The situation in Mengsu is becoming more and more chaotic. It is said that several princes have already fought their way into the palace. The situation is too chaotic and their spies are also in danger. They have been silent since they sent out the last message.
King Huainan sent three urgent memorials in succession, requesting to go to war!
Now, the three memorials were neatly placed in front of the emperor's desk, motionless.
"My dear, what do you think?"
In the Imperial Study, the Emperor sat at the head of the table. Prime Minister Qin, now over fifty years old, stood before him, his head bowed slightly. He was the head of all officials and a role model among civil officials. Next to him stood the Minister of War, his brow furrowed.
Prime Minister Qin is an old fox. Having been with the emperor for so long, he has his own understanding of the emperor's mind.
"Your Majesty, the civil unrest in Mengsu is indeed a good opportunity to take advantage of the situation. However, the national treasury is not well-off, and the people have only been living and working in peace for a short time. I am afraid they cannot withstand the turmoil." He said this in a tactful way, but his attitude was very clear.
The emperor's gaze fell on the Minister of War. "Lord Guo, what do you think?"
The Minister of War cursed in his heart, but he had to remain calm on the surface and not lose his composure in front of the palace.
"Your Majesty, I believe this battle is worth fighting!" His voice was sonorous and powerful, with the unique boldness of a military commander. He even glanced at Prime Minister Qin, saying with a hint of meaning, "Mengsu is in civil strife. If we don't mess with them now, they will definitely mess with us when they come to their senses!"
The Minister of War himself had fought on the front lines of the battlefield. Coming from a family of military generals, he knew very well that this opportunity would never come again.
Therefore, even though he knew that what he said would be different from Prime Minister Qin's position, he still had to say it.
"Meng Su has been eyeing us covetously for a long time. During this civil strife, no matter which prince ascends the throne, he will be younger than the old emperor! Your Majesty, let me say something unpleasant. They look at us like fat guys, thinking of taking advantage of us every day!"
"How vulgar!" Prime Minister Qin took a step aside angrily, unwilling to stand on the same side with such an uncivilized person.
Minister Guo had been unhappy with him for a long time, but considering his age and high position, he usually did not confront him.
Let those truly vulgar military generals keep their composure and not spend the entire day in the hall swearing and yelling at the civil officials, which would only damage their reputation!
But now, he couldn't help it!
"I may be crude and vulgar, but I have been to the battlefield and killed enemies! I can't compare to Prime Minister Qin who shakes his head and nods in front of the pen, ink, paper and inkstone every day, giving advice on how to move forward!" What a good opportunity this is, but this old man doesn't understand it at all!
At this moment, in Minister Guo's mind, except for him who saw through the essence of the Mengsu civil strife, everyone else was a fool! Including the emperor!
Of course, he only dared to think about this in his heart, and he was very cautious and didn't dare to say it out loud.
"Stop bragging here. What's the use of knowing how to fight? Without us guarding the rear, you won't even have anything to eat!" Prime Minister Qin was not exaggerating. Back then, the late emperor had his generals fighting in the front, and the national treasury was in urgent need of money every day.
If they hadn't racked their brains, adjusted silver, and issued loan notes to the public, how could they have afforded such a huge expenditure?
Unfortunately, after the war, the generals did not take these achievements seriously at all.
No wonder the civil officials under his command dislike this group of brainless and unwise soldiers!
Minister Guo wanted to say more, but he heard the emperor slam the memorial down on the table with a thud, and he shut his mouth immediately.
“That’s enough!”
The emperor held his forehead, feeling helpless. "I asked you two to come here to discuss countermeasures, not to let you quarrel here! If you want to quarrel, go outside and have it done. Come back in after you're done!"
Whenever these two met, they would either slander each other or exchange sarcastic remarks. This was the case in the court, and they showed no restraint in the imperial study either.
When the Queen Mother was still alive, they would give her some face. But with just one look, the two of them wouldn't dare to even fart!
Now that I feel young and easy to talk to, I will come and tell you about all the hardships I have.
Either this minister was disobedient, or that military general was cursing people. Every day they were arguing about trivial matters. He could even ask the peasant women buying vegetables on the street to tell right from wrong in those matters. He felt ashamed for them if he told others about it!
Even though the consequences are about to hit them today, these two are still disliking each other!
It is really a rotten tree that cannot be carved!
"Your Majesty, I lost my composure and I know I was wrong. But I still want to say that if we don't take advantage of the civil unrest in Mengsu now and send troops to attack them, we will have no chance after they have reorganized themselves."
There was one more thing that Minister Guo did not dare to say.
As long as the emperor trusts the King of Huainan, there is no reason not to fight this war!
He wasn't a fool; he understood the Emperor's concerns. But he was his subject, and more importantly, the protector of the world. He understood the complexities involved, but compared to that, he cared more about the lives of the people of Nanwu...
Apart from the emperor, the person who knows the situation in Nanwu best is him, the Minister of War.
The papers flew over like snowflakes, making people's eyes red.
The people in the Ministry of War were so furious that they wished they could all draw their guns and swords and rush to Nanwu to drive the Mengsu people back!
But if the emperor doesn't give the order, even if they have a hundred desires to serve, it will be in vain.
Those who truly want to protect their country will not be like Marquis Changning, who talks about reimbursing the court every day.
Everyone can say nice things, but not everyone is willing to do the actual things.
Being able to provide security for his brothers on the front lines and protect the rear was what had motivated him to climb the ranks.
Therefore, he did not want to use this opportunity to achieve great things, but just hoped to help the people of Nanwu escape from suffering as soon as possible!
He had fought Meng Su before and knew what kind of ambitious people he was. The old emperor was incompetent and often sent his men to cause chaos on the border. If the ambitious young prince were to take over... I'm afraid things won't be as simple as before.
At this time, Meng Su urgently needed a victory to witness the greatness of the new emperor - Dasheng was their goal!
Qin Xiang saw that the emperor was still hesitating and thought that these warriors only knew how to fight. Why fight and kill when things can be solved with words?
"Your Majesty, I beg you to restart peace talks with Meng Su. With Meng Su as the new emperor, his regime will undoubtedly be unstable. I believe that he will not risk sending troops at this time." Prime Minister Qin spoke confidently, not caring at all about Minister Guo's eye roll.
"I believe that Meng Su certainly does not want to be an enemy of Dasheng."
"Do you think he's as foolish as you, waiting for you to sue for peace?" Minister Guo suppressed the urge to curse and said to the emperor, "Your Majesty, don't listen to this old man. He's just too old to fight. But Your Majesty is still young and full of vigor. You are definitely different from Prime Minister Qin!"
Minister Guo looked at the emperor expectantly, "Your Majesty, don't you want to defeat Meng Su and make him surrender?!"
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