Published: March 7, 2025
CHAPTER 266: Diwu Qingrou's Great Opportunity!
“Dynasty struggle, if you don’t advance, you retreat! If you do not become the hegemon, you become a corpse!” Diwu Qingrou said, “Indeed, in these years, Great Zhao has not lost an inch of land, but it has not gained any either. Yet, the opponents are increasing every year; before, they did not dare to provoke Great Zhao, as it was a gigantic entity they could not afford to mess with. But over a decade ago, Tie Shicheng brazenly mobilized troops, breaking this iron rule!”
“Great Zhao is starting to weaken now.” Diwu Qingrou’s expression was complex: “When I first took power, I set up a poisonous scheme to secretly plot against Tie Shicheng! The entire court, civil and military alike, rose up against me, saying I lacked righteousness... Ha…”
“And then the Iron Cloud blacksmith desert policy that followed was also condemned, making me a sinner of ten evils!” Diwu Qingrou sighed and said, “But did they ever think… this is war! War is inherently cruel; had I not secretly plotted against Tie Shicheng back then, when Iron Cloud was in its prime, even I would not have been able to deal with the alliance of Tie Shicheng and Iron Dragon City…”
“If I had not killed those tens of thousands of blacksmiths back then; now the soldiers of the Great Zhao Army falling under Iron Cloud’s sword would have to increase by at least a million…” Diwu Qingrou sighed deeply: “That incident back then harmed the heavens; how could I, Diwu Qingrou, not know? But if I hadn’t done that… wasn’t the Great Zhao Army born and raised by my parents?”
“If I hadn’t schemed against Tie Shicheng, by the time talents like Tie Butian emerged, with father and son, uncle and nephew all being hegemonic kings, wise and martial! Then, Great Zhao would be finished!” Diwu Qingrou sighed again: “I, Diwu Qingrou, bear this eternal infamy, but it’s unavoidable. Great Zhao has millions of subjects!”
“To add sin where there is none, who lacks an excuse!” Han Buchu said: “Lord Xiang, why bother caring about the words of those corrupt scholars? Your talents and great strategies have propped up Great Zhao's vast mountains and rivers; these accomplishments are clear for all to see, and future generations will have their own judgments!”
“Future generations' judgments… Ha;” Diwu Qingrou smiled lightly: “What do future generations’ judgments have to do with me? Does Diwu Qingrou still care about future generations' judgments? Even if the criticisms are like a tide, what can they do?”
He slowly paced a few steps, finally stopping, and slowly said: “If Zhongzhou is rotten, it can be rebuilt; if the capital is lost, it can be relocated. But if the hearts of the people are rotten or gone; then even immortals cannot do anything about it.”
“What you say is true.” Han Buchu agreed sincerely.
“And one more thing, Buchu, you only see the viciousness of Chu King of Hell’s scheme, but you haven’t seen the enormous opportunity contained within it!”
“For Chu King of Hell, this is indeed a successful conspiracy, but for us, it is also a tremendous opportunity!” Diwu Qingrou’s eyes sparkled with sharp light as he spoke word by word: “We must seize this opportunity firmly; although Chu King of Hell is currently proud, he will surely regret it later!”
“A tremendous opportunity?” Han Buchu was stunned.
From the current perspective, it truly seemed to be a hundred harms and no benefits; where was the tremendous opportunity?
“Great Zhao has the most spies scattered in Iron Cloud; there are tens of thousands in Iron Cloud alone; just in Iron Cloud City, there are thousands.” Diwu Qingrou said: “Chu King of Hell initially made his reputation by killing hundreds of people. It can be said that the vast majority remained safe. But it is precisely because we took action that Chu King of Hell acted opportunistically and exposed them. This has led to the current paralysis of the Iron Cloud intelligence network.”