Chapter 598: The Hun envoy’s provocation!

"I, the Turks, have not given any territory to the Great Zhou. I do not kneel when I see Your Majesty. In the words of your Great Zhou, this is loyalty to the emperor and patriotism." Mulikui said confidently.

When all the officials heard what he said, they refused to do it.

"Although the Turks are not a vassal state, they are a defeated country. Moreover, you are a subject and your Majesty is the king. When a subject sees the king, he must kneel and bow."

"If the Turks have any objections to this, we can have a competition. By then, the Turks will become a vassal state of our Great Zhou. At that time, the entire Turks, including your Khan, will kneel down and pay homage to our Majesty of the Great Zhou."

"Last year, when your Turkic envoys came to deliver tribute to our Great Zhou, they knelt down and bowed obediently when they saw Your Majesty. Why is it that you can't do that now?"

"Of course it's because the Turkic Khan has been replaced. The new Khan thinks that the Turkic Khan will go to war with our Great Zhou."

"It's just a dream. The Turks are still buying food and cloth from our Great Zhou. Let's eat our fill first!"

When Mulikui heard the court officials' discussions, he felt ashamed and angry and immediately refuted them.

"We, the Turkic Khan, don't allow you to talk about us as you please!"

"I came here to ask for the princess of Da Zhou on behalf of our Turkic prince, and to inform Da Zhou that the one sitting on the Turkic throne is no longer the queen mother, but our distinguished uncle Ganda."

"From now on, the Turks will no longer pay tribute to the Great Zhou, and the Great Zhou will no longer send inspectors to the Turks."

The old teacher's face turned dark instantly.

"Then will our Great Zhou no longer sell grain and cloth to the Turks?"

"Are you Turks no longer going to trade with my Great Zhou?"

"Should we suspend the ban on trade between the two sides? In the future, the Turks are not allowed to send people to our Great Zhou to study."

These three consecutive sentences left Mulikui speechless.

"Of course not."

The trade must not be stopped. The Turks are not good at farming, and every year they have to exchange cattle and sheep from the Great Zhou for food for the winter.

If the trade is stopped, how will they survive the winter?

Liu Mingxin sneered: "Do you Turks really think that our Great Zhou is a sucker? Just because the king has changed, you think you can just take advantage without paying anything? What a joke."

Wu Yanzhi snorted coldly: "If you want to fight a small Turkic tribe, just fight. Why waste your words?"

Mulikui felt a little panicked when he saw that no one of the officials tried to stop him.

Isn't the Great Zhou in turmoil? Why are you still speaking so arrogantly?

It must be intentional for him to see.

"This is the intention of our Khan. If you in the Great Zhou do not agree, then we will have to meet on the battlefield." Seeing that the negotiation failed, Mulikui changed directly into a threat.

"Fight if you want, you are just a bunch of Xiongnu. We, the Great Zhou, can crush you like an ant."

"Your Majesty, I beg you to go into battle."

"Your Majesty, the Huns are too bullying. Let's fight them!"

"beat!"

The eunuch screamed.

"quiet!"

The court fell silent in an instant.

"Your current Xiongnu Khan has probably forgotten who got to the throne."

"If Abe Hiroshi hadn't been fighting against my Northwestern Army, would he have been able to take advantage of the situation and sneak in?"

"He was pushed to the throne by my Great Zhou. If I am unhappy, it will be the same if I replace the Khan on the throne!"

Mulikui's face changed drastically. This time the Khan's only task was to marry the princess to the emperor, and he repeatedly reminded them not to cause any conflict.

"Your Majesty, we the Great Xiongnu definitely don't mean that."

The old master said angrily: "What is not?"

"Are you unwilling to pay tribute to our Great Zhou, or are you unwilling to kneel down and worship our Great Zhou emperor?"

"How dare you, a small Xiongnu, disrespect the emperor of our Great Zhou? If our two countries were not at war and envoys were not killed, I would have killed you first."

"My Northwest Army can destroy the Xiongnu with just a flick of the finger."

"Fight until the Huns are subdued!"

When the country is strong, officials can be confident.

Mulikui looked at the excited court officials with fear, and humiliation and ferocity flashed in his eyes.

"Your Majesty, long live your Majesty!"

Mulikui knelt on the ground with a plop and began to perform the ceremony of three kneelings and nine kowtows very seriously.

All the officials looked disdainful. He had spoken so confidently just now, but in the end he knelt faster than anyone else.

Shen Lanxi: "Please say what you said before again."

"Which one?"

Liu Mingxin: "No longer pay tribute to the Great Zhou."

"Yes, that's it. Say it to me again!"

Does Mulikui dare to say it?

I dare not!

He miscalculated. He didn't expect that the woman sitting on the dragon throne had such high prestige in the court?

Shouldn't there be a lot of people against her?

Just like the Huns, when the queen mother was in power, everyone wished she would die. A woman in power made the Huns a mess and declined to its current state.

If the Great Zhou continues to allow this woman to be the emperor, the country will be destroyed sooner or later.

"I was wrong just now. We, the Xiongnu, are willing to pay tribute to the Great Zhou. We will present the best and most precious treasures to the Emperor of the Great Zhou every year!"

Shen Lanxi raised the corner of her mouth.

"I had previously signed a ten-year peace treaty with General Abe Hiroshi of your Xiongnu. Now that more than half of the time has passed and you are so provocative, I thought the treaty would be terminated early."

Mulikui looked unhappy and didn't dare to say another word in rebuttal.

"Go back and tell your Khan that whether he can keep the throne depends on how he behaves."

"Your Xiongnu imperial court has no shortage of princes, no shortage of leaders, and even more so, no shortage of Khans!"

"Since you mentioned paying tribute today, then you might as well not leave."

"I intend to make the Xiongnu part of the Great Zhou territory, and implement a policy of dual governance with the Great Zhou, just like the foreign tribes in the southwest."

"After we have negotiated this, you can go back!"

Mulikui's face turned pale. He didn't expect that he didn't get any benefit from his visit to the Great Zhou. The Emperor of the Great Zhou even wanted to incorporate the Huns.

How could the Xiongnu warriors submit to being slaves of others?

"Your Majesty..." Mu Likui was about to refute when he was interrupted by Shen Lanxi raising her hand.

"The Xiongnu envoys have come a long way, and I'm sure they've had a hard time. The matter of incorporating the Xiongnu will be negotiated with the Ministry of Rites. Since the Great Zhou is busy with state affairs, I will not keep the envoys in the palace."

Seeing the guests off in a blatant manner.

Mulikui's face turned pale. Looking at the imperial guards on both sides who were watching him closely, he didn't dare to think about anything for a moment. He just wanted to get back to the post station as soon as possible and send a message back to the Xiongnu.

After Mulikui left, Shen Lanxi immediately ordered the Ministry of Rites to negotiate with him.

The officials thought that His Majesty said this just to scare the Huns, but they didn't expect it to be true.

"Is it appropriate to recruit the Huns now?"

"Why is it inappropriate? Our Great Zhou is still strong and powerful. Are we still afraid of the little Xiongnu?"

"Will Jinmen take this opportunity to start a rebellion?"

"Your Majesty, you have great courage to recruit the Huns. Even the emperor before us did not dare to attack the Huns easily."

"The Huns are brave and good at fighting, but they are also brutal and cruel. They are not easy to deal with!"

"What are you afraid of? Are our Northwest Army vegetarians? Don't forget that General Wei is also guarding the northwest."

The name Wei Dongzhu had not been mentioned for a long time. When they heard it suddenly, all the officials were stunned.

"You said that the real purpose of His Majesty sending General Wei there was to recruit the Xiongnu?"