"Okay, you old men and boys, stop making trouble. Everyone in the Constitutional Court, please be serious."

Cai Qi remained steady. Seeing the two acting like children, he waved his hand and said, "Having said that, I understand Han Longni building ironclad warships. We also understand the theory of sea power, which is preparing for the Song Dynasty's future dominance of the oceans. But why must they go to Japan? There are already troops stationed there. Is it simply to avenge a future grudge?"

"Of course not only that. I just suspect that Japan has evil ambitions and may harm our interests, so I am preparing in advance."

Zhao Jun shook his head.

"oh?"

Everyone was puzzled.

Song Shou asked puzzledly, "How did you tell?"

"Because I instigated it."

Zhao Jun pointed at himself and said with a smile, "I have planted the Imperial City Bureau in Japan and traded with some wealthy families in various parts of Japan that are relatively rich in mineral resources, encouraging them to declare themselves kings."

"You want to destroy Japan?"

Fan Zhongyan frowned.

The Song Dynasty had just defeated the Liao Dynasty. Although its army was strong, it was hard to say whether it could launch an expedition to Japan.

Firstly, it is too far away. Starting from Hangzhou, the straight-line distance is more than 800 kilometers. Even if there is no wind or rain, it will take more than a month.

For example, Jianzhen set out on November 16, 753, and did not arrive in Satsuma, Japan, now Kagoshima, until December 20.

Iwami, where the Song Dynasty wanted to go, was even farther away. Even if they were familiar with the route, it would usually take at least one and a half months to get there.

Second, the journey is very dangerous.

Not to mention the typhoons that Mongolia encountered several times when it tried to destroy Japan, just talking about the trade between Song and Japan over the years, many ships traveling back and forth encountered accidents.

In other words, if the Song Dynasty occupied Jeju Island, it could take the relatively safe northern route to Japan.

But even on the northern route, there is a distance of four to five hundred kilometers without any islands to stop at, so the direction can only be determined by astronomical reference objects and a compass.

The Song-Japan trade has been going on for nine years now, and during these nine years, countless ships have disappeared due to getting lost at sea.

Therefore, even though the profits from maritime trade are huge and one trip can yield rich rewards, people in Jiangsu and Zhejiang regions usually do not choose to take the risk of going out to sea, except for those who are really poor and have no other choice.

So, considering these two points, if a large-scale military operation was to be launched against Japan, the only way would not be for the navy to go on an expedition, but for the army to first arrive in Goryeo, transport the soldiers to Tsushima Island by ship, and use Tsushima Island as the front line and Korea as the rear to launch an attack on Japan's homeland.

Otherwise, sending the navy out directly would be a gamble. If they were lucky and there were no wind or waves, they might be able to reach Japan safely. But if they were unlucky and the weather suddenly changed, the entire navy would be at risk of capsizing.

However, the Song Dynasty had only just established its navy and hadn't even sailed to Southeast Asia yet, so going directly there would be too risky. However, going by land would consume a huge amount of national strength and require communication with Goryeo, who would likely fear that they would use the land as a pretext for attacking Guo. This was definitely not advisable.

"Not really."

Fortunately, Zhao Jun heard Fan Zhongyan's words and shook his head, saying, "Although I hate this country, I haven't lost my mind. To destroy Japan now is really a thankless task. It won't be too late to go in a dozen years, when my steamships are everywhere."

"Yes, that's right. We can clearly develop our technological capabilities for a few more years to make the country stronger and reduce casualties during an attack. Why rush now? Not only will it waste our national strength, but it will also bring huge risks."

Seeing that Zhao Jun was very rational, Fan Zhongyan nodded with satisfaction.

Yan Shu was puzzled and asked: "Since you don't intend to destroy Japan, but incite civil unrest among them and send ironclad ships, what's this?"

He pondered for a moment, then suddenly his eyes lit up and he said, "Hanlong's move is far-reaching."

"Uncle Lari still understands me."

Zhao Jun looked at him and smiled, as if everything was said without words.

However, the rest of the people were confused.

Zhang Shixun was old and his train of thought was lagging behind. He asked in confusion, "What on earth are you talking about? Tell me, don't hide it."

Yan Shu said: "Why don't you understand? Hanlong wants to ensure that Japan is in internal turmoil and its national strength is declining. At the same time, he wants to protect our interests in Japan and prevent the cessation of trade and the outflow of gold and silver minerals due to internal strife."

"I see."

Now everyone suddenly understood and it was not their fault.

Each of these old men is in his seventies or eighties. Although they have rich political experience, their age means that sometimes they think slowly and it is normal that they cannot come to their senses immediately.

"Japan is a country with evil ambitions. It must be destroyed as soon as possible."

Zhao Jun said, "And I'm sure they won't allow us to trade freely with them. I'm afraid they'll try to obstruct us, or even interrupt our trade, which would be a serious threat to our interests."

"Why?"

Li Di was puzzled and said, "Now that our Song Dynasty has defeated the Liao Kingdom and restored the glory of the Han and Tang Dynasties, how dare they be so presumptuous?"

"The reason is simple."

Zhao Jun raised his index finger and pointed: "First, Tsushima Island was occupied by our Song Dynasty."

"Although this island is Japanese territory, we paid to rent it from the locals. We have a contract, so we have a reason. What can they do?"

Jia Changchao said, "Besides, we stationed troops here under the pretext of preventing trade from being attacked by pirates. We even sent envoys to Japan to meet with their emperor. Do you think they are going to tear up the contract?"

This time, the Ninghai Navy received an order to set sail for Japan on the pretext of protecting trade voyages.

In fact, the Song Dynasty had a legitimate reason to station troops on Tsushima Island, which was to protect trade between Goryeo and Japan.

My dear, there is more to this chapter. Please click on the next page to continue reading. It will be even more exciting later!