Chapter 480: Zhao Xu's Decision

"Return to Wuguan immediately, send someone to contact the Northern Di, and tell them that in order to reach a peace agreement, our Dou Family is willing to stage a play with the Northern Di. Like this, and like this..."

Zhao Heng left, and Dou Wei also descended from the city wall; he immediately summoned the Dou Family disciples who had accompanied him.

"Yes, Head of the Family." The Dou Family disciples nodded repeatedly.

They acknowledged the order and turned to leave.

Once the Dou Family disciples had left, Dou Wei's eyes narrowed.

The Northern Di attacking Wuguan—that was a genuine attack.

The casualties of the Dou Family disciples were real and substantial.

When Tiemuta mentioned continuing the attack on Wuguan, his heart felt as if it had been stabbed by a blade; at that moment, he had anxiously blinked his eyes at Dou Wei.

When Ma Han asked about it later, he only said that sand had gotten into his eyes.

Therefore, as soon as he stepped off the city wall, he could not wait to send someone back to Wuguan.

"Once the Third Prince ascends the throne, this world will belong to my Dou Family. How can I let my Dou Family suffer losses because of one Yan Wang?" Dou Wei muttered.

By now, he had already come to regard the Great Song as his family's private property.

In his eyes, Zhao Heng was merely someone guarding the throne for his Dou Family.

It would be best if Yan Wang and the Northern Di could both suffer heavy losses.

If that were not possible, and he merely held onto his territory, he would still have to exhaust every means to eliminate him...

While he was deep in thought, Tiemuta and his party headed toward Xiangcheng.

One day later, they arrived at Xiangcheng, and he reported the situation regarding the peace talks to Mule Hongzhen.

"Hmph, the most important matters are the annual tribute and the war along the Yan Wang front; how can these be subject to bargaining? Since that is the case, we shall continue to attack Wuguan," Mule Hongzhen said.

For him, the best strategy at the moment was to concentrate all his strength to deal with Yan Wang.

But if the Emperor of Great Song did not agree, the war would have to continue.

In this Northern Expedition, he absolutely could not return empty-handed.

Moreover, by doing this, he was also putting pressure on the Dou Family.

If the Dou Family did not want to be dragged into the war and have their family foundation wiped out, they would have to put in effort regarding the peace talks.

They, the Northern Di, could support the Dou Family through the Border Market, and they could also destroy them.

Thinking of this, he asked, "What did Dou Wei say?"

"The second time, the Emperor of Great Song sent Ma Han to accompany Dou Wei. Although Dou Wei could not speak plainly, from the look in his eyes, I am certain he will do his utmost to facilitate this matter," Tiemuta said.

Mule Hongzhen nodded. "If that is the case, perhaps the Dou Family will secretly send people to contact us during this attack on Wuguan. Whether this peace talk succeeds or not depends entirely on the Dou Family."

Sure enough, three days later, news came from the Northern Di camp at Wuguan.

"The Dou Family claims they do not wish to engage in battle with the Northern Di, and they request that the Khan make a great show of force when attacking Wuguan, but not to fight to the death. The Dou Family will claim they can no longer hold out, forcing the Emperor of Great Song," the Northern Di cavalryman said.

"Great Khan is truly brilliant," Tiemuta said with a loud laugh upon hearing this.

A smile hung on the corner of Mule Hongzhen's mouth; this was why he had attacked Wuguan instead of Qin Pass.

Firstly, threatening Wuguan,

would make the Emperor of Great Song unable to sleep or eat in peace.

Secondly, Tiemuta had learned quite a bit about the Dou Family when he went to Jinling.

Coupled with the Dou Family's private contact with them, the Northern Di.

He concluded that this Dou Wei was definitely not of one mind with the Emperor of Great Song, and at a critical moment, he might be of use.

"Proceed exactly as they said," Mule Hongzhen said. "Whether the peace talks succeed or not will be decided in these next few days."

Meanwhile.

Yancheng.

The cavalry sent by Ma Han arrived here.

Zhao Xu, who was in the Prince's Council Hall discussing the construction of the Yanzhou Seven Commanderies and the reorganization of the Prince's Personal Army with officials and generals after the war, temporarily paused the meeting.

"The ceasefire does not include the Yanzhou front?" Zhao Xu frowned.

The Ma Family cavalryman nodded. "The Northern Di's reason is that their conflict with His Highness is a private feud."

"A private feud? What a joke! His Highness is an Imperial Prince of Great Song, fulfilling his duty to shield the Great Song in Yanzhou; any war is a public war. How can there be any talk of a private feud? This is nothing but the Northern Di's sophistry," Liu Fu sneered.

"This subordinate does not understand these things, but the Northern Di threatened that if the Emperor does not agree, they will continue to attack Wuguan," the cavalryman added.

Upon hearing this, Chang Wei pondered for a moment and said, "Your Highness, if the war in the Northwest continues, it will eventually drag Your Highness into it. Rather than going to Wuguan to fight the Northern Di, it would be better to rely on the Lengbao along the Yanshan line and Yanguan to defend against the enemy."

"Exactly. The Northern Expedition was fought so miserably precisely because these powerful clans were holding us back. This subordinate does not want to go to Wuguan to fight the Northern Di while having to guard against them," Qin Shan pouted.

Bai Shang laughed cheekily: "In this subordinate's opinion, let it be a private feud. I haven't finished looting at Ningjin Dusi yet; if there's a ceasefire, it won't be easy to make a move."

After he finished speaking, the other generals laughed one after another.

This time, Bai Shang had truly gained a bountiful harvest.

He had looted over one hundred thousand head of cattle, sheep, and Warhorses from Ningjin Dusi.

If they hadn't used the Merchant Association's Merchant Ships to transport them back, Chrysanthemum Island wouldn't have had enough space to hold them.

There were also over thirty thousand able-bodied Great Song commoners who had been rescued.

"In this subordinate's view, I fear the Emperor will agree to this matter. After all, Wuguan is in the hands of the Dou Family, and Dou Wei will certainly exhaust every means to force the Emperor to agree. Rather than that, Your Highness might as well agree to this, so as not to make things difficult for the Emperor, but take the opportunity to demand some benefits," a flash of inspiration struck Liu Fu.

Zhao Xu heard this and weighed it in his mind.

The situation with the peace talks now was that if the talks succeeded, the Northern Di would deal with him.

If the talks failed, the Northern Di would still deal with him.

The only difference was that if they failed, he would have a group of "pig teammates" to help him bear part of the pressure.

But working with these "pig teammates" also carried risks.

They might become a burden, creating even greater trouble for him.

Mule Hongzhen clearly had not realized this point, only wanting to reduce his own enemies and focusing entirely on dealing with him.

"Yanshan is guarded by five Lengbao, the Lengbao-style new city walls outside Yanguan are also roughly completed, and the sea routes have been cut off; I want to see what other skills he, Mule Hongzhen, has when the time comes." Zhao Xu had already made his decision in his heart.

His warning to Zhao Heng that day was actually to tell him not to have the idea of sending him to the Northern Di as a hostage again like last time; there was no other meaning.

As for whether or not this peace talk would lead to a truce along the Yanzhou front, he really did not care much.

Just as Qin Shan said, rather than going elsewhere to fight the Northern Di, it is better to fight the Northern Di with Yanzhou as a backstop.

Furthermore, he had already cut off any path for the Northern Di to invade Yanzhou.

Yet the territory of the Northern Di was full of loopholes to him.

Especially his layout for Chrysanthemum Island; if a truce were truly reached, this place would lose its value.

So if the Northern Di did not want to reach a truce with him, he could continue to raid.

Compared to being passively beaten, the rich income brought by active harassment was also a temptation to him.

It would be a pity to stop this business.

Of course, the most important thing was his confidence in the soldiers under his command.

Driving the Northern Di out of Ningjin Dusi was temporarily impossible, but by holding the majestic passes, he was certain the Northern Di could never cross the line by even a single step.

"Send someone to Qin Pass to tell the Emperor that there is no need to worry about me; since it is a personal feud, I am willing to compete with the Northern Di, but Yanzhou lacks shipbuilders, and I hope the Emperor can grant Yanzhou one hundred thousand shipbuilders," Zhao Xu said.

Regardless of anything else, he would have to endure the wrath of the Northern Di people next.

Since Zhao Heng and the powerful clans were watching the fire from the other side of the river, it was only right that they pay a price.

Although he knew it would be difficult for Zhao Heng to agree to the number of one hundred thousand.

But this was just like bargaining in business: give a high price for the other party to counter.

Only then could he ultimately gain the most profit.