Call of the Heroes of Chaos in Another World

Chapter 2372 The Great Qian Envoy to Han, Wang Yu's Determination

Jiang Ziya did not think Jiang Chaoyu had done anything wrong by agreeing to Zhao Song's request to get involved in Yangdong Road.

When such a good opportunity comes along, of course you should seize it.

The only unpredictable thing was that the fighting power of the Han Dynasty exceeded their expectations. In a short period of time, they destroyed the Great Yan Dynasty and then, without stopping, wiped out the Great Song Dynasty in a relatively short period of time.

Whether it was Zhao Kuangyin or Jiang Chaoyu, the biggest reason for their failure in these matters was that they underestimated the fighting power of the Han Dynasty and did not expect that the Han Dynasty would destroy the Yan Dynasty in such a short time.

What truly frustrated Jiang Ziya was that Jiang Chaoyu, having already broken through, wavered afterward.

First, he ignored the Song dynasty's ally and directly negotiated peace with the Han dynasty, but then soon after, he allied with the Song dynasty again and declared war on the Han dynasty.

This wavering attitude became Jiang Chaoyu's biggest mistake in this matter.

It was precisely because of this wavering, or rather, indecisiveness, that Jiang Ziya believed he was not the one who could end the chaos of the Great Qian Dynasty.

Regarding the peace negotiations between the Great Qian and the Han Dynasty, Wang Yu convened four key ministers—Guan Zhong, Zhuge Liang, Zhang Liang, and Yao Guangxiao—to begin an internal discussion.

"My esteemed ministers are all aware of the situation. The Great Qian has sent an envoy with a letter of state, stating that its new emperor has ascended the throne and wishes to cease hostilities with our Great Han, renew the alliance, and establish a brotherly relationship. What are your thoughts on this, my esteemed ministers?" Wang Yu, sitting above, slowly spoke, estimating that his key ministers had finished reviewing the intelligence.

No sooner had he finished speaking than Guan Zhong spoke up first, "Your Majesty, this is merely a delaying tactic and should not be trusted!"

"Since the death of its emperor, the princes have been vying for the throne, which has led to internal strife. Now, those princes who hold heavy military power are all unable to subdue each other, so they have reluctantly supported a mere child as emperor. They simply want to use the emperor's name to free up their hands to suppress the uprisings of displaced people and rebel armies that have sprung up in the country!"

"If our dynasty agrees to peace talks now, it will give them a chance to catch their breath, allowing them to cleanse their internal affairs without restraint. Once their internal troubles subside, they will surely regroup and try to conquer our borders again! Such peace talks will bring nothing but harm to our great Han Dynasty!"

Especially Xiao Ping'an, the most powerful rebel king of the Great Qian Dynasty, was currently preoccupied with almost all his energy being tied up with Zhu Yuanzhang from the south.

They, the Han, cannot afford to give the Qian dynasty the opportunity to quell internal troubles.

Zhuge Liang also gently waved his feather fan and chimed in, "What Yi Wu said hits the nail on the head. The Great Qian is currently outwardly strong but inwardly weak, riddled with internal contradictions, and is at its weakest point."

"Our dynasty has just destroyed the Zhao Song dynasty, and our morale is high and our military strength is at its peak. If we sit idly by and watch the Da Qian dynasty quell the internal strife, it would be like raising a tiger to cause trouble. I believe that not only should we not negotiate peace, but we should also take advantage of this opportunity to do something."

In Zhuge Liang's view, although the Han Dynasty was not suitable for a full-scale war with the Qian Dynasty at this stage, it was still possible to gain some advantages from them. At the very least, they should take back those last three counties.

The reason Jiang Chaoyu stubbornly held on to those last three counties was because the most important border defenses of Zhennan were located in these three counties. For example, the most complete defensive fortifications and countless fortified villages of all sizes were located there. It was easy to lose them, but difficult to take them back.

Yao Guangxiao smiled sinisterly and said, twirling the prayer beads in his hand, “Although the Qian Dynasty has quelled the internal troubles in the Northwest, the Northeast Tianwu is still struggling to maintain its position. Your Majesty can issue a secret decree to order the border generals to secretly provide some financial assistance, food, and military equipment to help them grow stronger, so that the Qian Dynasty cannot take care of both ends and will be mired in the quagmire of civil war.”

The area where Tianwu lives is adjacent to the Tokaido, and is blocked by mountains.

However, both sides are located by the sea, so providing support is quite simple. They can be nurtured into a thorn in the side of the Great Qian Dynasty, slowing down the Great Qian's efforts to eliminate internal troubles. The investment is small, but the results are relatively guaranteed, making this a sure-fire way to make money.

Grand Secretary Zhang Liang, who had recently joined the cabinet, nodded slightly and added, "Mr. Sidao's plan is excellent. In addition, in diplomacy, our dynasty can pretend to negotiate with the Daqian delegation and put forward extremely harsh peace terms, such as demanding huge annual tributes and ceding strategic border passes, so that they cannot accept them and we can delay the process."

"At the same time, we can send eloquent and persuasive people to other powerful princes of the Great Qian Dynasty to spread rumors that their central court wants to cede territory to seek peace and betray the country for security, sowing discord in their already fragile alliances and leaving them beset by internal and external troubles and unable to take care of themselves."

If any territory is ceded, it would likely be the area controlled by Jiang Chaoyu. The territories of the other royal princes, even if ceded to the Han Dynasty, would still be exclaves.

And coincidentally, Jiang Chaoyu himself was the strongest royal prince of the Great Qian Dynasty.

Furthermore, the current situation of the five princes of the Great Qian Dynasty deliberating on state affairs was already a result of the overall situation being settled, and Jiang Chaoyu was forced to join in.

Under these circumstances, if Jiang Chaoyu were to believe that the other princes wanted to sacrifice his interests to negotiate peace, the fragile situation that had just stabilized within the Great Qian Dynasty would be torn apart once again in an instant.

Wang Yu listened quietly to the analysis of the four senior officials, his fingers tapping lightly on the table.

Although the four men spoke from different perspectives, their core ideas were highly consistent: they refused to negotiate peace and seized the strategic window of opportunity presented by the internal turmoil of the Great Qian Dynasty to take the initiative and continuously weaken this powerful southern enemy through various means.

After all, having basically taken over the ancient Cang lands, the next target of the Han Dynasty was either the Great Wu or the Great Qian.

Compared to the difficulty of Da Wu, which had resolved its internal crisis with Dou Jiande and only faced external crises, and had spent three years recuperating and strengthening its army, the challenge of marching south to Da Qian was worlds apart.

Breaking through to the south would be much more difficult, and the probability of success would be much higher.

Under these circumstances, Wang Yu was naturally unwilling to give them a chance.

"It seems that you all share the same thoughts as me," Wang Yu finally said.

"The proposal from the Great Qian is indeed treacherous. How can our Great Han sit idly by and watch our enemy resolve its internal troubles with ease?"

He stood up, walked to the huge map hanging in the sky, and his gaze fell on the vast territory of the Great Qian Dynasty.

"In that case, we shall follow the advice of you ministers and issue an order to Pengju to oversee the border military affairs and exert continuous pressure to reclaim the three prefectures."

"Kongming, you are in charge of dealing with the delegation by feigning compliance and then proposing harsh conditions."

"Zifang, Sidao, you two are in charge of planning the sowing of discord and funding of the rebels. You must make sure that the fire of internal strife in the Great Qian burns even brighter!"

"Your Majesty, we obey!" the four replied in unison.

(End of this chapter)