Li Zhu's Audience Hall - Zhaoge

[Royalspork]

Li Zhu coughed, and boasted, "May I remind you, that the armies under my control have never lost a battle, that I have overseen the defeat of eighty thousand soldiers, more than even the most generous estimates of Fei's strength, and I have taken six cities by my own hand, Xiuwu, Zhongmu, Julu, Handan, and now Boyang and Pingyuan, more than the whole area of Yan. I know of the hordes victories, but I advise you to know mine."
He then relaxes his muscles and speaks in a calmer voice, "I understand that I am putting you in a difficult position, but in the end, I will attempt to gain the peace that you desire. How we get to that point is in part up to your lord."

[GoGo the Monkey]

The guard nods in agreement, and leads Niu Xiong to the office of Li Zhu. Li Zhu stands behind a large desk with many files and maps spread across haphazardly, after Niu Xiong enters, Li Zhu looks up with a small delay and says, "Good friend Niu! How fairs the supreme commander of Chu? And uh....what happened to your other ear?

"An accident, nothing serious." replied the man as he cupped his ear briefly. Clearing his throat the man straightened his posture before taking a slight bow. "I am afraid, the situation in Yin confuses me. I have heard the King retired, yet others claim he still retains his throne. I am here because I was told you are the man whom I need direct my attention too." he admitted before flashing a grin. "Though I suppose his heir would have trouble directing the state, as she admitted herself. It is almost a pity.." he paused, quickly jumping back to subject. "I am here on behalf of the relations between the states of Yin and Chu..."

[Royalspork]

Li Zhu nodded, "It is confusing because things have moved so quickly, and we had to cobble a kingdom together before anyone would get the wise idea to make their own government. Basically...Xia Xi is too sick to get out of his bed, let alone rule the kingdom, thus he handed the kingdom to his daughter, who felt unprepared for the task, and thus handed the kingdom to me for a time, until she can get her act together. So... I hold the titles that your King so graciously gave to my king, but I don't dare use them for my own gain."

[GoGo the Monkey]

"Ah..well. It is good to hear the state is in the hands of one capable." said the man in a serious tone. His eyes shifting down upon the maps sprawled out before glancing back up to Li Zhu. "Rumors have spread that your King Xia Xi released the dog Wu Chen. As he is a man bent on destroying the state of Chu and ending my kings life..." he paused gritting his teeth. "..you must be aware the court of Chu is not pleased."

[Big Grizzy]

Li Zhu coughed, and boasted, "May I remind you, that the armies under my control have never lost a battle, that I have overseen the defeat of eighty thousand soldiers, more than even the most generous estimates of Fei's strength, and I have taken six cities by my own hand, Xiuwu, Zhongmu, Julu, Handan, and now Boyang and Pingyuan, more than the whole area of Yan. I know of the hordes victories, but I advise you to know mine."
He then relaxes his muscles and speaks in a calmer voice, "I understand that I am putting you in a difficult position, but in the end, I will attempt to gain the peace that you desire. How we get to that point is in part up to your lord."

Zhang Mai continued to stroke his beard. "If the Marquis only has eighty thousand men under his command, then my brother is a poor teacher. With the Marquis' resources, there is no reason for him to have any less than one hundred thousand soldiers. Remember also that numbers mattered little when he took the King of Qi's possessions in Jibei to begin with. That brings up another point. The King of Qi will most likely wish to recover those possessions. Do you have an assurance that he will not use you preoccupation with the Marquis to do so?"

[Royalspork]

"Ah..well. It is good to hear the state is in the hands of one capable." said the man in a serious tone. His eyes shifting down upon the maps sprawled out before glancing back up to Li Zhu. "Rumors have spread that your King Xia Xi released the dog Wu Chen. As he is a man bent on destroying the state of Chu and ending my kings life..." he paused gritting his teeth. "..you must be aware the court of Chu is not pleased."

Li Zhu sighed, he knew this question would come up, but it was a difficult question to answer still, he spoke calmly, "If you remember, Chu had promised it's support for our invasion of Zhao, and then you retreated back to Chu, to fight a war that never came to fruition. Because of that move, we did not have enough troops to fight both the dog Wu Chen and his mistress, Lu Ying. However, I could, and did, easily win without the woman's interference. Thus my old king decided to contact the lady, who stated that she would be our friend if her love were returned to her after the battle."
Li Zhu sipped his tea and continued, "Understand the choice we had there, we could either fight a lost battle against Lu Ying, and leave Wu Chen happily in power, or we could strip Wu Chen of all his lands, his armies, and his power. With this in mind, the option we had to pick was obvious, as a powerless and irrelevant Wu Chen is not a threat to anyone, let alone your King."
"I hope you understand, this was not what we wanted to do, had your armies supported us in the fight against Wu Chen, and had given us the strength to hold off Lu Ying while Wu Chen was overcome, the man would be long dead now. His limbs would be nailed to the walls to mark his shame. But because there was no aid, there was no way that could have happened, and I was resigned to watch him walk away, after months of tracking him down."

Zhang Mai continued to stroke his beard. "If the Marquis only has eighty thousand men under his command, then my brother is a poor teacher. With the Marquis' resources, there is no reason for him to have any less than one hundred thousand soldiers. Remember also that numbers mattered little when he took the King of Qi's possessions in Jibei to begin with. That brings up another point. The King of Qi will most likely wish to recover those possessions. Do you have an assurance that he will not use you preoccupation with the Marquis to do so?"

Li Zhu replied simply, "I do not mean to judge the ability of your brother, but the barbarian king's armies are what they are, though they might grow in the coming months, the new recruits would be unsuitable for war, and irrelevant in my campaigns. As for his victory over Qi, remember, though he may have won the field, he eventually lost his troops for nothing, how can that even be called a victory? As for the king of Qi himself, do you not think I had his blessing before I called this invasion? Do you think just because the kind did not send troops himself, that he did not have a part in liberation of Boyang and Pingyuan?"

Li Zhu sighs, he felt he had gone on too long, and quickly summarized, "All these minor points can be quibbled on til the end of time, but the question remains, what will you do to reinforce these ideals of peace you talk of?"

[Big Grizzy]

Li Zhu replied simply, "I do not mean to judge the ability of your brother, but the barbarian king's armies are what they are, though they might grow in the coming months, the new recruits would be unsuitable for war, and irrelevant in my campaigns. As for his victory over Qi, remember, though he may have won the field, he eventually lost his troops for nothing, how can that even be called a victory? As for the king of Qi himself, do you not think I had his blessing before I called this invasion? Do you think just because the kind did not send troops himself, that he did not have a part in liberation of Boyang and Pingyuan?"

Li Zhu sighs, he felt he had gone on too long, and quickly summarized, "All these minor points can be quibbled on til the end of time, but the question remains, what will you do to reinforce these ideals of peace you talk of?"

Zhang Mai nodded as the Regent spoke. Everything was as he expected. "My brother, he wishes to end the warring that spreads throughout the land. He sees Yin as being capable of such a task. However, he is a man of Yan, and when I return and tell him that your campaign, as you have explained it to me, is not for the pacification of Jibei, but for the elimination of the Marquis, how do you expect he will respond?"

[Royalspork]

Li Zhu laughed, and replied, "I do wonder that, perhaps he wishes to confine to his old friend and nurture hopes that my destructive ambition can be defeated. But I bet he knows that would cause more suffering to the very people he is claiming to find peace for. What can a man of peace hope to accomplish on a frenzied battlefield, anyway?"

[GoGo the Monkey]

Li Zhu sighed, he knew this question would come up, but it was a difficult question to answer still, he spoke calmly, "If you remember, Chu had promised it's support for our invasion of Zhao, and then you retreated back to Chu, to fight a war that never came to fruition. Because of that move, we did not have enough troops to fight both the dog Wu Chen and his mistress, Lu Ying. However, I could, and did, easily win without the woman's interference. Thus my old king decided to contact the lady, who stated that she would be our friend if her love were returned to her after the battle."
Li Zhu sipped his tea and continued, "Understand the choice we had there, we could either fight a lost battle against Lu Ying, and leave Wu Chen happily in power, or we could strip Wu Chen of all his lands, his armies, and his power. With this in mind, the option we had to pick was obvious, as a powerless and irrelevant Wu Chen is not a threat to anyone, let alone your King."
"I hope you understand, this was not what we wanted to do, had your armies supported us in the fight against Wu Chen, and had given us the strength to hold off Lu Ying while Wu Chen was overcome, the man would be long dead now. His limbs would be nailed to the walls to mark his shame. But because there was no aid, there was no way that could have happened, and I was resigned to watch him walk away, after months of tracking him down."

"If that is the case, then the problem was never solved." calmly replied the man folding his arms once more. "It seems the state of Yin would either lose their men out of loyalty, or secure a victory. I admit I would have probably taken the same course of action..." he sighed heavily. "Yet as you have stated, the dog has been united with his mate. Does the bitch not hold power? Surely her power is his power. Do you see where I am going with this?" he questioned as one foot begun to tap. "Perhaps I can convince my King once more to move North. Then we can settle this business..."

[Royalspork]

Li Zhu leaned in and said, "To extend your metaphor, the bitch has a doghouse, but she is firmly in leash. No, I would not have the King of Chu worry about someone so minor as Lu Ying, she is no threat to my kingdom, let alone the kingdom of Chu. But this is not about her, this is about Chu and Yin. If you ask me, the troops of Chu need to move north to finish a job, but not to Zhao and Lu Ying, but to Henan and Qin. We have forgotten about the crimes of that much hated country for too long, and though they have done a good job of wasting time fighting within the family, there will be a victor between them some time soon. And as I have paid personally with the loss of Xuandi, they will become powerful again if left alone."