Chapter 276 Strategy against Khitan (Subscribe!)

Listening to Gu Sansi's answer, Ye Mingsheng narrowed his eyes. He could understand asking the Khitans to redeem the prisoners of war, but how could he use this as an excuse to interfere in the internal affairs of the Khitans?
Seeing Ye Mingsheng's puzzled expression, Gu Sansi also deliberately made things mysterious and said directly to Ye Mingsheng:

"My Lord, you may not know that although the current Khitan Khan Yelu Kang has five sons, only two of them have the hope of inheriting the Khanate. The first is the eldest son Yelu Yan, and the second is the youngest son Yelu Peng, who is only 19 years old!"

"Yelü Yan has led the military in recent years, whether it is fighting against the Luobi people or looting Fengzhou, Yelü Yan has made outstanding military achievements."

Therefore, he has a high prestige within the Khitans and is recognized by the Khitans as the first choice for the future Khan. Even before Yelu Peng stepped forward, he was the only candidate! "

"As for Yelu Peng, judging from the reputation within the Khitan, he is just a playboy with no special abilities. In terms of personal talent, he is not even on the same level as Yelu Yan!"

“The reason why Yelu Peng was able to stand up and challenge Yelu Yan was because of his family background…”

"The Khitan Khan, Yelu Kang, was not the successor to the throne. He became the Khitan Khan through a coup. Before he became the Khitan Khan, he had a wife who was from a minor Khitan noble family. Her family had no power, and this wife gave birth to our eldest son, Yelu Yan!"

“Although Yelu Kang became the Great Khan of Khitan through a coup, his lack of prestige caused the Khitan to fall apart. Therefore, in order to consolidate his rule, he married the daughter of the Xiao family, a great Khitan noble family, as his queen. However, Yelu Qi’s original wife, Yelu Yan’s biological mother, committed suicide because she could not bear the humiliation...”

"And this queen from the Xiao family gave birth to Yelu Qi's youngest son, Yelu Peng!"

"Because of his mother, Yelu Yan had a deep hostility towards the Xiao family since he was a child, which forced the Xiao family to support Yelu Peng to take the throne."

"Yelu Peng's uncle, Xiao Tai, who commanded 15,000 tribal troops within the Khitan, was Yelu Peng's biggest supporter. It was precisely because of Xiao Tai's support that Yelu Peng was able to challenge Yelu Yan's right to inherit the Khanate!"

Listening to Gu Sansi's analysis of the internal factions of Khitan, Ye Mingsheng's eyes flashed with a gleam of light, as if he had vaguely guessed what Gu Sansi was going to do...

After giving Ye Mingsheng some time to think, Gu Sansi continued to talk about his plan.

"If the ambitious and militaristic Yelu Yan is the pro-war faction within the Khitan tribe, then Xiao Tai, who admires Zhou Dynasty culture, can be said to be a relatively moderate faction. As for the current situation, Yelu Qi, as the Great Khan, has no clear preference for either his eldest son Yelu Yan or his youngest son Yelu Peng!"

"Sir, according to the information we got from the Khitan prisoners of war, Yelu Yan's actions this time were not allowed by Yelu Qi. He did it on his own."

"Yelü Yan led these 5,000 Khitan troops, all of whom were his own troops. Therefore, this disastrous defeat was an unbearable blow to Yelü Yan, both in terms of the strength of his troops and his reputation within the Khitan!"

"However, Yelu Yan still has many staunch supporters within Khitan. Although this defeat is very severe, it is not enough to kill Yelu Yan all at once. Yelu Yan will definitely lick his wounds and try to make a comeback!"

“My lord, the best military operation is to attack the enemy’s plans, the next best is to disrupt their alliances, and the worst is to attack their cities. The Khitans are currently the greatest enemy of Fengzhou. Although you are not afraid of them, the situation in Liaoyang is like a storm brewing.” “Your Excellency should build high walls, store up food, and delay claiming the throne. You should accumulate strength and avoid unnecessary entanglements with the Khitans. Wait for the situation to change so that you can swallow up Liaoyang and accomplish something great…”

"So now it is best to use a strategy to mess up the Khitan internal affairs, let them kill each other, and waste their energy internally, so that they have no time to invade the border, and buy time for you to accumulate strength. Therefore, I plan to contact Yelu Peng and sell these Khitan prisoners of war to him, so that we can exchange them for some money and make up for the losses in this war."

"In addition, the evidence against Yelu Yan was delivered to Yelu Peng. Most of these prisoners of war are relatives and friends of Yelu Yan's supporters, old acquaintances and the same clan, and the relationship between them is very close."

"These prisoners of war are in our hands. Yelu Yan's supporters are powerless and can only watch..."

"But once the prisoners of war return to Khitan and fall into the hands of Yelu Peng, Yelu Yan's supporters will definitely ask Yelu Yan to rescue them from Yelu Peng. In this way, Yelu Yan will be controlled by others."

“Even if Yelu Yan succeeds in rescuing the people, he will have to pay a heavy price. This will make Yelu Yan, who has already suffered a great defeat, even more dangerous within Khitan. Yelu Peng and Xiao Tai will most likely take advantage of the situation to beat him up and not give Yelu Yan any chance to breathe!”

“Given Yelu Yan’s personality, he will definitely not sit still and wait for death. Fighting back is an inevitable result. As a result, the Khitan people will fall into endless internal friction…” Gu Sansi said confidently:

After listening to Gu Sansi's story, Ye Mingsheng pondered for a moment, looked at Gu Sansi and said:
"Your idea is good, but have you considered what their Khan Yelu Kang will do?"

"Of course, I won't forget him!"

Gu Sansi answered Ye Mingsheng's question without any hesitation, and then continued:

"In my opinion, Yelu Kang is using imperial power to balance internal affairs. When Yelu Yan won consecutive victories and was at the peak of his power, he gave Yelu Peng an opportunity to use Yelu Peng and the Xiao family to check and balance Yelu Yan and prevent his eldest son from challenging his Khanship."

“So when Yelu Peng and his faction were relentlessly pursuing Yelu Yan, in order to prevent one faction from dominating, Yelu Kang would definitely stand up to protect Yelu Yan!”

"However, the intensified fighting between the two factions over the years, as well as Yelu Kang's own old age and weakened physical strength, his control over the various tribes within the Khitan is no longer as strong as it used to be."

“So when Yelu Kang favors Yelu Yan, Yelu Peng and his faction may not stop honestly. It may even become a stimulus to Yelu Peng, making him think that his father prefers Yelu Yan as the heir, and thus take risks…”

As Gu Sansi finished speaking, Ye Mingsheng fell into deep thought, carefully weighing the pros and cons of Gu Sansi's entire plan in his mind.

(End of this chapter)