The Eldest Daughter Is Beautiful and Saucy
Chapter 1316: lessons learned
Chapter 1316: Lessons from the Past
“Your Majesty!” Another general stepped forward, knelt down and kowtowed, “If Your Majesty cares about our soldiers… and doesn’t want them to bleed and sacrifice in vain, you should destroy Yan State now. Otherwise, when Yan State recovers, it will be even more difficult for us to fight, and we will only sacrifice more soldiers! The strategy of merging the two countries proposed by Yan State is of no benefit to our Great Zhou. Your Majesty must not be soft-hearted…”
“Lord Lu Jin…what do you think?” Bai Qingyan asked, picking up the hot tea at hand.
Lu Jin hurried forward, saluted Bai Qingyan and said, “This matter has its pros and cons. Just as you all said, it is possible that this is just a delaying tactic of Yan State. They set a three-year deadline just to use these three years to recover and then fight against our Great Zhou. It is not impossible!”
The court officials all echoed.
Lu Jin changed the subject and said, “But…if it is true as the Regent King said, Yan is out of guilt and wants to repay the Great Zhou, then we in the Three Kingdoms may be able to take over Yan without bloodshed one year later, provided…that Yan has not deceived the Great Zhou and is sincere in making this bet with us.”
“So?” General Lu looked at Lu Jin, “Master Lu, do you agree to fight or to gamble?”
Lu Jin bowed respectfully to General Lu, and then said, “The temptation to conquer Yan without bloodshed is too great. As the Regent of Yan said, in all the cities of Yan that the Bai family army had conquered, except for this capital city, officials and civilians in other cities fought to the death. Every time a city was conquered, the walls were almost destroyed and the civilians were almost dead. The generals should all know this!”
The generals in the court nodded one after another.
“Why did the people fight to the death? It was because Yan’s national policy was good for the people, and Jin’s national policy at that time was not friendly to the people.” Lu Jin said slowly, “So when we took over Yan’s city, the surviving Yan people actually left their homes and followed Yan!”
The older court officials still remember this incident as they stand in the court today.
“But the current national politics of our Great Zhou is better for the people than that of Yan State!” said an official.
“That’s true, but how can the people of Yan know?” Lü Jin said with a smile, “How many literate people are there in Yan? How many of them care about the politics of other countries? How many of the scholars who care about the politics of other countries… can get in touch with the new policies of our Great Zhou?” Lü Jin saw that no officials said anything else, so he continued, “So… if we fight, we must be prepared for a miserable victory! And after the miserable victory, we will have to take over a messy Yan.”
“What if we don’t fight?” Shen Sikong asked, cooperating with Lu Jin in acting.
“If we don’t fight and agree to the merger of the two countries, then… we must ensure that the two countries use national policies to determine the winner and loser of the merger, and the losing country will not cheat, that is, make sure that Yan will not cheat!” Lu Jin slowly led the topic to the direction that Bai Qingyan had told him before, “As long as we can ensure that Yan will not cheat, I think with the strength of our Great Zhou, we can give it a try…”
“It’s so easy for Minister Lu! Let’s give it a try… Why do I feel like Lord Lu is not a person of the Great Zhou! Another try! How can you be sure that the Yan State won’t cheat? Who among you standing here dares to guarantee it?” Some generals couldn’t help rolling their eyes at Lu Jin. They were furious and felt that what Lu Jin said was the same as if he hadn’t said anything.
“We are family members discussing this, there is no reason to be angry with one’s own family…” Bai Qingyan said with a smile, “To be honest, I am very tempted by Yan’s proposal to decide the outcome based on national policy and to gamble with the country! The lives of the soldiers are precious. If we can really take Yan without bloodshed, it will be a good thing for the people of both countries!”
“Your Majesty!” Liu Hong stepped forward, “The soldiers sacrificed their lives… to protect the country. Your Majesty cannot put the cart before the horse! The country is here to protect the lives of the soldiers. As a military commander, I cannot agree with this!”
“General Liu Hong is a veteran, I can listen to your words.” Bai Qingyan nodded to Liu Hong, “However, if you can really guarantee that Yan will not cheat after losing, I think what Lord Lu said is right, we can give it a try!”
“Your Majesty, you can’t do that!”
“Your Majesty, this is clearly a treacherous plot by the State of Yan. You must not agree to it!”
“Your Majesty, please do not forget that when Zhang Yi was sent as an envoy to the State of Chu, he said that if the State of Chu withdrew its troops, he would give the State of Qin 600 li of Shangyu. However, after the State of Chu withdrew its troops, the main force of the State of Qin returned home and immediately broke the alliance! When the two countries were in alliance, the State of Yan betrayed the Great Zhou. Your Majesty should think twice before learning from this lesson!”
In the hall, the court officials who did not approve of gambling on the country knelt on the ground and begged Bai Qingyan to think twice.
“Everyone, stand up!” Bai Qingyan said with a smile, “It’s normal for everyone to express their opinions in the court. Don’t kneel down at every turn. This is not the norm in our Great Zhou court!”
The court officials knew that what Bai Qingyan said was true. The atmosphere in the court of the Great Zhou Dynasty had always been lively, and the emperor and his ministers were in harmony. Bai Qingyan was also not an emperor who would not listen to others. This was the first time that the ministers had begged Bai Qingyan to think twice.
Wei Zhong quickly signaled to the young eunuchs standing behind the red-painted pillars on both sides of the hall to help the adults up.
“Lord Lu said that we must ensure that Yan will not deny its defeat. I have an idea.” She stood up and said quietly, “Let Yan send three capable and skilled warriors as hostages to the Great Zhou!”
The court officials were worried.
“One is the regent Murong Yan of Great Yan, one is their Yan’s general Xie Xun, and the other is their second prince Murong Ping.” Bai Qingyan stood on the high steps, his hands behind his back, his eyebrows and eyes smiling brightly, “Our Great Zhou and Yan have formed an alliance to destroy Xiliang, so we know… In terms of marching and fighting, the regent Murong Yan is very capable. Then there is the general Xie Xun who once became famous for recovering Southern Yan, and there is another… Murong Ping who also rose to prominence when Great Yan recovered Southern Yan. If these three capable generals are detained in our Great Zhou court, will we still be afraid that Yan will not abide by the alliance?”
Everyone knows the importance of a commander-in-chief during a march or battle.
No matter how brave the soldiers are, it will be useless if they meet a foolish commander.
A brave commander, as long as he has soldiers at his disposal, can turn decay into magic. For example, in the battle of Southern Xinjiang, Bai Qingyan defeated a larger force with a smaller one… and in the Battle of Wengshan, he dealt a heavy blow to Xiliang.
The court officials began to discuss the feasibility of this matter in a low voice again.
“If we tell Yan State… that if they want our Great Zhou to agree to this gambling agreement, they must leave these three people in the Great Zhou as hostages…” Dong Situ raised his eyes and looked at Bai Qingyan, “Your Majesty, I’m afraid Yan State will also ask us Great Zhou to be hostages in Yan State.”