Guyuk was very afraid of the artillery and muskets of the Song Dynasty and did not dare to invade the south. He also held a grudge against Batu who was at odds with him and opposed his succession, so he decided to conquer Batu in the west.

In his opinion, the Mongols have their roots in the grasslands, and the Song people, who lack cavalry, will not pose any threat to them. His biggest threat is Batu.

On the contrary, under the iron-fisted governance of Li Yongxuan, the Song Dynasty prospered, the country was peaceful and the people were safe, and its strength became stronger and stronger.

The entire Song Dynasty was like a war machine, operating rapidly.

In less than a year, two thousand artillery pieces, one hundred thousand muskets, and thirty giant warships were produced.

While Li Yongxuan was accumulating national power, he was expanding southward and was always ready for a century-old war with the Mongolian Empire.

He sent envoys to Dali and Annan countries to ask them to pay tribute to the Song Dynasty.

A few years ago, when Wokuotai saw that he could not break through the Song army's defense line in eastern Sichuan and Chongqing, he ordered the Mongol army to mobilize elite troops to capture Dali, hoping to attack the Song Dynasty from behind.

At that time, the number of troops mobilized reached 200,000. King Duan Xiangxing of Dali sent General Gaohe of Dali to engage in a fierce battle with the Mongolian army in the Jiuhe area of ​​Lijiang today.

Gaohe died in the battle at Dajiuhe. Fortunately, Dali did not perish due to defeat. The Mongolian army retreated due to the death of Great Khan Ogedai.

After the war, Dali State sent a special envoy Duan Lianzhe to the Song Dynasty to report the war situation. The Song Dynasty also sent a special envoy to Dali to express condolences to the fallen soldiers in Jiuhe.

Li Yongxuan wooed Dali State not only to increase his power against Mongolia, but also to obtain Dali State's war horses.

Although Dali was a small and weak country, it was rich in horses, and the Song Dynasty was very short of war horses. Li Yongxuan wanted to form a powerful cavalry, but he did not have enough war horses.

After receiving the news from Li Yongxuan, everyone in Dali readily accepted it and requested to do business with the Song Dynasty.

Over the years, Dali has repeatedly requested to annex the Song Dynasty, but the Song Dynasty has always shown little interest.

On the one hand, in view of the lessons of the Tang Dynasty, the Tang Dynasty established a vassal relationship with Nanzhao. However, after the An-Shi Rebellion, Nanzhao rebelled against the Tang Dynasty and invaded the country on a large scale, and even attacked Chengdu, causing chaos in the southwestern region of the Tang Dynasty. Therefore, the Song Dynasty’s influence on the local government in the southwest was

Be on high alert.

On the other hand, the backward southwest region could not bring much benefit to the Song Dynasty. In addition, when facing powerful enemies in the north, a contraction strategy was adopted in the southwest to ensure the tranquility of the southwest region.

To put it bluntly, the Song Dynasty was too rich and Dali was too poor.

Just like a beggar who wants to establish a friendly relationship with a rich man, the rich man always feels that others are trying to gain his property and is unwilling to contact him. Especially since the rich man is not very strong, he will naturally be very wary.

The purpose of Dali's surrender to the Song Dynasty was simple. They yearned for the developed economy, advanced culture and technology of the Song Dynasty. More importantly, they were unable to resist the invasion of the Mongolian army and hoped to get help from the Song Dynasty.

Now that Li Yongxuan is in control of the Song Dynasty, and the country's national power is gradually becoming stronger, it is natural for him to implement an expansion strategy.

Unexpectedly, Annan was flatly rejected.

After thinking about it again, I felt relieved.

If Li Yongxuan had not appeared, the Song Dynasty would now be under tremendous pressure from Mongolia in the north. In addition to defending the capital, almost all military forces were hoarded in the north, and there was basically no business in the south.

Annan and other countries in Southeast Asia have become self-reliant. They no longer pay homage to the Song Dynasty, and they no longer recognize the Song Dynasty as their suzerainty. How could they surrender so easily in the face of the envoys sent by Li Yongxuan?
Chapter completed!