Chapter 488: 3 Strategies

Latest update: "Your Highness, the Xiliang Chanyu was beheaded by ambushers while meeting Mule Hongzhen, and the Northern Di army immediately bloodied the Xiliang nobles who refused to submit to them."

"At present, Xiliang has been completely controlled by the Northern Di; Xiliang is finished."

"Afterward, Mule Hongzhen ordered the Xiliang populace to relocate to Ningjin Dusi, claiming he would recruit the young and strong of Xiliang to build a powerful army, and soon, together with the Northern Di army, he will fight a decisive battle to the death with Your Highness." Beads of sweat appeared slightly on Xu Ke's forehead.

Intelligence gathered by the Four Courts from all aspects shows that the Northern Di is truly about to get ruthless.

Besides Xiliang, there has also been movement on the Grassland north of Yanshan.

A Northern Di royal tent has migrated over, received the remnants of the Black Iron Royal Tent, and officially replaced the Black Iron Royal Tent.

In An County, a large number of Northern Di Infantry and Cavalry have appeared near the iron mines.

Artillery has also appeared in the vicinity, and tens of thousands of slaves have been driven by the Northern Di to labor in the iron mines.

Correspondingly, the sound of forging in the Jincheng blacksmith shops never ceases day or night; clearly, they are forging Weapon and Armor.

The booming sound of testing Artillery is also more frequent than usual.

All of this is in preparation for war.

Added to the nearly two million Xiliang people Mule Hongzhen has relocated to Ningjin Dusi, his purpose is self-evident.

Once everything is ready, Mule Hongzhen will unleash a war frenzy.

This time, due to the agreement between the Imperial Court and the Northern Di.

Yan Wang can only face the Northern Di alone and will have no outside aid.

"Mule Hongzhen is indeed sinister and cunning." Xu Ke sighed deeply, "This peace talk is a trap aimed at Your Highness; Your Highness should not have agreed to this matter in the first place."

Zhao Xu's eyes never left the map on the wall while Xu Ke was briefing him on the situation.

This map includes the territories of Da Song and the surrounding alien tribes.

After his gaze lingered on Xiliang for a while, he finally moved his eyes to Ningjin Dusi.

Facing Xu Ke's complaint, he said: "You are wrong about this.

Whether this King agrees or not, this peace talk will happen eventually; this King was merely taking the opportunity to demand some benefits."

He paused, then continued: "It is just that this King did not expect Mule Hongzhen to be so ruthless and brilliant, destroying Xiliang so quickly."

"Regarding this matter, this subordinate also did not receive any news in advance; I estimate Mule Hongzhen also acted on a whim, solely to deal with Your Highness. But in this way, the pressure facing Yanzhou has increased." Xu Ke could not hide the worry in his eyes.

Zhao Xu smiled lightly.

The move Mule Hongzhen has made will indeed increase the defensive pressure on Yanzhou.

But it is not yet to the point where he cannot cope or will fall into a complete disadvantage.

First, these nearly two million Xiliang people need to be settled after migrating to Ningjin Dusi.

Recruiting the young and strong and training troops also requires a certain amount of time.

Moreover, judging from these few battles, he feels that Mule Hongzhen and he have a similar trait: they will not easily take action without being fully prepared.

Thus, before Mule Hongzhen officially launches an attack, Yanzhou can gain a period of respite.

And this time is enough for him to do many things.

However, he must also speed up; after all, this period will not be too long.

Of course, even with this preparation period, the Northern Di will certainly not be idle.

The small-scale battles between him and the Northern Di will not stop.

"Crisis, crisis—there is opportunity within the crisis. With the Northern Di migrating so many people over, perhaps they are ultimately making wedding clothes for this King." Zhao Xu thought of another point and responded to Xu Ke with a smile.

Among the Xiliang population, the populace possessing Da Song bloodlines likely accounts for a large portion.

There are also nearly five hundred thousand Da Song people in Ningjin Dusi being enslaved.

If one does not find a way to rescue these people back to Yanzhou, it is truly a waste to capture Northern Di and Xiliang people to dig in the mines.

Zhao Xu's confident and optimistic appearance immediately made Xu Ke feel greatly encouraged.

Since Yan Wang has said so, he believes that they will definitely be the winners in the end.

And the Four Courts he is responsible for will spare no cost to provide the most critical intelligence to Yan Wang.

Even if it means being smashed to pieces or having his liver and brains smeared on the ground.

Just as he was thinking this, he heard Yan Wang say again: "In the northwest direction, your Four Courts can withdraw some people. The peace talk is done; before they eliminate this King, the Northern Di will not clash with the Imperial Court again."

He paused, and Zhao Xu added: "Next, you mainly keep an eye on Ningjin Dusi, Jingshi, and Gaoli."

The three places he mentioned concern his subsequent strategy.

Ningjin Dusi is the battlefield where he and the Northern Di will compete, so naturally, it must be watched.

Jingshi directly reflects the situation within Da Song and needs to be monitored at all times to deal with unexpected events.

Gaoli is prepared for Zhou Yi and the others.

This time, Gaoli acted as an accomplice to the tiger, assisting the Northern Di in moving south to attack Yanguan; how could he let them off lightly?

He must let the "Black Shark Sea Bandits" played by Zhou Yi give them a good thrashing.

Of course, most importantly, he needs to use Gaoli as a substitute market for Da Song.

However, he is also clear that he does not yet have the ability to conquer Gaoli.

But letting Zhou Yi and the others use Naval Cannon to force Gaoli to do business with the Black Shark Sea Bandits should be no problem.

And for now, that is enough.

When he has a greater advantage in the future, he will further step into Gaoli.

Let this vassal state that betrayed Da Song submit under his feet.

Jinling.

Two days ago, Dou Wei and Yang Feng arrived here one after the other.

As soon as Yang Feng returned, he was immediately seized by the Imperial Guards and thrown into prison.

Dou Wei, however, claimed to be suffering from an ailment and was resting in his manor.

For a time, all of Jinling seemed to be in the calm before a storm.

"Come to think of it, the Great Song Dynasty now only has the Seven Great Influential Clans left; as for the Ma Family, they are no longer worth mentioning, they are just this now." Han Zheng held up his little finger.

It was still the Dou Family's mountain villa located outside Jinling City.

At this moment, Dou Wei was in high spirits, chatting and laughing with Han Zheng, Liang Cheng, and the others; there was not a hint of him being ill.

"Hahaha..." The others laughed, their eyes filled with disdain for Ma Han.

After laughing for a while, Han Zheng suddenly asked: "I wonder what instruction Dou Prime Minister has for inviting us here this time? It surely isn't just for drinking Wine and watching dances, right?"

Hearing this, the others stopped laughing one after another and looked toward Dou Wei.

This Dou Wei had feigned illness at home for two days, yet he had secretly sent them a message.

Dou Wei waved his hand to dismiss the singers and dancers, his every gesture full of confidence.

His gaze swept over the six men—Han Zheng, Liang Kai, Xiao Cheng, Wang Zi'an, Fan Xinglun, and Xie Duan—and he said bluntly: "I have summoned you all here this time to discuss a major matter, one that concerns the future life and death of our seven families."

Han Zheng and the others exchanged glances, feeling suspicious.

Compared to their previous gatherings, Dou Wei seemed exceptionally excited this time.

They did not know what had happened to this Head of the Family of the Dou Family.

Seeing that everyone was momentarily stunned by his words, Dou Wei said slowly: "The peace talks are now concluded; before Mule Hongzhen kills Yan Wang, there will be no more warfare between the Imperial Court of the Great Song Dynasty and the Northern Di. Gentlemen, such a golden opportunity—if we do not contend with the Imperial Clan now, when will we?"

Upon hearing this, all six men turned slightly pale.

There were also some whose thoughts were similar to Dou Wei's, their eyes flickering with uncertainty.