Hearing the news that the Jin army was about to attack Shu twice, the lord Li Xiong convened the important ministers to discuss—but he deliberately did not call Prime Minister Fan Ben—and his brother, Taibao Li Shi, bluntly suggested: Let's surrender.

Li Shiquan said: "My family was originally a Jin Min, and my father temporarily migrated to Shu due to a famine, and was forced by the cool officials, so he had to get up and fight. If you can live in Shu in peace, you can split the soil and divide the king, which is already a non-share, how can you claim the title of emperor again? The virtuous brother was only instigated by Fan in the past, and seeing that Jin was sluggish, he was afraid that Hu Qian was dying in the world, so he had to temporarily occupy the throne. Now that the situation is changing, and Jin is declining and reviving, only in the north can my family be safeguarded. ”

When Li Xiong heard this, he twisted his beard and groaned.

In fact, Li Xiong's initial ambition was not very big, and he was instigated by his cousins Li Li and Li Guo, who held military power, and only after the capture of Chengdu did he claim the title of king. Then he went to woo Fan Changsheng and expressed his willingness to respect him as the king, but Fan Changsheng said: "Push the five elements of Dayuan, the assembly of Jiazi, I am only fond of Li, and I am not a festival." He turned his head and instigated Li Xiong to be emperor.

In the original history, after the establishment of the Eastern Jin Dynasty, Liangzhou Mu Zhang Jun once sent an envoy to Shuzhong to persuade Li Xiong to honor the title of Jin Domain, Li Xiong said: "I am just recommended by scholars, in fact, I have no intention of being the emperor." Jin Si is the minister of the Jin Dynasty, and the retreat is the general of the guard, sweeping away the atmosphere, and taking Kang Diyu. And the Jin Chamber is late, the voice of virtue is sluggish, I lead the east to look east, there are years and months......"

At that time, neither the Eastern Jin Dynasty nor Zhang Jun could threaten him, so he was willing to make such a statement, which must not be pure nonsense.

It was only later that he saw that the Eastern Jin Dynasty really couldn't mention it, and Li Xiong's attitude began to change, although he still sent tribute, he wanted to share the world equally with the Jin Dynasty. When Zhang Jun was forced to pretend to be a vassal to Li Xiong in order to contact Jiankang through Shu, Li Xiong was overjoyed, and said to the envoy Zhang Chun: "Your lord is famous all over the world, and the land is dangerous and the army is strong, why don't you call yourself the emperor?" "Zhang Chun said that my lord only wants to assist the Jin family and achieve the cause of Huanwen, where is that kind of unprincipled ambition?

Li Xiong was ashamed of this, and said: "I am my grandfather, my father, and I am also a Jin minister, and I took refuge here from the six counties, and I was recommended by the alliance, so I have today." If Lang evil can be promoted in the middle of summer, I should also lead the people to assist. In other words, even at this time, he had not completely closed the door to return to Jin.

Li Shi naturally knows his brother's thoughts, plus Li Li and Li Guo have already died in battle, and now even Fan Changsheng is hanging, so on this timeline, in response to the situation, he dared to speak boldly, please Li Xiong, you are still subordinate to the Jin Dynasty.

Li Xiong was silent, and although Li Yun, Zhao Su and others were surprised, they couldn't refute Li Shi in words, so Li Xiong's uncle and Taifu Li Xiang saw this, so he naturally turned his gaze to Ren Hui, the general of Zhennan.

Ren Hui is Li Xiong's brother-in-law, the brother of Queen Ren, who is not only resourceful, but also brave in making decisions, and is relied on by Li Xiong as a humerus. In fact, a large group of important ministers surnamed Li of the same clan, Li Xiang all looked down on him, he once said to Li Xiong: "I am old, I am afraid it will be difficult to assist the emperor for a long time." Among the ministers, only Li Hui, Wang Da, and Zhong Jun (Li Xiongzi) should be entrusted with their hearts. ”

In fact, Li Xiang's idea is very close to Li Shi, originally followed his brother Li Te, Li Zhen, Li Liu, etc., but he wanted to kill a piece of Taiping land, and he had to live in peace...... It's like a countryman who gets a piece of gold, can't eat it, can't wear it, and can't wear it, and is reluctant to throw it away, but he has to prevent people from robbing it all day long, not to mention how depressed he is—so if Li Xiong doesn't call himself the king and the emperor, then he will be a little unwilling.

It's better to come back, you can help me get an idea.

Ren thought about it for a while, and then said: "What the Taibao said is not unreasonable, but with today's situation, Your Majesty cannot remove the honorific title, otherwise there may be unforeseen disasters." ”

Li Xiong let out an "oh", looked at Ren Hui, and waited for him to explain in detail.

Ren Hui said respectfully: "Now the great enemy of Jin is still in Pingyang, as well as Xiangguo, although Pei Wenyue defeated Liu Cang, his strength is also exhausted, and if he does not advance into Pingyang, how can he have the spare strength to invade Shuzhong?" Zu Shizhi agreed, Hanoi County, only half of it, and was forced to retreat. As a result, Luoyang and Guanzhong refused to attack me, so they had to be taught by Jing and Jiang Xing. However, how did Jing and Jiang prosper?

"Wang Chuzhong and Zhou Shida, under the order of Jiankang, crossed the river, and had no size in the Northern Expedition. Then Your Majesty wants to go to the honorific title, to whom is the minister? ”

Without waiting for Li Xiong to answer, he continued to say in one breath: "Common sense speaking, when you are a minister to Luoyang, then Wang Chuzhong and Zhou Shida will have no chance to spread, how can they obey orders?" If you bow down to Jiankang and even Wang Chuzhong, there is no reason in the world, and it will make Luoyang hate Your Majesty. ”

Most of the people present failed to reflect the logical relationship, but Situ Wang Da shook his head again and again, and then helped to explain: "The lord of the Jin Dynasty in the past is in Chang'an, and the king of Danyang - then the king of Langya - is in Jiankang. The Lord of Jin once sent the Fifth Yi south to Jingzhou, but it was blocked by Wang Chuzhong, and it was broken by Pei Wenyue, and Wang Chuzhong harmed the Fifth Yi, which can be seen.

"Your Majesty, don't take Jin Shi as one, Jin Shi is divided into three! There is Pei in Guan, there is Zu in Henan, and there is King Danyang in Jiankang, and Wang Chuzhong and Zhou Shida are under the jurisdiction of Danyang. If Luoyang is enshrined, Chang'an and Jiankang will not like it; Fengbiao Jiankang, Luoyang will never accept it! ”

Li Xiong was dumbfounded when he heard this, and couldn't help but pat his thigh: "Truly 'one country and three princes, who am I and follow'!" Listening to Erqing's words, is the so-called Jin Gang's revival just a lie? ”

Ren Hui shook his head and said: "The Jin trend is indeed revived, but it is not yet known who will be in charge of the Jin government in the end." Even if Your Majesty has the heart to return to Jin, he should not make a rash decision at this time and choose one to rely on. Attach one to the other, and the second will be guilty, which is the so-called unforeseen disaster of the minister. ”

Li Shi asked: "Ren Gong's intentions, I will join Jin sooner or later, but with today's situation, the soldiers of Yu Jing and Jiang can only refuse?" I don't know if there is a good plan? "He is not necessarily going to surrender, but he just thinks that now that the Jin Dynasty is revival, we can't beat it, so it is better to surrender as soon as possible, so that it is possible to protect the Li family.

Ren Hui smiled and said: "If Pei Wenyue has broken Hu and reverted to the armies of Yong and Qin, it will be difficult to resist in a big way from the northern road; If you stop Jing and Jiang's pawn, it is not difficult to retreat. ”

He immediately asked to unfold the map and show it to Li Xiong and his colleagues: "Although the clouds and the two roads are encroaching, in fact, the mountains and rivers are blocked, and it is difficult to echo, so they can be divided and broken." Let's talk about Wang Chuzhong first, Jiangzhou is thousands of miles away from Bashu, even if you drive a big boat, after all, you will go upstream, and it will be difficult to advance quickly, and once you encounter a setback, you will retreat......

Taiwei Li Yun interjected and said: "It's a pity that Badong is dangerous, and it is still in the hands of the Jin people, so if the Jin army enters Badong, it can be leveled at any time, which is very disadvantageous to me." His Majesty should be ordered to conquer the south (Li Ban) to preemptively attack and advance into Badong, but Deke trapped Nanpu and Qu, and set up a stronghold in a dangerous place, then the Yangtze River line can be safe. ”

Li Xiong looked at the map and asked casually, "Who is Jin Badong Taishou?" ”

"Hongnong Yang Qian is the guard, and Hedong Biqiu Ao is the supervising army."

Li Xiong nodded: "It's not the enemy of the south." Then he asked: "Zhou Shida is the general of Jiangzuo, and he came from the water, how should I deal with it?" ”

Ren replied: "The water is shallow and narrow, it is difficult to travel a big boat, only a small boat can be used to transport grain and grass, it is not difficult to refuse, but ......" paused and said: "I am afraid that Yang Hu will defect and echo it, then Zhou Shida will enter Hanzhong first and return to Zitong, which is not easy to be." ”

Wang Da suddenly interjected and said: "I'm afraid that Pei Wenyue will also send troops south, then two flanking attacks, Yang Hu will be difficult to protect himself, and most of them will surrender to ......."

Li Xiong glanced at Wang Da suspiciously, and asked: "Qing Fang just said that Jin is really three, and they are not subordinate to each other, so if the southern army is here, how can the northern army echo it?" ”

Wang Da arched his hand and said: "Your Majesty, the minister doesn't know how Pei Wenyue is like a person, and he doesn't dare to make a judgment." However, if one of them is impartial, he will have spare strength and will definitely echo the Southern Army; If it is selfish, how can it make the southern army benefit from all the benefits? Hanzhong is the land of Liangzhou, and it can go north to threaten Guanlong, and Pei Wenyue will not want Zhou Shida to easily occupy it. ”

Li Xiong bowed his head and asked, "What should I do?" ”

Ren replied: "Actually, it's very simple, but it's just two strategies. Your Majesty may be able to make a rush to the south to send an army, go straight to Hanzhong, and first consolidate its momentum, so as to wait for the Jin people; Or you can tie up with kindness and righteousness, envelop Yang Hu's heart, and make Yang Hu and Zhengnan work together to resist the Jin Kou. ”

Then he smiled and said: "Originally, it was not easy to soothe the policy, but fortunately, ......" paused, and changed his words: "Since Prime Minister Fan Cheng has passed away, there is no need to mention the matter of preaching Hanzhong first." "The implication is that Fan Chang is alive and dead, otherwise I am afraid that the contradiction between him and Yang Hu will be difficult to resolve - the old man is really timely!

"Both strategies can be used, and it is up to Your Majesty to decide."

Li Xiong pondered for a long time, and finally said: "If I advance into the army and force Yang Hu to rebel, it is against me, even if I can win, how can I stabilize the hearts of the Han sergeants and the people between the ten months?" If I appease Yang Hu and show kindness and righteousness, and he rebels again, his twists will be on the other side, and the people of Hanzhong may not be willing to obey...... Even if neither strategy can be successful, I would rather do it than make the world see me as the lord of the violence! ”

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Hanzhong guarded Yang Hu too much, and it was closer to Jingzhou, so he naturally got the news that Zhou Yu had the intention of leading the army up the river and attacking Liangzhou.

After all, the army was moving, there was a lot of preparation, and most of the generals in this year lacked a sense of secrecy, so it was very unrealistic to completely hide from the enemy. In addition, Zhou Fu was stationed in Xicheng and sent people to explore the hydrology and geography of the West Road, so Yang Hu was not a vegetarian, and his own spies were distributed abroad, so he gained confidence. In addition, Xiong Yizhi, who seems to be in Wudu, also has unstable actions......

So Yang Hu hurriedly summoned his cronies to discuss, and said: "Chengdu Tianzi Fang sent Zhennan to lead the army into Brazil, which seems to have the intention of trying to me, I built a fortress along the mountain, and wanted to become a firm defense, but unexpectedly, the Jin people came to take advantage of the fire to rob again...... With the power of Hanzhong, there is still a few chances of winning against the enemy's army, and if the three police are transmitted, it will be difficult to preserve. What should I do? ”

The cronies talked a lot, some said that they should send an envoy to Chengdu as soon as possible to show their loyalty, and spread the enemy's situation, asking Zhennan General Li Ban to lead the army to defend Hanzhong, and some said that the Di people were not credible, so it was better for us to be demoted. Even those who want to surrender to Jin, there are those who say that Chang'an should be sent because Pei Gai's power is greater, and there are also those who say that they should welcome Zhou's visit to Liang, because of his proximity, there is no consensus.

The conclusion of unification is not unreasonable, for example: if we encounter the enemy in the three ways, we will definitely not be able to defeat it; Fortunately, the enemy is not the same force, so we must surrender to one family to defend the other......

Yang Hu had a hard time making a decision, so he asked Yang Jiantou, who came to Hanzhong not long ago: "Jun has dealt with the Jin army in Guanzhong, I don't know what its strength is?" And I want to surrender Pei Da Sima, will he accept it? ”

Yang Jiantou was defeated by Yang Hu's Hanzhong army that day, abandoned the river pool and left, Pei Gai was guilty of escaping from the battle, and ordered the counties to visit and arrest him. Fortunately, Yang Jiantou was familiar with the geography of the eastern part of Wudu, relying on the power of his father and brother, and also had some prestige.

After all, Pei should have to cure his crimes, life and death are unpredictable, and there is no place to stand north of Qishan; As for Yang Hu, he doesn't have to be his own life......

Sure enough, when Yang Hu heard that Yang Jiantou was coming, he immediately went out of the city to greet him and treated him as a guest. Today, he also specially called Yang Jiantou to participate in the meeting, just because the other party was in Wudu and had a better understanding of the situation of the Jin army in Guanzhong, which can be used for reference.

On this issue, I asked Yang Jiantou, what do you think of the strength of the Jin army in Guanzhong, if I want to surrender to Pei Gong, will he accept it?

Yang Jian said in his heart that you can surrender anyone, but you can't surrender Pei, because for Pei Cai, I am a fugitive! Hurriedly waved his hand and said: "Guanzhong can't be lowered!" Then he explained: "Pei should be a man, ambitious, and unkind." In the past, my brother quarreled, he pretended to mediate, sent an army into the enemy's pool, but first harmed my brother, and wanted to arrest me again - my brother echoed Sima Bao in Longshang, maybe the blame is hard to escape, and I and Pei Jun work together to break it, even if there is a defeat, it should be tolerated, this is the way of benevolence and employment.

"And Pei should harm my brother and drive me away, he really wants to encroach on the land of Qiuchi, and he heard that he is in Wudu, wantonly searching and killing my people, and his wolf ambition can be known without asking. The general would rather be from Zhou Shida, not to Pei Wenyue, otherwise the land of Hanzhong will be occupied by it, and after the capture, the bird will be hidden, even if the general himself, I am afraid it will be difficult to secure! ”

When Yang Hu heard this, he couldn't help but be shocked, thought about it, and said: "In this way, it can only be reduced to Zhou Shida...... However, they are all Jin people, and Pei Wenyue's name is still above Zhou Shida, if Zhou is asked to present my head at that time, how dare Zhou? ”

The faction that was close to Chengdu went up the pole and said that it could not be demoted to Jin - "I am equal to Jin, I am a traitor, if I investigate the past, how can I live?" It is better to rely on Chengdu. ”

Someone put it forward: "The previous quarrel between the general and the Son of Heaven in Chengdu was caused by Fan Changsheng, and now that Fan is dead, he can urgently send Chengdu to understand his loyalty." If the Jin people win Hanzhong, then the door of Shuzhong will be opened, and the Son of Heaven will not want to see this, and he must be willing to join hands with the general again to resist the strong enemy. ”