Cheng Yue gave a thumbs up and praised: "Just say this to you, I am relieved to leave this matter to you, this is the person who does great things." You are right, it is true, if the water level of the two seas is not the same, the difficulty of building the canal will be greatly increased, and I am afraid that it will not be possible to do it with the existing technology. I don't know if you've ever thought about it, since you have an old way, it can be seen that you have cultivated it before. Don't ask me how I know that, I can assure you that the Mediterranean Sea is equal to the level of the Arabian Sea, otherwise I would never have made such a great effort. Presumably you know better than anyone that transporting goods from the Great Song Dynasty to you is a veritable journey of thousands of miles, and it is by no means an easy task. ”

Aluhun was convinced by Cheng Yue's reasoning, and said with a smile: "That's true, since you dare to promise, then I will repair and see, I will find the best craftsman, and you can't break your promise to me on the map." ”

Cheng Yue stretched out his hand and said, "A word is a certainty." "Swear by high-five with Aruhun.

An Tong interjected and asked, "Cheng Yue, how many years will this canal be repaired?" ”

Historically, it took 11 years to repair the Suez Canal, but there was no reason at that time, a lot of exploration work was done in the early stage, Cheng Yue's requirements were not so high, after all, the tonnage of the current ship is not large, and all are wooden ships, the draft is not deep, overall, the amount of work is only about a quarter of the later generations. Cheng Yue thought about it for a while and said: "If you use 100,000 people to dig, it will take about six to seven years to dig through the initial digging, and it will be faster with more people, I mean it will take four to five years to cultivate." Aruhun, you don't care about the lives of the black slaves, just buy them after you are tired of a batch, and kill all those who can't work. If you keep buying black slaves from the Mamluks, you will induce them to send their troops to the south and keep robbing them. In this way, it can be dispersed. Let them no longer be a threat to you. Second, it can allow them to fight with the countries of the South. You're reaping the benefits! Don't worry that the Mamluks will not be fooled, those people are used to looting, and they will definitely wait for you to repair the canal and they will come to seize it, so they will never hinder you, but will cooperate with you everywhere. The more black slaves you buy, the greater the price paid by the Mamluks! ”

Aruhun was so happy that he applauded and said, "I listen to you, I listen to you!" ”

Kublai Khan and his ministers were horrified to hear this. Boyan sighed: "Living above the temple, winning thousands of miles away, Cheng Yue, how many people will be killed by your words, this is the so-called words of seeking the country." ”

Ah Shu also sighed: "With such a strategy, it is logical to win, what else do you want us generals to do, I was defeated in your hands at the beginning, it is really unjust." ”

Kublai Khan looked at Cheng Yue and took a cool breath. The good thing is that Cheng Yue is no longer his enemy, otherwise how would he sleep peacefully?

Cheng Yue persuaded Aruhun. I was very happy in my heart. If the canal can be opened before his westward expedition, he can send the navy and artillery directly to Europe, and the westward expedition is simply handy, and today's harvest is really great! But although the canal is important, it is only a temporary episode today, and the most important thing is what he wants to discuss with Kublai Khan.

Cheng Yue turned to Kublai Khan and said, "The minister still has one more thing to discuss with the Great Khan. ”

Kublai Khan said happily: "Say, what are you polite? ”

Cheng Yue said: "Great Khan, as the minister said before, this battle is already a sure victory, as long as the Great Khan is willing, he can gather more than 200,000 horses of the three khanates and annihilate them, at least about 100,000 can be killed, and it is not easy for those rebel kings to escape." For the sake of the Great Khan and the Mongols, the ministers wanted to ask the Great Khan to leave the lives of those traitorous kings, and to kill as few soldiers and horses as possible, so as to attack the heart. ”

Kublai Khan was furious, and he couldn't hold back and didn't open his mouth to reprimand Cheng Yue, but his face sank.

He had always been worried that Cheng Yue would not do his best to meet the traitorous king, and even deliberately let them go so that they could contain Dayuan's forces, but he didn't expect Cheng Yue to openly propose this to him. To be honest, those traitors can not be killed, he only planned to put them under house arrest, but how could their army let go? Aren't these people a lesson?

Cheng Yue said unhurriedly: "Does the Great Khan think that the minister is planning for himself?" ”

Kublai Khan's face sank like water, and he didn't say a word, acquiescing to Cheng Yue's guess.

Ah Shu and other important ministers also gritted their teeth and were very dissatisfied with Cheng Yue. The Great Khan treats Cheng Yue with deep grace, but Cheng Yue still only cares about himself, how can the Great Khan be embarrassed?

Cheng Yue said: "Please imagine that if the Great Khan kills all the rebellious kings and their armies are annihilated in one fell swoop, what will happen to the three great khanates?" ”

Kublai Khan did not answer, and Aruhun said, "Isn't that better?" As soon as the three khanates died, my father Khan immediately waved his army north, and the Great Khan went all the way to the west. ”

Cheng Yue shook his head and said, "You're wrong, you're wrong." ”

Kublai Khan seemed to think of something, and said thoughtfully: "Tell me, what is wrong with him?" ”

Cheng Yue said: "The three khanates are not the only ones, they still have many generals and strong forces in their respective countries. Even if the Great Khan and the Abha Khan joined forces to go on the campaign, it would be protracted, and the cost of troops and financial resources would be very huge. The Great Khan is going to crusade against Japan next year, and Abha Khan still has the threat of the Mamluks behind him, and it is almost impossible to succeed in pacifying the three khanates in a short period of time. If the conquest is not successful or not carried out, the remaining people of the three khanates will either nominate one or three new khans to take revenge on the Great Khan, or they will attack each other and cause the country to be in turmoil, which will inevitably give the disgruntled aliens a chance. When the three khanates are divided, it seems that the Great Yuan can sit back and relax for a short time, but after a little longer, a new state will be formed. No matter who the country consists of, there will be a lot of hatred for Mongolia. If there is another Western Xia, what does Mongolia plan to do (Genghis Khan, known as Tianjiao, conquered Western Xia six times, suffered heavy casualties, and finally succeeded by relying on the natural disaster of the Western Xia earthquake, and Genghis Khan also died on the last expedition, leaving a last word on his deathbed to completely destroy Western Xia)? They occupy vast pastures and vital terrain, and the Great Yuan and the Ilkhanate are beyond their reach, and there will be a series of wars from now on, and how many times does the Great Khan plan to go west? ”

Ah Shu calmed down by Cheng Yue's words, and hesitated: "What you said is indeed reasonable, but if you let the tiger return to the mountain, there will be endless troubles, is it easy for them to deal with Haidu?" ”

Cheng Yue said: "Haidu, they are Mongolians and members of Genghis Khan's golden family. After this war, they knew that the Great Khan spared them from dying, and they had no other choice but to submit to the Great Khan, otherwise who would help them if something happened in the country? What's wrong with them watching the three khanates for the Great Khan, so that such a large area of land is always in the hands of the Mongols? As for the troubles you are worried about, you can think about it, the Great Khan occupies the richest Han land in the world, and has the best pastures in Monan, whether it is troops, weapons, wealth and geographical advantages are far more than the three khanates, plus my support in the Southern Song Dynasty, the longer the time, the more obvious the advantage, the three khanates in the end except to be honestly a vassal of the Great Yuan, blocking the threat from the west for the Great Yuan, there is no other way out, this is the so-called military strategy. It is far advantageous to submit them than to kill them. Which do you think is better? ”

After Cheng Yue finished speaking, the whole hall was speechless. They only think about the victory or defeat of the first battle, but Cheng Yue looks at the rise and fall of a hundred years. I have to admit that Cheng Yue was not wrong at all. Whether it is to form a deep enmity with the three khanates or to weaken the three khanates too much, in the long run, it will not be of much benefit to the Great Yuan, and it will also fall into the notoriety of killing the king of the sect. The other Mongol kings were bound to be enraged and turned away from Kublai Khan, and were likely to secretly help the three khanates and cause civil strife. If the three khanates were really willing to obey Kublai Khan's orders, as Cheng Yue said, it would be better.

Kublai Khan said in a deep voice: "Then what do you mean?" ”

Cheng Yue said: "Defeat them, but don't annihilate them, after the end of this battle, convene a Kuritai conference on the spot, let them publicly recognize the throne of the Great Khan, and then let them send hostages to Dadu." They were asked to contribute horses and warriors every year, did the Great Khan think it would be feasible? ”

Kublai Khan's eyes lit up and he immediately fell into deep thought. He hadn't thought about it that much before, he just thought about defeating the rebel king and then taking them to Dadu and locking them up. Cheng Yue's proposal was very bold, but it made sense, he defeated the coalition forces of the three khanates, obtained their recognition, and then let them return to China, and the Mongolian steppe would be full of songs praising him. In this way, if the three khanates dare to rebel again, no one will follow them, which is equivalent to their own khanate being recognized, and the western frontier will also be quiet. So, is the risk worth taking? Is there really no selfishness on Cheng Yue's part?

Kublai Khan's important ministers all deliberated repeatedly on Cheng Yue's suggestion in their hearts. I have to admit that Cheng Yue persuaded them again. The same Mongols, they are not willing to kill each other, whether it is beneficial to Cheng Yue or not, they should not exterminate the three khanates.

Kublai Khan consulted his ministers with his eyes. An Tong was the first to nod to him, Boyan nodded closely, and Ah Shu paused and nodded in agreement.

Kublai Khan looked at Aruhun again.

Aruhun gave a silent salute to Kublai Khan, meaning to obey Kublai Khan's orders.

Kublai Khan made up his mind and said to Cheng Yue: "I should do what you say." When the three khanates hear about it, they will definitely be grateful to you. ”

Cheng Yue smiled indifferently and said, "It was the Great Khan who spared them, and it had nothing to do with the ministers." If you want to defeat them, they should hate me. ”

Kublai Khan had a smile on his face and sighed, "Cheng Yue, you should stay as long as possible and help me more." If you hear anything in the future, no matter where you are, you can write to me, and don't marry the princess and leave it alone. ”

The ministers laughed and sincerely admired Cheng Yue, and in the Great Yuan Dynasty, he was more and more inseparable from this future concubine. (To be continued......)