EBE Chapter 183 The Schemes of the Western Zhou Dynasty
Chapter 183 The Schemes of the Western Zhou Dynasty
A month passed quickly.
For the past month, the King of Han has tried many times to ask the Emperor of Eastern Qin for the release of the prisoners, but the Emperor of Eastern Qin has refused to meet with him.
Later, the Emperor of Eastern Qin even publicly announced that he had recently gained some insights and would be going into seclusion to cultivate.
In the end, the King of Han had no choice but to grit his teeth and swallow his anger.
After a month of preparation, Dong Qin is fully ready.
Besides the King of Wei, the King of Zhou, the King of Han, and the King of Xian all chose their favorite children to accompany them to the border.
Meanwhile, the Western Zhou also received the news.
Emperor Zhou immediately summoned the important ministers of the Western Zhou Dynasty.
The Western Zhou Dynasty court.
"My esteemed ministers, you must already know that Eastern Qin is preparing to attack us. Do you have any ideas on how to deal with this?"
The Western Zhou emperor looked at his high-ranking officials below and asked them a question.
He never expected that Dong Qin would take action against them after only three years of peace.
He had spent three long years finally quelling the turmoil in the Western Zhou Dynasty, but unexpectedly, the Eastern Qin Dynasty was about to launch a military campaign against them.
Now is their weakest time, and they have no chance of stopping the advance of the Eastern Qin army.
He was completely overwhelmed when he heard the news.
"Your Majesty, our Western Zhou Dynasty has finally stabilized after the chaos of the plague. Starting a war at this time would be disadvantageous for us. What we need most now is to recuperate and rebuild our lives."
"We now need to send a delegation to Eastern Qin to negotiate. Regardless of the final outcome, no troops may be deployed during the negotiations; this is the rule."
The Left Chancellor of the Western Zhou Dynasty was the first to speak.
There's nothing they can do; their national treasury is already empty, and even a mouse passing by would weep.
If war breaks out, they won't even be able to provide enough food and supplies.
The only thing we can do now is send a delegation to buy time, the longer the better.
As long as the negotiations continue, Eastern Qin cannot send troops.
The eyes of the court officials lit up immediately upon hearing the Left Chancellor's words.
They were still trying to figure out how to get the Eastern Qin troops to withdraw, but now the Left Prime Minister's words have solved the problem.
"What the Left Prime Minister says is very true. What we need to do now is to send a delegation to negotiate as soon as possible."
"If negotiations fail, we should delay as much as possible; the longer we delay, the better for us."
The Right Chancellor of the Western Zhou Dynasty also stepped forward and spoke.
"Left Prime Minister, who do you think is the best person to go on this mission?"
The Western Zhou emperor looked at his left prime minister.
"It would be best if the Minister of Rites led the delegation, and a prince accompanied him, to demonstrate our sincerity in negotiations and prevent Eastern Qin from finding an excuse."
After a brief silence, the Left Prime Minister spoke.
His suggestion to have the prince accompany them was also because he was worried that if only the Minister of Rites was present, the Eastern Qin would think they lacked sincerity.
If Eastern Qin uses this as an excuse to start a war directly, then they will be in trouble.
After hearing the Left Chancellor's suggestion, the Western Zhou Emperor fell silent.
Sending a prince on a mission at this time has both advantages and disadvantages. If the Eastern Qin gets wind of this and secretly takes action against the prince, then his son will be in danger.
After all the turmoil, he now only has three princes left.
They were the Crown Prince, the Third Prince, and the Seventh Prince. The other princes had all died for various reasons during the years of turmoil.
He didn't want to lose any more children.
"Your Majesty, we cannot hesitate now. The Eastern Qin army has already assembled. If we wait for the four kings to arrive, they will launch an attack directly, and then we will be at a disadvantage."
Seeing that the Western Zhou emperor was silent, the Left Chancellor of the Western Zhou Dynasty guessed what the emperor was thinking.
But time is of the essence, and they can't afford to delay.
"Prime Minister, which prince do you think is the most suitable to send?"
The Western Zhou emperor coldly inquired of the left prime minister's opinion.
He knew very well that the Left Prime Minister's suggestion was the best, but he was still reluctant to give it up, after all, the Eastern Qin were capable of assassinating princes.
“The Seventh Prince is the most suitable. There are still two princesses in Dongqin who are not yet married. The Seventh Prince will not be responsible for the peace talks this time. If he can win the favor of one of the two princesses of Dongqin, we can take the opportunity to propose a marriage alliance.”
"At that time, it will be impossible for Eastern Qin to launch a military campaign against us in a short period of time."
Fearing that the Western Zhou emperor would still not agree, the Left Chancellor of the Western Zhou Dynasty offered a very tempting bait.
To prevent the Western Zhou emperor from continuing to hesitate.
He was inwardly cursing, "That old geezer is getting less and less decisive with age."
He didn't want the Eastern Qin to conquer the Western Zhou, after all, he hadn't forgotten the fate of those officials from the Southern Qi and the Northern Barbarians.
He didn't want his entire clan to be wiped out.
If the Western Zhou emperor continues to hesitate and cannot make a decision, then he will have to take action.
When the Western Zhou emperor heard the Left Chancellor's suggestion, a look of joy flashed in his eyes. If his son could really succeed in the marriage alliance, it might actually be able to make the Eastern Qin postpone its military campaign. Moreover, they could also do some work with the Eastern Qin princess.
However, they forgot one thing: Qin Wu had already declared that the marriage of the Eastern Qin princess was a matter of personal choice and would not be a political alliance.
Therefore, their idea was destined to fail.
"Alright, then we'll do as the Left Prime Minister says."
After hearing the Left Chancellor's opinion, the Western Zhou Emperor immediately agreed.
The next step is to arrange the details and negotiation content.
The news quickly reached Eastern Qin.
Qin Wu received the news immediately.
"The Western Zhou Dynasty is really dreaming. They're quite the strategist, even wanting to form a marriage alliance."
"Go and tell His Majesty to mobilize his Imperial Shadow Guard and prevent the Western Zhou delegation from entering Eastern Qin."
Qin Wu gave the instructions directly.
In his view, the Western Zhou Dynasty was nothing but a dream.
Moreover, they were already prepared to take action; how could they possibly allow the Western Zhou's conspiracy to succeed?
Upon receiving the order, Liu Feng left immediately.
A few days later, news came again from the Western Zhou that the Western Zhou delegation had set off for the Eastern Qin.
The Eastern Qin Emperor also began to take action.
An assassination attempt was launched.
The Western Zhou dynasty, fearing assassination attempts, had made preparations and even dispatched a Grandmaster for protection.
By the time the Western Zhou delegation arrived at the border, its numbers had been reduced by half.
However, all the important figures were unharmed, while the Imperial Shadow Guard suffered considerable losses, which greatly angered the Emperor of Eastern Qin.
Finally, the Emperor of Eastern Qin personally came to Shenfeng Manor and found Qin Wu.
"Father, what brings you here?"
Qin Wu was puzzled as to why the Emperor of Eastern Qin had come, since the Emperor of Eastern Qin had not left the palace for a long time.
He actually came to see him in person today.
"I've come here to discuss something with you."
"The Western Zhou delegation has arrived at the border. The Imperial Shadow Guard has sent word that a Grandmaster-level expert is hidden within the Western Zhou delegation, and the Imperial Shadow Guard is unable to handle him."
The Emperor of Eastern Qin did not dawdle and went straight to the point.
If there is no way to resolve this, then the only option is to allow the Western Zhou delegation to enter Eastern Qin, which would mean that Eastern Qin must suspend its operations until the Western Zhou delegation leaves Eastern Qin or the negotiations between the two sides fail.
This situation would be very disadvantageous for Eastern Qin in the long run.
The daily consumption of an army of 160 million is no small amount.
Especially when daily training is required to maintain combat effectiveness, the consumption of food and supplies becomes even greater.
This is something the Emperor of Eastern Qin would absolutely not allow.
"What do you want me to do?"
Qin Wu calmly looked at the Eastern Qin Emperor, though he asked the question in this manner.
However, Qin Wu knew very well that the Eastern Qin Emperor wanted him to send someone to attack the Western Zhou delegation.
Otherwise, the Imperial Shadow Guards would have been unable to destroy the Western Zhou delegation, which was protected by a Grandmaster-level expert.
“I need you to send your secret guards to take action. I know that there must be a Grandmaster-level expert among your secret guards. We absolutely cannot allow the Western Zhou delegation to enter my Eastern Qin.”
The Emperor of Eastern Qin didn't stand on ceremony and directly stated his demands.
Yes, that's the requirement.
"Why? Even if they enter Eastern Qin, we can continue fighting as usual."
Qin Wu was puzzled.
The reason why the Emperor of Dongqin sent the Imperial Shadow Guards to assassinate him was that he did not arrange for his own secret guards to do so.
Qin Wu thought it didn't matter; if they could destroy it, they would; if they couldn't, they wouldn't.
Even if the Western Zhou delegation entered Eastern Qin, they continued their fighting.
"These are the rules, rules that cannot be broken. War must not break out during negotiations."
The Emperor of Eastern Qin said through gritted teeth.
He wanted to fight, but he couldn't, and he didn't dare. Some rules are not for everyone to break.