Cao Mengde observed everyone's expressions and continued, "Furthermore, His Majesty has also instructed the royal family to offer a prize of entry to the Tengwang Pavilion to view the royal family's secret manuals. You must know that the secret manuals in the Tengwang Pavilion are all peerless manuals bestowed by His Majesty. The allure of these manuals is immense, enough to attract all the sects and forces of the Wei Kingdom.
As a result, those sects will focus their energy on how to win the martial arts competition and gain the opportunity to enter Tengwang Pavilion, and will selectively ignore what the Wei court is doing.
Chu Anping said, "The matters you mentioned have already been discussed by our royal elders. When preparing for the martial arts competition, our royal family will also pay close attention to the movements of these sects to ensure that they do not do anything detrimental to the State of Wei."
Cao Mengde rolled his eyes at Chu Anping and continued, "You are already such an old man, can you please let me finish what I am saying?"
Chu Anping smiled embarrassedly and waved his hand to signal Cao Mengde to continue.
Cao Mengde continued, "You must know that even if we are secretly making various preparations for war, no matter how cautious we are, the closer we get to the expedition, the more likely it is that spies from other countries in Wei will notice any movement.
However, by holding a martial arts competition, most forces on the Shengwu Continent will focus their attention on the competition, thereby covering up the military actions taken by our Wei court.
Furthermore, His Majesty has crowned this martial arts tournament as the best in the world. Do you think people from other countries will also participate in this martial arts tournament? Not to mention that the prizes offered by the royal family are an irresistible temptation for martial artists.
When warriors from other countries come to Wei, our court will use the excuse of maintaining national image and security to ensure that our large-scale military buildup will not arouse suspicion."
Minister of War Mu Yundian asked in confusion, "Prime Minister Cao, I don't deny your point of view, but if warriors from other countries pour in, will they take the opportunity to investigate our country's weaknesses, or even secretly collude with the Wei clans to threaten our internal situation?"
Cao Mengde asked Chu Anping: "Is the royal family capable of dealing with these potential risks?"
Chu Anping answered confidently, "The royal family is not afraid of any challenge. During this year, His Majesty has bestowed upon the royal family many powerful martial arts techniques and secret manuals. The strength of our royal family's warriors has greatly increased during this year. We are confident that we can defeat any known sects and forces on the Holy Martial Continent. Furthermore, the royal family chose to hold the martial arts conference in a valley outside Kaifeng City in order to avoid such incidents.
Your Majesty is organizing this martial arts tournament to consolidate the power of the Wei clans. This is done, firstly, to prevent the royal family from being isolated and helpless in future battles, which would otherwise lead to excessive casualties. It is also intended to prevent these clans from causing unrest within Wei while the royal family and the imperial army are engaged in battle, thereby undermining national stability.
Cao Mengde nodded and said, "This is not much different from what I imagined. Chu Anping, you should return to the royal family and discuss with the elders whether the martial arts conference can be ended in two months. By then, it will be the deadline for our expedition. Once the martial arts conference is over and we have successfully taken control of the sects in Wei, we will immediately launch an attack on the Xiongnu and the Gan Kingdom."
By then, many Xiongnu and Gan State clans will still be within Wei, so we'll encounter much less resistance and be able to catch them off guard. It's possible that their warriors haven't returned to their clans yet, and our army can take advantage of this gap to capture their territory and expand our own territory."
After hearing Cao Mengde's words, Mu Yundian asked with a gloomy expression, "Prime Minister Cao, aren't you being a bit unethical? While others have come from afar to participate in the martial arts conference, we are secretly attacking their country. If we do this, won't we lose the trust and respect of other countries?"
Cao Mengde smiled and replied, "I know that Minister Mu is a soldier who values integrity, but war is never just a simple contest of force. We must consider the interests of the entire nation and how to maximize benefits at the lowest cost."
Mu Yundian still couldn't accept this strategy. He frowned and retorted, "But if that happens, how will other countries on the Shengwu Continent view us? Where is our integrity?"
At this point, Minister of Rites Fu Youde and others thought Mu Yundian's words made perfect sense. After all, if they wanted to convince the warriors in the newly developed territories, they had to defeat them openly and honestly, rather than resorting to underhanded tactics. Even Chu Anping was moved by Mu Yundian's words and began to consider whether to convey Cao Mengde's words to the elders of the royal family.
Cao Mengde said angrily, "You are a bunch of blockheads. Trust between nations is not built on meaningless kindness, but on absolute strength. When other countries see our sharp swords and powerful warriors, they will naturally respect us."
Cao Mengde then asked Chu Anping separately, "Has Your Majesty asked the royal family to invite envoys from other countries to participate in this martial arts conference?"
Chu Anping didn't know why Cao Mengde asked this, so he answered truthfully, "Your Majesty didn't ask us to invite warriors from other countries to participate in this martial arts tournament. After all, Your Majesty named it the Wei Kingdom's No. 1 Martial Arts Tournament. So according to Your Majesty's order, other countries should not be allowed to participate."
After receiving the answer, Cao Mengde said to everyone, "You all heard it. His Majesty never issued an order to invite warriors from other countries to participate in the martial arts competition. Therefore, the warriors from other countries came to compete for the championship. This was their own decision. Even though they came from afar, they did not receive a formal invitation from Wei State, so there is no question of betrayal."
Even if we really want to bring this matter to the surface, we can accuse them of coming to the martial arts conference held by our Wei State without authorization just to cause trouble and not give face to our Majesty and the royal family of Wei State.
Finally, why didn't Your Majesty allow the court and the royal family to hold this martial arts tournament together? This is to separate the Wei court and the royal family. What business would the Wei court have with the martial arts tournament held by the royal family?
Cao Mengde's words made everyone present's three views very bad. Fu Youde, the Minister of Rites, even said directly: "Your Majesty, are you really thinking of such a despicable plan?"
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