Why!
Zan Rihong sighed. Success would be good, but failure now would put them in an awkward situation.
He stepped forward and said in a deep voice, " Great Liang is now making a big fuss about his assassination attempt, saying that we are troublemakers in the southwest and that we are bullies on the plateau."
Although these words weren't particularly offensive, they were extremely insulting, and the surrounding forces were very dissatisfied with us, even the common people were complaining!
This kind of public pressure is very difficult to handle. Although it won't cost Zhennan a hair, it won't make things easy for Zhennan either.
In short, Zhennan is isolated and unable to leverage the strength of neighboring countries. It can only grit its teeth and bear the Great Liang on its own, which is definitely the worst news.
"A troublemaker?"
Upon hearing this, King Nan Ke's face instantly darkened, and he couldn't help but grit his teeth and say, "You call me a Zhennan? I think it's Great Liang that's the troublemaker!"
How harmonious the East used to be, with several great powers each fighting their own battles.
Now, thanks to the actions of the Great Liang, the entire East is in turmoil, and even the West has been affected. The Great Liang is truly a troublemaker.
Compared to Lin Yi, he felt like a peace ambassador.
"Your Majesty, there is no need to worry about the Frostwest Empire. They dare not divide their forces to attack us now. We only need to withstand the attack from Great Liang!" General Lu Donghuchen of Zhennan stepped forward and gave his opinion directly.
The Frostwest Empire is currently facing pressure from several sides, and no matter how much they hate Zhennan, they cannot take action against Zhennan.
That makes sense!
Nan Ke's eyes lit up; Lu Donghuchen's words were like a wake-up call.
Damn it, if they're having a hard time, the Frostwest Empire is having an even harder time. They're caught in the middle, being attacked by several major powers.
Given this situation, the Frostwest Empire would not dare to offend him again, let alone send troops to attack Zhennan.
Unless his own country no longer wants him, he will be swallowed up by the Great West Empire and the Black Skull Army, and may even attract the Great Liang to invade from the Western Regions.
With that said, the Frostwest Empire really didn't dare to make a move.
He said excitedly, "In that case, we don't need to worry about the Frostwest Empire. Just send someone to explain. It's all a misunderstanding, and they'll know what to do next."
As for what other countries think, what business is it of ours? Lin Yi already said we're troublemakers, why would we need friends!
Whether Bill III believed it or not, the Frostwest Empire was locked down and they couldn't move an inch.
We don't care about the opinions of other countries. Zhennan has a bad reputation anyway, so we might as well be a lone wolf in the southwest and fight Great Liang.
"Your Majesty is right!"
"Anyway, we weren't planning on asking for help from others, so it doesn't matter whether we have help or not. Therefore, Lin Yi's smear campaign is completely futile."
Everyone sneered.
So what if they're troublemakers? The Frostwest Empire won't send troops to help anyway. Offending them is no big deal.
On the contrary, Lin Yi's efforts, which involved so much manpower and resources, were destined to be in vain.
Zan Rihong shook his head and said with a wry smile, "It's not entirely useless. Many people in the country have been affected, feeling that they have suffered undeserved disasters because we are causing trouble everywhere."
Some of the original factions have also shown unusual activity, perhaps harboring some inappropriate intentions.
"Hateful!"
Nan Yiming's face turned ashen upon hearing this, and he angrily retorted, "These lowly people understand nothing! Zhennan annexed those small countries to make the nation stronger, what's wrong with that!"
It's important to understand that Zhennan is currently facing a huge crisis. A million-strong army from Great Liang is continuously pouring into the Zhennan Dynasty, putting immense pressure on Zhennan.
Therefore, Nan Ke not only ordered a nationwide conscription, but Zhennan could be said to have reached its most tense moment.
At a time like this, for ordinary people to still want to cause trouble is simply the act of a bunch of fools. He's already considering how to forcefully suppress these people.
Nan Ke nodded slightly, gave his son a look, and then said in a deep voice, "Leave this matter to Yiming. Since they have had inappropriate thoughts, then get rid of them."
With the decisive battle against Great Liang imminent, we absolutely cannot afford any problems later on.
The latter nodded and immediately sent people down to carry out the task: to unleash a massacre and, incidentally, strengthen his own power.
Nan Ke glanced at Zan Rihong and Lu Donghuchen. Now that the other matters were resolved, only the problem of Great Liang remained.
"Now that the Great Liang army has breached the first line of defense, they have begun a rapid advance. Their next target is Pingyu Pass. Are you confident you can hold it?"
This is the real big problem, compared to the previous minor issues.
"Your Majesty, our troops are arriving in droves, but the enemy has a large number of crossbows and that mysterious weapon, so Pingyu Pass is not the place for the decisive battle. It is very disadvantageous for us here!" Lu Donghuchen said in a deep voice after thinking for a moment.
Nan Ke frowned, instantly understanding what Lu Donghuchen meant.
The terrain here is flat. If they encounter the Great Liang army in such a place, they will be covered by a barrage of arrows. Their own arrows will not be able to withstand the Great Liang army's attack.
He said in a deep voice, "What's the situation in Great Liang now? They should have arrived by now, so why haven't they made a move?"
"Your Majesty, the enemy at the front has reached Pingyu Pass, but they show no intention of attacking," Lu Donghuchen said with a wry smile after a moment's hesitation.
"No intention to attack?"
Nan Ke took a deep breath. What was Great Liang to now? Were they preparing another lightning attack on other places?
Thinking of this, he said in a deep voice, "Send men to keep an eye on Flying Hero Pass and Dalang Valley to prevent the enemy from launching a sneak attack on these two places. The people of Great Liang have never been known for their martial ethics!"
On the other side, at the Pingyu Pass camp!
As the commander of the second wave of attacks, Zhao Zhong's face was even more unsightly than Nan Ke's. His usual scholarly air had vanished, replaced by a look of anxiety.
Looking at his family and dozens of other scholars around him, he felt as if the Tiandu fall.
He practically gritted his teeth as he said, "The Emperor has gone too far! He's sending only a few dozen scholars to attack Pingyu Pass; this is practically an attempt to kill us!"
He originally thought that as the main general, he would be in command of Qi Jiguang's 300,000-strong army, so he was quite in high spirits.
To his utter surprise, Qi Jiguang had no intention of taking action, which meant that the only people he could mobilize were the thirty-odd like-minded scholars and his own Zhao Clan family.
What's the point of fighting like that? It's just suicide.
snort!
Upon hearing his words, a cold glint flashed in Hu Che'er's eyes, and he laughed, "Didn't you want to be a saint, saying that the soldiers of Great Liang killed too many people on the battlefield? So His Majesty is giving you a chance."
We'll let you fight a war without bloodshed. If you win, you'll be promoted and even have your name remembered for eternity!
Ordinary people don't get this treatment; it has to be because the Emperor values you!