Children of Loulan

Chapter 113 Fight or Not Fight

"The king has arrived!" With a high-pitched and piercing announcement, the originally noisy hall suddenly became silent. All the people present stood up straight and respectfully waited for the king to arrive. In a moment, the king, who was powerful and awe-inspiring, walked into the center of the hall in gorgeous clothes and sat steadily on the dragon throne that symbolized supreme power and majesty.

After the king sat firmly, all the ministers knelt on the ground and shouted in unison: "Long live the king! Long live the king! Long, long live the king!"

The sound resounded throughout the entire palace like a huge bell, and echoed for a long time... This deafening shout was full of the subjects' awe and loyalty to the monarch, and it also conveyed their eager expectations and beautiful vision for the country's prosperity and long-term stability.

Hearing this resounding voice, the king majestically scanned the court, and his eyes finally fell on his two sons who were at the head of the ministers. He took a deep breath, and then shouted loudly: "All the ministers, please stand up!"

The court officials responded in unison: "Thank you, Your Majesty!" The voices were uniform and loud, echoing throughout the palace.

After all the court officials stood up respectfully again, the eunuch Aisan raised his voice again and shouted: "If you have something to say, please come forward. If you don't, please leave the court!"

At this time, a figure walked out of the queue and said loudly: "Your Majesty, I have something to report!" Everyone looked closely and found that it was Turdi, the Minister of Personnel.

The king looked at him, with a subtle hint of deep meaning in his eyes, but he still said calmly: "Permission granted!"

Turdi bowed respectfully and said, "Your Majesty, regarding the foreigners in the western Gobi Desert, they have repeatedly harassed our border, causing great suffering to the people on the border. This matter has been delayed for a long time and it is really not appropriate to delay it any longer. Now there are only two short months before the end of the year. If this problem cannot be solved before then, it may affect the people's mood for the New Year and the stability of the New Year! I hope that the king and all the ministers can discuss a practical countermeasure to ensure peace on our border and the people live and work in peace."

Listening to his sincere hope for national stability and people's peace, the king seemed to be interested, so he asked: "Then please tell me what brilliant ideas you have, Mr. Minister of Personnel!"

Turdi still maintained his righteous attitude and answered without hesitation: "In my humble opinion, the only way is to fight!"

However, just as he finished speaking, the Prime Minister laughed sarcastically: "Since you yourself admit that this is a stupid opinion, it obviously proves that going to war at this time is not a good idea!"

Facing this sudden ridicule, Turdi did not turn around, but just glanced behind him with the corner of his eyes, and then responded neither humbly nor arrogantly: "May I ask, Prime Minister, do you think that the enemy has already invaded our doorstep, and we should still swallow our anger? Wouldn't this make others mistakenly think that we are weak and can be bullied, and then bully us even more severely?"

His words were like a stone that caused a thousand waves, and the court immediately discussed it. At this time, the prime minister also stood out from the queue, bowed respectfully to the king and said: "Your Majesty, the enemy dared to invade our border, which is indeed intolerable. But I think that the way to solve the problem is not only to use force, and war is definitely not the best solution!"

Before the king could answer, Turdi could not wait to speak again: "Oh? You are not going to start a war? Then may I ask, Prime Minister, do you mean to seek peace with the other side? If the great country of Loulan were to bow down to an insignificant little tribe, if this were to spread, wouldn't other tribes follow suit and all come to Loulan to ask for benefits?"

Seeing the two people in front of him arguing fiercely and refusing to give in, the king's eyes never stayed on them, but glanced at his two sons from time to time. In fact, as early as when the group of beauties entered the palace, the king had already had the idea of ​​solving this matter. However, when he saw his eldest son who had returned from a journey, he couldn't help but think of his two sons who were about to enter the court. If they were in this situation, how would they deal with such a situation?

Thinking of this, the king put the matter aside on the spot. After all, solving this matter was not a top priority and could be considered in the long run. So, he had been delaying it until now, just to see what his two sons thought about this issue!

His thoughts were floating like light clouds, and he was not disturbed at all by the two people arguing fiercely below. The prime minister ignored Turdi's questioning and said firmly: "You and I are both civil officials. No matter how we argue, it will only remain on paper. Should we start a war or maintain peace? Why not listen to the opinions of the military generals!"

As soon as he finished speaking, he turned his gaze to the king again and suggested: "I implore the king to ask the generals to come forward and express their opinions to decide whether to go to war!" The king nodded slightly to show his agreement, then turned his head to look at the neatly arranged team of generals on the right.

He shouted loudly: "General Ankar, tell me what you think about this war, and what are the pros and cons of fighting or not fighting?"

Hearing the king's call, Ankar quickly walked out of the queue with steady and powerful steps. After walking to the front, he knelt on one knee respectfully and bowed his head to report: "Your Majesty, the last time I was ordered to go to meet the eldest prince, I carefully observed the enemy's situation. If we choose to go to war, we will have a clear advantage in terms of military strength. After all, those foreigners only have a few tens of thousands of people. In comparison, our army is much larger. However..."

At this point, Ankar paused for a moment, as if thinking about the next words, and then continued:

"However, from the perspective of terrain, we are clearly at a disadvantage. After all, that place is attacked by wind and sand all year round. Only the soldiers stationed in those military sheds can bravely fight the enemy in the wind and sand! In contrast, the enemy has long been accustomed to such a harsh environment. They live in the wind and sand like fish in water. If there were no wind and sand, our soldiers would surely move forward bravely and charge into battle; but once they encounter windy and sandy weather, I am afraid that our soldiers will become sitting ducks in the hands of the enemy!"

After listening to these words, the king nodded slightly to show his agreement. What he said was very true, clear and logical, and the pros and cons were clear. Then, he looked at his two sons again, thinking to himself: After listening to these analyses, what choice will they make? So the king asked: "I wonder what your two princes think about this matter?"

After hearing the king's call, the two looked at each other. The second prince, Aidier, smiled and said, "Big brother is the eldest brother, so he should go first!"

Keremu looked at him deeply, as if he had seen through his thoughts. He strode forward and said respectfully, "Father, I fully agree with what the Prime Minister said. It is better not to fight!"