Deposed Crown Prince: After three years of service on the frontier, the entire court knelt and begge

Hearing him say this, everyone's expressions became eager.

Seeing this, the Emperor quickly added, "However, now is not the right time! I have other matters to discuss with you all here today."

Upon hearing the Emperor's words, his eyes immediately dimmed.

The Emperor addressed the crowd: "Gentlemen, I understand your emotions... However, we need to summarize our previous defeat... How long has it been? We were driven out of Japan! From their invasion until now, it's been a full month!"

"They only took a month to defeat us... There must be something wrong with us. If we can't find the problem and continue like this, the end result will be the same."

The crowd agreed with the Emperor's words.

Tokugawa Heiji said to the Emperor, "Your Majesty, it can't really be said that they conquered it. If we had all stayed, those people from Xiao Kingdom wouldn't have been able to conquer it so easily."

"Secondly, didn't I already say? Their warships are the best Western warships, and their tactics don't seem like traditional tactics. I suspect they have Western backing. This is the root cause of our defeat..."

Tojo Koichi nodded: "Your Majesty, I wonder if you have inquired with those people in the West? Do they know anything about it?"

Seeing this, the Emperor said to them, "Of course I know. I have already received the news!"

Looking at the curious expressions on these people's faces.

Seeing this, the Emperor asked them, "Are you sure you want to know?"

After listening to the Emperor's words, the group nodded in agreement: "Of course, of course we want to know... Even though we lost... we should at least understand why we lost."

"Your Majesty, is there anything you can't say? We've been through life and death together, what else can't we go through?"

The Emperor, seeing their expressions, nodded: "Alright, since that's the case... then I'll just tell you the truth."

"This time, it was indeed Xiao Ce, the Northern King of Xiao Kingdom, who negotiated and swayed the people of several countries in Tianzhu (India). Those people reached an agreement with Xiao Ce, providing him with ships and weapons. The plan is that after Xiao Ce conquers these countries, he will share the profits with them..."

"Originally, Xiao Ce said he would fight the Slavic countries, but later, I don't know how it happened, it turned into an alliance with the Slavic countries to directly attack our Fusang country... However, for those foreigners, this is not important!"

"They did provide warships and some weapons, which was good, but they never provided any military training personnel..."

"Moreover, they provided fifty warships capable of combat, and even including those from the Slavic countries, they had less than a hundred in total!"

Upon hearing this, Tokugawa Heiyasu replied almost immediately, "Impossible! That's completely impossible!"

"Your Majesty, is your information accurate? They are certainly blocking more than a hundred of our ships!"

"And if they didn't have generals providing military command, how could they be so powerful? We've witnessed the strength of both the Xiao Kingdom and the Slavic Kingdom... Do you think they could fight this fiercely?"

Seeing Tokugawa Heiyasu say this, the Emperor continued, "I can say with absolute certainty! We have lost this time... without any reason!"

Tokugawa Heiji still seemed unable to accept it, and said to the Emperor, "Your Majesty, are you sure? Isn't it possible that someone is trying to deceive you?"

"The truth may be hard to accept, but it is indeed the fact. As you know, I have a Western organization supporting us. Moreover, this organization is very powerful. Our Fusang nation has grown from weak to powerful because of their support!"

“They built workshops for us and provided us with weapons, which is why we have achieved what we have today! But this time, the person behind me told us that this crushing defeat has disappointed them greatly.”

"It's now highly likely that they will cut off our support!"

After the Emperor said this, his words were undoubtedly more painful than the loss of so many of their family members.

"Your Majesty, you must tell them that this was an accident. Moreover, the West also bears responsibility. If we had known beforehand, this tragedy would not have occurred... We would have made preparations earlier and would not have allowed them to sneak into our waters and catch us off guard!"

Tokugawa Heiyasu was still explaining.

The Emperor said, "Tokugawa Heiyasu, I am not holding you responsible. You don't need to rush to absolve yourself of responsibility."

"After all I've said, don't you understand? We need to find the problem! This defeat, this crushing defeat, is primarily my responsibility!"

What did Tokugawa Heiyasu want to say?

The Emperor waved his hand and said, "This time, the Western forces behind me said they will give us another chance."

"They will tell their people that they will no longer provide Xiao Ce with weapons and ammunition, and that he must hand over the promised benefits immediately. Otherwise, they will take away their benefits immediately... that is, they will take away everything they have given them!"

Before the Emperor could finish speaking, Tokugawa Heiyasu interrupted him, saying, "If that's how the Emperor is, I will definitely crush them."

The Emperor nodded: "It's good that you have this intention! But I also want to make it clear to everyone. These Western powers are very simple and direct; they support whoever is useful. Do you know what they will do after our defeat this time?"

Everyone, look at me, and I'll look at you.

It was Tojo Koichi who spoke up: "A pawn will be discarded. And the Northern Desert King of Xiao Kingdom will naturally become their new favorite. What they need is someone who can control East Asia. That person could be us, or of course, it could be Xiao Ce!"

"Actually, judging from Xiao Ce's resume, it's clear he's qualified. And the fact that he drove us out of Fusang this time makes him even more qualified!"

Upon hearing Tojo Koichi's words, the Emperor nodded and interrupted, saying, "What the head of the Tojo family said is very good! That's exactly the point. If we lose this time, they will definitely support Xiao Ce."

"Everyone is well aware of what the consequences would be if Xiao Ce gained their support."

The expressions on everyone's faces instantly turned extremely grim.

Tokugawa Heiji said, "Can Xiao Ce accept this? According to Tojo, Xiao Ce doesn't fit the bill; he's not one of the candidates they're looking for!"

The Emperor said, "Even if it's not Xiao Ce, it could be Xiao Dong, or even Xiao Xi... It doesn't matter. As long as I lose the support of the Westerners, we are doomed."

"Moreover, they were no longer willing to provide us with equipment, forcing us to produce it ourselves. Instead, they provided us with supplies..."

Koichi Tojo asked, "It shouldn't be free, right?"

The Emperor gave a wry smile: "Lord Tojo, when have we ever received a free lunch? What I mean by all this is that we must be cautious this time and carefully analyze the reasons for our failure."

"Next, what to do is also very important... I don't need you to rush to give me answers, go back and think about it carefully..."

"Finally, I know that everyone has had their own agendas. I hope that now, at this moment, we can unite. We may seem to have a lot of land, but if those in the West don't want us to become the master of East Asia, we will lose all of this!"

The Emperor waved his hand wearily as he spoke.

"Everyone should go back and think about it carefully..."

"If, by then, we don't have a good solution, I will give up everything I have now. I've already booked my ticket to the West, and my current wealth is enough for me to live a comfortable life for the rest of my days!"

After the Emperor said that, the expressions on everyone's faces turned very ugly.

"You don't need to look at me like that. If I still think our plan is doomed to fail, why should we go looking for death? We might as well run away sooner rather than later, right?"

Upon hearing the Emperor's words, the men's eyes practically blazed with fury.

The Emperor was actually deliberately provoking them.

In fact, he was well aware that once they embarked on this path, there was no turning back.

The Emperor had great confidence in their strength.

He was now aware of the dire situation, and the Westerners behind him echoed his sentiments.

It's about being blindly confident and underestimating your opponent.

Furthermore, their successive victories have made them all want to expand their strength.

They are all engaged in open and covert struggles. The fruit is not even ripe yet, but they already want to pick it. At this point, they are a disorganized mess.

This includes the Emperor.

Of course, this was not something the Emperor himself realized.

It was someone behind him who told him.

"Your Majesty, we will not give up. The blood debt still needs to be paid by Xiao Ce. We have not given up, so please do not give up either."

After hearing their words, the Emperor gave a wry smile.

"Then I need to see if you've truly realized your problems!"

The group didn't say anything more and left directly.

The Emperor leaned back in his chair, remaining stunned for a long, long time…

...

At this moment, in the vast ocean, there was a huge steel warship.

Surrounding this steel warship were many East Asians who had never seen such a high-class warship before.

Inside the massive steel warship in the center, there is a room with extremely luxurious furnishings.

Inside this room was a huge round table made of gold.

Many men and women dressed in fine clothes sat around the round table.

However, all of these men and women were wearing masks.

Their masks had letters written on them, and there were twenty-six people in the room.

The masks on their faces correspond to the twenty-six letters of the English alphabet.

These people are representatives of the families of members of the Illuminati.

They don't know each other, and they believe in equality for all. The order of the English alphabet doesn't mean anything.

A lottery is held every time the Golden Round Table is held.

Therefore, none of them knew each other.

This Illuminati is usually held only once every three months.

An additional meeting will only be held in case of an emergency.

The recent crushing defeat of the Fusang Kingdom directly revealed their weakness.

This made them very dissatisfied because they had invested a lot of money in Japan.

They built many workshops, factories, railways, and various basic facilities for them.

They lasted for almost five years.

However, the people of Fusang were defeated in almost a month.

They also destroyed all the facilities they had built.

This is what infuriates them the most.

After everyone was seated, a man in a suit and top hat, leaning on a cane, walked out from the side.

He slowly walked to the golden round table.

He then slowly took off his hat and bowed to everyone present.

This person wasn't wearing a mask; instead, their true face was revealed.

He was an old white man with white eyebrows and hair, and a hooked nose.

"Distinguished members, I am here as your representative, appointed by the President of the Illuminati, to preside over this meeting!"

The masked crowd simply looked at him indifferently, without saying a word.

The elderly white man in a suit with a hooked nose slowly spoke up: "Alright, the purpose of our meeting today is to find the person in charge of East Asia."

The old white man in a suit with a hooked nose had barely finished speaking.

One of the people on one side spoke up: "Didn't we say before that we were giving the Emperor of Japan a chance?"

The white man in the suit with the hooked nose said, "Yes, we do need to give him a chance! But we've already wasted too much time on Japan. We can't put all our eggs in one basket when it comes to giving him a chance."

A man with multiple masks on one side of his face spoke up, "I agree! I have a suggestion. I think Xiao Ce is quite good. I have information on Xiao Ce; his experiences are nothing short of legendary. If we can make contact with him and win him over, I believe his chances of winning are much higher than those of the Emperor of Fusang..."

At this moment, a female voice wearing a Y-mask on one side expressed a different opinion: "It's precisely because this person is too legendary, his personal abilities are too strong! Such a person is indeed capable, but not easy to control. What we need is an agent, not an awakened one!"

"Didn't we have enough of this experience when we were conquering Europe? Our agents only need to have a normal level of intelligence... and everything else, they just need to be loyal! Obviously, Xiao Ce doesn't possess any of these qualities! So, choosing him as our agent is clearly an unwise choice. Therefore, I suggest everyone be more cautious!!"