Looking at the Tatar symbols on the map, Li Qin felt quite pleased with his idea.
Many of the people who went south from the grasslands did so with the sole purpose of plundering supplies.
There was no other way; life on the grasslands was just too harsh.
As for taking control of the Central Plains, some of them did have this idea, but they also knew how unrealistic it was.
As long as I form an alliance with them and let them enter the pass to plunder the south, I can both help weaken the strength of the south and prevent them from harassing my borders.
This is killing two birds with one stone.
After all, everyone knows that the wealthy areas in the south are much wealthier than the towns along the Great Wall.
Moreover, the southern armies had not experienced war for many years, and their combat effectiveness was much weaker than his.
The Tatars were not stupid either. One was the weak but wealthy south, and the other was Li Qin, which had hundreds of thousands of fierce soldiers but was relatively poor.
They certainly knew who to attack.
Of course, there are also downsides to doing this, namely that once the Tatars entered the pass, they would plunder everywhere.
They don't care whether you're a gentry or a landlord; they'll rob whoever has money.
Once they've finished looting and are heading back to the grasslands, I'll be facing the wrath of those landlords from the south.
This would be very disadvantageous for his future conquest of the south.
Li Qin looked at the Tatar icon on the map and shook his head.
The idea of jointly employing Tatars is currently just my own.
The future is unpredictable; who knows what might happen?
The Jurchen army that once caused him so much trouble is now under his control, isn't it?
They are now acting as pioneers for their southward expansion.
After all, no one expected that Wanyan Jian would be wounded and fall into a coma by Wu's cannons.
Afterwards, there was internal strife among the Jurchens, and Wanyan Gun was forced to seek refuge with me, among other things.
Although Wanyan Gun has led the Jurchen army south, Wanyan Jianke has left him in the capital and some Jurchens to take care of him.
According to previous reports, Wanyan Jian's pulse is getting weaker and weaker.
It should be in the next few days.
But Li Qin no longer cared about him much.
Li Qin's gaze continued to sweep across the various factions on the map.
He is now close to taking over Zhili and has used his military might to subjugate Qin Chenyao in Shandong.
As long as I continue to station troops in Shandong, I can get my hands on the taxes from Shandong.
Shandong is basically the place we've got.
As for Jiang Xiangyang of Datong, although he had also submitted to him, he still commanded tens of thousands of elite Datong border troops.
Don't even think about paying taxes in places like Datong; I'll even be paying him military pay.
After all, we have already submitted to you, so we are now your subordinates.
Isn't it only natural for you to pay the salaries of your subordinate troops?
Faced with Jiang Xiangyang's excuse, Li Qin really wanted to slap him back.
Make him hand over the taxes from Datong.
However, considering my current situation, it's really not the right time for me to fall out with him.
Wait until I've pacified the north, then I'll slowly deal with you semi-independent warlords.
What I need to consider now is where to continue my advance after taking Zhili?
After all, he had previously rebelled, and he only needed to target the capital.
But now I am determined to pacify the world.
Establishing a basic strategy is the most important thing.
These governors and lords need to be divided up, and it's important to decide which ones to attack first and which ones to appease first.
If we can't fight on all sides, then we'll truly be enemies with the whole world.
His strategic goals now boil down to two.
Go west or south.
Even if they conquered Hebei and Shandong, maintaining their hundreds of thousands of troops would require enormous military expenditures, and relying solely on the taxes from these two regions would be extremely difficult.
One must expand one's territory and tax base as much as possible.
Heading south means attacking Henan, then advancing into Jiangnan, also known as Southern Zhili, and taking over the prosperous Jiangnan region to completely solve the problem of funding for his hundreds of thousands of troops.
At the same time, it is also possible to capture Crown Prince Zhu Jianshen in Jinling.
Otherwise, given the character of those officials in the south, they would definitely have seized this opportunity to support Zhu Jianshen in becoming emperor in Nanjing and establishing a separate dynasty.
That would directly unite the forces opposing them.
This gave them a unified leadership.
That would be extremely disadvantageous for oneself.
As for the westward advance, it was Yang Zhiyong who captured Taiyuan and completely controlled Shanxi.
Otherwise, he would have been in a high position and could have looked down on the Zhili region from the Taihang Mountains.
That would also pose a significant threat to oneself.
However, compared to heading south, heading west is relatively more difficult.
If Jiang Xiangyang of Datong were to obey my orders, that would be fine, as it would be more convenient for me to send troops from Datong, which is under his jurisdiction.
If Jiang Xiangyang disobeys his orders and he is unable to reach Datong, he will have to cross the Taihang Mountains to attack him. Although he has some of the eight routes of the Taihang Mountains in name, none of them lead directly to Taiyuan.
Jingxing, the closest county to Taiyuan, was controlled by Taiyuan.
That's extremely difficult to fight.
The Yang family served four dynasties, and their disciples and former officials were spread throughout the land.
If Yang Zhiyong were to leverage the influence of the Yang family, those officials in Shanxi would very likely fall directly under his command.
The most crucial area was the Northwest, specifically Shaanxi, which was the Yang family's stronghold. However, with the arrival of the chaotic era, the situation deteriorated.
Because of the Yang family's local prestige, various places in Shaanxi, along with Shaanxi Governor Hong Chengchou and Yang Zhiyong of Taiyuan, became his rear base.
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