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

After saying that, Li Che turned and left the back hall without any regrets.

For Li Che, as long as Yelu Xian had no intention of committing suicide, there would be no problem in him taking her as his concubine.

Yelu Xian is extremely beautiful, and for men, this alone is enough.

The essence of falling in love at first sight is lust at first sight, and Li Che has never bothered to hide his lustful and scumbag nature.

To put it bluntly, he just wants her body!

Moreover, Yelu Xian was a princess of the Liao Kingdom, and her family background was sufficient, which gave her considerable political value.

Since she is pretty, well-matched and of the right age, Li Che is naturally willing to take her as a concubine.

After Li Che left, Yelu Xian stood there blankly, his mind in a mess.

She remembered that Yelu and his entire family were executed by her father Khan.

Yelu He was also a relative of the Yelu family. His sister had a good relationship with Yelu Xian. After Yelu He got into trouble, his sister was naturally killed by Yelu Daha. Yelu Xian cried bitterly for this.

There was no need for Prince Feng to lie to himself. If his father Khan was really killed by Yelu He, then the hatred could not be blamed on Prince Feng in any way.

But what about Yelu He? His entire family died unjustly, and he was just avenging his family. It can be said that every wrong has its perpetrator and every debt has its creditor.

Yelu Xian thought about it for a long time, and felt more and more confused.

For women in ancient times, there was no such thing as free love. The fate of most women was to be married off at the behest of their parents and the matchmaker.

Yelu Daha is dead, and his eldest brother is his father, so Yelu Yuan can decide Yelu Xian's marriage.

Now Yelu Yuan has completely submitted to the tyranny of Emperor Qing and dares not raise any opinions. It is a foregone conclusion that Yelu Xian will become Li Che's concubine.

For some reason, when Yelu Xian thought of this, he did not feel disgusted, but instead felt a little secretly happy.

Li Che came to Beijing not only to take a concubine, but also to do important business.

The matter of accepting the surrender would be handled by Emperor Qing and the officials from the Ministry of Rites who accompanied him, so he didn't need to worry too much about it.

After Li Che greeted Emperor Qing, he took generals including Chen Pingzhi for a stroll in Shangjing City.

This was the first time that Li Che took a close look at the Liao capital.

As the first of the five capitals of the Liao Dynasty and the first grassland capital in northern China, the Khitan people put a lot of effort into this city and the city construction was quite complete.

Li Che had already decided to make this city a key development city for Feng State in the future and a strategic fortress for defending the grassland.

Shangjing is surrounded by mountains and is divided into two cities, north and south. It is easy to defend and difficult to attack, and has great strategic significance. It is also the political, economic and cultural center of the Liao Dynasty.

Its location is right at the junction of the grassland and the outside of the Great Wall. As long as this city is defended, Feng State can attack when advancing and defend when retreating, and will have the initiative against the various tribes on the grassland.

Li Che stood on the city wall, looking at the mountains in the distance, and felt a little emotional: "General Chen, what do you think Fengguo should do about the various tribes on the grassland?"

When Chen Pingzhi heard Li Che's words, he did not rush to answer, but thought for a moment.

Then he replied, "In my humble opinion, taking over the grasslands would do more harm than good to Feng State."

After hearing Chen Pingzhi's conclusion, Li Che did not express his opinion, but nodded slightly: "Go on."

"Although the grassland is vast, it is not suitable for farming. It is more suitable for grazing and is a good place for horse grazing."

"However, our Feng State now dominates the outer reaches of the Great Wall and has no shortage of grazing land for horses, so the grasslands are of little use to us. Even if we conquer the various tribes on the grasslands, to actually control this land, we would still need to migrate people there and build a city on the grasslands, which is simply not worth the effort."

"The reason why successive dynasties in the Central Plains viewed the north as a major threat and constantly sent troops to attack it was because the northern barbarians were unproductive. If their strength was not constantly weakened, they would harass the borders and cause unrest in the country."

"But my Feng Kingdom has no such concerns. Although the Northern Hu tribes are brave and powerful, how can their scimitars and bows and crossbows stand up to my Feng Kingdom's muskets and artillery?"

Chen Pingzhi paused and bowed slightly: "Your Highness, this is all I can think of."

Li Che looked at him with a smile, his face showing appreciation: "Well said, you are indeed the handsome talent that the king has chosen, and it coincides with what the king has in mind."

Chen Pingzhi was a humble person by nature, and when he heard what Li Che said, he even said he didn't dare.

Li Che sighed and turned to look at the grassland in the distance.

Just as Chen Pingzhi said, Feng State has now taken over most of the territory of the three northeastern provinces in the previous life, and the grassland land does seem a bit useless.

In his imagination, he might take over the eastern part of Mongolia in the future, but he would not go further west.

This was a rational decision, but emotionally, Li Che was still somewhat unwilling.

In his previous life, he had always regarded Huo Qubing as his idol. Fenglangjuxu was the highest honor for a military general, so Li Che naturally yearned for it and had long intended to emulate it.

But now he is the King of Feng, responsible for the future of millions of people. If he goes to war just for his own selfish wishes, what is the difference between him and the ambitious Emperor Yang?

It is not feasible to launch a large-scale military operation.

Moreover, Fengguo's future focus will gradually shift from land to ocean, while the grassland will still focus on defense and maintaining stability.

Li Che pondered for a moment and slowly said, "We won't occupy the grassland, but we will let the tribes on the grassland see the might of our Fengguo army!"

Chen Pingzhi was stunned for a moment, then asked tentatively, "What does Your Highness mean?"

"The grassland barbarians admire strength. If they are not given a good beating, they will not behave themselves." Li Che sneered. "Although they cannot pose a threat to Feng State, their little tricks every few days are annoying."

"I intend to send a strong army into the grasslands to intimidate the tribes of the grasslands with military achievements, so that they will stay in the grasslands and dare not invade the borders of our Feng Kingdom."

Chen Pingzhi said worriedly, "I'm afraid this mission will be in vain."

"How could it be nameless?" Li Che laughed. "Before the fall of Shangjing, didn't the remnants of the Khitan flee to the grasslands?"

"We'll use this as an excuse to send troops into the grasslands to hunt down the remaining Khitans. There will undoubtedly be rebellious individuals among the grassland tribes who stand in our way. Then, we'll slaughter the most rebellious tribes and use this to enhance the prestige of our Fengguo army!"

Li Che's voice was flat, but Qu Jinshan beside him broke out in a cold sweat.

As expected of our prince, he is truly ruthless and would slaughter entire clans at any time.

If the tribes of the grasslands meet His Highness, they will be punished.

After a brief thought, Chen Pingzhi offered a suggestion: "This is feasible, but the number of troops sent to the grassland should not be too large. It would be best to send a few thousand elite cavalry to support the war through fighting."

Li Che nodded slightly. Chen Pingzhi's idea coincided with that of Guanjun Hou.

After entering the grassland, the battle line will inevitably be lengthened. If a large army is sent there, the amount of food and supplies will be huge. Even if the purpose of intimidating the grassland can be achieved, the price paid will be too high.

Li Che asked again, "Now that we've come to this, General, are you willing to go to the grassland?"

Chen Pingzhi shook his head and said, "Your Highness, please forgive me. My health is too poor. I am afraid that I will not be able to survive after entering the grassland."

Li Che hesitated for a moment, but did not force it.

This army entered the grassland to fight a protracted war and guerrilla warfare. With Chen Pingzhi's physical condition, he might not be able to withstand it.

Chen Pingzhi added, "Since this battle is mainly based on cavalry, I have a candidate."