Chapter 176 The Emperor of South Vietnam, Fishing in Troubled Waters

The capital of Nanyue, Yangcheng Palace.

Li Zongmin, the founding monarch of Nanyue, who proclaimed himself emperor in September of the first year of Lingwu in Daxin and named his reign Tiande, was summoning all the civil and military officials to discuss matters in the Jinluan Hall.

In the Jinluan Hall, Li Zongmin, wearing a bright yellow five-claw dragon robe, sat on the gilded dragon chair, imitating the emperor's appearance and summoning all the ministers to discuss matters.

However, his short stature, even in the dragon robe, did not have the majesty of the emperor, but rather looked a bit funny.

Since Li Zongmin proclaimed himself emperor, the two Guangdong areas under the jurisdiction of Nanyue have not been affected by the war because they are far away from the northern battlefield, and the country seems to be peaceful and the people are safe.

However, with the arrival of the special envoy sent by the Prime Minister Qin Ruhui of the Daxin Dynasty at the Yangcheng Palace in recent days, bringing the news of Qin Ruhui's alliance;

A group of Nanyue court officials, including Emperor Tiande Li Zongmin, have become restless.

No longer content with just governing the two Guangdongs and their coastal areas, with tens of millions of subjects and people.

Instead, they began to set their sights on the two lakes region adjacent to the two Guangdongs.

In order to gain the support of Li Zongmin, Qin Ruhui clearly stated in the alliance that if Nanyue could send troops to help, so that the new emperor Zhao Lingzhan supported by Prime Minister Qin Ruhui could ascend the throne and take the throne, and sit firmly on the Daxin throne;

then the two lakes region would be ceded to Nanyue.

Today, the issue discussed in the court meeting of Nanyue was whether to form an alliance with Qin Ruhui, send troops to Jinling City, and assist Qin Ruhui in fighting against Wu Sanjia who went south to defend the king.

On the dragon throne, Emperor Tiande Li Zongmin waved his hand and said, "My dear ministers, what do you think about the conditions for the alliance between Qin Ruhui, the prime minister of the Great Xin Dynasty, to send troops to Nanjing and exchange for the two lakes?"

"My dear ministers, don't worry too much, just speak freely!"

At this time, Li Shiyu, the crown prince of the current dynasty, was the first to stand up and express his attitude, saying, "Your Majesty, I think we should send troops!"

"Since the founding of the country in September last year, our Nanyue country has recruited soldiers and trained troops;"

"Now, the 100,000 new troops have taken shape, plus the original 100,000 wolf soldiers, the total number of troops in our Nanyue country has exceeded 200,000;"

"I think that now that Nanyue is strong, it is time to expand its territory!"

Paused, too Li Shiyu, the son of the emperor, continued: "Besides, the army's march to Jinling City this time is not a real external expansion war, but to assist the prime minister of the Great Xin Dynasty, Qin Ruhui, to fight against the troops supporting the deposed emperor Zhao Lingwu;"

"When we are on the battlefield, we can deal with it calmly. If the situation is not right, we can just return to the court!"

"If the emperor is unwilling to form an alliance with Qin Ruhui, it's fine. He can verbally agree to Qin Ruhui's alliance first, and then in the process of actually sending troops to Jinling, wait until the city defenders in the two lakes area take the initiative to open the city gates;"

"My Nanyue army will directly attack the city on the spot, and it is not impossible to take over the two lakes area without bloodshed!"

After saying that, Li Shiyu looked at his father on the dragon throne with a proud face, like a child waiting for praise.

"Your Majesty, what the Crown Prince said is absolutely right!"

The Crown Prince Li Shiyu's proposal was immediately echoed by the officials in the court: "Your Majesty, the current situation of the Daxin Dynasty is chaotic and is experiencing a palace coup;"

"Now is a great opportunity for our Nanyue Kingdom to fish in troubled waters. Taking this opportunity to expand the territory is the best policy!"

"Your Majesty, I also advocate sending troops to Jinling City;"

"Your Majesty, I also think..."

For a while, the civil and military officials in the court of Nanyue stood up one by one to express their opinions to Emperor Tiande Li Zongmin, all of whom believed that they should send troops to Jinling to fish in troubled waters.

Sitting on the throne, looking down at the civil and military officials in the court, Emperor Tiande Li Zongmin naturally saw all the civil and military officials in the Jinluan Palace clearly.

Among the faces advocating sending troops, Li Zongmin saw the Prime Minister Tang Bo who was worried and silent at a glance.

"My dear ministers, please be quiet!"

Li Zongmin waved his hand, signaling everyone to be quiet.

Then, he directly called on Prime Minister Tang Bo and said, "Prime Minister Tang, I see that you look solemn and worried. Do you have a different opinion on the issue of sending troops to Jinling City proposed by the ministers?"

"Your Majesty, it's not that I have a different opinion, but--"

Prime Minister Tang Bo hesitated to speak, and finally gritted his teeth and said, "I think that the matter of sending troops to Jinling City must be cautious!"

"Your Majesty, the reason why our Nanyue Kingdom can still maintain a piece of pure land in troubled times and the country is peaceful and the people are safe is nothing more than two points:"

"First, it is Nanyue has a unique geographical location; secondly, under the wise leadership of the emperor, it has never participated in the civil strife of the Great Xin Dynasty; "

"In terms of foreign relations, it is neutral to both Jin Wang Chen Huaian and the Great Xin Dynasty; "

"Now, if we take the initiative to send troops to participate in the civil strife of the Great Xin Dynasty, I am afraid that after breaking the balance of this neutral state, Nanyue will be pushed to the opposite side of Jin Wang Chen Huaian! "

It was not until then that Prime Minister Tang Bo finally said what he had been worried about.

Tang Bo continued: "Your Majesty, in my humble opinion, the biggest threat to our Nanyue is not the precarious Great Xin Dynasty, nor the Japanese pirates from the sea; "

"But it is Jin Wang Chen Huaian who is making great progress all the way, first destroying the Turks, then quelling the turmoil in the Western Regions, and recovering the Sixteen Prefectures of Youyun! "

"In my opinion, the ultimate goal of Jin Wang Chen Huaian, who started his army under the banner of clearing the court of evil, must be to overthrow the rule of the Great Xin Dynasty and ascend the throne to become emperor;"

"According to the current situation, Chen Huaian's ascension to the throne is almost a foregone conclusion, it's just a matter of time!"

Tang Bo added: "If at this time, our Nanyue Kingdom rashly sent troops to participate in the civil strife of the Great Xin Dynasty, it would seem that it would be able to expand the territory of Nanyue Kingdom and take the two lakes region;"

"But in reality, once our Nanyue Kingdom's troops encounter the Dragon City army heading south in Jinling City, what should we do?"

" Should we fight or surrender? "

"But whether it is fighting or surrendering, it will inevitably lead to hostility with Jin Wang Chen Huaian, which will give Longcheng troops a reason to conquer Nanyue! "

"By that time, with only 200,000 troops in Nanyue, can it resist the million-strong army under Jin Wang Chen Huaian? "

Finally, Tang Bo bowed to Tiande Emperor Li Zongmin and said: "Your Majesty, I think that whether to send troops to Nanjing will ultimately depend on the attitude of Jin Wang on this matter;"

"Rather than simply and naively thinking that we can take advantage of the internal strife and coup in the Great Xin Dynasty to send troops to Nanjing and fish in troubled waters! "