Realm of Power

"That's it. If it's such an agreement, the Yelu family can accept it."

In the temporary palace of the emperor, Yelu Hongtai solemnly closed the text on the terms of cooperation with the empire in his hand. It was written in imperial language and prairie language. Even if Yelu Hongtai did not understand the Oubaluo language, he could still clearly understand the meaning of each article. , signed the text with his name, and handed it to the imperial civilian official next to him

"If that's the case, then follow this?"

The fat man nodded, signed another agreement, and handed it to the civil official behind him. This was already Yelu Hongtai's third day in Xijinggu. This agreement had been revised six times, no matter what the two parties said before. No matter how they speculate, when political interests are really involved, the two people will not be any more generous in safeguarding their respective interests than the vendors in the vegetable market who have to pay a penny by the day.

"Yes, in fact, I hope that the sooner the better. It would be best if the empire can announce the marriage with the Yelu family immediately. I wonder what your majesty means?"

Yelu Hongtai looked at the fat man with piercing eyes, not hiding his urgency at all. When he saw that Yelu Qiyeguang was still alive, the old man who was originally deeply in the pain of losing his son recovered again. In just two years, , single-handedly set off China and the United States like The head of the Yelu family was a heroic figure in the turbulent times. When he went south to Onnatso, he showed staggeringly strong decisiveness. Once a decision was made, he had the determination to carry it through to the end. He was very concerned about the "cooperation" proposed by the empire. ”, Yelu Hongtai Still quite satisfied, and Yelu Hongtai looked at it, and the marriage between the current Yelu family and the empire has exceeded Yelu Hongtai's greatest expectations. Although the Yelu family is powerful, after all, it is not a dynasty that unifies the entire Central Asia. Even the grasslands could not be unified, and the interior fell into disintegration due to the defeat in the Battle of Yanzhou. In comparison, the empire was already a behemoth that spanned several continents and controlled two-thirds of the Western Continent. This marriage is definitely a clinging one.

"Since the head of the Yelu family is so eager, we will announce it as soon as possible. I believe the head of the Yelu family also knows that choosing an important time to announce such news can maximize its value." The fat man smiled lightly, "But it is part of the agreement. , the empire can implement it in advance. For example, this time the empire will transport the Yelu family 32,000 sets of heavy infantry armor and 40,000 grassland heavy bows. However, how to transport these weapons to the Imperial Plains requires the head of the Yelu family to find a way. "

"Your Majesty, you can rest assured. Although our Yelu family has problems, we still have some real allies. There are many roads from the northwest to the Imperial Capital Plain, but the west road of Imperial Capital controlled by the Katiba tribe is the shortest. Ural, the leader of the Babe tribe, and I have been friends for many years, so there is no problem in our reliability.”

Yelu Hongtai raised his eyebrows when he heard that the empire was willing to pay in advance for weapons and equipment equipped with tens of thousands of elites. He quickly said confidently, "This time I came to the northwest from the Imperial Capital West Road in the Katiba tribe. If it weren’t for Ural’s cover, I would have been discovered just after I left the Imperial Capital!”

"That's good!"

Fatty agreed. These weapons and equipment were not given away for free. According to the agreement, more than fifty people from the Imperial Bank who had already arrived in the northwest were going to the Imperial Capital Plain with these weapons and equipment. They would open the Imperial Bank in Imperial Capital. Branch, began preparations to take over various industries of the Yelu family in the Imperial Capital Plain area

Their role is like two ends of a line. One end has been extended from the empire, and the other end is firmly nailed to the Imperial Capital Plain. The Yelu family has agreed to gradually hand over its property to these Imperial Bank personnel for management, and The Imperial Bank turned over one million gold coins per month to the Yelu family.

One million gold coins may not be a big deal to a wealthy empire, but to prairie people who are not good at production, it is another matter.

Don't look at the Yelu family's strong power in the Central and Biya region. In fact, it is mainly manifested in the military, and its main source of financial resources is the looting of the Central and Biya region. In terms of real production, even a figure like Yelu Hongtai, Owning tens of millions of people in the entire Imperial Capital Plain The monthly tax revenue has never exceeded 500,000 yuan. This is because of the Yelu family's relatively loose economic policy towards the Central Asians and the large number of imperial merchants that have such a scale. Like those under the control of other tribes, The economy of the region is almost completely ruined.

Many grassland aristocrats don't even know what taxes are. They only know how to squeeze slaves from Central Asia, make these slaves work desperately, and then use these outputs to fill the debt of purchasing weapons from the empire, and then use these weapons to Expand a larger territory and rob more Central and Asian slaves

Yelu Hongtai was overjoyed that the empire was willing to give one million a month in tax revenue to the Yelu family. Originally, he expected that it would be good to be able to keep the original tax revenue in such a strong way. Who would have thought that it would be doubled directly? , and this is still the standard in the first half of the year , half a year later, the empire will raise the standard to two million, which is four times the original tax amount of the Yelu family. For the Yelu family who are in urgent need of restoring their military strength, it can be said to be a timely help. You must know that the battle of Yanzhou, The loss to the Yelu family is really too great.

Not only did the young patriarch Yelu Guda die in the battle, but also perished along with them were 10,000 well-equipped Baihe troops, more than 30,000 elite soldiers of the Yelu family who were responsible for the defense of the northern front, and more than 100,000 other vassal tribes. It can be said that Nearly one-half of the Yelu family's military strength was wiped out in one fell swoop. If not, how could the Fengtai tribe dare to take the lead like this? With their strength greatly reduced, they faced 300,000 men. With the Long family's army moving south aggressively, Yelu Hongtai could only withdraw from the Daizhou front line to the Imperial Capital area, which made the already unfavorable situation worse. If not for this, all the grassland tribes would not have unanimously sided with the Fengtai tribe. In fact, everyone It can be seen that the strength of the Yelu family is really exhausted, otherwise how could they watch the rise of the Fengtai tribe without being able to do anything about it!

"Katibabu Ural?" Hearing the name Yelu Hongtai mentioned, a trace of solemnity flashed across the fat man's face, and he suddenly whispered to the guard behind him, "The report we received yesterday was that the man who died in the chaos on Dijing West Road What was the name of the dead leader of the Grassland Department?”

"My name is Ural, the leader of the Katiba tribe on the Imperial Capital West Road. He was shot in the chest with an arrow at the banquet and died of his injuries." The guard hesitated for a moment before answering.

"What! Ural is dead!" After hearing what Konoe said, Yelu Hongtai stood up suddenly and asked with angrily eyes, "Do you know who did it? Ural has always been respected in the tribe, and he had a fate with me when he was young. Even if all the ministries are on the opposite side of the Yelu family, Ural still expresses his support for the Yelu family. Unexpectedly..." Yelu Hongtai's voice With a hint of sobbing, he expressed great sadness for Ural's death. You must know that the Katiba tribe, as the grassland tribe that controls the west road of the Imperial Capital, is the gateway to the Imperial Capital. It has an extremely important position in the Yelu Group and is the most trusted by Yelu Hongtai. Allies, Yelu Hongtai dared to leave the Imperial Capital and come to the northwest at this time because Ural controlled the Imperial Capital West Road.

"The attacker escaped on the spot. It is said that the arrow cluster came from 150 meters away. Ural's younger brother Usugu, who is now the leader of the Katiba tribe," the guard replied respectfully.

"It's Mongolian Luo, it must be Mongolian Luo! Only Mongolian Luo's eagle-piercing arrow can exceed the distance of 150 meters." Yelu Hongtai's eyes were red, and he punched the table angrily, his voice vibrating like muffled thunder. "I have long been against Ural said that Mongolia was very brave and dared to take action. Even I wanted to kill him in Daizhou. I asked him to be more prepared. Unexpectedly, he still This is what happened. Wusugu, who is now the successor to the Katiba clan, has always had a good relationship with Mongolia. If I guessed correctly, there must be special arrangements for the seats at that banquet, so it only needs to be set. Even in the dark, Mongolia’s archery skills can still hit the target, and Wusugu can definitely do this!”

The west road to the Imperial Capital is closed. Now, not only transporting weapons to the Imperial Capital Plain, but also returning to the Imperial Capital Plain is a problem.

Yelu Hongtai is worthy of being a decisive grassland hero with amazing courage. He only frowned for a moment, then suddenly looked at the fat man and said, "Is Your Majesty interested in the Imperial Capital West Road? Since the Empire is cooperating with my Yelu family, and the Imperial Capital West Road is a If the important passage connecting the Imperial Capital Plain and the northwest can be controlled by the empire itself, I believe it would be more advantageous than being controlled by the Yelu family."

According to Yelu Hongtai's ability, how could he not see that once the Yelu family handed over the Imperial Capital West Road to the empire, it would be equivalent to handing the lifeline of the entire country into the hands of the imperial people. However, the current situation of the Yelu family has reached an imminent crisis. , the Fengtai tribe defeated the 300,000 troops of the Long family who went south at Longshi Castle. The already grand prestige was even higher. It was still waiting and watching. The other grassland tribes in Lizhong seemed to be following the Fengtai tribe at this moment. Now that the Imperial Capital West Road was cut off by the Fengtai tribe, the situation had left him with no choice. Although handing it over to the empire would be suspected of being suppressed, it was better than leaving it to the empire. It would be much better for the Fengtai tribe's army to follow the Imperial Capital West Road and enter the Imperial Capital. Anyway, the imperial forces have already entered the Imperial Capital Plain, and they don't care about one more Imperial Capital West Road.

"What does the Yelu family leader mean by asking the empire to send troops to the Imperial Capital West Road?" The fat man's eyes flashed, and he was obviously a little moved. He hesitated for a moment, "Will the Empire send troops to the Imperial Capital West Road to cause tension among the grassland ministries?"

"In the past, maybe it would have happened, but now, it will definitely not happen, because the empire has taken control of the Imperial Capital West Road, with the full authority of my Yelu family. Even on the grassland, it is completely in compliance with the laws of the grassland." Yelu Hongtai grinned. Well, he immediately said that the Imperial Capital West Road belongs to the Yelu family, and the Kaba tribe is only responsible for guarding it. If the empire is willing to help, he can immediately write a handwritten letter and hand over the Imperial Capital West Road to the empire.

The so-called granting order is the order book used by the Grassland Department to divide the territory.

Realizing that something was wrong, he immediately surrendered the extremely important Imperial Capital West Road to the Empire. Not everyone could have such courage, but what kind of person was Yelu Hongtai? In Onnatso, in order to avoid becoming the enemy of the Empire, he dared to lead A grassland with 300,000 people each with their own thoughts The tribe moved southward like a tyrannical torrent. With no way of predicting the future, the Yelu family used iron and blood, the scimitars and horseshoes of the prairie people, and the bones of tens of thousands of prairie people to promote this war. The battle of conquest southward that directly penetrated the hinterland of Central Asia.

Yelu Hongtai is a gambler by nature. In fact, most great heroes are gamblers. Many times, success depends entirely on the degree of persistence. If Yelu Hongtai had wavered in his determination to go south, the Yelu family would not Such a scale and scene, and Yelu Hongtai believes that since the empire wants to cooperate with the Yelu family, especially the heavy If you develop the Imperial Capital Plain controlled by the Yelu family, ensuring the smooth flow of transportation roads will determine the smoothness of the entire development. Otherwise, if the roads are cut off and the products from the Imperial Capital Plain cannot be transported out, then the empire's investment in this cooperation will be After all, the Imperial Capital West Road is very important to me, but it is even more important to the empire.

How could the empire not be tempted by taking out an important transportation corridor like Dijing West Road?

Especially in the current era of war in Central and Eastern Asia, a trade route that can ensure safety and stability is the guarantee of the empire's ultimate interests in the Imperial Plains. Since the Yelu family has decided to unite with the empire, they will be involved in the empire. Tiger skin is not an exaggeration either

"What's the strength of the Katiba tribe?"

The fat man asked, since Yelu Hongtai has expressed his attitude in this way, does he still need to hide it? Controlling a transportation corridor leading to the Imperial Capital Plain is what the Empire has always longed for. With the Imperial Capital West Road in hand, the Empire can It is equivalent to getting the key to the door directly to the Imperial Capital Plain. This is definitely a major gain for the empire to make substantial progress in Central Asia.

"The Katiba Tribe is close to the size of most tribes on the grassland. It used to have a population of about 180,000, and 30,000 string-controlling cavalry. The blacksmiths of the Katiba Tribe were very famous in the past, and the Katiba Scimitars they forged were sought after by various tribes. , but due to problems with the mining resources in recent years, the Scimitar has been much worse than before. The Katiba tribe suffered a snowstorm last winter, killing countless livestock and the population dropped sharply to about 150,000. Later, the king was forced to Under pressure from the family, Ural chose to go south, hoping to allow the tribe to recuperate in the south and survive this crisis. Unexpectedly, he would never have the chance to return to the grassland." Yelu Hongtai looked at the sky outside the window with a melancholy look on his face. The grassland People's move south seems to be vigorous and vigorous, and they have taken advantage of it. In fact, they are just like moths flying across the fire. How far the grassland people who leave the grassland can go back in the end depends on the longevity.

Knowing that the empire was willing to send troops, Yelu Hongtai naturally revealed all the information about the Katiba tribe without reservation. Then the fat man finalized the decision of the empire to send troops to the west of the imperial capital. (To be continued.)

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