Great Song, the Imperial Palace.
Zhuge Zhengwo rode in by carriage, meeting no obstacles along the way. No one would stop his carriage, or even care whether he brought weapons into the palace.
Without Zhuge Zhengwo, Great Song's imperial rule would have been overthrown several times.
It was also because of Zhuge Zhengwo that the Great Song Court could remain unafraid of the Jianghu sects and continue to hold itself high above them.
He went straight to the Imperial Study, where the Great Song emperor was attending to state affairs.
"Divine Marquis Zhuge is here. Bring him a seat."
The Great Song emperor tossed the remaining memorials aside. He had long since lost any desire to read them, and Zhuge Zhengwo's arrival had finally given him an excuse.
After sitting down, Zhuge Zhengwo said, "Your Majesty, Great Song's Jianghu has been unsettled lately, and so have the borders. I hope Your Majesty will reorganize military affairs to guard against an invasion by Great Ming."
Now that Western Xia had fallen, Great Sui remained in turmoil, while Great Ming, Great Liao, and Great Sui's Yuwen Clan had annexed most of Mongol Yuan's grasslands. Goguryeo had directly submitted a memorial pledging allegiance to Great Ming.
If Great Ming wished to expand further, its options were to attack its former ally Great Liao, continue north and destroy Mongol Yuan completely, head west against the strife-torn Great Sui, or finally, march south and invade Great Song directly.
Of all the countries surrounding Great Ming, Great Song had the greatest national strength.
But Great Song's strength lay in its economy, not its military, because its civil officials were far too dominant.
Even with Great Ming's army massed at the border, Great Song's civil officials would probably still be discussing who should command and how to