Everything was as Mahmoud planned. After Zhao Mingde returned to the hall, he saw the actual evidence of the contact between the guard commander and the merchants, including their correspondence letters. The next day, he heard that the guard commander was assassinated in a barbecue restaurant in the dock in Istanbul. It was at this time that Zhao Mingde realized that the officer had a noble background.

The core of the Security Bureau has always been monopolized by nobles and young sects, and these people are fanatical about their loyalty to the emperor. The ones they hate the most are those noble families who betray the emperor, which are even easier to be executed than treason.

The assassinator was a small businessman from Armenia. He committed suicide by taking poison on the spot, while the weapons he used were sued by the Greeks and Albanians. All this was natural and very reasonable.

In recent years, the trade in arms and materials from Southeast Asia has greatly reduced the prices of some commodities in the Ottoman territory, especially steel. The Chinese steelmaking technology has caused prices to plummet by 70%. Many merchants and workshops who make a living have gone bankrupt. Smuggling alone has become like this. If trade negotiations are successful and trade restrictions are lifted, many people will be ruined.

Zhao Mingde also announced the termination of the negotiations according to the plan and wanted to stop all activities before the investigation results came out. Fazou followed the clues and caught some behind-the-scenes participants, but they were all small fish and shrimps, and they could not explain to Zhao Mingde at all, and even led to the withdrawal of the merchant representatives in the delegation who were most willing to communicate with the Ottoman side, on the grounds that these merchants were also physically threatened.

The negotiations fell into a state of freezing and spent the 18th year of the empire in a cold state.

After the New Year, Ukraine appeared in the Kremlin in Russia as an envoy. After the great plunder that was called the "lost year" by the Russians last year, Russia was in a difficult period. Now the main public opinion in China is to negotiate peace with the Ottomans, but the Ottomans are not the "friendly enemy" of the empire. They are simply opening their mouths and asking Russia to hand over all the Cossack areas to them, and the same is true for Poland.

For Tsar Feodor, this was indeed not a bad season. Last year's failure was borne by all the noble representatives. Around the Tsar, the Miloslavsky family finally encountered the challenge of the Naresh family and lost their monopoly on the regime. When the two factions opposed and the Tsar was in the middle, the young Fyodor felt unprecedented respect and trust. After a huge failure, his position was consolidated. Perhaps because of these, Fyodor was in a good mood, or perhaps because of the good mood, Fyodor's health also improved a little, at least not having to lie in bed all day.

Another benefit was Princess Sophia. Because of her excellent performance in the battle formation, she gained the trust of the Tsar like Count Naresh. However, because of her relationship with women, she did not get any position, but became the private consultant of Tsar Fedor. At least she didn't have to do the same as before, because her brother became the Tsar, and could only cover up her love for politics and read books secretly.

"Emister, I really didn't expect that the snow outside had not melted, so we met again. Perhaps the subjects of the empire would not be so happy to see you." Earl Naresh and Yaquikov received U Yifeng together, and the Count and U Yifeng were joking.

Wu Yifeng smiled and said, "Yes, on the way I came, I could only hide in a cart surrounded by felt cloth, and I could not ride on the road, freezing my face to blue, haha. Or peeing on the side of the road, urinating a lump of ice, haha..."

"Emporter, today there will be Princess Sophia in front of the emperor, so please speak more properly." Yaqikf reminded.

Wu Yifeng laughed a few times and shrugged: "In fact, it is not necessary that His Royal Highness the Princess is present. It will be the same for a few clerks to get a few records."

In order to create a comfortable and intimate relationship, the meeting was in the small living room next to the Tsar's bedroom. U Yifeng was chatting with Yaqikv, and when he saw Tsar Feodor walked out. U Yifeng greeted with a smile. Feodor joked: "Your Excellency, I have only been a few days of comfortable life, and you are here. Okay, let me calm down and listen to your complaints."

"Complaint, what do I need to complain about?" Wu Yifeng asked with a smile.

Fedor shrugged, looked at Naresh and said, "Earl, come and tell him."

Naresh said: "After we signed the Treaty of Moscow, the nobles in the Urals and the east were very responsive. Many people did not accept these treaties. Some of them were preparing to resist, repair the fortresses and hoard weapons, some were fleeing, but destroyed facilities such as wells before leaving. Some even declared to leave Russia and become independent nobles when they received the orders of His Majesty the Tsar. So, you must have come for these things, right?"

Wu Yifeng shook his head slightly: "I have never heard of these. I came down on behalf of King Yu. The little things you said are a headache for military and civilian units in Western Xinjiang, right?

And I don't think this is a problem. Since we have signed the treaty, you will not support, or will not publicly support the nobles east of the Urals. As long as the shooting army does not appear there, everything is simple. They have fortresses, we have artillery for siege, they have spears, we have muskets, they have army, we have cavalry, and there will be suppression, and there will be suppression, and there will be massacres, either accept or die, it doesn't matter.

Some of our rule are nomadic barbarians. Chopping people is easier for them than grazing sheep. Please don’t worry about us, His Majesty the Tsar.”

Seeing that Wu Yifeng was in this attitude, Fedor and several ministers with great faith were a little confused. The other problems were not yet a problem. So what should Wu Yifeng do with his fanfare?

"Your Excellency, then what are you saying? Wouldn't you want to see me again?" Princess Sophia broke the deadlock with a half-joking tone.

Wu Yifeng said, "I came on behalf of the empire to discuss alliances with His Majesty the Tsar."

"Alliance? What kind of alliance?"

Grand Duke Miloslavsky, Princess Sophia, Earl Naresh, etc. were all shocked, and they looked at their colleagues around them, and then at Tsar Feodor. No one knew about this. They thought it was after the Tsar had concealed most people and only discussed it with a few people. Feodor shook his head: "I have never heard of this. Your Excellency, why should we all form an alliance with a country that has just robbed the entire Russia?"

"Because this can form an advantage over the Ottomans and defeat the Ottomans." Wu Yifeng said without hesitation.

Sofia frowned: "You are still allies with the Ottomans, and there is no conflict between you."

Wu Yifeng nodded sincerely: "Yes! But so what? We were still enemies who were immortal last year. Now, aren't we here to discuss the alliance with you sincerely? I wonder why you, as Russian Tsar and ministers, should you think about us? You should think about whether it is beneficial to Russia to form an alliance with the Empire to fight against the Ottomans, right?"

Of course, Wu Yifeng said this. The reason why a few people were entangled in China was because they were worried that China would have ulterior motives.

"Well, sir, we need to think about it carefully," Fedor said.

Wu Yifeng nodded: "Okay, Your Majesty, this is your freedom, but if you can, please tell me the result before April?"

"Why are you so anxious before April?" Earl Naresh was a little surprised, because there were still two months left before this deadline, and forming an alliance with a country like China that had just robbed Russia, obviously, had to consider the opinions of the Russian nobles. The urgency of time was obviously not conducive to gaining support from the nobles.

Just imagine, a nobleman just counted how many serfs he had lost, how many tribesmen he had died, and how many farmland he would have to abandon this year, so he told him that we were going to form an alliance with the demons who caused these losses. What kind of people would choose to support him?

U Yifeng spread his hands: "It must be this time, because before April, His Highness Yu will personally lead an army of 50,000 through the land of the Crimean Tatars and arrive at Ijium. If you promise to form an alliance with us before this, we can attack the Ottoman and Tatar coalition forces. If you refuse, we will attack your Ijium defense line with the Ottoman and Tatar cavalry!"

"Send troops to join the war! Wait, your Excellency, according to the Treaty of Moscow, you can no longer participate in the war between Russia and the Ottoman!" Sophia said loudly.

Wu Yifeng said, "Yes, so in order to avoid us violating the contract, then you can reach an alliance agreement with our Prince Yu before our flintlock shot you the first round of volleys, otherwise we will have to violate the Moscow Treaty!"

The living room of the small reception became cold for a moment, and everyone was thinking, because before that, they were discussing how to withdraw from the war with the Ottomans with decent attitude and restore the national strength lost due to the war as soon as possible. But now, the Chinese have once again pushed themselves to the brink of war, and it is even more dangerous than the current situation.

Feodor asked, "It's hard to believe, Your Excellency, I don't understand why you are participating in the war and why you are so eager to start the war against the Ottoman."

"This is exactly the same as the reason why you participated in the war with the Ottomans. We cannot form a consensus with them, religion, economy, race, culture, dominance, etc.," Wu Yifeng said, and then narrowed his eyes and said, "If there is a very realistic reason, it is the Black Sea. Our Emperor and His Highness Yu like that sea and want to have a beautiful coastline and a beautiful port. Isn't this the wish of several generations of Tsars? How about it, does His Majesty the Tsar want to fulfill his wish with our Emperor?"

Feodor stopped others from speaking and asked seriously, "You mean, the emperor and His Highness of your country, after forming an alliance with us and defeating the Ottoman Empire, are willing to share with us the estuary of the Black Sea!"

"It's not only you, but also the Polish and Lithuanian Commonwealth. It's a pity that our contact with the Habsburg dynasty is blank, otherwise we will reach an agreement with it." Wu Yifeng said.

And the excitement atmosphere in the small reception room could no longer be hidden. Wu Yifeng said: "It seems that you are all looking forward to it. So the gift that His Highness Yu prepared to convince His Majesty does not need to be taken out."

"I may not accept the gift, but I hope to hear it." Fedor smiled.

Wu Yifeng said: "The 200,000 Slavic men are all serfs we have captured in your country, with superb skills and healthy serfs. Originally, His Highness wanted to convince His Majesty by returning these hundreds of thousands of men, but now it seems that there is no need."

Feodor immediately became a little angry. Perhaps he should have been a little reserved just now, and even showed difficulties. But now, we can't speak any more. Not to mention that we can get the estuary, it is worthwhile to end the protracted war with the Ottoman through a war.

"How about your Majesty, if you agree, please contact the king of Poland, how about it?" Wu Yifeng said.

"Well, sir, please go and rest. I will definitely bring you and your country's kindness to His Highness Sobesky," said Feodor.

U Yifeng took a rest under Yakikv's leadership, Miloslavsky took the lead and said, "What seems to be a conspiracy?"

"What conspiracy can be made? Grand Duke!" Earl Naresh asked tit-for-tat.

Miloslavsky said, "Maybe they want to deceive us and annihilate our main army in Ijum. You must know that it is our most powerful army, including the main force of the shooting army and most of the Cossack cavalry loyal to His Majesty!"

"What a stupid idea, Grand Duke, you still claim to be in charge of the army!" Naresh said angrily: "How is it possible that they were transiting from the territory of the Crimean Tatars. We don't know at all. Can we send troops to intercept or do anything if we know? We still can't do anything, we can only watch them bring the firearm to Ijium, and in front of the Chinese firearm, the defense line will definitely be penetrated!

On the contrary, the messenger told us two months in advance, was it necessary for us to prevent us in advance? Your idea is so stupid!"

"Okay, stop being quarrel, I'm tired of making noises." Feodor reminded, then looked at Sofia and asked, "Sofia, what do you think?"

"I think these strategies were originally formulated. King Yu had coveted the Black Sea since he captured the Kazakh grassland." Sophie said in a shocking way.

"If that were the case, he should have formed an alliance with us at the beginning," said the Count.

"Then we can't get Siberia, nor can we rob the entire Russia, and rob hundreds of thousands of people. Earl, this is the greedy guy, who wants land, sea estuary, and money. I think what we need to do now is to be wary of the Chinese and not be cheated by them in the next war."

"What did they cheat us?" asked the Count.
Chapter completed!