"Explain!"
"Your Majesty, we have discovered that people from the Zhennan Dynasty have also arrived, and it is their eldest prince who has come in person, bringing with him many, many gifts."
"Prince Zhennan?"
Lin Yi's eyes lit up; this was quite interesting.
The two countries are still at war, and you come here to deliver gifts? Is this an admission of defeat?
The Zhennan Dynasty had previously been very tough, determined to fight to the death, even going so far as to massacre neighboring small states in preparation for strengthening itself to confront the Great Liang.
The guy I've been utterly crushing is actually coming to give me a gift.
And this eldest prince, if I remember correctly, is supposed to be the future heir of Zhennan. What does the King of Zhennan Nation want to do?
"Your Majesty is wise. This eldest Nan Yiming, is indeed their heir. According to our intelligence, he is likely here as a hostage to negotiate with us," Wang Yue explained.
He felt somewhat speechless; the Zhennan Dynasty was about to be destroyed, so what was the point of talking about anything else?
No matter how friendly things are, nothing is more secure than turning it into your own territory. Besides, there's no reason to let go of a place that your emperor has his eye on.
Lin Yi sneered and said quietly, "Hmph, what's the point of saying all this now? The only other way out is to completely surrender to Great Liang from the beginning. Perhaps there's still a sliver of hope!"
If you surrender now, I might as well kill you.
Now that I've mobilized a million troops, you think you can just start negotiating? That would be a waste of time; it's utter nonsense.
However, Zhennan is probably really in a hurry this time, otherwise he wouldn't have even sent his heir as a hostage. He's really going all out, and there might be no successor.
If the Great Liang, they could simply use this heir to establish another Zhennan regime; that would be entirely possible.
Come to think of it, not only were Lü Bu and others there this time, but Qi Jiguang also went. It's normal that Zhennan couldn't hold out.
After thinking for a moment, he said in a deep voice, "Ignore them, just accept the gift. As for the other matters, let Xu You deal with them. We're not in a hurry!"
My birthday is just around the corner, my first birthday since ascending the throne. I should relax a bit, not talk about these things. Let's get back to the main topic.
"Understood!" Wang Yue's eyes lit up, and he immediately knew how to handle the situation.
Meanwhile, envoys from various countries also began entering Yong'an City.
The current emperor's birthday has caused a surge in the population of Yong'an City. In addition to kings from various countries coming to offer their congratulations, powerful clans from all over the country have also come.
Even if they couldn't see the emperor in person, they had to do their part to put their minds at ease, since they owed their current status to the emperor.
A new emperor brings a new court; with the decline of the Great Ning, this wave of rising figures are all from the Great Liang system.
The emperor is their sovereign, so naturally they must come to pay homage.
However, seeing the people of Yong'an City frantically donating money, forming several long queues, they were dumbfounded. What was going on?
A wealthy merchant from Xiliang couldn't help but pull aside a fellow townsman from Yong'an City and whisper, "Brother, what's going on? Why are you all donating money?"
What's going on? Has the world changed? Is everyone struggling to make money?
Donating money is one thing, but lining up to donate money is simply outrageous.
"Hey, you're from the North, aren't you? Perhaps you don't know the situation. His Majesty, wanting All Under Heaven the people to be like dragons, is personally paying for our children to study for free..."
Seeing the wealthy merchant's travel-worn appearance and hearing his Xiliang accent, the fellow villager immediately lowered his guard and began to explain.
Everyone is like a dragon?
Upon hearing this, the wealthy merchant trembled, and then a tear rolled down his cheek as he sighed, "His Majesty gave up his vast fortune for the sake of Xiliang, distributing sweet potato and potato seeds for free."
I never imagined that after he became emperor, his magnanimity would be even greater than before. This is truly a blessing for our Great Liang!
I, Huang Sanze, was just a farmer at first. Later, I contracted dozens of acres of land with the emperor and made my fortune with potatoes, which led to my success today.
"Now that the Emperor is short of money, I can't just stand by and watch."
To put it bluntly, the Emperor is doing all this for the people, so that we can all live better and with more dignity. We are deeply grateful for the Emperor's favor, so how can we pretend we haven't seen it?
He turned to the steward and said in a deep voice, "Take out half of our money. I want to donate it to the Emperor and do my part for the prosperity of our Great Liang!"
In such a large Yong'an City, there was far more than just one Huang Sanze; soon the line of people donating money grew even longer.
"What's going on? People from Great Liang are lining up to donate money to Lin Yi?"
This scene made Bill III, who had just entered Yong'an City, question his life and stare in horror at the long rows of people in front of him.
This is terrifying! Does the emperor of Great Liang really have this kind of influence?
Grunt!
Nishu, who was standing next to him, swallowed hard and whispered, "Your Majesty, we don't know the specifics of this matter yet. I'll go to the front and ask."
He's been dealing with Great Liang these past few days and has finally learned some basic conversational phrases, which he can now use.
He returned shortly afterward, but his expression was even more unpleasant.
He told Bill III the story with a grim face, causing the latter to gasp in shock.
Bill III's heart trembled violently, and he said in disbelief, "Has Lin Yi gone mad? Why doesn't he just be a dragon himself? Why does he want everyone to be a dragon?"
"Isn't this just asking for trouble? If the people of Great Liang become powerful, the emperor will be in danger. Besides, are all the people of Great Liang fools? Why are so many of them donating money?"
He couldn't believe it was true; it felt like a colossal lie. How could anyone in the All Under Heaven be so foolish?
"Your Majesty, I believe that this so-called 'everyone is like a dragon' is merely a saying, just like the concept of freedom and fairness in the West."
Nishu pondered for a moment, then said with a disdainful look.
He doesn't believe there are such selfless people in the world. To put it bluntly, the idea that everyone can be a dragon is just a slogan, nothing more than Western rhetoric about freedom and fairness.
They themselves constantly preach freedom and sovereignty, claiming that every individual is a sacred being, but in reality, it's all just nonsense.
The emperor and the nobles will always be at the very top of the social hierarchy; the so-called freedom below is nothing but a facade, and the power of choice always belongs to the strong.
He himself was born into nobility, and his lifestyle from childhood was one of wealth that ordinary people could never imagine in a lifetime. What kind of fairness is that?
The Emperor of Great Liang's actions were undoubtedly aimed at winning over the people.
Upon hearing this, Bill III suddenly realized that what was said made sense; it turned out that Lin Yi had been bragging.
He said with a hint of envy, "Damn it, why don't we have such stupid commoners in our Frostwest Empire? It would be so nice if they could donate some money to me too!"
We're too poor right now.