"Well done, Lu Yanzheng!" Emperor Jingqing slammed his hand on the table. "If I don't teach him a lesson, he won't know that this is my empire!"

"But Your Majesty," a minister said timidly, "the national treasury is empty, we don't have..."

Before the words "we don't have money to fight" could be finished, Emperor Jingqing roared, "Stop the construction of the Star-Picking Tower! Take the money from my private treasury!"

The courtiers were greatly alarmed. Had the Emperor been severely provoked this time?

Unfortunately, before Emperor Jingqing could mobilize all his resources, Lu Yanzheng's army had already besieged the city.

...

The imperial navy offered no resistance and allowed the Northwest navy to cross the river, with Northwest troops landing one after another.

At the same time, the army led by Qin Shen and others arrived at the city walls of the capital from several other directions within the agreed time.

The capital of Dai Viet was called Shengjing, which had eight gates located in eight different directions. However, the four gates in the east, south, west and north were the main gates, while the other four were side gates.

The Northwest Army split into eight groups and positioned themselves under the city walls at the eight gates. The soldiers responsible for challenging the enemy stepped forward and shouted at approximately the same time.

"Listen up, fellow citizens defending the city! We are all people of the Great Yue, and we should not be fighting amongst ourselves! But the court is inhumane, causing the people to suffer. Our prince promises that if any of you open the gates voluntarily, we guarantee that we will not harm you in the slightest! After the war, we will reward everyone who has reduced casualties in this war! Yes, you heard right, not only for our Northwest Army, but also for you who are defending the city!"

"..."

Such announcements were made continuously for half an hour outside the eight city gates using loudspeakers provided by Jiang Qinyu.

At this time, Emperor Jingqing also received news that Lu Yanzheng's army was at the city gates.

He slumped onto the dragon throne, his eyes wide with disbelief. "How many people did he bring?"

"Your Majesty, the exact number is still unknown, but I have personally witnessed at least 30,000 Northwest troops outside the East Gate!"

Thirty thousand? Thirty thousand outside one city gate, wouldn't eight be...? Emperor Jingqing tightened his grip on the dragon throne.

When did the Northwest Army grow to such a large number of men? And how did they get to the capital?

As if anticipating his question, the minister who had come to answer wiped the cold sweat from his brow and continued, "The Northwest Navy has built extra-large warships; it is said that those ships alone can carry tens of thousands of people across the river at once..."

In reality, after the Northwest Fleet's warships released all their small boats, their maximum capacity was 15,000 people. With those small boats added, they could cross the river at the same time with more than 20,000 people.

The Northwest Army sent a total of 200,000 men this time, which means they made only ten round trips.

Upon hearing this, Emperor Jingqing shook his head repeatedly, "Impossible! How could they possibly build such a ship?"

Such a large boat, even if it can carry so many people, can't possibly go very fast, right? So how could there be no noise when crossing the river? And if there was noise, how could no one have come to warn us beforehand?

Inside the Golden Palace, the ministers were both flustered and silent, but only for a short moment before some of them started arguing.

As Emperor Jingqing watched the old ministers arguing endlessly, his heart sank deeper and deeper.

Yes, he's keeping a bunch of useless people around. When problems arise, their first reaction isn't to solve them, but to eliminate the people who created them.

Just like before, when Lu Yanzheng first showed signs of rebellion, he should have nipped the threat in the bud as quickly as possible. However, the advice from these useless people made Lu Yanzheng stronger instead.

With the Northwest Army at the gates, although the capital's defenses are strong, it's uncertain whether they can withstand the Northwest Army's gunpowder weapons, and the city gates could be breached at any moment.

"Your Majesty, let's surrender!"

Suddenly someone said something.

Emperor Jingqing looked in the direction of the voice and saw that the speaker was Zhao Rui, one of his most trusted ministers and the Crown Prince's tutor.

"Grand Tutor, you..." The other ministers looked at him in disbelief.

Zhao Rui stepped forward shakily, looked at Emperor Jingqing and said, "Now the Northwest Army is eyeing us covetously, and the capital may fall at any time. Rather than causing widespread bloodshed, it is better to surrender now."

He just didn't want the war to actually break out. Many shops in the capital belonged to his family. What if they were blown up by the Northwest Army's gunpowder weapons?

"Surrender?" Emperor Jingqing suddenly stood up, threw his head back and laughed loudly, "Haha... I, Xiao Jingqing, am actually going to surrender to a traitor?"

The ministers looked at him with complicated expressions, most of them with fear in their eyes.

Emperor Jingqing's expression suddenly changed, and his voice turned cold and hard, "I, Xiao Jingqing, will never surrender! Guards, convey my decree, ordering the commander of the capital's main camp to come to the palace for an audience immediately!"

He is the true Son of Heaven; he doesn't believe that a traitor can really push him off the throne!

"Your Majesty, something terrible has happened! The Northwest Army has reached the palace gates!"

However, at that moment, a young eunuch stumbled in, knelt on the ground with a look of fear on his face, and cried out.

"What? Didn't the Northwest Army just arrive at the city gate?"

"Are the city gates of the capital so easily breached? They've been broken through already?"

"Have the Northwest Army's gunpowder weapons become this terrifying?"

"..."

The ministers, trembling with fear, couldn't help but reveal their true feelings.

But the little eunuch who came to deliver the message said, "No, I heard that the guards of the East Gate, South Gate, Northwest Gate, and Southeast Gate opened the city gates to let the Northwest Army in!"

The ministers: "..."

What's the point of fighting? Their own people have turned against them, even the soldiers defending the city have betrayed them!

Emperor Jingqing slumped back onto the dragon throne, his eyes becoming vacant.

Those responsible for protecting the emperor's safety also gathered around Emperor Jingqing, and the head eunuch repeatedly asked, "Your Majesty, this old servant should take you to safety first. After all, the palace is heavily guarded, and they certainly won't be able to break in so easily..."

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