The emperor sat upright.

Pile all the documents on the wooden desk aside.

He casually took out the sheepskin map.

You can see it clearly after spreading it out.

"Let's talk about the Liao Kingdom first." Emperor Feng smiled. "The Liao Kingdom's envoys no longer possess the arrogance of Liang Yili. They hope to sign a treaty with Dafeng. From now on, we will divide the river and govern separately, and there will be no aggression. They also hope that Dafeng will return Yelu Junda and the golden figure for offering sacrifices to heaven, and the Liao Kingdom will offer 5,000 fine horses in return."

Emperor Feng paused.

Looking at Ning Que.

"What do you think of these conditions, Xiao Ning?"

"What does Xiliang think?"

"Didn't Samuel tell you?"

Ning Que smiled bitterly and shook his head, "My relationship with Samuel isn't particularly good. This matter concerns the diplomatic relations between our two countries. I haven't even been to Chang'an to attend the court, so naturally I'm not aware of it..."

Emperor Feng seemed to be lost in thought, then slowly said, "Xiliang hopes that Dafeng will, for the sake of their diplomatic ties, refrain from interfering in the war between Xiliang and Liao. The two countries actually border each other here, and Xiliang currently intends to seize Longyou to expand its territory."

Ning Que looked at the map, frowning in thought.

As the saying goes, there are no permanent friends, only eternal interests. Diplomatic relations between two countries are inherently complex; one moment they may be happily doing business, the next they may be at war.

The relationship between Xiliang and Liao has always been complicated.

Although the two countries did not formally sign a treaty of alliance, they were relatively close because they were both Hu people. Over the years, the two countries also had different focuses of development. Xiliang had always been fighting with Dafeng, wanting to seize Longxi.

The Liao Kingdom took a different path. They started with the remaining tribes, gradually encroaching on and annexing them, and established a glorious grassland empire.

As their strength grew, they began to clash with Xiliang. There were no major battles, but they kept bouncing around the border. If you ignored them, they'd come in; if you did, they'd claim they were just hanging around.

This time, Dafeng broke the backbone of the Liao Dynasty, not only retaking Shuofang but also severely damaging the Liao’s main force. The Liao’s elite suffered heavy casualties, and the power of various factions began to shrink.

How could Xiliang not have some ideas?

The key is to kill you while you are sick!

The Liao Kingdom has now been defeated by Dafeng.

Xiliang wanted to take this opportunity to have a share of the meat.

"What benefits did Xiliang promise?"

"It's just empty talk." Emperor Feng appeared calm and said calmly, "According to what Samuel said, this will further strengthen the diplomatic relationship between the two countries. Xiliang is willing to increase its tribute in the future, including the wool of tens of thousands of Qiang sheep. What are your thoughts?"

Ning Que pulled open the curtain.

At this moment, the convoy has already left Chang'an City.

It happened to pass through Jingyang.

Admiring the scenery outside, lost in thought.

"Brother, I have a question."

"you say."

"Why did Dafeng appoint a prince in the first place?"

"It is to check and balance the kings of different surnames."

"Yes." Ning Que nodded. "Yes, this is the art of checks and balances. For Dafeng, there can be enemy countries around it, but there must not be big powers. Take Goguryeo for example. In fact, the late emperor's original idea was to support Silla and suppress Goguryeo. In fact, in this way, a balance was achieved, and the two countries would fight endlessly. However, he did not expect Goguryeo to be so weak and was overthrown by the Silla rebels."

This is a very simple truth.

From Dafeng's perspective, the more small nations around it, the better. Small nations mean insufficient national strength and can be controlled by Dafeng. I'm not attacking you today because I just don't want to.

But if small countries merge with each other to become big countries, and even become equal to Dafeng, it will definitely not be a good thing for Dafeng.

Why did Dafeng send troops to the Northern Expedition?

It’s because the Liao Kingdom annexed the Western Xia!

They upset the regional balance!

It has an overwhelming advantage over grasslands.

It even threatened Dafeng.

For this kind of enemy, you must strike hard!

"So, we currently have two options. First, we must destroy the Liao Kingdom, drive them completely out of the grasslands, and force them to migrate elsewhere. We must ignore Xiliang's requests and dominate the grasslands alone."

"Doing so is risky." Emperor Feng shook his head and whispered, "The Liao Kingdom was destroyed, and Xiliang's request was rejected. This is bound to make Xiliang dissatisfied. If the two of them join forces, the threat to Dafeng will be even greater!"

As the saying goes, even a rabbit bites when it is cornered.

If the Liao Kingdom was truly driven to desperation, they would likely join forces with Xiliang to take a hard stab at Dafeng. After all, they were going to die anyway, so they might as well fight Dafeng head-on. By then, the Liao Kingdom could easily offer conditions: just Shuofang and other territories, while Xiliang would give everything else.

As for the Covenant?

Has Xiliang broken enough alliances?

"That's another way."

"oh?"

"Drive the tiger to devour the wolf!" Ning Que pointed at the map and said calmly, "If Xiliang wants Longyou, then give it to them. Although this place is not small, its value to Dafeng is not that great. We can give it to Xiliang and not interfere, but if they want Longyou, they have to take it themselves."

"What about the Liao Kingdom?"

"We can divide the river and govern separately, and we can also return Yelu Junda to the Liao Kingdom, but the golden man for offering sacrifices to heaven is definitely not an option. In addition, we must demand more benefits. As for their grievances with Xiliang, it naturally has nothing to do with our Dafeng. Dafeng can completely stand aside and watch them fight each other. When they are almost done, we will come out and reap the rewards."

Ning Que smiled. "Dafeng could even take the opportunity to trade with them, such as selling them some bows and arrows in exchange for cattle, sheep, and horses. As long as we provoke them to fight, Dafeng won't have to worry about the west and north for the time being."

"good."

Emperor Feng nodded with satisfaction.

He was more satisfied with this method.

As for selling weapons, forget it.

Dafeng itself doesn’t even have enough.

"Aren't you worried about Samuel?"

"Ahem..." Ning Que suddenly started coughing, his face flushing red as he said, "What are you thinking, my royal brother? As you said, I am the prince of Dafeng. I helped Samuel before because I also felt that she did nothing wrong, and I also considered the diplomatic relations between our two countries. This time, it concerns the interests of Dafeng, so I will naturally not back down."

"Haha, that's good."

Emperor Feng laughed heartily.

He still knew Ning Que's character very well.

Ning Que has his own bottom line.

And they value friendship and loyalty.

When it comes to the fundamentals, there's no problem. His idea of ​​driving the tiger to devour the wolf is the best option for Dafeng. Provoking a war between Xiliang and Liao, Dafeng can seize the opportunity to recuperate. Once both sides are defeated, they'll reap the rewards.

Although it's a bit insidious, so what?

Do you really think other countries are clean?

A country cannot be made strong by relying solely on benevolence and righteousness!

"Then it's settled."

"I will have someone notify the Prime Minister and let him handle it."

"become."

Ning Que frowned.

He felt that the matter with the Emperor had been finalized.

Otherwise, the Ministry of Rites would definitely be summoned for discussion.

But now he agreed immediately!

The reason I asked him was probably to test him.

Or, do you want to hear his thoughts?

Ning Que looked at the concentrating Emperor Feng.

Just like what Shen Qinghe said at the beginning.

Emperor Feng seems to have really changed...