Hawking shook his head. "Accepting everything would be too demoralizing."
It's frustrating! We clearly won the battle, but we couldn't maximize our gains.
Even soldiers fighting desperately on the front lines can feel frustrated and resentful.
Zhao Yunqi listened quietly, holding his teacup, then his gaze swept around and settled on Xiao Zhixing's face. "What are Yuansheng's thoughts?"
Xiao Zhixing sneered, "The word 'and' doesn't exist in my mind, let alone agree to such a ridiculous condition."
Zhang Rengui frowned. "Prince Yuansheng is still too young. Sometimes, when circumstances force us to compromise, we have no choice but to comply."
Xiao Zhixing placed his arms on the armrests, sitting as still as a mountain. "On the surface, the situation is indeed difficult to reverse, but underneath..."
Her sharp gaze swept over them. "A general in the field may disobey the emperor's orders. Sometimes, I have no choice but to deal with my disobedient subordinates."
If open attacks don't work, then resort to covert robbery.
Li Xiao frowned. "But this contradicts our original goals. Fighting on three fronts would be too much for our national strength."
Even if it's a clandestine operation, the cost of troops, supplies, and military equipment is astronomical.
Xiao Zhixing raised an eyebrow. "Then let's use war to sustain war."
She realized that the Great Sheng still believed in the ways of gentlemen and had not learned the barbaric ways of bandits at all.
They don't understand the joy of buying things for free.
Fearing they might not understand, she kindly explained, "Just like dealing with the northern barbarians, when we enter the grasslands, we not only kill the enemy, but we also take everything we see with us. People, goods, wealth, and livestockâwe bring them all back, whether to sell or use them ourselves. This is how we sustain our war through war."
Feng Liyan said, "Then wouldn't we be no different from those barbarians, becoming savages? What kind of behavior is that?"
Xiao Zhixing scoffed, "We're fighting to the death, what's with all this talk of gentlemanly conduct? Are the lives of our soldiers more important? Are our vast lands more important?"
Everyone fell silent.
Well, it seems there's some truth to that. It's just that it's hard to lose face, and it would be ungentlemanly to talk about it.
Zhao Yunqi chuckled: "What do you all think, my dear ministers?"
(I've figured it out, everyone's reading in the evenings. Okay, I won't bother with that anymore. From now on, updates will be concentrated around 7 or 8 pm.)
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com