Red Mansion: Seizing Jiangdong, starting with pirates

Chapter 119: Debate with Officials

At this time, Yin Li bowed and said:
"Yin Li, the envoy of the Marquis of Huaiyin, pays respect to Your Majesty."

Wang Lun beside him quickly averted his gaze and imitated Yin Li's salute.

Several officials of the Kong faction in the court did not want to see Da Xi and Fang Yong negotiate peace. Seeing that Wang Lun was a little nervous at this time, they said something to disrupt it. When Wang Lun was saluting, they suddenly shouted:

"How dare you, common people, when you see His Majesty, why don't you kneel!"

Wang Lun was nervous to begin with, and he was shocked when he heard this. His legs trembled, and he knelt down with his legs bent.

Several officials from the Ministry of Rites burst into laughter upon seeing this.

Many officials from the Kong faction also laughed together.

The Emperor Longqing above also raised the corner of his mouth slightly. The Huaiyin bandits had caused chaos many times, and it was indeed time to kill them to dampen their arrogance.

Below, Yin Li listened to the laughter around him, his expression calm and silent.

Only when everyone's laughter died down did Yin Li speak:

"Your Majesty, I am here to declare war on Daxi on behalf of the Marquis of Huaiyin! The Marquis of Huaiyin occupies Suzhou and Huizhou, and has a million soldiers. They are united in their intention to attack from Jeju, cross the Yellow River, and head straight for the capital. I heard that there was a strategy of attacking the enemy in ancient times, so I am here to inform your Majesty. Do you want to accept the challenge?"

As soon as these words were spoken, the whole room fell silent. All the officials were shocked and dared not smile at all.

Emperor Longqing was also extremely shocked, with his hands pressed tightly on the dragon throne, but even so he could not hide his inner nervousness, and the crown on his head kept shaking.

Yin Li's news was so shocking that Emperor Longqing had no idea how to respond.

"This this!"

Why is the war suddenly about to start?

Didn’t you say you wanted to negotiate before?

He was totally unprepared!

Food, military supplies, and troops are not complete.

If the Huaiyin bandits really marched north regardless of the consequences, Emperor Longqing asked himself that he was not 100% sure that he could stop them.

The atmosphere on the field instantly became extremely tense.

At this time, Guo Bai spoke, breaking the tense atmosphere.

"Mr. Yin, I heard that the Marquis of Huaiyin has always admired our Daxi, so he sent an envoy to negotiate peace and even wanted to marry our Daxi Princess. Why did he suddenly declare war today?"

Yin Li and Guo Bai looked at each other cleverly, and Yin Li followed Guo Bai's words and said:
"Since my lord, the Marquis of Huaiyin, started his army, he has swept across the two states of Su and Hui. He has many wise counselors and brave generals under his command. The people respect him and his army is strong. Even when he fought against the country of Daxi, which is thousands of miles away, he never lost. Do you agree?"

After hearing this, Emperor Longqing felt very unwilling.

But if you think about it carefully, the court did lose more than it won in the battle with the Huaiyin bandits. Both Duke Shanguo and Wang Ziteng were defeated by the Huaiyin bandits. This is an indisputable fact.

Although Mao Cheng managed to save face once with his personal bravery, personal bravery is ultimately inferior when two armies are fighting.

No matter how powerful Mao Cheng is, he can't keep going in and out seven times. Manpower is limited, and the final decisive battle will have to rely on the army. Therefore, Emperor Longqing could only agree with Yin Li's words.

Yin Li said again:

"Many of my lord's generals advised him to go north to compete, but my lord heard that Your Majesty ruled the people with courtesy and controlled the world with virtue, so as to ensure the longevity of Daxi's foundation, rather than relying on military force to win. Therefore, he admired Daxi's virtue and Your Majesty's kindness, and was willing to submit to Daxi. Therefore, he sent his brother to meet Your Majesty to ask for marriage with the Princess of Daxi, and Your Majesty granted land and title."

Having said this, Yin Li's tone suddenly rose.

"However, from what I have seen today, the virtue of Daxi is actually a false rumor. The officials of the court insulted my lord's brother and bullied my lord's kindness in the Golden Palace, and Your Majesty allowed it to happen. From this point of view, Daxi is actually a country without virtue!"

Upon hearing this, the Kong faction officials present were startled.

They realized that the situation was not good and hurriedly wanted to interrupt, but Yin Li's voice rose again, and he said with great momentum:
"Since Daxi is a country without virtue, why should we care about it? My lord will go north to compete with Your Majesty in the future to see who is stronger and who is weaker, and who is the overlord of the Central Plains!"

As soon as he finished speaking, it was like thunder striking out of nowhere, shocking everyone in the room.

An official of the Kong faction said in a trembling voice:

"You, your words are nothing but lies!" Yin Li stepped forward and looked at him, staring at him with sharp eyes, and said:
"When my Lord goes north, he must first conquer Shandong!"

The Kong faction official was startled upon hearing this and took several steps back.

The surrounding officials were all shocked.

Yin Li laughed.

Seeing Yin Li being so arrogant, a military officer said angrily:
"You are so arrogant, you are so bold, do you know the punishment of the copper pot?"

Yin Li was fearless and bowed:

"Your Majesty, you can cook me. Haven't you heard that there were ancient countries like Nanyue, Loulan, and Goryeo who loved to kill envoys? Your Majesty, you can follow their example!"

Emperor Longqing opened his mouth but could not speak.

These three countries were good at killing envoys, which eventually led to the destruction of their countries and families...

If he really killed Yin Li in a rage and started a war with the Huaiyin bandits, the consequences would be unpredictable. He might accidentally become the Nanyue Loulan...

Emperor Longqing was speechless, and all officials were afraid of Yin Li's power and dared not speak.

Seeing that the situation had once again reached a stalemate, Guo Bai quickly stepped forward to smooth things over.

There's no way, money is hard to earn.

"Mr. Yin, please do not be angry. This is because the officials in the court abused their power and humiliated the brother of Marquis Huaiyin. This was not your Majesty's intention."

Upon seeing this, Emperor Longqing responded by ordering those officials of the Kong faction who had led the laughter to be taken out and given thirty strokes of the cane as punishment.

There were five people in total who were tortured this time. There is another story to tell later, but we will not talk about it for now.

After Yin Li saw that Emperor Longqing punished these five people, he went with the flow, changed his previous aggressive attitude, and praised Emperor Longqing as a wise and virtuous monarch.

For a moment, the Golden Throne was filled with a harmonious atmosphere.

Yin Li presented Fang Yong's letter and told Emperor Longqing Fang Yong's conditions.

After hearing the conditions, Emperor Longqing felt that they were basically not excessive and that the Huaiyin bandits were quite sincere.

The only thing he was reluctant to do was to marry Princess Daxi.

He himself was devoted to state affairs and had few desires. Although he had many concubines in his harem, he seldom visited them, so he only had three sons and one daughter.

That daughter is not yet of marriageable age, and he really can't bear to let her go.

As for Emperor Kangning, he has quite a few daughters, but he is already the youngest child of Emperor Kangning. The oldest of his older sisters have already passed away. If they were allowed to marry...

I'm afraid it will lead to war immediately!

Before Yin Li came, he had made countless plans for the situations in the court.

The humiliation of Wang Lun just now was actually part of Yin Li's plan.

As for the conditions proposed by Fang Yong, Yin Li thought most that ceding Jiaxing might be a bit difficult, so he had already made up his mind and was ready to persuade Emperor Longqing.

Then something happened that he never expected.

Emperor Longqing thought about it again and again, and said: "Regarding the princess's matter, can I..."

The negotiations in the court ended without further ado and they returned to Huizhou.

After Fang Yong led his army to occupy Hefei, he quickly headed towards Chaozhou.

Upon hearing the news, the prefect of Chaozhou did not dare to resist at all and hurried to surrender.

At the same time, he also prepared a big surprise for Fang Yong as a stepping stone for his own advancement.

In Chaohu Lake nearby, the naval generals in the lake had the same idea.

(End of this chapter)