After the Zhou family almost calmly annexed the towns of Huannan, Huanbei, Boting and Deyang, the most frightened were the other major forces of the Han and Tang Empires.

It was four feudal towns, but the Zhou family didn't seem to have to spend any effort to annex them, which was really scary.

In the Forbidden Army Metropolitan Governor's Mansion in Tiansheng City, the capital of the Han and Tang Empires, Zhao Shicong, the commander of the embroidery platform, said to Zhao Rongguang in a deep voice: "Father, the major families of Boting Town and Deyang Town have obediently handed over all the military power to the Zhou family.

In this way, the entire southwest region has been owned by the Zhou family. ”

Zhao Rongguang sighed and said, "What an eventful time!

It seems that the forbidden army will have to send a few more infantry divisions to Henghui City. ”

Henghui City is one of the four David Cities of the capital Tiansheng City, adjacent to Deyang Town, and is the gateway of the capital Tiansheng City to Deyang Town.

After Deyang Town was taken over by the Zhou family, the Zhou family's territory was already bordering the area controlled by the imperial court.

Zhao Shicong hesitated for a moment and said: "Father, the Zhou family is now equivalent to controlling fifteen feudal towns, and I am worried that the Zhou family will have ambitions for the imperial court in the future." ”

Zhao Rongguang shook his head and said, "Replace me with Zhou Rui, I will also have ambitions for the imperial court."

With the current strength of the Zhou family, if he can control the imperial court, he is likely to unify the entire Han and Tang Empires, and at that time, even if Zhou Rui wants to ascend the throne and become emperor and change the dynasty, it is just a matter of thought. ”

"Father, what are we going to do then?"

"Now for the imperial court, the top priority is to completely annex Jinggu Town and Zhongfang Town.

Only the stronger the strength in our hands, we will not be swallowed by the Zhou family like Feng Zhihuan and Wang Yongxing, who made the Huanan Jiedu and Wang Yongxing, like shrimp.

In addition, the connection with Shuodong Town should also be strengthened, and then only by huddling together to keep warm can we deal with the wolf-like Zhou family, alas-"

"Father, since you want to stay warm together, do you need to contact the five feudal towns in the northwest, as well as Shuonan Town and the other five feudal towns in the southeast?"

The Zhou family swallowed the Southwest Alliance, and the so-called Northeast Alliance was also attacking in the imperial court and Shuodong Town, and there was basically no chance of turning the tables.

Therefore, there were only six of the eight major forces of the original Han and Tang Empires, except for the Zhou family and the imperial court controlled by Zhao Rongguang, the governor of the forbidden army, the other four forces were Shuodong Town, which was attacking Yongwei Town, the Northwest Alliance composed of Botai Town, Fuping Town, Xiangxi Town, Ding'an Town and Luoshan Town in the northwest region, the Southeast Alliance composed of Lechang Town, Longnan Town, Anlu Town, Dongling Town and Puxing Town in the southeast region, and Shuonan Town, which received funding from the Red Tiger Empire.

Zhao Rongguang thought about it for a while and said: "The five feudal towns in the northwest and the five feudal towns in the southeast are destined to be the fate of shrimp in the future. Therefore, the Northwest Alliance and the Southeast Alliance will only become the target of the imperial court, and will not become allies of the imperial court.

As for Shuonan Town, you can send someone to test it, and Shi Desheng, the envoy of Shuonan Jiedu, should know that with the strength of Shuonan Town, even with the support of the Red Tiger Empire, it is impossible to confront the Zhou family. ”

The five feudal towns of the Northwest Alliance and the five feudal towns of the Southeast Alliance were in a similar situation to the four southwestern towns annexed by the Zhou family.

In Zhao Rongguang's view, the situation of the Northwest Alliance and the Southeast Alliance is scattered, not to mention the Zhou family, which is like a wolf and a tiger, even if the imperial court frees its hands, it can completely eat the Northwest Alliance and the Southeast Alliance.

Of course, Zhao Rongguang also knew that the Zhou family, Shuodong Town, and Shuonan Town would not watch the imperial court annex all the Northwest Alliance and Southeast Alliance.

At the beginning of July of Tianyuan 1543, the imperial court of the Han and Tang Empires finally completely annexed Jinggu Town and Zhongfang Town, so that in addition to controlling the Tiansheng City and the four acropolis, the imperial court also controlled the land of the four towns.

And just before the imperial court annexed Jinggu Town and Zhongfang Town, Shuodong Town had already taken the lead in eating Yongwei Town.

On the morning of July 5, 1543, in a meeting room of Jiedu Mansion in Luoshan City, the capital of Luoshan Town, Cheng Jun of Luoshan Jiedu Mansion said to the other four Jiedu envoys of the Northwest Alliance: "I don't know what the four of you are thinking about the establishment of the Northwest Army?

Now that the Zhou family has completely annexed the four feudal towns of the Southwest Alliance, and the imperial court has also pocketed Jinggu Town and Zhongfang Town, if our five feudal towns do not make any more moves, they will inevitably be eaten next.

I wonder if the four of you are willing?

Anyway, I, Cheng Jun, are unwilling, now our Cheng family is a family business, but the ancestors of our Cheng family, who exchanged blood and life, want me Cheng Jun to give up easily, it is impossible. ”

In the face of the strength of the Zhou family and the annexation of Jinggu Town and Zhongfang Town by the Han and Tang Empire courts, the five Jiedu envoys from Botai Town, Fuping Town, Xiangxi Town, Ding'an Town and Luoshan Town secretly gathered in Luoshan City to discuss what to do with their five feudal towns in the future.

Cheng Jun of Luoshan Jiedu Mansion should be the strongest among the five Jiedu envoys, and among the twenty-five cities in Luoshan Town, there are eight cities directly subordinate to Luoshan Jiedu Mansion.

The descendants of the Luoshan Jiedu Mansion have more than 200,000 troops.

This secret meeting was also initiated by Cheng Jun of Luoshan Jiedu Prefecture, and Cheng Jun also proposed at the meeting to establish the Northwest Army of five feudal towns.

The main purpose of the establishment of the Northwest Army was to collect the military power of the major families of their five feudal towns.

Tang Fengxiang immediately frowned and said: "Cheng Dashuai, the military power is not something that can be collected if you want to, if it were so easy, I would have already incorporated the armies in the hands of the major families in Botai Town." ”

Cheng Jun of Luoshan Jiedu Mansion said: "It is precisely because it is not easy, so I hope that our five Jiedu Mansions can unite and complete this matter."

If you want those families in our five feudal towns to willingly hand over their military power, only the descendants of our five Jiedu Prefectures can be integrated into the Northwest Army first, and they can play a deterrent role. ”

Fang Chengen, the envoy of the Fuping Festival, immediately asked, "Cheng Dashuai, what do you mean by integration?" ”

"Establish a general headquarters of the Northwest Army, and all the descendants of our five Jiedu Prefectures will be assigned to the name of this general headquarters of the Northwest Army.

Next, the armies of the major families of our five feudal towns will also be incorporated into the general headquarters of the Northwest Army. ”

Botai Jiedu made Tang Fengxiang's brows furrow even tighter, "Cheng Dashuai, what is the statement of the General Headquarters of the Northwest Army?" ”

Cheng Jun of Luoshan Jiedu Mansion said with a smile: "Don't worry, I, Cheng Jun, don't have such a big appetite and dare to annex the hundreds of thousands of descendants of your four Jiedu Mansions."

After the establishment of the General Headquarters of the Northwest Army, all matters were discussed by the five of us, and when there were differences of opinion, we voted on them.

In the current situation, if we don't keep warm in the five festivals, sooner or later we will be eaten, and there will be no bones left. ”

On July 25, 1543, Botai Town, Fuping Town, Xiangxi Town, Ding'an Town, and Luoshan Town in the northwest region jointly announced the establishment of the Northwest Army of the Han and Tang Empires, as well as the general headquarters of the Northwest Army.

In the future, the troops in the five feudal towns in the northwest region will be uniformly paid by the general headquarters of the Northwest Army, and the command of all armies will also be controlled by the general headquarters of the Northwest Army.

In a study room in the Jiedu Mansion of the Fifteenth Town of Ganyang City, Yan Shaoqiu said to Zhou Rui with a smile: "Dashuai, the plaque of the Jiedu Mansion has been replaced with 'Southwest Town Shoufu'. ”

Zhou Rui nodded and said: "The name of the Southwest Town Shoufu is good, and we will use this name in the future, so as not to change the plaque all the time." ”

After the bloodless annexation of Boting Town and Deyang Town, the plaque of Jiedu Mansion was outdated again, and then Zhou Rui did not let people make a plaque of "Fifteen Towns Jiedu Mansion", and directly gave Fifteen Towns Jiedu Mansion the name of a southwest town guard.

Yan Shaoqiu jokingly said: "Dashuai, our Zhou family does not only control the six towns in the southwest, the name of this southwest town guard is actually a bit small!" ”

Zhou Rui said indifferently: "The southwest region is the foundation of our Zhou family, as long as we don't knock down the entire Han and Tang Empire's feudal towns, we will always call this name in the future."

By the way, Lao Yan, what do you think of the Northwest Army to be established in the five towns in the northwest? ”

Yan Shaoqiu pondered for a while and said: "Great Marshal, if you can really follow what the five towns in the northwest have declared to the outside world, the Northwest Army will also become a strong enemy of our Zhou family in the future." ”

Zhou Rui asked: "Lao Yan, do you say that the major families in the five feudal towns will hand over their military power to the General Headquarters of the Northwest Army?" ”

"Marshal, the so-called collection of military power by the Northwest Army does not dismiss the officers of the major family armies, but only asks for the command and financial rights of the army.

Coupled with our Zhou family and the imperial court watching from the sidelines, I feel that the major families in those five feudal towns are likely to choose to compromise. ”

Zhou Rui hesitated, "Old Yan, what if our Zhou family does something to the five towns in the northwest now?" ”

"Dashuai, with the current situation of the five towns in the northwest, it shouldn't be too easy to fight.

Of course, if the marshal really wants to fight, at most the process is troublesome. ”

When Zhou Rui was considering whether to take advantage of the initial establishment of the Northwest Army and swallow the five towns in the Northwest in one bite, the Silver Wolf Empire suddenly gathered millions of troops and once again launched a new round of attack on the human rebels in Bauhinia Province, Tulip Province and Phalaenopsis Province.

At this time, the rebel Silver Wolf Column was still in the province of New Wilk in the territory of the Wild Bull Empire, engaged in a tug-of-war with the Wild Bull Army.

The attack of the silver wolf army suddenly turned the silver wolf column of the rebel army into a two-front battle, and Zhou Rui also temporarily canceled the plan to immediately attack the five towns in the northwest because of the attack of the silver wolf army, and began to fully support the silver wolf column in all aspects.

After the five Jiedu Prefectures in the northwest region announced the establishment of the Northwest Army General Headquarters, the major families of these five feudal towns also knew that if the five towns in the northwest continued the previous situation of scattered sand, the outcome of the four towns in the southwest and the three towns in the northeast would most likely fall on the heads of the five towns in the northwest in the future.

Moreover, let the family army belong to the general command of the Northwest Army, and the family did not completely lose its military power, so they chose to classify the family army into the sequence of the Northwest Army.

By the end of August 1543, the strength of the Northwest Army on paper had reached 120 infantry divisions and 280 independent brigades, with a total strength of more than 4 million.

According to the establishment formulated by the General Headquarters of the Northwest Army, the infantry division of the Northwest Army is about 20,000 people, and the independent brigade is about 5,000 to 8,000 people.

Seeing the successful integration of the five towns in the northwest into one force, the Lechang Jiedu Mansion, Longnan Jiedu Mansion, Anlu Jiedu Mansion, Dongling Jiedu Mansion and Puxing Jiedu Mansion in the southeast region immediately couldn't sit still.

Soon, the five Jiedu Prefectures in the southeast region also reached an agreement, according to the model of the Northwest Army, to form the Southeast Army of the Han and Tang Empires, as well as the General Headquarters of the Southeast Army.

In the Shuonan Jiedu Mansion in Jieyang City, the capital of Shuonan Town, Shi Zihao, the commander-in-chief of the Shuonan Naval Fleet, handed a piece of paper to Shi Desheng, the envoy of Shuonan Jiedu, and said: "Father, the five feudal towns of the Southeast Alliance have decided to establish the Southeast Army.

Do we have to implement the annexation plan of the five southeastern towns in advance? ”

After receiving the assistance of the Red Tiger Empire, Shuonan Jiedu made Shi Desheng quickly collect the military power of other families in Shuonan Town, and turned Shuonan Town into Shi Desheng's own feudal town.

Shi Desheng's ambitions did not stop there, so he hit the other five feudal towns in the southeastern region.

It's just that Shi Desheng's arrangement for annexing the other five feudal towns in the southeast has not yet been completed, and the territory of the Han and Tang Empires has staged one big drama after another.

At present, the five towns in the southeast are preparing to follow the example of the five towns in the northwest and set up the southeast army and the general headquarters of the southeast army.

Shuonan Jiedu made Shi Desheng look at some of the detailed rules on the paper about the formation of the Southeast Army by the five towns in the southeast, and couldn't help shaking his head and said: "It's a little late to send troops to the five towns in the southeast now.

However, after the establishment of the Southeast Army by the five towns in the southeast, whether it is the Zhou family or the imperial court, don't think about eating the five towns in the southeast in one bite. ”

Shi Zihao said with some reluctance: "Father, now that the imperial court has just annexed Jinggu Town and Zhongfang Town, the rebel army supported by the Zhou family has suffered from both sides of the Silver Wolf Empire and the Barbarian Niu Empire.

If our Shi family makes a move against the five towns in the southeast now, neither the imperial court nor the Zhou family may have the energy to prevent our Shi family from dominating the southeast. ”

Shi Desheng sighed and said: "If you want to swallow the five towns in the southeast in one bite, where is it so easy."

If it had been easy, I would have done it a long time ago.

What's more, now that the five Jiedu Mansions in the five towns in the southeast have announced the formation of the Southeast Army, even if our Shi family sends troops, it will no longer be a plate of scattered sand in the five towns in the southeast. ”

Seeing what the eldest son Shi Zihao wanted to say, Shi Desheng waved his hand, "With the current situation of the Han and Tang Empires, it is better for our Shi family to be more stable."

Zihao, what do you think of the olive branch thrown by the imperial court? ”

"Father, although the imperial court is supported by the Golden Lion Empire, our Shi family has received assistance from the Red Tiger Empire.

But on the issue of facing the Zhou family, our Shi family and the imperial court should be on the same front, and I feel that it is better to take over the olive branch of the imperial court. ”