Section 187 Allies
For the Tuyuhun people, although they were Hu people with Shatu people and the Miscellaneous Hutongs outside the Frontier, their relationship was not harmonious and there were many conflicts. Therefore, the Tuyuhun people had close contact with Daliang, and Daliang also used the Tuyuhun people to restrain the Shatu people in Hedong from the northeast side.
The Tuyuhun people, like the Khitans in the east, had no good relationship, especially as the Khitans conquered the Shiwei people to the north, annexed the Marine people to the south, and the Xi people, their power expanded rapidly, and the Tuyuhun people increasingly felt the threat from the Khitans in the east, even surpassing the Shatu people.
Especially when they found that their most important ally, Daliang, was declining and now they were more likely to perish under the attack of the Shatuo people, their anxious mentality can be imagined. It is urgent to find a more reliable and powerful ally, so this move to Xuzhou was the only way to go south.
It took less than a year for this process to rise from a business partner to a quasi-ally. Huaiyou took a year to defeat Xu Si, annex Yan and Yunyi, and then even more surprisingly, it destroyed Pinglu Town, an important northern town in one fell swoop, which made the Tuyuhun people look at him with admiration.
So they hope that this trip to Xuzhou can achieve a satisfactory result for both parties.
We should take advantage of the opportunity that the Khitans had not yet gone south to Heshuo to buy iron and weapons from Xuzhou as much as possible. At the same time, they also hope to sell more horses to Xuzhou to make Xuzhou's military power stronger.
Only a powerful ally poses enough threat to the enemy can minimize the pressure on the Tuyuhun people themselves.
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Jiang Feng did not know that a potential Northern ally's mission also came to Xuzhou at the same time. The value of this ally was no less than that of the court. He was still busy negotiating with the imperial mission, which involved many aspects.
The imperial edict of the Prince of Pengcheng has been confirmed. According to Guo Tao, it is only a matter of time before the promotion to Princess Jin is confirmed. It is better to be promoted before the wedding.
This seems to be a condition of exchange, to tie Xuzhou and the imperial court closer to everything.
For Jiang Feng, this was not something that made him resist.
This era seems to be asking for romantic love is too unrealistic, not to mention that he and Li Jin still have some fate and feelings.
Li Jin is not the kind of arrogant and unruly woman. In terms of appearance, she is also of the level of beauty. After all, she has been selected by countless generations in the royal family, and it is impossible to be bad from scientific theory.
What bothered Jiang Feng was the suggestion Guo Tao made to him.
Jiang Feng moderately showed Guo Tao some of his strength, such as Xuzhou's iron smelting industry.
In fact, before Jiang Feng began to build the iron smelting center on a large scale, Xuzhou was originally an important iron smelting center for the entire Tang Empire, but it fell into the hands of Shi Feng, a guy who was not very good at managing, and this iron smelting field could only reach that level and could no longer expand.
There are many reasons. The technical reasons are only one aspect, the backward management system, the lag in the mining of Liguojian iron ore, and the instability of social security caused by food shortage in Xuzhou in recent years have affected the production of this iron smelting center.
But now all this constraints no longer exist. A large number of refugees from Yanyunyi have poured in, which has left Xuzhou without any shortage of labor. The mining of the Liguojian area has begun to expand on a large scale. At the same time, the road between the Liguojian and the iron smelting center has also been repaired unprecedentedly.
In addition to climbing the iron smelting industry as a scientific tree in the smelting center, given the abundant resources on this treasure land in Xuzhou, the original cement production has also been put on the agenda.
In fact, the production and manufacturing process of cement is not complicated. As long as there is limestone, clay, anthracite, and anthracite, it is not difficult to produce low-grade cement. It is just that it is not easy to understand this principle. Therefore, the Romans began to use the most primitive volcanic ash cement long ago, but it was difficult to sustain later, but no one understood the reason.
The reason why Jiang Feng was hesitant about the issue of cement production was that he considered that once this thing was produced and used for the construction of the city defense system, it also meant that the power of long-range strike weapons such as catapults and dragon cannons would be greatly restricted.
With cement, unless it is a heavy thermal weapon of gunpowder, it will be difficult to destructively use the city wall built with cement as a binder. Once this thing comes out, even Jiang Feng doesn't know what kind of impact it will have on history, especially after the promotion and use of scale, the impact on magic and magic is difficult to estimate.
If Jiang Feng only occupied Huaiyou or even Xuzhou, he would not dare to open this technology tree easily, but the situation is different now.
Now he has controlled the entire Pinglu Prefectures and Yanyunyi area. It can be said that in terms of territory and population, he is no longer inferior to any vassal family in the empire.
Even though the Great Jin Dynasty may be stronger than itself in military strength, and even if nomadic forces like the Khitan are still higher than themselves in military potential, in time, Jiang Feng believes that they will not be his opponents.
Now I have to integrate the strength within my jurisdiction as soon as possible and maximize it. This is the key.
So how can we integrate and exert our strength as soon as possible? In addition to ensuring food production in agriculture, we must rely on the development of industry and commerce to promote the improvement of military strength. Steel production is of course the most important, but cement will also play an increasingly important role.
Only with cement can urban construction become simple and solid. When dealing with the advantages of nomadic peoples coming and going like the wind, one of the greatest guarantees for firm walls and clearing the fields is the city and fortress.
Similarly, to ensure your own logistics transportation capabilities, a smooth and complete official road system is also necessary.
It is also a reason to settle these labor forces that have flowed from the north and find some necessary methods. At least this labor-intensive manufacturing industry can not only create value, but also alleviate possible public security risks.
So Jiang Feng was also considering whether this original cement should be released.
Guo Tao was shocked by the large-scale iron production of the iron smelting center. Of course, this was due to Jiang Feng's intentional concealment. Even so, the discounted production capacity still made Guo Tao feel that Jiang Feng should consider competing for the two states of Chu and Yang.
In Guo Tao's view, taking over the two states of Chu and Yang will not only obtain more population and financial resources, but also allow Xuzhou's iron to be sold in large quantities in Huainan and Jiangnan, which will lay a solid foundation for the struggle between the Xuzhou army and the Shatuo people.
It should be said that Guo Tao was sincerely considering Xuzhou. Of course, this is based on the premise that Guo Tao still believes that the Shatuo people have military advantages in Xuzhou.
He believed that if the Xuzhou army wanted to win the war with the Shatuo people, they could only rely on long-term persistence, and they might suffer huge losses in the early stage. However, as long as the wealthy land of Huainan is supported and the long-term battle can it be consumed by the Shatuo people. Therefore, he insisted that Jiang Feng should take Chu and Yang prefectures first, rather than compete for places such as Songzhou and Heshuo.
"This Lord Tongzhiyuan is really persistent." Jiang Feng shook his head helplessly, glanced at Cui Shang, Wang Miao and Hou Chen who were sitting in the lower head, "Do you think his views are valuable?"
"I think Mr. Guo may underestimate Li Wu's importance to Chu and Yang two prefectures, and he also overestimated the threat of ant thieves in the south of the Yangtze River." Wang Miao pondered for a while before slowly saying: "In fact, according to the information obtained from Wuwentang, the ant thieves were slowly declining after controlling the entire Xuanzhou, and the internal contradictions began to appear. Qin Quan's main ant thief and Han Baling's tribe crossed the river south of the river have already shown signs of being in harmony. It was also because of the threats of Li Wu and Qian Yue that it did not intensify. Once we send troops to Chu Yang, Li Wu will definitely withdraw troops north without hesitation. Li Wu can give up Changzhou, or even Runzhou, but they will never give up Chu and Yangzhou, especially Yangzhou."
"What if we only take Chuzhou?" Jiang Feng knew it was a bit stupid to ask this question, but he still had to ask.
"Monday Duke, Chu and Yang are one, Li Bing cannot believe that we only take Chuzhou. As long as the war starts, we will never die." Cui Shang smiled bitterly, "We cannot be dragged to the south at this time. If it is true as you said, the Khitans will go south soon. We not only want to fight for a good defensive posture in the Central Plains, but also need to make an arrangement in Heshuo immediately."
"Mr. Guo seems to be very worried that we will turn against Caizhou, so he hopes that we will give Songzhou to Yuan. What do you think?" Jiang Feng nodded silently. He just asked. In fact, he also knew that now is definitely not a good time to start the battlefield in Jiangnan.
This is indeed a difficult problem.
The status and weight of Songzhou are extraordinary. If you are obtained by Caizhou, then Caozhou, Yunzhou and even Puzhou in the north will be like being pushed onto their waists and may be stabbed at any time. If you are accused of being a Shatuo people at that time, Caizhou and Shatuo people secretly communicate with each other. If you come here, even the southern part of Yanzhou may be stabbed by the other party, and the three states of Caopu and Yun may be lost.
But Songzhou is also equally indispensable to the Yuan family. Xuzhou only needs to go south from Zhecheng to easily separate the connection between Bozhou and Chenzhou, and most of Bozhou may be lost.
Jiang Feng did not intend to turn against Yuan at this time, and was even willing to make some moves to ease the relationship, especially when the battle between Liang and Jin was not yet revealed, he did not want to be distracted, but it did not mean that he could make such a huge concession as giving up Songzhou, which would not be recognized in the Xuzhou army.
Chapter completed!