Fellow disciples fighting each other
Gongyi Xiu noticed her looking at him, but his expression remained unchanged. Instead, he turned his gaze away from her and picked up the jade pendant at his waist, playing with it as if he were deep in thought.
Today, during the court assembly, he wore not his usual white robes but his official attire. However, the jade pendant hanging at his waist was still snow-white and crystal clear, with a brilliant luster, and adorned with silver tassels.
Moreover, the jade pendant was made of a single piece of jade, with two interlocking rings. When walking, the two rings would inevitably collide and make a sound.
Mo Yimingyue's arrival was sudden, so this court assembly must have been hastily convened. Gongyi Xiu still had time to carefully embellish his accessories and attire. A Qiu couldn't help but mutter a curse inwardly, but then she immediately remembered something and her eyes lit up.
In fact, everyone present wanted to refute Mo Yimingyue's absurd demand that the Northern Qiang army march south under the pretext of suppressing the rebellion in Dayan. The problem was that the demand was so absurd and crude that the officials could not find a suitable rebuttal for a time.
It's like someone saying, "Since we are good friends, please allow me to stay at your house, eat your grain, and sleep with your wife, how about it?" A normal person's reaction would be to blurt out "You're asking for it," but these three words should never be uttered in the court by high-ranking officials, especially if the other party has already laid out many friendly and neighborly words beforehand, creating a peaceful atmosphere.
After glancing at Gongyi Xiu's jade pendant, A Qiu already knew what was going on and said, "Is Your Excellency certain that your country is willing to send troops to the southeast for our dynasty? May I ask how many troops your country can send?"
Seeing that she was taking the bait, Mo Yimingyue knew that this junior sister never got away with anything, so she became wary. After hesitating for a moment, she said, "I heard that there is a rebellion in the three counties of Wu. If we include the civilians involved, there are about 20,000 to 30,000 people. Can our country lend us 70,000 troops?"
He hadn't expected Ah Qiu to actually take this seriously, so the number of people he mentioned was just something he made up on the spot. If he made up too little, who knew if Ah Qiu had other schemes or plans? If he made up too much, the plan to "borrow a path to destroy Guo" would obviously turn into a direct attack on Guo, and there would be no need to pretend anymore.
Ah Qiu smiled calmly and said, "No problem."
As soon as she spoke, everyone in the hall changed their expressions. Even Xie Lang on the dragon throne wanted to stop her, but it was too late. He looked surprised, clearly not expecting A Qiu's response to be like this.
Only Gongyi Xiu's lips curled into a knowing smile.
Xie Lang coughed, about to say something to salvage the situation, but A Qiu looked directly at Mo Yimingyue and smiled, saying, "The Jiangnan region is crisscrossed by waterways, with lakes and rivers scattered like stars. No matter how many soldiers your country has, come at will. The Jianzhang Navy will open the mouth of the Yangtze River to welcome them. Let's see how many rounds the cavalry of the Northern Qiang King's army can withstand under the encirclement of the Eastern Wu Grand Commander Zhao's naval fleet."
He added, "If your cavalry suffer from seasickness, you will probably have to follow the old tricks of Cao Wei and chain the warships together to prevent them from vomiting so badly that the whole river becomes polluted."
As soon as A Qiu spoke, everyone in the hall breathed a sigh of relief and showed relaxed smiles. Some even wore mocking expressions, wanting to see how the Northern Qiang envoy would respond.
Upon reaching this point, Mo Yimingyue's expression finally changed, and his eyes emitted an unusual light.
The reason why the Northern Qiang were able to sweep across the Central Plains as if entering an empty land was that their cavalry, which invaded like wildfire, almost always won against the Han people's defending army.
However, the conquest of Jiangdong from the south has always relied on naval victories. The reason is, as A Qiu said, that the Jiangnan region is crisscrossed by waterways, with very little terrain suitable for a flat, open road for a full-scale charge. On land, even the most valiant cavalry cannot exert any advantage whatsoever.
If the objective is to capture Jianzhang, it is relatively simple. The army only needs to take the lower-lying areas of the Yangtze River tributaries, fill them with stones and bury them with soil. Horses can wade across most of the areas, and with the help of boats, although the vanguard will inevitably suffer heavy losses, as long as there are enough people and the strength is strong enough, victory is not impossible.
However, if they were to venture deep into the Taihu Lake region, with its intricate network of waterways, and engage the Eastern Wu navy, which was familiar with the local terrain and possessed a diverse fleet of ships of all sizes, the Northern Qiang, given their limited naval capabilities, would almost certainly be at their mercy. As A Qiu said, they would be lucky if they didn't vomit.
As the head of all water and land transport in the world, Mo Yimingyue also presided over the "Night Travelers of the World" water transport gang on the Yangtze River. If he thought about it carefully, he couldn't possibly be unaware of this. However, he probably didn't think of this when he made his request.
His only aim was to make two unreasonable demands that would be difficult for the other side to meet, thus implementing the strategy of "demanding exorbitant prices and settling for mediocrity." Knowing full well that the other side would not agree to let the army in, he was even less likely to consider how to implement it in practice.
In modern times, there were only two instances of northern forces attacking the south. The first was Cao Cao's southern campaign against the allied forces of Sun Quan and Liu Bei. Northern soldiers' horses were not accustomed to water, so to withstand the wind and waves, they chained their warships together, allowing the horses to traverse the ships as if on flat ground. While this provided stability, a single fire rendered the ships immobile, nearly resulting in the annihilation of the entire army. This is the origin of A Qiu's somewhat sarcastic suggestion to the Northern Qiang to use chained ships.
Ignoring the mocking and difficult gazes from the entire hall, Mo Yimingyue calmly said, "It's alright. As long as your country is willing to accept our assistance, given time, we can build large warships on the upper reaches of the Yangtze River and sail down the river. We can guarantee that thousands of troops will reach Wu County in no time and take Yixing and the other two places for Your Majesty without shedding a drop of blood."
What Mo Yimingyue was implying at this moment was the same strategy employed by the renowned general Wang Jun in the second war of unification, where he used his warships to defeat Wu. At this time, Dayan, like the former Sun Wu, relied on the natural barrier of the Yangtze River for defense. Wang Jun had specifically built a super fleet—the warships—to counter the Eastern Wu navy. These fleets sailed downstream from Yizhou, sweeping all before them, directly threatening Jianye. Ultimately, the imperial aura of Jinling faded, and a sea of sails fell over the Stone City.
However, given the current strength and temperament of the Northern Qiang, it is highly unlikely that they would have the foresight to build massive warships called "louchuan" in Yizhou. Building such large ships would be time-consuming and labor-intensive, requiring at least several thousand craftsmen. The nomadic peoples of the grasslands have always been nomadic and do not even have the patience to wait through the winter when they are raiding; they would not have the foresight to consider such a thing.
Therefore, Mo Yimingyue's rebuttal was mostly just empty talk. But since he raised it, we cannot ignore the fact that if the Northern Qiang were given ten years to recuperate, pacify the people, and govern, they might have the time and foresight to build ships and warships.
Aqiu smiled and said, "If Your Majesty wishes to send troops, even 70,000 men, I believe a single whistle would suffice. But as for shipbuilding," she deliberately paused, drawing out her words until all eyes were fixed on her, watching with bated breath, before slowly saying:
"Forgive my ignorance, but I have never heard of a people born on horseback who switched to shipbuilding."
Despite it being a formal and solemn occasion of court assembly, and even when facing enemies, the Southern Dynasty aristocracy valued decorum and etiquette above all else, a burst of laughter erupted, first from the military officers and then spreading to the civil officials. Even Xie Lang, with his stern and solemn demeanor, could not suppress a twitch at the corner of his mouth.
Ah Qiu wasn't afraid of ruining her second senior brother's turf and making him lose face. Mo Yimingyue, a powerful figure on both land and sea, had negotiated business with hundreds of gangs since her debut; she'd seen it all. If she couldn't even handle a single setback, she wouldn't be the second senior brother she knew. Therefore, she didn't hold back at all when she unleashed her sharp tongue.
Mo Yimingyue's eyes gleamed as she scrutinized A Qiu for a long while before she smiled and said, "Are all the female officials in your country so unwilling to back down verbally? That's not a good habit."
Just as Xie Lang was about to say a few words in support of A Qiu, Mo Yimingyue coldly interrupted him, saying, "We Northern Qiang people do not know how to build ships, but there are also Han people in the Northern Qiang territory who know how to build ships. If we forcibly requisition the servants of Han aristocratic estates along the Yellow River to build ships, and then capture a group of craftsmen from the Shu region in the southwest, the number should be enough."
Before he could finish speaking, A-Qiu glared at him angrily, her eyes blazing with fury, but she couldn't utter another word.
At the same time, he couldn't help but feel resentful: if we're talking about being ruthless and vicious, then it has to be this Master Xingfeng of Lanling Hall.
Although his words were merely empty threats, A Qiu had no doubt that he could actually do it if necessary one day. If Dayan truly angered the Northern Qiang, it was entirely possible that they would abduct a large number of Han Chinese artisans as slaves in retaliation, and forcibly conscript people from the manors of the Central Plains aristocratic families to implement a reign of terror, because that was exactly what they had done before.
If this were the case, the Han people in the Central Plains under the rule of the Northern Qiang would only hate the Southern Dynasty even more. While they were suffering terribly, the people of the Southern Dynasty could not only live in comfort but also provoke the Northern Qiang with their words, making them the targets of their anger.
The Lanling Xiao Clan, to which Xiao Chang'an belongs, will not forget this hatred.
With just a few words, Mo Yimingyue completely turned the tide. He casually tilted his head back, his eyes gleaming with a sharp light, and looked at Aqiu with a half-smile, as if to tell her that this was the true face of politics—cruel as it could be. If you're not willing to gamble with other people's lives, then get off the table now.
After he finished speaking those two sentences, no one in the hall dared to utter a single word in response.
The hall fell silent for a moment, with only the sound of everyone breathing rapidly.
This is the true style of the ruthless Mo Yimingyue at the negotiating table: a single, decisive strike that can easily cripple the opponent's vitals.
To everyone's surprise, Gongyi Xiu, who had been silent all along, suddenly raised his head, his eyes gleaming, and said, "Your Excellency has probably said a bit too much today. I wonder what His Highness Prince Ning of your country would think if he knew that you had made most of the decisions for him, and even for the Great Khan?"
Everyone then realized something: Mo Yimingyue was being so aggressive, yet she was merely an advance envoy, which was suspicious of overstepping her bounds. If this matter were to reach the Northern Qiang, even before the Great Yan could take any action, Prince Ning, who had already been overshadowed before even officially setting out on his mission, would likely teach him a lesson.
However, most of Mo Yimingyue's overbearing and arrogant behavior was forced out by A Qiu's eloquent arguments. If he hadn't shown some real talent, he would have been at a complete disadvantage and was being beaten step by step.
Mo Yimingyue then smiled and said, "There's no need for the Right Prime Minister to worry about that. My master has some influence in the Northern Qiang, and Prince Ning is quite respectful of scholars. Otherwise, I might not have been willing to come."
These words were meant to show Gongyi Xiu that his trip was solely due to the orders of his master, Wanqiqing, and that he had no choice but to come.
Mo Yimingyue gave Gongyi Xiu ample face, as he held his senior brother in high esteem. Now that his senior brother had spoken, he decided to accept the situation and politely bowed, saying, "The Southern Dynasty is indeed full of talented people and blessed with outstanding natural beauty. Xiao Yue is truly impressed. I hope that both countries will treat our envoys with sincerity and engage in friendly consultations during their visit three months from now."
His sudden shifts between firmness and gentleness left most of the people in the hall unable to discern his true intentions, giving them only the impression that he was unfathomable and utterly unemotional. His every move, whether advancing or retreating, was perfectly timed. Even Xie Lang narrowed his eyes, forced to re-evaluate the Northern Qiang envoy, Xiao Yue.
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