The windows in the King's Hall are tall and small. The scorching sun outside was drying the castle masonry; The sight of dust flying in the sunlight in the window is visible to the naked eye.

The envoy of the Thorn Kingdom entered, and he looked at Queen Issuva, who was sitting on the throne, and then at her brother, Ayn, who was standing at the bottom. There was a slight look on the emissary's face.

"May the Lord protect the noble King." After the envoy pressed his chest and bowed, he immediately said in Zhenla: "The two strategies of war and peace prepared by the monarchs and ministers of your country earlier seem to be impossible at present. He then pretended to be calm and made a small joke, "Unless Your Majesty is willing, ask the Ming Kingdom to punish and openly cede all the land north of Saigon to the Champong State." ”

King Benhaya replied calmly: "You know you can't. ”

The messenger said: "As for the battle strategy, the current situation is not very good. Siam is still standing still, and should continue to wait and see. ”

Ann looked at the envoy, his hands folded, courteous, but with a mocking expression on his face: "I am only interested in one thing, why would the Manchurian (Sultanate of Malacca) still use you and let you send envoys to other countries?" Is it just because you know a few Chinese languages? ”

The messenger was stunned for a moment.

An En continued: "I heard that you have sent an envoy to Java to persuade Java to resist the Ming Dynasty; As a result, the king of Java obediently handed over 60,000 taels of gold. Now you have gone to Siam, and once again you have achieved nothing. Won't you king of Manchuga blame you? ”

But the messenger was not ashamed, and he held his head high and said, "I am only doing my duty, and the results are the will of the Lord." ”

Almost all of the people of Chenla believe in Buddhism, and apparently disapprove of the Muslim master. Ann just asked lightly, "Really?" ”

The messenger said, "What's more, the Siamese are very reasonable. They may not want to see the Ming Kingdom come to point fingers, but they are even more unwilling to become an alliance with the loser. Your Majesty and you should also see my credit, now that the Siamese have stopped attacking the kingdom of Chenla, they have at least begun to wait and see; Our coalition forces will not be exposed to the enemy. ”

King Benhaya turned his head, looked at Ann and the other nobles, and asked, "Without the Siamese fleet, do we have a chance of victory on the water?" ”

Without waiting for the ministers and nobles to answer, Queen Issova suddenly asked the messenger: "Your fleet of Manchu will not wait and see like the Siamese, will you?" ”

The messenger said: "Of course not, the fleet is already on its way." Our King has prayed at the feet of the Lord, and the Lord's servants will never deceive Him and will fulfill his promises. ”

After a pause, he said, "Your Majesty doesn't seem to have a choice. When I heard the news of the Great Ming Fleet, I also heard some rumors that the Ming Fleet had suffered a hurricane. The hurricane did not stop them from moving south, and it seemed that they had made up their minds; As long as they are slightly dissatisfied with your country's terms of peace, war will break out. ”

The king sat silently on a high chair. A ray of sunlight made his clothes look golden, but it still did not wash away the gloom on his face.

But Ann gritted his teeth and said, "When I saw that with my own eyes, the fleet of the Ming people was burning, and their corpses were scattered all over the woods and riverbanks; Then I'm going to be very excited. It must be happier and happier than torturing the Ming envoys to death, or skinning them and feeding them in the woods to feed the mosquitoes! No matter how cruel the retribution is, it is the cause of them. ”

Ahn was draped in a reddish-and-yellow robe, and her sturdy chest was bare. He had just done a salute, which was a gift of kindness, but in the blink of an eye, his face showed cruelty, and his mouth exhaled anger, which attracted extra attention. However, the Buddhism on the Zhenla side is very different from the Han law, and the Zhenla people do pay more attention to retribution and punishment.

At this time, the general of Zhenla State spoke: "The minister believes that until now, we still cannot completely give up the possibility of negotiating peace; But at the same time, we should be ready for war and not be careless. ”

King Benhaya said, "Go on." ”

The general said: "When the Ming fleet approaches, we will send an envoy to negotiate peace first." If it is possible to negotiate well, that is the best outcome; Even if you can't talk about it, it won't anger the Ming people. ”

King Benhaya nodded.

An En and the general have always had different political views, but at this time they also echoed it: "The general is right, the people of the Ming Kingdom are already underestimating the enemy, and when they see us sending envoys to sue for peace, they must be even more careless." Our coalition forces are just in time for the planned strategy.

We will place the main force on the side of the Dong Nai River (near Saigon) and lure the Ming army to attack with great fanfare. When most of the Ming army went ashore immediately and the troops on board were empty, the coalition army raided the sea with a fleet to capture and burn the ships of the Ming people.

The Ming army, which was annoyed and angry after the scheme, must want to seek a big battle with the coalition army and take revenge on us. Then we retreated to the northwest and lured the enemy deeper. The hot and rainy jungle and the constant attacks day and night will definitely make the life of the Ming Kingdom worse than death! ”

When Queen Isseva heard this, a proud smile appeared on her face.

Her brother, though often reckless, is not stupid. More than one nobleman praised Ann for her war strategy and wisdom.

Although the Ming Empire is very large, the reason why they can threaten the Zhenla Kingdom that is thousands of miles away is nothing more than relying on that fleet. As long as their fleet is gone, even if the Ming people have strong national strength, they can't rely on it at all. Therefore, by trying to destroy the enemy's ships first, you can weaken their greatest strengths.

However, the coalition forces lured the enemy deep and relied on the climate and terrain, but they played to their strengths and took advantage of the shortcomings of the Ming army.

Izeva and many other nobles believed that it would be difficult for the Ming army to get out of such a scheme.

At this time, the general's voice said: "The minister still insists on a safe proposition. Angkor Thom (near Siem Reap City) is deep inland, far from Saigon. As long as we ignore the Ming army, the Ming army can't do anything about us at the seaside. ”

Ixova frowned.

Before, she did not support the Lord and the faction, mainly for the sake of her brother; Because once the Lord is reconciled, the king may sacrifice Ann En and use him to curry favor with the Ming people. After all, Ann is not the king's own brother, and he cannot be compared to the entire kingdom in the king's heart.

But now, even if Isuva doesn't think about the safety of her family, she somewhat agrees with her brother's statement: The king is surrounded by cowards!

Izuva couldn't help but speak herself and participated in the dispute: "I'm afraid things won't go as the general wants."

The Siamese temporarily stopped their troops and Hugo, just to wait and see for the time being, waiting for our victory or defeat with the Ming Kingdom. If we were to show fear and retreat at this time, would the Siamese resume fighting?

The newly established states of Siam and Champa attacked Angkor Thom on both the east and west, and the king already had plans to run Phnom Penh and abandon Angkor Thom. In the event that we are going to move the capital to Phnom Penh in the southeast, the land in the Dong Nai River valley, where Saigon is located, will be particularly important. If the power of the Zhancheng State is allowed to expand westward, the power of the Ming State will also be allowed to gain a firm foothold in the Tongnai River; The eastern part of Phnom Penh will face the threat of a strong enemy for a long time, and how will the kingdom survive for generations?

Do you only get anxious when your eyebrows are burned? ”

The general said: "The queen is very knowledgeable. But if we are unfortunate enough to lose, the above crises will still be faced, and they will be more serious. The army of the Great Ming Kingdom is menacing, not like it is just here to scare people. We intend to make enmity with major powers, and we must be cautious. ”

Izuda said disapprovingly: "Since there is a chance of victory in the war, and the chance of victory is not small, why do you choose to sit back and wait?" I don't know what you're afraid of, are you afraid of the vast territory and strength of the Ming Kingdom? But those are thousands of miles away, and for us, there are only 10,000 or 20,000 people in the Ming Kingdom. ”

It was not proper for the queen to talk about military affairs in front of nobles and foreign envoys. However, King Benhaya never stopped her, and it was clear that the king was a little tempted.

The messenger said, "In the light of the Lord, women cannot participate in military affairs, perhaps it is different in the kingdom of Chenla; But the contemptible still have to speak of reverence, and the queen is truly both beautiful and wise. ”

Issuda smiled at the messenger and nodded slightly.

The general said: "The Manchu Jia people are just thinking about themselves, intending to let the Zhenla Kingdom drag down the Ming army and not attack them." ”

The envoy was a little angry and said: "The Manchurian Kingdom and the Great Ming Kingdom used to be friendly and could have negotiated peace, but it is still incumbent on them to send a fleet to support the Zhenla Kingdom. We are not for ourselves, but for everyone. Can't you see? The Ming people are devouring everyone's goodness and want to be in control. In the long run, that is hell. ”

Izuda said: "Our country has no grievances with the Ming Kingdom, and the king has sent envoys to send gifts thousands of miles away, but they treat us like this? How can the king turn a blind eye? ”

King Benhaya sighed: "The Zhenla people killed the entire mission of the Great Ming Kingdom. ”

"The mission is just here to oppress us. They don't want to pay anything for themselves, they just want to cut the land of the Zhenla country and win over the Champa country. The people of the Ming Kingdom are just self-inflicted, self-inflicted, and karma. ”

Benhaya turned his head and said, "The people of the Ming Kingdom don't think so. ”

Isuva pondered for a moment, and then said: "The king is a wise monarch, if you defeat the powerful Ming army, you will definitely be able to chant the Zhenla people for 10,000 years, and the surrounding countries will also respect and revere the king incomparably." You will become the greatest king of all time. ”

The messenger of Manthorn took the opportunity to bow and said, "O wise king! Everyone present had no choice but to praise together.

Although Benhaya has been criticizing the queen's opinion, he has already been tempted, otherwise he would not have constantly considered those details. Benhaya was silent for a while, his expression was very serious, but his eyes suddenly froze, and his eyes already showed a decisive brilliance. And those little brilliance are especially eye-catching on his preoccupied face.