Chapter 693
Chapter 693
“If my guess is correct, the Hidden Yuan Society and the Zhu Clan went to the Yan Capital to persuade His Majesty the Emperor. Ying Qi left for the State of Wu and hasn't been seen since. Where do you think he went, wise brother?”
“The Yan Capital!”
“Correct, the Yan Capital! Ying Qi must have offered a crucial bargaining chip to forge an important secret pact. Then, His Majesty the Emperor in the Yan Capital would offer him substantial support. With pressure from the Great Yan Empire and the Hidden Yuan Society, the King of Wu will compromise and not send his troops south. After ceding the six commanderies of Tianbei Province, Ying Qi will have the Xue Clan’s fleet conquer Raging Tide City and hand it over to the King of Wu. That way, the King of Wu won't be left empty-handed. Furthermore, from the south, Zhu Rong, representing the new court of Yue, has negotiated with me, offering to cede the entire Tiannan Province. If Ying Qi’s plan succeeds, he will have pacified the King of Wu in the north and me in the south. Then, what will happen in the west?”
The situation on the western front was precarious. The King of Chu had an army of over three hundred thousand, while the Zhong Clan had only one hundred and twenty thousand. Moreover, the King of Chu was personally leading the campaign, and his army's morale was high. The State of Yue was in great danger in this war, and unless there was a drastic change across the entire political landscape, a victory for Yue could not be guaranteed. That is, unless a situation like the King of Chu’s sudden death were to occur.
“Who do you think benefits the most from this war?”
“His Majesty the Emperor!”
“As expected, you are wise, brother. By the time Ying Qi ascends the throne, the State of Yue will have lost a third of its territory, its national power greatly diminished. Furthermore, Ying Qi may have already made a substantial secret pact with the Great Yan Empire. Thus, it would not be in His Majesty's interest for the State of Chu to swallow Tianxi Province at this time and establish itself as the hegemon of the south.”
“To eliminate two southern hegemons through this one war… His Majesty the Emperor truly employs formidable methods.”
“With such great interests at stake, many rules can be broken. For example, my father and the King of Yue were once quite close, yet when the time was ripe to harvest the Southern Jiu Kingdom, they were faced with immense benefits. In the end, did my father not naturally fall in battle?”
“So, the King of Chu's sudden death is highly probable!”
King Gong nodded. If the King of Chu were to die suddenly, the entire political situation would collapse, and his grand army would crumble like a landslide.
“Therefore, wise brother, you must act quickly. Otherwise, you will face an unbearable outcome!”
Shen Lang nodded. Ying Qi’s grand design had begun to move, and the King of Wu was already on the verge of compromise. If nothing unexpected happened, Third Prince Ying Qi would soon enter Tianxi Province for a decisive battle with the King of Chu. At that moment, the King of Chu would die suddenly, and the State of Yue would claim a great victory. Simultaneously, Ying Qi would try to reach an agreement with King Gong, offering to cede Tiannan Province in exchange for a truce, and borrow the Saiman tribe's army to completely annihilate the Marquis of Xuanwu's Estate. After that, the Xue Clan’s fleet would undoubtedly attack Raging Tide City, wiping out the Jin Clan and the headquarters of the Sky-Sea Pavilion. It was indeed a grand design. The State of Wu in the north, King Gong in the south, Raging Tide City in the east, and the King of Chu in the west were all pieces on his board.
*Incredible! Ying Qi, I never realized you were this formidable. But the most formidable one is still the Emperor of the Great Yan Empire. It was only because Ying Qi’s scheme aligned perfectly with his interests that he gave his full support.*
“After ascending the throne, Ying Qi will attack neither Wu nor Chu. Because how strong or weak those nations become will all be arranged by His Majesty the Emperor. He will only attack our Great Nan Kingdom. Because in their eyes, we are a land of barbarians, and if Ying Qi conquers the Great Nan Kingdom, it will be an expansion for the Great Yan Dynasty. Ying Zheng is a monarch who will govern with all his might, but he is by no means a monarch who will expand his territory. If he ascends the throne, our two nations can complement each other's needs. Therefore, if we are to attack, we must attack to the end; if we are to retreat, we must retreat all the way. I will not take a single commandery in Tiannan Province.”
King Gong was laying everything bare, speaking with utmost candor.
“You have now destroyed the first stage of Ying Qi's plan, wise brother. You won't crush the second stage, nor do you need to. However, you must stop his third stage in advance. Wise brother, the future state of affairs should be crystal clear to you now. As the Great General Who Pacifies the South, Ying Zheng has achieved an unparalleled feat by repelling the main army of the Great Nan Kingdom. But Third Prince Ying Qi went to the State of Wu alone and persuaded its king to halt the war—that is his first great achievement. Next, he will head to Tianxi Province for a decisive battle with the King of Chu. If he wins that battle, it will be his second great achievement. In the eyes of the world, which is the greater feat: repelling the main army of the Great Nan Kingdom, or repelling the King of Chu’s army of over three hundred thousand? Obviously, the latter. Ying Qi will control two unparalleled achievements and build his power, so Ying Zheng will lose the struggle for the throne.”
“So you’re saying we need to preempt him? Seize the credit for defeating the State of Chu, and if we can’t take it all, we must at least take the lion’s share!”
“Wise brother, Ying Qi is going to defeat the King of Chu's army of over three hundred thousand, and the King of Chu will even die in battle. What kind of achievement would it take to be on par with the merit of killing the King of Chu?”
Shen Lang stood before the map, pointed a finger at the capital of Chu, and said.
“We attack the capital of Chu.”
At that moment, Queen Saiman was stunned into a stupor.
*Are both of these men insane? Shen Lang truly is the king of madmen. He launched an expedition of thousands of li to attack our Southern Jiu capital, then the Great Nan capital, and now he wants to attack the capital of Chu?*
*The capital of Chu is not only larger and more magnificent than Yue's Tianyue City, but it is also too far away. Whether you set out from Tianxi Province or march north from the State of Jiang, you would have to travel at least thousands of li to reach the capital of Chu. You would have to pass through countless cities along the way. Your army would be drowned in a sea of Chu soldiers before you even reached their capital.*
But for that very reason, the capital of Chu was currently empty, perhaps even more so than the State of Yue. To attack Tianxi Province, the King of Chu had gathered an army of over three hundred thousand. He had also stationed over a hundred thousand troops in the north to defend against the states of Liang and the new Jian. Because the capital of Chu was far from the states of Jiang, Yue, Liang, and the new Jian, there was no fear of it being attacked, so there was no need to station a large garrison there in the first place.
However, to attack the capital of Chu, one must undertake a monumental task: crossing the Great Snow Mountains, a place where no one could survive. It was an arduous journey, an expedition of thousands of li, marching where there were no roads. Those snow mountains lay between the State of Jiang and the State of Chu, an uninhabited zone six to seven thousand meters above sea level, devoid of any sign of life. For ages, no army had ever crossed these mountains. Furthermore, after crossing the Great Snow Mountains, one would have to traverse dozens more long, high mountain ranges and venture another five hundred li to reach the capital of Chu. Such an expedition was a path to certain death, a test of the very limits of life.
In short, an expedition to the capital of Chu would be ten times more arduous than the one to the Great Nan Kingdom.
If Ying Zheng were to lead a grand army on a surprise attack on the Chu capital, it would be enough to shock the world. The merit would be comparable to slaying the King of Chu, undoubtedly giving him the upper hand in the struggle for the throne.
However, no matter how few, the capital of Chu was defended by tens of thousands of garrison troops. Even if Shen Lang’s army could cross the six-to-seven-thousand-meter-high Great Snow Mountains and traverse thousands of li of mountain ranges, the force that could launch a surprise attack on the Chu capital would number six thousand at most—the First and Second Nirvana Armies. No other army could undertake such an expedition across the snow mountains and ranges. But a force of six thousand was still too small to attack the capital of Chu.
Shen Lang suddenly asked.
“Brother Gong, don't you have an army of five thousand sharpshooters? They are the pinnacle of the Saiman warriors, not only skilled in archery but also in scaling city walls, walking over high mountains as if on flat ground, are they not?”
Hearing his words, Queen Saiman was dumbfounded.
*Shen Lang, your demands are getting more and more outrageous. We were enemies just a short while ago. And now you’re thinking of borrowing our Great Nan Kingdom’s sharpshooters?*
“I’ve heard that army of Brother Gong's is also formidable in close combat.”
Of course, they were formidable. That elite army under King Gong’s command was exceptional in archery and invincible in close combat. They could cross high mountains and scale city walls; there was nothing they couldn't do. They were an elite force trained by King Gong using knowledge from ancient ruins, all soldiers whose physiques had been enhanced. Of course, not through bloodline modification like Shen Lang, but by tempering their bones and muscles with special concoctions prescribed in ancient times. Throughout the Southern Jiu Kingdom war, and even up to now, King Gong had never deployed that army.
“Elder Brother, I wish to hire them.”
King Gong was so surprised his mouth fell open. He was speechless for a long time.
*Wise brother, aren't you getting a little too friendly all of a sudden? You were calling me Brother Gong just a moment ago, but now that you need something from me, you immediately call me Elder Brother? Aren't you being a bit too opportunistic?*
“Aren't you short on money right now, King Gong?”
King Gong nodded bitterly. The Great Nan Kingdom was too poor. Back when they were just the Saiman tribe, they had no need for money, but after conquering the Southern Jiu Kingdom, building and developing a nation required vast sums. The Great Nan Kingdom couldn't even establish its own monetary system. King Gong had originally planned to sack Tianyue City and extort an astronomical amount of gold from Ying Qi. But Shen Lang had ruined that plan, preventing the plunder, and the establishment of a monetary system for the Great Nan Kingdom was now a distant prospect.
“I wish to hire your sharpshooter army for five hundred thousand gold taels. In addition, I will give you another one and a half million gold taels to help you establish a monetary system for the Great Nan Kingdom. As you know, King Gong, without a monetary system, a nation cannot properly begin its construction and development.”
King Gong was, of course, keenly aware of this. He had sought out merchants from the Western Regions to borrow a large sum, but their terms were outrageous. When he approached the Great Calamity Temple, they readily offered to provide one and a half million gold taels. However, the condition was to build a hundred Great Calamity Temples within the borders of the Great Nan Kingdom. This was a clear attempt to monopolize the divine authority of the nation. So, King Gong had rejected their offer as well. He wanted limited cooperation with the Great Calamity Temple, not to be controlled by them.
“Do you have that much money, wise brother?”
It seemed he was well aware of Shen Lang’s profligacy. He knew that Shen Lang was saddled with astronomical debts that he had yet to repay and had no money on hand.
“I may not have money, but doesn't the State of Jiang? Queen Aronana has an astronomical amount of gold, so much that it's just sitting in a vault, probably growing mold. I will borrow five hundred thousand gold taels from Queen Aronana in His Highness Ying Zheng's name to pay for hiring your army. Additionally, if I personally provide a guarantee, Queen Aronana will lend the Great Nan Kingdom one and a half million gold taels.”
Two million gold taels was an astronomical sum, more than enough to establish a new monetary system for the Great Nan Kingdom. King Gong possessed outstanding talent and grand strategic vision; he wouldn't be swayed by money alone. What Shen Lang was offering him was not just money, but the friendship of two nations—an opportunity to build amity with the states of Yue and Jiang.
“Wise brother, give me a moment.”
“Of course. A matter of this magnitude requires discussion with your wife.”
Queen Saiman shot Shen Lang a sharp glance.