Dynasty Call: Low-key Struggle for Hegemony

In Kyoto, at the highest point of the imperial palace, Li Yao was dressed in a golden dragon robe, and his majesty was growing more and more, and now there was a hint of pride in his brows.

After winning over Lin Shufan and Fang Wukui, all the civil and military officials of the Manchu Dynasty surrendered, and he is now living a very comfortable life.

I finally enjoyed the feeling of being the head of the Yu Dynasty.

Behind Li Yao, there was a man with a rather heroic face, a plump figure, and slender thighs. He was wearing a long purple skirt, showing his perfect figure.

The former eldest princess of the Dayu Dynasty, Li Mujun!

It's just that the ambitious eyes at that time have now turned into depression.

Li Mujun's eyes flickered, looking at the imperial city below that had remained unchanged through the ages, but there was a hint of sadness in his heart.

The imperial city is still there, but the people have changed!

When she was still in the fiefdom, she wanted to return to Kyoto all the time, recalling the prosperity of Kyoto, the power of Kyoto, and everything in Kyoto...

She must return to Kyoto!

However, when she stood at the highest point of the imperial city, her mood became extremely melancholy and slightly lonely.

Although he left less than a year ago, things have already changed.

The once indomitable imperial brother has passed away, and now the fourth prince whom he disliked most at the beginning has become the head of the Dayu Dynasty.

The former three kings have fulfilled their promises outside of Zhongzhou.

And why is he returning to Kyoto now?

"Auntie, do you think Prince Xuan will defeat Chu Junxiong?"

Li Yao kept looking in the direction of Qingzhou without looking back.

His attitude towards Prince Xuan is very complicated at the moment, or towards the four kings who are fighting in various states.

He wanted the other four kings to win because they had won and the states were still under the control of the royal family.

But he was afraid that they would be too strong and strong enough to threaten him.

"Prince Xuan will not lose, but Chu Junxiong is even less likely to lose." Li Mujun said something that was hard to fathom.

Li Yao turned his head and glanced at Li Mujun,

Did I ask you to talk such nonsense?

Li Mujun didn't pay attention to Li Yao's eyes, and recalled the figure of Prince Xuan, his voice had an inexplicable tone.

"Prince Xuan is ruthless, he will do anything to achieve his goals."

"Ruthless?" Li Yao was very suspicious of Li Mujun's opinion.

"If he was really ruthless, why didn't he choose another state instead of Danzhou to face the government?"

"He is ruthless to everyone, but he is very loyal to the royal family!" Li Mujun's tone did not change.

"Isn't it right to be loyal to the royal family?" Li Yao never doubted the loyalty of the princes to the royal family.

Li Mujun moved his mouth and finally fell silent.

After a moment of silence...

Li Mujun's faint voice sounded: "Prince Xuan will do whatever it takes to defeat Zhenguo Mansion, even if he sacrifices everyone."

Li Yao glanced at Li Mujun again, but felt a sigh in his heart.

Why did he feel that his aunt was very resourceful and strategic when he was still a prince?

By the way, did the fifth brother also see something at that time and push his aunt to him?

Li Yao vaguely remembered that when Chu Junyan came to Beijing, his aunt first approached his fifth brother, and then his fifth brother pushed her to him.

When the three royal brothers were in Kyoto, they even teased their aunt.

However, now it was my turn to tease my aunt.

Li Yao's eyes brightened slightly, remembering Li Heng's shocked expression when Li Mujun returned to Kyoto.

Li Mujun looked at Li Yao who had his back turned to her. For some reason, she suddenly felt a strange and familiar smell.

At this time, a figure quickly came to them.

"Greetings to Your Majesty!"

It is Liu Jin who is now the general manager of the palace, the owner of the expert factory, and the person Li Yao trusts the most.

"What's the matter with Liu Jin?"

When Li Yao saw Liu Jin coming in a hurry, his expression was very calm. Now he was becoming more and more calm and calm in dealing with things.

"Your Majesty, all the major subordinate dynasties of the Yu Dynasty have sent envoys to congratulate His Majesty on his accession to the throne. The envoys are now outside the borders of each state!"

As the strongest dynasty, the Yu Dynasty had a vast border area, so naturally there were dynasties that submitted to the Yu Dynasty.

Normally, when the new emperor of the Dayu Dynasty ascends the throne, they will naturally have to pay tribute to the new emperor.

But now that the states of the Yu Dynasty were in war, they actually sent envoys together without even asking for instructions?

hehe!

What do they want to do?

………………

"Evil dogs see their owner is sick, so they think they are okay?"

The next day, at the court meeting, when Li Yao announced the matter, all the officials in the court immediately had their own opinions.

The military attachés who usually rarely spoke at court suddenly became furious.

No one understands what the hell it means to jointly send a mission.

"Don't insult dogs. They have been raising dogs for several years and still know how to wag their tails. They are just a bunch of white-eyed wolves!"

"Wolves? Are they worthy of being wolves?" The voice was full of disdain for them.

"If you ask me, why don't you pay a tribute? They don't need to come, we will send the army to get it!"

"The evil dog will not be honest until he is beaten!"

"beat!"

"They must be shocked!"

"When necessary, killing is the only means of deterrence!"

The civil servants on the other side did not feel that the military attache was rude at the moment, and they all also cursed with flushed faces.

Although none of the ministers in the first few rows spoke a word, the dark expressions on their faces showed their inner unrest.

Li Yao knocked on the throne rhythmically and watched the discussions of the officials below. When he heard the news yesterday, he was also furious.

The envoys had already arrived at the border before they asked him for instructions. Does this mean forced persecution?

Did you give them face?

"Dear ladies, do you think they should be allowed in?"

Li Yao glanced at the ministers in the first few rows who had remained silent. Although he had already made a decision, he still wanted to listen to their opinions.

Li Yao's voice rang out, and the officials in the hall who were still discussing with red faces stopped one by one and looked at the ministers in front of them quietly.

Below, an old minister stood up, straightened his back and said in a deep voice:

"Your Majesty, the missions arriving at the same time are simply to inquire about the situation of our Dynasty of Dayu, and want to take the opportunity to reduce the annual tribute amount."

Many officials nodded.

"Haha, the tribute gifts from those dynasties combined are not as much as those from one state. You really take yourself seriously!"

"It's okay if you don't want the courtesy of a mere ant!"

"No, the tribute must not be less. This is not just a matter of tribute, it is also related to the majesty of our Dayu Dynasty!"

"If it's less this year, it will be even less next year! And next year, there won't be any tribute next time!"

"Your Majesty, I think we should let them in and see what they want to do and what means and courage they have to make us take a step back!"

"I want to see why they have the courage!"

"That's right, so what if we let them in!"

"If we don't let the envoys in, the dynasties will think that we, the Yu Dynasty, are afraid."

As an old minister spoke, other officials also spoke one after another.

If even the envoys dare not let them in, then wouldn't these dynasties feel that the Yu Dynasty has become weak now?

But there is support and opposition.

I saw another minister with a solemn face, took a step forward and said:

"Your Majesty, I believe that when the envoys from various dynasties arrive this time, there should be shadows of other dynasties in them.

In addition to inquiring about our internal strife, they may also want to suppress the majesty of our Dayu Dynasty and disgrace our Dayu Dynasty in front of other dynasties.

Your Majesty needs to think twice. "

Another veteran minister worriedly said:

"Your Majesty, the states of the dynasty are now in a critical period. The dynasty's defeat is small. If it loses face, the awe of the surrounding dynasties will disappear, and it is easy to have inappropriate intentions."

Many ministers nodded one after another and sent envoys to come. They wanted to reduce the tribute and wanted to lose face to the Yu Dynasty. It was nothing more than a competition.

Nowadays, most of the proud men in Kyoto have been won over by the four kings. In addition, if there are people pretending to be from other dynasties in the mission, if they make a mistake, they may be defeated.

After hearing these officials' concerns, some officials also fell silent.

Among these missions, there may not be people secretly sent by the other two dynasties. It would not be a good thing if they came to Kyoto to cause trouble.

If they fail to investigate for a moment and let them cause a big incident and lose the face of the Yu Dynasty, the states will be in chaos and the entire court will be really disgraced, and what dignity will it have.

"It can be delayed."

"I suggest you delay it!"

"Or let these missions disappear in the "war"!"

Some officials suggested.

"What do you think, Mr. Lin?"

On the dragon chair, Li Yao looked at Lin Shufan.

Under the gaze of everyone, Lin Shufan took a step forward and said:

"I think we should let them come to Kyoto."

"Since they choose to come at this time, there should be instigation from the other two dynasties. No matter how we avoid it, it will only make these dynasties feel that our dynasty has become weaker, their ambitions will grow, and these dynasties will be The other two dynasties used it as a tool to test our attack.

Only if we defeat their conspiracy openly will these dynasties be afraid and intimidated! "

Li Yao's eyes turned cold, "Did the two dynasties regain their strength so quickly?"

Lin Shufan shook his head: "The previous emperor defeated two great dynasties, and the main force of their court suffered heavy losses. The situation in their dynasty at that time was more chaotic than ours now, so it is not so easy.

They are mainly borrowing from surrounding dynasties to make our Yu Dynasty more chaotic and prepare for future attacks.

The two great dynasties are determined to destroy the Yu Dynasty, so Your Majesty must be on guard against it! "

"Back then, the two dynasties spent all their efforts and strength to attack our dynasty, but they were still defeated by our dynasty. How could we be afraid of them? We will accept as many as they come!"

Another important minister stepped out, Jiang Jian, Minister of War.

"However, they also gave us a warning, why don't we go back!" Lu Xun, the Minister of Rites, had a chill in his eyes.

Li Yao narrowed his eyes and remembered the secret that Emperor Yu had given him about the two dynasties before his death. It was time to use it.

"Okay, then I will wait in Kyoto for the arrival of these dynasty envoys!"

With Li Yao's final words, the meeting dispersed.

………………

In the imperial study, Li Yao, Lin Shufan, and Lu Xun continued to discuss matters regarding the arrival of the dynasty's envoys.

"A total of fourteen dynasty envoys are here."

"I don't believe that every one of them dares to rebel against the Yu Dynasty!"

Li Yao showed his domineering attitude and waved his sleeves.

Lin Shufan and Lu Xun nodded, having analyzed it in their minds.

"The Wuyue Dynasty and Nanhao Dynasty have always been loyal to us. When they come, we can learn about the status of the missions of each dynasty from them." Lu Xun said.

"But they didn't report to us in advance, so they probably had their own thoughts." Li Mujun was also in the study.

She has been with Emperor Yu for a long time and knows a little about Emperor Yu's methods of dealing with the dynasty.

"But once we enter Kyoto, we can't help them." Lin Shufan stroked his beard confidently.

These dynasties all sent envoys, thinking that there was strength in numbers. In fact, this was the best solution. As long as they used a little trick, they could make them suspicious of each other.

Lin Shufan knew very well that the thoughts of these dynasties were mostly in a state of uncertainty. If they could benefit, they would naturally pounce on them and take a bite. But as long as they were frightened, they would naturally become extremely well-behaved.

Lin Shufan didn't take the arrival of these dynasty missions seriously at all. What he cared about was what this event could bring.

Lu Xun nodded and continued to analyze for Li Yao: "The greatest hostility to our Yu Dynasty is the Nanming Dynasty and the Rihui Dynasty. If the two dynasties send people into the mission, it is likely that these two dynasties will If we solve them, other dynasties won’t have anything to worry about.”

Li Yao suddenly felt so relaxed as he listened to Lu Xun and Lin Shufan settle the affairs of the dynasty mission in just a few words.

But why didn't they say anything at the court meeting just now?

Let the officials below argue?

"Your Majesty, what happened in the court meeting just now will soon be spread out, not only for officials to argue, but also for the common people to know, and the impact of this matter will be greater." Lin Shufan saw Li Yao's expression and said with a smile.

Lu Xun also smiled and said: "Your Majesty has just ascended the throne and lacks prestige. This time, I have the opportunity to intimidate the world!"

"These two old foxes!" Li Mujun really hated dealing with such ministers.

"You two dear ladies are interested." Li Yao said movedly.

"Hasn't His Majesty always wanted to know King Chu's thoughts? This time we can also use this to test." Lin Shufan's deep eyes revealed a glimmer of light.

"King Chu?"

"Fifth brother?"

Li Yao and Li Mujun were shocked, why did Li Yuan get involved again.

"Your Majesty, now only the King of Chu can win over the four kings. The three kings are in chaos, and only Lingzhou, where the King of Chu lives, is stable. If your Majesty uses the reason for the arrival of the dynasty's delegation to persuade him to return to the capital, let's test his attitude."

"Your Majesty once promised the King of Chu the position of governor of Huanzhou, but the King of Chu asked your Majesty to postpone it, just because he wanted to sit in Lingzhou and watch King Ming fight against the two states and benefit behind his back."

With a word from Lin Shufan and a word from Lu Xun, the plan against Li Yuan was revealed.

Lin Shufan and Lu Xun were already tied to Li Yao's ship, so they naturally had to think about him.

"What if he doesn't come?" Li Yao asked.

"Your Majesty can directly declare King Chu to be the governor of Huanzhou." Lin Shufan and Lu Xun said in unison.

Whether the King of Chu is powerful or the King of Ming is powerful, neither is what the court wants to see.

Only by keeping them in a state of balance can the court be reassured.

"If he comes, will he be imprisoned in Kyoto?" Li Mujun asked.

"Of course it's impossible!" Lu Xun looked at Li Mujun with a smile.

Even Liu Jin, who had been quiet all this time, couldn't help but glance at Li Mujun. It was clear that Prime Minister Lin's intention just now was to maintain a balance between His Highness and Prince Ming.

His Highness is gone, leaving Prince Ming to maintain balance alone?