Chapter 1714 Kaleidoscope

"My humble Crown Prince of the Southern Empire" and "Prince Zheng of the Southern Empire" have met His Majesty the Emperor of the Northern Empire." The two uncles and nephews in the Northern Empire can be said to be able to bow to them in front of them. Basically, their identities are not equal. In the past, the special envoys of the two countries also studied for a long time because of this question of whether to kneel or not, but in the end they still decided not to kneel. This person is the monarch of a neighboring country, not his own boss. There is no need to use the highest etiquette. This proposal was made by the Northern Empire and has lasted for thousands of years, but it is only limited to the other party's prince, crown prince and prince. Other people don't have this kind of treatment. Some princes and sons who follow behind the crown prince still have to kneel to the emperor of the Northern Empire. At this moment, there are more than 20 people kneeling. Li Cong and the others The people on this side also bowed to the people on the other side. Of course, because of His Majesty's presence, they just bowed slightly. Li Conggui is the prince, and the princes of the Northern Empire just nodded to them and saluted. It's just those senior officials.

"Hehe, my virtuous nephew, please get up, and the prince should also get up. You are guests who have come from afar, and you don't need to perform such a grand ceremony." His Majesty the emperor said with a smile, this sentence is a bit hypocritical, everyone has finished the salute, you old boy Just saying this, it is obvious that it is not very face-saving for others. The two uncles and nephews also felt how unwelcome they are this time. Stopped it, now that they didn't take that step, there are a lot of extra arguments, everyone is not a fool, so they can understand it naturally.

"Your Majesty the Emperor has a distinguished status. Even if this national ceremony can be concise, you must abide by it. The last time the crown prince of your country went to our Southern Empire was hundreds of years ago, and it was the same at that time." After all, the crown prince is still young, and he doesn't know how to resolve the arrogance given by the emperor of the Northern Empire. Prince Zheng of the Southern Empire knows how to do it. Although he is not quite right with this prince and nephew, he is still a family when he is outside. The people around him are still relatively close to his nephew. , others are still far away.

Li Cong and some princes all took a look at this Prince Zheng. This guy is indeed a veteran, and he resolved the embarrassment of the Southern Empire just now with a few words. What they mean is that don't look at you now embarrassing us, your crown prince hundreds of years ago. That is to say, when the emperor's old grandpa passed by, we didn't give you face. Although this matter was not very clear at the time, but the identity of Prince Zheng would definitely not just talk about it. There should be such things. This old guy's trick is not poisonous, it made the emperor feel embarrassed.

"Hehe, what His Royal Highness said is quite correct. Sometimes the issue of etiquette should be observed. Both of us are equal. So it is normal for you to come and go." Li Cong stood up and said, Li Cong It's not for nothing. It's useless for you to take advantage of it hundreds of years ago. Didn't you also salute our emperor today? Everyone is the same. Li never waited for this old guy to speak and immediately turned to the emperor. His Majesty said, "Your Majesty, it's getting late. Is it time to start?" This old guy is not easy for the young prince to deal with. Li Cong has tasted it now, so he can't give this old guy a chance to speak. Otherwise, I don't know what this old guy can say, and I might not know how to deal with it at that time.

Better to start right away. In this way, the other party will have no chance.

"Well, yes, it's getting late, everyone, please." Hua Long has not been an emperor for a long time. Although he has studied for a long time, he is still not so integrated into this role. After all, not everyone can be the emperor, the real one can't be fake, the fake one can't be real, this fake emperor has been there for several months, and nothing excessive has happened in these few months Yes, so I'm still very competent. Normally, I'm no longer by this guy's side, and this guy has to take care of everything by himself. Now that I'm here, I naturally have to take care of it a little more. The emperor's uncle of the Southern Empire took a look at Li Cong, and it seemed that the regent was really a bit of a mess. He thought he was a martial artist, but everything from the city gate to here, this kid is not as simple as a martial artist. The brain itself may not be the opponent yet.

His Majesty the Emperor has spoken, and the following ministers naturally came in groups of three or four to drag these people into the venue. The ministers are very willing to come to such a banquet. Generally, the maids serving at such banquets are ten Between the ages of nine and twenty, court ladies in this age group are said to be familiar, and the emperor will naturally not give them a chance to go to bed, so at this time, at the banquet, the ministers and princes and nobles will be very familiar with each other. It’s okay to take the court lady they like back home. After all, it’s just a woman. What they think is that this woman originally belonged to the emperor, but now the emperor doesn’t want it anymore. In order to get a good start, you have to pull a few back. Every time you release hundreds of them like this, these bearded ministers like this kind of thing the most. Anyway, it’s good to pull them back without having to look at them. The people who serve the emperor are all well-trained in "kung fu". The nuns in the palace can teach them everything. It can be said that they are all-round talents. They don't need to be good for their sons and grandchildren. Yes, everyone is happy, isn't it?

Many people have a dispensable attitude towards women, especially some old foxes. Now at their age, power is their favorite thing. Women and money can no longer arouse their interest. If you insist on comparison, it is estimated that money is still better than women. Some of their families have continued in politics, and this money is naturally not lacking. If their sons and grandsons are all useless guys, This has to consider leaving a sum of money for them. It is also possible to become a rich man instead of messing around in the officialdom in the future.

The interior of the venue has been completely decorated. The emperor has not only recruited some court ladies, but also some girls from the royal relatives, but the ones who have been recruited are not on the draft list, that is to say It is still impossible for the best girls in each family to be sent here, and the most favored girls will naturally stay in their own country, although in history when the two countries fought wars, the daughters who were on the enemy's side None of them were killed, but they didn't have a good life that day, didn't they. Fighting against your father, can you expect your mother-in-law to treat your daughter well? That's impossible, everyone is somewhat emotional. To put it bluntly, the banquet tonight is to provide a platform for the marriage between the two parties. These are the things that the noble children below should do Yes, as for the more high-end people like Li Cong, it is estimated that their negotiations will start tonight. This is the most important thing, and the schedule is to start negotiations the day after tomorrow. But they all know that it's just a pretense. It's the people below who will perfect the entire contract based on some details after the negotiation today. If there is no major policy today, there will be no play the day after tomorrow.

Sure enough, a short while after the ball started, the crown prince and the emperor just danced a symbolic song and returned to the lounge. They were discussing some final details. His Majesty the emperor would not interfere in such matters. At the moment he is dancing with girls from various families. Those girls also hope that the emperor will take a fancy to them, so that they don't have to go to the Southern Empire immediately. Although they used to be from the noble family, they are tens of thousands of miles away from their homeland, and it is basically impossible to come back there once in a lifetime. Yes, the most is to hand over the children when they give birth, but that also has to be when the two countries have good relations. If there is a conflict between the two countries, it is estimated that it is impossible for the child to come back. Looking at history, in the past tens of thousands of years, the days of good relations between the two countries can be said to be less than 10%, and most of the time is spent fighting of. It's just a matter of scale.

Li Cong and several princes and generals are already waiting in the largest lounge. They have already made up their minds, let Li Cong do the work, and see how Li Cong can do it without negotiation in a while. The enemy's city is about to come, Su Minghai and Hua Mingxiong, the main fighters, have figured it out now, their vision was a bit narrow just now, they only saw the benefits of the empire at this stage, but the empire's current Some disadvantages they did not see. The savages are just like what Li Cong said, maybe they will come back to bite them sometime, which will hurt their muscles and bones. Otherwise, how can we say that the savages are the biggest enemy in the history of the empire? Although I defeated the Snake Queen this time, defeating and killing are two different things. Otherwise, the nearly 20 million troops on the front line would not have been transferred back. Mission, apart from them, the army that the empire can produce now is only a few million people, and they are all new troops. If these troops really attacked the Southern Empire in the past, they might not get any good results. , maybe you have to lose the battle.

Su Minghai's original plan was to dispatch Li Cong's tiger battalion to the south. The 300,000 tiger battalion soldiers can definitely be worth millions of troops, plus the tens of millions of troops on the southern border, it is impossible to rush there. The problem is, his idea is good, but if the time when the tiger battalion goes south happens to be the time when the savages attack, Su Minghai may be the sinner of the entire human race. It's not a joke anymore, the hundreds of millions of people in the northern provinces cannot escape, and the economic loss must be huge.

When Su Minghai was thinking that his thoughts were too naive, the Crown Prince and the Emperor's Uncle walked in together. Both of them had smiles on their faces. It seemed that they had a good discussion, but when the two sat down, the Crown Prince The prince accidentally touched the emperor's uncle. Although it was just a small gesture that normal people couldn't see, Li Cong saw it. Li Cong's observation ability was much better than others. I understand that on the surface they are a family, but in fact these two people may be incompatible. Li Cong's spies in the Southern Empire just handed these reports to Li Cong 15 minutes ago. The crown prince was not idle in the Southern Empire during his visit. Spreading the crown prince everywhere will definitely fail this time, which will bring war and disaster to the Southern Empire. It is estimated that the crown prince wants to complete the negotiations here quickly and go back. Otherwise, when he was not at home, the boss might have copied the crown prince's lair. If this was done, he would be left with an empty title of prince when he returned. No, he was born late in the first place, and he has lost at the starting line for a long time. Now his own strength can only be said to be roughly equivalent to those of the older brothers, and these brothers are not Fuel-efficient lamps. It's too late for me to develop now. If they wear it down, the gap with them will be even bigger in the future. What is the most important thing these days? Naturally, strength is the most important thing. Everything else is illusory. I have the title of a prince for nothing, but I don't have that strength. With the way those older brothers handled things, sooner or later he would be pulled down by them. At that time, my fate will be even more uncomfortable, and such a thing must not be allowed to happen.

"Prince, uncle, are you satisfied with our hospitality? We are the most outstanding girls selected among our nobles." Seeing them coming in, Li Cong and the others also ended their discussion, He said to them with a smile, and the princes also greeted them with smiles.

"Hehe, thank you Your Majesty and the princes for your kindness. I think His Majesty's dragon body is very healthy. This is also a blessing for the people of our two countries. Although these things are also what we should do, but now I think Let's talk about business, don't you know what the lords mean?" The crown prince was really impatient, and the old uncle on the side was dissatisfied just after this guy finished talking, this kid was still too young to be serious. Hold on. How can this kind of negotiation be possible? It is only possible if the other party speaks out. Saying this by myself has lowered my own value a lot from the very beginning. Many times such negotiations are not fair. Looking at Li Cong From the smiles on the corners of these old and cunning guys' mouths, the old emperor knew that this kid had violated a big taboo in negotiations. But I can’t remind myself that I’m a deputy after all, and some things only have the right to be a consultant. It’s good that the empire belongs to the royal family, but whose royal family belongs to it? It’s this guy’s father, and it may still belong to this guy in the future. So even if I am a generation older than him, I can't reprimand my nephew like ordinary family members. This is the helplessness of being in the royal family. I am obviously younger than myself, but I still have to listen to him. It is a matter of identity. ah.

"Of course, we naturally have important things to talk about. Your Highness, I heard that you came here this time because of military issues. What's the matter? Did something happen to the Southern Empire? It's your murlocs." There is also a situation on the border? If this is the case, your army in Guangming City can go back. Anyway, we have also controlled the situation on the northern border now, but we don’t need so many troops there. To be honest, for you We are still very satisfied with your help. In fact, we should also express something when something happens to you. Our tens of millions of troops in Guangming City are all masters of hundreds of battles. If His Royal Highness needs it, please don’t be polite. Yes, the territory of our empire is different from yours. Our cement road is being carried out in an orderly manner, and now it reaches the border between our two sides. If our cavalry advance quickly, I think it will take no more than a month. It can be reached." Li Cong said pretending to be stupid, but his words made the prince and uncle on the opposite side dumbfounded. This is the first time I have heard of such a thing, and the princes here are also in their hearts. From sticking out their thumbs, it’s not like they don’t have the ability to threaten people. It’s the first time they say this. On such an occasion, even those diplomatic rhetoric Li Cong said had their own effects. At this moment, these princes suddenly thought of a word in their hearts to describe Li Cong, that is "kaleidoscope", exquisite in all directions, There is nothing this kid can't participate in. In the past, he felt like a military strategist, but now it seems that he is absolutely competent as a diplomat, more competent than them.

"Hehe, what the lord said is right. You probably don't know about this matter. I know about it. Your Majesty and the lord have entrusted me with the matter of cement. I am very concerned about this. Now we are with the Southern Empire. The concrete road at the junction of the city is definitely a priority. This is the only road besides Guangming City. It will be open to traffic in a few days. The 20-meter-wide road, if you used to drive a horse-drawn carriage, it would be from the imperial capital. It will take at least three months, and now one and a half months will be enough." Prince Gong immediately stood up and said, Li Cong regards Prince Gong highly, and all such matters are left to this guy, and the other princes are also the first I knew this thing once, but the people from the Southern Empire were the most shocked by this matter. They just saw some cement, but they didn't expect this thing to be so powerful. This time they came here from the border and walked for a while. On such a road, it is much faster for a carriage to walk on it. And it's still very stable. What I just said was a carriage. If this is a galloping horse, wouldn't it be... The prince and the emperor's uncle were really shocked when they thought of this. According to Li Cong,

Seeing the actions of these two people singing together, the crown prince and uncle on the opposite side felt very uncomfortable. I can't wait to fight with the two of you in the past. Do you entertain guests like this? It’s been only four or five hours since now, what do you think you guys have done, you’ve either given us a blow, or you can’t guarantee our safety, or you’ve started threatening us, what’s wrong with you having cement roads, you have cement roads I don't believe that you dare to dispatch your troops in Guangming City. Jin Wushu doesn't have nothing to do there every day. Collecting your military information is also a necessary job for them. No clue, but you can't be too arrogant. The threat of the savages to you still exists. If you ignore the threat of the savages and come directly to us, you will eventually lose your own. At that time, let the savages rush in, of course we will have something loss, but whose loss will be more serious? Your north will become barren. The lives of hundreds of millions of people don't believe that you don't care about anything. Thinking of this, the crown prince and the others calmed down.

"My lord, I'm really happy with the development of your empire." The crown prince's words were really forced, and these people could see that the expression of the crown prince betrayed him, "My lord. In fact, we There is only one reason for coming to you, and that is to keep the peace on our mainland. A few days ago, we heard that your country was going to reduce its standing army by three million. I really felt your sincerity. Only recently How did I hear that the lord has reorganized and trained three million new troops?" The crown prince's words also seemed not very certain, after all, this is considered a military secret of the Northern Empire, and it would not be a good thing if it was said for sure . Looking back, the spies inside the Northern Empire must be cleared out, otherwise, the Northern Empire will lose face, right? What is there to keep secret from the mouth of the other party's crown prince?

"The news from His Royal Highness is really good. In fact, 3 million troops is just the beginning. I am a person who advocates force. This is just my initial plan. I plan to expand the army by 1,500 troops in five years. Thousands of troops, these troops will all be equipped with the latest chain crossbows, which will help me carry out a large-scale sweep of the savages. Please rest assured, His Royal Highness, all our troops are used to deal with the savages. The cooperation between our two countries this time is very good. The Great General Jin Wushu must have repaid this to you. I also sent a lot of serial crossbows to your army of the Southern Empire. We can send our The most elite weapons here are given to you, which shows that both of us have nothing to hide." Li Cong said with a smile, on the surface his words were not threatening to the other party, but after careful recollection, every sentence was a rejection For them, disarmament is impossible, and 15 million troops will be trained in five years? Judging from Li's current financial resources, it is completely possible. In this way, the army of the Northern Empire will reach an astonishing fifty million troops. The Northern Empire has a population of nearly four billion, an army of fifty million, and eighty people to support a current The proportion of soldiers is not very high. The population of the Southern Empire is about 5 billion, and its military strength is also 50 million. However, the combat effectiveness of the Southern Empire Army cannot be compared with that of the Northern Empire Army. There are 20 million troops, but both the prince and the emperor know that if Li Cong dispatches 5 million troops with chain crossbows, they will definitely not be able to stop them. It must not be shown on the face, otherwise, it will be difficult for me to negotiate in the future.

"The prince's ambition is really admired by Long, but has he ever thought about it? In fact, the savages have already been driven to the north by the prince. The reputation of the prince can deter those savages. Those who dare not come to the prince, I heard that the prince still enslaves a large race with a population of more than 20 million people, such a thing is really admirable, if the prince expands so many troops, the country's finances will also be affected No way, if this goes on for a long time, the entire empire will enter a very dangerous period." After thinking about it, the Crown Prince could only start with the weakest money in the Northern Empire, whose annual financial revenue is only that of the Southern Empire. About half, maybe a little bit better this year. But there are only about 40 billion gold coins. The Southern Empire can easily get 80 billion gold coins, and with years of accumulation, the Southern Empire is much richer than the Northern Empire.

"You don't need to worry about the money issue. I just saw from the attack of the savages that we don't have some very strong military power. This will make us very nervous when we face conflicts. If If our tens of millions of troops can quickly enter the battlefield. I don’t think we will have more than one million casualties at the beginning. I have already confirmed this matter. If His Royal Highness is interested tomorrow, I can invite the prince Your Highness went to the military camp outside our city to have a look, and those boys all hope that His Highness the Crown Prince can give them some pointers." Li Cong said with a smile, this is a naked show off, every time the two countries visit However, such situations will always occur. Both sides want to show off their strongest troops. This time, His Royal Highness also brought the most powerful army in the Southern Empire. It is necessary to compete.

"This is natural. We came here to see the army of the prince. But has the prince ever thought that most of the so many troops will be stationed in the border area? If there are too many troops in the border area It's not very easy to manage. These soldiers are always looking for trouble. If there is a lot of friction in the border area, it is easy to change some policies of our two big countries. At that time, I might want to sit down and drink tea like this with the prince. It is also an extravagant hope." The prince said cryptically. This is a threat of war in disguise. This guy believed that Li Cong would not dare to start a war, so he said this. If this sentence is faced with others, this sentence may be useful, but if the person on the other side is Li Cong If so, it would be counterproductive. It was as if the uncle of the emperor was trying his best to wink at the prince at this time, and the threatening move had no effect on Li Cong. Although the prince didn't speak, his gaze towards the crown prince and the emperor's uncle was not so friendly anymore. Several people looked at them as if they were enemies.

"Friction? Your Highness's idea is very important. In fact, I have thought about this question many times, and I have also investigated a lot of information from the Ministry of War. In fact, there are many border frictions between our two countries every year. There is a way to eliminate the friction once and for all, I wonder if His Highness the Crown Prince should consider it?" Li Cong said with a smile, the trace of dissatisfaction just now was gone, which made the Crown Prince and the Emperor sigh a little bit at Li Cong's face It really changed too fast, like a unique animal chameleon in their place, very fast and beautiful.

"My lord still has such a solution? If we can solve the problem that hasn't been resolved for tens of thousands of years, we are willing to cooperate. I don't know what the lord's solution is. Can you tell us and discuss it? "The guy said in surprise. He didn't know how there was such a way. The two empires have been fighting for so many years, and there is still a way to quiet the two empires? I have never heard of such a thing. Could it be that a peace treaty is to be established? Thinking of this, he didn't think highly of Li Cong. In the past, he did not set up such similar jumps. Generally speaking, they were set on the premise that the strengths of both sides were roughly equal, but this is basically a piece of paper. , without any binding force, when the other party becomes stronger, this piece of paper can be torn up in a fair manner, no one cares.

"Okay, my lord, wait a moment, bring the map." Li Cong said, because there is no waiter in the room, so Su Minghai and another general quickly opened the map, don't look at the two of them as generals , an extraordinary person, but in front of a group of princes and princes, they only have the ability to do chores like this. The map they opened is the junction of the two countries, the Southern Empire and the Northern Empire. In several counties and cities on the border of the two empires, both the crown prince and the emperor's uncle understood that Li Cong wanted them to cede the land.

"His Royal Highness, look here. This is the border between our two sides. There are a total of 35 counties and cities, 25 of which belong to you, and 10 of which belong to us. There are too many places where there are intersections." , just like His Royal Highness said, if the army passes by, there will be countless frictions every day, and many lives will die. My idea is to set our border line to this In this way, there will only be two counties in contact with each other on our borders. This will benefit us, and our army will have very little contact. There are also these two vassal states. I heard that their monarch recently Your Southern Empire is not very respectful, just hand it over to me. I will give His Royal Highness a good discipline for them, and I will definitely return it with both hands when His Royal Highness succeeds to the throne." Li Cong pointed to the two at the junction A small country said that besides their two great empires, there are still many small countries on this planet. These countries are definitely very small, just like the two mentioned by Li Cong. Regardless of whether they are two countries, But each of them is at most about the size of the three counties of the empire, and they cannot be regarded as a country.

Li Cong's words not only stunned the people of the Southern Empire. Even these people on my own side were dumbfounded, and they said that, because they were afraid of friction, they would take other people's land into their own hands. Li Cong just asked people for twenty-five A county? This is a bit of a joke, as long as this kid is not a prodigal, he will definitely not do such a thing. This is a city of 25 counties, with a population of at least more than 100 million. Some of the defense systems of the Southern Empire are on these counties, and hundreds of millions of gold coins are thrown on them every year. Li Cong is about to take over like that. This is really impossible. Look at the Southern Empire The prince and uncle's eyes knew it, and they felt that Li Cong didn't seem to wake up. They didn't know what to say anymore, Li Cong really took it for granted.

In fact, they came here this time to let the Northern Empire reduce its army. They also know that it is not a simple matter. People like Li Cong will definitely make some demands of one kind or another. They also have this number in their hearts, but for now, this number It's really a bit big. Twenty-five counties and cities are not a small number, even if it is a war. That won't lose so many counties and cities, right? This Li Cong is really a lion. In fact, this is what Li Cong is used to. I hope that they will hand over these counties and cities to me so easily. After all, these people haven't seen their abilities yet. I believe they will understand when they see their abilities. It is completely different to see it with your own eyes, just like those new weapons of Li Cong. The high-level people in the Southern Empire all read the memorials and took them for granted. Naturally, they don’t have the blessing to see the real things. When they arrive, they will understand when they suffer from Li Cong's new army, and Li Cong has arranged a lot of programs for them. This program is not only praised by the imperial capital, but also available in all parts of the empire. These twenty-five counties may be few. After all, Li Cong said in front of the officials that dozens of counties are needed. In Li Cong's impression, only thirty counties can be called a few. The minimum of ten counties and cities, it took so long to take down twenty-five counties and cities by myself, it is really too little.

"My lord's good intentions are really appreciated. In fact, these two vassal states are really not so easy to teach, and I don't have that ability. Let my father continue to manage them. After so many years, the kings of these two countries are still He is very obedient to his father, and as for what Mr. Li said about the county, don’t make jokes.” The expression on the crown prince’s face was a little unnatural, and Li Cong was no different from a robbery, opening his mouth to demand someone Two vassal states, twenty-five counties and cities, this adds up to more than thirty counties and cities, with a population of more than 150 million, and the Southern Empire only controls a total of several billion people.

Even if what the crown prince said is relatively strong, it can be said that none of the two requirements put forward by Li Cong have been met, but Li Cong is still not angry. After all, a person will not make a move when he does not see danger. Some promises, especially these promises also involve their own huge interests, but if their huge interests are violated, it will be different, just like the relationship between the two empires, Li Cong means to give these. In exchange for peace, but if you don't give it, then I'm sorry, maybe we can't easily withdraw our troops from the forty counties and cities, and you will pay more, but these people in the Southern Empire can't see it. Yes, now they know that the military power of the Northern Empire is very strong, but they don't think that the military power of the Northern Empire is so strong that they cannot compete. They may be the ones who lose the battle, but they think that the Northern Empire that won How much cheaper there will be.

"My lord, if we have a long-term plan to discuss this matter, His Royal Highness is still young after all, and we don't talk much about these important national affairs. Let's go back and discuss and give the lord a satisfactory answer, okay?" The scene was like that Xinjiang has come down. At this time, the old emperor can't just sit there like a normal person. This is a matter involving two countries. If I can't dissuade things here, there may be a war between the two countries soon. The scene of this scene, this prince is still too tender, I don't know how to be more tactful, is it so easy for Li Cong to refuse?

Fortunately, the crown prince is not a stubborn person. Seeing the uncle standing up to help him, he nodded and said, "Yes, my lords, after all, I am just a young junior. Everyone here He is my senior, and I am still a novice in the affairs between our two empires, and I will teach you a lot in the future." The crown prince said in a downhill manner, but in fact, he was also in his heart after he finished speaking. I'm a little scared. I heard that Li Cong is a violent person. This guy can make decisions about everything in the Northern Empire. If he really said that there is a war, the war will probably start. He came here to stop the war. Yes, if the war came earlier than before, it is estimated that I will be abolished if I go back. No one will take pity on me, and I may become a disgrace to the Southern Empire. (To be continued. If you like this work, you are welcome to vote for recommendations and monthly tickets. Your support is my biggest motivation.)