"The Marquis of Han has arrived—Mrs. Marquis Xiang has arrived—" the guard at the door shouted in a loud voice.
Prince Qing was the nominal envoy and sat at the head of the throne. He was a little dissatisfied with Ye Qing's late arrival. His sister-in-law was a woman, so it was understandable that makeup would take time. It was really arrogant for a man to come so late.
However, the unpleasant incident of "returning the head" happened the night before, and the Han army in central Hunan was indeed retreating. The Qing commandery king was angry and knew that this was a counterattack attitude.
Your coming and going is fair and reasonable and cannot be criticized harshly. Moreover, compared with these small means, the general trend of the court is the force that the Marquis of Han cannot contend with.
When Ye Qing first entered the hall, he did not greet her immediately. He even took the time to ask his wife who disappeared early in the morning: "Have you not seen the princess yet?"
"Reporting to the king, it seems that I went to look for the two dragon ladies last night, but I haven't seen them come out yet."
Prince Qing frowned, a little displeased, and stopped asking. Then he greeted Ye Qing: "The Marquis of Han is here."
"I have met the prince." Ye Qing remained calm and saluted the prince of Qing according to etiquette, and then saluted Duke Guang. He did not sit down immediately and invited someone in.
The Prince of Qing County seemed to be enjoying his leisure time, but when he saw Da Siming coming in, his heart trembled. He couldn't help but glance at Guang Guogong, and stood up to greet him.
Although he is the king of the county and represents the imperial envoy of the Cai Dynasty at this time, he does not need to salute the incarnation of Da Siming, but he must stand up.
"Please take your place as distinguished guests." The master of ceremonies said from the side.
Ye Qing waved his hand and personally invited Da Siming to take a seat. He waited for her to sit down before he took his seat.
Every move was smooth and natural, and did not reveal any urgency of time - the true dragon's dragon energy's premonition of the future. Only immortals can taste this urgency. They have made thousands of preparations for rainy days, but when the time comes, they become more and more obvious.
Come out calmly and calmly.
Prince Qing looked at Ye Qing and didn't see anything wrong. He glanced at the entire venue: "Representatives from the three families are here, let's get started. I said before that we can discuss any issues carefully. The Marquis of Han has been thinking about it for three days, and now he is thinking about it.
How's it going?"
Ye Qing was very keen and judged that Prince Qing had seen that Da Si Ming was still there, indicating that Qing De's support was very solid, so he did not bluff this time, his attitude became better, and the atmosphere was harmonious.
But there was a knock on the door, and soon a magician came in with new news, breaking the superficial harmony of the venue.
Prince Qing's eyes lit up after receiving this message. When he clicked on the desktop, a virtual map of Kyushu was displayed. There were large spots of light flowing down the middle reaches of a long river in the north.
"We have received recent news that the imperial navy has entered the middle reaches of the Qianjing River. Nine new warships - yes, they are now officially named Dangkou ships, and two hundred heavy warships to escort them. They will arrive downstream in the near future.
"
The meaning of this soft and hard approach is self-evident. Not only the Prince of Qing County, but also Duke Guang and Madam Xianghou all turned their attention to Ye Qing.
Ye Qing glanced at the three-dimensional landscape projection on the table, and looked at the light spot symbolizing the fleet without changing his expression. He tapped his fingers on the table and said, "Is the prince using this to pressure me?"
Without waiting for King Qing's reply, he added: "Both immortals are present. It would be too ugly to bargain repeatedly like a merchant. You can drive me to Donghuang, but you must meet my three conditions."
"It's too ugly to say "rushing"... Let's talk about it, Marquis of Han." A smile appeared on the face of the Qingjun Prince, thinking that if there was news, it seemed that there was not much suspense in completing the layout of the imperial court.
"First of all, I can withdraw from central Hunan, but I have to keep the three counties in northern Hunan." Although the prince of the Qing Dynasty had already expected it, he still looked stunned and frowned: "Marquis of Han, are you... kidding? This is a bit too much, right?
.”
"Excessive? Three counties, I am destroying enemy ships, including a Zhenjun ship. Which of you can do it? The laying of infrastructure such as canals, bridges, and railways in northern Hunan also cost me money. Do you want to take it back out of thin air?
How can this be?"
As Ye Qing spoke, he glanced at Duke Guang. This man had always been a famous minister, but he looked like a young man. He was sitting next to Prince Qing, looking solemn and majestic, and then said: "What's more important is
What's more, the ground network of these three counties has been integrated with Nanlian Dongtian, and has the nature of green veins."
"And this is the basic condition for being the first to shoot down the True King's ship. The heavenly court has not yet issued a reward for this. If you want to cut this network, I will report it to heaven and ask for judgment."
After hearing this, both Da Siming and Guang Guogong changed their expressions and glanced at Ye Qing. This was actually a threat, but there was indeed some truth in it.
Prince Qing's face changed slightly. With his back to the imperial court, no matter how strong he was, he did not dare to conflict with the provisions of the heaven. At this time, he finally remembered his father's warning. This time, the emphasis was on force rather than actual annexation - even if he helped
It will take several months or even years to suppress and reoccupy Xiangzhou. This period of time has passed.
But he only has one county left and can hardly sustain an army. How can he afford to be in such a predicament?
"Can this condition be changed?" He forced a smile and tried to change the situation.
"If these three counties don't give it, how can I count on Donghuang?" Ye Qing shook his head without any doubt and leaned back on his chair: "It's obvious that there is no sincerity, there is no need to talk.
Seeing that he was about to break up, Guang Guogong glanced over. Prince Qing suppressed his anger for a moment and said: "I have sincerity, but if there are any other conditions below, I would like to hear from the Marquis of Han."
Seeing this, Ye Qing smiled and continued: "Second, I must obtain a large coastal state as an advance base, which is Yingzhou - you can understand this as an exchange for conditions in central Hunan."
Now Duke Guang frowned, stared at Ye Qing for a while, and said earnestly: "Marquis of Han, don't be too ambitious. Being crowned king is already an unprecedentedly generous treatment."
"Nhazhou Island is equivalent to three counties, and combined with the right to develop the Eastern Wilderness, it only costs you to give up a few counties in Xiangzhou. This is already a huge loss. Do you still want a large coastal state?"
"Guang Guogong is joking. Nhazhou Island is the inherent territory of Qingmai. How do you calculate it? Could it be that the imperial court still wants to seize the land of Qingde and wants me to take it, so that Qingde will kill each other?"
"Right now, the right to develop the Eastern Wilderness is somewhat valuable, but it is also empty. Senior, do you think that this junior like me is a newly ignorant generation?" Ye Qing asked without showing mercy at all.
"Zhenjun's words are serious, how dare you?" Guang Guogong hurriedly denied it, but the sneer in Da Siming's eyes made him feel a little embarrassed. In fact, he also knew in his heart that what he had done before was not very authentic.
As the topic escalated, Prince Qing's face became even more gloomy at this moment.
"Listen, what you really want is the general trend, the general trend that the imperial court will once again command the world."
"I am the only immortal prince among the princes. I bow my head and obey orders. Who among the princes in the world dares to disobey?"
Ye Qing traced the map on the table with his finger, and saw the vast waves as far away as the East China Sea: "My words may be a bit unpleasant, but I don't mean to underestimate the strength of the imperial court."
"Think about a situation where the two states of Ying and Hunan are connected to each other. The population of 14 million is enough to push the network of Yingzhou to an unbreakable level, without giving any opportunity for foreign ships to take advantage of it."
"There are no enemies in the outside world and there is a decree from heaven. What can you do to me?"
"Yes, the main naval force of the imperial court is about to come down, and it will divide the area I currently occupy into two parts. But how about a hundred thousand troops stationed here to waste with me?"
"I believe that the Northern Wei Dynasty will be more happy with this situation and will decisively go down to the middle reaches of the Qianjing River to help suppress foreign ships and cut off the retreat of your main force."
These words were so heart-breaking that King Qing was shocked to realize the possibility of this reality, and looked at Duke Guang with a slightly pale face.
Duke Guang only frowned and said, "Heaven will not allow you to act so recklessly."
Ye Qing sneered: "Is this arrogant? I will even send Nuwa and Sanqing to form a Zhuxian Sword Formation to patrol Xiangzhou and clean up foreign ships, just to prevent someone from taking the initiative to rob them.
It is thorough and well-organized, with a well-prepared back-up plan that is extremely feasible and has a high success rate.
So now even Guang Guogong didn't speak. He stared at Ye Qing for a while, as if to judge his determination, and sighed helplessly: "But this will also worsen the situation for Zhenjun himself. If you break with the imperial court, you can be considered complete. How long can we hold on to Xiangzhou?"
"There is nothing we can do about it." Ye Qing said calmly, "I came here because of the current situation. I admit this, but I am not afraid."
"Now the general situation is beyond the reach of the imperial court. If we really want to mobilize troops, we will have to ignore Zhili, fear the Northern Wei, and obey heaven's decree. Otherwise, you can show some sincerity in exchange for our Han army obeying the overall situation."
"Otherwise, even if you all surround me and blockade me, as long as I have enough food, I can survive."
After this gesture, not only the Prince of the Qing Dynasty, but also Mrs. Hong Xiang of the Marquis of Xiang looked ugly - because the food in Ye Qing's hands not only occupied the treasury in northern and central Hunan and plundered it, but also included the previous bloodless food war, even in southern Hunan. Ye Qing was also asked to acquire part of it before.
The two opposing families could see Ye Qing's advantages, mainly in terms of population and food. At that time, the price of food had reached the red line, and they gave them a lot of money. But now that the astronomical tides are coming one after another and seeing that this year's harvest has been lost, which prince is still willing to do so? Selling grain? It means there is a price but no market.
There is still so much money, but it is useless if you can't spend it. As soon as the price drops, the real wealth shrinks by a large amount, and Ye Qing embezzles it out of thin air.
"How did he do such crazy things? Did he prepare for today?" Hongxiao thought to herself out of some woman's intuition, and became even more afraid.
Guang Guogong estimated the strength of both sides and found that although his side still had the advantage, it could no longer be crushed. He looked a little helpless and said earnestly: "We are also thinking about the true king. Wei Shizong breaks through the grassland. You go to the Eastern Wasteland to open up something new." , the two families could have negotiated a win-win situation, so why did they end up in such a quarrel that everything was broken, and they made irrational actions that made relatives hate and enemies take pleasure in?"
"I don't want to either. The Northern Wei Dynasty is still holding on. You don't need to take Wei Shizong's hints. I can't forget the threat of reaping profits from the grassland..."
Ye Qing's eyes flashed, and he sneered at the old fox with a sad expression, with a hint of ridicule in his tone: "But you see, Mr. Guang Guo, maybe the court has already made a conclusion, but if they don't show strength and determination, some people can take advantage of it, you say Yes or no?"
"Being reasonable and rational must be done by both parties at the same time."
"Is it a simple matter to transfer the foundation? How many Wei Shizongs have there in the past and present?"
"Although I have become an immortal and transcended, I still have to think about the lives of my family and subordinates, right? Just give me a name and let me move out. Isn't this too beautiful?
"If I can survive this year, how long can the imperial court's main force of 100,000 be spent here? Will the final withdrawal of troops be able to stop my continued expansion into the surrounding area?"