The long-planned military action of the Jin State and the Song State had been completely defeated after the Imperial Emperor Li Nan led the Imperial Forest Legion into the battle, so Wanyan Zonghan and Wanyan Zongwang immediately returned north without waiting for Li Nan's army to pursue.

In this battle, the Jin and Song coalition forces lost a total of nearly 60,000 people near Huangzhou, and the imperial army lost about 10,000 people, half of whom were Zhu Tong's troops who desperately resisted in Macheng.

In addition, the Jin and Song coalition forces, which were responsible for containing the other three legions of the empire in Shouzhou, Gwangju, and Luzhou, also lost more than 10,000 people under the army's musket attack.

When it really developed to this point, the commanders of the two countries have a deep understanding of the combat strength of both the enemy and us.

The Imperial Soldier can be said to be a balance of offense and defense. As long as there is enough ammunition and enough numbers, any Imperial army can form a continuous fire network, which can attack any enemy and any terrain.

The Jin State is divided into two kinds of cavalry, they are unparalleled in cavalry and shooting, extremely mobile, and good at charging into battle, in the northern plains of the Song Realm, which is suitable for cavalry galloping, they are a wolf pack that can come and go freely.

The weaknesses of the Imperial Army lie in the supply, speed, and number of soldiers, while the Jin Army has few shortcomings, and if it is left without the protection of protective facilities such as walls and trenches, the insufficient Imperial Army will be quickly eaten by the Jin Iron Cavalry.

As for the Song army, which was the main participating country, it was not outstanding in either aspect, and there were two voices in the army, which gradually became a force that was ignored by everyone among the three kingdoms.

The imperial army, which lacked horses and modern motor vehicles, had no way to change this status quo for the time being, and the Jin State had no choice but to defend the invincible imperial army, so the Jin, Song, and Central Kingdoms were stalemate on the land of Huainan.

The king of a country could not be in front of the battle for a long time, so when the battle situation stabilized, Li Nan also returned to the imperial capital Changsha.

Since ascending the throne as emperor, Li Nan has found that his happiness has become less and less, but his troubles have increased several times, which seems to be different from what he imagined, and he has not relaxed when he was the head of the capital.

Now it's too late to regret it, Li Nan can't go back to the past, the affairs of the country are like a boat sailing against the current, if you don't advance, you will retreat, but he can't afford to retreat, after all, there are too many people who need to protect and be responsible.

After returning to the imperial capital, Li Nan immediately convened his ministers to discuss the two most important things at present.

The first is the alliance with the Western Xia State, this time the Western Xia reneged on the alliance with the Jin State and sent important information to the empire, although there is a left and right source, and I don't want the Jin State and the empire to be dominant, but after all, it saved the situation on the battlefield.

Regarding the conditions of the Tangut people, Li Nancong rejected it in his heart, because he believed that the territory of the Song State was the territory of the future empire and must not be ceded out of his hands.

After knowing what Li Nan was worried about, the little demon Tyrion smiled and said: "Actually, whether it is an alliance between countries or any agreement, it is used to tear it up, so Your Majesty does not need to worry about this matter at all, as long as we can defeat the Song and Jin countries, then the little Xixia is not a matter of being captured?" ”

This is the difference between a politician and an ordinary person, in the eyes of Tyrion and other advisers, there is no problem at all with an alliance with Western Xia, because in the end it is still the barrel of a gun that speaks.

After pondering for a moment, Li Nan didn't want to agree to this, so he shook his head slightly and asked, "Is there any other way?" ”

"Your Majesty, the minister has a plan!"

Looking at the person who spoke, Li Nan couldn't help but be stunned, because this was originally a courtier of the Song State, but Cai You, a subordinate who was captured with Huizong Zhao Ji.

In order to flee, more than 1,000 people from Cai Jing, Cai You and Song Huan's family all went to Yangzhou, so they were wiped out by the empire, so there should be no problem with his loyalty.

Compared with Tong Guan and others who led the troops, Cai You, who had an old relationship with Li Nan and made meritorious contributions in persuading Huizong, was not only innocent but meritorious, and now he has also joined the Imperial Defense Staff.

Absorb Cai You into the General Staff, in fact, Li Nan has no choice, after all, although he founded the country, he has more good generals than advisers, and the number of strategists in the entire court is Tyrion and Li Daocheng.

Now that the territory is growing, and more and more political affairs are ensuing, Li Nan can only use all the talents and resources as much as possible, and it is inevitable that there will be some flaws.

Cai You was able to become Huizong Zhao Ji's confidant and become the Privy Council minister of the Song State, in addition to his articulate and good at flattery, at least he also had some insight into various political affairs.

Looking at Cai You, Li Nan waved his hand and said, "Cai Qing, what is the good plan, just say it." ”

Since the whole clan was captured to the empire, Cai You also recognized his identity and status after some consideration.

In the empire, Cai You's former wealth and power have all turned into nothing, and in a sense, he is even inferior to those ordinary imperial people.

Good birds choose trees to perch, and virtuous ministers choose their masters!

There are many people who know this sentence, but there are very few people who can quickly change their thinking to do it sincerely, and Cai You is the one who can do it.

Cai You not only offered advice to help the empire instigate Huizong Zhao Ji, but he also continued to study the official system, various departments of the empire, and the situation around the empire on weekdays.

Coming to the imperial territory map hanging in the hall, Cai You pointed to the Western Xia and said loudly: "Although the Western Xia Kingdom is small, the heart of the lord Li Qianshun is very big. ”

Cai You, who was familiar with several wars between the Song State and the Western Xia, continued: "Li Qianshun and even the entire Western Xia have wanted to seize the land of the surrounding countries since the founding of the People's Republic of China, but they have been repeatedly defeated by Tufan and the Song State. After that, the Western Xia first voted for the Liao State, and then worshiped the Jin State, in fact, in order to gain more territory. ”

"Today, the southern border of Western Xia is the Yongxing Military Road, Qinfeng Road and Hebei Road of the Song Kingdom; The east and north were originally the Liao realm, but now they have become the land of the Jin Kingdom; In the west were the Tufan tribes and the Western Uighurs. Among them, there is no need to mention the Jin State, the Western Xia did not dare to offend at all, and the Tufan tribes in the West were not easy to provoke, so if the Western Xia wanted to expand its territory, it could only target the Song State, which was now extremely weak. ”

Hearing Cai You's introduction to the current situation of Western Xia, Li Nan said: "I also know something about the situation in Western Xia, and Li Qianshun's ambition is indeed not small, and the empire will definitely fight with Western Xia in the future, so I don't want to make this alliance with him." ”

Although Li Nan was unhappy or angry on his face, there was a slight impatience in his words.

Cai You, a guy who has been with Huizong for a long time, is best at observing words and feelings, and noticing Li Nan's attitude, he knows that he can't continue to sell Guanzi, so he hurriedly said: "Li Qianshun wants to expand his territory, but there is a large area of land in the west of Western Xia, so the empire only needs to start from this convenience." ”

"Oh?" Li Nan sat up a little straighter, and said with interest: "You tell me in detail." ”