Fearing being killed for his overwhelming merits, the empress decided to marry him.

This is destined to be the most triumphant day in Jiang Mengxuan's 21 years of life.

In front of the entire court, he expressed his attitude to the foreign envoy for the first time in a questioning tone, without any concealment or hiding.

Bi Huaduo was taken aback: "Your Majesty, are you planning to break with my Li Kingdom?"

Wang Xuance immediately spoke up: "To my Great Chu, your Li Kingdom is but a drop in the ocean, utterly insignificant. Since your Li Kingdom is so stubborn, then my Great Chu will naturally not show you any kindness!"

Bi Huaduo narrowed her eyes: "So, does your country intend to disregard the hundreds of thousands of Great Chu citizens stranded on overseas islands?"

The Chu people numbered around 700,000 overseas, mostly due to exile caused by war or because they lost their way in storms while fishing at sea and thus settled overseas.

For many years, the State of Li has been able to repeatedly provoke the prestige of the State of Chu by taking advantage of the internal contradictions within the State of Chu and its absolute control over the South China Sea.

In fact, the smaller the country or state, the more it has the illusion that it can challenge and completely defeat larger countries.

For example, South Korea, which was divided into two parts, is nothing special in either the north or the south. It's just a bunch of useless people huddled together on that tiny piece of land, trying to expand their territory.

As a result, the map expanded, leading to an intracranial testicular climax, and the illusion that the five permanent members of the UN Security Council were nothing special and that the universe could be shattered with a mere flick of the wrist.

The Koreans in the north think they are the happiest people in the entire galaxy, while the Koreans in the south think they are the most powerful in the entire galaxy.

They're all undeniably abstract realists.

For example, those bastards on the island when Xu Fu sailed east had been dreaming for thousands of years. Starting from the Sui and Tang dynasties, these bastards on the island had been fantasizing about dominating East Asia.

It wasn't that the Japanese were being modest and only wanted East Asia; rather, at the time, these bastards thought East Asia was the whole world.

However, in the end, this grandson of a Japanese was very lucky. By combining the essence of Ming Dynasty Chinese learning with Western Confucianism, he finally managed to defeat the Celestial Empire, which had been thoroughly humiliated by the Ma Yao.

However, after World War II, this guy was brought back to reality. He had been dreaming for thousands of years, but in the end, he was still stuck on that broken island.

In contrast, major powers can accurately detect any hidden crises at the slightest sign of trouble between them.

For example, between Northern Yan and Great Chu, the Murong clan immediately sensed that Chu was different from before, and at this time, it would be best to take the initiative to befriend Chu.

The Jin Kingdom was the same; it sensed the terrifying power hidden beneath the surface of the Great Chu Kingdom at a glance, and naturally chose to be a dog rather than an enemy.

This is the strategic landscape among powerful, large, and weak nations.

In the simplest terms, small countries only know how to throw tantrums, large countries confront each other head-on, and powerful countries are adept at social etiquette.

At present, the Li Kingdom believes that it has the control over the overseas Chinese of the Great Chu Kingdom, which can make the Chu Kingdom hesitate to act and make continuous compromises and concessions on the issue of maritime borders.

However, the Chu state of today is no longer the Chu state of the past.

The Chu state's plan to expand its colonies and create a unique maritime hegemony was almost written into its national policy.

The Empress is even more ambitious. Now that she has the opportunity, how could she continue to let these clowns jump around?

If forced to choose between nearly a million overseas Chinese and hundreds of millions of Chinese citizens, Jiang Mengxuan would choose the latter without hesitation.

"Are you threatening me?"

Jiang Mengxuan slowly rose, flicked her phoenix sleeves, and her clear, cold voice echoed in the hall.

Bi Huaduo was momentarily stunned, not daring to look up and meet Jiang Mengxuan's gaze. He quickly lowered his head and said, "This humble subject dares not, but the two giant ships your country has built..."

These two giant ships pose a serious threat to our national waters. We are only suggesting that your country destroy them for our own safety. Of course, if your country feels this request is excessive, then we will consider that.

"Then our country is willing to change its terms. As long as His Majesty swears that your country's ships will not appear in the South China Sea, then our country will not require your country to scuttle these two giant ships."

"How dare you speak to me like that!"

A deep sigh, like the roar of a dragon and the cry of a phoenix, shook Bi Huaduo's mind.

"Where my fleet wants to go is none of your business, you tiny little country!"

"When did the South China Sea become part of your country's waters?"

"You think you can threaten me with your overseas citizens? Well then, I'll lay my cards on the table right here and now!"

Bi Huaduo swallowed hard, and his eyes began to dart around wildly.

"Let me make this clear to you: it is time to settle accounts with the Li Kingdom for its years of dominating Southeast Asia and colluding with the island natives to oppress the overseas Chinese of our Great Chu!"

"If you enslave one of my subjects, I will make you, the ruler of Li, have a hundred people enslaved as servants; if you kill one of my subjects, I will make you, the ruler of Li, pay with the lives of a thousand people!"

"You may simply convey my words to your king and vent this anger on your people overseas."

"However, I will remember everything you have done and will never let you executioners get away with it!"

Upon hearing this, all the civil and military officials in the hall straightened their backs.

The Empress's words were truly gratifying.

Bi Huaduo replied tremblingly, "Your Majesty, do you mean you intend to wage war against my Li Kingdom and the various seas of the South China Sea?"

Jiang Mengxuan's beautiful eyes lit up, and she sat back on the dragon throne.

"I reformed the military system, abolished corvée labor, strengthened military service, and followed the Emperor's advice to establish factories and develop industry, thereby strengthening the army and enriching the country, bringing a new look to the State of Chu."

"I, the Emperor, have proposed to give the people dignity, win their hearts, and grant them wealth and honor in order to change their appearance. My purpose is to win the hearts of the people and make them submit to my Great Chu."

"Now you ask me whether we should go to war with your Li Kingdom? What a ridiculous question."

"Is strengthening military equipment and improving physical fitness just for show?"

"Is upholding the dignity of the people just so they can continue to suffer humiliation?"

"With strong troops and horses, and the soldiers and civilians united and in high spirits, isn't this all preparation for war!"

Bi Huaduo's heart sank to the bottom.

The Empress's words were quite clear.

War between the states of Chu and Li was inevitable.

At this moment, Bi Huaduo quickly began to calculate the gap between the Chu and Li states in his mind.

In terms of the army, Lebanon, being an island nation in Southeast Asia, did not pay much attention to the land. On paper, it had about 100,000 men, but in reality, even the king himself couldn't bear to look at how many there were. At most, there were only 10,000 to 20,000 armored soldiers.

The Chu state currently estimates its army size at 300,000.

Even if Bi Huaduo were arrogant, he knew the achievements of the Chu army over the years. A single Central Division could probably annihilate the Li army ten times over, so it was incomparable.

Fortunately, the Li Kingdom has paid much more attention to its navy.

The Lebanese Kingdom possesses over 3,000 warships of various types, including 500 three-masted ships capable of carrying over 200 people and conducting large-scale naval operations.

In terms of numbers, Lebanon has a naval force of nearly 200,000 men, all of whom are qualified sailors familiar with the South China Sea.

As for the data on the Chu navy, Bi Huaduo was not clear about it, but he firmly believed that even if those two ironclad behemoths were really stronger than the Li navy fleet, the Li could still win with its absolute numerical advantage.

Thinking of this, he couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief.

Clearly, he didn't understand that in the face of an absolute technological gap, quantity is just a number on paper.

"Since Your Majesty says so, then I can only relay Your Majesty's words to our King as truthfully. I regret to inform you that..."

It would be unwise for our two countries to clash over this. I urge Your Majesty to reconsider carefully. I, your humble servant, shall take my leave now.

Bi Huaduo slowly withdrew from the Hall of Supreme Harmony.

He needed to quickly relay the news that Chu was going to war against Li back to Li so that they could make preparations as soon as possible.

Jiang Mengxuan did not stop him. After watching him leave, an uncontrollable smile appeared on her lips.

This time, she plans to personally accompany Shen Lang on an expedition to Southeast Asia.