Xiang Zhen laughed, looked at his father and said, "What do I want to do?" Of course I wanted to make a change. If you are poor, you will change, if you can get through, you will not be painful. Father, we have reached the time when we must change, change, there is still a way to live, if we don't change, we can only sit in a poor city, and finally end up at the end of the road, do you want us to make the Xiang family, like Liu Xinda, become a bandit? ”

Looking at Xiang Zhen, Xiang Xun's body was a little stiff, and after a while, he got up from the recliner, paced back and forth in the room, and finally walked to the big case in the study, sat down, and then said, "Then how do you want to change?" ”

"First, as you said, I want to twist the whole of the South into a single rope, but it is not what you call unity now, because this unity of yours cannot be done at all, and I will take more drastic measures to tie everyone together. Now the major festivals are in Guangzhou City, and the opportunity is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Speaking of which, if it weren't for Li Ze's aggressiveness, the envoys of the major festivals would have felt the imminent crisis, and they would not have gathered here, this opportunity is only one time, how can I let it go? ”

"You're going to detain all the festival envoys, the observers?" Xiang Xun gasped.

"How can it be detained?" Xiang Zhen laughed: "This is a heavy task entrusted to them by the imperial court." With so many high-ranking officials in the imperial court, most of them were controlled by our Xiang clan before, so what's the use? This time, it is just right for them to return to their respective places, and let those who are really capable and powerful sit on it. ”

Xiang Xun glared at Xiang Zhen, which sounded good, but in fact, it was still detained.

"Have you ever thought about it, this will cause a strong backlash everywhere, and if one is not good, it will be counterattacked! When Li Ze didn't come over, we ourselves would have to fight first. ”

"I'm sure of this!" Xiang Zhen said lightly. "Second, I will sever all economic exchanges with the Northern Tang Dynasty. Completely cut off the economic and trade relations between the two sides. I won't let Li Ze earn another copper plate from the south. In a short period of time, it will cause us certain losses, but in the long run, we in the south will be completely able to achieve self-sufficiency, and even if it will be poorer and more inconvenient, it will be able to eliminate the possibility of Li Ze destroying us economically. Of course, the inconvenient ones may just be those rich people, those powerful and dignitaries, and the real common people have been miserable in the north. ”

Speaking of this, Xiang Zhen paused for a moment, and then said: "You are sitting in the Prime Minister's Mansion, and you may not know that a large amount of northern cotton cloth has poured in, which has made our mulberry hemp, textile and other industries almost bankrupt. The influx of coins from the north has caused us to lose a large amount of gold and silver, and our financial situation has become increasingly deteriorating. A large number of cheap goods from the north are about to occupy almost the entire market in our south, and we, what can we give them? It's all the raw materials, including grain, that we send to the side at a very low price, and then exchange them for a lot of things that are useless to the national economy and people's livelihood, such as your luxurious and extravagant carriage. You know, the cost of your carriage is enough for me to raise a hundred elite cavalrymen. ”

Xiang Xun gasped and glared at Xiang Zhen.

"Father, we are already in danger, but you are still lying on the couch, deceiving yourself." Xiang Zhen sighed: "Is Li Ze really not able to beat us?" No, it's not. He wants to destroy us at the lowest cost. There is nothing more humiliating in the world, the opponent is not even interested in beating us, he just watches quietly from the side, playing a little trick, can make us worse day by day, and finally collapse ourselves. ”

"Alarmist!" Xiang Xun said coldly. "Li Ze's army is indeed strong, but that is only on the battlefield in the north, the climate, geography, and folk customs in the south are very different from those in the north, he can dominate the world in the north, and when he reaches the south, I am afraid that it will be difficult to move an inch, he will not fight us, but he is not ready. But he's preparing, aren't we preparing? ”

"We're not on the same magnitude!" Xiang Zhen said: "The real gap between us and the north is not above the military. Even if Li Ze has those powerful ordnance that makes people change, but ordnance is to be used by people after all. As you said, most of the geographical factors in our south actually have great restrictions on the use of these powerful weapons. The real gap between us and them is in the efficiency of the imperial court, in the execution of officials, and in the overall policy and strategy. No matter how much we struggle, we will be passive and will be crushed by our opponents. Father, the ways of ruling that worked in the past no longer work. ”

"If you say it doesn't work, it won't work?" Xiang Xun sneered: "For the sake of you being my eldest son, I will give you one last chance to retreat from here, go back to your small courtyard, go back to accompany your wives and concubines and children, and never ask about political affairs again." ”

Xiang Zhen laughed, walked to the window, stretched out his hand and pushed the window open, and the cold wind outside rushed in, diluting the warm breath in the room a lot. Xiang Xun suddenly shuddered.

"Father, you've pulled the warning bell under the table at least three times, haven't you? Don't you wonder why your guards haven't rushed in yet? Xiang Zhen looked at his father sneeringly and asked.

Xiang Xun's face gradually changed.

"You probably forgot that in the past, I came and went freely in this big study. I remember when I was very young, my brothers and I used to come to you to play with you, and I used to pull that rope and we cried when we watched the guards rush in with knives drawn! "Xiang Zhen is full of memories." So, how could I not have thought of this? Your guards won't come in. ”

"You, even my personal guards rebelled?" Xiang Xun's face turned pale.

"That's what people want!" Xiang Zhen walked to his father's table, sat down, and said: "For more than a year, I have sold all my family property just to give the soldiers a raise, and I have given all the land I can get to my soldiers in exchange for their loyalty, your personal guards, how can you not see it?" Is it allegiance to a governor like me who is dedicated to the country, the people, and their interests, or to those who only care about their own enjoyment and spend their own time and drink, but they can't even solve the problem of food and clothing for their families?"

Xiang Xun Huoran stood up: "How dare they? They received the highest salaries of any Lingnan army. ”

Xiang Zhen shook his head and said, "That was a long time ago, compared to my troops, they are far inferior. Not to mention my troops, everyone has been allocated land, and everyone only needs to pay a small amount of taxes, you probably forgot that these personal guards of yours also have families and families, and there are many people who need them to support. ”

Xiang Xun sat down dejectedly: "Don't forget, Xiang Zheng's imperial army is responsible for the security of Guangzhou City, your army is outside the city, and there is a curfew at the moment, and they can't enter the city." As long as Xiang Zheng reacts, you still can't escape. ”

Xiang Zhen sneered: "The third brother is a waste, of course, his courage is still very impressive." It's a pity that he loves money so much that he even has to deduct the salaries of his descendants. You don't want to think about it, even your personal guards have thrown themselves to me, will the former army of the imperial camp led by the third brother still be loyal to him? ”

"Xiang Jun is in Jiangxi, he has tens of thousands of Lingnan elites in his hands, Xiang Zhen, if you do this, it will cause a civil war in Lingnan, and at that time, it will really be a big mess in the world." Xiang Xun said bitterly: "The sea of bitterness is boundless, turning back is the shore, the precipice is reined in, it's not too late, you can't control this situation." ”

Xiang Zhen looked at his father's slightly trembling body, and said lightly: "A year ago, when I was defeated in Eyue and fled back without dying, I was thinking about how to change the current situation. From the moment I entered the Lotus Mountain Camp and started training, I began to lay out slowly. Jiangxi, Hunan, is the focus of my business, how could I forget? Xiang Jun, can't come back. He can't afford any civil war with me. ”

Xiang Xun gasped: "You, you also have collusion with Jiangxi and Hunan?" ”

"My father said it so ugly, how can it be collusion, it's just a group of like-minded people, united and wanting to do something big." Xiang Zhen said: "It's time for the older generation to withdraw from the court, and it's time for the ***** to let the virtuous." You are not Li Ze's opponent, so I will give it a try. ”

"You're going to make it?" Xiang Xun yelled.

"Not necessarily." Xiang Zhen said seriously: "Li Ze is really the most amazing person I have ever seen in my life, but I will definitely do much better than you." Since we are destined to become Li Ze's enemies, even if I know that we are invincible, I will do my best to deal with him until I shoot the last arrow and drain the last drop of blood. It's better than being killed by him as slowly as I am now, and if I can make him feel pain in the process, then I'll be satisfied. Father, let me tell you the truth, I did all this in order to force Li Ze to negotiate peace with us in the end, even if he asked us to surrender in the end, it would be acceptable, not like now, he disdained us and didn't even give us a chance to talk. ”

Xiang Xun gasped for breath, suddenly jumped up from his seat, rushed to the window with agility inappropriate for his age, tore his throat and shouted, "Come on, come on!" ”

Behind him, Xiang Zhen stood still, holding the armrests of the chair with both hands, and said with a smile: "Father, it's useless for you to cut your throat." ”