Chapter 541
Chapter 541
“I am moved by the King of Chu's benevolence. I shall write you a promissory note at once.”
“King of Wu, not only will we lend you the grain, but we will also charge no interest.”
The King of Wu stepped down from his throne and bowed toward the southwest.
“The King of Chu is truly a benevolent sovereign.”
“Of course. However, my king has a small request.”
“What is it?”
“Rumor has it that Your Majesty previously made a secret pact with the King of Yue?”
“No. Where did the envoy hear such a thing?”
“If it is not true, that is a relief. However, my king wishes for you to publicly declare that any secret agreement you may have made with King Ning Yuanxian of Yue is null and void.”
This was a demand for the King of Wu to break the Wu-Yue pact. Of course, it was no exaggeration to say that few secret pacts in this world were ever honored to the end. But wasn't this a bit too soon to break it? It had been but a few months since it was signed. Was he to use the parchment for something so base before the ink had even properly dried?
“Furthermore, my king wishes to form a new secret pact with the State of Wu, making our two nations brotherly states.”
“Are our two nations not already brotherly states?”
“Still, a ceremony is in order, is it not? It is merely a matter of putting a new pact to paper.”
The intention of the State of Chu was exceedingly clear. If the King of Wu broke his pact with the King of Yue and formed a new secret pact with the King of Chu, Chu would lend Wu one million bushels of grain, interest-free. It was a deal that required the State of Wu to give up none of its own interests.
Wu Zhi, the Privy Councilor of Wu, suddenly asked.
“Envoy, do you believe the upcoming pitched battle on the border is merely King Ning Yuanxian of Yue's way of intentionally ceding territory to Chu?”
The Vice Minister of Rites from Chu replied.
“Is it not obvious to anyone? With Ning Yuanxian gravely ill and the succession struggle within his country growing fiercer by the day, the King of Yue fears that our State of Chu will mobilize its forces. He likely wanted to compromise immediately but found it too humiliating, so he proposed this absurd border battle. It is clearly a ploy to intentionally lose to us and sacrifice two insignificant figures, Ning Zheng and Shen Lang.”
“Then what will you do after this 'absurd' border battle?”
His meaning was quite clear. He was asking if Chu's appetite would be satisfied merely by receiving those concessions.
‘After winning the border battle, receiving the twenty leagues of territory beyond the border, and the reparations of eight hundred thousand gold coins, will Chu simply let Yue be? Or will you go a step further, threaten war, and demand more?’
“Of course, we will stop there. Our king values trust and honor above all else.”
Wu Zhi said with a smile.
“Everyone knows that the King of Chu values trust and honor.”
“If the King of Wu can obtain one million bushels of grain simply by breaking his pact with Yue and forming a new secret pact with us, why would he not willingly agree?”
Hearing this, many of the ministers nodded in unison. The King of Wu said.
“Envoy, please rest for now. This is a matter of great importance, and I must discuss it with my officials.”
The Vice Minister of Rites from Chu withdrew, and the King of Wu immediately began discussions with his ministers in the court. More than half of the ministers agreed with Chu's proposal. It was akin to doing business with no capital. To think they could exchange one million bushels of grain just by breaking one pact and signing another. Where else in the world could one find such a good deal? To refuse would be incredibly foolish, an act of idiocy. Soon, the ministers all knelt and kowtowed, begging the King of Wu to accept the proposal.
“Your Majesty, the sight of millions of starving people crying out for food is unbearable!”
“Your Majesty, winter is coming, and it will only get colder. Without food, they will truly starve to death.”
“Your Majesty, the people look to you as children look to their parents.”
Their unspoken intention was clear. They wanted the King of Wu to accept the proposal first, secure the grain, and then talk later. The King of Wu said with a smile.
“I understand your intentions well. You are all dismissed.”
As the numerous ministers departed, they took the opportunity to kowtow once more, imploring the King of Wu to think of the poor common people.
***
In his study, the King of Wu was enraged. He was not angry at the State of Chu, but at his own ministers.
‘Do they all see me as such a shameless, honorless king? Breaking a pact only a few months after signing it? To surrender to Chu for a million bushels of grain? What do they take me for? A common whore in a brothel with no shame?’
Wu Zhi said.
“Your Majesty need not be angry. The thoughts of a minister are not the same as those of a sovereign.”
The King of Wu sneered.
“Is that so? It seems that in their eyes, the honor of the king and the nation is not very important. Why not willingly trade reputation for grain? But they should think carefully about how many times I can sell my reputation.”
“Their thoughts may not be so simple.”
“The State of Wu is short on grain, but then again, perhaps it is not. The noble houses are wealthy; they must have mountains of grain stored in their manors. They fear I will ask them to contribute. They want me to sell my honor for grain so they won't suffer any losses, is that not it? That way, their own grain stores will be preserved.”
“Those things are not important. What is important is how our State of Wu should respond to the coming situation. A world-shaking hero is about to emerge to our south.”
Gonggong! Whenever this name came up, the King of Wu was filled with immense admiration. Gonggong was several years younger than him. When he inherited the throne of the Southern Gull Kingdom, he had nothing and was little more than a puppet. Yet, in just two or three years, he had become the revered lord of all the Southern Barbarian Tribes. When the rebellion broke out in the Southern Gull Kingdom, everyone thought Gonggong would be crushed like an insignificant ant. But who would have thought that in just over a year, they would witness the rise of a king in the south who would shake the world. The King of Wu lamented that he was inferior to such a man.
Gonggong had truly turned a fatal situation around and created a miracle. Even with the army of Yue occupying most of the Southern Gull Kingdom's territory, Gonggong did not panic. Instead, he used the war as an opportunity to unify all the Southern Barbarian Tribes—a brilliant move, a masterstroke. In contrast, the King of Wu had inherited his throne from his father but had yet to earn a good reputation. Compared to Gonggong, the King of Wu was so ashamed of himself that he broke into a cold sweat.
The King of Wu said.
“The King of Chu has likely formed a true secret pact with this Gonggong. The moment Gonggong reclaims the Southern Gull Kingdom and sweeps across the entire south will be the moment the King of Chu's grand army marches east.”
Wu Zhi replied.
“Therefore, the King of Chu will not be satisfied with the outcome of this border battle. That old, cunning fox will surely open his jaws like a lion, never satisfied with what he's given, and continue to extort Ning Yuanxian.”
The King of Wu fell silent for a moment before speaking.
“Royal Uncle, we have no choice but to stand with the victor.”
That's right! That was the most important thing. The State of Wu's losses in the last battle were so great that they needed at least half a year to recover their strength. Wu did not hold many cards, so they could not play them recklessly; they had to be played at the right time.
Wu Zhi continued.
“The King of Yue is using the border battle as a delaying tactic and a bait. But is Chu not also using one million bushels of grain as bait? Forcing us to break our pact with Yue is only the first step. They intend to drag us onto Gonggong's war chariot.”
“Indeed. Last time, they climbed onto Su Nan's war chariot, and this time, they're climbing onto Gonggong's. The King of Chu is a truly cunning man. He always thinks only of reaping the rewards of others' conflicts and never of fighting his own battles to gain an advantage.”
“But Gonggong is completely different from Su Nan. He has unified all the Southern Barbarian Tribes. He commands an army of one hundred thousand, the most savage yet also the strongest army in the world. Once the situation in Yue's southern territories collapses, Chu will not just stir up a small fuss like scratching an itch with a boot on, as they did last time. They will wage a true war that could topple a nation.”
The King of Wu could foresee that an astonishingly large war would erupt next. It might be a decisive battle between three nations, or even four. The total number of troops mobilized would likely exceed four or five hundred thousand, a scale incomparable to the battle fought a few months ago. It would be a decisive showdown, a single throw to decide the fate of heaven and earth, for all four nations.
Wu Zhi continued.
“Therefore, matters like breaking the pact with Yue or forming a secret tripartite alliance must wait until after Gonggong has succeeded. Right now, Chu is trying to make Your Majesty act rashly for a mere one million bushels of grain. That price is far too low.”
The King of Wu suddenly asked.
“What if the State of Yue wins the border battle?”
Wu Zhi was startled by his words.
‘Impossible.’
A border battle was a direct confrontation between two armies. There were no tricks to be used in such a battle; it was simply two forces killing each other. The elite army of Chu, seasoned by year-round warfare, was inherently superior to Yue's, and they had a numerical advantage of five thousand to two thousand. Rumor had it that Ning Zheng and Shen Lang had recruited only two thousand useless men and had just begun training them. It was obvious they were being sent as sacrificial lambs. How could they possibly win?
“If Yue were to win, wouldn't it strike intense fear into the heart of Chu?”
Hearing the king's words, Wu Zhi thought that no matter how he considered it, such an outcome was utterly absurd.
The King of Wu said with a smile.
“Then let us rub our eyes and wait. Of course, the protagonist of this grand performance is Gonggong. He is truly the heavyweight who will determine the fate of the four southern nations.”
The next day.
The King of Wu formally rejected Chu's demand, stating that what he had signed with Yue was a truce agreement, not a secret pact. Furthermore, he declared that the King of Wu's promise was as good as gold, and he would never break a signed agreement for a paltry gain. Instantly, his ministers began to wail, crying out for the poor, starving commoners and loudly proclaiming that they would not survive the winter.
In response, the King of Wu issued an edict. From that day on, the palace would cut its expenditures by two-thirds, and he himself would eat only two meals of plain congee a day. All the grain saved by the royal family would be given to the starving people. Following this, the King of Wu personally visited the home of a high-ranking minister and wrote him a promissory note to borrow grain. The officials and nobles of Wu all willingly opened their purses, donating fifty thousand bushels of grain within half a month, but it was barely a drop in the ocean.
Soon after, a major secret was leaked from the upper echelons of the State of Yue, and along with it, a critical list of names was exposed. The list was filled with high-ranking officials of Wu, all of whom had been secretly bribed or coerced by Yue's Blackwater Terrace into committing numerous acts of treason against Wu. The King of Yue was furious, executing three people from the Blackwater Terrace who had leaked the secret and detaining over a dozen others. The King of Wu flew into a rage, executing the entire family of a second-rank official on the list. In an instant, the nobles of Wu all voluntarily opened their purses to aid the common people, raising eight hundred thousand bushels of grain in just ten days.
The King of Wu, deeply moved, declared before all his ministers in court that the leak from Yue was a conspiracy. He stated that he did not believe the officials of Wu had been bribed by Yue's Blackwater Terrace and that he had firm faith in his ministers' loyalty. He then burned the list in front of everyone. At the same time, Wu Mu, the general defeated in the battle of Raging Tide City, was formally reinstated to the court. The King of Wu officially began his purge of the old guard, and many new, younger officials gradually began to replace the old ministers. The King of Wu had used the disaster relief and the leaked secret to launch a formal counterattack against the old ministers.