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Thang Long City, Jiaozhi.
The Qingqingdu Palace located on the bank of Dun River is more luxurious than the imperial palace. All the pavilions and towers have both Chinese style and local characteristics of Jiaozhi. There are majestic stone lions at the gate of the palace, and soldiers are guarding it strictly. There are servants everywhere in the palace, giving a scene of wealth and splendor.
The seventy-year-old Qingdu Prince Zheng Zhen had snow-white hair and beard and a gaunt face. Behind him, two pretty maids were fanning him gently. It was very hot in April in Thang Long Prefecture, and cicadas were chirping in the lush longan trees.
In the flower hall, Zheng Zhongzan, who had just returned from a diplomatic mission to Daqin, knelt on the ground with an uneasy look on his face. Although Zheng Zhen had his eyes closed as if he was asleep, the pressure emanating from him almost suffocated Zheng Zhong, and sweat covered his back.
After a long while, Zheng Xun raised his hand to signal, and a maid bowed and backed out of the flower hall.
Afterwards, Zheng Zhen's second son, King of the West Zheng Za, his third son, Duke of Fu County Zheng Li, his fourth son, Duke of Qiongyan Zheng Di, his fifth son, Duke of Hua County Zheng Jian, and two of Zheng Zhen's trusted advisers, Li Ming and Cai Xu, all came to the flower hall.
The Zheng regime reached its fourth generation with the generation of Zheng Xun. The emperors of the Le Dynasty were just puppets in the hands of the Zheng family. They could enthronize or depose whomever they wanted, all depending on the thoughts of the head of the Zheng family. All members of the Zheng family were conferred titles of king and duke, and they were the actual rulers of the Le Dynasty.
Zheng Xun's eldest son died young, and his second son Zheng Zao is 43 years old this year. Zheng Xun handed over more and more political affairs to him. He naturally knew that this time the envoy's trip to Daqin to ask for a title was not smooth.
He spoke first, "Father, the Emperor of Great Qin did not mention the Mo family's rebellion, but kept blaming my Zheng family. It seems that Great Qin, like the former Ming Dynasty, intends to support the Mo family to contain our Zheng family. We must prepare for a rainy day."
The Mo family suffered repeated defeats in the beginning, and the reason they were able to gain a foothold in Gaoping in the end was precisely because of the interference of the Ming court.
Zheng Zhen knew very well that a unified and powerful Jiaozhi was not in the interests of the Central Plains dynasty, so both the Ming Dynasty and the Qin Dynasty chose to support the weak Mo family.
His closed eyes opened slightly, and a ray of light shot towards the dawn.
The noise of the summer cicadas made people a little irritated. Li Ming, Zheng Xun's chief strategist, frowned and said, "My lord, the world has changed. I think the present is different from the past."
Cai Xu also said: "My Lord, the Ming court was too busy to take care of itself at the beginning, and supporting the Mo family was just to use the Mo family as a buffer to prevent our dynasty from threatening Guangdong and Guangxi after unification. The core idea of the Ming court is still the word of defense;
The Qin Dynasty of today is very different. In just a few years, it was able to wipe out various separatist forces, destroy the powerful Jurchens, and rebuild the great unification of China.
The current Qin emperor is young and strong, and has some ambitions like Qin Shihuang to unify the world. Looking at the dynasties in the Central Plains throughout history, after conquering the world, they all let their horses go to the mountains to rest and recuperate.
But Qin Mu had just launched a massive expedition to the north to unify China last year, and this year he immediately sent out his navy to attack Luzon, and defeated the Western Barbarians who were entrenched in Luzon in one fell swoop. In other words, if he could send troops to Luzon, why couldn't he send troops to Dai Viet?"
Li Ming stroked his beard and nodded, "Yes, the Ming court supported the Mo family for defense; Qin supported the Mo family, I'm afraid, for attack!"
The word "attack" was spoken, causing Zheng Zao, Zheng Li, Zheng Di, and Zheng Qian, who were present, to suddenly become suspicious.
Among the three forces in Jiaozhi, the Zheng family is the strongest, occupying the richest plains in Thang Long Prefecture (Hanoi), but the Nguyen family in the south, which occupies the Quang Binh Prefecture area, is also gradually gaining momentum.
The Zheng family had made many southern expeditions. Five years ago, the Zheng family obtained help from the Dutch and obtained powerful cannons, which broke through a city wall of Guangping Prefecture. However, the Nguyen family also obtained cannons from the Portuguese, and the Zheng family was still defeated under the second city wall.
The Mo and Ruan families were separated in the north and south, forming a two-pronged pincer attack on the Zheng family. This was already a headache for the Zheng family. If the Qin Dynasty was added, the consequences would be disastrous.
Zheng Xun opened his eyes at this time, two sharp rays of light swept across the faces of his sons, and asked slowly: "Tell me, how should we respond now?"
The third son, Zheng Li, answered first: "Father, I think we should send troops immediately and wipe out the Ruan family in Guangping Prefecture with all our strength to prevent our Zheng family from being attacked from both sides in the future. In addition, after destroying the Ruan family, we will have more room to maneuver to deal with the possible invasion of Qin."
After hearing this, Zheng Xun's expression did not change at all. He turned to look at his second son Zheng Zao.
Zheng Zao said quickly: "Father, the Ruan family in Guangping is becoming more and more powerful. Even if there is no threat from Qin, we must find ways to destroy it. Third brother is right in strategy, but it may not work in tactics."
Zheng Zhuo hit his brother Zheng Li without leaving any trace. The Zheng family had sent troops south to attack the Nguyen family many times, but they all failed. So it was true that he said that his brother was right in strategy but not in tactics.
Zheng Li was humiliated in public and asked unhappily, "Then what do you think will work, second brother?"
Zheng Zao bowed to his father and said, "Father, the Nguyen family has become powerful. It may be difficult to destroy them in a short time. However, time is running out, so I think we should do two things at the same time. On the one hand, we should do our best to prepare for war, and on the other hand, we should send people to contact the Dutch. If we can get the help of the Dutch, it will not be difficult to destroy the Nguyen family.
On the other hand, the Emperor of Daqin has issued an imperial edict to attack Dongwu, and regards Dongwu as an enemy. We can send people to Dongwu to meet with Talong and ask him to join the war.
"I believe that with the Emperor of Great Qin's edict to punish Dong Wu, the pressure on Long must be greater than that on our dynasty. I'm afraid that he would be more than happy to form an alliance with our dynasty and advance and retreat together."
After hearing what his second son said, Zheng Xun, who had been calm all along, nodded slightly. His snow-white beard and hair made him look experienced and wise.
"Qin Mu claims to be the successor of Qin Shi Huang's legal system. In the pre-Qin era, the area around Thang Long Prefecture was under the jurisdiction of Qin's Xiangjun. So, don't harbor any luck. Zha'er, just do as you say and send someone to contact the Dutch and Talong. We must act in secret and not let the world know."
"Yes, father."
After his sons left, Zheng Xun took a sip of tea and asked, "Do you two have anything else to add?"
Li Ming pondered and said, "My Lord, the Emperor of Qin refused to confer the title on me this time. This will surely make some officials in my court uneasy. I'm afraid it will be disadvantageous to my Lord. We must be on guard against this."
The reason why the Emperor of Qin refused to confer the title was simple. The Zheng family held the king of the Le Dynasty hostage, which was an act of rebellion and a serious betrayal of the moral principles of ruler-ruler, subject-minister, father-father, and son-son. Qin certainly could not encourage such behavior.
No matter what the Qin Dynasty's purpose was, this excuse was a plausible one.
This will inevitably make some ministers of the Le Dynasty suspicious of the Zheng family, and then they will become indecisive and unwilling to be loyal to the Zheng family.
For thousands of years, although Jiaozhi had long been independent of the Central Plains dynasty, the influence of the Chinese state on Jiaozhi was ubiquitous.
Not receiving the title from the Chinese Empire was a very serious matter for the Jiaozhi regime, which often meant that a disaster was about to happen.
Zheng Xun naturally knew the seriousness of this matter, as it would shake the ruling foundation of the Zheng family from within.
He immediately ordered to strengthen the surveillance of the emperor and civil and military ministers of the Le Dynasty.
Another strategist, Cai Xu, continued, "My Lord, I think that in addition to actively preparing for the invasion, we must also address the root of the threat from Qin."
"Sir, please speak."
"My Lord, I heard that the Qin State is now building a straight road from Changsha to Kunming. This will not only weaken the power of the Tusi in the southwest, but also pose a huge threat to our dynasty and Dongwu.
My lord, please think about this. Whether it is the chieftains in the southwest or our dynasty, the only reason they have been able to remain independent for thousands of years is because of the dangerous mountains and rivers. Once this straight road is built, the army and supplies of the superior country can be easily delivered. Once our dynasty loses its geographical advantage, it will be difficult to survive.
The chieftains in the southwest probably haven't realized this yet. Why don't we send someone to tell them and let them make trouble. This way, the Qin State will have no time to pay attention to our dynasty.
In addition, Qin not only sent tens of thousands of Jurchen captives to build roads, but also captured tens of thousands of young and strong men from Luzon. If these people can be incited to revolt, it will be even better. Once these captives collude with the various chieftains in the southwest, even if the Qin army has a million troops, it may not be able to win. "
After hearing this, Zheng Xun’s white hair turned solemn and his eyes lit up!
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ps: Thank you all for your support. I beg for monthly tickets again. This category has dropped to seventh place in the monthly ticket list. There are few recommendations on the page, and the clicks and subscriptions have also dropped a lot. I am very anxious and am working hard to adjust the plot. I ask for some encouragement from everyone to see if I can keep this month's category monthly ticket award. I really beg for monthly tickets!
.(To be continued..)
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