oh?
The latest report brought by the messenger surprised both Prince Chen Huai'an of Jin and General Wang Jian.
Right now, the Longcheng army is sweeping across the area south of the Yangtze River. Emperor Tiande of Nanyue, Li Zongmin, has sent an envoy to visit us. He must be here with a political mission!
Could it be that Emperor Tiande is also preparing to submit to the Jin Prince's regime?
Chen Huai'an waved his hand and ordered, "Send word to summon the envoy from the Southern Yue Kingdom to the palace for an audience!"
"Furthermore, immediately send someone to Qixia Temple on Fengming Mountain to invite Master Dongfang Xiao!"
"Yes, Your Highness Prince Jin!"
The messenger immediately took the order and left.
It seemed that General Wang Jian was not needed to receive the envoy from the Nanyue Kingdom, so Chen Huai'an instructed Wang Jian to prepare for the return of Chen Qingzhi, the deputy marshal of Longcheng's army, from his westward expedition.
The latter immediately accepted the order.
Soon, as Chen Huai'an sat back on the dragon throne in the Hall of Supreme Harmony in the Jin Prince's Palace, an announcement came again from outside the hall:
"Summon the envoy from the Southern Yue Kingdom to the palace for an audience!"
Immediately afterwards, a lean and capable middle-aged man dressed in a dark long robe, with a slightly dark complexion, hurried into the Hall of Supreme Harmony and knelt before Prince Chen Huai'an of Jin on the main hall.
"Your humble servant Li Qi pays his respects to Your Highness Prince Jin! Long live the Prince of Jin! Long live the Prince of Jin!"
Chen Huai'an waved his hand and said, "No need for formalities, please rise!"
"Thank you, Your Highness!"
After Li Qi stood up, he maintained a humble demeanor.
Before his departure, Tang Bo, the prime minister of the Southern Yue Kingdom, repeatedly instructed the envoy Li Qi to be humble in front of the King of Jin and not to be arrogant or rude.
Because the last person to be arrogant and disrespectful to the Prince of Jin, the envoy from the Turkic Khaganate, Huo Boguitian, not only had His Highness the Prince of Jin beheaded in the palace, but also brought annihilation to his own country.
We must learn from past mistakes and never repeat them!
In the main hall, Chen Huai'an asked calmly, "Li Qi, what brings you here from the Guangdong and Guangxi regions to Longcheng to pay your respects to me?"
Li Qi immediately replied, "Your Highness, I have come to pay my respects to Prince Jin on the orders of Emperor Tiande of the Southern Yue Kingdom to present gifts to Your Highness!"
Hahaha!
Upon hearing this, Chen Huai'an could no longer help but burst into laughter, saying, "I almost forgot if you hadn't mentioned it, but Prince Li Zongmin of Guangxin has already ascended the throne and become emperor in his fiefdom!"
"Speak, what gift did he send you to deliver to me?"
Hearing Chen Huai'an mock his own emperor, Li Qi, as the envoy, was neither angry nor upset, and maintained his humble attitude as he said:
"Your Highness Prince Jin, the great gift Emperor Tiande has presented to you is 100,000 wolf soldiers entering Jinling, clearing the final obstacle for Your Highness's Dragon City army to sweep across Jiangnan!"
oh?
Upon hearing this news, Chen Huai'an's face showed a hint of surprise, and he said with great interest, "Li Qi, tell me about this in detail!"
"Your Highness Prince Jin, please take a look first!"
As he spoke, Li Qi took out two secret letters from his wide sleeves and held them high above his head with both hands.
Chen Huai'an waved his hand, and immediately a servant took the things from Li Qi's hands and handed them to Chen Huai'an.
Upon opening one of the letters, it turned out to be a handwritten letter from Qin Ruhui, the prime minister of the Daxin Dynasty, to Emperor Tiande of the Nanyue Kingdom. It detailed Qin Ruhui's efforts to invite Li Zongmin to form an alliance, as well as the details of sending troops to Jinling and ceding cities in the two lakes.
Another letter was a personal letter from Emperor Tiande of the Nanyue Kingdom to Prince Chen Huai'an of Jin: "My dear nephew Huai'an, seeing this letter is like seeing you in person..."
In the letter, Emperor Tiande, Li Zongmin, did not refer to himself as emperor, but instead continued to refer to himself as uncle and nephew, based on the old relationship between Prince Guangxin and his predecessor, Chen Polu.
The contents of the letter were also very interesting. First, it explained to Chen Huai'an why the Nanyue Kingdom broke away from the rule of the Da Xin Dynasty and established itself as a country.
Then, he kept emphasizing that Prince Guangxin and the late Prince Chen Polu were both members of the eight non-royal princes of Daxin, and expressed deep sympathy for his nephew's experience of raising an army to quell the rebellion.
Finally, Li Zongmin said that he was willing to lend Chen Huai'an a hand, outwardly agreeing to the alliance with the treacherous minister Qin Ruhui, sending 100,000 troops to Nanjing, and secretly coordinating with the Longcheng army that was marching south to capture Nanjing in one fell swoop!
After reading the contents of the two letters, Chen Huai'an couldn't help but sigh to himself that Emperor Tiande, Li Zongmin, had a powerful patron by his side!
Sending envoys to Longcheng was a way to test our attitude and negotiate.
Finally, Chen Huai'an put down the two letters and said to Li Qi, the envoy from Nanyue, before the Crown Prince, "Li Qi, I have reviewed the documents you submitted."
"But there's one thing I don't understand. Emperor Tiande couldn't have helped me conquer Jinling City for no reason, could he?"
"After this is done, what does your Southern Yue Kingdom want? This letter from Emperor Tiande doesn't mention it at all!"
"The Prince of Jin is wise!"
Li Qi first cupped his hands to Chen Huai'an before continuing, "Your Highness, our Nan Yue Kingdom is willing to help Prince Jin ascend the throne, and naturally hopes that after Prince Jin stabilizes the world, we can provide some convenience to Nan Yue Kingdom."
Chen Huai'an said, "Be more specific."
Li Qi replied, "We acknowledge the legitimacy of the Southern Yue Kingdom and will forge an alliance with it, promising never to wage war again!"
"In exchange, our Nanyue Kingdom is willing to grant His Highness Prince Jin's new dynasty corresponding trade policies, and Nanyue's ports of entry will also provide certain conveniences for the new dynasty's merchants to navigate."
"Of course, these are just preliminary terms; the specifics can be discussed further!"
Hahaha!
Upon hearing this, Chen Huai'an burst into laughter once again.
After a long pause, he said with a hint of amusement:
"Li Qi, if I don't agree to Emperor Tiande's conditions, will the 100,000 wolf soldiers he sent to Jinling City turn around and help Qin Ruhui to fight against my Dragon City army?"
Cough cough!
Li Qi coughed twice, then replied with a wry smile, "Your Highness, no, that's not the case!"
"Our Emperor has said that if His Highness Prince Jin is unwilling to maintain friendly relations with our Southern Yue Kingdom, then our Southern Yue Kingdom will not interfere in the current internal strife and turmoil of the Great Xin Dynasty."
After a pause, Li Qi continued, "In short, our Southern Yue Kingdom comes with the utmost sincerity, aiming to establish friendly relations with His Highness Prince Jin."
Hahaha!
Chen Huai'an smiled and said, "Your Nanyue Kingdom is quite pragmatic!"
"Emperor Tiande's ability to resist the temptations of numerous cities, people, and resources in the Hubei and Hunan regions is truly admirable!"
"Unlike Mu Rongfu of the Nanzhao Kingdom, who dared to send troops to Nanjing to participate in this coup d'état for the sake of the mere Yunnan and Guizhou regions!"
"Fine!"
As he spoke, Chen Huai'an said firmly, enunciating each word clearly, "Considering that Emperor Tiande has taken the initiative to show goodwill to me, I will also give him a choice—"
"After I quell the rebellion in Jinling, if Emperor Tiande is willing to abdicate and lead the people of Guangdong and Guangxi to submit to me;"
"Then I will forgive all his past misdeeds, restore his status as a king of a different surname, change his title from two-character king to one-character king, and bestow upon him the title of King of Yue."
"Go back and tell Emperor Tiande that he need not rush to reply to me. Let him see how I quell the chaos in Jinling and sweep across the Jiangnan region before giving a reply!"
After saying that, Chen Huai'an waved his hand and roared domineeringly, "Guards, show the guests out!"
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