He nodded and said, "Your Majesty, I understand. But wouldn't that benefit Chunnan? I don't see what benefit our country would get from it. Although Jiang Yan is a good strategist, he should also understand this. How did he convince you?"

"It wasn't Jiang Yan who convinced me," Tan Xiaopei said with a faint smile, "but Huang Xuping. Our Grand Commandant has almost become an ordinary civil official these past few years, not the strategist he once was, but Huang Xuping is still vigorous in his old age. He mentioned a few things, and I increasingly felt it was a good idea. Chunnan is naturally trying to protect itself because it senses our country's threat, but we also need time. Chunnan likes to waste time and energy on conspiracies and schemes, and we also need time to conquer the Zhenbei Army Command, take Northern Liao, and win the hearts of the Northern Liao people. The time for these rigid troop movements, accumulating grain, fodder, and military equipment, and cultivating generations of soldiers is fixed. I wish I could finish all the wars in a few years, but is that possible? Northern Liao is still quite spirited. As long as we take appropriate measures, in less than ten years, it won't be worse than the current Yun Province. And Northern Liao doesn't border other countries, so the only concern in the future will be the remnants of the Northern Liao royal family and that small country on Yingzhou Island in the northern sea. By then, it should be easy to conscript 100,000 troops from Northern Liao. But now, we need this time. Besides, what Grand Commandant Huang said was that Jiang Yan might not know about Feng Jiang. Their Crown Prince doesn't have the guts to let these people know. It now seems that the power struggles within the Chunnan royal family are more intense and dangerous than we expected. The Chunnan Crown Prince is the most powerful now, but it's not impossible for him to be deprived of his position. The Second Prince is full of tricks and has put a lot of effort into cultivating his followers. There are many disputes between the two sides inside and outside the court now, even almost endangering Chunnan's counterattack against Xiling this time. Also, although it seems a bit suspicious, Chunnan has actually adopted children from families with blood ties to inherit the throne, not just starting now. There have been precedents for a long time. Presumably, Jiang Yan also considered this before planning such a thing."

After explaining the situation, Tan Xiaopei said, "The situation I most hope for is that Chunnan doesn't have the mind to deal with Dongping, and Dongping can maneuver among all parties with ease. But Chunnan shouldn't be so chaotic due to internal strife that it becomes unmanageable. When the time comes, I will reveal the fact that the Crown Prince arranged the assassination of Wei Zai. That guy acted first, and perhaps now we can only say that he was ambitious, but what about in a few years, when the power of Chang Ling and Wei Zai's faction grows to a certain extent? Then, with the Second Prince's instigation and Old Man Chang's suspicion, the position of heir apparent could really change hands. But no matter who ends up with the position, I will abdicate at that time and let Wei Ming take over Dongping ahead of schedule..."

Tan Xiaopei said with great ambition, "Grand Commandant Huang was really daring back then. He said that instead of waiting until you get old and easily do stupid things, it's better to assist Wei Ming for a while when you start to get old. Unifying the world is a matter of these few decades, at the latest in Wei Ming's generation, which is also your generation. Perhaps we won't see that day, but we can't let that day come later because we are greedy for power."

Tan Xiaopei said decisively, "He's right. ...The current Dongping is full of talent. It's much better than when we had to rack our brains to maintain a good situation back then. And if I can abdicate earlier, I can even lead troops into battle as a commander. I've been waiting for this day for too long. I want to avenge my brothers. I want to lead troops straight to the capital of Xiling... I don't know if I can last until that day."

"As you wish." Ye Tao said calmly, "Your Majesty, if that's your wish, then can you also grant me a wish when the time comes?"

"Oh? What is it?" Ye Tao said with a smile, "The day Xiling falls is the day I resign from all positions in the court. How about it?"

"You guarantee I can see that day?" Tan Xiaopei asked with interest.

"Your Majesty, I will do the work of shaking Xiling to the point where you can lead troops to conquer it; you will lead the troops to conquer it; and then, the follow-up work, managing the vast territory of Xiling, winning the hearts of the people, will be left to the Crown Prince. Indeed, we need time, we need troops, but if conquering Northern Liao really goes smoothly, these problems are not problems. We only need to consider the order, whether it's Xiling or Chunnan first. Your Majesty, you and Wei Ming will fight Chunnan with wits, and I will pry at the walls of Xiling. How about it?" Ye Tao said.

"Sounds reasonable. Tell me, roughly how long will it take?" Tan Xiaopei asked.

"Fifteen years, at most no more than twenty years," Ye Tao shrugged and said.

"You really dare to say that..." The corners of Tan Xiaopei's lips turned up slightly, "Fifteen years to destroy Northern Liao, govern Northern Liao, and destroy Xiling? And you want to include Chunnan in the calculations? Are you crazy or am I crazy?"

Ye Tao chuckled. If other regional officials dared to say such a thing to Tan Xiaopei, Tan Xiaopei would probably slap them hard on the ear. Saying this is tantamount to asking Tan Xiaopei to promise that he can stay in his current position for another fifteen years... But Tan Xiaopei is only afraid that Ye Tao will not be willing to be an official, because even after fifteen years, regardless of whether Ye Tao has achieved what he said today, he will only be less than forty years old, which is the prime of his life, the age with the most ability and energy, and also the age that everyone considers most suitable for making achievements. Ye Tao and Tan Weixin have all kinds of methods for governing the country, all kinds of strange ideas, and all kinds of ingenious plans that are difficult to defend against. It would be a huge loss to let Ye Tao step down from the position of Yun Province Pacification Commissioner at that time. Of course, Ye Tao's current position is already impossible to rise any further, but before, Tan Xiaopei had seriously considered making Ye Tao the first prime minister of the future empire. Without such a capable and non-greedy, and even less need to be corrupt, good prime minister, wouldn't Tan Weiming have a headache?

But, fifteen years... If Ye Tao really works hard for fifteen years because of this promise, and really achieves this, it would be a great temptation for Tan Xiaopei. This means that when the day of unification comes, he will only be in his sixties. Although the Tan family has never had a high average lifespan, it was all due to deaths in battle. Those who were able to enjoy their old age all had an average lifespan of over seventy, and there was even an ancestor of the Tan family who lived a very unhealthy life and lived to eighty-nine years old... Being able to see the unification of the world, being able to end the wars in Zhongtu in his own hands, this temptation is too great.

"Okay, it's a deal," Tan Xiaopei gritted his teeth and agreed. Tan Xiaopei's mind was filled with a line from the play *Midnight*: "After I die, who cares if the floods rage..."

"Then it's settled, Your Majesty." Ye Tao smiled. Although fifteen years is not short, it is at least a time limit. Just like any job, as long as there is a time limit, it can at least give people some motivation. To conquer Xiling, for Ye Tao, may not be as difficult as others think. Tan Xiaopei noticed the possibility of a change in the Chunnan power struggle and realized the opportunity that Chunnan might leave for him while struggling, but all along, although Tan Xiaopei paid attention to Xiling, he always maintained considerable vigilance and distance from this country that he placed in the order of conquest, and had not really seriously considered whether Xiling could be conquered in the short term. Xiling is too big and too strong. Just thinking about how Xiling relies on a unique balance strategy of private and national armies, and how the state finances and family wealth maintain nearly a million professional soldiers, makes people shudder. And Ye Tao's fifteen-year plan means that he will make Xiling lose an average of 60,000 troops per year. Is it possible for him to launch a campaign against Xiling every year? Or can he catch up with Chunnan's counterattack every year?

Thinking of this, Tan Xiaopei smiled again and said, "But since we are going to gamble, you have to explain clearly, what if you can't do it?"

"Then I will serve Dongping until I am forty-five years old, how about it?" Ye Tao said with a smile.

"Ten more years? Very well." Tan Xiaopei nodded. He didn't really think that even if Ye Tao could really do it, he would ignore the affairs of Dongping after retiring, but it was always good to let Ye Tao continue to serve.

Li Sishu timely brought up two glasses of Balentine's. Ye Tao and Tan Xiaopei drank them all, as a testimony to what the two had said tonight. What these two said will not be recorded, will not require any other people to testify, and will not require others to supervise the execution. Tan Xiaopei is certainly the ruler of a country, and his words are golden, and Ye Tao has always been true to his word.

"Four days later, bring Xin'er and Shi'er to the palace. After this family banquet, you will have to return to Yun Province soon, right? I heard that you have prepared a lot of tricks to confuse Xiling and make this battle a complete success. Do you need any other help?" Tan Xiaopei asked.

"There's really nothing..." Ye Tao said with a smile, "How about Your Majesty write an inscription for Yun Province Bank? That's a small request."

"Okay," Tan Xiaopei agreed readily. The plan to transform the Yun Province Development Fund into Yun Province Bank had been submitted to him several months ago. This was after Tan Weixin's proposal to change the currency system was rejected by the court, and she proposed this matter again. But this time, the plan proposed by Tan Weixin was larger and more complete. Moreover, it was only implemented in Yun Province on a trial basis, and there were a series of strategies to control the impact of Yun Province Bank on other parts of Dongping. It can be said that it was very thoughtful, and the idea of using finance as a national strategic tool in the whole plan made Tan Xiaopei, who had gradually realized the power of economy and finance from the huge power that the pre-sale in Gangdu and the large-scale small loans of the Yun Province Development Fund had shown, was very moved.

However, Tan Weixin and Ye Tao also listed one by one the impact of this power on the national system, which was hidden behind this power. Dongping needed a long time to prepare for this unprecedented power in this space-time, but Yun Province could be used as a pilot. Tan Xiaopei had decided to allow Yun Province to do everything, even to formulate a charter-type "Yun Province Basic Law"... This kind of national concession was the first time in history. Tan Xiaopei had passed all the requests about Yun Province at the court meeting a few days ago. He also began to prepare silently throughout Dongping for the future to catch up with Yun Province...