Li Yao was very angry, but there was nothing he could say as he realized that the newly-recovered area was indeed a headache for whoever controlled it.
The two emperors supported by the reformists and the four Kurfursten families respectively were fighting for the legitimacy of their right to the throne. For the people of the Imperium of True Human Beings who believed in survival of the fittest, strength was the best justification. If Li Jialing lost tremendous territory just after he claimed the crown, it was true that many people would be disappointed and many experts might change their sides.
The four Kurfursten families certainly wouldn't hesitate to mock either. Why was the newly-covered area impenetrable when it was under the control of the four families, yet it was immediately conquered when the reformists got it?