Eagle-eyed and wolf-watching

Chapter 1596 Shocking Conditions!

"Kipchak envoy Akkin pays respect to His Majesty the Emperor of Daqian! On behalf of the Great Khan Habib of the Kipchak Khanate, I extend my most sincere greetings to His Majesty the Emperor of Daqian!"

As soon as he entered the room, Akkin knelt down first to greet Ye Mingsheng.

Seeing this, the tall Roman man at the side also said in extremely poor Daqian language:

"Roman envoy Alexi pays respect to His Majesty the Emperor Daqian!"

Although they also saluted Ye Mingsheng, Akkin knelt down to greet him without any hesitation, but Alexei stood upright, staring at Ye Mingsheng who was working at his desk.

Seeing him like this, Zhang Hu could not help but scold:
"How dare you! You don't even kneel down before my Majesty the Great Qian Emperor!
Hearing Zhang Hu say this, Alexei glanced at Zhang Hu with some disdain, and then continued in his very poor Chinese:
"I am from the Roman royal family. I am here on behalf of Roman, not from Daqian. I have never had the habit of kneeling!"

Zhang Hu was also furious after hearing this, but he was also a man of rules, so he did not attack directly. Instead, he looked at Ye Mingsheng. As long as Ye Mingsheng gave him a look, he would attack without hesitation and teach this ignorant Roman a lesson!
At this time, Ye Mingsheng also finished dealing with the memorial in his hand, raised his head and said with a smile:

"You have no habit of kneeling. But as far as I know, your Roman Empire suffered a disastrous defeat in the Crimean War fifteen years ago. You lost the strategic location of Crimea, and lost as many as 500,000 soldiers!"

"Even your Emperor Vasily I committed suicide by taking poison, and your Grand Marshal Ivankovich, who commanded the war, was captured by the Kamans and brought to Turin City, where he knelt before William I of Kaman!"

"Oh, right! If I remember correctly, this Ivankovich is not only your Grand Marshal, but also the prince of your Roman Empire. He is a member of the Roman royal family just like you..."

Hearing Ye Mingsheng talking about the history of Roman Empire, Alexei was stunned for a moment, and then couldn't help but ask back:

"You know about the Crimean War?"

Ye Mingsheng laughed in silence when he heard this:
"We in Daqian call ourselves the Celestial Empire and think that other countries and regions are barbaric. To be honest, this is also a manifestation of arrogance!"

"So I have always advocated opening our eyes to the world, but it seems that we are not the only ones who need to open our eyes to the world!"

Perhaps Ye Mingsheng's words were a little euphemistic. Alexei didn't seem to understand what Ye Mingsheng meant at first. He looked confused and puzzled. But after a moment, he seemed to understand what Ye Mingsheng meant, and he immediately spoke again:
"Your Majesty, since you know about the Crimean War fifteen years ago, you should know that in the Crimean War two years ago, our Queen Sophia led us to defeat Persis and Kaman, and we recaptured Crimea!"

Alexei looked proud when he said this. Seeing this, Ye Mingsheng nodded slightly and said:
“You are right. You Romans have taken back Crimea, but this is not the end. Persis and Kaman have not been defeated. Although they suffered setbacks in the last Crimean War, they still covet Crimea. They are ready to make a move and are eyeing Crimea covetously. They may launch a third Crimean War at any time...”

Hearing Ye Mingsheng say this, Alexei said with a serious face:

"Your Majesty, please allow the Kamans and Persians to come. We Romans will never be afraid of them. We will chop off their heads and let them know the consequences of invading the great Roman Empire. Crimea will always belong to the Romans!"

Ye Mingsheng clapped his hands and praised:
"Alexei, you are very courageous, which is great! But courage alone is not enough in this world. Just like your Emperor Vasily I, although I have never met him, I have heard of his deeds. He is a very courageous man. Not everyone has the courage to face death like him!"

"But as I said, courage alone is not enough in this world. If you only have courage, you are just a reckless person, and the fate of a reckless person is obvious!"

When Alexei heard Ye Mingsheng mention Vasily I who committed suicide by taking poison again, his eyes became more and more unfriendly. However, under his gaze, Ye Mingsheng remained calm, and there was even a hint of amusement in his eyes.

"Your Majesty! I ask you to respect the emperor of my Roman Empire!"

"Of course I respect your emperor. I am just stating the facts. How can this not be the truth?"

Hearing Ye Mingsheng say this, Alexei looked at Ye Mingsheng deeply, and then continued in broken Chinese:

"Your Majesty! I hope you won't regret your insult to our Emperor Roman!"

"Insanity!"

Seeing that Alexei dared to threaten Ye Mingsheng, Zhang Hu drew his sword and put it on Alexei's neck without waiting for him to finish his words...
However, facing Zhang Hu's blade, Alexei was still not afraid and asked Ye Mingsheng:
"Your Majesty, is this how you treat guests in Daqian?"

Ye Mingsheng smiled but said nothing, while Zhang Hu said in a deep voice:

"I, Daqian, will naturally be courteous and considerate to my friends, but I will not allow a daring lunatic like you to run rampant here!"

"Kneel down!"

Alexei still wanted to resist, but Zhang Hu's wrist trembled slightly, and the cold blade cut his neck. Feeling the blood flowing from his neck, Alexei knew that Zhang Hu would really kill him!

Although he was extremely unwilling, Alexei had to kneel down in order not to die in this foreign country.

Looking at Alexei who was kneeling on the ground with Akkin, Ye Mingsheng waved his hand and said:

"Go back! Say hello to Queen Sophia for me!"

Hearing what Ye Mingsheng said, Alexei also stood up and walked out of the room, but before leaving the room, he glanced at Akkin who came with him.

After entering the room, the envoy of the Golden Horde did not say a word except to greet Ye Mingsheng, and Ye Mingsheng did not even let him stand up, as if he was air.

After Alexei left, Ye Mingsheng looked at Akkin who was kneeling on the ground, and said meaningfully:
"Are you tired of kneeling, Kipchak envoy? Get up!"

"Thank you, Your Majesty!"

"I'm short on time today, and I just wasted some time, so I won't beat around the bush with you. Let's get straight to the point. Just tell me directly what's going on in your Qincha..." After hearing what Ye Mingsheng said, Akkin didn't waste any words and directly took out a letter from his arms:
"Your Majesty, this is a handwritten letter from our Great Khan Habib! Please have a look at it, Your Majesty!"

Ye Mingsheng glanced at Zhang Hu, and Zhang Hu took the letter from Akkin. After checking the letter and confirming that it was not coated with poison, Zhang Hu handed the letter to Ye Mingsheng.

Ye Mingsheng opened the letter, which was written in both Kipchak and Chinese. Although Akkin said that the letter was written by Habib himself, looking at the words on it, Ye Mingsheng felt that the Kipchak part of the letter might have been written by Habib himself, but the Chinese part could not have been written by Habib. After all, Ye Mingsheng didn't think that this Kipchak man could have such calligraphy, or even write better than himself!
Based on Ye Mingsheng's consistent understanding of the Cumans, Ye Mingsheng originally thought that the letter written by Habib to him would most likely be very arrogant, and even threaten him to stop aiding the Robe people and say something like "Don't warn me".

But what surprised Ye Mingsheng was that Habib's tone was very humble. As the Khan of the Golden Horde, he was even so humble as if he and Ye Mingsheng were not equal, but as if he was Ye Mingsheng's subject!
He asked Ye Mingsheng how he ate, how he slept, and whether he was healthy.
Apart from some polite greetings, Habib said in the letter that he was different from the previous Khan of the Golden Horde. He had no idea or ambition to go south to the Central Plains. He was willing to live in peace with Daqian. He hoped to trade with Daqian, strengthen commercial ties between the two sides, and promote economic and cultural exchanges between the two sides...

As for the war with the Robe people, Habib also told Ye Mingsheng that he did not want to start this war, but it was the Robe people who took the initiative to provoke the war, and he was forced to fight!

Habib said that this was a war between the Cumans and the Robes, and it was the grassland people's own business. He begged Ye Mingsheng not to get involved in this war. If Ye Mingsheng agreed, he would not only allow Daqian's business to do business in Cuman, but also give Daqian one thousand cattle, thirty thousand sheep, and one hundred grassland beauties every year.

Although Ye Mingsheng did not expect Habib's attitude, the purpose of his sending people to Daqian was within Ye Mingsheng's expectations. After all, under the current circumstances, the purpose of the Cumans sending people to Daqian could only be this.

After reading the letter carefully, Ye Mingsheng shook his head with some emotion.

Seeing Ye Mingsheng like this, Akkin hesitated for a moment, then cautiously tried:

"I wonder what your Majesty thinks of our Khan's proposal?"

Upon hearing this, Ye Mingsheng looked at Akkin and said seriously:

“Khabib is different than I thought!”

"According to some rumors, I thought that your Great Khan Habib would be like the other Great Khans before you, iron-blooded, tough, and only knows how to play ruthless and hard. But now it seems that I underestimated him!"

After hearing what Ye Mingsheng said, Akjin was a little confused and didn't know what Ye Mingsheng meant.

"If it was those khans before you, they wouldn't be able to say such soft words even if you put a knife on their necks. They would only threaten you and tell you that if you support Luo Bi, I will rob Yijing after I defeat Luo Bi!"

“I have to say that your Great Khabib Khan is quite a character, more powerful than I thought!”

Hearing Ye Mingsheng's praise for his own Khan, Akkin was even more puzzled. However, just as he was about to ask, Ye Mingsheng changed the subject and looked at him in a deep voice and said:
"But you can use this method on others, but not on me, Ye Mingsheng!"

"I, Ye Mingsheng, am not a three-year-old child. I will not foolishly believe him just because he says something soft!"

"Given the character of the Kipchaks, you all promised something now, but in a few days you all deny it!"

"So stop talking nonsense here, let that Khabib use all his tricks, we'll see you on the battlefield!"

After saying that, Ye Mingsheng waved his hand, signaling the guards to take Akkin away. Ye Mingsheng really didn't expect that the war had reached this point, and this Habib was still planning to deceive him as a child and paint a rosy picture for himself.
Hearing Ye Mingsheng's resolute refusal, Akkin's heart sank to the bottom, but when he thought of the mission given to him by the Khan, he couldn't help but raise his head and said to Ye Mingsheng:
"Your Majesty, I know that our Golden Horde and the Central Plains have had a blood feud for hundreds of years, and we lack sufficient trust on both sides, but I would like to ask you to give me a chance to speak..."

Ye Mingsheng, who was about to continue working, felt the punishment in Akkin's words and hesitated in his heart. After a pause, Ye Mingsheng said:

"If you still want to make empty promises to me, there's no need to say anything!"

"Your Majesty, our Khan has no intention of making empty promises to you. Our Khan really wants to live in peace with Daqian!"

"Even if you are willing to accept our Golden Horde, we can pay tribute to Daqian just like Luo Bei did!"

Looking at Akkin who looked serious, Ye Mingsheng shook his head and said:
"You just said you wouldn't make empty promises for me! And now you're making empty promises for me again. You can even say something like you want to be a vassal of the Great Qian!"

"Your Majesty, I know you don't believe it! But our Khan is really serious! There is absolutely no deception!"

The more Akkin said that he did not lie, the more Ye Mingsheng did not believe his lies. He immediately lowered his head and prepared to continue working on the memorial.

Seeing Ye Mingsheng like this, Zhang Hu immediately asked the guards to carry Akjin out.

Just as Akkin was being carried out of the imperial study by two guards, Akkin shouted:

"Your Majesty! Our Khan hopes to get the help of Daqian to check the Romans!"

As soon as these words were spoken, Ye Mingsheng, who was reviewing the memorial, stopped writing with his brush, then looked up at Akkin and said:

"what are you saying?"

Seeing Ye Mingsheng speaking, the guards who were about to carry Akejin out stopped, and Akejin said in a deep voice:

"In order to become the Khan of the Golden Horde, our Khan Habib relied on the power of many Romans, but these Romans were too greedy. They wanted to make Khan Habib their puppet, which the Khan could not accept!"

"The Romans are too powerful. We, the Cumans, cannot escape their control relying solely on our strength. Therefore, Daqian and Your Majesty the Emperor are the best helpers for us Cumans..."

(I saw a book review saying that they don’t want to see that constable, so I’ll explain here why I wrote about that constable. This is not a dual protagonist, but I hope that by writing about this constable, I can use his perspective to let everyone feel the changes that Ye Mingsheng’s reforms have brought to Daqian!)
(This is one of my ideas, but maybe I didn’t write it well enough, so you may not feel it is that good. This is due to my lack of ability. I will summarize my experience and improve myself, but I still think that writing about the changes brought about by the reform only from Ye Mingsheng’s perspective may not be that immersive!)

(End of this chapter)