Chapter 795: A Meeting of Three Parties

Latest website: "Before Liang Kai issued the Imperial Edict, he summoned the Mercenaries Commander Luse; this idea might not have been Liang Kai's own." Recalling the contents of the letter, Zhao Xu narrowed his eyes.

The number of Mercenaries in Wu has reached twenty thousand; this scale is truly not small.

Moreover, many of these Mercenaries are retired veterans from the Xitu Guo, and a portion are indigenous people from Tianzhu and the East Land Southern Region.

Having undergone training by these veterans, and wielding firearms equal to the current level of the Xitu Guo.

These Mercenaries cannot be underestimated.

When the war breaks out, he must make sure to tell Chang Wei to be careful, so as not to be careless and cause unnecessary casualties to the Prince's Personal Army.

"Regardless of whose idea it was, this move is truly ruthless; it dissolves the advantage of our navy into nothingness." Zhou Yi frowned.

Zhao Xu nodded; this has indeed caused them some trouble in recovering Jiangnan.

However, this is also a strategy of harming the enemy by eight hundred while suffering a loss of one thousand oneself.

With so many coastal commoners being forcibly coerced, public grievances will surely boil over.

The powerful clans are effectively digging up their own foundations.

At this time, there is no doubt it is most suitable for the Propaganda Department to take some action.

Then, he looked at Zhou Yi, and seeing Zhou Yi's face full of anger, he couldn't help but smile.

He knew what Zhou Yi was thinking; the list of merits lying by his side was gone, so naturally, he was unhappy.

So he said: "The open sea does not need you, but the inland rivers do; furthermore, during this period, you must keep an eye on the Dasong sea area to prevent attacks from the fleets of the Xitu Guo."

Hearing this, Zhou Yi nodded; he had originally wanted both the open sea and the inland rivers.

But for now, he can only assist the Army through the inland rivers.

After discussing this matter, Zhao Xu gave Zhou Yi an order.

He was to leave six Steamships in Yizhou.

The remaining six were to head to Jiujiang to coordinate with Chang Wei's southward advance.

Jiangnan is right there.

The powerful clans can avoid naval raids, but they cannot escape the Army's offensive.

His attitude was very firm; he would not delay the pace of Dasong's unification because of this small difficulty.

At the same time.

Tibet.

Bula City.

Mule Hongzhen, Ashuer, Ivan, Tiemuta, and Wulanba were negotiating with the British envoy.

One month ago, a British mission composed of two hundred people crossed the high mountains from Tianzhu and arrived at Bula City.

Immediately, the Beidi general guarding Bula City sent the news to the Beidi Khan Court.

Gaoli had been occupied by Yan Wang, and now Dongying was also besieged by Yan Wang.

This made both the Beidi and Ross deeply worried.

The Beidi naturally wanted Dasong to be doomed, while Ross hoped for a balance of power among all parties in order to profit from it, and absolutely did not want Yan Wang to become the sole dominant power.

Therefore, despite being at odds with the British, Ivan still decided to come to Bula City to discuss how to curb Yan Wang's expansion in Dongtu.

His ultimate goal was to force Yan Wang to spit out Gaoli and Dongying, and to prevent Yan Wang's generals from potentially attacking the Beidi.

In this way, they could slowly eat away at the Beidi's territory, and once the Beidi had no more value, they would completely annex it, and then move south to conquer Dasong.

Although their motives differed, their goal was the same: they could not let Yan Wang unify Dasong.

They wanted to use this opportunity of Yan Wang moving south to drag him into the quagmire of war, unable to extricate himself, and weaken Yan Wang.

"My name is Brook; I have come this time to represent Governor Bolt with full authority, and I hope our cooperation will be pleasant." Brook said.

Then, he spread a map on the table and drew a line at the location of Jiujiang in Dasong.

Extending from this line, it passed through the midline of Gaoli's territory, all the way to the northernmost part of Dongying.

Seeing this, Mule Hongzhen frowned, not understanding what this Brook wanted to express.

But Ivan understood perfectly.

This stroke was not for Mule Hongzhen to see, but for him.

When competing for overseas colonies, the Xitu Guo often delineated their respective spheres of influence.

The line Brook drew was the premise for cooperation between Britain and Ross.

It could also be considered a promise of mutual interests.

If he agreed, then from now on, this line would be the boundary; below it would be the British sphere of influence, and above it would be the Ross sphere of influence.

"No." Ivan shook his head; he took out a pen and put an 'X' over where Brook had drawn the midline of Gaoli.

Then he drew downward, marking the entirety of Gaoli into the Ross sphere of influence.

Then he drew another line in the middle of Dongying, meaning to also include northern Dongying in the Ross sphere of influence.

"You are still as greedy as ever; the vast snowfields of the North Territory have fallen into your pockets, are you still not satisfied?" Brook's expression was serious.

Ivan did not back down, "Your British appetite is not small either; Tianzhu and the island nations in the southern seas have been eaten up quite a bit by you. This line clearly puts us in Ross at a disadvantage, and this Yan Wang is in the North Territory."

"That is where you are wrong. Yan Wang is indeed arrogant now, but as long as we work together to wipe him out, won't the Jiangbei that Yan Wang has managed for so long be yours?" Brook tapped the table.

Currently, Britain is the most powerful nation in the world.

Therefore, in every negotiation, the British are very aggressive.

"That's easy to say. To get rid of Yan Wang, you British will at most exert more effort at sea, while the soldiers of the Beidi and Ross will have to be sacrificed on land." Ivan retorted.

Their Ross Steam Industry is behind Britain's, but the Ross people never submit to the British.

"Haven't we supported the Dasong powerful clans in fighting against Yan Wang on land?" Brook continued.

Cooperation is cooperation, but they naturally wanted to secure the greatest benefits after the war.

The two were arguing, and Mule Hongzhen and Ashuer could not help but exchange a glance, feeling somewhat resentful in their hearts.

They seemed to have completely ignored the North Territory.

But they were helpless, as Yan Wang was becoming increasingly formidable.

Without the support of the foreign kingdoms, the North Territory would lose its vast territories.

Ivan and Brook argued for a while longer, and Ivan said angrily, "We shall each take a step back; Gaoli goes to me, and Dongying goes to you, but the four small islands hanging alone north of Dongying must also be given to me, otherwise you Britain can deal with Yan Wang yourselves."

Brook thought for a moment and finally nodded; this was already the most reasonable division.

However, whether the content of their discussion could ultimately be achieved still depended on the decisions of the Britain Parliament and the Emperor of Ross.

But because the matter was urgent, they would temporarily reach a cooperation in the Dongtu region.

As for whether they could continue comprehensive cooperation afterward, they would have to wait for the decisions sent from their homelands.

Having settled this matter, Brook then discussed with Ivan and the North Territory the affairs of dealing with Yan Wang.

"At present, we should resolve the internal conflicts among the powerful clans and should facilitate cooperation between Wu, Southern Liang, and Nanping, rather than fighting separately," Brook said.

Southern Liang was currently essentially a vassal of the North Territory.

Wu, on the other hand, followed every word of Britain.

Nanping was influenced to some extent by the Frankish.

With the three forces combined, they could truly consolidate the military strength of the powerful clans of Great Song.

With their intervention, the destruction of Yan Wang would not be far off.

The Edo naval battle was merely a small setback.

For this Yan Wang to want to challenge their hegemony in the Western Lands was simply wishful thinking.

The next day.

They acted according to their plan, with the North Territory dispatching a troop to escort the Britain mission to Yizhou, and then from Yizhou to Wu.

The North Territory would persuade Southern Liang, while they would persuade Wu.

Afterward, the Britain mission would head south to reach Jiaozhi to have the Frankish facilitate Nanping.

Several days later, they arrived in Yizhou.