Great Zhou Empire: Kill Zhao Kuangyin at the beginning

Chapter 399: Today is Different from the Past (Special thanks to book friend daddycool/ Gaozhan for the monthly ticket!)

When Thor heard this, he frowned and said:

"Are you saying that Emperor Chai Zongxun of Zhou has sent Zhang Yong, commander of the Dragon Guard, to lead 3,000 Dragon Guards to our country?"

Li Jiqian said hurriedly:
"Your Highness, that's exactly it!

Zhang Yong is a trusted general of Emperor Chai Zongxun of Zhou Dynasty. He is good at scouting and instigating rebellion in enemy countries. He came to our Khitan this time to plot against your highness and the country!
Your Highness should plan for it as soon as possible! As long as there are enough soldiers, I can conquer the Afu tribe and kill all the Longxiang Guards for Your Highness!"

Thor pondered for a while, waved his hand, and said:
"Such a great defeat has caused my prestige among the tribes in the country to be greatly reduced. The matter of the third princess' marriage will be postponed for a while.

You step back!"

Li Jiqian was filled with hatred, but there was nothing he could do at this time. He could only express his loyalty a few words and then respectfully left the palace.

A few days later, King Reina of the West, who had established contact with the envoys sent by the Longxiang Guard and the Afu tribe, was greatly excited when he heard that Zhang Yong and the allied forces of the Afu and Jianhe tribes defeated Li Jiqian's 130,000 troops with only 50,000 men and chased them for thousands of miles.

After careful consideration for a few days, Reina went to the palace to pay a visit to his father, King Sol, on June 10, the 30th year of Kaixi.

Reina is 23 years old this year. His mother is Yan Ran, the beauty of the Afu tribe and the elder sister of the leader Yan Lie.

Because the black-haired tribe in the Khitan Kingdom had long been bullied and despised by the red-haired tribe, Solna Yanran was chosen as his concubine. One reason was because of her beauty, and the other was mainly to win over the largest black-haired tribe, the Afu tribe, in order to consolidate his own royal power.

In the first few years after Yan Ran entered the palace, she was able to gain Thor's favor with her beauty and freshness, and gave birth to Prince Reina.

When she was thirty years old and her beauty faded, both Yan Ran and her son fell out of favor and lived in the cold palace for a long time. Only because she gave birth to a prince did she maintain her rank as a concubine.

Reina grew up in this environment, so he is respectful and timid, observant of people's words and expressions, and has a very delicate mind.

More than a month ago, when the secret envoy of Longxiong Guard came to the royal court of Yaqingshan to meet Reina at the introduction of the Afu tribe, Reina was reluctant to meet him.

The secret envoy of Longxiang Guard urged Reina to join forces with the Great Zhou Empire because Li Jiqian was a tyrant. He joined forces with the ministers in the court to advise King Sol to prevent Li Jiqian from stealing power in Kyrgyzstan.

When Reina first heard that Zhang Yong and other members of the Great Zhou Dragon Guard had only brought 3,000 people this time, he was greatly disappointed. He felt that with such a small number of people, they could not influence the government of the Khitan Kingdom, so he was quite cold towards the secret envoy of the Dragon Guard.

Half a month ago, in early June, the news of the "Battle of Afu City" reached the royal court of Yaqingshan. All the civil and military officials in the court were extremely shocked, and the prestige of the Great Zhou Empire immediately soared.

After several days of contemplation, Reina decided to form an alliance with the Great Zhou and seek its help. So, following the instructions of the Dragon Guards, he went to the main hall of the palace to meet his father, King Thor.

After greeting, Reina said:
"Father, in the Battle of Afu City, Li Jiqian's 130,000-man army was defeated by Zhang Yong, the commander of the Dragon Guards of the Great Zhou Empire, with 3,000 troops and the 50,000-man coalition force of the Afu and Jianhe tribes. This shows that this person has always been good at exaggerating and exaggerating his abilities.

However, Zhang Yong and other Longxiang Guards had only 3,000 men, but they were able to chase Li Jiqian's army of 100,000 for a thousand miles and kill more than 20,000 people. This shows that the combat power of the Great Zhou army was unrivaled in the world. The policy of our Khitan nation should be to be friendly with the Great Zhou Empire, which is the way to survive.

Father, you must not listen to Li Jiqian, a traitor to the Great Zhou, and cause the two countries to become enemies, which will bring great danger to our Khitan country!"

Thor, sitting high on the king's throne, felt a little dazed for a moment. Was the person standing in the palace still the always submissive, silent and respectful Prince Reina?
However, thinking of the "Battle of Afu City", in which the Longxiang Guards of the Great Zhou Dynasty and the Afu tribe, the largest black-haired tribe in the Khitan, both became famous throughout the Khitan country in one battle, Thor knew in his heart that Prince Reina, as the nephew of the Afu tribe, would immediately gain popularity in the country.

In politics, the weight of your words is determined by the strength behind you.

Politicians who are weak but arrogant and want to dominate are always fools who end up in misery and are forever infamous. At this moment, when Reiner spoke these powerful words, Thor not only did not think he was talking nonsense, but found him extremely wise.

Thor:
"Wang Er, what you said is indeed very reasonable.

My father should reflect on whether it was the right decision to trust Li Jiqian in recent years.

A few days ago, news came from Central Asia that the Longxiang Army of the Great Zhou Dynasty had captured the entire territory of the Ghaznavid Empire. King Subuktekin drank poison and committed suicide in the palace, and only his prince Mahmud was missing.

The Great Zhou Empire faced a coalition force of more than three million Star Sect countries. With only ten corps and 900,000 people, it was able to achieve such a miraculous result. Its combat power was truly terrifying!
But since the end of the Tang Dynasty, the Khitans have not had diplomatic relations with the Chinese Empire. Even if we want to improve relations with the Great Zhou Empire now, how should we start?"

Reina pondered for a moment, and finally decided to speak frankly, saying:

"Father, the commander of the Dragon Guards Zhang Yong who came to our Xiajiasi this time was originally here on a diplomatic mission under the imperial decree of the Emperor of the Great Zhou. It was Li Jiqian who instigated the issue, causing father to order that the envoys of the Great Zhou should not be allowed to enter the country. This shows that Li Jiqian is a vicious person who wants to make our Xiajiasi and the Great Zhou an enemy.

Commander Zhang sent an envoy to contact me a few days ago to express the friendship between the two countries.

He also said that if the king agrees to one condition, the Emperor of Zhou will agree to friendship between the two countries and to open up trade!"

When Thor heard this, he was quite moved and said:

"My prince, now that the Afu tribe has established friendly relations with the Great Zhou envoy Zhang Yong, this matter will be much easier to handle!

I just don’t know what conditions Emperor Zhou requires.”

After a moment of silence, Reina said:
"Father, the Emperor Zhou's conditions are not harsh and can be easily met. It all depends on your choice.

The Zhou Emperor asked my father to tie up the Zhou rebel Li Jiqian and hand him over to Commander Zhang to take him back to the country! "

After hearing this, Saul hesitated for a while. After all, in the past few years, Li Jiqian had often presented him with rare treasures and beautiful women, and every word he said pleased him. However, he could not make up his mind to arrest Li Jiqian.

Thor:
"Li Jiqian has served the country with great respect over the past few years and has made many contributions to the country.

Moreover, there were many civil and military officials in the court who spoke well of him.

I will consider this matter for some time before making a decision."

Reina knew it would be difficult to convince his father immediately, so he bowed and left.

In the following months, Prince Reina won over the pro-Zhou ministers in the court and formed a party, constantly persuading King Sol to take down Li Jiqian;
Li Jiqian had already formed a party in the Khitan court, and he also made every effort to persuade Solga to send a large army to attack the Afu tribe and the Longxiang Guard of the Great Zhou.

For a moment, Thor hesitated.

On the sixth day of the ninth month of the 30th year of Kaixi, after five months of preliminary selections at the local level, 30,000 beautiful girls from all over the Zhou Dynasty who were selected as concubines for the crown prince were chosen from more than 900,000 people. They were escorted by government officials from various states and rushed to Bianliang.

After seven rounds of rigorous screening by the Ministry of Internal Affairs, one thousand beauties entered the eighth round of final selection, "selecting concubines".

(End of this chapter)