Translator: Exodus Tales Editor: Exodus Tales
Chapter 1260 – Who is Crazier?
9th month, 7th day, imperial capital.
Although Li Jing did not make use of Xun Yu’s suggestion, he still wrote about the suggestion and sent it up to the Imperial Court. Undoubtedly, the goal was to allow them to start preparations early.
After all, the Mongol Empire had never admitted Great Xia’s authority and orthodoxy. The two sides had been going head-to-head, and he was worried that the Mongol army would try to stop them if they wanted to borrow a path through.
This problem was something that only the Imperial Court could handle.
The war of Tibet was the biggest matter for Great Xia during this period of time. Be it big or small, all matters would be reported to Ouyang Shuo directly. After Ouyang Shuo read the memorial, he said, “It’s time to sound out the Mongols.”
“Men!”
“Present!”
“Send Zhang Yi over.”
“Yes, my emperor!”
After a short while, Zhang Yi rushed over to the Imperial Reading Room. He bowed and said, “Greetings, your majesty!”
“Please sit!”
Once Zhang Yi sat down, Ouyang Shuo said, “Send an envoy to Karakorum.”
“May I ask your majesty what the motive is?”
Ouyang Shuo nodded and used his fingers to point as he said, “First, make it clear to Genghis Khan that as they conquer the west, we will not attack them. This promise will always remain effective.”
These words contained both a promise and a warning.
Speaking of which, the war between the Mongol Empire and Persia Empire had gone on for close to half a year, and the victor still had not been decided. Based on the Black Snake Guard spies there, the Mongol Empire had taken down 12 cities. The further west they headed, the greater the resistance that they faced, making it tough for them to continue.
If nothing went wrong, the Mongols would withdraw their troops soon and end their first expedition.
If they returned from the west, they would definitely face the threat of Great Xia. Although only half a month had passed, the mid plains situation had changed greatly.
Great Xia had unified the mid plains. East starting from Liaojin Province and west to Xihai Province formed a complete northern defense line using close to a million troops; this was something that the Mongol Empire could not go against.
Their relationship with the Mongols and how to handle it was something that had been on Ouyang Shuo’s desk since a long time ago.
Some ministers suggested that they send troops to destroy the Mongol Empire once the war of Tibet ended. If the Imperial Court went all out, it would not be too difficult, and they could end it in one battle.
After the Battle of West Xia, the 10th month catastrophe, and the west conquering expedition, the Mongol army had fallen from its starting 1.8 million to 1.3 million. Although their territory had increased, their overall strength had fallen.
Furthermore, the Mongol Empire stretched from east to west, and its head could not protect its tail. Even with the speed of the Mongol cavalry, it could not rush from the west to the east in a short time.
How could such a Mongolia fight with Great Xia?
Taking them down was nothing difficult; how to rule them afterwards was.
The Mongol Empire was a typical nomadic civilization. Furthermore, its people were spread all around. To run it well, they would need to rely on the Mongols and give them enough self-rule regions.
In history, any dynasty that could persuade the nomadic tribes to surrender could only achieve making them pay tribute.
In the game world, it was impossible for Great Xia to restart everything and turn Mongolia into an agriculture civilization. The empire needed to keep such a huge animal farm.
This also meant that they could not be too rough toward the Mongol Empire. If they really went head on and killed out a blood river on the Mongol grasslands, who knows when the grasslands would recover.
However, if they did not fight, Genghis Khan would not be willing to lower his head.
This gave Ouyang Shuo a huge problem, as he could not think of a method to solve these two issues simultaneously. Even strategists like Zhang Liang could not think of a good solution.
As a result, the matter had dragged on until now.
Ouyang Shuo made the promise to not attack the Mongol Empire out of such considerations.
“Secondly, raise this demand. While we are fighting the war of Tibet, open up the House of Ogedai to allow us to move troops over.”
This second point was a little too overbearing, which made Zhang Yi’s eyes freeze up.
As an ambassador, he needed to figure out how to perfectly pass on the emperor’s demands while adapting if the demand infuriated the other party. He need to use words to calm them down and achieve the emperor’s goals, and this tested one’s diplomatic standards.
Ouyang Shuo could have beat around the bush. However, he chose not to because he wanted to test Genghis Khan. He wanted to see what choice this grassland overlord would make. Would he go all the way against Great Xia, or would he accept the facts and give both parties room for discussion?
One could say that Genghis Khan’s attitude on this matter would decide Great Xia’s strategy toward Mongol Empire to a certain extent.
As a result, there were even greater demands on the ambassador sent. He needed to be able to read the face and emotions of Genghis Khan and read his true thoughts so that the ambassador was not kept in the dark.
For example, let’s say Genghis Khan was unhappy but hid it and even showed a smile. If the ambassador did not notice the truth, a huge catastrophe would befall the empire.
When Zhang Yi heard that, he did not hesitate and immediately said, “Since that’s the case, I’ll make the trip myself.”
“Thank you for your hard work.” Ouyang Shuo had such intentions, and he smiled as he said, “Bring Genghis Khan some gifts. Even if it’s expensive, just do it as a sign of friendship. Also, take this chance to look around Karakorum. Do you understand what I’m saying?”
“I understand!”
Zhang Yi was a smart person and naturally understood right away.
…
Great Xia and the Mongol Empire had not really interacted much, so there was no teleportation formation opened between them.
Zhang Yi had to first teleport to Handan City then go up north under the Beijiang legion corps’ protection. Even if the trip proceeded smoothly, it would still take at least five to six days.
During that period of time, the war of Tibet did not stop. Instead, its intensity continued to rise.
After the four armies of Great Xia took down a city each, they finally formed a stable frontline base. More and more soldiers adapted to the climate, and they could fight more normally.
With that, the four marshals felt even greater confidence and courage.
During the first round, the Qin army shone brightly while the Tang army was humiliated. The huge difference ignited the completion between all sides. They would compete for the second and even the third round of cities.
Especially the Tang army, which had Cheng Yaojin and Yuchi Gong each leading an army to take down two cities at once. They wanted to wipe out all the humiliation and take back their lost honor.
The Tang army went all out and so did the other three armies.
Under such circumstances, war broke out on all parts of the battlefield. At every moment, the Great Xia Army would either be traveling or sieging.
Such an intense war was a huge burden on logistical supplies.
If it were not for Zeng Guofan and Du Ruhui personally monitoring and taking charge, the grain supply would have been broken. Even then, the craziness of the frontlines gave the two ministers a lot of problems.
The frontline soldiers went all out, risking their lives; this was a dream scenario for all emperors. Who would dare to burden and drag the army back at such a time?
If that really happened, his majesty scolding would be a light punishment, and a heavy one would be demotion.
The two ministers were helpless, and they could only spread the pressure down from them to the Provincial Governors and the legion corps marshal and then down to the grain transport forces.
This time, millions of soldiers and laborers were facing hardship.
If one looked down from above, they would see that the entire west part of Great Xia was filled with numerous paths. An endless number of grain carts were gathering toward Tibet.
Such a scene and such a situation was something that one would not see even in a thousand years.
Seeing the Great Xia Army going all out, Ashoka was unwilling to submit. After learning that four cities were taken down within a week, the prideful Ashoka did not hesitate and sent the 500 thousand reserve forces into Tibet.
At the same time, like Great Xia, he mobilized the whole nation, gathering up millions of laborers to transport grain for the army into Tibet.
Both empires were going all out, neither side wanting to lose.
Just at this moment, the Ashoka Dynasty’s crazy actions finally caused the Gupta and Peacock dynasties to get reckless, and the two started to meet in secret.
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