Chapter 1080: Alliance-Union

As Great Jin’s rebellion was at a crucial stage, Great Jin hadn’t been able to mobilize their troops to defend despite having received news that Great Qi was about to attack them.

Every year, there were people in Great Qi who clamored for recovery of their lost territory. Yet, no one had really dared to start a huge war; instead, they were all small battles. This time, half of the people in Great Jin thought that Great Qi was just spreading such rumors to scare them, just like before.

However, there were also ordinary civilians who thought that Great Qi might take advantage of the current internal conflict in Great Jin. After all, Great Qi still had Prince Rong, who was good at fighting wars, and General Yuan, who was eager to take back the country’s lost territory.

As soon as these words were spoken, the people who looked down on Great Qi fell silent for a moment. However, they did not have a good solution because they could not spare any extra troops. Therefore, they could only try to think positively and hope for the best.

“If that doesn’t work, we’ll give up those lands to Great Qi and borrow troops from them to quell the rebellion for us,” someone suggested to Great Jin Emperor Wulie. “In any case, that land can’t be grazed.”

“Is grazing all you’re concerned about? This land brings us two-thirds of the national tax every year. Most of the rice and noodles we eat now come from this land. Can we still live like this after we give up this land…”

‘But do you think we can hold onto this land now? Our forces are currently pinned down by Ogedei.’

Everyone looked at Wulie. “Your Majesty, you have to make a decision quickly!”

Wulie almost couldn’t help but throw the thing in his hand at their faces. If not for their greed and ferocity, would Great Jin have landed in this state?

His position wasn’t that stable. Ever since the Crown Prince died, the brothers had fought for the throne, but he had emerged victorious in the fight. Although he had become the Emperor, his two older brothers still wielded great influence. Although his second brother was rash and brainless, he was a valiant general who controlled nearly a third of Great Jin’s military strength. It had taken him several years to rope him in.

However, his Third Brother was different. Not only was he smart and powerful, but his father-in-law was also very powerful. If it was just the internal strife between the brothers, they would not have depleted Great Jin’s strength completely. However, these ministers wantonly exploited the commoners under their rule and kept privatizing land. By turning the Mongolian tribal prince into a slave, they effectively forced him to rebel.

If not for their greed and cruelty, Ogedei would not have been able to gather so many people. Despite after so many years of quelling the chaos, the number of rebels had increased. Now, they had even attracted Great Qi.

If Great Qi was as soft as Great Zhou, he would not mind bullying them. However, the Great Qi Emperor and Prince Rong were both so unyielding that he did not even know where to start.

If it was the Great Zhou, he could at least bribe Minister Qin by sending him a few boxes of jewelry. With the gifts, Minister Qin would definitely be willing to speak up for them and stop Great Zhou’s army from going to war with them. However, the Great Qi Emperor hated corrupt officials to the extreme and had a mind of his own. As such, it was impossible to make him obey Great Jin obediently.

Therefore, this battle was inevitable.

He could only think about how to fight this battle in a way that was most beneficial to Great Jin.

If they were destined to suffer a crushing defeat, they might as well give up this plot of land. By doing so, they could withdraw the soldiers guarding the border and free up more manpower to quell the internal chaos.

However, if there was any possibility of winning, Wulie did not want to give up on this fertile land.

Wulie quietly sat at the table and thought to himself, ‘Perhaps we can try to persuade Ogedei to defeat Great Qi first. Ogedei probably doesn’t want to give this land to Great Qi either, right?’

Once it landed in the hands of Great Qi, it would be difficult to snatch it back!

Wulie looked at the right-hand seat and decided to send an eloquent envoy to meet Ogedei.

Ogedei indeed did not want to return the territory they’d seized from Great Qi either.

The land south of Datong Prefecture, Hebei Road, including Zhending Prefecture, Taiyuan Prefecture, Jinan Prefecture, Pingyang Prefecture, and the large plot of land from Shandong Road to Henan Road were all rich and prosperous. Although his tribe had always lived near the Erguna River, he knew that most of Great Jin’s annual taxes came from those areas.

Now that he had already occupied half of Great Jin, his momentum was strong. If nothing unexpected happened, he would be able to become the ruler of Great Jin in three to five years. How could he be willing to give up those territories at this time?

As for the agreement with Great Qi, Ogedei sneered. It was just a verbal agreement with an envoy. Who else would know?

Furthermore, even a written agreement between Great Jin and Great Zhou could be broken, let alone a mere verbal agreement.

However, he had to be wary of Great Jin taking this opportunity to counterattack.

Seeing the two of them brought to the main tent, Li Zhang asked the guard behind him, “Are those the khan’s guests?”

“Yes, it’s said to be Great Jin’s envoys.”

Li Zhang nodded and asked casually, “They’ve been here for a few days, right? Why didn’t the khan kill them?”

The burly Mongolian man smiled disdainfully. “The khan probably wants to toy with them. Great Jin has already become a sick cat and is begging for mercy now.”

“Is he here to make peace?”

“What else would they be here for?” The guard said with a smile, “Now that we already occupy half of Great Jin’s territory, they can’t very well be offering us amnesty, right?”

Li Zhang nodded, smiling. However, when he returned to the tent, the smile on his face slowly faded.

Xue Ji, who was a Han Chinese and was also once Qi Haoran’s spy, went forward and asked, “How is it?”

Li Zhang shook his head solemnly. “I’m afraid that the khan doesn’t want to return the territory to Great Qi.”

“How will that do?” Xue Ji said anxiously, “When Prince Rong provided us with weapons back then, it was agreed that this seized territory must be returned to Great Qi. To go back on one’s word…”

“Why would a ruler care about keeping his word?” Li Zhang said irritably, “It’s impossible to reason with him using morals now. We have to quickly send the news to Prince Rong. Since it’s already the middle of February, I reckon that Prince Rong will be sending troops in March or April. The news has to reach him before March, or else…”

Li Zhang was worried that Ogedei would lie to Prince Rong as an ally. It would be a disaster if Prince Rong fell into the trap.

Sighing, Li Zhang said to Xue Ji, “I originally wanted to stay by the khan’s side and be a prime minister. But from the looks of it, it’s already not bad if we can survive. Since he has made up his mind to betray the alliance, the few of us Han people who have assisted him and acted as the middlemen will definitely not survive.”

Xue Ji’s expression was ugly. Previously, they wanted to stay here and not return to Great Qi.

After all, they would at most be a third- or fourth-grade official should they return. On the other hand, if they stayed here, they could be second only to one person and above tens of thousands of people. Prince Rong had also revealed an attitude of letting them choose.

But now, Ogedei had betrayed the alliance before he even conquered the country. After he conquered the country, they would have no way out.

The two of them were spies to begin with. Although they were not loyal to Great Qi, they had feelings towards Great Qi. Although they gritted their teeth in hatred, they were still rational.

Li Zhang quickly recovered from his disappointment and said in a low voice, “We can’t arouse Ogedei’s suspicions. Since he doesn’t know our identities yet, let’s inform Prince Rong first and think of a way to stir up internal strife here…”