We have fought to the Arctic Circle, and you want me to inherit the throne?

Zhang Fan achieved great success on his first diplomatic mission.

When Li Che heard the news, he was overjoyed.

What made him happy was not that the Park family surrendered, but that he had gained a top talent under his command.

The value of a top-level envoy is extremely high.

Zhang Yi, Mao Sui, Zhang Qian, Su Wu, Ban Chao, Wang Xuance...

These were all top talents who came from envoy backgrounds. They all influenced the course of history with their own abilities, and some even achieved the feat of destroying an entire country by themselves.

Li Che has high hopes for Zhang Fan.

This person is quick-witted and tenacious, and is a good candidate for the art of forming alliances and making coalitions. With time, he may be able to achieve the same achievements as those mentioned above.

So he was appointed as a doctor of the imperial court, and was allowed to participate in court meetings and serve as an attendant.

This official position is not high, it is the fifth rank, the thirteenth level of civil servants.

But for Li Che, it has great symbolic significance, because the fierce man who destroyed an entire country once held this official position.

The Park family surrendered, and the last obstacle for the Fengtian Army in Goryeo was cleared.

After a month of continuous fighting, everyone was finally able to sit together and have a good rest.

Of course, Li Che did not let his guard down and asked Wang Hu to lead the cavalry to patrol the border to prevent the Park family from going back on their word.

The rest of the generals gathered at the Goryeo royal palace, and the celebration banquet was held as scheduled.

The crackling torches illuminated the magnificent hall of the Goryeo royal palace.

Li Che sat high on the throne that originally belonged to the King of Goryeo. The bricks and stones under the throne had been hollowed out, and the replacement bricks and stones did not match the colors and looked a bit strange.

At the foot of the tiger-skin-covered steps, the generals surrounded Li Che and sat at separate tables.

The sound of stringed instruments is melodious and graceful, completely different from the music of the Central Plains, with a hint of the unique Korean style.

The Korean dancers, dressed in colorful clothes with long fluttering sleeves, danced gracefully in the center of the hall, their graceful figures swaying like willow catkins in the wind.

The generals drank and chatted happily, celebrating this hard-earned victory.

"Your Highness is wise! After this battle, Goryeo will never recover!" Wang Sanchun raised his glass and said loudly.

Li Che smiled slightly and raised his glass to say, "Thank you all for your hard work, generals. This victory is all thanks to your bravery in killing the enemy!"

Everyone shouted in unison: "Long live His Highness!"

Li Che looked at Qiu Bai beside him, who understood and clapped his hands lightly.

As a fragrance wafted over, the palace maids came in one after another and placed dishes on the table.

The generals were already hungry and were now full of anticipation.

After all, Li Che specifically ordered the royal chef of the palace to cook personally to let everyone taste the traditional delicacies of Goryeo.

However, when the lids of the dishes were removed, the originally bustling hall gradually became quiet.

What was placed before everyone were not delicacies from land and sea, nor were they delicacies, but plates of... pickles?

All kinds of pickles, dried radish, wild vegetables, mustard greens...

There are many varieties and a dazzling array of them, but they are all pickles without exception.

The generals looked at each other, and their expectant eyes turned into confusion.

Hu Qiang's eyes turned red and he almost couldn't hold back his tears.

Finally, everyone looked at Li Che.

"Your Highness, this is... an appetizer?"

"Well, these vegetables are all green and lush, they are quite healthy."

"Or let's serve the meat first, so we can fill our stomachs."

Li Che also looked at the palace maid who was serving the dishes. The latter whispered, "Your Highness, this is the main course."

Li Che coughed lightly, his expression a little unnatural: "Ahem, the Goryeo Palace...it seems that these are all that are left..."

He Conglong couldn't help but ask, "Your Highness, in the magnificent Goryeo Royal Palace, there's not even a piece of meat?"

Li Che smiled awkwardly: "I guess Li Weiyou had anticipated that the city would be breached and moved all the valuables and food away in advance..."

"I ordered the royal chef to prepare this dinner according to the Goryeo state banquet standards. I don't think they would have the guts to fool me."

Wen Zaiyin, who was standing by, couldn't help but say, "Your Highness, these are the dishes that make up the real Goryeo state banquet..."

There was silence in the hall for a moment, and then a burst of laughter broke out.

"Haha, I didn't expect that after we conquered the Goryeo capital, we could only celebrate by eating pickles!"

"This King of Goryeo is really stingy!"

"But this pickle tastes pretty good!"

Seeing Wen Zaiyin's embarrassed look, Li Che smiled helplessly.

Although he knew that the Korean state banquet in later generations was indeed radish and cabbage kimchi, he did not expect that this custom had existed for thousands of years.

Li Che had no choice but to wave his hand and ask Qiu Bai to find the military chef to prepare some more meat dishes.

All the generals present were gifted warriors with huge appetites. This amount of pickles was not enough for Hu Qiang to fill his stomach.

As the military chef brought in pots of fragrant stew, this harmless episode was over.

After three rounds of wine, five flavors of food.

Li Che asked the maid to make some light tea, and sat with everyone in the hall, chatting and admiring the moon.

The generals were all drunk and gathered together to brag and play finger-guessing games, and some even hugged the palace maids and touched them all over.

Li Che didn't care about their loss of composure. After fighting for such a long time, what's wrong with enjoying himself?

Although these Goryeo palace maids were good-looking, he was not interested in them, so he simply gave one to each of them.

The generals were immediately overjoyed. Rough men like Wang Sanchun and He Conglong couldn't wait to pull the palace maids to find a room for in-depth communication.

Yue Yun, Hua Ying and others were a little more shy, but they only declined briefly and then accepted it with blushing faces.

Only Hu Qiang didn't care and just kept gnawing on the lamb leg.

Civil officials such as Huo Duanxiao, Wen Zaiyin, Zhang Fan, and Chen Gui were not so generous. After thanking Li Che for the reward, they still stayed with Li Che and chatted.

Huo Duanxiao took a sip of tea and looked up at Li Che, who was sitting at the top of the table. "I wonder what official positions Your Highness is planning to give to the two brothers of the Pu family?"

Li Che shook his head: "This matter is serious, I can't make the decision alone, I need to ask my father for his opinion."

"Now that the New Year is drawing to a close, it's time for me to return to the capital. I can report the situation in Goryeo to my father in person."

Huo Duanxiao nodded, then suddenly frowned and said, "Your Highness, although Goryeo is now at peace, the situation on the peninsula is not completely secure. Previously, when Goryeo was powerful, Silla and Baekje united to maintain the three-way balance of power."

"And now that our Fengtian Army has entered the game with great force and occupied the position formerly occupied by Goryeo, I'm afraid that Goryeo, Silla, and Baekje will feel threatened and unite together."

"If they fight among the three kingdoms, it will be disadvantageous to our army."

After hearing what Huo Duanxiao said, Li Che sobered up immediately.

He immediately humbly asked for advice: "According to Zhengze's opinion, how should we respond?"

"I believe we should appease Silla and Baekje and let them know that our country has no intention of annexing them."

"As for how to appease them..." Huo Danxiao looked at Wen Zaiyin, "Mr. Wen is a former minister of Goryeo, so he should understand both countries better."

Wen Zaiyin silently put down the tea in his hand with a complicated expression.

The change in his identity and position made him feel somewhat out of place, and he could feel the contempt of Fengguo's monarchs and ministers for Goryeo.

Although Li Che and others did not express it openly, that contempt emanated from their subconscious, expressed in subtle actions and thoughts.

For example, Li Che rewarded the generals with Goryeo palace maids, and another example was people's ridicule of the shabby dishes at the Goryeo state banquet.

Fortunately, Li Che kept his word and did not harm the people of Goryeo or humiliate the Li royal family.

With this in mind, Wen Zaiyin was willing to give advice to Li Che.

He thought for a moment and said, “There’s no need to say more about Silla. They are on good terms with Daqing. Your Highness only needs to send an envoy to appease them.”

Li Che nodded slightly. Among the Three Kingdoms, Silla was the most loyal to Daqing, and even had some blind worship.

Some Silla nobles considered it an honor to send their daughters to Daqing to serve as Silla maids.

Li Che looked at Zhang Fan and said, "I'll leave this matter to Mr. Zhang. This mission should focus on appeasement, supplemented by deterrence."

Zhang Fan saluted and said, "Your Highness, rest assured. I will definitely fulfill your orders."

"As for Baekje," Wen Zaiyin said with difficulty. "Baekje's ruling class was the Buyeo people. Unlike the lower-class Han people, the power of the country rested in the hands of the eight major clans."

"If Your Highness wishes to appease Baekje, you must reassure the eight major clans. I do not have a good way to deal with these clans."

The situation in Baekje was somewhat complicated. The king could not fully control the power of various tribes, and power was delegated to the leaders of each tribe.

Therefore, a dual system was formed, with officials directly reporting to the king and officials directly reporting to the heads of various departments.

"I do have a solution..." Huo Duanxiao suddenly said, "but it requires Your Highness to be a little bit inconsiderate."

Li Che asked curiously, "Tell me, how are you wronged?"

"Well, it's not really an injustice." Huo Duanxiao smiled. "The most convenient way for nobles to make friends is through marriage."

"I heard that the queen of King Yi Yiyou of Goryeo was the daughter of a Baekje noble..."