Xijiang Province is adjacent to southern Guangdong, and Shangqing Mountain was once located here.

Since ancient times, Xijiang has been a large province in the Central Plains, with a large population, abundant products and convenient transportation.

Strategically, Xijiang has always been a battleground for soldiers.

The Lin clan now occupies the two provinces of Lingnan, which seems to dominate one side, but in fact, Lingnan is only a border land.

Lingnan mountains are densely forested, smoke and miasma, in the previous dynasties Lingnan was still a place of exile officials, for thousands of years by the Central Plains people called the barbarian land.

However, it is precisely because of the complex terrain and harsh climate of Lingnan that the Lin family chose Lingnan as the base at the beginning, and then the southern army was able to survive several encirclements and suppressions of the national dynasty, and the terrain and climate of Lingnan that are easy to defend and difficult to attack also account for a large part of the factors.

However, the Southern Army also trapped itself because of the geographical environment of Lingnan.

At present, relying on the two provinces of Lingnan alone, the Lin family can protect itself, but it is difficult to make any great development.

If you want to plot the world, Xijiang Province is the place where the southern army must fight.

It can be said that before the Lin clan rebelled, they had already begun to fight the idea of Xijiang Province.

When he was still in the middle of the court, the Lin family began to have close contact with Shangqing Mountain, and later the Daomen was in turmoil because of the Ming King, and the Lin family immediately made a decisive move to take Shangqing Mountain.

The reason why Shangqing Mountain is valued so much, in addition to coveting their Taoist power, the biggest factor is that Shangqing Mountain was once located in the territory of Xijiang Province.

For hundreds of years, Shangqing Mountain has penetrated into all aspects of Xijiang Province.

Especially in terms of the people's hearts that the Lin family values the most, Shangqing Mountain has a very high status in the hearts of the people of Xijiang Province, and winning Shangqing Mountain will definitely have an immeasurable effect on the Lin family's future efforts to seize Xijiang.

It's just that in the past, although there was a plan to seize Xijiang, but it could only be forbearing, Dingwu could not give the southern army this opportunity, since the Lin family established itself in Nanyue, the control of Xijiang Province by the dynasty has never dared to relax in the slightest.

In addition to sending heavy troops to garrison Xijiang, the main officials of Xijiang Province were also frequently replaced, so as to prevent Xijiang Province from being infiltrated by the Lin clan.

Although the Lin family coveted Xijiang, they could only watch dryly, and did not dare to make the slightest move.

However, now that the dynasty has changed greatly and Dingwu is dead, the opportunity that the Lin family has been waiting for for a long time has finally come.

Nanyue.

Lin Huayao stood in front of the map with his hands behind his back, staring at the Xijiang Provincial plate, silent.

I don't know how long it has been, there was a sound of footsteps outside the door, Lin Huayao turned around and stared at the door, only to see Chu Ruocai's figure appear at the door.

"Dashuai, it's done!" Chu Ruocai walked in quickly, his face full of joy.

Lin Huayao was immediately shocked: "Say! ”

Chu Ruocai didn't dare to delay, and said quickly: "Just now, under the pressure of the ministers carrying the coffin and forcing the palace gate, the new monarch has sent Zhang Bangli to prison!" ”

"Really? Xinjun succumbed so easily? Even Lin Huayao suddenly clenched his fists when he heard this, and his voice was difficult to calm down.

"It's not easy, today the ministers carried the coffin in front of the palace and knocked on the first emperor Yingling to appear and make decisions for King Yong. The new monarch did not compromise, and sent King De to lead the forbidden army to retreat the ministers, but the ministers did not retreat, and the forbidden army stepped forward to drive away, forcing the concubine of King Yong to isolate herself in front of the palace gate on the spot. Seeing this, the ministers shouted in unison, asking the Queen Mother to come forward to administer justice for the royal family. How could the new monarch allow the queen mother to come to the court, afraid that the momentum would expand and be out of control, so he had no choice but to put Zhang Bangli in prison to appease everyone to retreat. Chu Ruocai had a rare excitement on his face.

Today's scene is naturally indispensable for his participation.

"It has been confirmed that Zhang Bangli has now been put in prison, and the new monarch has issued an order to order the three divisions to be tried and solve the case within a time limit." After Chu Ruocai finished explaining, he looked at Lin Huayao: "Dashuai, the dynasty is already in chaos, the new monarch is now busy stabilizing the court, and he can't afford to care about it, after Zhang Bangli was imprisoned, the intelligence center of the dynasty must be panicked, and now is the time for us to make a move to Xijiang." ”

"What about Hu Qingyan? He still didn't show up? When Lin Huayao heard this, his eyes flashed a few times, but he still suppressed his impulse and said cautiously.

"No, since martial law in Beijing, Hu Qingyan has not appeared in public, and there is news that Hu Qingyan is seriously ill in bed and cannot be a director." Chu Ruocai shook his head and said.

"What about the Ming Palace, didn't he help Xinjun contain us before, and this time he also watched from the wall and didn't interfere?" Lin Huayao asked again.

"King Ming is guarding the spirit of Dingwu, and he has not left the palace for the past three days, nor has he interfered with the hundred officials to make trouble." Chu Ruocai said, hesitated for a moment and said: "Dashuai, it is normal for King Ming not to interfere, the power of King Ming is not in the court, even if he wants to help Xinjun, I am afraid that there is nothing he can do." ”

"Hu Qingyan doesn't interfere, and King Ming doesn't interfere, they all let the dynasty be so chaotic, will this be a trap, just waiting for us to drill into it?" Lin Huayao said in a deep voice.

"This ......" Chu Ruocai didn't dare to give a positive answer, he pondered for a while, and said: "Dashuai, whether it is a trap or not, I'm afraid we have to jump, such a good opportunity, we don't come again, don't take advantage of it now, and when the new monarch stabilizes the situation of the country, we will have to pay a hundred times the price of a thousand times if we want to plot against Xijiang." ”

Lin Huayao closed his eyes slightly, and after his mind was turning, he finally opened his eyes and looked at the Xijiang plate on the map, and ordered: "Pass the order to Qingshan, act!" ”

…………

……

Ming Wangfu.

Lu Xunyi, who had already returned to Beijing from Nanyue, also focused his eyes on the map in front of him at this moment.

King Ming has not left the palace in the past few days, but an order has been passed from the palace to let Lu Xunyi continue to take care of the Ming Palace.

"Nanyue is afraid that he is going to make a move on Xijiang, has His Highness ever explained anything?" Lu Xunyi suddenly asked.

Ah Jiu stood beside him, looked at his back, shook his head lightly, and said with a wry smile: "No, the dynasty is now in chaos, and it is doomed to suffer heavy losses. ”

When Lu Xunyi heard this, he only nodded, turned around and sat down, and did not speak.

He didn't speak, but Ah Jiu couldn't help it, came to Lu Xunyi and sat down, and sighed lightly: "Second brother, what do you think?" His Royal Highness tried every means to contain the Lin clan in order to prevent the warlords from making trouble. Why do you disobey His Highness's orders and let His Highness's hard work go to waste, if you are willing to listen to His Highness's orders, you will not let the situation get to this point? ”

Lu Xunyi did not panic, calmly picked up the teacup on the table, took a sip, and then said slowly: "There are some things that someone has to do, and I am not ashamed." ”

"What do you mean?" Ah Jiu frowned slightly.

Lu Xunyi raised his head: "Ah Jiu, although we are all from the Ming Palace, the parts we need to be responsible for are not the same. You are the minister of the Ming Palace, you only need to be responsible for His Royal Highness. And I am a minister of the Ming Palace, and I need to be responsible for the rise and fall of the entire Ming Palace. ”

When Ah Jiu heard him say this, his brows furrowed even tighter: "What's the difference, the Ming Wangfu exists because of His Royal Highness, and His Royal Highness's will is the will of the Ming Wangfu." Whether it is an internal minister or a foreign minister, whether it is for His Royal Highness or for the Ming Palace, we should be loyal to His Highness. ”

"As I said earlier, it is your duty to obey the king's orders unconditionally, and you are not wrong. In the same way, I am also loyal to the Ming Wangfu and His Royal Highness, but in a different way. Lu Xunyi said solemnly.

Ah Jiu heard Lu Xunyi's words, and said in a deep voice: "Second brother, the path that the Ming Wangfu should take in the future is decided by His Royal Highness, and only His Highness can decide. This is an iron law, and neither you nor I should and must not violate it. ”

Lu Xunyi's face sank, put down the teacup, and looked at Ah Jiu: "Let me ask you, even if we pay a heavy price this time and help the dynasty contain the warlord forces, will the dynasty give up dealing with the Ming Wangfu because of this?" ”

"These are two different things!" Ah Jiudao.

Lu Xunyi shook his head: "You also know very well that the dynasty will not only not thank us, but will only take advantage of our weakness to take advantage of our weakness to take advantage of us, this kind of thing that is harmful to our Ming Wangfu and not beneficial, why should we do it?" ”

Ah Jiu looked at him for a long time before he slowly spoke: "Second brother, didn't Your Highness think about what you said?" All the things we have done in the Ming Wangfu have only one purpose, which is to drive the banner barbarians out of the country. This time is the same, His Royal Highness focuses on resisting barbarism, and does not want the dynasty to continue civil strife, so he will help the new monarch stabilize the situation of the court. Ah Jiu frowned.

Lu Xunyi nodded: "Of course I know His Highness's feelings, but fighting against the banner barbarians can't be the responsibility of our Ming Wangfu family, and we can't always suffer from the enemy." ”

Ah Jiu was silent, he slowly stood up, came to the front of the map, looked at the map for a long time, and then slowly spoke: "Second brother, do you realize that what you just said is exactly the same as the original dynasty and warlords. I don't know if you have forgotten the circumstances under which we stepped into this troubled world. ”

When Lu Xunyi heard this, the whole person was suddenly stunned, and looked at Ah Jiu in a daze.

Ah Jiu's voice continued: "We have only been in Beijing for more than a year, when the Qiman invaded the pearl, my people in Daxia wailed under the iron hooves of the Qiman, but there was no way to deal with the tragic situation, we should not forget it so soon." At that time, the dynasties and warlords were still holding each other hostage, and no one had time to take a look at the pearl that was full of blood. ”

Speaking of this, Ah Jiu turned his head and stared at Lu Xunyi with a little red eyes: "Second brother, it is under this circumstance that our Ming Wangfu stepped into this troubled world. We entered Beijing, not to fight for the throne, at that time, we were united, to use our Ming Wangfu as a crowbar, to pry the entire dynasty to fight against the banner barbarians. ”

"Second brother, you were the first to enter Beijing, before you entered the Ming Palace, you fought to the death with the Qiman Grandmaster Jin Bacheng, you were the first to shed blood, and Senior Brother Hu Biao died in a battle, what a hero you were at that time, how tragic and heroic? Why have you only been in Beijing for more than a year, and you have forgotten about this? ”

"I ......" Lu Xunyi's face turned pale, and this time, he really couldn't say anything to refute.

Ah Jiu took a deep breath: "Second brother, it's not that Your Highness didn't think about it as well as you, and it's not that Your Highness didn't weigh the pros and cons, it's just that Your Highness has never forgotten Mingzhu, never forgotten his mission to enter Beijing, everything he did was not stupid, just to fight against the banners, even if he suffered a loss, even if he died, he had no hesitation." ”

"With all due respect, what you did this time is really out of line, to put it mildly, you are good at making claims, and to put it more seriously, you are kidnapping the hearts of the people of the Ming Palace, threatening His Highness, and forcing His Highness to change the established resolution. But you and I both know what kind of person Your Highness is, and if you are really angry, how can you and I threaten you? In the end, he still rescued you back, just because he couldn't bear to give up on those of us who came with him from the crisis, but we must not use His Highness's tolerance as a bargaining chip to touch His Highness's bottom line again and again. I hope you can think about it, I really don't want one day, we will also come to the point where we are not the same. ”