Chapter 359 Cao Xing's "Brutal" Nature

As these short little Islanders drew closer, the smile on Cao Xing's face grew wider. Since landing on the island, they hadn't encountered any real challenge, so he hadn't yet used his final trump card.

The two silent giant ships had now turned broadside. Twenty pitch-black cannon muzzles, like those of giant beasts, opened their bloody maws, ready to swallow the flesh and blood before them at any moment.

An army of a hundred thousand had received the blessing of the Great Goddess Amaterasu before setting out. In the eyes of the leading Monks and daimyo, this was already an invincible force.

Cao Xing held his telescope, watching coldly as these confident and ignorant foreigners roared and charged into the range of the cannons.

"Commander, they have entered range."

"No rush, no rush. If we fire now, these ducks will all probably scatter. It won't be convenient for the brothers to catch them later."

After a while, the Islanders got closer and closer, so close that their inferior bows and arrows could already reach the city walls. Only then did Cao Xing calmly speak.

"Fire!"

A large flag suddenly began to wave. Those on the ships saw the signal and passed the command to fire into the cabins.

Facing the smoke rising in the distance, these fanatical Islanders didn't realize danger was approaching at all. They thought the Han people had chickened out—so scared they didn't even fire a single arrow.

Heaven knows Cao Xing simply felt it was a waste of arrows. After the cannons plowed the ground twice like a field, they could just go collect the bodies and grab prisoners.

"Boom... Boom... Boom..."

As the fuses burned out, the twenty Zimu Cannon on the heavy Treasure Ships roared in succession. The massive recoil caused both heavy Treasure Ships, with a displacement of fifteen hundred tons, to begin to rock.

The ships on the sea merely rocked, but when the twenty explosive shells flew onto the shore and into the crowd, it was earth-shattering.

The Islanders who were just roaring were scared witless. After the massive explosions and thick, pungent smoke, they saw a horrifying scene:

Flesh and blood flew everywhere, with severed limbs scattered all over. Many people clutched their broken bodies, lying on the ground and screaming in despair.

Before they could react, the second round of shelling came. It was another scene of living hell; those who had just been standing dazed were also turned into blood mist and shredded meat.

"The Great Goddess Amaterasu is angry! Run!"

Finally, someone reacted and let out a scream of utter despair. Immediately, everyone snapped out of their daze, turned around, and began to flee frantically.

Then came the third round of shelling, this time aimed directly at the center of the crowd. The casualties caused this time were equal to the sum of the first two rounds, instantly shattering all their illusions.

The Monks and daimyo who had been protected in the center of the crowd were also blown to pieces.

No matter how noble their status or how much power they once held, it was all fleeting before the ruthless cannons. In the end, they would only become fragments of corpses that couldn't even be pieced back together.

At the same time, the previously tightly closed city gates opened. As the drawbridge was lowered, the fierce Great Qian Xuanjia Army and naval soldiers marched out in formation.

A battle involving over a hundred thousand people had turned into a one-sided massacre in less than an hour. The Qian Army soldiers began catching prisoners like they were catching chickens.

As one of Gao Yuan's absolute confidants, Cao Xing implemented Gao Yuan's instructions perfectly: don't kill if you don't have to, and be sure to take as many prisoners as possible.

Except for the petite young women, everyone else—men, women, elderly, and children—were all to be captured and sent back to work in the mines.

To Cao Xing's surprise, the women here didn't seem to have any hatred for the destruction of their country. It seemed they naturally admired the strong, so these young women appeared very submissive when facing the Qian Army soldiers.

After enjoying himself a few times, Cao Xing couldn't help but write in the battle report he sent back:

"Your Highness was right; the women here are very lovely. This humble general has already enjoyed them."

However, when he suggested whether to send two 'original' women back, he was sternly rejected by Gao Yuan. Gao Yuan ordered all the women to be rewarded to the soldiers and the upcoming immigrants.

To get people to immigrate, especially to a remote island thousands of miles away to develop such a godforsaken place, one had to offer some benefits.

The commoners were already used to the imperial court's immigration initiatives and knew that anyone willing to move would receive many benefits.

Thus, for families with many children where the allocated land was no longer enough—and since the court strictly forbade the transfer or sale of land use rights—sending some sons to immigrate became the best choice.

While Cao Xing was still conducting a bloody suppression of all resistance on the island of Dongying, Gao Yuan had already begun a massive immigration recruitment drive.

Particularly under the temptation of certain positions and the promise of being promoted to important roles after five years, some children of the Powerful Families also signed up.

As unfavored or concubine-born children in large families, they would never see a day of advancement if they stayed. This was their best chance to change their destiny.

Knowing that all future official positions would have to be earned through layers of examinations—which was no different from thousands of troops crossing a single-log bridge—they didn't want to miss such an opportunity.

And so, with the second fleet of supply ships, over ten thousand people embarked on the journey to immigrate to Yingzhou.

Watching the departing ships, Chu Weiguo walked to his son-in-law's side and asked with some concern,

"Aren't you afraid that over time, these people will become a threat isolated overseas?"

Gao Yuan shook his head.

"As long as they uphold our Han culture, whether they follow my orthodoxy or establish an independent nation in the future, they are still our own people—the meat is still rotting in the same pot."

"To take a step back, we hold the initiative now. Even if they split off later, future generations can reclaim the lost territory with perfect justification, don't you agree?"

Chu Weiguo nodded in agreement and said with emotion,

"Ultimately, it's because our positions are different. I can't achieve such a grand vision as yours; I always feel like everything must be held in my own hands."

The conquest on the island continued. Cao Xing had already occupied a silver mine according to the map provided by Gao Yuan. Tens of thousands of prisoners were now working day and night in the mines under the lash of whips.

As for those supervising them, they were the first batch of 'Second-class Han citizens' developed by Cao Xing. These Yingzhou people who knew the Han language performed their duties as overseers very well; they were even more cruel than the Great Qian soldiers.

The Great Qian soldiers, after all, had grown up in an environment of Han etiquette and culture; they still had a bottom line when doing things.

But these Second-class Han citizens were different. They fully displayed the ugliest side of human nature: turning their blades toward those even weaker.

Against white-haired elders and weak, tender children, these people truly dared to use lethal force. Their whips never stopped, and they would even show cruel smiles while whipping their own compatriots.

Yet when facing any Great Qian person, they would immediately change their tune, bowing and scraping, appearing very polite.

The women who followed the Great Qian soldiers were the same. They could remain indifferent while watching their former husbands, children, and relatives suffer.

Everyone saw this and sighed at the commentary Gao Yuan had given these people:

"They value minor etiquette but disregard great righteousness; they have much ritual but little virtue, and they lack a sense of shame."

It turned out that Prince of Tang hadn't exaggerated at all; these people were no good.

If not for the fact that these people were still useful, Cao Xing would have wanted to personally eliminate these pests.