Munitions Empire

Chapter 617: 576 wise allies

Leines I pinched the telegraph in his hand, his expression flickering. He handed the telegram to the Prime Minister and then muttered to himself furiously, “Are they all idiots? Are they all fools?”

“What’s happening with Qi Country? The King was killed?” After receiving the telegraph, the Prime Minister also mumbled with a similarly ugly expression.

In their eyes, a country’s King or Emperor is heavily protected and a key defensive focus; how could they be killed so easily?

“So he’s dead! But how could they spread the news of this incident so carelessly? Now the whole world knows. Haven’t they thought about the consequences?” Leines I complained to the Prime Minister, utterly despondent.

The Prime Minister also realized the gravity of the situation, he took another look at the telegram in his hand, and then said to Leines I with some uncertainty, “Your Majesty! This, Qi Country is probably in chaos!”

“It’s not probably, it should already be in chaos.” Leines I closed his eyes wearily, rubbing the bridge of his nose and said tiredly, “No choice, the telegram says, Qi Country’s Prime Minister is dead too, most of the Ministers are gone, there’s really no one with a brain to take charge of the situation.”

This was actually the most important reason Leines I deduced that Qi Country was already in chaos: Qi Country no longer had a leader.

King Jiang Xian of Qi Country was dead, his Prime Minister was dead too, and within the ranks of the government, nearly all the significant officials who held any sway were gone.

In such a scenario, with no leader and everyone having their own agenda, it was as if headless dragons—or better said, demons dancing chaotically—it’d be impossible to expect them to handle any real affairs.

The telegraph they held in their hands was probably concocted by some treacherous scoundrels with ulterior motives.

Logically, the death of a monarch, with the heir apparent being distant, should at least be kept secret for a while, as they should hurry to arrange for a candidate to succeed, and find a respected successor to take control.

But now Qi Country had broadcast the death of their monarch to the whole world, clearly there was impurity in their intentions.

“Your Majesty, in my opinion, this is clearly a fallout between those supporting the Second Prince and those supporting the First Prince of Qi Country.” The Prime Minister, no stranger to political struggles, immediately assessed the domestic situation of Qi Country upon hearing Leines I’s words.

Indeed, just as he had guessed, the Ministers supporting the Second Prince wished to keep the death a secret until the Second Prince, who was already on his way to King City, could return and take control.

Bearing in mind the logistics, it was obvious that the Second Prince was closer to King City and was the most likely candidate to succeed.

However, the Ministers supporting the First Prince felt otherwise; they wanted to inform the First Prince, who was far away on the southern front, to blow the lid off this affair and urge the First Prince to prepare early.

Of course, in practice, this involved telegraphing the First Prince while also urgently notifying the Dahua Empire to seek legal support for the “eldest legitimate son”—a two-pronged approach…

As a result of sending out this telegraph, the Dahua Empire knew, then someone informed Leines Empire and Chu Country, Chu Country secretly told Qin Country, Leines Empire quietly sought consultation with Dorne Empire, Suthers heard some rumors, Ice Cold Empire and Meng Country would probably know by now too.

“Nearly so.” Leines I felt none of his pigheaded allies were reliable; it was bad enough they didn’t help him, but they were essentially digging him into a hole.

All these damned idiots, one and all, failed to let events unfold as scripted; working with them, Leines I felt truly exhausted.

If Qi Country could hold the defense line, if Meng Country’s Navy could move southward, if Chu Country could attack the southern part of Tang Country from the north, if Dahua Empire could advance east to threaten the western part of Tang Country…

So many “ifs,” and if just one of them happened, Tang Country would become very passive. But over a month has passed, and none of these favorable “ifs” have materialized!

Instead, Tang Country created a series of miracles on their side, and now with the monarch of Qi Country dead, the situation was very passive, yet still no country stood up to make a change that could turn the tide of war!

He was selectively blind, completely forgetting his own performance and shifting the blame onto the so-called allies.

It’s a pity that these countries, which had joined forces to carve up Great Tang Group’s territory, were enemies in an incessant fight a few months ago. Even it was the Great Tang Group that mediated for them to shake hands and make peace.@@novelbin@@

After cursing these ineffective Sea Kings in his heart, Leines I continued to discuss with the Prime Minister the telegrams from Dahua, “Dahua Empire wants us to take action in Brunas to put some pressure on Tang Country.”

The Prime Minister immediately tensed up upon hearing this and prepared to speak cautiously, “Your Majesty, this matter requires careful consideration…”

Leines I waved his hand dismissively, showing dissatisfaction, and said to the Prime Minister, “Of course, I know to be careful! Ridiculous! Zhao Kai is cunning, but I am no fool! Brunas has already fallen into my hands; how could I possibly stir up trouble there!”

He wasn’t foolish enough to start a war in his most prized Brunas region over a mere telegram from the Dahua Empire.

As Emperor, he had offended the mighty Great Tang and snatched Brunas from the jaws of danger – wasn’t it all to make Brunas a goose that laid golden eggs? If he killed the goose now, what was all his effort for?

Seeing that his leader wasn’t experiencing a relapse of folly, the Prime Minister promptly started flattering him while outlining the stakes, “You’re absolutely right, Your Majesty! If we were to fall out with Tang Country over Brunas, the Tang navy might attack Brunas… At that point, Tang Country fighting on two fronts might not be too bad for them since their navy might remain unaffected. But our loss… would be the actual port and docks of Brunas.”

Leines I also felt that it was time to let his allies take the hit, and he would just follow up with a ‘C’ – that was the correct way to engage in a team battle, “Therefore, let Dorne, Suthers, and the Ice Cold Empire along with the Mirage Kingdom worry about this headache.”

“Brilliant, Your Majesty,” the Prime Minister immediately bowed his head and offered another round of flattery.

Flushed with the Prime Minister’s praise, Leines I felt radiant. He believed he was exceedingly wise – to remain calm at such a time and offer his allies up for sale, “But we need to make more effort! We must ensure that each of those kingdoms knows, if they don’t pull their weight now, when Tang Country conquers Qi Country… it will be time for revenge.”

“What does Your Majesty suggest?” It was here that the Prime Minister’s savvy came through. Though he knew it all, he deliberately asked, giving Leines I the opportunity to divulge his plan.

True to form, Leines I, who relished showcasing his own strategems, responded with unbridled satisfaction, as naturally as if he’d entered a restroom without needing to linger, “Send the Foreign Minister to arrange for envoys to visit the neighboring countries, and at the same time, send telegrams to the distant ones… requesting they declare war on Tang Country!”

“Yes!” the Prime Minister bowed slightly once more, concluding the conversation.

Elsewhere, within the still frigid realm of the Ice Cold Empire, in the capital Furnace Fortress, boiling lava collected into scorching pools, bubbling incessantly.

Next to this blazing pool, the robust Dwarf King Binghan the First looked down upon the churning flames and scoffed to his confidant, “Ridiculous. Do they take us Dwarves for fools? Declaring war on Tang Country now, what would we fight with? Rely on our Dwarf navy? Hmph… if we compare it to the Tang people’s warships, ours can hardly be called a navy…”

The confidant began to complain, “Tang Mo has always had a formidable navy. If we rashly go to war, those massive warships previously seen at sea might just destroy our Eternal Winter Port. They’ve always been reluctant to provide us with advanced warships, always on guard against us.”

Binghan the First kept his eyes on the roiling lava, “It’s not a possibility, but a certainty. Although it looks like Leines got Jade City and Brunas, we’ve torn up many more treaties. Steel and copper, as well as precious metals – we’ve halted all supply to Tang Country; they must absolutely detest us to the bone!”

He paused, then turned and walked toward the distant palace, “That’s why we shouldn’t add to the hatred. It would be detrimental to us in making future decisions! If there’s further warfare to come, we shouldn’t become the battlefield, nor the primary target for Tang’s aggression!”

The confidant asked knowingly, “Then what should we do, Your Majesty?”

“First, let’s watch and see which other countries are eager to step forward! In any case, we won’t be the first,” Binghan the First said without looking back as he walked, “Wait for the reaction of the Mirage people, they… are much more anxious than we are.”

In the southern part of Qi Country, the First Prince looked at the telegram in his hand but could not muster a shred of sadness. His father had died, yet all he felt was excitement and rage.

Excitement because he might soon become the King of Qi Country, even though the kingdom seemed on the verge of collapse – at last, he had the chance to be a king!

Rage because his younger brother, that damned Second Prince, dared covet the throne and was now leading troops towards King City! This was utterly unforgivable!

“Where’s Qin Xiong? What’s taking him so long? I, the King of Qi Country, command him to report to me immediately, right now!” he said discontentedly, looking up and sternly ordering a servant beside him.

“Your Highness! We’ve already sent a telegram to Qin Xiong, but he…” The officer hadn’t finished speaking when he was silenced by the prince’s fierce glare.

The stern General rebuked, “Get out!”

After dismissing the foolish subordinate, the General continued, “Your Majesty! We’ve sent a telegram to General Qin Xiong.”

The First Prince’s face brightened instantly – he liked this new title. Hearing it made the throne seem almost within reach.

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