"So, Guabo, you must not be a peace advocate?" Lin Hai said with a smile.

"The Earl of Qinghe has a keen eye," Wei Mingyuan said. "My title is the Earl of Guazhou."

"Uncle Gua, let's not talk about irrelevant topics. May I ask why you advocate war? From what you just said, it seems that peace talks are most beneficial to the Xia Kingdom, right?" Lin Hai asked.

Wei Mingyuan did not answer, but said: "With Qinghe Bo's level of information, he should know that my mother is the younger sister of the current king, and the eldest princess appointed by the previous king."

"Of course I know that. But I heard that the princess was weak and died of illness not long after she became pregnant and gave birth. And the prince consort was depressed because he missed the princess so much, and he also died within two years." Lin Hai said.

"The part that Qinghe Bo knows is the part that the royal family explains to the outside world." Wei Mingyuan said.

"Oh? There's something else going on? I'd like to hear more about it."

The person who said this was actually Shi Zhen'er. As expected, once her gossipy nature was aroused, she couldn't control her curiosity, even with the son of the person involved in the gossip present. Fortunately, Wei Mingyuan had intended to talk about this in the first place, so he naturally wouldn't blame her.

"My father and mother were both murdered." Wei Mingyuan said gritting his teeth.

"How could this be possible? How did Guabo know about this? With all due respect, you were still young when Guabo's parents passed away. You probably don't remember much, so how could you possibly remember such a significant event?"

"There's no need to ask how I found out about the Earl of Qinghe. I already knew who the murderer was. But the mere title of Earl of Guazhou isn't enough for me to avenge myself, so I must go a step higher."

Lin Hai looked at Wei Mingyuan, watching him calm down after a moment of anger, and then calmly recount the tragedy that had happened to him. He nodded and said, "You want to be the crown prince? So you have to prove the crown prince wrong? You've been pretending to be crazy all these years. Are you afraid that they will wipe you out?"

"That's about it. But there aren't many people in the world who can help me. Not many people want to get involved in this matter, after all, it's a thankless task." Wei Mingyuan smiled bitterly and said, "Qinghe Bo is the only one who can help."

"Why is Guabo so sure that Benbo will help? Not to mention how Benbo can help, even if Benbo wants to help, what are the benefits?" Lin Hai asked directly.

There are too many tragic things in this world. If I were to help them one by one, I'm afraid I wouldn't be able to help them all even if I were to gain so much merit that I could ascend to heaven.

"I said it again, Liang Kingdom will not sit idly by and watch Qinghe Bo become more powerful. You need allies. If I can succeed, when the Liang army approaches Xichuan, the Xia cavalry will surely come out of the vast sea to the east and cut off their retreat." Wei Mingyuan said in a very sincere tone.

"not enough."

"not enough?"

"Yes, it's not enough." Lin Hai said without thinking: "If that's all, then it's definitely not enough. I don't believe that when the Crown Prince of Xia went to negotiate peace with Liang, he was just making empty promises. There must be some tangible benefits."

"Oh, Qinghe Bo is quite calculating," Wei Mingyuan said. "I'm afraid Qinghe Bo has already guessed the Crown Prince's plan, which is to cede Hanzhong to Liang State. This is the price for peace talks. What's going on? Could it be that Qinghe Bo also wants Hanzhong?"

"Ceding territory in exchange for peace. If we do so, our prestige will naturally be greatly damaged. I presume this is also what Gua Bo intends to use to attack the Crown Prince?"

"That's right. Although Hanzhong wasn't originally part of Xia's territory, ceding it would be less painful and more acceptable to the people. But the main reason Xia can still grit its teeth and persevere in the war is because it gained Hanzhong in the last war. If it were ceded, the people's anti-war sentiment would be unstoppable."

Therefore, if this earl is in charge, he will naturally not be able to cede any more land. "Qinghe Earl, you must know that if the Crown Prince's plan succeeds and Hanzhong cedes to Liang, our two families will no longer share a common border. If Liang attacks from all sides, even with the might of Qinghe Earl, he wouldn't be able to resist."

"Hmm...Hanzhong is a good place." Lin Hai shook his head and said, "If we can form an alliance, the most I can do is promise not to take Hanzhong from you, that's all." Lin Hai said, "But that's a matter for the future. What do you need me to do now? What can you give me?"

"The northwest is rich in salt and war horses. With Fushi County, there will naturally be no shortage of salt. However, I heard that when Qinghe Earl pacified Xiangyun, he couldn't even gather a thousand cavalrymen, and many of them used mules and donkeys to make up the numbers. If Qinghe Earl really has great ambitions, he certainly can't do without horses." Wei Mingyuan said.

"Xichuan and Xiangyun are naturally mostly mountainous, but the hundreds of miles around Jinguan City are also plains suitable for cavalry to gallop. And if we want to compete with Liang State, we must have cavalry. I don't need to say much about these." Wei Mingyuan thought for a while and added.

"War horses are good things. I, Qinghe, can exchange them for pig iron and crystal." Lin Hai said.

"Pig iron is fine, but crystal is fine." Wei Mingyuan thought for a moment and said, "Crystal is expensive, but it's not beneficial to the national economy and people's livelihood. Xia is poor, so I'm afraid it can't afford crystal."

Lin Hai said it didn't matter. Anyway, the caravans smuggling crystals had entered and left Xia Country countless times, so it really didn't matter whether you bought it officially or not.

"If I want war horses, I must keep a trade line between the two sides, and the best trade line is from the Xia Kingdom, through Hanzhong, and into Xichuan. In order not to be controlled by the Liang Kingdom, Hanzhong must be in the hands of the Xia Kingdom. And in order for the Xia Kingdom to keep Hanzhong, I must support you, the pro-war faction. Is that what you mean?" Lin Hai thought for a while and said.

"Indeed, that's right. But since it's an alliance, there's naturally more to it than just this," said Wei Mingyuan.

"Oh? What else?" Lin Hai was a little curious.

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