Chapter 538: Plenipotentiary Envoy

After years of construction, the current Danyang is more prosperous than before, the huge city with the main trunk of the road extending in all directions, with the huge public garden lined with trees as the core, to the hour, the sound of the bell tower of the group of bells can cover most of the city. Now in Danyang, the division of administrative districts, commercial districts, and residential areas has been relatively obvious, but there is a feeling of staggered infiltration. Ye Tao's mansion in Danyang is at the junction of the commercial district and the administrative district. The original villa by the lake, after all, was not suitable for the next family of people, plus a lot of attendants and guards, and finally gave it to Feng Hao, and became a place where famous celebrities and strategists in the country studied and made friends in Danyang. Starting from Ye Tao's current mansion, it is quite a comfortable location to be close to the embroidery garden in Tan Weiying, the Yizhan Building in Ye's workshop, and the Grand Theater in Danyang. It may be a little far away from the palace, anyway, in fact, Ye Tao doesn't like to run to the palace so much, so he doesn't care so much.

No matter how low-key Ye Tao is, he can't hide his traces. Ye Tao, who came to Danyang, naturally attracted the attention of many people. Now Ye Tao has completed the great cause of attacking Northern Liao, and the army with the Yunzhou army as the main backbone has performed extremely well. Now, the one bordering Yunzhou is Xiling. Yunzhou does not have the worries of Northern Liao, but it has the newly formed New Liao Army as the backing, plus troops like the Invalids Battalion, plus troops such as the Blood Qi Army, it is enough to launch an army of nearly 500,000. For Xiling, this is already an extremely large force. In recent years, although Xiling has worked hard to develop and put a lot of effort into defense, it still cannot catch up with the pace of development of Dongping. used to be the first power in the world, but now it is thinking about how to deal with the Dongping army. If you really want to start fighting, presumably Tan Xiaopei will not give up the attack on Xunshan Pass all the way. Even if Dongping wants to guard against Chunnan, it should be no problem to free up an army of 100,000. 600,000 well-trained professional troops attacking, can Xiling hold up?

Some people also felt that Tan Xiaopei wanted to discuss with Ye Tao about the southward movement of the Yunzhou army. The persimmon picks the soft pinch first, and in the minds of Dongping people, Chunnan is still the weaker side. It's not because of the number of troops and equipment, in fact, in the final analysis, the difference is not very big. But the squeamishness in the bones of the Chunnan army and the internal friction in the struggle in the Chunnan court are difficult to understand. What's even more difficult to understand is that he can clearly see Dongping's ambitions, but over the years, Chunnan has been challenging Dongping's bottom line of patience in various ways. Concubine Lian took the little prince Tan Weiya to live in Chunnan for a long time, and she didn't want to come back at all, which is probably not surprising. Looking at Tan Xiaopei's attitude, although he was dissatisfied with this, he didn't make any moves. Anyway, it is better to regard Concubine Lian and Tan Weiya as hostages who stay in Chunnan, even if Tan Xiaopei doesn't pay attention to them anymore, he won't hurt them because of attacking Chunnan. In that case, it will damage his prestige as the lord of the country. In the past few years, whether it is folk or official, Chunnan has been quite discordant with Dongping. In order to calm things down, Dongping still made a lot of concessions. However, these concessions obviously cannot satisfy the people of Dongping, who are now becoming more and more ambitious, especially some concessions on trade rules, which have greatly affected the interests of many people. And now, without the worries of Northern Liao, Dongping's territory has greatly expanded, the population and land have increased a lot, and the war potential has become more and more advantageous. After Ye Tao came to Danyang, among the people who came to visit Ye Tao, quite a few of them made it clear that they hoped that Ye Tao could support the use of troops against Chunnan. And the family and chamber of commerce behind these people will give their full support in all aspects. Ye Tao knew Tan Xiaopei's determination, and he did not completely reject these people, but seriously negotiated some content with these people.

Even though Ye Tao was playing sloppy in various ways, the content revealed still made these people overjoyed, at least, they all felt that Ye Tao himself supported the use of troops against Chunnan. And Ye Tao also had a general idea of how much support he could get once he sent troops to Chunnan. The funds, food, and utensils to help the war alone, just after preliminary inquiries, have exceeded 14 million silver dollars. It's almost worth the operational attrition of Northern Liao. It seems that those families in Chunnan have indeed offended the Dongping people ruthlessly.

Moreover, the most powerful Nanami Trading Company and Kyushu Chamber of Commerce have not yet expressed their opinions. Old Man Qi is now at ease in Yazhou, or he will live in Yicheng to rest for a while, but he also privately said that once the war starts, Seven Seas Trading Company will fully support and provide no less than three million silver dollars, and Seven Seas Trading Company's potential is not only that. The fleet and fleet of the Nanami Trading Company, together with the Dongpyeong Naval Division in Yaju, could harass the entire coastline of Chunnan and even carry out large-scale landing operations. How can such a strategic value be measured in silver dollars? And the Kyushu Chamber of Commerce is not far behind, they have done the best in recent years is the grain trade, Kyushu Trading Company as one of the royal trading companies, in recent years not only for Dongping to improve the grain reserves, but also become a grain marketing giant. Not only in Dongping, even in Chunnan, they are also giants, not only in control of the world's largest liaison grain stores in Dongping and Chunnan: food worry-free, but also involved in the field of grain production, in recent years has been vigorously carrying out land annexation in Chunnan, has established 22 large farms, controlled 7 percent of Chunnan's grain output, and 11 percent of the grain stock. They have already begun to transport a large amount of grain back to Dongping, and once the war starts, the Kyushu Chamber of Commerce has stated that they will burn all the grain in the warehouses in Chunnan, and pull out all the crops in the field, whether they are ripe or not. The Kyushu Chamber of Commerce's business style has always been extreme and ruthless, and Ye Tao believes that they will definitely do it. As a result, the Kyushu Chamber of Commerce will bear the loss of nearly 5.5 million silver dollars, and they also promised to provide the army with supplies worth 4.5 million silver dollars, including food, after the start of the war. The Kyushu Trading Company alone is equivalent to taking out 10 million silver dollars...... On the one hand, the strong support of these giant businessmen and other clans gave Ye Tao more confidence in his future march, but he also felt great pressure. The statements of these forces clearly pushed Dongping to a position where they had to fight. So, let's fight. That's what Ye Tao thought.

The lord of Northern Liao finally gave up resistance, and even gave up the opportunity to extend the history of Northern Liao by one year, and completely chose to obey Dongping, which was very courageous in Ye Tao's opinion. Then you have to overcome your obsession with power, and overcome your last trace of madness, so that you can choose such a path that is cruel and humiliating to you, but more beneficial to most people. And the royal family of Chunnan makes people not see such qualities, not at all. The Chang family is unreasonably arrogant, the lotus concubine Chang Ling is like this, and so are the two princes competing for the throne. Even if this arrogance is not supported, there is nothing to support. Such an opponent may choose the path of ending up at the last moment, which is not beneficial to anyone, but such an opponent, compared to the kind of reason of the lord of Northern Liao, can only give Dongping a greater chance. The lord of the Northern Liao State was able to believe in Gao Sen Banner after suffering losses again and again, and Gao Sen Banner also repaid this trust with death. Although the Eastern Route Army was defeated in the end, it was still a very wise choice to choose Xie Boan to lead the army. And the lord of Northern Liao, even at the last moment, still chose the path of learning and development, and the airship group of Northern Liao did make Dongping very uncomfortable for a while, although this can be regarded as Ye Tao's intentional connivance, and it did consume a lot of war funds in Northern Liao. But what if Beiliao got the airship technology even a year earlier? And what if they wholeheartedly raise the number of airship groups to another level? Thinking of such a situation, Ye Tao felt a little scared. But Chunnan, but he once received quite complete technical support from Dongping, but Chunnan's airship team is still half-dead, according to those who used to be airship team instructors, they are playing...... The generals are not very knowledgeable, and the willingness to learn is not strong, and the soldiers' ability is at best proficient in operating airships, and their performance in a series of tactical actions is very average. God knows, in fact, Chunnan once had the opportunity to really have a showdown with Dongping, as long as they wanted. At that time, when the two countries were still in the honeymoon period, almost the entire military technology of Dongping, except for things such as the latest airships, super-heavy ballistas, the recipes for fire oil bombs and Mars bombs, and hellfire jets, were all open to Chunnan. And all they need is for the army to improve their technology and morale, and cooperate with sufficiently rigorous training. At that time, the officers who assisted Chunnan in training the troops did not hide their secrets at all, but Chunnan let go of such an opportunity.

If nothing else, Ye Tao and Tan Weiming would jointly command the operation against Chunnan, and Ye Tao would be in charge of the Eastern Route Army, and at the same time coordinate harassment attacks at sea and organize landing operations. Tan Weiming commanded the Western Route Army, with Zhuo Mang as his deputy, gathered the main force of the ground army in Dongping, advanced steadily, and gradually occupied it. But whether this is before or after the fight against Xiling has not yet been completely determined. Synthesizing all the information about Chunnan, Ye Tao worked with Tan Weiming, Zhuo Mang, and Zou Shuangwen in the mansion, as well as Tan Weixin and Dai Yun, who would never be absent, to sort out a "Combat Strategy Book for Chunnan" that included logistics preparations, political and diplomatic preparations, mobilization, operations, and aftermath matters. The document of more than 1.9 million words included all kinds of relevant content, which was transcribed by several people in person, and finally sent directly to Tan Xiaopei's desk. Anyone who is qualified to read this document in detail will feel the majestic strength and confidence, and will inevitably feel that when the big war is together, Chunnan will definitely not have any luck to look forward to.

After reading the paperwork, Tan Xiaopei didn't say anything more. What kind of power did those who went to lobby Ye Tao represent, it was naturally impossible for him, as the lord of the country, not to know. He could also feel this surging fighting intent. Although Tan Xiaopei will be worried that the war against Northern Liao has just ended, and it is a bit hasty to start the war again, and there may be a suspicion of reckless force, but it has come to this point, and it can be regarded as a good choice to accelerate the process of unification of the world. Tan Xiaopei ran to Jiangshan Fort, the old nest of the Tan family, and after three days of meditation behind closed doors, he wanted to meet Ye Tao in Jiangshan Fort.

The mountain fort is only a day's journey from Danyang. Take an airship, and it's even more a morning. When Ye Tao came to Jiangshan Fort, he was also a little surprised. The mountain fort was not built into a more royal castle as he thought, but always retained a pure fortress temperament. Due to the progress of construction technology and materials, the exterior wall of the mountain fort is now built with the new city wall bricks of the division's family, which is fire-resistant and corrosion-resistant, and the appearance of the city wall is also neat and beautiful due to the stable shape. The original scarred masonry was all moved to the newly built ancestral hall of the Tan family, and became the foundation and outer wall, except for the main passage is paved with smooth bluestone, and the floor of the entire ancestral hall compound is also full of these stones that show terrible wounds, just trying to make it as smooth as possible. This is Tan Xiaopei's decision, but it has been supported by the entire Tan family. Tanjia, no matter what time it is, must remember that their foundation is built by fighting hard from generation to generation.

Tan Xiaopei was waiting for Ye Tao in a courtyard behind the ancestral hall. In the courtyard there are several centuries-old trees that support a large shade, and below, three simple tombstones.

"Don't be surprised...... That's just my selfishness. This is my brother......" Tan Xiaopei said lightly, although there was a hint of sadness, but more of a pride. "The family is a complete rise in my generation, others can forget, but I can't forget, just a few decades ago, the brothers were still fighting for the survival of Dongping. I don't want to be the lord of the country, but the position of the lord of the country is still on my shoulders after all. My eldest brother, my second brother, and my younger brother, all died on the battlefield. If Zhuo Mang hadn't desperately rescued him back then, maybe I wouldn't have survived. But in the end, I still made it this far...... Now, no one can stop Dongping's footsteps. ”

"Your Majesty, it's time to end. It's up to you to make up your mind. Ye Tao was not too infected by Tan Xiaopei, but said cheerfully.

"yes, it's time to finish." Tan Xiaopei laughed. He took a jar of wine from the attendant standing aside, took a big sip of his own, and then spilled it on the graves of his three brothers. "You know, out of three graves, two are empty. The real army collided, crushed people into mud, where can the corpses be found. It's time to finish. You're not going to laugh at me, old man, are you? ”

The lord of the country laughed at himself, if he met other courtiers, he would probably hurriedly say something like congratulations and blessings, and thousands of years and so on. But for Tan Xiaopei and Ye Tao, everyone knows that this kind of thing is redundant. Monarchs and ministers like them don't need this set of false etiquette for a long time. Ye Tao tilted his head and said, "Anyway, it's two or three years, we will also fight once and destroy Chunnan Xiling, I can recuperate and go around to have fun." Your Majesty, if you want to have a good life, there is a time. ”

"Well, though, until then, I have something to ask you for." Tan Xiaopei said solemnly.

"Your Majesty, if there is anything, just tell me." Letting Tan Xiaopei speak in such a pleading tone, Ye Tao was a little uncomfortable. Anyway, this is also my father-in-law.

"Go to Yuhang and bring Weiya and Chang Ling back." Tan Xiaopei paused for a moment, and said categorically: "You have full authority to dispose of it, at any cost, and you don't have to have other scruples." Of course, you can't do anything on your own. ”

Ye Tao thought for a while, and said with the same seriousness: "Obey." "After bringing Chang Ling and Tan Weiya back, it's time to start a war. There's no doubt about it, and how easy is it to bring these two back? Relying on the meticulous work of secret spies, there is no chance, and I am afraid that I will not see the two of them at all. And sending important ministers over, it was inevitable that he was afraid, not only afraid that he would not be able to bring the two back, but also afraid that the fierce means would offend Chang Ling and Tan Weiya. Although this pair of mother and son, I am afraid that they will be "honored" in Dongping for a long time in the future, and there will be no way to make waves, but for the courtiers, it is also worrying to let them offend the concubine and the prince. Only people like Ye Tao can talk about solving things in the past. No matter when, no matter whether Ye Tao is on duty or playing around freely in the future, Chang Ling definitely has no courage to retaliate against Ye Tao for this matter. In addition, it is also in the extremely delicate reality of the Chunnan Dynasty situation, and Chang Hongquan, the king of Juxian, has been extremely dissatisfied with the situation in Yuhang, and it has been four months since the death of the old lord of Chunnan. And the strategist Jiang Yan, after crying blood and leaving a blood book for the country, also died of illness, his last few years of hard work, careful arrangement, the establishment of a secret organization that is still uncertain about the situation of the Dongping Intelligence Bureau, will definitely become a thorn in the side of the future reunification war. But Jiang Yan, who was already in poor health, exhausted all his efforts and finally couldn't stand it. Now that the crown prince and the second prince are vying for the throne, neither side is sure that they will kill the other, but they have enough strength to prevent the other from ascending the throne. Ye Tao personally went to Yuhang, so that he had full decision-making authority and judged how to deal with it, which was the most beneficial to Dongping. If Ye Tao felt that it was best to start a direct war, then the army and follow-up troops on the border were actually ready at any time. There is no need to talk about these words, Ye Tao himself will understand.

"How many people are you going to bring over?" Tan Xiaopei asked with interest.

"Your Majesty, don't worry about it, leave it to me. I don't think Concubine Lian and the little prince will be so easy to comply...... Anyway, if I bring them back, Your Majesty will have to punish them. It's better to pretend not to know than to really not know, right? Ye Tao said frankly.

"Hehe," Tan Xiaopei laughed heartily: "After all, Wei Ya and Wei Ming and Wei Ran are brothers. I know everyone is not used to it, but after all...... Weiya is still young, and no matter what, I don't want anything to happen. Can brothers live together...... It's good to be alive. ”

Ye Tao smiled: "Your Majesty, rest assured, the minister will definitely live up to his trust." But it's time to prepare for other things. ”

"yes...... Someone cares more than I do, this thing is really troublesome. Tan Xiaopei knew that what Ye Tao said was a matter of preparing for the emperor's honor guard. After the destruction of the Northern Liao, some people even began to persuade them, hoping that Tan Xiaopei would directly claim the emperor and change the Yuan. But Tan Xiaopei knew very well in his heart that he would never do such a thing if he didn't solve Chunnan Xiling. Before, Tan Xiaopei hadn't even thought much about it. The emperor's guard of honor and related things are not something that can be prepared in a short period of time, and that whole set of things is so complicated that it can make any person with normal nerves collapse. But now we really have to get ready, and in a few years, it's really impossible to get it right. And the beginning of the preparation of ceremonies and ceremonies can also make those courtiers with lofty ideals put their minds at ease, and when the time comes, their merits are indispensable.

Ye Tao had full authority to envoy Chunnan, and the news was confirmed a few days later. When the news reached Yuhang, it immediately aroused the vigilance of many people. The relationship between Dongpyeong and Chunnan has not changed much over the years, at least on the surface, and has maintained an ardent and friendly alliance relationship. But privately? Chunnan and Xiling came together in order to fight against Dongping, and now the main target of Chunnan's intelligence agency is Dongping. The relatively mobile household registration system that Dongping now adopts has also given many opportunities to the spies. Now, Dongping conquered Northern Liao, turning the huge territory and population into its own strength, to say that the national strength, although it has not yet surpassed the Chunnan and Xiling combined, but against any country alone, there is an overwhelming advantage. It is normal for Dongping to revise his relationship with Chunnan now. And Ye Tao, the envoy plenipotentiary, may be here for this, right? Some speculate.

But some time ago, the senseless rumor offensive against Ye Tao led to further hostility between the two countries, and this matter is still stuck in the hearts of many people. Many people are quite dissatisfied with the fearlessness of a handful of high-level ignorant people in Chunnan who constantly challenge Dongping's bottom line. But there is nothing that can be done, and the intelligence agencies are still in the hands of these people. Ye Tao came to Chunnan, even if it was just because of this matter, I am afraid he would not give Chunnan any good looks. He will inevitably put forward many requirements and restrictions on Chunnan, and comprehensively change the original posture of Dongping to tolerate everywhere. Not to mention that Chunnan is still in an extremely complicated period now. Ye Tao definitely has various ways to intervene in the struggle between the two princes, maybe Ye Tao will have to observe the enthronement ceremony. There are also speculations like this.

How to deal with Ye Tao in the end, and how to get along with the two countries that have changed their strength and status in the future, this has become a question that is really placed in front of the ministers of Chunnan.

Ye Tao was naturally not in a hurry to set off, but carefully considered his strength and position, and then sent out a letter of order. Chunnan's spies are making waves in Dongping, and Dongping's spies are lurking in Chunnan, and there are quite a few of them. Many intelligence lines have even been buried for more than ten years, and the intelligence work on Chunnan has not been Ye Tao's main concern, naturally he does not have chess pieces like Kong Xinhua before, or Sun Boping, who is now known as the shadow prime minister in Xiling, can be used, and the line buried by Nie Rui in Chunnan also has guys who are now in high positions, but since it is Nie Rui's achievement, Ye Tao does not necessarily want to use it, especially some more risky uses. How bad is it to destroy other people's layouts?

But Nie Rui didn't have any scruples, he knew what Ye Tao was going to do in Chunnan, he didn't care how much damage the power in his hands would be, he just hoped that Ye Tao could retire successfully, and Ye Tao and the people around him had better not lose anything. Such a genius, and the strong team around him, is not easy. And Nie Rui, after having a conversation with the lord of the country, Nie Rui personally set off for Chunnan. Naturally, this information is kept tightly secret, and in any era, the spy chiefs are the most valuable targets of the local intelligence organs, and the struggle in this area is often the most bloody and bloody.