Time is like an arrow, the world changes like a white cloud and a dog, and in the blink of an eye, the battle through the clouds has lasted for more than half a year.

At the time of the war, the two sides won and lost each other, and they also fell into their own crises, the coalition army was almost disbanded on the spot when it was most dangerous, and the Shu army was almost withdrawn into the pass to defend the capital when it was most dangerous. But both sides survived, or rather there was some unknown force, and the balance of the battle was always maintained.

The larger princes are okay to say, some of the smaller princes are really at the limit, but no one dares to be the first to say goodbye.

And this time someone finally spoke, it was the Ma family in northern Xinjiang, they used the excuse that the three state capitals of Changzhou, Quanzhou, and Danzhou in the north were attacked and harassed by bandits, and they had to withdraw in order to protect the territory and the people.

This move naturally caused an uproar among the princes, and although most of them accused, they actually moved the mind of withdrawing their troops. But the Chu army from the south did not move, and was determined to eliminate harm for the imperial court. This makes people confused, no matter how you look at Chu Hou Zhiyu Changkong, he doesn't look like a person who is dedicated to serving the country, not to mention that there is a poisonous Ji Ye Meidie by his side.

The persistence of the Chu army also affected some of the southern princes, not that they also wanted to serve the imperial court, but these small forces were too close to the Chu land, for fear that they would offend the Marquis of Chu by retreating.

The camp of the coalition army, the garrison of the Qi army, Ying Rui and his two good brothers Xiao Lou and Wang Peng drank water and ate meat together. After all, it was still in the middle of the war, and Ying Rui ordered that alcohol should not be drunk in the army, and of course he had to take the lead.

Wang Peng threw down the big stick in his hand and said, "What is the idea of this Ma family? ”

Everyone is not surprised by the evacuation of the Ma family, after all, the war is a kind of attrition, don't look at the Ma family's strength, but in fact, he is a consortium composed of dozens of families, and after more than half a year of expeditions, some families within the Ma family have some complaints.

Ying Rui said with a smile: "The deputy marshal has completely gained a firm foothold in the Yunzhong Military Region, and the Ma family is a little anxious." ”

Everyone dealt with the Marquis of Shu together because he wanted to be the king and belonged to the common enemy in righteousness. However, Lin Yue has been named the envoy of Yunzhong Pacification, and the power he has is already at the door of the Ma family, and now he is using all his energy to deal with the Shu army that is far away from him, and waiting for Lin Yue to grow at the door of the house, which is obviously not in the interests of the Ma family.

Moreover, Lin Yue's current official position as the envoy of Yunzhong was also appointed by the imperial court controlled by the Shu army, and in the eyes of the world, Shu Marquis Xi Ze Yaoshi and Lin Yue had reached some kind of deal, what if Yunzhong County really sent troops?

Dingbei County, where Changzhou, Quanzhou, and Danzhou are located, is in the middle of the Ma family forces and the Yunzhong County forces, and if the two sides really clash, these three states will undoubtedly become battlefields.

Xiao Lou, who was on the side, said: "The Ma family is just for show, they dare to really start a war with the deputy marshal?"

Wang Peng hurriedly asked, "What else is there to say here?"

Compared with Ying Rui, who has become a prince, and Xiao Lou, who was born as a military general, Wang Peng is not inferior in cultivation, but after all, he is just a man in the rivers and lakes. It's okay for him to charge, and he has to listen to the two brothers to analyze the situation.

Ying Rui shook his head: "It's hard to say whether there will be a war, after all, the Ma family is not monolithic, there are those who don't want to fight, but there are also those who want to fight......"

It turned out that the Ma family was also worried about Lin Yue's side, first of all, Changzhou, Quanzhou, and Danzhou were the Ma family's newly acquired territory, and the locals did not agree with the Ma family's rule.

And in the past six months, the Ma family's expedition has not achieved the expected results, I thought that it could be both famous and profitable, but because the bone of the Shu army was too difficult to gnaw, so that the loss of troops and the consumption of resources did not go further. It would be nice to take the opportunity to go to war with a weaker force and recover some of the losses.

In the end, Lin Yue was not without fame in these three states. When the Holy Maiden Cult was exterminated, Lin Yue, as the deputy marshal, led the troops to sweep this place, which can be regarded as helping them get rid of the poison of the Holy Maiden Cult. Compared with the Ma family, it is more friendly to the locals.

In view of this, both the Ma family, who did not agree to the war, agreed to withdraw tens of thousands of horses in the coalition army to the three prefectures of Dingbei County first. In the end, if you can fight, you can fight, and if it is really not good to fight, you can take the opportunity to digest the three state capitals of Changzhou, Quanzhou, and Danzhou.

After listening to Ying Rui's explanation, Wang Peng suddenly realized: "Then what should we do?"

Ying Rui smiled: "The Ma family withdraws, let's also withdraw." After going back, you can conduct military exercises with Lu Hou. ”

Wang Peng was a little puzzled: "Military exercise? Why is this?" Didn't he take advantage of the fact that the Ma family couldn't take care of it, and wanted to reap some benefits? But the Qi army has not had a good time for most of the past six months, and it is simply unable to fight a new war.

Xiao Lou narrowed his eyes: "The eldest brother wants to form an alliance with the deputy marshal......"

Ying Rui laughed: "After all, we are a wife-uncle relationship, so it's not natural to help your own people." ”

Wang Peng said: "I have no problem with helping the deputy marshal, but why do you have to pull Chai Yaozu? ”

Ying Rui explained: "Hehe, pulling him in is just an excuse, after all, only one of us is engaged in military exercises, and this scene is too fake." ”

It's no wonder that Wang Peng didn't want to see Chai Yaozu, this guy originally held his own identity, and he didn't look down on the three brothers at all, the three of them were born and died for him, but in the end, they didn't even have the qualifications to enter the big tent to drink a glass of celebration wine. If he really has the ability, Wang Peng will not like it at most, but his style is really unsightly.

The Chai family was originally a noble family, but more than a hundred years ago, the family background was defeated, and the descendants of the younger generations were even more vulgar, until Chai Yao's grandfather's generation was appreciated by the Demon Master and fought in the army, and he was named the Marquis of Beijing. But in the end, one generation is not as good as the next, Chai Yaozu is not as good as his father, let alone his grandfather.

But I don't know if it was the ancestors who accumulated virtue, or if he took some shit luck, he actually gave birth to Chai Shengnan, a heroine among women, it can be said that Lu Hou's power today is all brought out by this daughter. Even when the Holy Maiden Sect was powerful, Lu Hou even lost the ancestral fief of the Chai family, because of his daughter's relationship, Deputy Marshal Lin Yue still had to come all the way to clean up the mess for him.

is such a thing, because he was afraid of their father-daughter relationship, so the princes of the east did not call him when they plotted against Chai Shengnan, but he was not ignorant, but what he did was to persuade a few words. didn't even pull a handful of his daughter, and then he became a turtle with a shrunken head, and no one dared to offend. Although it is understandable that this kind of wise self-preservation behavior, as a father's disqualification, Wang Peng will never look down on it.

Since Chai Shengnan's death, Lu Hou's power has plummeted, and after being cleaned up twice by other princes, he understands that in this troubled world, the small forces must find a backer after all, and the closest to him is Qi Hou Yingrui.

For Ying Rui, Chai Yaozu naturally has a thousand tastes in his heart, the junior colonel in the army who used to scold him at will, and the grassroots scholars who even had to set up a banquet outside the account, actually climbed on his head to be a 'big brother'?

Since his position is just south of Ying Rui, if he can take refuge in the Ma family, he will not lie dormant under his former subordinates in a north-south attack. It's a pity that the Ma family doesn't look down on him, if Chai Shengnan is still alive and gives up his allegiance to the court and exists as the eldest daughter of Luhou, then the Ma family will definitely gladly accept this alliance.

But if you only look at Chai Yaozu, I am afraid that before the north-south attack is formed, the Qi army has already broken the Lu army. To be an ally with him, I can't find any other evaluation than a burden.

In the end, there was no way, Luhou Chai Yaozu could only bow his head to Ying Rui, which also made the three brothers angry for their contempt and contempt back then. From then on, led by Qi and Lu, plus the small princes of Xing, Tan, Ju, and Cao, a small eastern alliance was formed.

In fact, it is easy to swallow these small allies with the power of the Marquis of Qi, but since the chaos in the world, new princes may appear from time to time, but none of the princes have been removed. This is also a default rule in troubled times. Even if a town and a county are left in the end, only the family inheritance cannot be destroyed, and as a courtier of the Great Zhou, if the princes of a certain family are wiped out, they will definitely be targeted by the world.

And this time the Ma family and Yunzhong County are also a good thing for him, although he has the support of the Sun family, but the Ma family in Northern Xinjiang is still a behemoth to him, and he is not sure what the Sun family will do for himself, even if he is the son-in-law of the Sun family.

Therefore, Lin Yue's rise is very beneficial to the Qihou forces, and of course Ying Rui also thought about them fighting to lose both. But the Ma family has a rich heritage, and it doesn't hurt to be frustrated for a while. If Lin Yue's side falls, it is difficult to say whether he can stand up again.

The Sun family is his own internal help, and Lin Yue can be used as foreign aid, and it is only stable to walk on two legs, although the Qi Hou forces cannot directly support Yunzhong County, but as long as they unite a few small allies, they can create pressure on the Ma family in the east. The reverse is the same, in the future, Lin Yue will do things in the west, and he can also help the east to win Rui, and only reciprocity can last for a long time.

......

In another military meeting of the coalition forces, the Ma family had already made it clear that they were going to withdraw their troops, so it was very unpleasant with several other forces, but no one dared to embarrass the Ma family. Except for the Marquis of Shu, who had to rely on the cooperation of all the princes to fight, the two families of Shuyan and Chu were the most powerful.

The departure of the Ma family also led to many vassal forces, and immediately afterwards, the small eastern alliance led by Qi Lu was also withdrawn. The grievances between the two of them, everyone also knows that one party will not stay in order to prevent the other party from being burglarized. And with the power of example, many lower-level princes also expressed their readiness to leave.

Shu Marquis Xi Ze Yaoshi was excited to get the news, although he fought against the world with his own strength, but such a huge consumption still made this first prince unbearable. Now that the Kwantung coalition army has broken up on its own, it has not yet been able to chase a wave of passes.

Fortunately, this idea was stopped by Xiao Huairen beside him, and he said: "Ming Gong can't, the other side is scattered for a long time, and it is too much consumption." The second is the incident in Yunzhong County, the Ma family is worried about the border troubles and takes the lead in withdrawing, and now our army is also sleepy and lacking horses, and it should be held firmly to consume the morale of the enemy, and if it is a rapid battle, it will be in the hands of the other party. Besides, they haven't gone far since they evacuated, and they are only afraid that they will unite again. ”

Xi Ze Yaoshi sighed and said: "I don't know, it's just that they have been grinding me for so long in the Cloud Piercing Pass, and this evil breath is really hard to swallow." ”

Xiao Huairen persuaded: "Duke Ming doesn't have to be like this, why should he fight with these local chickens and dogs for a while, it is better to go back to Beijing to accept the throne." ”

Xi Ze Yaoshi's eyes lit up, yes, this is the best way to slap these princes in the face, the reason why they formed a coalition is not because the Marquis of Shu wants to be the king?

Before, just in case, reserve a way out. Therefore, at the beginning of the war, the matter of claiming the title of king was put on hold for the time being. Now that he is swaggering back to the capital to be named the King of Shu, can these princes still be able to unite for the second time? I can only pinch my nose and admit it, at most I can scold two sentences, what can I do?

Yuzawa Yaoshi nodded and said, "Well, okay, after two days of observation, if the alliance forces outside the Guanwai do not become successful, I will return to Beijing and claim the king." ”

......

The withdrawal is not a one-time thing, some have already been withdrawn, while others are still packing. Now only some southern forces led by the Marquis of Chu are firmly resisting the Marquis of Shu, but due to the dismantling of the coalition army, there are now less than 120,000 people left outside the Cloud Pass.

In the camp of the Wu army, Wu Hou Chen Shuming recruited a few cronies. This time, the military generals he brought were Xiao Qilin and Ying Xiong. The two of them were born in the capital and know more about things here. And Wenchen's side brought Han Yu and Xiao Rang, two gentlemen who started with him first, in addition to these four people, there is also a more special one, it is the little immortal master Hong Tianyi of the Chongming Temple in Wudi.

Hong Tianyi is a third-generation disciple of Elf Island, and this time he came with him, because they understood that Yushan was standing behind the Shu army, and since the Elf Island Kong Zhen had decided to be born to assist Wu Hou, it would be a matter of time before he met the forces of Yushan, and this time he came not to fight, but to communicate.

Chen Shuming frowned and said, "What the little immortal master said is true?" He naturally knew that Hong Tianyi had a channel to contact with the Shu army, but he didn't think that they would betray the interests of the Wu army because of this, but what Hong Tianyi said was a bit bizarre.

Hong Tianyi nodded and said, "Yes, I can guarantee it." ”

Chen Shuming asked again, "What do you think?"

The two ministers glanced at each other, and the older Han Yu said: "If this is the case, the lord should also withdraw his troops earlier, this opportunity is really rare." ”

Chen Shuming hesitated again: "I'm not worried about the others, but can the group of people in Qianyu be trusted?"

The so-called Qianyu is the Dayu Dynasty in the south, they are created by the orphaned Jade Dragon King of the previous dynasty, and they are naturally enemies for the princes of the Great Zhou.

Hong Tianyi said again: "Marquis Wu, please rest assured, this time everyone's actions are just to take what they need, now the imperial court is no longer able to rule the world, and the salt bandits are useless. ”

At this time, Xiao Qilin said: "If the lord is not at ease, why not form an alliance with the Marquis of Qi, no matter how powerful Qianyu is, it will be difficult to fight against the two fronts of Qi and Wu. ”

Uncle Chen smiled when he heard this: "It seems that this time I am touching the light of Brother Lin again." ”

Everyone also laughed when they heard this, Lin Yue's success in the northwest could not hide from the major forces in the world, in the eyes of Han Yu and Xiao Rang, Lin Yue, who was born in Wudi, was half a fellow countryman, and he had a good impression of himself. As for Xiao Qilin and Ying Xiong, Lin Yue has a great kindness, and when they meet him face-to-face, they will also call him a benevolent father.

The princes and the alliance gathered, and there was no shortage of people who visited the door in private to contact their feelings, and the two princes were not far apart, and the two princes unconsciously led Lin Yue out of the topic when they negotiated, and naturally they were a little closer.

Chen Shuming nodded and thought about the words of these people, there is a scourge in the south, that is, the salt bandit Bai Jingcheng, one of the four great scoundrels who caused chaos in the world at the beginning, and the reason why he has stayed until now is also the result of everyone's tacit understanding.

Chen Shuming started by suppressing bandits, and if the banditry was quelled prematurely, what else would he, Wu Hou, do? But he couldn't let the bandits become too strong. Under many factors, the salt bandits were blocked by the Dayu Dynasty, the Marquis of Chu, the Marquis of Wu and the Duke of Yue.

Everyone did not attack further, on the one hand, they were afraid that they would contribute, and in the end, others would pick up the leaks. On the other hand, I also want to leave a buffer between several forces.

Now the Marquis of Chu is somehow unwilling to withdraw his troops, and even detains Yue Gong here. Because Chu Yue had fought a big battle, they were also afraid that Yue Gong's troops would go back and copy the back road of the Chu army.

In this way, only Wu Hou and Dayu Dynasty were left around the salt bandits, and the Dayu Dynasty meant that the two families attacked the salt bandits from the north and south, with the Great River as the boundary, with a quarter of the north to Dayu and a three-quarter of the south to Wu Hou.

Chen Shuming did not doubt the generosity of the other party, because the Dayu Dynasty was an industrial dynasty with a weak military power. Because he was an orphan of the previous dynasty, he was surrounded by enemies on all sides, and the princes of the Great Zhou Dynasty would not let him develop with peace of mind, so they simply gave up agriculture and concentrated on industrial development, and also created a world-class agency army.

The Dayu Dynasty also relies on industrial products to generate income, although the surrounding forces can cut off its grain routes, but the organs and troops of the Dayu Dynasty are sharp, if you don't trade with me, I will rob it. So everyone banned it openly and traded a lot secretly.

The reason why they only need these places this time is because there are mines in the north of the salt bandits' territory, and the south is a fish and rice water town, so only a quarter is enough, and the water town can't hold it even if the fertile land is coming.

Wu Di is too far away from the capital, and this time he came here is nothing more than to make a statement for the general righteousness of the world, even if they really attack the capital, what can they gain? It is better to take this opportunity to take over the entire fish, rice and water town in the south of the Yangtze River in one fell swoop.

Chen Shuming said: "Okay, Tianfu will take it, but take the blame, since this is the case, let's let it go, Mr. Xiao, you go to Qihou's side, if you can form an alliance, it is the best, if you don't succeed, cooperate first this time." ”

The strategist Xiao Rang replied, "Yes, my lord." ”