Imperial warlords: Cannons are the only truth

The Imperial Capital – Imperial Chief's Office.

"I heard you hold a lot of resentment towards me?"

"He cursed at me the whole way on the plane?"

"You even cursed me to die young?"

"I wanted to hurl insults all the way, but your henchmen didn't give me the chance." As he spoke, Zhuo Yongwang covered his cheek, which was even more swollen than before, and glared angrily at Shen Moshen.

“I can understand that you harbor resentment towards me, Shen Moshen.”

Shen Moshen smiled and said, "After all, in a sense, if I hadn't sent troops out of Youzhou, you would be the most powerful person in Daqian after Xie Kangnian."

As the saying goes, cutting off someone's source of income is like killing their parents.

"I've not only cut off your source of income, but I've also directly ruined your ambition to dominate the world."

"So, I don't blame you for your resentment towards me, Shen Moshen."

"However, I cannot agree with your fallacies and heresies."

"If you were to take control of the Great Qian Dynasty, you would probably have already handed over more than half of its territory to the foreigners!"

"Excuse my bluntness—in this respect, you are probably not as good as Xie Kangnian!"

"I'm not as good as Xie Kangnian?" Upon hearing this, Zhuo Yongwang immediately retorted, "Shen Moshen, what you said may not be true."

"You've seriously underestimated Xie Kangnian!"

"I can only say that Xie Kangnian's betrayal of the Great Qian Dynasty is beyond your imagination."

"What Xie Kangnian did in private is nothing compared to what I did."

"Moreover, my cooperation with foreigners is also for the purpose of strengthening myself."

"But Xie Kangnian is different..."

"Xie Kangnian is different?" Shen Moshen looked at Zhuo Yongwang, who seemed to have given up entirely, and was somewhat puzzled. "Zhuo Yongwang, what you're saying is rather puzzling."

"Although Xie Kangnian usurped the throne and declared himself emperor, he still used the name of the Great Qian Dynasty. And he didn't openly create an independent state called Yongchang by taking five provinces like you have, did he?"

"In the end—your actions are far worse than Xie Kangnian's!"

"You don't even acknowledge the Great Qian Dynasty anymore, and you deliberately brought in the Sharo people and the Yi people. How dare you say you're better than Xie Kangnian?"

Shen Moshen found Zhuo Yongwang's explanation somewhat difficult to understand.

After all, Zhuo Yongwang's crimes of splitting the Great Qian Dynasty and allowing the enemy to enter the country cannot be washed away.

Someone like Zhuo Yongwang wouldn't care about his bad reputation.

Therefore, in Shen Moshen's view, there was absolutely no need for him to compete with Xie Kangnian on the matter of treason, right?

Why is he unhappy when someone says he's even worse than Xie Kangnian?

"Hahaha................."

Zhuo Yongwang burst into loud laughter: "Shen Moshen!"

"So, there are things you don't know?"

"Isn't your secret intelligence agency quite capable?"

"What? The Secret Intelligence Bureau didn't find out Xie Kangnian's last resort?"

"A backup plan left by Xie Kangnian?" Shen Moshen became interested upon hearing this: "To be honest, the Secret Intelligence Bureau has never reported this matter to me."

"Don't you know?"

"I know some things, would you like to hear them?"

“Of course!” Shen Moshen looked at Zhuo Yongwang and shrugged: “Although people often say that knowing too much is not necessarily a good thing.”

"But I've always been quite curious, and I'm not afraid to know more."

"Of course, provided you're willing to talk about it."

"There's absolutely no need to force me to tell you, or to try and use this secret to negotiate with me."

“You should know that from the moment you refused the court’s offer of surrender and stubbornly led the enemy into the country, the crime you committed was already unforgivable.”

"If someone like you, who splits the Great Qian Dynasty and colludes with foreign enemies, can be pardoned, it will set a very bad example for the people of the world."

“You don’t need to tell me so much about this.” With that, Zhuo Yongwang pointed to the sofa next to him: “I’m tired, can we sit down and talk?”

"Please do as you please," Shen Moshen gestured to Zhuo Yongwang.

After receiving Shen Moshen's tacit approval, Zhuo Yongwang didn't stand on ceremony and sat down on the sofa: "From the moment I boarded the plane, I never thought that you, Shen Moshen, would spare my life."

"As the saying goes—the victor is king, the loser is villain."

"If I were the one who won, I wouldn't let you live either!"

"I'll share Xie Kangnian's backup plan with you for free as a gesture of goodwill."

"I think—after you know these inside stories, you'll understand why I said that when it comes to 'selling out the country,' with Xie Kangnian blocking the way, I, Zhuo Yongwang, can only rank second!"

"I suppose that traitor Wu Huaiyu has already explained my plan to you in detail, right?"

As he spoke, Zhuo Yongwang poured himself a cup of tea and took a few sips: "That's right!"

"I originally intended to rely on the defense of Jicheng to delay the war indefinitely and wait for the intervention of the Western Luo Kingdoms."

"But do you know why I'm so certain that the Western Luo Kingdoms will do whatever it takes to attack the Great Qian Dynasty once they have the time and resources?"

"It's common knowledge that the Western Luo Kingdoms have ambitions toward the Great Qian. They've been eyeing the Great Qian for a long time, so I don't find it surprising that you've made this judgment, do I?"

Shen Moshen dismissed this, saying, "Could it be that Xie Kangnian has a backup plan involved?"

“That’s right!” Zhuo Yongwang nodded: “It is because of Xie Kangnian’s backup plan that I have high expectations for the intervention of the Western Luo Kingdoms.”

"I haven't mentioned this to anyone."

“You’re the first!”

"Xie Kangnian's personal secretary is not dead. He told me this secret in order to save his own life."

"However, I ultimately did not keep him."

"Before Xie Kangnian died, he handed over a stack of documents bearing the imperial seal of the Great Qian Dynasty to the Gelian people!"

"These documents are all treaties that hand over the Great Qian Empire to the Western Luo Kingdoms."

"It's stamped with the imperial seal and signed!"

"If these things fall into the hands of foreigners, they can use this as a pretext to forcibly divide up Daqian at any time."

“You just said that if I were in charge of the Great Qian Dynasty, I would probably give half of its territory to the foreigners.”

"But compared to Xie Kangnian—doesn't what I've done seem insignificant?"

"They practically gave the entire Great Qian Dynasty away to the foreigners for free!"

"I said that with Xie Kangnian ahead of me, I can only rank second. Is that fair?"

"How about that? Didn't expect that old bastard Xie Kangnian, who's been dead for so long, would still have planted such a huge bombshell for the entire Great Qian Dynasty, did you?"

"Chief of Staff Shen, are you surprised? Are you taken aback?"

Zhuo Yongwang looked at Shen Moshen's reaction with a gloating expression: "I know—that old bastard Xie Kangnian planted this mine to trap me."

"After all, it was I who led the army to shatter Xie Kangnian's dream of becoming emperor."

"It's no exaggeration to say that Xie Kangnian's resentment towards me is no less than my resentment towards you, Shen Moshen!"

"Even more so!"

"However, that old bastard Xie Kangnian never dreamed—his bombshell didn't hit me, but it definitely hit you, Shen Moshen..."

"I've been keeping this secret all the way here. I wanted to tell you on the plane, but I held back!"

At this point, Zhuo Yongwang became increasingly frantic: "I kept telling myself—I have to tell you, Shen Moshen, in detail what this earth-shattering news is all about."

"You think you've won just because you've taken control of the five provinces of Jizhou and entered Jicheng without firing a shot?"

"It's no use!" Zhuo Yongwang laughed smugly. "Your current situation is just like mine when I had just won over Xie Kangnian and entered the capital!"

"The scenery is truly magnificent! But how long this magnificence can last depends on your fate."

"My luck was really bad. I didn't even last a month in my glory in the capital before you snatched it away."

"But it doesn't matter, your glory is destined to be intercepted by the Western Luo Kingdoms!"

"You're much luckier than me."

"At the very least, your glory will last longer than mine."

"You can only say that you, Shen Moshen, were lucky to catch the right time—by sheer coincidence, you caught the economic collapse of the Western Luo Continent."

"Otherwise, those foreigners would probably have already taken action against the Great Qian Dynasty."

"Shen Moshen, I'll be waiting for you over there!"

"Although I certainly won't live to see that day, the thought of your ending still makes me incredibly excited..."

"I really admire Xie Kangnian's contingency plan now; even after someone is dead, he can still continue to cause trouble!"

"In this respect, Lao Xie is truly ruthless!"

"If what you're saying is true, then labeling you the number one villain of the Great Qian Dynasty is really a bit inappropriate."

Shen Moshen looked calmly at Zhuo Yongwang, who was waiting to see him make a fool of himself: "Indeed, with Xie Kangnian setting an example, you can only rank second."

"But then again—you really are destined to be a 'perennial runner-up'!"

“When Xie Kangnian was around, you were the second oldest, right after him.”

"I didn't expect that in the matter of causing trouble for the Great Qian Dynasty, you were still overshadowed by Xie Kangnian and could only rank second again."

"Both of you will be infamous for eternity, but when future generations mention you, they'll all use the word 'idiot.' Don't you feel aggrieved?"

"You surnamed Shen! You..." Zhuo Yongwang's satisfaction vanished by the fact that Shen Moshen reacted so calmly and even took the opportunity to mock him.

"Trying to hold on?"

However, Zhuo Yongwang quickly came up with a new assessment: "Suddenly knowing that such a huge minefield is waiting for you must be quite a 'surprise,' right?"

"After Xie Kangnian's actions, even if you want to surrender to the foreigners, they might not agree! Unless you are willing to hand over the entire Daqian."

"By offending the foreigners so badly, you've essentially cut off your own escape route."

"Your Daqian Zhenguo Army is quite formidable, I don't deny that."

"But how does it compare to the powerful nations of the entire Western Continent?"

"Shen Moshen, your glory days are about to end."

"My biggest regret right now is—not being able to see the day you die..."

"I'm sorry, but I think you have a lot of misunderstandings about this issue."

Shen Moshen looked at Zhuo Yongwang as if he were an idiot: "Xie Kangnian's backup plan is indeed very unexpected."

"But for me, it's more of an anger!"

"You and Xie Kangnian are truly birds of a feather, willing to ruin the entire Great Qian Dynasty for personal grudges."

Shen Moshen said solemnly, "From the day I, Shen Moshen, marched out of Youzhou, I have never intended to let the Western Luo Kingdoms go!"

“The things they did to Daqian and the humiliations they caused Daqian must be accounted for.”

"Therefore, the hypothetical enemy of the Daqian Zhenguo Army has always been the Western Luo Kingdoms."

"I, Shen Moshen, have led troops out of Youzhou to reclaim what the Great Qian has lost and to let its glory shine once more upon the world!"

"How do we get them back? One word—fight!"

"Beat down those petty scoundrels who don't take the Great Qian seriously and only think about how to divide it up, and the Great Qian will naturally rise up..."

Shen Moshen's words were full of domineering: "So, whether or not Xie Kangnian is involved, the Great Qian Zhenguo Army and the Western Luo Kingdoms will settle this score properly."

"Even if they don't come looking for me, I, Shen Moshen, will come looking for them!"

"Let me tell you—after the Daqian Zhenguo Army takes over the five provinces of Jizhou, it will be time to deal with the Shaluo and Yi Kingdoms."

"After we deal with the Sala and Yi countries, the next round will be the Western Luo countries."

"Stop bragging, anyone can talk big."

"Still trying to settle scores with the Western Luo Kingdoms? You really dare to say that!"

Zhuo Yongwang retorted sarcastically, "The foreigners will cure your stubbornness. We'll wait and see!"

"That's true. How could someone like you, who's been kneeling for so long, believe that the Chinese can stand up straight in front of foreigners?"

"Further words are useless; time will tell."

Shen Moshen shook his head with a cold smile: "However, there is one thing you are absolutely right about."

"That means—you definitely won't have the chance to see the day when I, Shen Moshen, am finished."

"Your matter has been settled."

Shen Moshen said casually, "The public trial and sentencing will begin tomorrow morning."

"After being convicted, they were immediately taken to the execution ground and executed by firing squad."

"The whole process takes at most half a day."

"Our efficiency is definitely fast enough!"