Inside Liu Guo, the court was unusually serious. The discussion had been extremely intense from yesterday morning until tonight.
There were those who wanted to surrender and those who advocated war. They argued fiercely, and each had his own reasons, all of which were very strong.
The representative of the surrender faction was Grand Tutor Li Youwen, and the representative of the pro-war faction was Grand Marshal Liu Yuntao.
The capitulationists have three reasons:
First, the righteousness of mankind. The Shang Kingdom used this as its starting point, which indeed made it difficult for many countries to resist.
Second, the Shang Kingdom was so powerful that the best outcome of a war would be mutual destruction - the final result would inevitably be disastrous.
Third, there are benefits to joining the Shang Kingdom. Whether it is the economy, industry, material life, spiritual practice resources, education and training of future generations, or future prospects, there are endless benefits.
In addition, the territory of Liu State is more than 3,200 li, or 1,600 kilometers in radius. According to the data released by the Shang Kingdom, one ascension quota is given for every 1,000 kilometers in radius, so Liu State can obtain 2.56 ascension quotas.
The extra '0.56' can be traded - it can be merged with other countries into an ascension quota, or even auctioned off; of course, you can also purchase fragmented quotas from other countries to form a complete one.
The ascension quota is so valuable, the starting price is 5 billion taels of gold; with this gold, we can definitely establish a group in the Kingdom of Shang, which is more promising.
As for the war faction, there are three views:
First, the land was inherited from our ancestors. If you just give it away, it would be unfilial! Liu Guo had worked hard to open up the wilderness and thorns and founded the Liu Kingdom. How could we give it up so easily
Second, the Shang Kingdom must be exhausted now, and with the surrounding countries joining forces to attack, we have a great chance of winning.
Third, the future should be in our own hands, and since ancient times, the surrendered royal families would never have a good ending!
The court had been arguing about this for two days. The Emperor of Liu was extremely worried. But both sides had their reasons, and if they made a mistake, they would be doomed. This made the Emperor of Liu not dare to make a decision.
As the quarrel continued, Han Yuanchang, the prime minister of the State of Liu, suddenly had an idea, "Your Majesty, perhaps we can try to test the Shang Kingdom to see if it is truly powerful or just a facade. If the Shang Kingdom is still very powerful, then there is nothing wrong with us surrendering to it; but if the Shang Kingdom is just a facade, then..."
Han Yuanchang did not continue, but his meaning was clear. If the Shang Kingdom was strong on the outside but weak on the inside, with a false reputation and a false front, then the Liu Kingdom would tear off its hypocritical mask and confront the Shang Kingdom with swords!
After hearing this, His Majesty the Emperor of Liu immediately agreed: "My dear, your strategy is correct, but where should we test it?"
"Ziyan County!" Han Yuanchang's eyes were sharp, and he saw the key at a glance. Turning to the map on the wall, Han Yuanchang pointed at Ziyan County and said, "Ziyan County, we thought it was a barren land, so we ceded it to the Shang Kingdom. But now it seems that we have lost a lot. According to our fragmentary statistics, we found that almost 60% of the oil needed by the Shang Kingdom now comes from Ziyan County."
Having said this, Han Yuanchang paused for a moment, but everyone was looking at the map on the wall with shining eyes.