dognovel Chapter 612 Internal and external troubles
Chapter 612 Internal and external troubles
"I'm not qualified to be a general? So, according to Lord Wu, we're going to fight to the death with the Daye Dynasty? Do you know what the odds of winning are?" Lin Ping asked immediately.
"This..." Wu Tiancheng stammered, unable to give a coherent answer, and finally managed to reply, "If the whole country works together, we should have a 20% chance of winning."
"Twenty percent? Dream on! With less than 100,000 troops outside the city, how can you mobilize them?" Lin Ping cursed loudly.
"Do you know that the Lotus Palace is stirring up trouble and has already secretly colluded with several city lords? Once war breaks out with the Great Ye Kingdom, the Lotus Palace will definitely take the opportunity to cause chaos. Let alone a 20% chance of winning, there's not even a 10% chance!" Lin Ping continued to explain.
"Is the Lotus Palace really planning to cause trouble?" The king immediately grasped the most important information.
"Your Majesty, I personally visited the Lotus Palace. They are recruiting disciples on a large scale and have already secretly colluded with the city lords of Huizhou, Ningguo, and Suzhou, just waiting for an opportunity to rebel." Lin Ping roughly recounted the situation of the Lotus Palace.
Upon hearing this, the entire court was terrified and trembled with fear.
In their eyes, the Lotus Palace was the talisman of the Wu Kingdom. They even wanted the Lotus Palace to help attack the Daye Kingdom. If the Lotus Palace rebelled, the Wu Kingdom would be attacked from both sides.
There's no need to resist; just wait for annihilation.
"That's utter nonsense! When Lotus Palace followed our ancestors to conquer the world, your great-grandfather wasn't even born yet! How could he possibly be so disrespectful?" Wu Tiancheng said angrily, clearly not believing Lin Ping's words.
"Enough! Stop arguing!" The king was furious, not wanting the court to fall apart at a time of internal and external troubles.
In that case, the Wu Kingdom would be close to its demise.
"Minister Lin, is this true?" the king asked, holding his breath, afraid that Lin Ping would nod.
"Your humble servant is timid and would not dare to deceive Your Majesty," Lin Ping said, cupping his hands in greeting.
As soon as he finished speaking, the king collapsed onto his dragon throne, nearly fainting.
He knew what the Daye Kingdom's purpose was. This behemoth was already suffocating him, and if the Lotus Palace rebelled again, he would be finished.
The king was heartbroken at the thought that his ancestors' centuries-old legacy was about to be destroyed in his hands.
"Does Minister Lin have any brilliant ideas?" the king asked listlessly, clearly seeking advice rather than engaging in discussion.
He had no other way to deal with it and pinned his hopes on Lin Ping, this genius.
"Destroying the Lotus Palace is a piece of cake," Lin Ping said bluntly, the subtext being: rescue my wife!
He never boasted of being a loyal minister who cared deeply for his country and its people. From beginning to end, he had only one goal: to rescue Jiang Yunying.
"If what the General says is true, and the Lotus Palace has already united with the three city lords, how could it be so easily destroyed? Once the army is tied down, the Daye Kingdom will take advantage of the situation and will undoubtedly be defeated," Wu Tiancheng analyzed.
"Who says the Daye Kingdom will definitely attack? If it were truly determined, why would it wait until Wu Kingdom is in turmoil? Wouldn't it be more direct to send a million troops? In other words, the Daye Kingdom doesn't take Wu Kingdom seriously yet. The reason it's hesitant to attack is because it's afraid of being criticized by the world."
Lin Ping continued to refute.
This statement makes sense. In the end, Wu Kingdom was merely a vassal state of Daye Kingdom, a subordinate state.
The eldest brother wants to reclaim his territory. He's not afraid of his underlings resisting, but he's afraid of several underlings criticizing him together.
Or perhaps this action will instill fear in the other henchmen, potentially leading them to unite and rebel.
"Alas... the emperor will eventually take back the territory of the Wu Kingdom."
"Even if they fight to the death, it's nothing more than moths flying into a flame, courting their own destruction."
All the civil and military officials were in a state of fear, and none of them had the courage to fight against the Great Ye Kingdom.
They even devised a way to protect themselves: if all else fails, they could defect to the Daye Kingdom and perhaps retain their current official positions.
“But if they want to search for that murderer, 100,000 troops are already on the border.” Wu Tiancheng said he disagreed with Lin Ping’s point of view.
He believed that the Lotus Palace was unlikely to rebel, and that they should first unite against external threats before dealing with internal problems.
He was unaware that to deal with external threats, one must first address internal ones.
"A hundred thousand troops have scared Lord Wu like this? Are we just going to let them search us?" Lin Ping said, half-mockingly.
"The General's words are incoherent. He just said to destroy the Lotus Palace first, so why is he now talking about dealing with the Great Ye Kingdom?"
Wu Tiancheng was completely bewildered by Lin Ping; in short, he didn't believe in Lin Ping's abilities.
"I didn't say we were going to deal with the Great Ye Kingdom. I just told the soldiers guarding the city to stay inside and wait for a while. After we destroy the Lotus Palace, we'll decide whether to negotiate or go to war," Lin Ping explained.
"This will only disperse our forces, and we won't be able to destroy the Lotus Palace or stop the army of the Great Ye Kingdom," Wu Tiancheng argued.
Listening to the two men arguing back and forth, the king was at a loss for what to do.
The civil and military officials in the main hall were also discussing among themselves, with half supporting each of the two.
In short, whichever decision is made, it will put the Wu Kingdom in a difficult position.
"Report..." Just as everyone was at a stalemate, a sharp and urgent voice came from outside the door.
"What is it?" the king asked hastily, and from the other's expression, he could tell that it was yet another unpleasant matter.
It's truly a case of misfortunes never coming singly, a series of calamities.
"Your Majesty, the defense map... is lost!" the eunuch in charge of the inner treasury said tremblingly, his crotch emitting a distinct stench of urine.
"What? Is this really true?" The king stumbled and fell back onto the dragon throne.
We were just talking about a major battle, and now the defense map is lost? This really sounds like the country is about to fall.
The defense map is the most important thing in the inner treasury. It could not have been lost for no reason. It must have been an enemy spy hiding in the palace.
Once the Daye Kingdom obtains the defense map, it will be able to easily capture many cities of the Wu Kingdom.
"Guards! Execute all the people in the Imperial Treasury!" The king was furious, his first thought being that they had failed in their supervision.
The young eunuch was so frightened that he lost control of his bladder and bowels, and was almost driven away by the smell of the guards who came after hearing the commotion. It was a way of saving himself.
"Your Majesty, spare me! Your Majesty, spare me!" The little eunuch kept kowtowing on the ground.
When you're about to lose your life, what does it matter what you think about saving face? Besides, the moment he was slashed, he was destined to lose face.
"Your Majesty, please calm your anger. We must spare the life of the eunuchs in the Imperial Treasury so that this matter can be thoroughly investigated," one minister advised.
"Your Majesty, please calm your anger..."
All the civil and military officials said in unison.
Now is not the time to be angry; we must find the thief immediately and retrieve the defense map.
These eunuchs from the Imperial Treasury were the only ones who could provide clues.
"Imprison them all! Shi Qing, listen to my command! I order you to thoroughly investigate this matter. Better to kill a hundred innocent people than let one guilty person go free!" the king said sternly.
"Your humble servant obeys," Shi Qing said respectfully.
The Embroidered Uniform Guards were already cruel officials, and with the emperor's saying, "Better to kill a hundred innocent people than let one guilty person go free," who knows how many more people would die unjustly.