I, the prince, only want to be deposed.

Chapter 74 The Secret Code of the Mission

Southwestern Yelang Kingdom.

The once "arrogant" Yelang Kingdom had heard of the Han Dynasty's reputation since the Han Dynasty established the Jianwei County and built the Southwestern Yi Road in the southwest a few years ago.

"Nanyue Kingdom...has it become a vassal state of the Han Dynasty?"

The face of the now elderly Yelang King Duotong was filled with doubt and anxiety.
"Nanyue has already surrendered, so how should Yelang deal with it?"

The Nanyue Kingdom was also considered a powerful country among the small countries in Lingnan. For a long time before that, the Yelang Kingdom was dependent on the Nanyue Kingdom, so politically it still retained the inertial thinking of following the lead of the Nanyue Kingdom.

Now receiving this unexpected news, Duo Tong was deeply shocked.

Because he had a good understanding of the situation in Nanyue before its surrender, he knew that the only ones who wanted to surrender were the Qin family and the young King of Nanyue, while a group of powerful officials headed by Prime Minister Lu Jia had already prepared to resist to the end.

As a result, not long after the Han Dynasty delegation arrived, Lu Jia gave up resistance?

"This great Han prince dared to personally lead an envoy to Nanyue, and was able to make Lü Jia surrender in a short time. His courage and ability are amazing. It seems that the Han Dynasty is determined to take Lingnan this time."

"Although the Han emperor was greedy, once the Han army moved, the Nanyue Kingdom had no choice but to compromise."

"How can I, Yelang, resist?"

"Rather than waiting for the Emperor of the Han Dynasty to turn his attention to Yelang, leaving us with no choice, it would be better to follow the example of the Nanyue Kingdom. At least we can still have one country, two governments..."

……

Small tribal states surrounding Yelang.

There was the Qielan State, the Qiong State, the Dandu State, the Ran State, and the Xi State.

A few years ago, in order to find the Kingdom of Sindhu (ancient India), the Han Dynasty used money to build the Southwestern Yi Road, and these small tribal countries took advantage of it.

Even so they are still inconsistent.

They often pretend to be allegiance when there are benefits, but rebel and cause trouble when there are no benefits.

But this time, after hearing about the Kingdom of Nanyue, they finally felt truly fearful.

I had the same idea as Yelang Wang Duotong...

……

Dian Kingdom.

Upon hearing the news from the Kingdom of Nanyue, Bai Shichang, the leader of the Han Dynasty delegation stationed in the royal city of Dian Kingdom to open up a trade route to the Kingdom of Sindhu, was excited and seemed to have received some inspiration from it.

So he immediately went to the palace to ask for an audience with the Dian King Chang Qiang:
"I wonder if the King of Dian has heard about the Nanyue Kingdom?"

"What does the Han envoy mean by this?"

Chang Qiang looked puzzled.

"My Han envoys have been in Dian Kingdom for several years under the order of the Son of Heaven. In these years, not only have they never harassed the tribes of Dian Kingdom, but they have also generously shared the wealth they brought with them with the King of Dian and the various tribes. The King of Dian should be aware of this, right?"

Bai Shichang's eyes turned cold and he said bluntly,
"However, our Han envoys were only trying to find a way through, but over the past few years, we have been repeatedly hunted down and robbed by the Dian Kingdom."

"The King of Dian not only did not punish them severely, but he used the excuse of maintaining harmony among the tribes of Dian to shield and condone the criminals, and disregarded the safety of our Han envoys!"

"Does the King of Dian really think that I, a great man, am made of mud?!"

It was the first time that Chang Qiang saw Bai Shichang's attitude and tone so tough, and he frowned and said unhappily:
"Han envoy, don't forget that you are now in Dian State, so you need to think carefully before speaking!"

"so what?"

Bai Shichang sneered, bowed to the sky and said loudly,

"This time, my great Han crown prince went on a diplomatic mission to Nanyue in person, risking his life to make Nanyue submit to the great Han. This has set an example for Bai."

"Although I am not as good as the Crown Prince, I will never dare to humiliate the dignity of the Han Dynasty for the sake of one person's safety!"

"I was foolish before. I thought that as long as I acted sincerely on behalf of the Han people, the King of Dian would appreciate the goodwill of the Han people and form a hundred-year alliance with the Han people."

"Now it seems that this is nothing but Bai's wishful thinking!" Chang Qiang turned around and sat on the throne, looking down at Bai Shichang with an angry look, his voice gradually becoming colder:

"What do you think of what the Han envoy said today?"

"Hahahahaha!"

Bai Shichang suddenly laughed wildly, and then he raised his head and chest to meet Chang Qiang's gaze, and said solemnly: "The prince has already given me a revelation: if the barbarians cannot be taught by courtesy, they should be controlled by force!"

"What did you say?!"

Chang Qiang's face changed drastically when he heard that, and the guards in the hall also showed murderous intent and drew their weapons.

However, at this time, Bai Shichang did not show any fear, and his tone became even more excited:
"King of Dian, I, on behalf of the Han people, will now give you one last chance to survive!"

"The Laojin and Mimo tribes under your rule have killed many of our Han envoys over the years. As the King of Dian, you have no choice but to do this. I want you to send troops to kill the leaders of the two tribes within five days and hang their heads on the tower of the royal city as a warning to others!"

"You must immediately present a letter of credence to the Emperor of the Han Dynasty and submit to the country like the Kingdom of Nanyue!"

"If not, you will be guilty of a crime that cannot be forgiven. Don't blame me for writing to the emperor to request the dispatch of troops to Dian. The day when the mighty Han army marches south, your Dian will be destroyed!"

"Or you can order Bai to be killed."

"In this case, I don't need to write a letter. This matter will be reported back to Chang'an soon. My great Han Dynasty is now pointing its sword to the southern border. I am worried that I don't have the reputation of sending troops to flatten the Dian Kingdom in one fell swoop. If I can get this reputation, I will be honored. Why should I cherish this cheap life!"

"This is the last chance I'll give you. You'd better be grateful to me!"

……

Panyu Royal City.

In the palace that housed the Han Dynasty's envoys, Sima Qian turned into a frost-bitten eggplant.

Because he had finally followed Lu Bode's envoy into Yuecheng Pass, but when he arrived there, he learned that Liu Ju had already set out on his return journey with the Qin family and the King of Nanyue two days ago.

He was very sure that he had definitely not passed by Liu Ju's convoy when he came.

So it should be that Liu Ju and he took different paths, so it was impossible for them to meet each other.

"You said he was the son of Sima Tan, the current Grand Historian?"

An Guo Shao Ji looked up and down at Sima Qian, who was only in his twenties at the time, and said with a smile in the tone of an elder,
"I often met your father in Chang'an. You and his features do bear some resemblance. I heard that you have been traveling around the country in compliance with your father's orders in recent years?"

"That's right. May I ask who you are..." Sima Qian quickly composed himself and asked with a bow.

"An Guo Shao Ji, now that His Royal Highness the Crown Prince has left, I am the chief envoy of the Han Dynasty delegation. Given my relationship with your father, you should call me uncle."

"I met my uncle."

Sima Qian originally wanted to turn back immediately on horseback, and he should be able to catch up with Liu Ju's convoy at Yuecheng Pass.

After all, the convoy's speed was definitely not faster than his alone. However, after learning about An Guo Shao Ji's identity, he immediately decided not to chase him and asked eagerly,
"Uncle is the leader of the delegation, so this time when His Royal Highness the Crown Prince led the delegation to pacify the Kingdom of Nanyue, uncle should have participated in the entire process, right?"

"It's natural."

"Great! Could you please tell me in detail what you saw and heard during this trip, especially what the prince did in Nanyue? I will be very grateful!"

While talking.

Zhongjun happened to pass by and burst out laughing for no apparent reason.

An Guo Shao Ji seemed to have his tail stepped on, and immediately glared angrily:

"Zhongjun, what are you laughing at?"

"Don't blame me, Doctor Anguo. I just remembered something interesting. I promise it has nothing to do with birds."

After leaving behind these incomprehensible words, Zhongjun turned his back, shrugged his shoulders and walked away quickly.

This confused Sima Qian, and he looked at Zhongjun's back and asked curiously:
"Uncle, why can't interesting things be related to birds? Is this the secret code of the delegation?"

(End of this chapter)