Chaos of the Three Kingdoms Summons

Chapter 2764: Conferring Titles upon the Manchus; Zixu Dies of Illness

During the Qianyuan era, the Great Jin Dynasty won a series of victories, conquering the north and Southeast Asia, pacifying the Li Tang Dynasty, and recently gaining control of western Liangzhou and Xizhou.

By August of the eighth year of the Qian Yuan era, the war on both the eastern and western fronts of the empire had completely achieved its pre-determined objectives.

The war on the southern front had also come to an end in this fourth year.

Hulagu and Batu, who were originally engaged in the southern front of the Yuan-Mongol war, had no interest in the Kushan Empire, which was on the verge of collapse, after receiving news from the royal court.

Therefore, they immediately halted their advance and prepared to return to the royal court.

Before leaving, Hulagu even gave away a portion of the territory he had painstakingly conquered to his allies.

The purpose was nothing other than to use them as allies to block the Yuan Mongols' influence within the Kushan Empire and the Great Jin Dynasty after they left.

At this crucial time, we should try our best not to cause any further complications.

As for Ögedei, who had been staying in his own Khanate, he immediately led his troops back to the royal court upon receiving the news.

Of all the Khans of the various Khanates, he was probably the most anxious at this time.

With Kublai Khan dead, he was one of the most qualified candidates to ascend to the top position within the entire Yuan Dynasty.

Especially considering that Kublai Khan didn't even have time to leave an imperial edict to determine the next successor.

At this point, he had even less reason to give up.

Within the Modu Khanate, Modu, who was bedridden, sighed heavily upon hearing the news, but made no further reaction.

Fate ultimately did not favor him. If Temujin and Kublai Khan had died ten years earlier, everything would have been different for him.

But he too grew old eventually.

Even if Kublai Khan were to die, the Yuan Dynasty would inevitably descend into chaos, but the world would no longer be his era.

He is already sixty years old this year.

Also in August of the eighth year of the Qianyuan era, the Manchu Emperor Xuan Ye personally welcomed Zhang Yi, the envoy of the Great Jin, into the Manchu royal court and publicly accepted the investiture from the Great Jin. After Kublai Khan's death, he dealt the first blow to the Yuan-Mongol Empire.

After receiving news of Kublai Khan's death in March, Li Xiang dispatched Zhang Yi as an envoy to the Manchu Qing dynasty.

The current strategy of the Great Jin Dynasty towards the grasslands is to divide and weaken them.

The first problem was division. Once this vast empire was divided, the various factions would naturally weaken from internal strife.

There's no need to rush into addressing the internal divisions within the Yuan Dynasty. We'll wait until their internal struggle reaches a fever pitch, then we can proceed with the process.

But at this point, it would be better to first cut a knife into the Manchu Qing, which is outside the Yuan Dynasty.

Xuan Ye had been waiting for these two great empires to weaken each other, so that the Manchu Qing dynasty, sandwiched between them, would have a chance to grow stronger.

To his dismay, he never got to see that day; instead, he suffered a one-sided defeat.

As an excellent politician, he was able to see Kublai Khan's role in the Mongol Empire.

But it was precisely because he could see it that he realized that this once thriving empire was about to decline because of the death of one man.

At this moment, an envoy from another vast empire arrived, and Xuan Ye had no choice but to accept it, whether he wanted to or not.

If he really doesn't accept it, then in the next phase, the military target of the Great Jin will definitely not be the Yuan Mongols, but the Manchus.

After all, internal conflicts between the Yuan and Mongol dynasties are about to begin, and all sorts of problems will be exposed, which could even lead to a complete split.

If the Great Jin were to relentlessly pursue the Yuan Mongols at this juncture, it might actually force them to temporarily unite under external pressure.

Therefore, in the short term, the Great Jin will not regard the Yuan Mongols as its main military target, but will wait for the other side to split, or even use political means to bring about the other side to split.

As an excellent politician, it was precisely because Xuan Ye was able to judge this that he was able to understand that he had no choice.

The Jin dynasty's investiture of the Manchus, making them a vassal state, was naturally intended to use the grasslands to fight against the grasslands, using the Manchus as a weapon for future campaigns against the grasslands.

If the Qing dynasty were to be perfunctory in this process, it would naturally leave them with a handle to use against them in the future.

In the eighth year of the Qianyuan era, Kublai Khan's death naturally became a key factor influencing the situation of the world, and had the greatest impact on the country.

However, he was not the only one who died that year.

It's just that no one else had as great an influence on the world as Kublai Khan.

In the same year, Xi Zhicai, a strategist of the Jin Dynasty, died of illness in Youzhou.

Although his health improved a lot under Sun Simiao's care, he was still not as healthy as a normal person.

Moreover, Xi Zhicai is also quite old this year, and compared to his historical counterpart, he has lived much longer.

Xi Zhicai has now passed away peacefully at an old age.

In May of the eighth year of the Qianyuan era, Wu Zixu died of illness.

In November of the eighth year of the Qianyuan era, Hu Weiyong passed away peacefully.

From then on, the two leaders of Yizhou, one a civil official and the other a military leader, died of old age in the same year.

There's no way around it; Wu Zixu is seventy this year, and Hu Weiyong is almost sixty as well.

Given the environment of Yizhou, the fact that the two of them could live to this age is already considered a long life.

The conditions in Yizhou during that era were incomparable to those of later times.

The undeveloped Yizhou was a completely barbaric land. The fact that these two have survived for so long shows how tough they are.

It should be noted that among the escapees of the Zhu Ming forces, Lu Shunmi and others who also went to Yizhou with them died of illness due to the change in environment not long after they arrived.

The deaths of Wu Zixu and Hu Weiyong were a significant blow to the remnants of the Zhu-Wu faction in Yizhou.

Although Hu Weiyong was the leader of the civil officials in Yizhou, there was at least more than one leader among the civil officials there, and there was also Jing Xiang who could support him.

But Wu Zixu was different. After his death, the military could not find another pillar figure like him.

Below him, Deng Yu and Tang He were getting older, while Lu Xun, Zhu Tianpeng, and Fu Youde were all in a position where none of them could suppress the others.