Hanyang

Hanyang

The storm raged through the night and only began to subside the following morning. Qin Mo immediately untied himself, climbed to the very top of the mast, and gazed into the distance, counting his ships one by one.

Thank heaven, thank heaven—all the ships were still there. They were gradually forming up and raising half their sails. His cheap old man, Qin Lan, had indeed left him some fine initial capital: vast territory, loyal subordinates, and this group of experienced captains and sailors. These hands were priceless treasure.

"The fleet heads north. Dock at Hanyang, repair the ships, and check the casualties." A string of orders was passed down. The fleet slowly began to turn and sail toward Hanyang. Watching the fleet move as readily as an arm obeyed a hand, Qin Mo's heart swelled with heroic pride. This was his fleet. Though it was still weak, it was a seed that would one day grow into a towering tree.

Hanyang, originally called Yangzhou, had been renamed Hanseong after Goryeo's Yi royal family, in admiration of Great Xia's Han Dynasty, petitioned the Great Xia Emperor for the change. Hanseong lay north of Goryeo's Han River, ringed by mountains and embraced by water. According to the feng shui principle that "north of water is yang," it was also called Hanyang. After several generations of royal succession, the Goryeo people, for the sake of their pride, all came to call it Hanyang.

More than twenty ships docking at Hanyang's pier all at once turned an already overcrowded harbor, jammed by the storm, into utter chaos. The Great Xia sailors were exceedingly overbearing. Relying on the size of their ships, they forced their way in, squeezing fishing boats and merchant vessels until they were packed like sardines, unable to move.

When the officials on duty at the docks saw a large convoy of Great Xia merchant ships, with more and more Fusang warriors disembarking, their legs immediately went weak. What was this? Had Great Xia and Fusang joined forces to attack? One Fusang pirate raid was enough to leave Goryeo unable to cope. If Great Xia were pulling the strings behind this... the consequences... they did not even dare imagine them.

Before long, a troop arrived from Hanyang City and sealed off the docks. A group of Goryeo officials walked straight over, first speaking with Qin Mo's household guards while repeatedly glancing in his direction. At last, they bowed deeply to the guards, after which one of the guards came aboard to request an audience.

"Young Master, the Hanyang harbor naval commander wishes to see you. This subordinate originally intended to turn him away, but we need hot water and repairs for the ships, so I ask the Young Master to decide."

"Let him come. Do not fear officials—fear those who hold authority. He may be an official, but we are in his jurisdiction now. Giving him some face will do."

Soon, the naval commander arrived outside Qin Mo's cabin and called loudly from without, "Li Zida, naval commander of Hanyang, Goryeo, pays respects to His Highness, the heir apparent of Prince Heng of the Celestial Empire!"

Qin Mo looked at Li Zida, who struggled to maintain a dignified posture while revealing humility in every movement, and sighed inwardly. These Koreans really were still the same—both inferior and arrogant.

Actually, calling someone a "Korean stick" was wrong. In Goryeo, the word "stick" was absolutely an insulting term. Goryeo people were divided into ranks, from high to low. The lowest were not commoners, but baseborn people. Children born to prostitutes among the baseborn were called "sticks." Only people like Lord Wei the Duke counted as sticks, so if you called someone a stick, they would probably want to test whose martial prowess was greater.

"Brother Li, please sit. This heir apparent is merely passing through. We encountered a storm yesterday and will be repairing here for several days. I hope Brother Li can provide some timber and fuel. This heir apparent will naturally pay market price." Goryeo was nominally a vassal state of Great Xia, and its king was on the same rank as Prince Heng. By calling him Brother Li, Qin Mo was giving him face.

Sure enough, when Li Zida heard Qin Mo call him Brother Li, he was instantly somewhat intoxicated, as though he had drunk half a jar of aged wine. He repeatedly promised that hot soup and hot water would be prepared at once to receive the great army.

After Li Zida left, Qin Mo summoned his personal guard and had him call all officers above squad leader in the Fusang army to his ship for a discussion. There were already signs of disorder at the docks, and he did not want to stir up some international conflict.

"I do not care what methods you use. You must keep your soldiers under control. If any trouble breaks out, no matter who is right or wrong, you can all go home! Of course, buy your own tickets."

Most of those selected as squad leaders and brigade commanders understood Great Xia speech. Even so, Qin Mo had hired more than a dozen Fusang interpreters who understood Great Xia speech. If military orders could not be conveyed during war, they would be nothing but loose sand, fated to be slaughtered.

That bunch of war-loving Fusang men agreed with lowered brows and submissive eyes, though they were highly unwilling. They believed the Goryeo army was just a flock of weak chicks. Without the protection of the Great Xia Empire, Goryeo would long since have been absorbed into the territory of the Great Fusang Empire. With their Great Xia masters covering their backs now, it was truly a pity not to give them a good hard beating.

Qin Mo did not care what they thought. He merely told them to inspect their subordinates and let them go ashore in batches to rest. Those in good health could make do aboard ship. So long as they did not die, Great Xia could slowly nurse them back later. For now, they had better keep quiet on the road.

Before nightfall, an envoy from the King of Goryeo in Hanyang City arrived, earnestly inviting Qin Mo to rest in the city. The King of Goryeo wished to host a banquet for Qin Mo and the generals of Great Xia.

Qin Mo had no interest in touring some Goryeo palace. If someone came to pay him a visit, he certainly would not put on airs; but if he were expected to visit someone else, heh! He was not in the mood. He only wrote a long letter saying that he was merely passing through, that many under his command were unruly, and that he needed to remain at the docks to prevent trouble from arising, and so on. He had the envoy take it back for the King of Goryeo to read.

The King of Goryeo was also tactful. Soon afterward, he sent over a great deal of meat, vegetables, and dry firewood. Qin Mo simply set up large cauldrons, stewed the meat and vegetables, and distributed them among the Fusang mercenaries. They had spent an entire day vomiting, and their bellies had long since shriveled flat with hunger.

Qin Mo sat aboard ship drinking with Li Zida. Since he wanted to engage in maritime trade in the future, building a good relationship with this naval commander was a matter of preparing for a rainy day, lest he find himself fretting for lack of distributors when the time came.

"Brother Li, are you of Goryeo royal blood?"

"Replying to Your Highness, my ancestors once held the title of commandery prince, but by my generation, the family is about to decline." Li Zida had drunk quite a bit. His frustrated and unappreciated appearance made Qin Mo want to laugh.

"I have some business I wish to bring into Goryeo. Would Brother Li be interested in introducing some Goryeo merchants?"

"Your Highness need only give the word. I, Li Zida, still have some standing in Goryeo."

Qin Mo said nothing. Instead, he clapped his hands, and his personal guard immediately presented two bolts of cotton cloth and silk. Both were important goods in Great Xia's maritime trade and deeply favored by neighboring nations.

"This... may I ask how much Your Highness intends to sell each year? Goryeo is poor. If too much is sold, I fear we will not have enough silver to pay."

Qin Mo secretly curled his lip. Goryeo was poor, but its royal family was not poor at all. Li Zida was merely taking the opportunity to find markets for Goryeo's specialties.

"Ginseng, tiger pelts, tiger whips, gold, and silver are all acceptable. If that truly will not do... people between the ages of twelve and sixteen will also do." Qin Mo bared his fangs. None of the first items were what he wanted most. If he wanted gold and silver, he could go to Japan—their output of gold and silver was even higher than Great Xia's. Dayuan's bottleneck in development was not money, but population.

Aside from the mountain natives, Dayuan had only the tens of thousands of retainers Qin Mo's father had brought there, along with over a hundred thousand family members. After more than a decade of reproduction, their numbers had only reached four or five hundred thousand. Strong adult men numbered fewer than a hundred thousand, yet workers, sailors, and soldiers all required large numbers of young and able-bodied men.

For the short term, Qin Mo did not plan to relocate large numbers of Great Xia people to Dayuan. That would draw too much attention. If the population of a prefecture or county drained away in great numbers, local officials would not simply sit by and ignore it. Goryeo was different. So long as they underwent slave education from the start, it would be easy to raise a loyal lackey army. The ferocity of Goryeo collaborationist troops during the War of Resistance against Japan was known to all.

"Does Your Highness truly mean that? Even baseborn people can be exchanged for this cloth?" Li Zida's face was full of disbelief. For countless years, Great Xia had regarded Goryeo as a vassal state. Great Xia people had never looked Goryeo people in the eye.

"When the time comes, I will send over my household steward. You can discuss the details with him." Seeing Li Zida's ecstatic expression, Qin Mo silently mourned for Goryeo's young people. You would be forced to leave your families, yet you would participate in the birth of a new age. Who was right and who was wrong—let history judge it several years hence.