The road was inconvenient, Yang Hu rushed to the Xiju bamboo hut It was already dark, and more than a dozen bright corner lights illuminated the small campsite as bright as day.

Yang Hu's personal guards were stopped from waiting outside the camp, and Yang Hu was taken to the Xiju bamboo hut.

The heat outside the mountain was unbearable, but the mountain was cool, and after nightfall, Han Qian also put on a thin shirt over his short coat.

Seeing Yang Hu walking in accompanied by Feng Yi and Gao Shao, Han Qian put Xin'er, who was sitting on his lap and playing, on the ground, asked Zhao Ting'er to take him away, and motioned for Yang Hu and them to sit down and talk.

After the maid made tea, Han Qian asked about the situation in Sizhou with "concern":

"I heard that the territory of Sizhou has not been very peaceful recently, and I don't know where the situation has developed?"

In addition to the farther and more remote prefectures of central Guizhou, the four prefectures of Chen, Xu, Si, and Ye, as the feudal states attached to the Great Chu, now in addition to the symbolic tribute every year, and the requisition under the state of emergency, the military and political affairs in peacetime mainly depend on autonomy and are not directly restricted by the Chu court.

Since the Qin and Han dynasties, the central court has adopted more checks and balances strategies for tribal disputes between and within the prefectures, and it is not even against the cannibalism of the tribes in the counties of the prefectures.

The winner of tribal strife often receives a new canonization from the central imperial power, becoming the new ruler of the county.

In this kind of environment and atmosphere, as long as he doesn't set himself on fire, Han Qian is now hoping that Sizhou can make more trouble with demon moths, which is really a normal state of mind.

Even if he didn't know the real inside story, Yang Hu knew how cheap Han Qian's so-called "concern" was, and said very lightly:

"Thank you Lord Hou for your concern, a little trouble, and there is no big mess, my father has already led the elite down the Chenshui River and entered Jinhe County, I believe that within three or five days, the rebellion will be suppressed."

Sizhou and Xuzhou are adjacent to each other, but among the famous figures of the Yang family in Sizhou, Han Qian has also been in contact with Yang Hu a few times, no matter how calculating inside, he is still very polite on the surface, and said with a smile: "Everything is under the control of Yang Tingshi, that's really good, I don't have to rush to Gaozhiyu to increase troops to prevent chaos from spreading to Chenzhong County - I don't know what the young man's needs are for coming over this time, please feel free to bring it up." ”

Under the pretext of the civil unrest in Sizhou, Han Qian had already sent reinforcements to Gaoyiyu the day before yesterday to build a camp with three hundred elites.

However, in a short period of time, unless Sizhou directly borrowed troops to help suppress it, or the imperial court issued an order, otherwise, he did not want to cause a fierce reaction from Chenzhou and Yezhou, so Han Qian had no reason to further send additional troops from the border between Sizhou and Xuzhou.

Seeing that Han Qian deliberately led the topic to borrowing troops to help suppress him, Yang Hu swallowed a mouthful of saliva with difficulty, thinking to himself how stupid his Yang family would be to do something stupid to lure a wolf into the house?

Yang Hu hesitated for a while, sorted out his words, and said:

"My father ordered me to come to see the Hou Ye, mainly because I heard that after the bandit leader Tan Yuliang got out of Tanyang County, he settled down in Gaoqiyu in Chenzhong with his family - Tan Yuliang led his nephew to infiltrate Jinhe, helped the salt lord Gao Tai and others get out of prison, and occupied Nanhuangzhai to call himself General Tianping, I really damn it, I heard that his family should still be in Gaoqiyu, I hope Xuzhou can help arrest ......"

"This is easy to say, Tan Yuliang occupied the Osprey Village in Xuzhou in his early years, I thought he was the number one person, after the Osprey Village was defeated, he was just expelled from Xuzhou, but I didn't expect him to change his thief's heart and go to Sizhou to make trouble, I will definitely send someone to arrest and detain his family," Han Qian said, "However, Tan Yuliang, these outlaws, dare to do the evil thing of robbing the prison and rebelling, probably I didn't think of taking care of the life and death of the family." ”

Whether it is protection, or as a hostage, tell Tan Yuliang and Zhao Zhixian not to breed other delusions, Han Qian will detain the daughters and children of the Tan and Zhao families, but no matter what Yang Hu says, it is impossible for him to hand over the daughters and children to Sizhou.

What's wrong with Xuzhou's bad mind?

As the lord of Xuzhou, he should have bad intentions and take advantage of the fire to rob.

When he said this, Han Qian narrowed his eyes slightly, staring at Yang Hu's face, and he didn't look guilty at all.

Yang Hu pondered the meaning of Han Qian's words, and knew that it was unrealistic to be busy asking Xuzhou to hand over the bandit leader to him and bring him back to Sizhou, and said: "There are still more than 800 slaves working in Xuzhou in Sizhou, and my father is worried that the news will spread and make them unstable, so I will come here this time, or I can bring them back to Sizhou to be strictly guarded, and I will ask Master Hou to ......."

Han Qian smiled slightly, thinking that the eight hundred village slaves really wanted to ask Yang Hu to take them away, as long as they promised a generous reward, they would soon become a bargaining chip in the hands of the Yang clan to suppress the rebels, how could he easily agree to Yang Hu's request, and said perfunctorily:

"When the news spreads, people's instability is indeed a big problem, but please rest assured, Han may not be able to help Sizhou in other aspects, but he will definitely take strict care of these eight hundred slaves, and if he can't do it, he will directly detain them. Please don't worry about what demon moths these village slaves will make in Xuzhou! However, the young man is going to take them back to Sizhou now, if they make trouble on the road and rebel, they will be caught off guard, and it may make the situation more serious, inappropriate, inappropriate......"

Xi Ying saw Han Qian's hypocritical look, so he and Zhao Ting'er took Wenxin's little hand and walked to the next room, so that they couldn't help laughing.

Before Yang Hu came over, some people said that Han Qian and his people had always been treacherous and ruthless, even if it wasn't for Xuzhou's hands and feet beforehand, Xuzhou would definitely take advantage of Sizhou's fire to rob, but when he really heard that Han Qian was so shameless to directly detain the Yang family's slaves, he still couldn't control his face and twitched several times.

After a long while, Yang Hu forcibly suppressed the anger in his heart and asked:

"Sizhou still has a payment of about 10,000 stone grains and grains that has not been settled with Xuzhou, when I set off from Jinhe County, my father hoped to use this money to buy some crossbows from Xuzhou, and I think Hou Ye will also feel that this matter is difficult to do?"

Han Qian said embarrassedly: "The payment can be settled at will, and the young prince will send someone to get it, but the young prince also knows that in order to support the Jinling war, Xuzhou has filled in all the family funds, so that the armor and crossbow weapons of the state camp are seriously insufficient, and it is really difficult to squeeze out more supplies to Sizhou!" In addition to these, what other requirements does the young boy have? ”

Yang Hu's chest seemed to be forced into several balls of thatch by Han Qian, and he was so choked that he couldn't speak, but he knew that he was not qualified to show Han Qian his face.

Han Qian personally met with Yang Hu, mainly to see what kind of request Yang Hu would make in a hurry this time, so as to more accurately judge the situation of the Sizhou soldiers and the rebel army, now that the goal has been achieved, he is too lazy to continue to perfunctory with Yang Hu, and said to Feng Yu:

"The young boy is tired from the journey, I'm afraid he is tired, Feng Yu, you first arrange for the young boy to live in the camp, but if the young boy has any needs, you should take care of them."

"Don't dare to disturb Master Hou, Yang Hu has to rush to Chenyang to see Lord Shi Xiying in Chenzhou, Lord Hou won't insist on leaving Yang Hu, right?" Yang Hu stared sharply at Han Qian and asked.

"What did the young boy say? The military situation is urgent, and the young man is in a hurry to see the assassin Shi for help, but I am just ashamed that I can't help much, so I insist on leaving you in Xuzhou for what? Han Qian said with a smile that he didn't mind, and motioned for Feng Yu to send someone to escort Yang to escort them down the mountain.

When they sent someone to monitor Yang Hu and they went down the mountain, Feng Yu met Guo Rong and walked back to the bamboo house together, saw Han Qian frowning and looking at the deep night outside the window, and asked:

"Although we haven't gotten specific information yet, judging from Yang Hu's non-stop rush to Chenzhou, Tan Yuliang's momentum in Panlongling is likely to alarm the slaves and maids of Renshan and Shiqian, making the Yang family realize that the crisis is serious - of course, it is also possible that the Yang family is extremely vigilant about us, and Yang Hu's three-point request is really a temptation for us?"

Guo Rong just learned about Han Qian's reception of Yang Hu, Tan Yuliang made such a big momentum in Sizhou in a very short period of time, it may not be a good thing, the so-called rise is also sudden, its defeat is also fast, the momentum is developing too fast, on the one hand, the Yang family is vigilant early, on the other hand, the rebel army has no time to digest and consolidate the foundation, there will be a lot of internal problems, there is no time to sort out.

Guo Rong pondered for a while, and said: "Even if the Yang family can't really do it secretly, at this time, we can be sure that we have bad intentions and have the intention of taking advantage of the fire to rob - of course, Yang Hu went to Chenzhou for help, and Xiying's father and son are also very jealous of Xuzhou, they are very likely to send people to Yueyang or Jinling to report this matter non-stop, and our purpose can be regarded as a preliminary realization to a certain extent!" ”

"After recovering Jinling, Emperor Yanyou immediately returned to Chenzhou with the second son of Xiying, and he should have the intention of using the Xiying clan to monitor Xuzhou," Feng Yi frowned and guessed, "If Xiying has the secret decree of Emperor Yanyou instructing him to do things cheaply, it is not surprising at all!" ”

The Chenzhou Xi clan is no longer vigilant and jealous of Xuzhou, even if they sense that something is wrong, they don't dare to suddenly do anything against Xuzhou, but if they have the secret decree of Emperor Yang Yuanpu in their hands, it will be completely different.

Although in the early stage of the war to cut the domain, the Chenzhou Xishi was reorganized into the Wuling Army at that time The Xuzhou State Battalion was very badly beaten, and the three sons of Xiying died in the war, but I also have to admit that after the tempering of the middle and late stages of the war and the battle to recover Jinling, the combat effectiveness of the Chenzhou Fan Battalion has been greatly improved.

Whether it was Yang Yuanpu's direct support, or the Chenzhou Fanying Battalion's outstanding achievements and deserved to be rewarded, the embarrassing situation of the shortage of armor and weapons had also been thoroughly improved - Yang Yuanpu even exiled some prisoners of war and his family to Chenzhou to strengthen the Chenzhou Xi clan.

In addition to the Chai Construction Department on the other side of the Xuefeng Mountain Post Road, Chenzhou Fanying can be said to also have a certain threat to Xuzhou.

Guo Rong and Gao Shao both looked at Han Qian, although Feng Yi did not say it thoroughly, the meaning of the disclosure was still relatively clear.

Since they will soon be able to achieve the goal of knocking on the mountain and shaking the tiger, they should not make more moves for the time being, so as not to really give people a handle.

Otherwise, Xuzhou would be isolated, and even if the Chai Jian Institute of Chenzhou, Yezhou, and Shaozhou could not pass through the Xuefeng Mountain Post Road and pose a substantial military threat to Xuzhou, as long as the waterways in the upper and lower reaches of the Yuan River were blocked and the Xuefeng Mountain Post Road was blocked, Xuzhou would become extremely uncomfortable.

And after they achieved the goal of knocking on the mountain and shaking the tiger, they waited and watched the development of the situation in Sizhou, even if the Yang clan succeeded in suppressing the rebellion of the Tianping Army, it would hurt the vitality to some extent, and the situation was also extremely favorable to Xuzhou.

In Feng Yi's view, this is the ruthlessness and decisiveness that a hero should have.

Han Qian sorted out the messy bookcase, but he didn't seem to understand Feng Yi's words, and said to himself: "It can't be said that the purpose of knocking on the mountain and shaking the tiger is achieved, so I don't care about Tan Yuliang and their life or death." ”

Feng Yi glanced at Gao Shao and Guo Rong, thinking that he had said everything that should be said, the final decision was up to Han Qian, and he would not argue with Han Qian about anything.

Han Qian glanced at Feng Yi and asked, "Are you a little disdainful of my words in your heart?" ”

"Feng Yi doesn't dare." Feng Yi said.

"As soon as I, Han Qian, proposed to wait for the noble and the lowly, some people are bound to think, since everyone is waiting for the noble and the lowly, how can I ask others to obey me?" Han Qian stood in front of the window with his hands in his sleeves and said leisurely, "Yes, if I just use others and treat them as dispensable chess pieces at my mercy, and I don't dare to take responsibility, I am really embarrassed to ask others to obey my orders." ”

Feng Yi, Gao Shao, and Guo Rong were shocked, they really didn't take into account such a deep problem.

Han Qian had no intention of dwelling on this issue, and continued: "Yang Xingfeng is a person, we have not been in direct contact with him, in fact, it is not that simple—we still have to study this person more. ”

Yang's sending of village slaves to work in Xuzhou does not show the stupidity of Yang Xingfeng and Yang Hu's father and son, mainly due to historical limitations.

In addition to the fact that Sizhou was too poor and isolated, and needed Xuzhou's wages and money to have the ability to join hands with Yuzhou to open up the Qianjiang River channel, more importantly, who could have imagined in advance that he would be so radical in Xuzhou to reform his life and directly abolish the old system of slaves and maids?

Looking at Yang Xingfeng's reaction now, although it is very likely to help Xuzhou achieve the goal of knocking on the mountain and shaking the tiger, but Yang Xingfeng has paid so much attention to the rebel army in such a short period of time, and has maintained enough vigilance against Xuzhou, which is still quite powerful and tricky by traditional standards.

If they don't give extra support on their side, Tan Yuliang and their foothold are not stable, and it is likely that they will not be able to withstand the next wave of blows from the Yang family.

Feng Yi, Guo Rong, and Gao Shao no longer regard the Tianping Army led by Tan Yuliang and others as indifferent chess pieces, and it is also very tricky and complicated to study the situation.

Feng Yi frowned and said, "If the Yang family can't hold back, please send troops from Yuzhou to help suppress it, but the matter will be simple......"

Chen, Xu, Si, and Ye Prefectures are all attached to the Great Chu Prefecture, whether it is dispatched by Chu Ting, or Sizhou is invited, Chen Xuye and the three states send troops to help suppress it in the name of justice, but without Chu Ting's permission, Sizhou asked Yuzhou to send troops without authorization, which is betrayal, and Xuzhou has an excuse to interfere.

"The Yang family may not make this low-level mistake, but Changxiang Hou Wang Yong may not miss the opportunity to meddle in Sizhou." Guo Rong's eyes lit up and said.

"Yes, as long as the Yuzhou soldiers cross the border, we will have a rhetoric," Han Qian nodded, signaling that he could consider setting a trap for Changxiang Marquis Wang Yong from this direction, and said, "Immediately order the counties to hand over the seized Sizhou Zhai slaves to Chenzhong for three days, and Xi Fa'er, Kou Rong, Han Bao and others are responsible for training and organizing the army......"

There are currently 800 slaves left in Sizhou to work in various parts of Xuzhou, and Han Qian will definitely not easily let Yang Hu take these people away, but he will not simply supervise or detain these people, but still organize them for strict training.

When the time comes, no matter which side he hands these people over, he must ensure that they can be quickly mobilized as a living force.

…………

…………

Yang Hu left the northern slope of Longya Mountain that night, crossed Chenshui, surrounded by more than a dozen guards, and hurried along the post road on the north bank at night, and rushed to Chenyang City at dawn.

Unlike Sizhou and Yuzhou, which belong to the two countries, Sizhou, Chen, Xu, and Ye Prefectures are all attached to the Great Chu's fetters, as long as the gate of Chenyang City is opened normally, and Yang protects Sizhou's note, he can go straight to Chenyang City with a limited number of armed guards.

However, in order to show respect for the Xi family, Yang Hu still sent people into the city first.

Chenyang, as the key point where Chenshui flows into the Yuanjiang River, especially the upper reaches of the Chenshui valley centered on Jiming Village, was swept away by Xuzhou and newly established Chenzhong County, and Chenyang, as a key node connecting Ruanling and Lipu, has become more and more important.

Xiying not only moved the state government hall into Chenyang City to act as the state minister, but after the return of the Chenyang camp led by Xishu Peng and Xichuan Sheng, the defenders in Chenyang City were also greatly increased to 2,000 elite men.

In comparison, the garrison of Xuzhou in Chenzhong, the Ma Bu Army and the water battalion are only 1,200 people.

Of course, soldiers and horses are not simply counted, in addition to the more sophisticated armament and better training of the Xuzhou soldiers, no one dares to ignore the mobilization ability of the Xuzhou soldiers.

When Han Daoxun implemented the reform of the acre system, the population of Xuzhou was as high as 200,000, and during Han Qian's rule of Xuzhou, the rate of population inflow slowed down, but it never stopped.

In addition to annexing nearly 10,000 aborigines in the upper reaches of the Yuanchen River Valley, and constantly forcing Shengfan out of the deep mountains and old forests in the upper reaches of the canal, Xiying believes that the population of Xuzhou should have exceeded 220,000.

In contrast, Chenzhou Dingkou suffered great losses in the early stage of the war - especially the losses of young and middle-aged people, a piece of the upper valley of Chenshui was dug up, and the total population size was only 1230,000, and a considerable number of people were all slaves of the other six surnames outside the Xi clan.

In addition, the total population of Sizhou and Yezhou combined may only be 1450,000, which is the result of Sizhou's annexation of some Wu people's Fanzhai.

From the perspective of population alone, the military potential of Chenzhou, Yezhou, and Sizhou combined is slightly stronger than that of Xuzhou.

In any case, even if there is no excuse to block the waterway of the Ruan River, no matter how sober and vigilant Han Qian is against Xuzhou and Han Qian's ambitions, it is necessary in Xiying's opinion.

A series of events such as prison robberies and civil unrest occurred in Sizhou, and Xiying knew about it almost immediately.

However, after the upper valley of Chenshui was rowed away by Xuzhou, the place where Chenzhou and Sizhou bordered was located in the deep mountains and old forests in the north of Panlongling, and it was extremely inconvenient for the two sides to communicate from that direction.

Before Yang Hu came over, all Xi Ying could do was send someone to Hujian Pass to inquire about the news.

Yang Hu rushed to Chenyang City, and Xiying had just woken up, and immediately invited Yang Hu into the state yahou mansion.

In addition to Ren Zhou's eldest son Xi Shesheng and other descendant generals, Xi Ying also invited Cao Xiushi, the chief Shi appointed by Jinling, to come over for discussion.

No one is a simple and ignorant teenager, there was a civil unrest in Sizhou, the bandit leader Tan Yuliang had lived in Chenzhong for a period of time after leaving the hard labor camp, and his family was currently under Han Qian's control.

The problem is that it's useless to just guess.

The princes of the court will not ignore it based on speculation alone, and do not consider the consequences, and support Chenzhou to unite Sizhou, Yezhou, and Shaozhou to carry out a military blockade of Xuzhou and cut off all channels for Xuzhou to communicate with the outside world.

It is impossible for Emperor Yanyou to just guess, regardless of the consequences, and announce to the subjects of Great Chu that Han Qian, the emperor who had just been named the Marquis of Qianyang and had made great contributions to Great Chu, was a rebel.

"How serious is it?" Xiying asked with concern.

Although the Yang family and the Chenzhou Xi clan also have old grievances, after the upper valley of Chenshui was forcibly seized by Xuzhou, the Yang family more or less knew the truth of distant friendship and close attack.

In the face of Xiying's inquiry, Yang Hu no longer concealed it, and the title was more cordial: "Three or five days after the robbery, the villages of Panlongling were greatly shaken, and the bandit leaders took matters in the name of abolition of slaves and Juntian, not to mention that there were 3,000 women and children who were bewitched and traveled through mountains and rivers to gather in Nanhuang Village, of which there were as many as eight or nine hundred young people, and nearly ten villages were destroyed on the left and right—there were even some news that circulated among slaves and maids in Renshan, Shiqian and even Yezhou. Yesterday, when my nephew and I came from Jinhe County, Renshan County intercepted more than 70 fugitive slaves who went to the southern end of Panlong Ridge - first, the time is so short, the momentum is so great, unprecedented, my father is worried that it will be more and more out of control if it is delayed for a few more days, and second, my father is worried that such a big explosion in such a short period of time is deliberately ......done by someone behind the scenes."

Even if Han Qian rejected Yang Hu's three requests with bad intentions, he couldn't just name and say that there was something wrong with Xuzhou.

"......" Xiying also gasped when he heard it, and the eyeliner he sent out only saw that there was restlessness in Jinhe County, but he didn't expect that there was also restlessness in Yezhou in the south of Sizhou.

Yang Xingfeng's response was quite timely, but the problem was that regardless of the steep and rugged terrain at the northern and northeastern foothills of Panlongling, if Chenzhou wanted to send men and materials to reinforce Sizhou, it had to pass through the upper reaches of Chenshui, which had been forcibly occupied by Xuzhou at this time, and enter Sizhou through Hujian Pass.

Unless the court made a clear order, even if Han Qian agreed, Xiying would not dare to rashly send the Chenzhou camp to Sizhou from Chenzhong - if Han Qian turned his face and refused to admit it, and after deducting a hat from them for sending troops to cross the border without authorization, he brazenly sent troops to attack the Chenzhou camp that passed by halfway, would he have dragged Han Qian to fight a lawsuit at that time?

"Immediately send an envoy to Jinling with the young prince to see Your Majesty's civil unrest, as long as Your Majesty has a will, the Chenzhou soldiers can enter the territory of Sizhou at any time to suppress the civil unrest!" Xiying said.

No matter how strong the civil unrest is, Yang Xingfeng and Sizhou immediately mobilized vigilantly, believing that there will be no problem in suppressing the situation without deterioration within a month or two, and when the time comes, Jinling will pass the decree, and Shaozhou and Chenzhou will each send a soldier and horse from Xuzhou to Sizhou to suppress the civil unrest, I believe that Han Qian will not dare to have any opinions!