After hearing this, Li Su felt even more distressed. He knew that it was impossible to take this sentence seriously, but he also knew that this mission could not be shirkable.

In just two days, the empire's senior management figured out the medium-sized civil war that took place in Russia, and the result was beyond Li Junwei's expectations. Of course, the smoothness was beyond expectations.

Mazepa's old nest Bathurin was immediately lost after the Russian army arrived, because some of the Cossack lords surrendered and chose to cooperate with each other. Except for one son being captured, Mazepa only lost a hundred people, which was not a loss.

On the contrary, the losses caused by the Russian troops sent troops to sweep the country were relatively large, but this kind of losses was mostly economic, not military losses. This was the thing that surprised Li Junwei.

Because the senior officials of the empire misread the relationship between Zelenko and Mazepa, they believed that these two people were incompatible, but who would have thought that they had the awareness of losing their lips and cold teeth. After being attacked, Mazepa immediately led his army south to enter Zelenko's territory in Poland to avoid it. Zelenko also quickly sent troops north to respond and came out to persuade Zaporoze's Cossack to accept Mazepa.

Of course, Zelenko was not able to get up early without profit. As the chaos broke out, the eastern Ukraine region between the Don River and the Dnieper River was in chaos. The old order was broken, and a large number of people originally controlled by the Cossacks flowed into Zelenko's hands.

As August begins, the battlefield situation is basically formed, and the empire is also ready to send troops.

"Now the Swedish army has entered Western Ukraine from Lublin, the vanguard has arrived in Kiev and controlled the ferry. It will go to Russia at any time. According to your instructions, Mazepa and Zelenko have also formed a coalition force and are determined not to join either side, but the two are willing to provide some supplies to the Swedish army.

The imperial army was mainly composed of some troops from the Third Marine Army stationed in Xibin. They first occupied Kelsson, and then went upstream along the Dnieper River to control all the waterways between Kiev City and Kelsson." Li Su reported his plan to Li Junwei in front of the map.

Li Junwei asked: "What is the reason for sending troops?"

"Protect the expatriates and protect the Dnieper River shipping." Li Su replied.

Protecting expatriates is a very legitimate reason, while protecting shipping is related to the Four-Nation Treaty that year. When Li Junweisi fought against Poland and Russia, he divided the territory of the Crimean Khanate with Poland and Russia, and signed a contract with the Ottoman Empire. This contract includes borders, spheres of influence, national policies, naval restrictions, etc. The combination of various treaties is the Four-Nation Treaty.

According to the treaty, China, Russia and Poland enjoy the right to free navigation of the three rivers, the Dnieper, the Don and the Volga Rivers, and the three countries have part of the three rivers, so it is beneficial to the three countries. Using this treaty as a reason, it is indeed possible to send troops.

Seeing that Li Junwei was still a little doubtful, Li Su said: "Uncle Wang, it is actually not just this reason. I also sent an envoy to Krakow to contact the Polish authorities, but I did not receive a reply. I think Karl XII and Polish new king Stanislaw I should agree."

"They should know that the purpose of our dispatch of troops is to make arrangements in advance and prepare to intervene in the war." Li Junwei didn't think so.

Li Su smiled and said, "The plan I proposed is to demilitarize the Dnieper River."

When Li Junwei heard this, his eyes lit up. This was indeed a good proposal. For Carl XII, the biggest problem in entering Russia was logistics. He even specially organized a logistics army of more than 10,000 people. If the empire maintained peace in the shipping of the Dnieper River, then there would be no problem with the supply from Poland. On the east bank of the Dnieper River, Mazepa and Zelenko provided supplies, and the problem of supply difficulties was almost solved.

On the other hand, if the expedition fails, the Imperial army will guard the Dnieper River and the Swedish army can also complete the retreat.

At this time, Li Zhaocheng hurried in. Now he is the staff officer of the Expeditionary Force, responsible for intelligence work.

Li Zhaocheng brought several documents, including letters and ciphertext translations from the Intelligence Agency, and these documents are all related to Carl XII.

"The letter from King Karl was confirmed by the Military Intelligence Bureau." Li Zhaocheng handed it to Li Su, and then briefly introduced to Li Junwei: "Karl wrote that he hoped that the empire would restrain the two armies of Mazepa and Zelenko so that they would not take hostile actions against Sweden in the war. The empire, while maintaining the demilitarization of the Dnieper River, promised to guarantee the Swedish army as much as possible. As long as the empire did this, he would be willing to hand over the land between the Dnieper River and the Don River to the empire after the war.

Whether these lands now belong to Russia or Poland, King Karl is willing to ensure that his promises are implemented.”

Li Junwei nodded and handed his water cup to his son. Li Zhaocheng took a sip, moistened his throat, and continued: "At the same time, Karl XII also sent representatives to Zaporoze and Donetsk to contact Mazepa and Zelenko. He granted these two pieces of land to them, only asking for supplies and friendship."

"A piece of land is promised to three families?" Li Junwei laughed and joked, "Carl is too wishful thinking."

Li Zhaocheng quickly explained: "No, no, it's not like this. Carl did not choose to conceal it. Instead, he copied the letter to us and sent it to Mazepa and Zelenko together. The meaning is very green, so that these two people could put pressure on us in order to achieve a safer strategic environment."

Li Su had read all kinds of documents and said, "Carl is really smart. He wants to use this method to make Sweden invincible as much as possible."

"Do you think you should agree to him?" Li Junwei asked.

Li Su thought for a while and said, "At least you have to get the same written promise from the Polish king, otherwise it will be hard to say after the war. As for the Seme Conference, forget it."

Li Junwei nodded: "Yes."

Li Su smiled at Li Zhaocheng. Li Zhaocheng understood and asked a question that the Expeditionary Force headquarters wanted to ask. He asked: "Dad, is there any territorial requirements for the Empire to intervene in this war?"

"What do you think?" Li Junwei asked.

Li Zhaocheng said: "My colleagues from the Expeditionary Force Headquarters hope to seize another piece of land for the empire on the west bank of the Don River."

In fact, this is a replay of the old tune. This sound has been around for more than a year or two in the Imperial Army.

The reason is very simple. When the four-nation treaty was signed, Poland's land on the north bank of Shaohai (Sea of ​​Azov) only extended to the mouth of the Don River. In other words, in fact, the Don River was the boundary between the Empire and Russia, but later, the Empire set off a wave of development on the east bank of the Don River. The case of Don River occupied by Russia was mainly a Cossack vassal state. Even the most cutting-edge military city Voronezh was quite far from the borders of the two countries.

In recent years, the great development of Xijin has caused huge problems, that is, Xijin, the most important city on the western border of the empire, is located on the Don River, across the river from the Russian territory. The strategic situation is extremely bad. Now the empire has an absolute advantage. Fortunately, no one can guarantee that this advantage will last forever. Therefore, obtaining land on the west bank of the Don River and protecting Xijin has become an unavoidable proposition in the Western Xinjiang strategy.

But this is not a military issue, but a political issue. Apart from war means, there is no way to let Russia ced its land. What's more, both sides of the Don River are no longer the same as before.

When the empire acquired these lands, because of the constant struggle between the Crimean Tatars and the Cossacks, the two sides of the Don River were actually very deserted in the war between Russia and the Ottomans, but now it is not. The east bank of the Don River owned by the empire was already a densely populated area and an industrial base, and the west bank of the Don River owned by Russia also developed with the rise of Xijin, becoming an important agricultural and animal husbandry base, and its population also grew on a large scale.

Annexation of such a piece of land would also be quite burdened for the empire.

Of course, this is not the main problem, but the more important problem lies in the method. Li Junwei praised Li Su's proposal to "demilitarize the Dnieper River" because of this, the empire could intervene in the Great Northern War as a non-believer country. The basic strategy formulated by Li Junwei was to not participate in the war if he could participate. After all, the empire had considerable interests in Russia and Poland, and once he participated in the war, he would inevitably suffer damage.

"In fact, protecting Xijin is not just about occupying the depth of the west bank of the Don River. Supporting a friendly country on the west bank of the Don River can also be done the same." Li Junwei said, which is also an important reason why he is willing to support Ukraine's independence and founding. It is even more beneficial than the empire's direct occupation of a piece of land.

The reason is actually very simple. All the lands owned by the empire around the Black Sea were the old land of the Crimean Khanate, the land of the Tatars. After the destruction of the country, the Tatars had been divided into three parts. Some of them were accepted by Russia and lived in the west bank of the Don River with the Cossacks, becoming Peter's tool to control the barbarians and also a border defense force to guard the empire.

Some of them fled into the territory of the Ottoman Empire, and later moved to the south of the Caucasus by the Ottoman Empire to fight the expansion and harassment from the Cossack Republic.

The third part is that in Poland, he became a serf and had lost his national characteristics and independence.

Of course, the part of the population obtained by the empire had moved to India and became an important part of the imperial rule of the Hindustan Empire. Together with the Uzbeks, Kazakhs and other Central Asian Tianfang Cults, they became the ruling class and it was basically impossible to come back.

The case of Donhexi is different. This is the land of the Cossacks. At this time, nationalism began to prevail and can be understood as the land of the Ukrainians.

The greatest source of national hatred is often accompanied by massacre, oppression and territorial disputes. Just as the empire occupied the lower reaches of the Volga River, the land east of the Urals was unlikely to be friendly to Russia. If it occupied the west bank of the Don River, it would inevitably be an opposition to the Ukrainian nation.

It is against the opposition that it owns land on the west bank of the Don River and is friendly to Ukrainian nationality. If you choose one of the two, Li Junwei is willing to choose the latter. After all, the empire cannot have only enemies and opponents in Europe.

"Dad, I don't believe in the Ukrainians. They have not shown any qualities that are worthy of our trust." Li Zhaocheng said stubbornly after listening to his father's explanation.

"Quality, what is that? Have you seen qualities worthy of our trust in other nations?" Li Junwei asked back.

Li Zhaocheng said: "The Prussians are good."

"The qualities of a nation are shaped by various environments. I never think that there are any nations born good at fighting, some nations are naturally weak, and I don't think that some nations are naturally elegant and noble, and some are low and shameless. As a Chinese, you only need to love our Chinese nation. The quality of other nations has nothing to do with you." Li Junwei said.

Seeing that Li Zhaocheng was still trying to refute, Li Su patted his shoulder lightly and said, "Zhaocheng, you are still young and don't know that people's hearts are sinister. Just as His Majesty the Supreme Emperor taught us, people are the sum of social relations. We are all influenced by others, but we must stick to our original intentions. This time we go north with me, see more and understand more."

"Oh, Brother Rong means that as long as I go deep into the hinterland of Ukraine and look more, I can see the excellent qualities of the Ukrainian nation?" Li Zhaocheng asked.

Li Su laughed: "I don't mean that. I mean, if you follow me out and take a look, you will find that Prussia, Ukraine, and other ethnic groups are all the same. There is no excellent, kind positive qualities. This evaluation will be used on yourself."

Li Su felt that Li Zhao was greatly influenced by others. His positive evaluation of the Prussians was mainly because he had a friend like William, who had also seen the strength of the Prussian army. However, the negative evaluation of the Ukrainians was because the local Xijin evaluation of the Ukrainians was relatively negative.

This is helpless. In fact, in any corner of the world, foreigners have labels such as evil and cunning.

Li Su is actually more inclined to Li Junwei's plan, which is to support a friendly Ukrainian country and drive all the foreigners in the Xijin area over there.

"Okay, I'll go and prepare." Li Zhaocheng said and stepped down.

Li Junwei said helplessly: "This child has a very simple mind and is easily exploited."

"Zhaocheng is a pure person who hates evil and dares to love and hate. I think it's very good. He is very upright, isn't he? Such a person is the most suitable to be a brother." Li Su said.

"It's not suitable to be an emperor," said Li Junwei.

Li Su laughed and didn't answer this. This was not a question he considered, but he always felt that King Yu was too harsh on Li Zhaocheng.

When he returned to his camp, Li Su came to Li Yongzhong and said, "Yongzhong, what do you think of Zhaocheng?"

Li Yongzhong said: "The second young master is very good, and everyone likes him."
Chapter completed!