While Xu Shiyang was still juggling between the two goals of Yaoju and Goryeo, news came from Quancheng that the Gurhan Zamuhe of the Monghurs of Monan hoped to form an alliance with the Dadu Governor's Office.

The Grand Governor Xu Muhe was also a little torn about whether to form an alliance with this Tartar chieftain.

On the one hand, Zamuhe's subordinates have the support of tens of thousands of cavalry and the Shanxi Han army, and their strength is quite strong, and with such an ally, the strength of Qi Province will definitely be even stronger.

But on the other hand, Zamuhe is also a Tartar, and when he has the opportunity to spoil the Central Plains, he is never soft.

This Tartar has a lot of blood debts on his hands, and Xu Muhe doesn't want to be in that position when he ascends to that position, and the future history books will write him as a bastard who secretly colludes with the Tartars.

He therefore wished to hear the views of his principal officials.

Should you put your actual interests first, or should you put your future reputation more seriously?

"Hehe, Daddy has the same problem as me."

Xu Shiyang was happy.

Should it be said that it is worthy of father and son? The two of them actually encountered the same choice problem at the same time.

However, Xu Muhe's problem is nothing to Xu Shiyang.

He spread out a piece of paper and began to write letters to the Grand Duke.

In the letter, Xu Shiyang unmistakably opposed an alliance with Zamuhe.

It's not a matter of credibility, it's that Xu Shiyang feels that it makes no sense to form an alliance with Zamuhe.

In fact, Qi Province is now trading salt and horses through Wang Qinian and Zamuhe, which is for both sides to take what they need.

What is the point of going a little deeper and forming an alliance?

Can Zamuhe still bring benefits to Qi Province that trade can't get?

Could he have lent the Mughal cavalry to Qi Province? Or can Qi Province lend its infantry artillery to Zamuhe?

If it is a strategic cooperation, if everyone fights the Jurchens together...... does it make any difference whether they are aligned or not?

Both armies were already fighting the Jurchens, okay?

"I am against an alliance, and Zamuhe can only pay tribute to the Metropolitan Governor's Mansion as a vassal at most, and obey the orders of the Metropolitan Governor."

"After all, he is just a Tartar, and he has no right to seek benefits and status beyond a vassal!"

After stating his position in his reply to Xu Muhe, Xu Shiyang also thought clearly about the problems he was facing.

Why should we be bound by the ethereal so-called morality?

Xu Shiyang is a Han Chinese, and the biggest goal in life is to revive the voice of the Han Dynasty, and on the way to this goal, no obstacle should stop Xu Shiyang's steps.

Xu Shiyang could have asked Goryeo to submit before the war, and if the king of Goryeo was unwilling, then it could be regarded as a reason to crusade against him.

As for whether this reason can be recognized by historians......

"My personal evaluation in history is nothing."

Xu Shiyang said softly to himself:

"I even copied the Holy Ancestor Mansion, and I will definitely do even more excessive things in the future, it is impossible for the historian to have good things to say about me, and it is not bad for Goryeo."

……

October of the second year of Longdao.

In the name of the military department, Xu Shiyang asked the governor Xu Muhe to fight against Goryeo.

The main objectives of this military operation were:

Forced Goryeo to act as a vassal state, forming a network of Jurchen encirclements dominated by the Metropolitan Governorate.

On the surface, this is the case, but secretly, Xu Shiyang reminded Xu Muhe that since the ultimate goal is to achieve that position, it seems that it is time to start rebuilding the tributary system headed by the Governor's Mansion - if in the future, Xu Muhe does not want a local power Caotou King.

In addition, Xu Shiyang hoped to be able to obtain manpower, food and other materials through Goryeo.

In layman's terms, it is ...... to grab money, food, and girls.

……

In terms of war, Xu Muhe never opposed Xu Shiyang's plan - it was useless to oppose it.

Therefore, on the 10th day of October, Xu Muhe, the governor of Qi Province, repaired a book to the king of Goryeo, Li Liang.

In the letter, Xu Muhe directly reprimanded Goryeo's behavior of claiming to be a vassal to the Tartars, which was a betrayal of the suzerainty of the Great Zhou, and he asked the king of Goryeo to personally lead a team to Qi Province to apologize and take the initiative to repair the old tributary relationship.

At the beginning of November, the Goryeo side replied with a letter, refuting Xu Muhe's rebuke with great annoyance - Da Zhou himself has declared himself a vassal to Dajin, and what other way can they do as the original tributary states?

What's more, in the tributary system of Dajin, Da Zhou and Goryeo are equal (both are tributary states of Jin), and Xu Muhe, the governor of Dadu, was appointed by the king of Da Zhou (Li Liang deliberately), and his status is much lower than that of the king of Goryeo, so the letter written by Xu Muhe was very impolite and a kind of offense.

If Xu Muhe really wanted to "raise the righteous soldiers" and rebuild the tributary system for the imperial court, he should continue to write letters and fight some paper-and-ink lawsuits with the king of Goryeo until Li Liang's disrespect for the Longdao Emperor reached a new level, and then he could raise an army to fight.

However, neither Xu Muhe nor Xu Shiyang had any idea of continuing to waste time.

In particular, Xu Shiyang, he felt that it was enough for Li Liang to refer to Emperor Longdao as the king of Zhou, and to use this reason to crusade against Goryeo.

If the historian feels that this reason is not sufficient ......in the future, then it will not become more adequate if the mouth cannon continues to fight.

Not long after receiving the reply from the king of Goryeo, on November 15 of the second year of Longdao, Xu Shiyang mobilized all the ships of the navy and the transport ships of the shipping company, totaling more than 300 large and small ships, and a total strength of 7,000 troops of the navy and army (the navy and the two field brigades of Pingyuan and Jiyuan) as the vanguard, and set out from Dengju to conquer Goryeo.

The commander-in-chief of the advance force was Gongsun Sheng, commander of the Pingyuan Brigade.

Due to the lack of maritime forces, the main force of more than 13,000 people, including five brigades (Zhiyuan, Jingyuan, Jingyuan, Laiyuan, and Yuyuan), the trapping camp, the Blue Army Brigade, the Chinese Army Guards and the Dragoons, led by Xu Shiyang, had to wait for the forward to occupy a foothold before the sailors could return.

In order to make up for the lack of shipping strength, Xu Shiyang wrote a letter to Li Feihu, hoping that he could provide support for shipping.

Li Feihu has already agreed, and it is estimated that Xu Shiyang can use the Li family's fleet to transport the main force and the supplies needed in the future.

Xu Shiyang's first target was Ganghwa Island.

The island is so large that it can feed tens of thousands of people if it is properly managed, and the geographical location of this large island is so important that it is almost directly blocked on the shore of Goryeo Wangjing, from which small ships can set off and directly go up the Han River to attack Goryeo Wangjing.

According to the information provided by the maritime merchants who had been to Goryeo, the population of Ganghwa Island was only a few thousand at present, and a large part of them were the first two classes of nobles who were exiled to the island after the defeat of the political war, and the slaves and maids who were not counted as human beings in Goryeo, and there were no more than 1,000 armed people.

The only problem is that Jeju Island is very close to the mainland of Goryeo, and several times when the Jurchens invaded the country, the king of Goryeo fled to Ganghwa Island for refuge.

Goryeo has a sailor, and this sailor may support Ganghwa Island at any time.

Therefore, the navy should first find a way to eliminate the naval division near Goryeo Wangjing.