with all his might.
"Bang, bang, bang …" Tu Lingduo rolled down the stairs.
Finally, after dozens of stairs, she was carried into Tu Liyang's arms.
At this moment, Tu Liyang's face was already pale. He cried and shouted, "Ah Duo, how are you? How are you? Don't scare me! "
As he cried, he hugged Tu Lingduo tightly.
"It's all my fault, it's all my fault. I shouldn't have left you up there alone."
At this moment, many servants, warriors, and maids also rushed up.
"Go away, go away …" Tu Liyang shouted and only hugged Tu Lingduo with all his might.
Then, she slowly woke up. There were still traces of blood at the corner of her mouth.
"Yang, I'm in so much pain …" Tu Liyang said.
"Where does it hurt, where does it hurt …" Tu Liyang shouted.
"My leg hurts, my knee hurts …" Tu Liyang said. Then, she rolled up her trousers and revealed her slender, snow-white calf. There was an obvious bruise on her knee. It was a bloody wound.
Tu Liyang carefully blew on the wound and then shouted, "Quick, bring strong wine and ointment, and also bandages. Quick, call a medical cultivator …"
Then, he quickly used a piece of silk to clean the wound on Tu Lingduo's knee.
"It hurts, it hurts …" Tu Lingduo gasped.
Suddenly, Tu Liyang seemed to be struck by lightning and looked at Tu Lingduo in disbelief. Then, a hint of ecstasy appeared on his face.
Previously, Tu Lingduo was paralyzed, so she couldn't feel her legs. Now that she felt pain, it meant that her legs could feel her legs again. It meant that she had recovered.
"Ah Duo, you can feel pain now, your legs are healed …" Tu Liyang said excitedly.
Then, Tu Lingduo also pretended to be stunned in disbelief. Then, she tried her best to support Tu Liyang and pretended to stand up shakily. Then, she cried tears of joy. "Tu Liyang, my legs are healed, my legs are healed!"
Her legs had recovered long ago, but in order not to sleep with Tu Liyang, she pretended to be paralyzed for a few months. It was really hard on her.
Tu Liyang didn't know anything and hugged her excitedly, crying and laughing at the same time.
Meanwhile, Tu Lingduo's heart was extremely complicated. She stopped pretending to be paralyzed and stood up. This meant that Tu Liyang was about to be cuckolded and be killed.
Then, Tu Lingduo suddenly smelled urine. She looked down and saw that Tu Liyang's pants were wet.
Tu Liyang also noticed it and was instantly ashamed. He wanted to dig a hole in the ground for him to hide in.
If this was before, Tu Lingduo would definitely be disgusted and despise him, but now, she was even more sad and complicated.
Tu Liyang had peed his pants. After she pretended to fall from the top floor of the castle, Tu Liyang was so scared that he peed his pants. This showed how much he cared for and loved her.
At this moment, a warrior rushed into the castle and said, "A letter from King City, a letter from King City!"
This was a letter from Duke Tu Lingtuo and Zhi Li.
Half a month later, Zhi Li would marry Tu Lingmo and invite Tu Liyang and Tu Lingduo to King City to attend the wedding!
…
Tianshui City!
Under the protection of Zhuang Zhixuan and Jung Yeon, Søren went out to sea and boarded Yan Chao 'er's flagship. They went straight to Pirate Harbor to meet the Rock Demon.
"Aunt, after the reorganization, how much navy do we have now?" Søren asked.
Yan Chao 'er said, "25,000 navy, of which 13,000 are Rock Pirates and 12,000 are ordinary navy. However, there are only 50 Rock Pirate warships. The other 200 ships are all seized. "
Søren said, "So this navy should be considered third in the entire eastern sea?"
Yan Chao 'er said, "Excluding the two giants, the Yan Empire and the Dongli Kingdom, it should be third!"
Although the Yan Empire didn't pay much attention to its navy, it was still the strongest nation in the world and had a large territory along the coast. Although its navy was insignificant compared to the army, it still far surpassed the Suo Clan's navy.
Needless to say, the Dongli Kingdom's coastline was more than 10,000 miles long. It could be called the strongest nation in the sea.
However, whether it was the Yan Empire or the Dongli Kingdom's navy, they didn't care about trade disputes at sea.
Therefore, in the eastern sea, the Rock Demon was the strongest navy, followed by the Hai Clan and the Suo Clan.
Søren said, "How many fleets did the Rock Demon lead this time?"
"50,000 Rock Pirates!" Yan Chao 'er said.
Søren's brows twitched. The powerful Rock Pirates could fight one against two. 50,000 Rock Pirates could sweep the entire eastern sea.
The Suo Clan's navy had 25,000, but it was a mixed army, far from being a match for 50,000 Rock Pirates.
Yan Chao 'er said, "Not only that, he also gathered more than a dozen pirate forces in the eastern sea. They have nearly a thousand warships and 100,000 navy!"
Yan Chao 'er told the Rock Demon when he went to New Rock Islands for help. This time, the Rock Demon was either an ally or an enemy, and the Rock Demon chose to be the enemy!
In the end, Gui Xingfu's 40,000-strong coalition army was defeated. Of the 5,000 Rock Pirates sent by the Rock Demon, 2,000 were injured or killed, and 3,000 were captured.
Winner takes all. The Rock Demon should have taken the initiative to send someone to apologize and compensate with a large sum of gold.
Who would have thought that he would do the exact opposite? Before Sauron could come to seek justice, he had come knocking on Sauron's door in an aggressive manner.
"Aunty, according to your deduction, what is the Rock Demon trying to do?" Søren asked.
"Gaining the upper hand by a show of strength, strategic blackmail!" Yan Chao 'er said.
Søren nodded in agreement!
The Rock Demon was an extremely overbearing and domineering person. This kind of person could only take advantage of others.
Moreover, the more he was in the wrong, the fiercer and more merciless he would be.
To the Rock Demon, the biggest benefit was to annex Yingzhou Island, destroy the Hai Clan, and take over the mainland.
Apart from the grudges, Søren had no conflict of interest.
On the contrary, the two were the best natural allies!
But unexpectedly, he was so aggressive, gathering a hundred thousand navy to destroy Søren's maritime economic lifeline and cut off the Suo Clan's livelihood.
"Where are we going to negotiate?" Søren asked.
Yan Chao said, "On the sea, on a third party's ship."
…
Søren's fleet sailed for three days and three nights before finally arriving at the meeting place.
It was 400 miles away from the Pirate Harbor. It was a boundless sea.
At this moment, there were thousands of warships on the sea, covering the sky and the sun.
Half of them were the Rock Demon's Rock Pirates and the other half were the coalition army.
This force was enough to cut off all of Søren's livelihood on the sea and block all of the Suo Clan's maritime trade routes.
The reason why the Rock Demons had deployed such an astronomical fleet was to bully others with their strength!
Ten thousand meters away from this huge fleet, there was a gorgeous ship.
The Rock Demon sat on the deck with a beautiful girl kneeling beside him. She wore a thin gauze dress and her charming body was faintly discernible.
This girl was the Rock Demon's wife, Seagull's first wife's daughter.
Søren's fleet only had a few dozen ships and a few thousand navy. Compared to the huge fleet behind the Rock Demon, it was like a drop in the ocean.
Sauron's boat was getting closer and closer to the Rock Demon's ship.
"Søren, I only brought one woman on this ship. You only need to bring one too." The Rock Demon said loudly.
Jung Yeon released her spiritual power to explore the Rock Demon's ship. She then nodded and said, "There is indeed no one. Only the Rock Demon and his wife. I will follow you onto the ship."
Then, Zhuang Zhixuan released a small boat. Søren and Jung Yeon boarded the boat and rowed towards the gorgeous ship where the Rock Demon was.
Soon, the small boat docked at the side of the gorgeous ship.
Søren and Jung Yeon boarded the ship along the rope.
This ship had no sailors. It lowered its sails and floated alone on the sea, more than ten thousand meters away from both fleets.
The Rock Demon looked at the beautiful Princess Jung Yeon. His eyes lit up and he said loudly, "Is this my sister-in-law? Brothers are like hands and feet, women are like clothes. Søren, you are my brother. How about this? I will let you play with my sister-in-law and you will let me play with my sister-in-law. Then there is no need to talk. We will write off this dispute. I will return all the detained fleets to you! How about we bury the hatchet in one shot? "
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