Although he knew the warlords wanted to stall for time, Wang Han still agreed to Yuan Shao's suggestion to discuss it later.
Wang Han never expected them to agree willingly. People are selfish; if he were to become emperor, he wouldn't agree either. This matter couldn't be accomplished overnight; it would have to wait until the people's cultural level improved. Otherwise, things would revert to the way they were when he left. Wang Han was only bringing this up now to give them a heads-up and to get them to compromise on what he would say later.
"I agree with raising the status of women, but it won't be achieved overnight," Yuan Shao nodded in agreement. This second matter was much simpler than the first, and it didn't infringe on their interests. It also allowed them to buy time.
"And what about the others?" Wang Han looked at the other feudal lords.
The other feudal lords exchanged glances and all nodded.
"So, that's settled on the second matter. I hope everyone will take concrete action after they go back," Wang Han said, making the final decision. "Now, let's talk about the third matter."
"The third matter is also related to war, and it's why I'm distributing muskets to you," Wang Han said. "First, the internal wars within China must cease. Anyone who wants to wage internal war, I'll gladly oblige. The third matter is that we need to wage war against foreign tribes. For thousands of years, these tribes have continuously harassed our Chinese land, causing repeated harm to our nation. We must cleanse and drive out these barbaric tribes, permanently eliminating this threat. What do you all think?"
"This..." The feudal lords looked at each other. It turned out that Marquis Dingshan wanted to stop the internal war but wanted to fight an external war. They all hesitated.
"Lord Dingshan, I agree to stop the war between the lords," Yuan Shao said. The Marquis of Dingshan was about to abolish the imperial system; if the Marquis of Dingshan wasn't dealt with, who would be in the mood for a civil war? However, Yuan Shao added, "But regarding the war against foreign tribes, the war has just ended, and the country is not yet stable. It is not advisable to wage war against foreign tribes."
“That’s right. The war has just ended. We should rest and recuperate, and only then can we wage war against foreign tribes.” The other lords also nodded in agreement.
"Hmph." Wang Han snorted coldly upon hearing this, and said, "Why didn't you say this when you were fighting each other? You can consider this matter yourselves. I will fight the wars against other tribes first. You are also welcome to join at any time."
"..." The feudal lords still didn't say a word. Some were even secretly pleased that Marquis Dingshan wanted to fight the alien races himself, thinking that Marquis Dingshan would wear down the alien races while they could reap the benefits, and they might even find an opportunity to move Marquis Dingshan down from his mountain.
"I'm thinking about dealing with the alien races, while you're thinking about dealing with me. If it weren't for the fear of being excluded from this world, leaving China without the strength and talent to resist the alien races, I'd have chopped you all up long ago. But once I've trained my first generation of talent, I won't need to keep you lords around." Looking at the still silent lords, Wang Han cursed inwardly. "These guys who won't act until they see results... Once I gain enough benefits from waging war against the alien races and become stronger, I don't believe you won't be anxious."
"Although the first and third matters were not successfully discussed, the second matter and the cessation of war were successfully discussed," Wang Han said with a smile. "The outcome of this meeting was good and worth celebrating. Why don't we have Lü Bu perform a halberd dance for everyone to celebrate?"
Upon hearing this, the feudal lords were startled. It was indeed a trap. The image of Xiang Zhuang's sword dance immediately came to mind. Marquis Dingshan was making an example of someone. They just didn't know who Lu Bu's target was. In an instant, they became vigilant, their hands already on their swords.
Upon hearing this, Liu Bei noticed the look in Lü Bu's eyes and remembered Lü Bu's immediate act of sitting next to him. He realized that this was a warning shot aimed at him, and he broke out in a cold sweat. He stood up and retreated, urgently calling out, "Second brother, third brother, save me!"
"Trying to run? Not so easy." Seeing this, Lü Bu immediately thrust his halberd at Liu Bei, shouting, "Die!"
"Brother, run!" Guan Yu saw this and quickly swung his sword to block Lü Bu's halberd.
When the feudal lords saw that Lü Bu's target was Liu Bei, they breathed a sigh of relief and quickly made way for him.
"Second brother, I'm here to help you!" Zhang Fei shouted, raising his eight-foot spear to charge forward and fight Lü Bu.
"Liu Bei, don't run!" Just then, Zhang Shan and Li Si, who were prepared, one with a knife and the other with a sword, charged towards the fleeing Liu Bei.
Liu Bei used his twin swords to block the two men, but his hands went numb from their attacks. He could only shout to Zhang Fei, "Third brother, save me!"
"Brother, don't panic, I'm coming right now." Seeing this, Zhang Fei had no choice but to abandon his help to Guan Yu and go to rescue Liu Bei.
After Zhang Fei blocked Zhang Shan and Li Si, Liu Bei immediately rushed out of the court and fled towards the palace without looking back.
Neither Zhang Shan nor Li Si sent anyone to pursue Liu Bei, and even the soldiers outside the gate did not stop Liu Bei from escaping.
"Liu Bei has already abandoned you and run away. Do you two still want to resist?" Wang Han said to Zhang Fei and Guan Yu, who were fighting to the death with Lü Bu, Zhang Shan, and Li Si. "You treated him as a brother, but he only used you. The oath you swore to live and die together was just a joke. Now that you are facing certain death, he didn't even look back at you, except to ask you to risk your lives to save him."
"My brother isn't that kind of person, don't you dare slander him!" Zhang Fei retorted loudly. However, both of them hesitated, clearly having taken Wang Han's words to heart.
"I'm not slandering him," Wang Han continued. "Since ancient times, husbands and wives have lived together, supported each other, and walked hand in hand. Do you really think that someone who can abandon his wife and daughters like clothes can have a stronger bond than the wife he shares with? He abandoned his wife and daughters too. This man is heartless and ungrateful, abandoning his wife and children." (In the old version, when Liu Bei first met Guan Yu and Zhang Fei, he also thought these two were destined for greatness, and then introduced himself, persuading them to join him in a great undertaking before becoming sworn brothers. The new version also uses these two.)
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