Chapter 1405: What Exactly Happened Between You Two? (Please Subscribe)

The White House in Washington, serving as the royal palace of a great nation stretching more than four thousand li from south to north and four to five hundred li from west to east, was really somewhat shabby and frugal.

In size alone, this royal palace could not even compare to the Angel Fortress of the King of Jiaqing; at most it was about the same as the King of Jiaqing's secondary palace in Golden Gate City. And the scale of a royal palace, to a certain extent, also showed how the royal power of this country fared. At least in the eyes of the great men of the United States' Parliamentary Government and Cabinet Office who had commissioned the building of this "White House," the power of the King of the United States was very limited!

In the not very spacious but very bright audience hall, the King of the United States, whose power was limited, sat high upon a dragon throne, wearing a red Ming-style dragon robe, with a ceremonial sword hanging from his belt, and still looked somewhat majestic and solemn.

The parliamentary representatives selected by the Parliamentary Government (not all of the parliamentarians) and the cabinet ministers of the Cabinet Office (the chief officials of the United States' cabinet were all called ministers, to distinguish them from the eight Ministers of the Great Ming) sat separately on the left and right.

The visiting Princess Consort of Jiaqing, Shimazu Nogi, the Right Minister of the Kingdom of Jiaqing, Yao Daqiao, the Inner Minister, Kabayama Naohisa, and the Military Commissioner, Shimazu Nobuhisa (the Kingdom of Jiaqing used the four great officers of state as its collective ministers, and the commissioners to manage each department) took their seats opposite Zhu Hehao — their visit counted as a mutual exchange between vassal states, with neither side above or below the other, and was relatively equal. Moreover, Shimazu Nogi's status was that of Zhu Hehao's aunt, so of course she could sit facing him.

After the two sides exchanged pleasantries, Shimazu Nogi spoke on behalf of Zhu Cihuan.

"Your Highness the Great King. If our Celestial Dynasty's national race is to open up territory in the New Continent, we must unite as one! Now New Spain lies to the south and New France to the east, both eyeing us covetously! And among the local Indians of the New Continent, there are many who serve as the tiger's claws. Especially the tribes in the Stone Mountains, many of whom have accepted aid from New France and New Spain, and stand against our Divine Continent race. And if we are to defeat New France and New Spain, and open up more territory, we must first defeat these mountain barbarian tribes and bring the Stone Mountains completely under our control. Only then can we advance to attack and retreat to defend, and whether we later move east or south, we will stand undefeated. Therefore the King of Jiaqing believes that advancing east into the mountains is now the foremost common priority of both the United States and Jiaqing! All other matters can be postponed..."

By the time Shimazu Nogi had said this, everyone except Zhu Hehao was stunned. Weren't they supposed to be discussing the merger of the two countries? How had it become "all other matters can be postponed"?

Once Zhu Hehao returned victorious from the eastern campaign, his prestige in the United States would be thoroughly established. And his control over every aspect of the United States would also be greatly strengthened as the "marriage examinations" continued.

By then, what other matters would there be? By that time, it would already be good enough just to maintain the basic political system and laws of the United States.

"Your Highness the Princess Consort," Shimazu Nobuhisa quietly reminded her in Japanese, "you forgot to raise the matter of the merger of the two countries."

Shimazu Nogi also answered in a low voice in Japanese: "Wait until we have finished off the barbarians of the Great Stone Mountains, then we'll talk!"

She did not speak in absolutes, because Zhu Hehao would not let her speak in absolutes. Zhu Hehao wanted to leave Wei Zhongcheng and Zheng Xi with a little hope.

Zhu Hehao smiled and asked Wei Zhongcheng and Zheng Xi: "Prime Minister, Chief Grand Secretary, Our meaning is the same as the King of Jiaqing's. If our United States and the Kingdom of Jiaqing are to gain a firm foothold in the United States of the New Continent, merely controlling four to five hundred li of coastal land is not enough. We must take the Stone Mountains! Only by taking the Stone Mountains can we block the routes by which New France and New Spain attack us, and only then will our coastal territory be secure!"

His words were correct in their general direction, but at the moment they were a bit hasty — if New France had a white population of one million, then blocking the Great Stone Mountains would be very important.

But New France currently had only a little over ten thousand whites. At this rate, even in another twenty years they would not be able to enter the Great Stone Mountains! So the United States of the New Continent did not need to hurry at all; it could take its time.

Moreover, even if they seized that much territory at once, there would be no one to develop it. If one did not count the "Sichuan military households" who had followed Zhu Hehao, in the past few years on average, the population crossing the ocean each year to the United States of the New Continent, minus those returning home in glory, was only seventy to eighty thousand. Add in the natural population growth, and it would never reach one hundred thousand.

Just the vast territory the United States currently possessed, stretching more than four thousand li from south to north and four to five hundred li from west to east, no one knew when it could ever be filled up!

Wei Zhongcheng and Zheng Xi, of course, were unwilling to nod in agreement — the United States' Parliamentary Government was in their hands, and if they did not yield, Zhu Hehao's available troops would be very limited. And there would not be much military funding to spend either.

Seeing that his loyal ministers remained silent, Zhu Hehao was not at all angry. Instead he shot a glance at Shimazu Nogi, and Shimazu Nogi immediately spoke: "What the Great King says is absolutely right. This humble consort and the King of Jiaqing will certainly give the Great King our full support. The Kingdom of Jiaqing can send ten thousand troops to accompany the Great King on campaign!"

What? The Kingdom of Jiaqing would send ten thousand troops?

Wei Zhongcheng and Zheng Xi were both dumbfounded. What on earth had happened?

They both cast inquiring looks toward Yao Daqiao, Shimazu Nobuhisa, and Kabayama Naohisa. The three ministers of the Kingdom of Jiaqing were even more dumbfounded. They of course knew that the Princess Consort had secretly gone to see Zhu Hehao yesterday!

What exactly had happened between them? Why, after just one meeting, had the Princess Consort completely gone over to the King of the United States?

Could it be that because the King of the United States was young and handsome, she had fallen for him?

No, that couldn't be. The King of Jiaqing was no less good-looking than the King of the United States, and not much older either. The Princess Consort was utterly infatuated with the King of Jiaqing, and she was not the kind of fickle woman, nor would she ever betray the interests of the Qingzhou samurai corps for some wild man.

And if they sent that many troops, how would the rewards for merit be settled? If there was not enough land and gold and silver, wouldn't the samurai below rise up in protest?

What on earth was going on?

Zhu Hehao smiled: "We still have 2,000 Old Guards, 500 household retainers, and 10,000 Sichuan military households, and many more Sichuan military households are arriving one after another. If we march this autumn, just the men of Ourself and the King of Jiaqing will number more than 20,000 troops! With that many troops, the barbarian tribes of the Great Stone Mountains will not be worth mentioning!"

"Your Highness the Great King!" Wei Zhongcheng knew he could not stop Zhu Hehao from going to war, so he had no choice but to go along with him. "The Parliamentary Government will certainly pass the budget for the eastern advance as quickly as possible. Your Highness need not worry about military funding."

"The Cabinet Office will also work with the Parliamentary Government to formulate the strategy for the campaign," Zheng Xi added, "and will join Your Highness in inviting the Celestial Troops of the Great Ming stationed in Golden Gate City and Mountain-Sea Port City to assist in battle. With the Celestial Troops assisting, we need not fear that we cannot win!"

The United States relied on militia to protect the country. Everyone had a gun, the farmers were all militiamen, and the four great cities of Washington, Bozhou, Mountain-Sea Port, and Golden Gate all had militia units. The total number of registered militiamen reached the tens of thousands!

But this country had very few standing troops — only one standing fleet and a few thousand standing army troops. The army among them was a concentrated seed force; all its officers and soldiers came from the Great Ming Army, and all were officers and veterans who had served many years in the military. When necessary, by filling in the militia, the United States' army could reach tens of thousands in number!

Besides the United States' standing army and militia, the Great Ming Empire also stationed one infantry division on the soil of the United States, as well as the New Continent sub-fleet of the Eastern Ocean Fleet.

And to deploy the Great Ming's army and navy stationed in the United States, the United States' cabinet side and the King of the United States had to jointly issue an invitation.

Having gained the support of Wei Zhongcheng and Zheng Xi, Zhu Hehao already had sufficient forces, and no longer needed the Kingdom of Jiaqing's ten thousand troops — he had never intended to use that many Jiaqing troops in the first place; he had only wanted to use the topic of the Kingdom of Jiaqing sending troops to bluff Wei Zhongcheng and Zheng Xi... If these two had not taken the bait, then Zhu Hehao would have had no choice but to use more of the Kingdom of Jiaqing's army.

But now that he had the main force of the United States and the Ming troops stationed in the New Continent, what need was there for Jiaqing's soldiers? Let them go and properly prepare for the invasion of Xizhou!

(End of Chapter)