After the anti-Ming war began, the three countries of Anxi and Xi declared to maintain absolute neutrality in accordance with past practice.
Refuse to join the anti-Ming alliance, and also refuse the anti-Ming alliance armies of Lucia and Ottoman to pass through.
In this way, if Lucia wants to attack the Ming Dynasty, she can only go to the northwest of the Mongolian Plateau and even the Xianbei Wasteland, where the Ming Dynasty's local troops are waiting.
The anti-Ming alliance did not immediately interfere with them. First, it was led by Lucia, who tried to launch several attacks on the Ming Dynasty in the northwest of the Mongolian Plateau and near the North Sea.
As a result, no actual results were achieved, but a large number of soldiers and supplies were lost.
The anti-Ming alliance had to change its plan, turned its attention to the Three Kingdoms of Anxi, and began to use various means to coerce and induce the Three Kingdoms of Anxi.
When the Ming Dynasty was at a superficial disadvantage, under Lucia's threat to directly declare war if they were not allowed to pass, and under the comfort and inducement of other countries in the Anti-Ming Alliance, the Anxi Three Kingdoms finally temporarily allowed the anti-Ming Alliance troops to transit.
Then, the Western Region Border Force under the control of the Ming Dynasty Right Army Dudu Mansion immediately began to take action. Without hesitation, they crossed the theoretical border between the two sides and entered the hinterland of their territory along the railway built by the Ming Dynasty for the Anxi Three Kingdoms.
The Right Army Governor's Office directly took over all railways and railway stations within their territory, and quickly began strategic deployment at the end of the railway network.
The anti-Ming alliance forces also immediately stopped advancing, deployed defenses in the western areas of the Three Kingdoms of Anxi, and even recruited General Napoleon, who had recently become famous.
A large-scale battle between the Ming Dynasty and the anti-Ming alliance was about to break out in the hinterland of the Three Kingdoms of Anxi. This plunged the senior officials and people of the Four Khanates of Anxi into unprecedented panic.
They haven't fought in seventy years.
The decision to allow anti-Ming alliance troops to enter the mainland was quickly criticized as an unprecedented and foolish decision.
His long-term peace was granted by the Ming Dynasty, but he actually imagined allowing the armies at war with the Ming Dynasty to transit peacefully and fight on the border of the Ming Dynasty, but the Ming Dynasty was indifferent to this matter.
But there is no regret in the world. Now that a full-scale war is about to begin, they can only hope that the anti-Ming alliance can win and win as soon as possible.
But at this juncture, the definite news of the withdrawal of the Ming Dynasty came, and they suddenly felt that the Ming Dynasty was going to take action for real this time.
In the second half of this war, many politicians in the world had a vague feeling that Ming Dynasty might not use all its strength.
There was no special effort to squeeze the war potential. Not only did it not gain support for the vassal state and the welfare of the grassroots, it did not even issue bonds to raise war funds.
So now that this weird feeling has appeared, the senior officials of the Anxi Three Kingdoms have fallen into panic and annoyance.
After the senior officials of the Three Kingdoms yelled at each other on the phone for a long time, they made a decision that was very stupid in theory, but unexpectedly appropriate in the current situation...
They simultaneously sent telegrams to both sides of the war, calling on both sides to remain calm and restrained and not to engage in conflict within their own borders.
They said that they were willing to mediate between the two sides, stop this war that has lasted for many years, and asked the troops from both sides to withdraw from their own borders.
If the Ming Dynasty and the anti-Ming alliance really want to continue fighting, then the appeals of the Three Kingdoms of Anxi will be meaningless and will only fall on deaf ears.
But now both sides happen to not want to fight, but they don't want to take the initiative to show weakness and propose peace.
The truce proposed by the Anxi Three Kingdoms actually meets the actual needs of both sides.
The Three Kingdoms of Anxi are theoretically neutral independent countries and are not vassals of any of the warring parties.
The country is located exactly in the middle of the territory of both sides, and is about to become a battlefield between the two sides. In theory, it is qualified for mediation.
Therefore, at two o'clock in the afternoon on the eighth day of the first lunar month in the thirty-fourth year of the Ming Dynasty, Zhu Jianyan, who continued to preside over the official affairs of Honglu Temple, received a telegram from the officials of the Three Kingdoms in Anxi.
Zhu Jianyan thought about it with complicated emotions for five minutes, and then went directly to meet the emperor alone.
After reading the telegram, the old emperor subconsciously asked Zhu Jianyan:
"Did you prompt them to do this?"
Zhu Jianyan denied it very decisively:
"It is impossible for me to do this. Ming Dynasty is now at a strategic disadvantage and must not show any weakness, including when facing a nominally neutral country.
“If Ming Dynasty proactively prompts them to mediate, then these neutral countries may think that Ming Dynasty cannot hold on any longer.
"They are likely to pass the news of our request for mediation and this judgment directly to Xiyi, which will make Xiyi even tougher in negotiations.
"Xiyi hinted that the possibility of them doing this should exist... but the probability is not high. The reason is the same as us.
"So I thought that they must have received the exact news of our withdrawal, so they started to panic, and then the blind cat met the dead mouse."
The old emperor nodded slightly, and then looked at Zhu Jianyan with a scrutinizing gaze:
"That's all I can think of, so what do you think we should do now?"
If it were Zhu Jianyan in the past, he might have instinctively said that he should take advantage of the situation and start formal peace negotiations directly through the Three Kingdoms of Anxi.
But in the past two days, under the subtle influence of his son and father, Zhu Jianyan became more and more energetic, and his way of thinking also changed some, so he tentatively said:
"The minister believes that the Ming Dynasty's withdrawal from the vassal and reform has begun, and now we should decisively refuse mediation and at the same time summon the vassal servant army with great fanfare.
"This will make the enemy form a kind of... Our Ming Dynasty is really angry and is ready to fight to the end at all costs.
"It just fits in with the plan to withdraw from the vassal vassal. We can gather the male natives of each vassal and send them to more remote places. We won't send them back without fighting.
"Xiyi's willpower has reached the edge of collapse and they should formally seek peace soon.
"As long as Ming's reforms continue, its strength will continue to recover. Just like what Jingyuan achieved, Ming can even stop fighting."
The old emperor nodded lightly with satisfaction:
"Yes, let's prepare like this, but the truce must still stop. Our goal is still to force peace, not to continue a fierce battle."
Zhu Jianyan nodded and couldn't help but ask a question:
"But why? The Ming Dynasty's war potential has not been fully exploited. Now it is clear that there is a direction to win, why do we still need to negotiate for peace?"
A slight smile appeared on the old emperor's face:
"You...understand that I am not just asking for peace to abdicate, which is considered good, but the long-term perspective is still not enough.
"Now our Ming Dynasty does have a chance to win, but the result will definitely be a tragic victory, and we may have to use all our strength.
“After the tragic victory, in order to control the chaos of the defeated country, we must continue to exert more strength under the extreme state, which is likely to make us really show our fatigue.
"For our family, the most dangerous situation is when the potential of our royal family is truly reached to its limit.
“It’s such a huge empire, with a population of 60 million, and countless heroes and elites, and they all know that the princes, generals, and Xiang Ning have a lot of talent.
"It's just that our power is endless, so they don't see any chance at all, so they all obey the orders honestly.
“However, as long as we are really overwhelmed, they will see where our limits are and have a way to judge the success or failure of things.
“As long as we have methods and goals, the ambitious rebels may no longer be able to hold back, and chaos may occur at any time.
"At some point, the Ming Empire may still be there, but it should no longer belong to our Zhu family.
"So, wait for Jingyuan's reforms to be completed, wait for the weapons and equipment he has prepared to take shape, then let's fight again.
"We won't end up personally at that time. It's time for the civil forces nurtured by Jingyuan's efforts to fight to protect their vested interests."
There were only two royal father and son present, so the old emperor spoke very straightforwardly.
For the royal family, the Ming Empire is certainly very important, but the Ming Dynasty that belongs to their own family is equally important.
After hearing this, Zhu Jianyan nodded slowly:
"My son finally understands that my father has a long-term plan..."
