Chapter 713: The Rising Tide

"Father Emperor, this is what is called a turn of fortune, finding success in every direction."

The atmosphere of the wine banquet was intense; Crown Prince Liang Feng raised his cup to toast Liang Kai.

To prevent the envoys of Sam Country from hearing, he deliberately lowered his voice.

Since the Southern Liang troops retreated, the armies of the Han Family, Xie Family, and Wang Family had been beaten back step by step by Yan Wang.

Lincheng was shrouded in gloom.

Originally, their initial intention was to let the other four families fight Yan Wang until both sides were exhausted, while they only sent fifty thousand troops to go through the motions.

Unexpectedly, because of the issue with Southern Liang, their expectations fell through, and the fate of Wu was also hanging by a thread.

They were just hesitating over whether to march their troops north to resist Yan Wang alongside the northern power clans.

The envoys of Sam Country arrived, lobbying them to join the Eastern Land Alliance.

"This is all because the Emperor kept his composure and did not agree to the people of Sam Country at the very beginning; otherwise, we would not have been able to extract his territory." The minister sitting opposite Liang Feng bowed to Liang Kai, also lowering his voice.

He was the Prime Minister of Wu, Shen An, and the Shen Family he belonged to was known as the number one Rich Clan in Zhezhou, second only to the power clan, the Liang Family.

During Liang Kai's tenure in Jinling, Shen An had always managed Zhezhou.

Together with the General of Cavalry Liao Kai, he was one of Liang Kai's right-hand men.

"Hahaha..." Liang Kai laughed triumphantly.

Shen An was certainly not wrong about that.

At first, the envoys of Sam Country only demanded that the Liang Family join the Eastern Land Alliance, but they did not offer them any tangible benefits.

At the time, although he was tempted, he did not agree immediately.

Instead, he refused the envoys of Sam Country by claiming that the internal chaos of Great Song was a family matter and did not require the participation of outsiders.

Afterwards, the envoys of Sam Country finally agreed to mediate the conflict between Wu and Britain, while also having Britain make a promise not to target the Liang Family's maritime trade.

Immediately after, he also proposed, in front of the envoys of Dongying who had come with the envoys of Sam Country, that Dongying hand over the northern part of Ba.

Only then would he coexist with Dongying in the Eastern Land Alliance.

Otherwise, even if he were to submit to Yan Wang, he would not have agreed.

As it turned out, he had bet correctly; both the envoys of Sam Country and the envoys of Dongying had lost their composure.

Especially the envoys of Dongying, who immediately agreed to return to the Shogunate to discuss this matter.

Thinking of something, he continued: "However, this is not enough. Whether it is Dongying, or Sam Country and Britain, they are ultimately external forces. If the situation turns bad or Yan Wang offers them greater benefits, they will run away at any time. One cannot entrust one's life and family fortune to them; they can only be utilized, not fully trusted."

After a pause, he added: "In my view, the most important thing is to gather the troops of other power clans and the Rich Clans of the world, and then obtain superior firearms from the Western Lands. Even if they abandon us, we will still be able to stand on equal footing with Yan Wang."

"The Emperor is truly far-sighted," Liao Kai, sitting on Liang Feng's left, said with a bow. "At such a time, it is appropriate to have the Xie Family, Han Family, and Wang Family join the Emperor's command, and then settle accounts with the Dou Family to take the entire Jiangnan."

That was exactly what Liang Kai meant; Han Zheng had stripped away his own imperial title.

The Xie Family's Ningzhou and Bozhou had basically been seized by Yan Wang.

Only Jinling and a few cities in Jiangnan remained, and their strength was greatly diminished.

If he did not make them submit to him now, when would he?

As for the Dou Family, they were also in a state of distress, currently fighting the troops of the Ma Family near Xiangcheng.

By gathering the troops of the three power clans, he would then take the opportunity to seize Xiangzhou from Southern Liang, and the land of Jiangnan would basically be under his rule.

Most importantly, the envoys of Dongying had proposed that he, Southern Liang, provide protection for the Han Family, Wang Family, and Xie Family.

Since it was protection, pledging allegiance to Wu was the best protection for them.

Therefore, he said: "That fits my intentions exactly. Shen An, you immediately send envoys to Yangcheng to settle this matter, and then send people to Xiangcheng to ask Dou Wei whether he will hand over Xiangzhou himself, or if I should lead troops to take it personally."

Shen An was all smiles and replied in the affirmative.

The Dou Family deserved this; they could not blame them for taking advantage of their plight.

If it weren't for their Southern Liang breaking the agreement, how could the war in the North have turned out like this!

The Grassland.

The Khan Court.

At this moment, there was a fierce argument going on inside the Khan Tent.

Finally, at a sharp shout from Mule Hongzhen, the argument ceased.

Immediately, Mule Hongzhen and Ashuer walked out.

Wulanba, Tiemuta, and some Northern Di generals followed closely behind.

"I didn't expect the appetite of the Ross to be so big; they actually want the entire Extreme North," Tiemuta snorted coldly, his face still flushed with blood from anger.

Half a month ago, Wulanba returned, and he also brought a delegation from the Ross.

The Ross agreed to develop trade with the Northern Di and sell them firearms.

However, the prerequisite was for the Northern Di to cede the Extreme North.

That was a very vast expanse of land.

Faced with this issue, the generals argued very fiercely.

The generals led by Wulanba believed that the Extreme North was covered by ice and snow for most of the year and was of little use; exchanging the Extreme North for trade with the Ross was very worthwhile.

But generals like Tiemuta believed that not an inch of the Northern Di's territory could be ceded, as this concerned the dignity of the Northern Di.

Mule Hongzhen was also indecisive and had no choice but to call back Ashuer, who was campaigning outside, to discuss this matter.

In the end, Ashuer, who valued firearms more, believed that they could agree to this, and he would officially finalize this matter today.

After all, if Qinzhou and Yongzhou had not fallen, they might still have hesitated.

But the loss of these two provinces and the reports from the Northern Di soldiers defending the cities that the firearms of Yanzhou were more powerful than before,

led them to finally make this difficult decision.

In his view, ceding the Extreme North in exchange for trade with the Ross meant losing only the snowfields of the North.

If Yan Wang is allowed to continue growing stronger, what they will lose is the entire Grassland.

They are in great need of firearms just like those of Yan Wang.

Although, for this short period, Dongying has given them the forging techniques for flintlocks and Dongying Cannon in order to win over the Northern Di and keep Yan Wang in check in the North Territory.

But after Wulanba returned, he concluded that Dongying's firearms are far inferior to those of the Ross nation.

At this point, he and Ashuer had no other choice.

"When can they provide the first batch of firearms?" Mule Hongzhen ignored Tiemuta's complaints and instead looked toward Wulanba.

"Reporting to Great Khan, Ivan said that as long as we sign the contract, the Ross nation's army in the Extreme North will hand over the firearms in their warehouses to us," Wulanba said.

Ivan returned with him, but this time Ivan's status is that of a Consul of the Ross nation, responsible for affairs between the Ross nation and the Northern Di.

Mule Hongzhen and Ashuer exchanged a glance and nodded.

Compared to other generals, Ashuer understands the Ross nation better; it is powerful and dangerous.

But given the current situation, they can no longer afford to be wary of the Ross nation.

Only after understanding the Battle of Qinzhou and the Battle of Yongzhou did he realize how troublesome this Yan Wang is.

And why Mule Hongzhen called him back from thousands of miles away.

Furthermore, the Northern Di has now concluded an alliance with Dongying.

Recently, Dongying has been stirring up some Eastern Land Alliance, attempting to rope them into this alliance that includes other Xitu Guo.

Perhaps this will be enough to make the Ross nation restrain its own ambitions.

"Go and sign this contract," Mule Hongzhen sighed softly while Ashuer was lost in thought.