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

At the Chaoyang City government office, civil officials and military generals gathered together.

There were neatly dressed Confucian scholars in Confucian robes, burly generals in armor, and barbarian generals with deep eyes and strange looks.

Li Che sat upright on the throne, below him were Li Lin and three cabinet ministers: Huo, Tao and Zhuge.

Further down were dozens of officials and senior generals, with civil officials on the left and military officers on the right.

Li Che called everyone here so urgently that everyone was naturally confused and kept talking.

It was not until the sound of shackles clanging at the door was heard that the ministers realized that it was Wang Yongnian who had arrived, and then they quieted down.

Wang Yongnian stood at the back of the team. Not long after, the last official also walked into the hall.

Huai En bowed slightly and nodded to Li Che. Li Che then stood up, holding the letter in his hand:

"Here is an urgent military report from the north. The king and three ministers have read it, Huai En."

"The servant is here."

"Read it to your Lordships."

"Here."

Huai En took the letter with both hands and read it aloud in public.

As Huai En spoke in a clear voice, the expressions of the ministers became serious.

The Khitans have been very obedient during this period. Yelu Dahe was obviously frightened by Li Che, and even took the initiative to withdraw some troops from the border a few days ago.

Just as Li Che had guessed before, unless something unexpected happened, the Khitan would never dare to invade actively within a few years.

However, God's will often does not go as we wish.

Last year, Daqing suffered various disasters, but nothing happened outside the Great Wall. However, at the beginning of this year, the situation was reversed.

At the beginning of the month, several scouts sent by Chen Pingzhi discovered that many Khitan tribes were behaving strangely and were slaughtering their domesticated cattle and sheep in large numbers in the spring.

You know, cattle and sheep that have been hungry for a whole winter are at the point where they have the least meat. Slaughtering the livestock at this moment not only means a loss, but also cuts off their chance of survival for the year.

Often, even if nomadic tribes are short of food, they would rather starve for a few days than do such a desperate measure.

Chen Pingzhi naturally took this very seriously and asked Jie Quan to lead his men to rob a few cattle and sheep and bring them back to the city.

After examination by military doctors under Chen Pingzhi, they concluded that many Khitan tribes were experiencing an animal plague with an extremely high mortality rate.

This animal plague is highly contagious and only targets cattle and sheep, while horses are unharmed. It is also almost untreatable.

It is not clear whether people who live with cattle and sheep, or who eat meat from infected cattle and sheep, will also contract the plague.

Chen Pingzhi did not dare to delay such a big matter. After investigating it thoroughly, he immediately sent cavalry to report.

Huai En put down the letter in his hand, and the whole room of civil and military officials had already started a heated discussion.

On the surface, it seemed that the disaster was caused by the Khitan and had nothing to do with Feng State, so they could just sit back and watch.

But everyone present here is a wise and brave man. After a little thought, they can see the crisis.

The Khitan nomadic people mainly ate beef and mutton. Now that all their livestock had died of plague, their food source had been cut off.

What do nomads do when they run out of food?

They are not good at farming, so I'm afraid the only option they have is to send troops to plunder.

When everyone had almost finished their discussion, Li Che stood up and said, "Well, before this, I discussed with the three ministers that although the Khitan incident was sudden, it also had advantages and disadvantages."

"One thing is certain: the challenges our Fengguo will face will be quite severe. We can even say it's the greatest crisis since the founding of our country."

"There's no need to panic, my lords. I'll handle each one of these matters one by one. Now, I'll let Zhengze explain the situation to you."

"Please listen carefully. If there is anything wrong, please correct me. If there is anything missing, please point it out."

Li Che sat down, while Huo Duanxiao stood in front of the queue and said concisely:

"This plague is so severe that the Khitans may face the possibility of wiping out all their cattle and sheep. When that day comes, their only hope of survival will be to declare war on their neighbors. This will not only reduce their population and food needs, but also allow them to plunder sufficient food."

Huo Duanxiao walked to the map hanging in front of the hall, picked up a stick and pointed at it.

"The Khitans are located in the central part of the land outside the Great Wall, bordering Shiwei to the north and Goryeo and our Feng State to the south. This means they only have two options: either go north or go south."

"If the territory of Goryeo is actually controlled by our Fengtian Army, that means that the south of Khitan has only one direction of attack from our Fengtian Army."

"I believe that whether it's heading north or south, my country will send troops!"

A civil official below frowned and said, "Minister Huo, there is something I don't understand."

Huo Duanxiao nodded slightly: "Please speak."

"If the Khitans move south, we will fight them. But if they move north, then fighting can be avoided. Why would Fengguo send troops?"

Huo Duanxiao's eyes were restrained, and he smiled slightly: "Khitan and my Feng Kingdom are both powerful countries outside the Great Wall. Two tigers in the same mountain, sooner or later there will be a life-and-death battle!"

"If the Khitans march north to attack Shiwei, the two families will inevitably fight to the death. Furthermore, the Khitans have been plagued by plague, and their rear will be empty. This is a godsend opportunity. How can our Fengtian Army not send troops?"

"This..." All the civil officials remained silent.

Are we going to fight again?

Fengguo fought a year of war within one year of its founding.

The country is in a state of disrepair and is just preparing to recuperate and restore the people's strength. If we send troops again, won't we fall into turmoil again?

Before the civil officials could refute, Li Che on the stage slowly spoke:

"Based on my understanding of Yelu Dahe, he will definitely not go north, but will definitely go south!"

Seeing all the ministers looking at him, Li Che said calmly, "From the Khitan's perspective, the Fengtian Army is strong and powerful, and this king is also ambitious and has the aspiration to expand his territory."

"If he goes north, regardless of whether he can defeat Shiwei or not, I will not let this opportunity go."

"In that case, we might as well go all out and choose to march south from the very beginning to fight a decisive battle with my Feng State!"

"At that time, he could also send envoys to persuade the various Mohe tribes, the Heishui Mohe, and the Shiwei to borrow troops from them."

"Now, the various tribes outside the Great Wall have long regarded our Feng Kingdom as a scourge. They also understand the principle of the lips and teeth being cold, and they are likely to lend troops to Yelu Dahe."

Li Che's face was solemn, and he sighed slightly: "Next, my Fengtian Army may not only face the Khitan army, but also the coalition forces of hundreds of thousands of ethnic groups outside the Great Wall!"

As soon as these words came out, the whole hall was shocked.

The ministers subconsciously wanted to refute, but they felt that His Highness' words were too alarmist.

But when I thought about it carefully, I felt disappointed.

The combat effectiveness of the Fengtian Army is obvious to all, and the development of the Fengtian State is even more rapid.

Anyone with a discerning eye can see that it is only a matter of time before His Highness unifies the areas beyond the Great Wall.

If you want to be safe, you can develop for three to five years first, and at the same time gradually erode the power of various tribes, so that you can steadily sweep the world.

But other countries are not fools. How can they sit idly by and watch Fengguo grow stronger?

Only the leader of Shiwei State has brains. When Khitan decides to fight a decisive battle with Feng State, they will definitely send troops to support!

The Fengtian Army was not afraid of any single enemy, whether it was the Mohe, Khitan or Shiwei.

But no matter how powerful the Fengtian Army is, can it defeat all the tribes outside the Great Wall?