Zhongli County is located south of Huaishui, northwest of Jiangdu County, northeast of Lujiang River, Huainan County in the west, and Ruyin County, Qian County, Pengcheng County, and Xiapi County north of Huaishui on the opposite bank.

For the Wei State whose territory spans the north and south of Huaishui, Zhongli County's strategic position is more important than Jiangdu, Li Mi let Shan Xiongxin lead an army to hoard troops in Jiangdu Quanjiao County, defend Du Fuwei of Liyang County, and personally lead the main force of the division to sit in Zhongli County, and Shan Xiongxin each other into a horn trend, if Du Fuwei attacks Qingliu, the main force of the division can enter Lujiang Shen County, after occupying Xiang'an, attack Du Fuwei from behind, on the contrary, Shan Xiongxin can also attack Liyang and Lujiang from Quanjiao County.

Hoarding troops in Zhongli County can also threaten Huainan County in the west, and can also pass through Huaishui and support Huaiyang Wang Bodang and Pengcheng Xu Shiji in time. If you can't do anything, you can also lead your troops to the north, and completely connect the team commanded by the second general to the south of Huaishui, and then, with the help of Huaishui, confront the Sui army, and wait until this defense line is slightly stable, you can wave the army to the west, occupy Huainan, Lujiang, Yiyang, and work together to annihilate Du Fuwei, and then focus on the south.

However, Li Mi also knew that this was just his optimistic idea, Du Fuwei, the Jianghuai tiger, was extremely difficult to deal with, and after surrendering to the Great Sui, he got a lot of sophisticated weapons from the Great Sui, and because the Great Sui became his master, he no longer had to worry about civil strife in the rear; What's more, today's Huainan County Guard is Yao Junsu, this guy is not famous in the Great Sui Dynasty, which has many famous generals, but with a county town and thousands of soldiers and horses, he blocked Li Yuan's hundreds of thousands of troops in Hedong County for more than half a month.

But the arrival of Yao Junsu made Li Mi a little relieved, just because Yang Tong let the good guard generals go south, which somewhat revealed a certain strategic direction of Yang Tong, if Yang Tong put Qin Qiong, Luo Shixin, Wei Chigong, Xue Wanche, Xue Wanjun, a general who advocates attack in Huainan, then he will really have trouble sleeping.

At this time, Li Mi, under the escort of hundreds of armor soldiers, stood at the head of the county town and looked at the Huaishui flowing eastward in the north, his eyes were full of heavy melancholy.

Although the spies sent information, saying that Yang Tong had arrived in Nanyang County, and the various armies were moving frequently, and it was very likely to attack Li Yuan, but he did not dare to have the slightest carelessness, just because Xu Shiji and Wang Bodang came to report, and the Sui army they faced was also acting at the same time, which shows that the Sui army is very likely to start a full-scale war, because Yang Tong has a million male divisions in his hands, and he has full strength and ability.

He is now waiting for Yang Dong in Nanyang to make a move, if the Sui army really attacked the Tang Dynasty in an all-round way, he will accept Yang Dong's conditions, and give all the seven counties of Huaibei to Yang Dong in exchange for a one-year truce, as long as the army is still there, then he can break the fence of the Jiangnan Shi manor and forcibly recruit the slaves of each family as an army, so that maybe he can also rule the river with the Sui Dynasty, which is Li Mi's hope.

Li Mi actually considered the Three Kingdoms, but the premise of the Three Kingdoms was that Li Yuan would come to his aid, not him to aid Li Yuan, and he would not have the ambition to go north to the Central Plains now, because the Central Plains was a natural battlefield for cavalry, and he couldn't take advantage of it.

Throughout the annals of warfare, cavalry has always been a lingering nightmare for infantry, and since mankind mastered the technology of iron smelting, powerful cavalry has begun to appear on various battlefields. In the open and flat Central Plains, the cavalry became the king of the battlefield with its powerful impact and superb mobility. In the face of two-legged infantry, the cavalry can achieve a brilliant victory as long as the tactics are appropriate, and even if they lose, they can quickly retreat with the advantage of their horses. Once the infantry is defeated, it will be completely annihilated and hunted down by the cavalry that follows one by one. Therefore, when the infantry faces the cavalry, it can generally only use static braking and a phalanx with multiple arms to stop the cavalry from charging, otherwise it will only be slaughtered......

This is one of them.

Second, Li Mi himself retreated from the Central Plains to the south, and if he returned to the Central Plains, all his previous efforts would be in vain.

Third, Meng Haigong and Lin Shihong in the south did not listen to the order, and when they saw that the situation was not good, it was very likely that they would learn from Du Fuwei and directly surrender to the Great Sui and encircle him in several counties, and the Jiangnan Shi clan refused to accept him, even when Yuan Ri ascended the throne, he sent various high-ranking officials, so that he had to pinch his nose and admit it, but this was not willing after all, plus Yang Tong planned to reconcile with the gate lords of the world's families, so these people were not reliable at all, and he needed to persuade and reform them one by one, so he had no energy and strength to send troops to the Central Plains, Help Li Yuan share part of the pressure from the eastern region.

Based on the above three points, Li Mi knew that the situation of the Three Kingdoms was no longer realistic, and then considered dividing the river to govern, using the Huaishui or the Yangtze River as a natural risk, so as to confront the Sui and Wei for decades, so that he would also have time to manage the rear and create a new Great Wei Dynasty.

This is Li Mi's long-term dream, but Li Mi knows that there is not much time and opportunity for him to realize his dream, if the Sui army covers up by attacking Li Yuan, but in fact attacks himself, then he will fall into a precarious situation, and his lifelong ambition will be completely shattered.

"Holy!" At this time, Fang Xuanzao hurriedly walked from a distance, his usually calm eyes revealing a heavy look of uneasiness and worry.

Li Mi's heart tightened, and he hurried to meet him, and asked, "What happened?" ”

"Everyone retreats, within ten zhang, if someone forcibly approaches, there will be no forgiveness." Fang Xuanzao's order was very abrupt and exceeding. But Li Mi was not angry, it was definitely a fatal matter to be able to make this mastermind who had collapsed in front of Taishan and his color unchanged be so out of shape, and he said in a deep voice: "Follow the order of the gentleman!" ”

"Whoa."

Hundreds of guards dispersed in an orderly manner.

Fang Xuanzao walked quickly to Li Mi and presented a letter with dried bloodstains: "Please take a look at it." ”

The envelope had been torn open, presumably Fang Xuanzao had taken a look at it, and was shocked by the contents of it to such an extent, Li Mi didn't ask much, took out the letterhead and looked at it, his face turned pale.

This is an oath of allegiance to the Great Sui, and the content is written by Yang Tong himself: as long as the Jiangnan Shi clan sacrifices sixty percent of the land, half of the family property, and seventy percent of the slaves and tenant farmers, the Jiangnan Shi clan can be forgiven for the crime of being a thief; If the Great Sui Dynasty invaded Wei, the families of the Jiangnan Shi clan had meritorious service, they would be given the quota of a county guard, and the families who made great contributions could let the best children enter the court as squires and serve as ten deputy officials, not only signed with Yang Dong's name, but also stamped with a jade seal.

Under the jade seal, there are densely signed names and seals, and there are more than 60 names, all of which are the names of the heads of the Jiangnan Shi clan.

This list with a strong lineup set off a storm in Li Mi's heart, and he couldn't come back to his senses for a long time. Li Mi is still like this, no wonder Fang Xuanzao was shocked, these more than 60 scholar clans, including almost all the influential families in Jiangnan, if these people joined forces to make trouble behind the back when the Sui army was attacking, Li Mi couldn't resist it at all.

"How's that okay?" For a while, Li Mi's heart was numb, and his hands and feet were cold.

"In the past, Yuan Shao occupied the land of the four continents, invincible, the generals were like clouds, and the ministers were like rain, and when he launched an attack on Cao Cao, even Cao Cao himself did not have the confidence to defeat the powerful Yuan Shao. Although he got off to a good start, it was still very thrilling and difficult after that. During this period, some people secretly wrote letters to Yuan from time to time. Cao Cao burned all these letters after the war. His hand has three meanings:

First, it shows the magnanimity and bearing that a leader should have

； The second is to make the people who were shaken before know that they have a handle in Cao Cao's hands, for fear of causing the disaster of annihilation, they dare not have any more dissenting ambitions, so they can only serve him with all their hearts

； The third is that there are a large number of people who write letters, if Cao Cao opens the betrayal letter and reads it, then the next thing is to investigate and investigate thoroughly, and then the people are panicked all day long, the monarchs and ministers are suspicious of each other, and finally there is internal coaxing, internal fighting, and civil strife, and finally everyone is wiped out together, Cao Cao understands these truths, so he burns these letters of collaborating with the enemy one by one. On the way, Fang Xuanzao already has a relatively clear proposition.

"Sir, let me follow Cao Cao's example and burn this list in public?" Li Mi's brows tightened.

"No!" Fang Xuanzao shook his head and said in a sharp tone: "The minister means to destroy all these scholars. ”

Fang Xuanzao's murderous tone, even Li Mi gasped, and asked in a deep voice, "Why don't you follow Cao Cao's example?" ”

Fang Xuanzao said: "The person who wrote to Yuan Shao was more of a means of seeking a way out, not really betraying Cao Cao, and Cao Cao didn't know the letter of collaborating with the enemy in advance, when he captured it, he had defeated Yuan Shao and became the first prince of the rising world. ”

"Sir, do you mean that if Cao Cao had known in advance, there would have been no burning of his subordinates' letters of collaboration with the enemy?"

"Very likely." Fang Xuanzao smiled bitterly: "From the perspective of people's hearts, no one dares to hand over their backs to the enemy when the situation is not good, if someone really does this, this is not magnanimity, but a complete fool." ”

"There are too many people involved, if I kill him, will it cause great turmoil in Jiangnan?"

"There will definitely be turmoil, but the impact will not be too much, just because the Holy One killed the ministers who betrayed the Lord, and legally and morally speaking, the Holy One is right. In terms of strength, the Jiangnan Shi clan is a family heirloom with poetry and writing, and few people are proficient in the art of war, although there are certain domestic slaves, but these soldiers are no different from the rabble, which is the opponent of the battle-hardened imperial court heroes? As long as the domestic slaves of the Shishi clan are properly settled and the fields are divided equally, this turmoil will soon subside, and the rear will be safe and worry-free. ”

"Once the Jiangnan Shi clan is annihilated, the money, food, and property urgently needed by our army will be at your fingertips, and without the constraints of the Shi clan, it will be much easier for the Holy Clan to recruit soldiers. In addition, in order to appease the Jiangnan Shi clan and give high-ranking officials a heavy title, the saint is strict with our soldiers, and all the soldiers who take away the people's food and water must be severely punished, which makes the whole army complain a lot, and feel that the saint does not want them, if this evil breath is not vented before, the minister is worried that when the Sui army is coming, the soldiers of our army will be passive and slack, if the saint annihilates the Jiangnan warriors who are hated by the soldiers on the grounds of rebellion, and rewards the soldiers with a part of the property, our army will feel the grace of the saint, so together, It will definitely be able to resist the enemy outside the country, and at the same time divide the land equally, and win the hearts of the people in Jiangnan, which can be said to be a lot of gains. Therefore, Weichen thinks that this letter of allegiance is a godsend. ”

Li Mi was thrilled when he heard this, and asked urgently: "I also agree with Mr.'s strategy." But I am worried that the great turmoil under my rule will only cheapen Yang Tong in the end. ”

After listening to Li Mi's words, Fang Xuanzao said again: "What the Holy Lord can't decide at the moment is to take the opportunity to pull out the troubles, or to slowly figure it out." Weichen thought that this Jiangnan maladministration was like a disease in his body. Now uprooting is a strong medicine, this pair of strong medicine can play a role in the effect of medicine to eliminate the disease, but 'it is a medicine with three poisons', although the strong medicine can be cured to eliminate the disease, but there is a long period of debilitation, once this debilitating period is passed, the patient will be rejuvenated, and the potential is unlimited. The slow and slow punishment is a peaceful prescription, which will get rid of the disease little by little, but the effect is slow, the time is long, and there is a possibility of recurrence in the future. ”

"Mr. naturally chose a fierce medicine?" Li Mi asked.

"Exactly!" Fang Xuanzao replied: "A fierce medicine, there will be an immediate effect, money and grain, internal worries, land, rewarding soldiers to win the hearts of the army, and evenly dividing the land to win the hearts of the people, which is the immediate benefit, Fang Caichen has already mentioned; In addition, there are two more feasible things to do now! There are three major drawbacks! ”

"This first point is external, since Yang Tong appeared in Nanyang, then the main direction of attack of the Sui army should be Li Yuan, even if it attacks Tang Wei at the same time, but the focus of the attack is still on Li Tang, the Sui army's partial division, we should be able to deal with it. And Li Yuan's side, whether it is Jingxiang or Bashu, are easy to defend and difficult to attack, Yang Tong needs time to attack and stabilize these places, once Yang Dong attacks Li Yuan, he will not attack in a short time. Even if General Xu and General Wang can't hold Huaibei, they can bring the army to Huainan and establish a defensive line to resist the Sui army's partial division, so the saint is now taking fierce medicine and rectifying the interior, and will not be interfered with too much by foreign enemies! ”

Li Mi nodded and continued to ask, "What about the other benefit?" ”

"The other is our own internal problems, now the Holy Lord governs the army strictly, and the army has not committed any offense against the local Qiu, and has won the favor of the local people; For so long, the saint has not touched the interests of corrupt officials, Jiangnan scholars, and local tyrants, they will definitely not think that the saint will suddenly make trouble, and they will not make a big move against them. Therefore, most of them will not restrain and continue to do evil, and there is no time to hide the evidence of evil. The Jiangnan Shi clan is concentrated in Jiangdu, as long as the Holy Lord closes the city gate on the grounds of the Sui army's attack, then no one outside knows what happened in Jiangdu City. At the same time, he sent his cronies down to the counties and counties to depose the evil officials with the force of thunder, annihilate the branches and leaves of the Jiangnan Shi clan, and recommend Ren Neng to be the county official by the local people, so that the Jiangnan officials could become clear in a very short time. ”

"If the saint slowly tries to deal with them one by one, those corrupt officials and local tyrants will be prepared to hide the evidence of their crimes, and will not give the court an excuse to deal with them. And the talents of the poor family, seeing that the Holy Lord has been in charge of Jiangnan for so long, but still appoints corrupt officials and corrupt officials, and does not show the courage of the master, they will be completely disappointed; The Holy Lord has been in charge of Jiangnan for so long, if the lives of the people cannot be improved for a long time, the Holy Lord will lose the support of the people who have slowly accepted our army. ”

"If war breaks out at that time, our Great Wei Dynasty will be in a difficult situation both internally and externally, and the situation will be even more unfavorable to our dynasty. These are the three major drawbacks of Xu Xu Tuzhi. ”

"Yang Tong is attacking in this period of weakness, what should we do? I'm afraid that it will still be a difficult situation at home and abroad. Li Mi said worriedly.

Fang Xuanzao smiled faintly: "Yang Tong hurried up to the south, and we were also busy rectifying the rear." Now this situation, that is, the two dynasties are competing, if our dynasty can stabilize first, the most that will be lost is the seven northern counties, and these seven counties are originally in the plan that the saint gave up, and it is not a pity to lose them, but what is obtained is an iron dynasty with one heart and one heart; If the Sui Dynasty takes the first step, then our Dynasty will only be reduced to historical dust, and second, isn't the current Great Wei also in internal and external difficulties? If we succeed in rectifying the internal situation, we still have the opportunity to cut the river and cure the problem, and if we know that there is a disease and fail to treat it, we really have no hope at all. ”

"What the gentleman said is very true!" Speaking of which, Li Mi no longer had any reason to object, he handed over the oath list to Fang Xuanzao, and said viciously: "I am focused on military affairs, eager to train strong soldiers, and have no energy to manage internal affairs at all. Mr. knows very well what I mean, and these people and these things will be entrusted to Mr. ”

At this point, it doesn't matter where this letter came from.

"This is my token, and when you need to mobilize the army, you can do it with confidence. I just need a clean Jiangnan. Li Mi took out a golden order, engraved the four big characters 'Ru I am here', and solemnly handed it to Fang Xuanzao.

"Wechen obeys." Fang Xuanzao respectfully accepted the golden order.