God Weird Fairy

Chapter 414: The Emperor's Northern Expedition
"In addition, I have made up my mind to raise troops from Yan County and march north to attack Kan Dynasty directly."

The Emperor Li spoke in a calm and peaceful tone, but his words were like the sound of a huge bell, which made the eardrums of all officials buzz and made them stand there in a daze, as if they were in a dream.

What the hell? Raising troops to fight the Northern Expedition?
For a moment the civil and military officials suspected that they had misheard, but after looking at each other, they realized that what the Emperor said was true and that he was indeed going to raise an army to the north.

"Your Majesty, please be careful with your words! Our country is now peaceful and prosperous. How can we talk about war lightly and start a war rashly?"

When the Emperor Li wanted to deal with Nan Yi, everyone could just sit back and watch, not getting involved. But rashly launching an army to the north was such a major event that even facing the extremely powerful and overbearing Emperor Li, many officials hurriedly spoke out to dissuade him.

Sima Qianyuan, the Minister of Rites, also stepped forward and advised: "Your Majesty, please be careful with your words. August is the month of National Day, commemorating the "August Minister" who ended the chaos of ancient times and ushered in a prosperous era of humanity."

"From ancient times to the present, the four great dynasties have never started a war in August. Your Majesty must not set a precedent and risk the wrath of the world."

"If we raise an army in August without declaring war, I am afraid that the other three countries will use this as an excuse to condemn us and then join forces to attack Dali. By then, Dali will be in danger! Your Majesty, please think twice!"

After saying this, Sima Qianyuan burst into tears and tried to dissuade the emperor from leaving.

Emperor Li looked calm and unconcerned, and said slowly: "On National Day in August, I will not raise troops to the north. I should first write a letter of war and send an envoy to the Kan Dynasty, and then raise troops to fight the next month. In this way, it will not be considered as a great disapproval of the world."

"Furthermore, my intention to march north is not to show off or to start a war without reason. As far as I know, since the promotion of steam technology, the national strength of the Kan Dynasty has grown day by day, and it has surpassed that of the Li Dynasty."

"If we are slow at one step, we will be slow at every step. Even if Li Dynasty also introduces steam technology, the gap between its national strength and Kan Dynasty will continue to grow. Right now, Kan Dynasty and Li Dynasty are the closest in national strength."

"Only by launching an expedition to the north as soon as possible and forcibly interrupting the process of reform in all industries of the Kan Dynasty can there be hope for the Li Dynasty to catch up. Once this matter is announced to the Zhen and Dui Dynasties, they will certainly be happy to see the Li Dynasty's expedition to the north, and there is absolutely no possibility that they will join forces with the Kan Dynasty to attack the Li Dynasty."

"Moreover, I have received top-secret intelligence that the Kan Dynasty is currently secretly developing forbidden weapons. If we cannot curb their innovation in time, once their forbidden weapons are successfully developed, even if the Dali and Zhendui dynasties jointly march north, it will be difficult to win."

Li Huang's speech roughly explained the reasons, which could be regarded as a set of explanations.

But after he finished speaking, before the officials could say anything else, he used the "imperial command of the state" to bless the will and declared forcefully: "I have made up my mind, and there is no need to persuade me. If you do not think highly of my northern expedition, you may resign from your posts and retire to the mountains and forests."

But in the Hall of Supreme Harmony, the golden dragon of luck seemed to let out a roar, and its dragon horn suddenly broke off. The fallen dragon horn was still in the air, and then it turned into a handful of golden light, dispersing into the void, blessing the will of the emperor.

This immediately shut up all the officials.

However, all the civil and military officials were dumbfounded: Why can't Your Majesty discuss it properly? Instead of consuming the dynasty's fortune by forcing the order right away, it is certainly difficult for us to object, but the dynasty's fortune has been damaged. Even if we really send troops to the north, we will probably be defeated easily!

All the civil and military officials fell into deep confusion.

Everything that happened today was beyond common sense. They really couldn't understand what the Emperor Li was thinking when he issued such unreasonable orders one after another.

Compared with launching the Northern Expedition, even the initial accusation of false charges against the hero Nan Yi did not seem so abrupt.

However, the sudden domineering and unfamiliar Emperor Li made all the officials feel uneasy.

If it was just a decision to launch an expedition to the north, even if the emperor ignored the advice and insisted on having his own way, the officials might still wait and see for a while.

But now, Emperor Li has used the "imperial order and the people's livelihood" to consume the dynasty's fortune and forcibly block the mouths of all officials to prevent them from opposing, which is really depressing.

All officials could not help but secretly speculate whether Emperor Li would repeat his old tricks and forcibly implement his personal will by wantonly consuming the dynasty's luck. After all, the notorious tyrant in the history of the Li Dynasty was also a generation of incompetent rulers known for their arrogance and conceit, which made all officials feel uneasy.

Finally, Emperor Li issued an oral order and sent Du Heng as an envoy, who first went to Yan County to read out the imperial edict and then presented a declaration of war to Kan Dynasty. After that, he announced the withdrawal of the court.

After the court was dismissed, everyone was in a panic and could not sit still.

Although the main pressure of the emperor's decree to raise an army to the north fell on the shoulders of the governor of Yan County, the civil and military officials in the court who were forced to submit and watch helplessly were still terrified in their hearts.

This is because once a war starts, it will never be able to stop. There are many variables in the process, like a turbulent undercurrent, hiding endless crises.

According to the ecology of the cultivation world in this world, most of the monks in official positions in the four dynasties have no intention of making great achievements. They only wish to live in peace and stability, and use the help of their official positions to assist in their cultivation.

Therefore, civil and military officials in all dynasties were generally tired of war and did not want to engage in large-scale warfare or external expansion.

Only when population pressure becomes too great and internal conflicts need to be diverted urgently will the royal families of the four countries forcefully push for war.

Perhaps what Emperor Li said in the Hall of Supreme Harmony does make some sense. We should launch a quick Northern Expedition to cut off the rise of Kan Dynasty's national strength and its progress in developing forbidden weapons.

However, for all officials, that was a matter for the next generation. At least at the moment, it was a prosperous era, and it was far from the time to divert internal conflicts.

Even if what the Emperor said made sense, if we don't launch a northern expedition now, we will undoubtedly be defeated in the future. The officials are also unwilling to do so and only want to pass the problem to the next generation.

Because they believe in the wisdom of future generations.

Anyway, the coexistence of the four dynasties was the pattern set by the "August Minister". Even if the Li Dynasty suffered a great defeat, at most it would cede territory and pay compensation, resulting in the change of ownership of the border counties, but it would hardly affect the hinterland.

Instead of worrying about future generations and pondering how to deal with the rising Kan Dynasty, it is better to seize the time to break through the realm and build the foundation, move from the outer gate to the inner gate, and stay away from the hustle and bustle of the world.

However, Emperor Li insisted on his own way and, relying on the "imperial order and the people's altar", forcibly launched an expedition to the north, making all the officials feel as if they had lost their parents.

Once the war breaks out, disaster will befall the whole country, and the environment for cultivation will become quite harsh. Not only will the help of cultivation provided to officials be weakened, but there will also be many variables, which may make it difficult for officials to break through and build a foundation against their will during the war.

Therefore, after the court was dismissed, all officials communicated with each other privately and were busy discussing whether there was still a chance to turn the situation around.

The Minister of Personnel Du Heng sighed and said, "Perhaps we can ask Nan Yi to help."

Although it is unclear what the entanglement between Emperor Li and Nan Yi is, it is clear that the two are intertwined in fate.

As the saying goes, the person who tied the bell must untie it. If you want to make Emperor Li give up the idea of ​​the Northern Expedition, the best way is to persuade him to change his mind.

However, since Emperor Li had already used the "Imperial Order and the People's Republic of China" to issue his decree, it was obvious that his mind was made up and as solid as a rock and could not be changed.

So, when the problem cannot be solved, one can only try to solve the person who created the problem, that is, try to get rid of Li Huang.

(End of this chapter)