novelcrest Chapter 418 Are you scared?
Chapter 418 Are you scared?
Li Yuanke leaned against the cabin door and looked at his son for a while, feeling more and more ashamed the more he looked.
He seemed to see his younger self in him, who was also unambitious and only thought about how to be comfortable, until he met Shen Shixi.
"Eleventh Master, would you like to come in and have a bite of chilled melon?" Li Yuanke said to the eleventh master who was sunbathing and enjoying the breeze.
The eleventh son opened his eyes, looked at his father, smiled, and reached out his hand to his father.
His father bent down and showed him the back of his hand, letting him take his hand to get up, somewhat like Li Lianying serving Empress Dowager Cixi.
Fortunately, the eleventh son jumped up and clung to his father as soon as he got up. In no time, he was on his father's shoulder and sitting on his arm. "Dad, where's my brother?"
Only when his younger brother wasn't in his father's arms did he have a chance to "take over" his father. Li Yuanke also noticed this son's tolerance and concessions towards his younger son. "They're eating cold melon, why don't you go and eat some?"
"I don't want to move."
Li Yuanke chuckled in exasperation. It was that little brat's nature; he was just being lazy. "Didn't you have someone bring you a few pieces?"
He asked deliberately.
"I don't want to talk."
Li Yuanke flicked his finger on his head, "So lazy, don't eat!"
Fortunately, this son has one great advantage: he doesn't hold grudges and has a very big heart. He leaned on his father's shoulder with a smile, amused by his own laughter.
The Emperor of the Great Zhou Dynasty brought his four legitimate children to the Southeast Circuit, which alarmed all the officials in the region. Japan saw this as a great opportunity, and Goguryeo was also very excited. If the father and his five children were left at sea, it would be an earth-shattering event.
There were also many people accompanying the emperor, including Shen Xianzhang.
The Wolf King of the Northern Desert hated it to death. He was held back by the King of the Southern Desert. Otherwise, if he had attacked now and wiped them all out, Shen Shixi would have cried her eyes out!
The King of the Southern Desert recently received another batch of support. A batch of weapons discarded by Bingzhou were sold to him in exchange for a batch of cattle and sheep. He used these weapons to equip his army and launched another attack on the Northern Desert.
The battle raged into August. At a critical moment, a rebellion broke out within the Northern Sands. Sangkur, the Left Wing King who had always been relied upon by the Northern Sands Wolf King, rebelled and colluded with the Southern Desert King to kill the Northern Sands Wolf King.
The Southern Desert King and the new Northern Desert Wolf King, Sangkur, agreed to use the Yuanqu River as the dividing line, each governing their own territory and ruling separately along the river. This ended the years-long internal strife in the Northern Desert, and the population decreased by nearly one-third as a result.
In early October, the King of the Southern Desert personally led his envoys to the capital. Shen Shixi received them in the Taiji Hall. When Suhebalu saw the woman sitting on the imperial platform, he was stunned for a long time before he came back to his senses after being reminded by Lu Shixun, the Minister of Rites of the Great Zhou Dynasty.
He abandoned the usual courtesy he had shown when the Wolf King of Beisha came to the capital to pay homage, and instead knelt before Shen Shixi in a deep bow, presenting him with three gifts: silk, jade discs, and horses, all national treasures.
Shen Shixi said, "No need for formalities! My Great Zhou Emperor is not in court, so I am acting on behalf of the Emperor to welcome the Southern Desert King! I also congratulate the Southern Desert King on avenging his deep-seated hatred and fulfilling my long-cherished wish."
The Wolf King of Beisha also harbored national and personal grudges with her, but as the Empress of the Great Zhou Dynasty, she could not take revenge herself and could only resort to this roundabout method.
The King of the Southern Desert was filled with mixed emotions. He had planned to ask the Empress of the Great Zhou for a marriage alliance, as he wanted to marry the girl he had met in Xiling years ago. But it turned out that she was the Empress of the Great Zhou.
The King of the Southern Desert was almost in tears, not knowing what to say, feeling that tears would flow as soon as he opened his mouth.
He had been sustained by this obsession all these years, still unwilling to give up, so he said, "Back then, wasn't the person I met in Xiling the Empress? It was you who enlightened me back then..."
Upon hearing this, one of the Southern Desert King's subordinates quickly interrupted him, "Your Majesty, you mustn't!"
They didn't say they wanted to submit before they came!
This is a matter of great national importance!
The officials of the Great Zhou also noticed that something seemed off about the King of the Southern Desert!
They suddenly submitted to us; isn't there something fishy going on?
They even reminisced with the Empress, which didn't align with the previously agreed-upon agenda. Fortunately, these people were all quite gentlemanly and didn't suspect that the King of Nanmo might be after their Empress.
Shen Shixi didn't think much of it and smiled, "The Great Zhou will never interfere in the internal affairs of other countries. The Great Zhou's foreign policy is 'no marriage alliances, no indemnities, no ceding of territory, no tribute, and no submission. Do not do to others what you would not have them do to you. Similarly, the Great Zhou will not make such demands on other countries."
Between you and me, it's an equal relationship!
The officials of the Great Zhou all lowered their heads, feeling very ashamed.
The Empress always says one thing and does another. She doesn't interfere in other countries' internal affairs, so what's the deal with Sangkur? How did the former Wolf King of Beisha die? And what's the deal with the east-west division of Beisha?
The rulers and ministers of the Southern Desert were deeply grateful. Some felt that it wouldn't be bad to become a vassal state of the Great Zhou, so that they could rightfully ask the Great Zhou for resources every year.
Shen Shixi ordered the Ministry of Rites to prepare a grand welcoming banquet to greet the rulers and ministers of the Southern Desert. At the banquet, the King of the Southern Desert presented the head of Xu Yu, the Wolf King of the Northern Desert, as a sign of respect.
Xu Yu's head was displayed on the city wall for ten days. People passing by would spit at it, even though they couldn't spit on the head, they could still express their anger and pride.
The war between Beisha and Da Zhou lasted for many years. Countless soldiers of Da Zhou died under the iron hooves of Beisha, their heads hanging on the ground. As a result, the people's trust in the court and the emperor and empress increased dramatically.
The Great Zhou Dynasty is powerful, and everyone is incredibly proud!
Unlike some dynasties in history, such as the Ming Dynasty, Shen Shixi did not engage in "tribute trade," which was not worthwhile. Instead, he opened the borders, allowing free trade between the two sides.
This system is now very mature.
The trade quota originally allocated to the Wolf King of the Northern Desert can be directly given to the Southern Desert.
The King of the Southern Desert obtained a trade policy that was more favorable than that of the Northern Sands. He did not want to go back and insisted on staying in the Great Zhou Dynasty until after the Spring Festival.
Shen Shixi couldn't be easily chased away, but fortunately, the King of Nanmo was quite accommodating and paid for all his living expenses himself.
The fact that a mule was on his list of tributes is quite puzzling.
Chao Yu said, "Your Majesty, this should be the offspring of our Rose who defiled the Ferghana horse of the former Wolf King of Beisha."
This is the only explanation!
Shen Shixi sighed, "It was just a fleeting affair. Oh well, let's just keep it!"
The mule has grown quite a bit. After all, it is related to Rose by blood, and they were quite affectionate when they met. It adapted well to the new environment.
So, after raising a useless, lecherous, and troublesome donkey, Shen Shixi raised a mule.
The fighting in the Southeast Province was quite intense. On New Year's Eve that year, Li Yuanke spent the holiday with his four children in Baodi. They had New Year's Eve dinner together and went to see the sea.
Upon seeing the warships of the Great Zhou, Li Yuanke's blood boiled.
He had always heard Shen Shixi talk about thousands of tons of warships, and now, seeing it with his own eyes, he realized how astonishingly advanced the Great Zhou's warships had become.
The father and his five sons watched from the tall warship as the Great Zhou navy routed the enemy, with cannon fire igniting on the sea like burning fireworks.
The second prince charged into battle alongside Yun Yue, but even though Yun Yue knew his identity, he didn't give him any special protection. After all, that's how the emperor got there back then.
He also made a great contribution, shooting Xie Qingguang with an arrow and capturing him alive.
After the war, the sea was stained red with blood. The setting sun shone on it, and one could see groups of whales chasing after the ships, swallowing the bodies of humans who had fallen into the water. The cruelty of war was fully displayed before the prince.
Li Yuanke didn't let Fuguang, Wangshu, and Xihe see these things. He held the seven-year-old crown prince and asked, "Are you afraid?"