Chapter 641: Ashuer

"Let him in."

Han Zheng revealed a look of anticipation.

During the first alliance meeting, although Dou Wei and the others had each returned to their own countries, they had all left behind envoys stationed in Lu City to coordinate matters between the nations at any time.

At the same time, they were also preparing for the second alliance meeting.

Before long, the Southern Liang envoy arrived at the study. Seeing Han Zheng, he said, "Your Majesty, news has just arrived from Xiangcheng that the Beidi have agreed to participate in this alliance meeting and are willing to send envoys to Lu City."

Han Zheng and Sato Masahisa exchanged a glance, joy spreading across their faces.

Since the Beidi had agreed to this matter, only the Dongying remained.

However, both Han Zheng and Mule Hongzhen believed that the Seii Taishogun Watanabe An would certainly not miss this opportunity.

Especially Sato Masahisa, for among the current forces of the Great Song, only Yan Wang could threaten the Dongying and hinder the Dongying's colonization of the Great Song.

Sure enough, just seven days later, Sato Masahisa received a letter from the Dongying.

Watanabe An ordered him to handle the alliance meeting with full authority, promising that the Dongying would provide all possible support.

Beidi Khan Court.

In the depths of winter, heavy snow was falling.

At this moment, the withered pasture grass here had been covered by a thick layer of snow, and the entire world was cloaked in silver.

Amidst the howling gale, the flap of Mule Hongzhen's Khan Tent was lifted.

Mule Hongzhen came outside the tent and looked up at the chaotic snowflakes in the sky.

The snow had been particularly heavy these past few days; one could barely see a person's silhouette beyond five meters.

To the people of the Great Song, there was a saying that a timely snow promised a good harvest.

But to the Beidi, this was a snow disaster.

Because no one knew how many cattle and sheep would freeze to death, or how many herdsmen would die of hunger and cold in this harsh winter.

In the past, the Beidi had the Autumn Hunt to plunder grain and fodder before the onset of winter, as well as the fertile lands of the Ningjin Dusi.

This had greatly alleviated the Beidi's difficult situation during the winter.

But now, all of this had been ruined by Yan Wang.

"Khan, although your wound has healed, you should still avoid the cold to prevent triggering your old injury," a guard reminded him.

Mule Hongzhen coughed several times and subconsciously touched the place where he had been wounded.

At this moment, the hatred in his heart was even more turbulent than the flying snow in the sky.

He sighed, "If I hadn't been wounded by Yan Wang's troops, why would I need to care about mere wind and snow?"

His words had just fallen when a voice suddenly came: "I didn't expect that the once-mighty eagle of the Grassland would turn into a sick bird today."

"Audacious! Who dares to insult the Khan!" The guards beside Mule Hongzhen drew their Curved Blades and pointed them toward the source of the voice.

But the heavy snow blurred their vision, and they could only see two shadows.

Upon hearing this, Mule Hongzhen was not angry; instead, he revealed a trace of a smile.

He waved his hand to signal the guards to put down their Curved Blades and said to the front, "Besides that bastard Ashuer,

who else could it be!"

"Hahaha..." A loud laugh came, and then a figure passed through the heavy snow and arrived beside Mule Hongzhen.

This person was tall and sturdy, actually a head taller than Mule Hongzhen.

"You finally came!" Mule Hongzhen gave Ashuer a fierce hug.

"I didn't want to come back, but I heard that a scoundrel called Yan Wang wounded you and killed so many Beidi soldiers, so I had to come back to skin him, pull out his tendons, drink his blood, and eat his flesh."

Mule Hongzhen squeezed Ashuer's muscular arm heavily, "I knew your heart was still with the Beidi."

Back then, he and Ashuer had parted on bad terms because of the Khan position.

But their hearts for the Beidi were the same.

They could fight each other for the Khan position, but when facing the enemies of the Beidi, they would both spare no cost to destroy them.

Especially since this enemy had caused such significant losses to the Beidi.

Then he said, "Why did it take you so long to return?"

Tiemuta, who had been following Ashuer, smiled and said, "After Uncle learned that the Great Khan intended to conquer Tibet, he spent two months on the way back to conquer the Wu Kingdom, a vassal of Tibet, and obtained eighty thousand Wu warriors."

Mule Hongzhen cast an appreciative look at Ashuer.

This Wu Kingdom was located at the foot of the northwest side of Tibet and was merely a small country.

However, the Wu warriors had always been very fierce, and Ashuer's ability to conquer the Wu Kingdom in two months proved that his strength had grown significantly over these years.

Unlike the ordinary Beidi royal tents, Ashuer was equivalent to a feudal prince holding a region in the Great Song.

Back then, Ashuer failed to compete for the position of Khan and left in a huff, facing the Tusiman people alone.

In order to make him serve the Khan Court and stabilize the western border of the Beidi,

he promised Ashuer that the Khan Court would not claim the territories and spoils of war he conquered.

Therefore, Ashuer's forces did not just consist of one royal tent; over the years, he had gathered many soldiers from small Western Regions countries.

"You are still as capable in battle as ever. Now I have confidence in dealing with Yan Wang. Once Tibet is destroyed, it will be Yan Wang's death day," Mule Hongzhen said.

"Why wait until Tibet is destroyed? I can lead troops to cut off his head right now and send it to my brother," Ashuer said loudly.

Mule Hongzhen glared at Tiemuta, "Did you not introduce Yan Wang to him?"

Tiemuta smiled bitterly, "I said everything, but Uncle said his firearms are not just for show."

"Your firearms?" Mule Hongzhen looked at Ashuer, "Where did you get firearms?"

Ashuer also widened his eyes, "These were spoils of war I captured when I was fighting the Tusiman people. You said that the spoils I captured and the territories I conquered were mine; do you want to blame me for this now?"

He was not afraid of Mule Hongzhen at all.

In fact, he had grown accustomed to being a local Emperor in the Western Frontier all these years.

If not for the North Territory being in trouble, he would never have returned.

Mule Hongzhen was stunned for a moment; he had indeed wanted to flare up in anger.

After all, if he had obtained these firearms earlier, how could he have suffered such a great loss at the hands of Yan Wang?

However, he also blamed himself for this; he had cared too little about Ashuer's situation over these years.

As long as he did not rebel, he could not be bothered to manage him.

Now, it was already good enough that Ashuer could still acknowledge him as his older brother and identify as a person of the North Territory; he could not hope for anything more.

So he said, "I was only blaming myself. I am very happy that you could return this time. When I die, I will pass this Khan throne to you."

Ashuer was just preparing to have a quarrel with his older brother.

Anyway, they had been quarreling like this for all these years.

But seeing that Mule Hongzhen seemed to have aged a lot, and hearing him offer to yield the Khan throne to him, he chose to remain silent.

After a while, he changed the subject and asked, "I heard that Wulanba went to the Ross country?"

"That is correct. Yan Wang's firearms are extremely formidable, so under the introduction of a Ross Missionary, I decided to establish contact with the Ross country to obtain superior firearms from them to counter Yan Wang."

Ashuer said, "This Ross country is indeed formidable; even the Tusman people are no match for them. It is said that the Tusman people expanded northward several times, only to be repelled by the Ross country. In terms of firearms, the Tusman Empire also lags far behind this Ross country."

Mule Hongzhen was even more delighted upon hearing this, and he said, "In that case, it is even more necessary to establish contact with the Ross country. If we can obtain help from the Ross country, destroying Yan Wang will be just around the corner."

Ashuer shook his head, "But in my view, the Ross country is far more terrifying than the so-called Yan Wang you speak of. Their ambition for expansion is even more intense than ours in the North Territory. Once, this Ross country was merely a small state in the Western Lands; now, the territory of this Ross country spans across both Dongtu and the Western Lands."

Mule Hongzhen was also momentarily shaken, not expecting this Ross country to be so extraordinary.

He said, "However, we have a proverb on the Grassland: only by securing the sheepfold can one drive away the wolves on the Grassland. The Ross country is, after all, very far from us, while Yan Wang is too close."

Ashuer nodded, "Since that is the case, I will obey your command."

Mule Hongzhen revealed a faint smile.

His plan had not changed; he still needed Ashuer to subjugate Tibet.

Even though he had agreed to participate in the Lu City Alliance.

But until Wulanba returned, he would not rashly fight to the death with Yan Wang again.

Although this alliance was a rare opportunity.

He knew clearly that relying on the North Territory alone, it was impossible to break through the Qin Pass and Yanguan guarded by Yan Wang's troops from the north and west, no matter how many troops they had.

And neither Southern Liang nor Qi would allow too many troops from the North Territory to enter their borders to participate in the encirclement of Yan Wang.

After all, their vigilance against the North Territory was no less than that against Yan Wang.

Therefore, in this alliance, the status of their North Territory was destined to be awkward.

But it was better than nothing.

Their North Territory would still actively participate in the alliance.

If the Coalition could severely damage Yan Wang, the opportunity their North Territory was waiting for would arrive.

If they could not, their North Territory would only suffer minimal losses.

Then, his original plan would continue to be executed; once he obtained help from the Ross country, he would fight Yan Wang again.