At the tender age of eight, he was hastily dragged out and made emperor!

Prejudice in people's hearts is a mountain. Despite the various orders issued by the General of the Northern Expedition, which spread westward and eastward from the Northern Expedition City as the core, causing more and more places to be under martial law, few people in the Great Yu believed that the current dynasty would send troops to attack the Northern Barbarians.

Even after that, with the General's Office of Exterminating the Barbarians leading the way, many scouts were dispatched to harass and inflict some losses on the northern border, but few people still believed that a war would break out.

the reason is simple.

If the central government truly wanted to fight the Northern barbarians, why did they send an envoy to visit us and even propose a marriage alliance to repair relations between the two dynasties?

Elsewhere, no one cares what happened, but in the northern frontier, not only the border residents, but even many soldiers were privately cursing the central government and even the emperor.

Since the founding of the Dayu Kingdom, has it ever taken such a stance?

Isn't this tantamount to bowing down to a powerful enemy?!

Therefore, in the northern border region of Dayu, although some things about the central government had been passed down before, many people still harbored doubts or even distrust towards the current central government.

The people were still the same, although some had changed, but the main ones remained the same. However, the people in charge of these people had changed. Ultimately, it was because they didn't trust the young emperor.

If the situation is like this in the northern border region of Dayu, then in the neighboring southern region of the Northern Barbarians, despite the recent deployment of many scouts and raids by the Southern Yu, many people do not believe that the Southern Yu would dare to send troops to invade them!

Murong Dynasty, Southern Capital.

As the largest city in the southern region, Nandu has a population of over 200,000. In addition to hereditary nobles, there are officials, generals, soldiers, and their relatives and servants, which constitute the main population of Nandu. In contrast, there are merchants, herdsmen, and other related groups.

During the decades of fighting and stalemate with Nanyu, the Murong Dynasty built dozens of cities in the southern region, which were valuable experiences learned in the war.

The Murong Dynasty has a wide strategic depth, especially in the area under its jurisdiction in the Southern Region. Apart from the long Tuowu Mountain Range, the other areas are almost indefensible. The Murong Dynasty has never been afraid of the Southern Yu in its confrontation and battles. However, before this, some generals of the Southern Yu would often lead surprise attacks to harass the Murong Dynasty, causing it a lot of trouble. Therefore, this change in the Southern Region has occurred.

As the political, military, economic, cultural, and religious center of the Murong Dynasty in the Southern Region, the Southern Capital was the most powerful place under the rule of the Southern King. In order to facilitate the management of various places under the Southern Region and to deal with the threat from the Southern Yu, the Southern King's Mansion became the core.

The southern capital was still cool in March, but this did not affect its prosperity and liveliness. However, compared with the hustle and bustle of other parts of the capital, the Southern Prince's Mansion was much quieter.

Hundreds of elite soldiers, each clad in heavy armor, were scattered around the perimeter of the Southern Prince's Mansion, faithfully fulfilling their duties.

Meanwhile, there were still many fierce soldiers in the Southern Courtyard Prince's Palace, either scattered around on duty or patrolling various places, and the entire area was under a high level of martial law.

"Your Majesty! Even if you gave Nanyu a hundred times the courage, they would never dare to raise an army to invade our dynasty. How much impact did it have on them when Nanyu supported a young emperor to ascend the throne?"

"Yes, Your Majesty! In my humble opinion, the reason why Nanyu has been acting this way lately is for the sake of so-called national prestige. Heh... The people of Nanyu have always cared about their reputation, but little do they know that our dynasty has already trampled Nanyu's reputation into the ground!"

"It's not just that. I'm afraid that Nan Yu's actions are still intended to deceive our dynasty and the Southern Prince's Mansion. I'm wondering if the rebellion that Nan Yu is causing in Zongqing Road has escalated."

"Haha, it's not impossible!!"

"Your Majesty... if that's really the case, then my Southern Court Royal Palace can send troops to teach Nan Yu a lesson, and incidentally expand the territory of our dynasty..."

In the heart of the Southern Courtyard Prince's Mansion, a number of civil and military officials gathered, among whom the armored generals with swords at their sides spoke their minds.

King Murong Gu of the Southern Court sat on his throne, listening expressionlessly to what his subordinates were saying. No one knew what Murong Gu was thinking at that moment.

Because of Murong Gu's martial influence, in the southern region under the jurisdiction of the Murong Dynasty, the status and position of military officers were generally much higher than those of civil officials. Although Murong Zhenke promoted various reforms in Dadu after succeeding to the throne, especially in the local areas, he clearly divided the regions into prefectures, counties, and circuits to facilitate local rule, strengthen control over the local areas, and weaken some of the privileges and foundations of local tribes, as a dynasty composed of nomadic peoples, many things cannot be generalized.

Murong Gu leaned forward, and the noisy main hall immediately fell silent.

All the fierce generals looked at Murong Gu with serious expressions.

'The Southern King's prestige in the Southern Region is truly high.'

Standing to the side, Juqu Anzhong felt a pang of sorrow and emotion upon witnessing this scene. Nanyu had its own national situation to face, and the Murong Dynasty had its own. Sometimes, Juqu Anzhong thought to himself, if the civil and military officials in the Southern Region who were so loyal to the young emperor of Nanyu could act the same way in the Murong Dynasty, then his own emperor would not be in the same predicament as he was now.

"Juqu Anzhong, what is your opinion on the recent unusual behavior of Nanyu?" Murong Gu's voice rang out, drawing the attention of many people.

Murong Gu leaned forward, propped his leg up with his hand, and stared at Juqu Anzhong. "After all, you and my niece went to Nanyu together for a long time. Logically speaking, you should know a lot about the situation in Nanyu."

"My niece is good in every way, except that she thinks too much. If her feet leave the grassland, she's likely to suffer a big fall."

"Ha ha!!"

As soon as Murong Gu finished speaking, some laughter rang out in the hall.

Juqu Anzhong remained calm, glancing out of the corner of his eye at the laughing officers. They were the trusted generals of Murong Gu, the Southern King, and to some extent, their reactions revealed Murong Gu's attitude.

Murong Gu had no good feelings towards Murong Tianxiang. At such a young age, she had received such a generous reward from the emperor, and even held the position of Hengzhang Sikong. Anyone with eyes could see that this was an intentional pavement for her, so that she could take up the position of Hengzhang Changgun at the right time!

As for the Phoenix Feather Division led by Murong Tianxiang, it was little known in the Murong Dynasty. Murong Zhen made this arrangement so that his sister could help him share some of the burden, and at the same time, check and balance certain groups within the country.

"To answer Your Majesty's question!"

Under these circumstances, Juqu Anzhong bowed to Murong Gu and said, "I think the unusual behavior of Nanyu is something that needs to be guarded against, but it has not yet reached the point of sending troops to punish them."

"There is a great deal of disagreement among those in Nanyu regarding the young emperor. On one hand, there are those who are loyal to him, and on the other hand, there are those who question him."

"Now, Nanyu has lost Empress Dowager Sun Li, which makes the situation in Nanyu far less stable than our dynasty had hoped."

"The fact that Zong Qingdao rebelled is undoubtedly the best proof of this."

"Based on what Your Majesty showed me earlier, I believe that Nan Yu's recent unusual behavior indicates that they do not wish to engage in war with our dynasty in the Southern Region, hence..."

Listening to what Juqu Anzhong said, Murong Gu revealed a half-smile.

Murong Gu harbors ambitions towards Nanyu.

If he could conquer Nanyu and reach its capital, as the hereditary Southern King of the Murong Dynasty, he would rule over a vast territory in place of Dadu. In this way, his lineage would have absolute power in the Jifu branch, and even his status in the Murong Dynasty would rise significantly!

He chose another prince instead of Murong Zhen because he wanted to expand his power, especially the size of his army, by vying for the throne.

Murong Gu had never even considered the throne, because even if he did, it would never be his turn. After all, he belonged to the Ji family, and unless all his superiors were dead, the position could never be his. If he were to force his way into it, it would invite endless attacks.

But things have changed now.

Murong Gu needs to use certain events to let the one in Dadu know that the stability and expansion of the Murong Dynasty are inseparable from him, the Southern King!

"If that's the case."

As Murong Gu's voice rang out, Juqu Anzhong fell silent, but inwardly he grew tense. "Then the Southern Court Prince's Mansion still needs to make a gesture. I want the Southern Yu rulers and ministers to know the power of my Murong Dynasty. It would be best if we could force the young emperor of Southern Yu to send an envoy to visit my dynasty and submit to my rule!"

"Your Majesty, you mustn't!!"

As many military officers in the hall were excited, Juqu Anzhong's exclamation rang out, and it was this exclamation that made the eyes of many officers turn cold.

how?

You, Juqu Anzhong, have gained the Emperor's favor and your status in Dadu has risen considerably. Along with that comes power and influence. We are guarding the southern border, and now we finally have a chance to gain military merit and plunder wealth. Are you going to obstruct us?!

"how?"

Murong Gu stared coldly at Juqu Anzhong, "Do I no longer have the authority to make decisions for my Southern Court Prince's Mansion?"

"Your Majesty~"

Juqu Anzhong was speechless for a moment.

Murong Gu knew what Juqu Anzhong was worried about: he was afraid that Nanyu would find out something and launch an attack, which would be detrimental to the Murong Dynasty, since the war with the Zanpu Qin Khanate was still ongoing. However, deep down, Murong Gu never thought Nanyu would dare to invade. If they really had the guts, they should have righteously and firmly refused when they sent the delegation, instead of letting them swagger into Nanyu's territory...