Chapter 157: Telling a Story

Hearing Zhu Gaoxu's inquiry, the group of envoys remained silent.

Shock!

There was only wordless shock.

They had absolutely no idea how to describe the feelings in their hearts.

It would be no exaggeration to say that it had stirred up a monstrous storm!

Before this, who could have imagined that Great Ming truly possessed such a divine weapon!

Following Zhu Gaoxu's line of thought, what would it look like if this firearm were to strike their own soldiers?

One probably didn't need to think much to know the result.

An iron plate an inch thick!

It was shot through by a single bullet from such a great distance away.

Anyone who saw this would likely be stunned.

Looking at the group of dumbfounded envoys, Zhu Gaoxu spoke up: "Gentlemen, this is the surprise I have for you. I wonder if you like it?"

Hearing Zhu Gaoxu's words, the group finally came back to their senses.

Each of their expressions was somewhat unsightly.

A surprise?

I think it's intimidation!

But at this moment, everyone was much more docile; hearing Zhu Gaoxu's words, despite feeling disgusted inside, they still managed to force a smile.

Zhu Gaoxu, however, seemed not to notice this anomaly and continued as if nothing had happened: "I remember just now, an envoy said something about me. Differential treatment?"

"I wonder who it was? Could you step out and let me see? I will offer you an apology now."

Hearing these words from Zhu Gaoxu, the envoy from Zhongshan Kingdom who had accused Zhu Gaoxu in the main tent earlier bit the bullet and walked out from the crowd, trembling.

Before he had taken two steps, his legs went soft and he collapsed onto the ground.

Seeing this, the Zhongshan Kingdom envoy simply didn't get back up and knelt, saying: "Your Highness, please calm your anger. It was my loose tongue earlier; I hope Your Highness will forgive me."

Zhu Gaoxu looked at the kneeling Zhongshan Kingdom envoy and said with a smile: "Envoy, why must you do this? I was just asking."

After hearing Zhu Gaoxu's words, the man thought Zhu Gaoxu had forgiven him, so he immediately kowtowed several loud thuds to Zhu Gaoxu while still kneeling.

Although Zhu Gaoxu said "No need, no need" with his mouth, his body didn't move at all, and he accepted them all.

After the envoy finished kowtowing, he thought everything was fine, but just as he stood up, he heard Zhu Gaoxu say: "I remember that your Zhongshan Kingdom has excellent warships!"

Hearing this from Zhu Gaoxu, the Zhongshan Kingdom envoy felt a panic in his heart.

These warships were not like the tree seeds from before.

Those things were worthless, but warships were different.

The timber, labor, and time required for a single warship were enormous.

This was the foundation of a country.

The meaning in Zhu Gaoxu's words was clearly that he wanted warships.

Realizing this, the Zhongshan Kingdom envoy knelt on the ground again and begged for mercy: "Your Highness, please spare our Zhongshan Kingdom and make a different request."

Zhu Gaoxu sat on the command platform with a darkened face and shouted at the envoy: "Presumptuous!"

"Are you trying to slander me?"

"I was merely asking about the local specialties of your Zhongshan Kingdom; when did I ever make a request of you?"

The Zhongshan Kingdom envoy was not stupid; he knew Zhu Gaoxu was trying to have his cake and eat it too.

The key was that this time he was truly scared silly; in their eyes, this thing was almost like a celestial artifact.

Therefore, even though he knew Zhu Gaoxu's intentions, he still had to play along with Zhu Gaoxu.

"It was this humble official who spoke wrongly; this humble official deserves punishment."

As he spoke, he knelt on the ground and slapped his own face with his hands.

It must be said that while some people have other faults, at least they know how to endure and see the situation clearly.

In this regard, this Zhongshan is much stronger than Goryeo.

Seeing that it was about enough, Zhu Gaoxu waved his hand and said: "Envoy, why must you do this? If outsiders see it, they will think I am bullying others by relying on my power."

By this time, the Zhongshan Kingdom envoy had already slapped himself a dozen times; hearing Zhu Gaoxu's words, he finally stopped, feeling grateful for the mercy.

Standing to the side, the Left Vice Minister of Rites Li Hao saw this scene, and his shock was beyond words.

Everything had completely spiraled out of his control.

From the moment he left his house this morning, he never would have imagined it would turn into this situation.

In less than half a day, Zhu Gaoxu had already brought the vassal states under his control.

Seeing this, Li Hao's brows were tightly knitted together.

Zhu Gaoxu, however, had no intention of paying attention to Li Hao; looking at the kneeling Zhongshan Kingdom envoy, Zhu Gaoxu suddenly turned his gaze toward the envoys of Beishan, Nanshan, and Ryukyu.

The envoys of the three countries, who had been gloating and watching the show, felt a sense of foreboding when they saw Zhu Gaoxu look at them.

Sure enough, Zhu Gaoxu stared at them and spoke.

"Since the atmosphere is right, let me tell you all a story."

The group did not know why the atmosphere required a story at this moment.

And without caring whether they wanted to listen or not, Zhu Gaoxu said directly: "Once upon a time, there was a powerful empire on the continent, and it had four neighbors in the sea."

"These four neighbors were quite friendly to the empire, and they would usually bring gifts to visit the empire during festivals."

"So even though there were frequent wars between the four countries, the empire couldn't be bothered to care."

"But suddenly one day, one of these four countries had a whim, and relying on the fact that it was a maritime nation, it began to attack the powerful empire."

"This immediately enraged the powerful empire, which sent troops to not only annihilate that country for overestimating itself but also to destroy the other three countries as well."

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