Chapter 637: The Encirclement

"My Nanping Kingdom is also willing to provide fifty thousand troops," Fan Qing glanced at Liang Feng and said to Han Zheng.

"Hmph, you two families are each providing fifty thousand troops; are you trying to dismiss me like a beggar?" Dou Wei said angrily.

Although before coming to Lu City, he had anticipated that the Wu Kingdom and the Nanping Kingdom would not be too concerned about the alliance.

But he had not expected the two families to be so perfunctory.

After a pause, he said: "I know what you two families are planning, but you are just relying on the fact that you are far from Yanzhou and separated by the Jiujiang, wanting to watch the fire from the other side."

"But you must be clear, if we are defeated, the destruction of your Wu Kingdom and Nanping Kingdom will only be a matter of time."

Liang Feng locked his brows tightly; he and his father naturally understood this principle.

It was just that for them at the moment, there was a problem more urgent than Yan Wang, and that was the British.

If they did not participate in the crusade against Yan Wang, it would take at least three to five years for Yan Wang to eliminate the Qi Kingdom, Southern Liang, and the Xie Family before reaching the Wu Kingdom.

If Yan Wang failed in the confrontation with the three families, the threat of Yan Wang would cease to exist.

But the threat of the British was a sharp sword hanging over the head of the Wu Kingdom, which could fall at any time, and they had to deal with it with all their might.

Because, ever since Fan Xinglun revealed to them that the British intended to use war to threaten the Wu Kingdom into reducing the trade deficit between the two, they had been continuously sending merchant ships south.

Judging from the intelligence gathered by these merchant ships, the British were indeed preparing for a war.

Unlike small Western Lands countries like Folangji and Stedan, which were powerless to threaten the Wu Kingdom.

They knew deeply that the British belonged to the most powerful country in the Western Lands and possessed the most powerful fleet.

If they were to launch a war against the Wu Kingdom, I fear the Wu Kingdom would have to exert all its strength to cope.

Therefore, bringing out these fifty thousand troops was already the greatest sincerity of the Wu Kingdom.

Thinking of this, he said to Dou Wei: "You only care about the threat of Yan Wang, but have you ever cared about the threat the Wu Kingdom is currently facing? If you are willing to deal with the British together with our Wu Kingdom, after defeating the British, my Wu Kingdom is willing to commit the entire nation's troops to participate in the crusade against Yan Wang, how about that?"

Having said that, he introduced to everyone the origins of the British and their strength among the countries of the Western Lands.

Han Zheng's expression changed slightly; previously, he did not know much about the British, Folangji, or Stedan.

But ever since Sato Masahisa came to Lu City, he had learned quite a bit from him.

According to Sato Masahisa's account, the British were a hundred times stronger than them.

If that were the case, unless he was crazy, he would not get involved in the conflict between the Wu Kingdom and the British.

Dou Wei and Xie Duan did not take it seriously at first, but after hearing Liang Feng's introduction, the two chose to remain silent.

The threat of Yan Wang was still right before their eyes; how could they be willing to invite fire onto themselves?

"Can we divert the disaster and let the British attack Yan Wang?" Dou Wei suddenly thought.

Fan Qing shook his head, "This is impossible. Yan Wang does not owe the British any silver; the British want the Wu Kingdom's silver. Unless a conflict of interest occurs, they will not immediately treat Yan Wang as their enemy."

"These Westerners are very clever."

Liang Feng nodded, which was considered an agreement with Fan Qing's statement.

Dou Wei was silent again, coughed lightly, and looked at Fan Qing: "Then your Fan Family doesn't have the threat of the British, right?"

"Indeed, but we are facing the Frankish, and their threat is no less than that of the British," Fan Qing said.

Although their Fan Family had some cooperation with the Frankish.

But this Western Lands country had traveled thousands of miles to reach the East Land and had even occupied Jiaozhi and Piaoman.

He did not believe that the Frankish would always remain friendly to their Nanping Kingdom.

Like Liang Feng, he also explained to Dou Wei and the others the situation of the Frankish in the East Land Southern Region.

"So that's how it is," Han Zheng nodded, "Fifty thousand is fifty thousand; it is a gesture after all."

After a pause, he said: "Although it is difficult for you to send troops, if you have a surplus of the flintlocks you forge, I only hope you can sell them to us at a low price."

"That is naturally no problem," Liang Feng and Fan Qing said simultaneously.

With these words, Han Zheng did not intend to force them to send troops anymore.

Immediately, Han Zheng looked at Dou Wei and Xie Duan.

The Wu Kingdom and the Nanping Kingdom could not fully support the Northern Expedition.

Now the main force for the crusade against Yan Wang was left with only their three families.

This was about the same as what he had expected before the alliance.

He believed that Dou Wei and Xie Duan also had this mental preparation.

So he said: "This Yan Wang is like leeks in the field, growing too fast. In my opinion, we cannot let Yan Wang continue to manage his fief peacefully, otherwise the gap between us and Yan Wang will become larger and larger, and we will eventually be destroyed by him. Therefore, we must take advantage of the fact that his wings are not yet fully grown and destroy him as soon as possible."

Dou Wei nodded, "Before coming to Lu City, I had already sent people to the Beidi Khan Court to request that Beidi participate in our alliance. I wonder what you all think?"

Xie Duan revealed a smile and said: "Very good, this is naturally a good thing. Although Beidi was once the mortal enemy of Great Song, at present, the enemy of an enemy is a friend. Besides Dongying, if we can borrow the strength of Beidi, it will be much easier to destroy Yan Wang."

Then, his expression turned cold, "However, I also remind the two of you that the heart of Beidi to destroy our Great Song is known to all under heaven. With Dongying participating so actively in Great Song's resistance against Yan Wang, I fear they also harbor the hearts of tigers and wolves. One must be careful and cautious with both, lest we drive away the wolf only to be bitten by the tiger, failing to succeed and instead being harmed by them."

Dou Wei and Han Zheng nodded at the same time.

Their cooperation with Beidi and Dongying was only for the sake of contending for the world and dealing with the threat of Yan Wang.

In their hearts, they naturally did not trust Beidi and Dongying.

But the field of political intrigue always emphasizes interests.

At the moment, their alliance with Dongying and Beidi undoubtedly met their immediate interests.

So Han Zheng said: "Brother Xie is overthinking it. Perhaps before we have any conflict with Beidi and Dongying, we will have already been destroyed by Yan Wang."

Hearing this, Xie Duan gave a bitter smile, thinking to himself that it was indeed so.

They were currently in the tiger's mouth and must first ensure they were not eaten by this tiger, Yan Wang.

As long as the two wolves, Beidi and Dongying, rescue them from the tiger's mouth, that is all that matters.

As for whether they will be eaten by the wolves later, that is a matter for the future.

Seeing that Han Zheng and Xie Duan both agreed with the matter of allying with Beidi, Dou Wei nodded slightly, "Since that is the case, why not let Beidi and Dongying both participate in the alliance and conclude a contract to deal with Yan Wang? In this way, even if we cannot destroy Yan Wang, we can at least stop Yan Wang's expansion. What do you think?"

"Let's do it!" Han Zheng slapped the desk.

Xie Duan also nodded, indicating his agreement.

As for Liang Feng and Fan Qing, they naturally had no reason to object.

Not having to exert much effort to curb Yan Wang was the best possible outcome.

The matter was settled.

That evening, Han Zheng held a grand banquet in the Imperial Palace to entertain the influential clans participating in the alliance.

At the same time, he informed Sato Masahisa of the alliance's results.

Sato Masahisa immediately sent someone back to Dongying to report this matter to Watanabe An.

If the Northern Di and Dongying agreed, a massive alliance surrounding Yanzhou to oppose Yan Wang would be born.

Besides this, he decided to leverage the momentum of the alliance to send envoys to Yancheng.

Just as Yan Wang had used the plague to blackmail them, he would blackmail Yan Wang.