Chapter 537: Reactions of Various Nations, Reinforcements!

When Zhu Yuanzhang heard Zhu Ying's explanation, he once again developed a massive interest in this Ming Kingdom of the Wuxia world. Zhu Yuanzhang immediately said, "Xiong Ying, if there is an opportunity, I want to make a trip to this Ming Kingdom. Who knows, perhaps the Emperor of this Ming Kingdom truly is one of my descendants."

Facing Old Zhu's request, Zhu Ying naturally did not refuse.

He nodded and said, "That is naturally no problem. Once the infrastructure of the Jin Kingdom is completed, Xiong Ying will certainly bring Imperial Grandfather to the Ming Kingdom to investigate the truth!"

"Very good! Very good!"

Zhu Yuanzhang praised repeatedly.

***

Meanwhile, on the side of the Ming Kingdom.

The Zhengde Emperor, Zhu Houzhao, had just received intelligence from the Jinyiwei.

"Report!"

"Reporting to Your Majesty... something terrible has happened! The Jin Kingdom has truly been defeated by the rumored Grandson of the Great Ming!"

Upon the Dragon Throne.

Zhu Houzhao was struck speechless upon hearing this news.

Clearly, this was not the situation Zhu Houzhao wanted to see.

One had to understand that in Zhu Houzhao's view, if the Jin Kingdom was indeed defeated by this rumored Grandson of the Great Ming, then that Grandson would most likely continue his offensive toward the Ming Kingdom!

In other words, the Jin Kingdom's today would be the Ming Kingdom's tomorrow.

"Immediately summon the officials!"

"To discuss this matter!"

Although Zhu Houzhao was quite playful, he was not stupid; in fact, he could be considered one of the extremely intelligent emperors of the Ming Dynasty.

He understood that the Grandson of the Great Ming defeating the Jin Kingdom was not good news for the current Ming Kingdom—it was actually quite disastrous!

Therefore, the priority was for Zhu Houzhao to quickly assemble the officials to pool their collective wisdom!

...

Not long after, the civil and military officials of the Ming Kingdom arrived one after another at the Fengtian Hall. Of course, Zhu Wushi and Cao Zhengchun were also present.

On the viewing platform.

Zhu Houzhao's mood was quite depressed.

Even after all the officials had arrived, Zhu Houzhao remained silent, which made the Ming officials quite embarrassed.

After a moment.

A Minister of War of the Ming Kingdom suddenly spoke up: "Your Majesty, for what purpose have you summoned us this time?"

Facing the inquiry from the Ming official, the Great Ming Emperor Zhu Houzhao finally spoke slowly: "The Jin Kingdom... has fallen."

Without a doubt.

As soon as Zhu Houzhao announced the fall of the Jin Kingdom, a look of panic appeared on the faces of every official in sight.

"Your Majesty, that must be impossible! The Jin Kingdom's military strength is quite formidable. Under heaven, there is no country capable of swallowing the Jin Kingdom!"

"That's right, Your Majesty, this must be false news!"

"Although the Jin Kingdom's State Preceptor, Ouyang Xiu, was killed, the Jin Kingdom has over a hundred cities and an army of up to a million. How could it be conquered in such a short time?"

"This is truly strange. This humble official believes there is something fishy going on; it might be a staged drama by the Jin Kingdom itself!"

To the civil and military officials of the Ming, they simply did not believe the Jin Kingdom could be destroyed. Thus... once Zhu Houzhao finished speaking, everyone's first reaction was that it was fake news.

On the Dragon Throne.

Zhu Houzhao's tone carried a hint of disappointment. He said coldly, "This matter is absolutely true. The Jin Kingdom has indeed fallen, and Wanyan Shouxu has been killed."

"Furthermore, it wasn't just Wanyan Shouxu who was killed. Even Wanyan Honglie, Wanyan Kang, and the entire Jin Imperial Family were all killed by the rumored Ming army!"

Speaking to this point, Zhu Houzhao seemed to see a reflection of himself in Wanyan Shouxu.

Consequently.

Zhu Houzhao could not help but sigh, saying slowly, "I did not summon you all here to have you question me, but to have you devise strategies for me!"

"Tell me, how should we respond when the Grandson of the Great Ming leads a great army to invade our Great Ming?"

Once Zhu Houzhao posed his question, the officials in the Fengtian Hall fell into silence for a time. Clearly, no one knew the answer to this question.

And Zhu Houzhao was naturally very dissatisfied upon seeing this reaction.

Zhu Houzhao raised his voice and said to the crowd, "What? Have you all gone mute?"

"Speak!"

After Zhu Houzhao finished, his Imperial Uncle, Zhu Wushi, finally spoke.

After all, at this time, the Iron-Fisted Divine Marquis Zhu Wushi represented the strongest combat power of the Ming Kingdom. Currently, the Iron-Fisted Divine Marquis was a Divine Ability Realm expert of the Great Ming, meaning that with Zhu Wushi's strength, he could fully go toe-to-toe with Zhu Ying.

"Your Majesty."

"This humble official believes there is no need to be overly anxious. In fact, I believe this might even be a good thing for our Ming Kingdom!"

When Zhu Wushi shared his thoughts with Zhu Houzhao, the latter naturally became interested.

Soon, Zhu Houzhao immediately inquired of the Iron-Fisted Divine Marquis: "Divine Marquis, stop teasing. Tell me quickly, how should we handle this?"

Seeing how anxious Zhu Houzhao was, Zhu Wushi became even more composed.

Zhu Wushi spoke unhurriedly: "Your Majesty, this so-called Grandson of the Great Ming is attacking the Jin Kingdom in the name of our Ming Kingdom. This indicates that this Grandson is on the same side as us, or rather, he intends to help our Ming Kingdom attack the Jin Kingdom!"

"Furthermore, once the Jin Kingdom is defeated, the entire world will naturally fall into chaos. And once there is chaos, it precisely means our Ming Kingdom has the opportunity to become a hegemon!"

"Now, once the various countries hear that the Jin Kingdom has been annihilated, they will certainly be quite frightened, and there is a high possibility that countries will form alliances against one another!"

"And this so-called Grandson of the Great Ming will naturally become the object of fear for all nations! Once all the countries unite to attack the Grandson, I expect he won't be able to hold out for very long."

"And once this Grandson and his forces are defeated, the territories originally occupied by the Jin Kingdom will naturally be carved up by other countries!"

"In short, for the Ming Kingdom, we can either form an alliance with the Grandson of the Great Ming, or, if we must retreat, we can join the other countries to crusade against him!"

"Your Majesty, what do you think?"

Aside from his cultivation having reached the Divine Ability Realm, to be honest, Zhu Wushi's intelligence was also quite high.

He keenly sensed that the destruction of the Jin Kingdom was actually beneficial to the Ming Kingdom.

And indeed, once Zhu Wushi shared his thoughts, Zhu Houzhao's face was filled with excitement, as the suggestion caused a sudden epiphany.

Zhu Houzhao said repeatedly, "Reasonable!"

"As expected of the Iron-Fisted Divine Marquis! After listening to your explanation, I can see a way forward for the Ming Kingdom!"

Zhu Houzhao was not stingy with his praise. He then continued to ask, "By the way, Imperial Uncle, according to your idea, what should I do now?"

As Zhu Houzhao finished speaking, the eyes of all the civil and military officials turned toward Zhu Wushi.

The next second.

Zhu Wushi said very calmly, "Reporting to Your Majesty, this humble official believes the best choice for the Ming Kingdom right now is to meet all changes with constancy."

"The situation is not yet clear, so the priority is to observe the reaction of the Grandson of the Great Ming."

"In short, the Ming Kingdom must absolutely not be the first to stick its head out. Of course, we must also maintain good relations with other countries!"

However.

As Zhu Wushi's voice fell, Cao Zhengchun, the Grand Eunuch of the Eastern Depot, had a different opinion.

"Your Majesty, although what the Divine Marquis says makes some sense, the Jin Kingdom's territory is currently connected to our Ming Kingdom's territory!"

"If this so-called Grandson of the Great Ming suddenly sends troops to attack our Ming Kingdom, then... how will our Ming Kingdom respond?"

Without a doubt.

Cao Zhengchun's words jolted Zhu Houzhao awake.

"Correct. This so-called Grandson of the Great Ming has a very strange style of operation; no one can guess his thoughts..."

"Therefore, this servant believes that to be safe, we must naturally make preparations first!"

It had to be said that Cao Zhengchun's words also held weight. Thus, Zhu Houzhao immediately addressed the civil and military officials: "In that case, strengthen the border defenses immediately!"

"Yang Yuxuan, as the Great General of the State, I leave the matter of guarding the borders to you."

"How is that?"

As Zhu Houzhao's voice fell, Yang Yuxuan, the Great General of the State, immediately stepped out from among the officials!

"Please rest assured, Your Majesty! This general will certainly give my all!"

"To defend the territory of our Great Ming!"

Zhu Houzhao nodded slightly, then said to Yang Yuxuan with a serious expression, "Mhm. Immediately dispatch one hundred thousand elite troops to the border between the Great Ming and the Jin Kingdom!"

"If this Grandson of the Great Ming sends troops to attack my Ming Kingdom, you shall naturally resist. If he has no intention of advancing, then you must not engage in conflict with his army!"

Zhu Houzhao was a smart man. He knew that if he worsened the relationship with the Grandson of the Great Ming, the entire Ming Kingdom would completely collapse!

Just as Zhu Wushi had said, the bird that sticks its head out gets shot; Zhu Houzhao did not want the Ming Kingdom to be that bird!

...

Meanwhile, within the capital of the Song Kingdom.

The Emperor of the Song Kingdom also felt the arrival of a crisis.

"Reporting to Your Majesty, chaos has erupted in the north! The Jin Kingdom has actually been annihilated by someone claiming to be the Grandson of the Great Ming!"

When the secret agent informed the Song Emperor of the Jin Kingdom's situation, the latter was stunned.

This Song Emperor, much like Zhu Houzhao of the Ming, had not expected the situation to develop so rapidly.

In fact, it could be said to have far exceeded the Song Emperor's expectations.

In the imperial court.

When the Song Emperor informed the civil and military officials of this matter, the officials naturally showed expressions of panic.

"Your Majesty, since the Jin Kingdom has been destroyed, it is very likely that the Grandson of the Great Ming's next step will be to launch an invasion of our Song Kingdom!"

"Now... the priority is naturally to dispatch our absolute main force to march north immediately!"

Among them, the Minister of War immediately expressed his view.

Hearing this, the Song Emperor felt very conflicted. After all... although the Song Kingdom had many martial arts experts, its actual military strength was relatively mediocre.

Therefore, the Song Emperor's greatest wish was for no war to break out, but now that things had reached this point, it seemed difficult for the Song Kingdom to avoid war.

Thus, when the Song Minister of War proposed sending a large army to the northern borders of the Song Kingdom, the Song Emperor ultimately agreed.

"Dispatch the troops immediately! We must not delay! I have a strong premonition that this so-called Grandson of the Great Ming is definitely eyeing the mountains and rivers of my Song Kingdom!"

To be honest, this Song Emperor lacked foresight and courage.

Though the world was changing, the Song Emperor only ever thought about his own small patch of land.

He had absolutely no ambition to unify the world.

...

In the Great Mongol Empire, within a military camp on the grasslands.

The Great Khan of the Mongols had also heard the news of the Jin Kingdom's destruction.

Unlike the cautious and self-preserving Song Emperor, this Great Khan of the Mongols was none other than Kublai Khan.

He said to the generals in the camp, "Now, our enemy the Jin Kingdom is destroyed. Next, the Mongols will naturally seek to dominate the world!"

One could see that Kublai Khan's ambition was entirely different from that of the Song Emperor—one was in the heavens, the other on the ground!

However, once Kublai Khan voiced his grand ambitions, his generals suddenly fell into silence.

Kublai Khan naturally noticed this, so he immediately spoke up, "What is it! This is a great thing for the Mongols and the Han, yet you all look so dejected?"

Facing Kublai Khan's questioning, the Prince of Ruyang stepped forward directly.

"Reporting to the Great Khan, are you not afraid of the mysterious power that wiped out the Jin Kingdom?"

"As everyone knows, the Jin Kingdom's strength was terrifying. Under heaven, very few could contend with them!"

"Yet now, the Jin Kingdom was actually destroyed so easily by someone claiming to be the Grandson of the Great Ming!"

"This is enough to show how terrifying the strength of this Grandson of the Great Ming is!"

The Prince of Ruyang's heartfelt words caused Kublai Khan to gradually calm down. He said slowly to the Prince of Ruyang, "In that case, from your perspective, how should our Mongols handle this?"

After Kublai Khan finished speaking, the generals in the hall all turned their gazes toward the Prince of Ruyang.

The Prince of Ruyang said very calmly, "Since things have come to this, we must naturally increase our defenses and do everything possible to prevent the Grandson of the Great Ming from attacking the Mongols!"

"Since this so-called Grandson can destroy the Jin Kingdom so easily, he certainly has the ability to destroy the Mongols as well!"

After hearing this, it was now Kublai Khan's turn to fall into silence.

A moment later.

Kublai Khan said slowly to the Prince of Ruyang, "In that case, you shall be the one to hold back the Grandson of the Great Ming!"

"I will give you fifty thousand iron cavalry! You must guard this border!"

"You must not allow the Grandson of the Great Ming to invade our Mongol lands!"

As Kublai Khan's voice fell, the Prince of Ruyang immediately accepted the command!