Contrary to Lu Wenluo's bravery and courage, and the excitement and pleasure of the people of Fuzhou, there was an atmosphere of slaughter in King Zhao's mansion.

In the past, Zhao Wangfu was the most lively time after nightfall, Zhao Wangyi liked to be lively by nature, happy to feast and drink, happy vocal music, and happy beauties, and secondly, in order to win over the civil and military generals of Fujian Road and the powerful and influential student gentry, and even including monks and Taoists, they could become guests in Zhao Wangfu.

In the evening, especially before and after the change, Zhao Wangfu is the most lively time, the guests are full, the sound of the silk and bamboo orchestra does not stop, the wine banquet is in full swing, Zhao Wang sees important guests in the small hall, drinks with them, watches the play, listens to the music, calls the beauty to come in to accompany the wine and serve, sometimes the king of Zhao will walk into the big box, enjoy the thunderous greetings and please the sound, touch a glass with everyone, and then return to the small hall with a reserved face.

It will not be until after the third watch that the guests will gradually disperse and the palace will slowly calm down.

And at this time today, most of the guests who came to the door in the past were nowhere to be seen, only those incompetent people who took advantage of the food came to the door as usual, but they found that the Zhao Wangfu did not prepare a banquet tonight, and the mansion was deserted, and the doormen, servants, and Qingkes of the Zhao Wangfu were all as ugly as their dead fathers, and at this time, these people realized that the news of the victory of the Nan'an Hou Mansion was tantamount to bad news for the Zhao Wangfu, and the power of the palace would not fall to the bottom all of a sudden, but the Zhao King wanted to continue to expand his power and gain connections and power. Resources, money, and troops are simply very difficult things.

People's hearts are like this, before this, King Zhao had a tendency to dominate, the stronger he was, the more people he depended on.

And now the martial arts displayed by the Hou Mansion of Nan'an, Zhao Wangfu can't catch up at all, Xu Zi defeated tens of thousands of pirates with a few thousand soldiers, and King Zhao took tens of thousands of troops, and he didn't even dare to go out of the city to invite battles, and the strength and weakness were too obvious.

After Xu Zixian won this battle, the rising trend is difficult to stop, and it is bound to reorganize the army and expand the amount of the army, if the Nan'an Hou Mansion has tens of thousands of soldiers and horses, with the ability of Nan Anhou to train troops and control the army, as well as the ability to create miracles on the battlefield, which force on the Fujian Road dares to say that it can withstand the hard work of Nan'an Hou?

The trend of strength and weakness has been quite clearly reversed.

"We still have a chance......" Li Gu was turned back halfway, and when he arrived at the port, the Lubu messenger had already passed, and there was jubilation everywhere.

In this case, of course, Li Gu did not need to go to the Eastern Domain, he chose to turn back halfway, Lu Wenluo was an iron-clad man, and he ran to Fuzhou Mansion in a few hours, but Li Gu was in a small sedan chair, and was only roped up to the city before and after night, and rushed back to King Zhao's mansion.

Running back and forth for two hundred miles, Li Gu's face was pale and uncertain, his expression was strange, and his breath was much weaker, but King Zhao's father and son retreated a few times, just waiting for him to come back to discuss, the depth of the trust Needless to say, Li Gu could only hold his body and meet with King Zhao's father and son.

But what does Li Gu have to say?

Xu Zixian is strong, which is expected, originally this Nan'an Hou started with military merits, even if he broke tens of thousands of pirates with thousands of government troops, it is not beyond imagination, and it will not make people feel how serious the situation is.

Attack with small ships and attack tactics, break the main force of the pirate fleet at night, destroy and sink many pirate ships, burn many ships, and capture many ships...... That's the worst thing!

After this battle, the Nanyang Naval Division will have dozens of warships, and its personnel will recover to more than 10,000 people, becoming the most powerful maritime force of the Great Wei, and its potential is not under Wang Zhi in the north.

Not to mention whether Wang Zhi will go south to compete with Xu Zixian, even if he goes south, whether he is the opponent of Xu Zixian, who started in Fujian, is also a matter between the two.

The two Luzon thieves came together, and their strength far exceeded that of Wang Zhi, and Xu Zixian's Nan'an army defeated the two Luzon thieves at sea and on land, and the strength shown was already moving, and there was a sense of despair and powerlessness.

Everyone here is a smart person, even the arrogant Xu Ziwei has a sense of despair at this time.

The infantry is elite, the land battle is invincible, and there are dozens of huge ships on the sea, which can completely control the sea area from Fujian Road to the Wa Kingdom and Luzon, and get more and greater benefits.

When the so-called regimental training of the Nan'an Hou Mansion swells to the scale of tens of thousands of people, don't say that Fujian Road can't hold this son, even the imperial court can't do anything.

Li Gu's expression was gloomy, and he said in a deep tone: "Your Highness, your sons, we should find another way out and a way." With the military and the government, head-on confrontation, we will only get weaker and weaker, now the military and political forces are not as good as the Nan'an Hou Mansion, and in another half a year, a year, His Royal Highness's prestige will be far inferior to the Nan'an Hou. ”

Everyone was silent, and after half a ring, Xu Ziwen said tentatively: "If the Northern Expedition is won and the prestige of the imperial court is restored, how about the two governments transfer Xu Zi from the Eastern Domain first and transfer him to Jinghu to suppress bandits, anyway, isn't he a military achievement, wouldn't it be better for the imperial court to use him where he can contribute?" ”

When Xu Ziwei heard this, his spirits perked up, and he praised: "What I said is very true, I agree with this proposal." ”

King Zhao's face was still gloomy, Li Gu shook his head and smiled bitterly, and said: "This discussion is also the article I have told His Highness before, face to face, Nan'an Hou Mansion has controlled the Eastern Domain, and there are private soldiers, food and salary are self-sufficient, even if he cuts off his regimental training donation in Nan'an Town, it will only hurt his fur, not his bones." Only if Xu Zi was transferred out of Fujian Road first, if the Northern Expedition was victorious, the imperial court won a great victory, and when his prestige was restored, he did not dare to resist the orders of the Son of Heaven and the two governments, so he could only take a few people to leave. Let's ask the new defense envoy of the Eastern Domain, doesn't he have the official household and private soldiers of the Hou Domain, let's stuff more people and horses in the Eastern Domain, even if they can't eat, they will make trouble, and don't make money and train the troops smoothly. Xu Zi first left the foundation of Fujian and went to Jinghu, and then tried to make some stumbling blocks for him in the two mansions, grinding him for a few years, and his momentum of soaring was pressed, and our palace can be managed well and completely control Fujian Road. However, now it is not possible. ”

Xu Ziwen's face was ugly, and Xu Ziwei hurriedly said, "Why not?" ”

Li Gu smiled bitterly: "Eldest prince, isn't this an obvious thing? Even if the imperial court wins the Northern Expedition, it must be broken, and if it can be done with prestige, the imperial court might as well do it. If the prestige can't be suppressed, and the court has no ability to do it, if it fails, wouldn't it be embarrassing for itself, the Son of Heaven, the two governments will not take such a risk with the prestige of the imperial court. Xu Zixian has achieved the general trend, not to mention that the elite of his infantry battalions dare to die and are unstoppable, just say that the sailor, what does the imperial court use to suppress its sailor warship? If you rebuild the water division, you won't have to think about it, and it will take a few years to do it. By that time, who knows what scale the Nan'an Sailor has grown again? If you can't do it, or if you can't do it, ask the court to throw tens of thousands of people into the water, and the two governments won't do it. In the final analysis, Xu Zi is a clan first, or a close blood relative, and it will not be unfavorable to the Great Wei, and it is better to have him in the southeast than to let pirates wreak havoc? Even if the Son of Heaven is still afraid of Xu Zixian, but from the general trend, the Son of Heaven will not suppress Xu Zixian too much in the future, after all, the official family is looking at the world, and having such a clan in the southeast is a good thing for the overall situation, that is to say, in addition to ourselves, the two governments and the official family will not help us, and the civil officials and gentry on Fujian Road will follow the Changwen Hou Mansion and have long been with the Nan'an Hou Mansion. In the future, it will not be our help. We only have this situation in front of us, the forbidden army of several armies, the box army of twenty or thirty armies, if Xu Zixian has sufficient financial resources in the future, compared with us, I am afraid that the situation will be more difficult in the future. ”

Xu Ziwei and Xu Ziwen both seemed to be doused with ice water, both of them were cold from the outside to the inside, and Xu Ziwen even trembled slightly, as if the coldness hit the internal organs, making it difficult for him to support.

Only then did the two noble sons understand that the situation had reached such a dangerous point.

For Xu Ziwei, it is nothing more than a threat to wealth and power, and for Xu Ziwen, it is that he feels that he has lost everything.

In retrospect, the Hou Shizi of Nan'an, who was ridiculed, despised, and even suppressed on the Yaji, seemed to be close at hand, but untouchable, and the status of the two sides had undergone earth-shaking changes in just two or three years.

Xu Ziwen still has a chance to be a marquis, and when he gets married and divides the government, the official family will definitely give this younger brother a marquis, and the courtiers will not say anything, after all, the prince is the lowest treatment, Xu Ziwen is not a prince, but a righteous royal brother.

Even Xu Ziwen is still expected to be crowned, his elegant collection has played a role, among the young clans, Xu Zixian is of course the first person in the world to be famous, Xu Ziwen is also a well-known young clan, famous for his talents, intelligence, and demeanor. Many celebrities and scholars from all walks of life, under the premise that the Zhao Wangfu Yaji has been suspended, there will still be such people waiting for the Zhao Wangfu to visit.

Once upon a time, the status of Xu Ziwen and Xu Zixian was like a cloud of mud, and the two were very far apart.

At this time, the status of the two is still very far apart, but it is the other way around, Xu Ziwen has been thrown out by Xu Zixian far away, and the identities and status of the two sides can no longer be compared.

A prince of the palace who only has a slight literary name, even if he is a marquis, how can he be compared with a prince like Xu Zixian, who has more than 10,000 officials, nearly 10,000 private soldiers, territory, people, officials, soldiers, and fleets?

Moreover, Xu Zixian has just made great contributions, and his title, official position, actual power and prestige will leave Xu Ziwen far behind.

To put it mildly, the two are no longer worthy of comparison.

It can even be said that King Zhao's prestige, real power, financial resources, and potential strength are far from Xu Zixian.

Xu Zi first pinched his palm with his fingernails until he broke it and bled out. He tried to stop himself from thinking so, but there was nothing he could do, just as he couldn't do anything about the situation.

"This king knows all these things." King Zhao had already had a meeting with several other confidants before this, because it was a private negotiation, King Zhao ordered everyone to speak freely, and the result was quite not optimistic, which was not much different from Li Gu's judgment.

King Zhao interrupted Li Gu and said quite irritably: "Everyone knows the truth, now this king wants to ask Mr. Li to give advice, I don't know if Mr. Li has made a decision?" ”

Li Gu understood on the way back to King Zhao's mansion that if he had no plan, he would definitely think that he was useless with King Zhao's temperament, he was involved in too many personal things of King Zhao, and many unsightly things were related to Li Gu. If the Zhao Wangfu is weak, he must be careful not to expose those illegal acts, Li Gu is worried that he will not only not be able to be reused in the future, but will also worry about his life.

He has been thinking about this matter for a long time, the best way is not to excuse it, now it is a mess, and there is no way for the Zhao Wangfu to send people to openly arrest him as a staff, if he is heartbroken, vote for the Eastern Domain or appease the envoy, King Zhao will have a lot of fun.

But Li Gu did not make such a decision, if he did, the hard work of the previous years would be in vain. King Zhao has long had a promise to Li Gu, once he can really speak on Fujian Road, Li Gu can at least wear a red robe, for many scholars who have taken the test to raise the identity of the person, King Zhao's promise is undoubtedly a shortcut to the south, originally they can also go to the Ministry of Officials to interpret the order, they can get the officials of the remote prefectures and counties, they can be appointed from the nine official positions first, if they have the ability, they have to be evaluated several times in office, and they can do it all the way to the seventh grade, which is probably the best result for non-Jinshi scholars.

If Li Gu has the opportunity to become a red-robed member and take charge of the first mansion, he has crossed the most difficult hurdle of Jinshi and the first, which can be said to be a shortcut, he has been in business for many years, how can he give up easily?

After weighing the pros and cons, Li Gu gritted his teeth and returned to King Zhao's mansion, naturally having a plan in his heart.

"Your Highness, now that the Northern Expedition has not been decided, everything is quiet." Li Gu said: "Now the general trend is still on the side of His Highness, and if Xu Zixian's prestige wants to become powerful, it will always take two or three years to operate." The Northern Expedition will have results within three months to six months, and we will make a decision then. ”

"What if you win, what if you lose?"

"The Northern Expedition won, the prestige of the Son of Heaven is far greater than that of Chengzong, Wenzong, His Royal Highness should send a secret letter to ask the official family to grant the prince the power to open the mansion, once the mansion is opened, the current predicament is not a predicament."

King Zhao Huo Ran was taken aback, his eyes were fixed on Li Gu, and he said: "Since Emperor Xuanzong, there have been no important ministers in this dynasty who have been given the power to open the mansion, let alone the clan. ”

"Your Highness can make it clear that the southeast is not quiet, the place is troublesome, and this is a critical autumn. If there is no important minister to open the government, it will be difficult for the imperial court to control the southeast remotely, and can only sit back and watch the Eastern Domain, and the power of Jianzhou will be large, which is extremely unfavorable to the imperial court's control of the place. The times are changing, when Taizu opened the country, he only left the local military power to the Xiang army, and the financial power was handed over to the three divisions, and the local financial power was not much. Nowadays, the local government has levied a lot of miscellaneous taxes, and gradually has the financial resources to raise soldiers, and if the local officials have bad intentions, it is very easy to stand on their own feet. Therefore, it is reasonable that the imperial court did not allow the opening of the palace before, and now the clan is allowed to open the palace, which is a move that has to be done according to the changes of the times...... Your Highness, the Son of Heaven will be moved. ”

King Zhao was really moved, this road, to be honest, he hadn't thought of it at all.

In fact, in the Northern and Southern Dynasties, the general went from the ordinary tent to the general, to the Yitong, and then to the Kaifu, and then he could be appointed as the assassin of the history, or promoted to the general, and was in charge of the government all the way.

Then go up is the pillar country, the important minister of the country, the Tang Dynasty or before the Tang Dynasty, the local military power is completely decentralized, because of the fierce war, there are often anxious years or even years of fierce battles. From Chang'an or Jinyang, it is simply impossible to order the generals in Henan or Xiangyang and other places how to fight.

The military generals obtained the right to open the government, recruited their own officials, matched generals, raised samurai as their own generals, and then formed an army by themselves, recruited Liangjiazi and Daibei knights into the palace, recruited war horses, and formed an army with strength to fight, which was the norm at that time.

Because of this, at that time, the world was fighting endlessly, and good generals were born in the east, west, north and south, and the intensity of the war and the level of tactical battles were far from being imagined by later generations.

The Great Wei court took Yanjing as the capital division, and if the Son of Heaven garrisoned the frontier, this made the overall defense center in the north in the Beijing division, that is, in the hands of the Son of Heaven and the two prefectures, and it was unnecessary to give the military town border marshal the right to open the mansion.

At this time, the situation changed, the southeast was not as peaceful as the founding of the country and the middle of the Great Wei Dynasty, and tens of thousands of pirates attacked at every turn.

With the prince, the father of the Son of Heaven opened the mansion, of course, there is no possibility of rebellion, the Son of Heaven is easy to pass, and the two mansions also make sense.

The only drawback is that King Zhao has no prestige, no military merits, and no past exploits as mentioned in military terms.

If you have to pick an important minister on Fujian Road, in fact, Xu Zixian is a more suitable person.

But it is impossible for the Son of Heaven and the two governments to pick Xu Zixian, at least at present.

In contrast, the king of Zhao is much more likely to pass, if the king of Zhao obtains the right to open the government, he will obtain the highest legal control of the Fujian road, of course, it cannot be confronted with the laws of the imperial court and the direct orders of the two governments, but in the daily military affairs, administration, personnel and many other aspects, the king of Zhao has the supreme power.

If this is the case, of course, if you can unite the full force of Fujian Road and confront Nan'an Hou Mansion, the two sides will at least not be able to go up or down, and even King Zhao will have a slight advantage.

King Zhao pondered for a moment and said, "Of course, this can be tried, but this matter is not up to me or the official family, it depends on the outcome of the Northern Expedition." ”

Li Gu nodded slightly, this is a matter of course, the Son of Heaven poured everything into the Northern Expedition, most of the financial resources, all the troops and people in the north, if this battle is won, the Son of Heaven will have the prestige and power to make a lot of arrangements, if it is unfavorable, or the result of a fiasco, the prestige of the Son of Heaven has plummeted, how can the courtiers agree to the Son of Heaven's biological father to open a mansion in Fujian?

Therefore, although this proposal is a superior policy, the decision is not in the hands of King Zhao, or even the Son of Heaven.

Xu Ziwen also ignited hope in his heart, and whispered to Xu Ziwei: "The eldest brother has been to Yongping Mansion, what is the situation over there, and what are the chances of winning the Northern Expedition?" ”

Xu Ziwei had no confidence in himself at this time, and replied with a wry smile at the moment: "The important ministers and generals plus the elite of the forbidden army are all out, and there are millions of people alone, if this battle cannot be won, Great Wei will have no chance." ”

This is not the point, but it makes the minds of everyone here heavy, the Northern Expedition of the Son of Heaven can be said to have been in operation for several years, and he insists on going his own way, and if he takes out the national fortunes of the Great Wei and gambles on it.

Prior to this, although Donghu came in every two or three years, but the defense became more and more lawful, and the Donghu people actually had losses, so the stalemate continued, and the two sides were just fighting to see who would consume the national strength first, and the Son of Heaven was eager to seek treatment, and he did not want to be suppressed by the Donghu people again, so there was a discussion of the Northern Expedition.

For this reason, the Son of Heaven did not hesitate to remove the powerful minister Han Zhong, triggering the chaos of the bloody coup d'état in Jingshi, and then Han Zhong expressed his support for the limited Northern Expedition, which led to the current situation.

Up to now, all the energy of the imperial court is used on the Northern Expedition, and the rest is really not taken care of, if King Zhao asks for the opening of the mansion at this time, he will only be refuted sternly, even if it is a private message to the Son of Heaven, it will definitely be rejected by the Son of Heaven, and there is no possibility of success at all.

"Sir, if you have any other ideas, can you tell them all together?"

King Zhao's expression turned to pleasant, and in a short period of time, Li Gu was able to propose a decent method, although it could not be implemented for the time being, but it also proved that this person still had some ability, and then King Zhao said to Li Gu: "What can I say tonight, there is no need to have any taboos." ”

"There is another way, and that is to win in chaos." Li Gu lowered his voice and said solemnly: "The Fujian Road is not chaotic, and the local officials and garrison generals will slowly throw themselves on the side of the Eastern Domain. Only when there is chaos, the more chaotic the place, the greater the power of the metropolitan governor's office, until the two governments think that it is necessary to have important ministers to open the government in order to keep the southeast safe and ensure that the southeast is endowed with important wealth. In this case, it is still possible for His Highness to obtain the power to open the palace. ”

"I see." King Zhao nodded and said to Li Gu: "Fuzhou, Xinghua Army, Shao Wujun, Zhangzhou, Quanzhou, Tingzhou, there is no possibility of chaos, do you mean the same as me?" ”

"Yes, yes." Li Gu nodded hurriedly and replied: "In order to control the miners, Wang Yue of Jianzhou deliberately forced the closure of many mine blast furnaces, and now that tens of thousands of miners are displaced, many people with intentions must be eyeing Jianzhou." As long as there are heroes in the rivers and lakes, we secretly allocate a little funding, this fire can quickly burn, and spread to Shao Wujun, Quzhou, Fuzhou, His Royal Highness gathered thick troops to protect Fuzhou, he didn't ask anywhere, everywhere was alarmed, Lin Douyao was anxious, Wang Yue went against the grain, the two governments already knew that once the matter spread to the point of being out of control, the non-king came out to clean up the mess, could the two governments rest assured that the Fujian Road would be handed over to Xu Zixian? ”

King Zhao really moved this time, of course, setting fire to the mountain is a good way to open up new fields, and a large amount of fertile fields will be obtained, but if you are not careful, the mountain fire will spread, and the woodland that you originally wanted to keep will also be burned. But so what? Great Wei has reached such a point that these officials, gentry, people, and soldiers do not want to serve the country or serve him, the biological father of the Son of Heaven, but instead have eyebrows with Xu Zixian, the bastard, these people, even if they are killed by a group of thieves, King Zhao will not feel distressed.

The only thing to scruple about is this fire, don't burn yourself if you are not careful.

After King Zhao raised his doubts, Li Gu said with a smile: "According to what I can see, the main reason for the bandits to rage is that the forbidden army is busy crusading against Donghu in the north. These bandits, who once gathered more than 200,000 people, sounded terrifying at first glance. That is, three or four years ago, the imperial court sent Li Youde to lead the cavalry to suppress, more than 5,000 officers and soldiers, more than 200,000 group thieves, the cavalry of the forbidden army according to the high slope from top to bottom, the group of thieves when the easy to change, there is no one who can stop it, from morning to dusk, more than 10,000 people were killed, the rest of the stars are scattered, many thieves were executed, only a small number of thieves took advantage of the chaos to escape, the northwest liukou since this battle has been sluggish, until last year it gradually recovered to the scale of tens of thousands of people, it is nothing more than to take advantage of the gap between the imperial court to gather thick troops in the north, in the area of Jingbei, Henan, if the court frees up its hands, It is easy to exterminate them. The rogues have no armor, no weapons, no soldiers, just a rabble. ”

This is also true, unless the peasant uprising is joined by a large number of professional soldiers, or powerful careerists become shareholders, for example, at the end of the Sui Dynasty, the peasants who first revolted could not turn over a few waves, until Yang Xinggan, Li Mi and other powerful people joined it, bringing in a large number of professional soldiers and generals from generations of generals, their combat effectiveness is enough to be qualified to fight with officers and soldiers. Not only the generals, but also the organization, efficiency, logistics, politics, and the support of armor, weapons, and food, without these, no matter how many people revolted the peasants, it was nothing more than the nobles giving away their heads and military merits. The Green Forest Army of the Han Dynasty, the Red Eyebrow Army, and the Yellow Turban Army are all the same. Or the great unified dynasty really came to the end of the world, and the peasant army could flow through the gaps, although it was defeated repeatedly, but it obtained a certain number of veterans, war horses, armor and weapons, and then it would become stronger and stronger, and finally win.

At the end of the Tang Dynasty, the Yellow Nest entered Chang'an, which was the case, but it was still defeated by the strong troops of the feudal towns that flocked to it, and its subordinates Zhu Wen and others also gradually grew after becoming the feudal towns, until the Tang Dynasty was destroyed and a new dynasty was established.

Xu Ziwei also said: "The rogues are not to be feared, the forbidden army of the five armies on Fujian Road is enough to wipe out 100,000 rogues." ”

King Zhao thought for a long time, and finally said to Li Gu: "Entrust this matter to Mr., secretly contact the people in the rivers and lakes first, and give them some funding." But don't rush, don't overdo it, take a look first. ”

Li Gu knew King Zhao's thoughts, the Northern Expedition would have results in a few months, if the Son of Heaven could have enough prestige to make King Zhao open the palace in Fujian, then there was no need to set fire to the mountain to prevent him from setting himself on fire. Now the layout, winning in chaos is an idle move, and it can't be taken as the right way, as for the near future......

King Zhao said dejectedly: "I can only make Xu Zixian proud for a while." ”