Chapter 106 Alliance
Xingzhou, Prince Ling's Palace.
Zhao Diao pushed the mahogany box on the table in front of the young man and said, "Open it and take a look."
The young man replied "Yes," and then opened the wooden box. Seeing what was inside, his eyes lit up. "Your Highness, is this the firearm Princess Fuguang sent?"
Zhao Diao nodded. He had heard that Princess Fuguang's firearms were very powerful. Even the Xiqi soldiers could not stop her gunfire.
Therefore, after getting this musket, he immediately tried it out and found that it was indeed powerful. If his army was equipped with it, he would be invincible!
It’s a pity that Zhao Mingyue only gave him this musket.
I don't know where the third brother got the news from, saying that he had accepted a batch of firearms from Zhao Mingyue, and he even wrote a letter to question him.
Of course, he wouldn't be stupid enough to tell the truth. It wouldn't be a bad thing to make Prince Yue afraid of him.
Moreover, Princess Fuguang's strength should not be underestimated. She had taken the initiative to ask to join the alliance, so he had no reason to refuse her. With her support, wouldn't the throne of emperor be his?
As for Princess Fuguang's request for the three northwestern states and her request that the court should not interfere in her state affairs in the future, he would just agree to it verbally. Whether he would fulfill his promise in the future was a matter for the future.
This way, he wouldn't have to share the world with Zhao Pingping. Besides, Zhao Ping might also tear up the agreement. If he didn't guard against it, wouldn't he get nothing?
But Zhao Diao would not easily trust Princess Fuguang.
When she dealt with Zhao Zhuo, she published a manifesto to attack all men in the world.
Although this move earned her great prestige among women in the countryside, it also earned her the hatred of many men.
Of course, Zhao Diao is not one of those poor men who can't even marry a woman. He doesn't hate Zhao Mingyue, he just thinks her political views are too naive.
Even if all the women in the world supported her, what good would it do? Look at how weak and pitiful they are. Who can they intimidate?
What's more, the weak are weak and can never unite. They are like loose sand, which will be scattered by the wind.
Princess Fuguang, who was against nearly half of the people in the world, was destined to not go far on the road to power.
It's just that for now, she still has value to be used.
Zhao Diao looked at the young man who was caressing the musket lovingly and said with a smile, "I plan to send you to Yuzhou. As long as you can win the favor of Princess Fuguang, you can have as many muskets as you want."
The young man was his wife's nephew, and he froze when he heard this.
This is obviously to send him to please Princess Fuguang. If Princess Fuguang doesn't like him, won't he be miserable?
The man put down his gun and argued, "Your Majesty, I don't want to go to Yuzhou. I want to follow you to fight and do something great!"
Zhao Diao didn't care about his opinion. He squinted his eyes and looked him over. "You have such a beautiful face. Why do you have to go to the battlefield and suffer?"
Sending his nephew to Yuzhou was just a gesture to show goodwill to Princess Fuguang, so that his relationship with Princess Fuguang could be more stable.
If he could make the princess pregnant, that would be even better. Who knows, maybe Yuzhou will belong to this child in the future.
The nephew was about to say something when a panicked voice suddenly came from outside the door, "Prince, something happened in Lanzhou!"
Zhao Diao waved his hand and said, "You can leave first. Go back and make preparations."
The nephew had no choice but to put down his firearm and retreated with an indignant look on his face.
A trusted subordinate pushed the door open and came in, looking anxious. Zhao Diao glanced at him calmly and said, "Why are you so anxious? Tell me, what happened to Prince Yue?"
The subordinate said, "Your Highness, we just received news that the imperial court sent envoys to arrest Prince Yue. Prince Yue refused and had all the envoys executed! Now Prince Yue has raised an army in Lanzhou and issued a manifesto calling for 'Execution of Queen Chi and Restoration of the Zhao Dynasty,' calling on all the princes to gather in Lanzhou for a meeting!"
Zhao Diao stood up suddenly, "What? The court acted so quickly!"
The subordinate said, "Your Highness, now that things have come to this, we can only start the rebellion in advance."
Zhao Diao pondered for a moment, his brows furrowed, and he ordered, "Quickly reorganize the military, mobilize 30,000 troops, and follow me to Lanzhou!"
The subordinate responded, "Yes!" and turned around and left quickly.
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On the other hand, Zhao Mingyue also received news that Zhao Diao invited her to go to Lanzhou together.
At the same time, she also got a man.
Looking at Zhao Diao's nephew, Zhao Mingyue had a headache. Why did these princes always like to send men to her?
What's more troublesome is that in order to gain Zhao Diao's trust, she can't kill this person for the time being, but she can't let him live either.
Zhao Mingyue thought about it and sent the man to Laoya Mountain to mine.
He then took Xue Qi, Zhao Yuzhang, Zhu Dafeng and others, selected 10,000 elite soldiers, and went to Lanzhou for a meeting.
As soon as he stepped into the border of Lanzhou, Zhao Mingyue saw the armies of various princes. Soldiers were camping along the way, and flags of various colors fluttered in the wind, stretching for nearly a hundred miles.
Zhao Diao, who had already arrived in Lanzhou, heard that Princess Fuguang had arrived and personally went out of the city gate to greet her. He asked with a smile, "Princess, is my nephew okay? Why didn't you bring him here?"
Zhao Mingyue smiled and said politely, "Thank you, King Ling, for your concern. Your nephew is truly virtuous and capable. The affairs of the weapons factory cannot be separated from him, so I will leave him in Yuzhou."
She was not lying. After all, iron was indispensable for making firearms. How could she make firearms if no one dug iron ore for her?
When King Ling heard this, he thought Zhao Mingyue valued his nephew very much and was very happy. "That's good. I was worried that he didn't know his place and made you angry."
As he spoke, he led Zhao Mingyue into Lanzhou City and met Zhao Ping.
A few days later, the rest of the kings arrived one after another. In addition to Zhao Ping, Zhao Diao, and Zhao Mingyue, four other kings brought their troops to participate in the alliance, totaling 230,000 men.
When Zhao Mingyue saw this, she was secretly shocked. The imperial court had only 100,000 guards stationed near the capital. If they were to unite, they might be able to break into the capital.
She had to find a way to secretly sabotage the alliance.
That night, Zhao Ping prepared a grand banquet to entertain the kings and discussed how to send troops to attack the capital.
Zhao Ping naturally sat in the main seat, while Zhao Mingyue was arranged to sit in the last seat.
When she saw the smug expression on Zhao Ping's face, she knew that he did it on purpose, and she couldn't help feeling angry.
After all, among all the kings, her strength is not the weakest, so there is no reason to let her sit in the last position.
Zhao Mingyue clenched her hand holding the wine glass suddenly, and her gloomy eyes revealed her angry heart.
The next moment, Zhao Ping's gaze swept over her, and she immediately let go of her hand, a smile on her face, as if she didn't care.
Zhao Ping withdrew his gaze and thought to himself, You are still too young to fight with me.
If he can't deal with Zhao Diao, can't he deal with a princess?
It is really wishful thinking to think that you can get a ticket to the alliance by supporting Zhao Diao.
The kings present had already figured out the status of the seven people present through the seating arrangement, and secretly looked down on Princess Fuguang in their hearts.
Zhao Ping and Zhao Diao are naturally the leaders of the alliance, but it is unknown who of these two will eventually become the leader of the alliance.
Zhao Ping coughed lightly and spoke first, "Today, all of us brothers have gathered here to defeat the cruel and merciless Queen Mother Chi, revive the Zhao royal family, and save the people!"
Upon hearing this, the kings all agreed, saying, "That's right, Queen Mother Chi has defiled the palace and persecuted the royal family. Everyone must kill her!"
"But with so many of us, if we want to attack Queen Chi, we must elect a leader to command the army and lead the attack."
After these words were spoken, the kings immediately began to discuss who to elect as the leader of the alliance.
Among the four kings, two kings elected Zhao Ping as the leader, and two kings elected Zhao Diao as the leader.
Zhao Ping looked at Zhao Diao, a smile on his face but a threatening look in his eyes, "Sixth brother, you don't want to be the leader, right?"
Zhao Diao returned the same smile. "If all the kings trust me, I can't refuse. I can only obey. I just don't know who Princess Fuguang will support."
Hearing this, Zhao Ping's face instantly turned dark.
He really didn't expect that before he even captured the capital, Zhao Diao would compete with him for the position of leader.
If he had known that Zhao Mingyue's support would be the decisive vote, he would not have placed her at the last position.
When the other kings saw what the two men were saying, they immediately realized the current situation. Whoever Princess Fuguang supported would become the leader of the alliance, so they immediately turned their attention to her.
Facing the gazes of the crowd, Zhao Mingyue remained unfazed. She spoke in a deep voice, "I personally believe that the leader of the alliance must possess commanding abilities, foresight, and calm judgment. Only then can they lead our alliance army to victory."
Zhao Diao, who had been so confident, suddenly became suspicious after hearing this. Did he have these things? Why did he feel like Zhao Mingyue wasn't talking about him?
Zhao Ping, who had a gloomy face, also changed his expression. It didn't sound like these words were talking about the King of Spirits.
The kings looked at each other in bewilderment, wondering which one of them had such great ability?
Just as everyone was speculating, Zhao Mingyue changed the subject, "I think the Spirit King can be the leader."
After he finished speaking, Zhao Diao was ecstatic and his face was full of pride that he couldn't hide.
Zhao Ping almost jumped up from his chair and shouted that he disagreed, but he was afraid of breaking the agreement and becoming the target of public criticism, so he finally held himself back.
Seeing this, the kings agreed and said, "The princess is right. The leader of the alliance must be the Spirit King."
They felt that Zhao Diao had the support of Princess Fuguang and had a greater chance of winning. He might become the emperor in the future, so there was no need to offend him at this time.
Zhao Diao forced a smile and said modestly, "Thank you all for your trust. I'll give it a try."
Zhao Ping, who was standing beside him, had a dark face.
He really didn't expect that as the initiator and planner of this alliance, his position as leader would be snatched away by Zhao Diao.
And all of this was because of Princess Fuguang! It was because of her joining that Zhao Diao gained the confidence to compete with him!
He had to find a way to take back command of the army.
Zhao Ping lowered his head and thought quietly, but he didn't notice that Zhao Mingyue, who was sitting at the last seat, gave him an extremely cold glance.
This good show has just begun.
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