The 60,000 pirates who had invaded Friendship surrendered before they could survive the afternoon.

Nearly 30,000 pirates were buried in the city, and after the war, the entire outer city was in a mess, with corpses all over the place, and the strong smell of blood permeated the streets and alleys.

Gu Xiuwen, the guardian of the Friendship City, took on the responsibility of cleaning up the city, pacifying the people in the city, extinguishing the fires, counting casualties and financial losses, and everything was in order.

The uneasy people's hearts gradually stabilized.

In the city lord's mansion, Ouyang Shuo, who had won the battle, was not happy, and had a straight face. One battle was defeated by a group of pirates, and there was really nothing to show off. Second, Farah fled again, which made Ouyang Shuo quite frustrated. There are many suspicions behind the three incidents, as if there is an invisible hand manipulating everything in secret.

The attack on Friendship City was no accident.

Although the pirates were repelled this time, it was a huge blow to the reputation of the "City of Commerce" that Friendship City had built with great difficulty, and even to the credibility of the great shipping route.

As the news spreads, this negative impact will gradually spread and will be difficult to eliminate in a short period of time.

Think about it, in the face of a city that could be attacked by pirates at any time, would the ocean-going merchants dare to come here to dock and replenish? Faced with an uneven shipping route, how many businessmen will be discouraged?

The answer is obvious.

Behind this attack, the target was directly aimed at the trade foundation of the Great Xia Dynasty, and the intentions were not sinister.

In the afternoon of the same day, the Black Serpent Guard commanded the Black Serpent to be hastily teleported from Rabat City to Friendship City. Ouyang Shuo's instructions to the Black Snake were simple: "Give this king a thorough investigation and find out who else is involved in this pirate attack on the city." ”

Intuitively, Ouyang Shuo suspected that there should be a Farah internal response in Somalia.

"No!"

The black snake did not dare to slack off at all, and immediately mobilized capable forces, starting from the interrogation of the captured pirates, and followed the vine to find out who was behind the scenes.

The captured second leader naturally became the target of the Black Snake Guard's interrogation.

It's just that Ouyang Shuo knows that Farah is the key figure and soul figure in the pirate group.

Therefore, Ouyang Shuo ordered the original Mediterranean Fleet, which had been renamed the Atlantic Fleet, to arrange for the fourth and fifth formations to immediately cross the Mediterranean Sea and rush to the waters of the Gulf of Aden to arrest the "pirate king" Farah.

Only by taking down Farah, completely exterminating the evil [Sirius Pirate Regiment], beheading it to show the public, and bringing it to justice, can we restore the lost credibility of Friendship City and ensure the prosperity of the great shipping route.

This time, Ouyang Shuo will not let the tiger return to the mountain again.

In the study room of the City Lord's Mansion, just as Ouyang Shuo was thinking about the situation in the Gulf of Aden, Xu Chu came to report: "Your Majesty, the division commander of the Friendship City Garrison Division is asking to see you outside the door. ”

When Ouyang Shuo heard this, his brows jumped, and he suddenly became angry, and said fiercely: "He still has the face to see this king?" The order was sent down, and there was no need to see him, and the person was immediately taken into custody and handed over to the Judge Advocate General's Division of the Privy Council. ”

In this battle, a garrison division regiment, occupying the geographical advantage, and having a strong city to defend, faced with the siege of 60,000 pirates, it lost the outer city in less than three hours, which really lost the face of the Great Xia Dynasty.

Although pirates are brutal, it is also an objective fact that the garrison division is negligent in training on weekdays and improperly commanded in wartime. If it were another garrison division, it would never be so embarrassing.

In such a situation, how could Ouyang Shuo not be angry.

"No!"

Xu Chu rarely saw the king so angry, and he didn't dare to say much, so he could only mourn in silence for the division commander. It's good that he doesn't come to visit, and the king may still be lightly dismissed; Now it hits the muzzle of the gun, but no one can help.

Due to the poor performance of the Friendship City Garrison Division, Ouyang Shuo was even more associated with other garrison divisions.

"It seems that it is necessary for the Privy Council to conduct a major assessment of the garrison divisions in various places." Ouyang Shuo secretly thought in his heart that the laxity of local armaments was a taboo in the rule of the dynasty.

…………

That night, Ouyang Shuo personally held a banquet in the City Lord's Mansion to entertain the big businessmen in the Friendship City.

Receiving the invitation of the Xia King is really a blessing for the businessman.

Ouyang Shuo's move was naturally to appease the merchants, minimize the impact of this attack on the trade of Friendship City, and restore the merchants' confidence. Originally, it was enough for the city guard Gu Xiuwen to come forward in this matter, but Gu Xiuwen came forward and Ouyang Shuo came forward, and the effect was different.

In the banquet hall of Nuoda, Ouyang Shuo raised his glass, and the audience instantly fell silent. Ouyang Shuo looked around at the big businessmen and said: "This time the friendship city was attacked by pirates, the imperial court will not tolerate it, the Dynasty Atlantic Fleet has set sail, and it will arrive in the Gulf of Aden in a few days, completely exterminate the [Sirius Pirate Group], and return the Gulf of Aden to peace." ”

"Xia Wang Shengming!"

The merchants were overjoyed, they had been doing business in the Mediterranean for many years, and they knew a lot about the prestige of the Atlantic Fleet, and they knew that with this fleet, the [Sirius Pirates] would not be spared.

The restless heart gradually calmed down.

Ouyang Shuo continued: "The imperial court has the responsibility to defend the territory, and you trust the imperial court, so you stopped at Friendship City to replenish. The Imperial Court will compensate you 100% for the losses caused by this pirate attack. Tomorrow, you can go to the City Lord's Mansion to truthfully register the loss, and after verification, you will immediately compensate. ”

"This ......"

The businessmen looked at each other, but they didn't expect such a good thing. As a general rule, even if the court does not make any compensation, the merchant has nothing to say. This kind of full compensation is simply unheard of.

"King Shexia's grace!" The merchants were really grateful, especially the huge losses in this battle, and they almost cried. Although the ocean trade is very profitable, if all the goods are robbed, it may have to lose everything.

The imperial court's move did not know how many merchants' futures were saved.

Ouyang Shuo bowed his head, his hand was similar to "buying bones with a thousand gold", he would rather spend a little money to restore the confidence of businessmen in the imperial court, which is more important than hundreds of thousands of gold coins.

With this good news, the next banquet will be a joy for both guests and hosts.

************

Ouyang Shuo bought people's hearts in Friendship City, and never thought that bad news would come the next day.

The 4th and 5th formations of the Atlantic Fleet were ordered to cross the Mediterranean, and were met with collective protests from the lords of the Mediterranean, even at the expense of suspending ongoing negotiations.

In their words, "Since the Great Xia Dynasty has promised that the Atlantic Fleet will no longer set foot in the Mediterranean, it should keep its promise from this moment on." This move by the Atlantic Fleet is undoubtedly a breach of the treaty. ”

"We are deeply skeptical of the sincerity of the Great Xia Dynasty." So said Caesar.

In desperation, the negotiation team could only ask Ouyang Shuo urgently for instructions on how to deal with this matter.

Ouyang Shuo got the news and was speechless for a long time, but this time it was the Great Xia Dynasty that was at a loss.

"It's just that the timing is a little too coincidental?" Ouyang Shuo had to be suspicious, whether there was a connection between the negotiation and the pirate attack on Friendship City, Ouyang Shuo was not easy to draw conclusions now.

Last night, Ouyang Shuo also wanted the merchant to promise to send the Atlantic Fleet to suppress the pirates. If he loses his trust, it will be a slap in the face, and all Ouyang Shuo's previous efforts will be in vain.

Faced with this dilemma, Ouyang Shuo finally set his sights on the southernmost tip of the African continent, where there is a magical place called the Cape of Good Hope.

Before the construction of the Suez Canal, the European route to Asia could only reach Asia from Western Europe through West Africa and then through the Cape of Good Hope in South Africa, and the Cape of Good Hope route became the only sea route for Europeans to the East.

After the opening of the Suez Canal, the role of this route has diminished, but it is still an indispensable and important passage between Europe and Asia, and some huge ships cannot pass through the Suez Canal, so they must make a detour from here.

Speaking of the Cape of Good Hope, we have to mention the famous Crusades in European history.

In the first millennium AD, great changes began in Europe, and Roman Catholics wanted to drive Muslims out of the Middle East, and the Crusades launched by the Holy See began in 1096 and lasted for about 200 years.

The emergence of European armies in the Middle East gave a disguised impetus to the development of ocean-going trade.

Italian merchants in Venice and elsewhere made a fortune by transporting and supplying supplies to the warring parties. At the same time, when the Crusaders returned to Europe, they brought back spices, perfumes, silks, steel, and medicines from the Middle East, which became sought-after bestsellers in Europe.

The ocean-going trade led to the rise of towns and towns, and also created a large number of wealthy European merchants.

The power of European countries grew, and they set up armies and governments, which were enough to keep the armies and governments functioning on the taxes paid by taxpayers.

By the 15th century, European countries were ready to go on adventures.

The Portuguese were the first to act, and in 1400 they wanted to control the spice trade with the East, bypassing the middlemen of Venice and Arabia and trading directly with the East.

If they could travel directly to Asia by sea to buy these goods, they would be able to increase their profitability dramatically.

Portuguese explorers traveled to the west coast of Africa in search of a route to India and East Asia, and eventually reached the Cape of Good Hope, the southernmost point of the continent.

Compared to the Suez Canal, the Cape of Good Hope is not an ideal shipping route.

Because the Cape of Good Hope is located at the confluence of the Indian Ocean Warm Current and the Cold Antarctic Current, the strong westerly jet stream sets off stormy waves all year round.

These waves, which resemble a cliff in the front and a gentle hillside in the back, are frequent in winter and are sometimes combined with swirling waves caused by polar winds, which make the sea even worse when these two waves are stacked together. There is also a strong coastal current, and when the waves meet the current, the entire sea rolls like a boiling pot, and the ships that sail here are often killed.

As a result, the Cape of Good Hope became the most dangerous nautical section in the world.

Ouyang Shuo's plan to let the Atlantic Fleet bypass the Cape of Good Hope, open up the Cape of Good Hope route, and make a detour to Somalia, which is also a helpless choice.

The extermination of the [Sirius Pirate Group] is a matter of dynastic credibility.

Ouyang Shuo, as the king of the Great Xia Dynasty, is full of promises, since he has made promises to merchants, he must fulfill them, otherwise, he will lose his trust in the people and the world.