"You said that the Jiuzhou Army wants to recruit you and cultivate you in the future, and let you lead troops to assist the Nanyang Fleet in attacking the Spice Islands..." Ruan Phuc Xi fell into thought.

After Ruan Youjin and Ruan Youyi returned to Ruan’s camp, they told Ruan Phuxi separately about Zhao Youguang’s recruitment of them.

"The ambition of the Jiuzhou Army is unimaginable. When Zheng He of the Ming Dynasty went to the West, he only traded with the countries in the South China. At most, he asked small countries to send envoys to the capital of the Ming Dynasty to pay tribute. He was not as greedy as their Jiuzhou Army and directly plundered land, gold, silver and treasures." Ruan Youyi said.

"Isn't this more realistic? The Jiuzhou Army has gained tangible benefits. They can use land to produce whatever they want, while gold, silver and treasures are used by them to strengthen themselves and can support wars. As long as they have strong strength, they can do whatever they want." Ruan Phuc Xi told the truth of the era when the strong prey on the weak.

"But the Mongols also established an extremely vast empire. For example, the territory of the Jiuzhou Army is much wider. They were divided in just a hundred years. Not only did they not assimilate other ethnic groups and tribes, but they were gradually assimilated by other ethnic groups and tribes. No matter how many territories the Jiuzhou Army captured, they would not be able to maintain their long-term rule in a hundred years and would only repeat the same mistakes." Ruan Youyi said.

"A hundred years is enough. Life is in a hurry. If you can achieve great achievements in your lifetime, how can you care about the floods after death?" Ruan Youjin said.

"You may underestimate the power of the Han people to assimilate other ethnic groups, which is different from the sparsely populated Mongolian tribes. Most of the tribes that frequently come into contact with the Han people have been assimilated by them. Moreover, with the magical new learning of the Jiuzhou Army, it may be able to maintain a rule of more than a hundred years." Ruan Phucxi was positive about the Jiuzhou Army. Although he did not know that Chu Yun was trying to find a way to get the telegraph network, telephone network, railway network, and maritime routes. The goal was to tie all the territory together, and to send immigrants to the local tribes, Ruan Phucxi had a faint intuition that the Jiuzhou Army's large-scale expansion operation was different from the expansion of Genghis Khan hundreds of years ago.

"So this time is a once-in-a-lifetime fortune for both of you. You should seize this opportunity, expand your territory, and be appointed as a marquis and ministers." Ruan Phucxi said again.

"But..." Ruan Youyi and Ruan Youjin said hurriedly.

"Needless to say, you no longer owe our Ruan family anything. I, an old man, don't have much life to live, and the nephew who was left by my elder brother is only eleven years old. I don't want him to fall into a dispute with the Jiuzhou Army in the future and have no ambition. You are also a member of the Ruan family. You are concerned about yourself and the future title of marquis and prime minister is also the honor of our Ruan family in Annan, so there is nothing to be entangled." Ruan Phucxi persuaded the two of them.

Ruan Youyi and Ruan Youjin were silent. Since the leaders of the Ruan family have supported them in this way, and they are also very moved by the conditions of the Jiuzhou Army, there is nothing to say.

"You will leave quietly later. We important people are locked up here, and you two have encountered a rare opportunity. I am afraid that others will feel uncomfortable. After you leave, I will explain the whole story to them." Ruan Phuc Xi said.

That night, Ruan Youjin, Ruan Youyi and his two men followed Zhao Youguang out of the Yantai Peak Fortress. The group boarded the merchant ship anchored on Pi Island and set off for the Liaonan Academy of Sciences.

Ruan Youjin and Ruan Youyi looked back at Pi Island in the dark, as if they were a different life. They were imprisoned in Yantai Peak Fortress for less than a day before they came out. Such stories were like a legend when they told them.

"I knew you would agree to the conditions of our Jiuzhou Army, because no one could refuse such temptation." Zhao Youguang came to the deck, and moonlight was sprinkled on the deck.

"I thought I would stay in such an island for ten years, but I didn't expect it to be released so soon, which reminded me of the poem "The mountains and rivers are full of roads, and the willows and flowers are bright and there is another village." Ruan Youyi leaned on his hull and looked at the stars in the sky.

"The next ten years are the most exciting ten years. Do you really want to stay in prison and suffer the pain of nothing to do?" Zhao Youguang said, "First he captured the Spice Islands in large numbers, then divided his troops to advance westward, and advanced all the way to the South Ocean. The gods blocked the gods and the Buddhas blocked the Buddhas. Isn't it so painful?"

"Hmph, if it weren't for your Jiuzhou Army as powerful, how could I agree to you?" The arrogant Ruan Youjin couldn't sleep and walked out of the cabin. "In order to expand to the Chameng Kingdom in the south, our Ruan family continued intermittently for decades, and then obtained half of the Chameng Kingdom's territory and the Zhenla Kingdom as a seaport. It was not like your Jiuzhou Army, and it was a big deal and destroyed the country at any time."

"You can also experience this feeling in the future. There are many small countries on the Spice Islands. There are too many small countries and too scattered. Our generals who lack sufficient experience will eliminate these small countries. It is not difficult to train a general who dares to lead soldiers to charge in the battle from scratch. The real difficulty is to cultivate a group of generals who can stand on their own." Zhao Youguang said.

"There are indeed many small countries in the Spice Islands... But Westerners have already intervened in the Spice Islands, which are the territory of Westerners, including the Netherlands, Florence, Spanish, and Great Britain. If you want to attack the Spice Islands in large numbers, you are fighting against all Westerners. The so-called cutting off money is like killing parents, and they will join forces to deal with you." Ruan Youjin is quite familiar with the Spice Islands across the sea from Annanguo.

"You may not know that Yizhou Island and Penghu were also occupied by the Netherlands and Spaniards, but they were beaten away by us a few years ago. Even if they all joined forces to be enemies with us, that's all. We have not yet gone to Southeast Asia, but we are not prepared enough, and we need to prepare... an excuse." Zhao Youguang said meaningfully.

"What's the point of not asking for a crime?" Ruan Youjin and Ruan Youyi said together.

They had personal experience of the Jiuzhou Army making excuses. The history of Annan Kingdom was traced back to the Nanyue Kingdom at the end of the Qin Dynasty by the Jiuzhou Army, and was claimed by the Jiuzhou Army to be a territory since ancient times.

"Ahem, you still have to find excuses." Zhao Youguang coughed dryly, "With a good excuse, we are the righteous army and can be invincible. When you arrive at the Liaonan Academy of Sciences, just look at and study hard. If you want excuses, leave the matters to our General Staff and the Military Intelligence Department."
Chapter completed!