"Father, are we just watching that old thief insult my Zhang family like this?" Zhang Jizuo roared in a low voice, the green tendons on his face were exposed, obviously angry.

Of course, he also knew that although the Zhang family was now nominally named the King of Wei and seemed to have a respected status, they did not have a single soldier in their hands, and now they were equivalent to being placed under house arrest in Luoyang City, and the situation they faced was far from being as beautiful as it seemed.

In addition, Zhu Wen came to the mansion, not to mention that the mansion was full of palace guards, and the guards were strict, even if Zhang Jizuo made trouble, it would be difficult to hurt Zhu Wen, even if he successfully assassinated Zhu Wen, I was afraid that the Zhang family would be exterminated next.

After all, their Zhang family can't go against the sky, and the Liang country still has to be run by the people of the Zhu family.

At that time, no matter who ascends the throne, the first thing must be to wipe out the Zhang family, otherwise his throne may not be stable.

"What else can I do? Bear with it if you can! Zhang Quanyi sighed.

"Patience! Endure! Endure! This old thief has been living in our house for almost a month, how long will he endure it? Zhang Jizuo said anxiously.

"If it's peaceful today, he can keep us entertained. But if something big happens, he will probably go back to the palace! ”

Zhang Quanyi did not call Zhu Wen an "old thief" like his son, but he did not respectfully call him His Majesty.

Seeing that Zhang Jizuo's face was still gloomy, he immediately closed his eyes and persuaded in a low voice: "Back then, our Zhang family was besieged by Li Hanzhi in Heyang, the food in the city was exhausted, and the soldiers lived by eating sawdust, and there was even a tragic situation of cannibalism. ”

"If he hadn't sent troops to rescue him back then, I'm afraid that my Zhang family would have been wiped out a long time ago."

"This kindness can't be forgotten, so today's events should be regarded as repaying the kindness of the year!"

Zhang Jizuo said angrily when he heard this: "Can this also be repaid as kindness?" ”

Zhang Quanyi smiled bitterly, but he kept his mouth shut and said nothing.

However, after Zhang Jizuo was persuaded by him, he also endured the murderous intent in his heart.

Fortunately, Zhang Quanyi expected it well, a few days later, something big happened in the world, and Zhu Wen had enough of the women in Zhang's mansion, so he decided to return to the palace.

In the Chongzheng Palace, Jing Xiang, Li Zhen and other advisers were anxiously waiting with worried faces.

After a while, Zhu Wen walked in, escorted by the guards.

"Your Majesty!"

"Excuse me!"

After a simple salute, Zhu Wen said: "I heard that Liu Shouguang is preparing to ascend the throne as the emperor? His guts are not small! ”

Different from what he imagined, after Zhu Wen got the news that Liu Shouguang was about to become emperor, although he was a little annoyed at first, he was relieved and began to think about how to deal with this matter.

He was originally an extremely realistic person, who valued strength rather than face, and for face problems, he always had to get by.

Therefore, when he was competing for world domination, he had always been insidious and cunning, and he did a lot of treacherous things.

This is still the case after winning the world.

Zhu Wen is like this, and so are his henchmen and advisers.

"Your Majesty, the minister thinks that whether Liu Shouguang is the emperor or not is secondary, the key is that this matter will make Liu Shouguang completely lose the hearts of the people, plus he is stupid and arrogant, and he can be described as an evil thing in Youzhou. If the king of Jin Li Cunqiao takes the opportunity to send troops to attack, I am afraid that Yan Guo will be difficult to deal with! ”

"Your Majesty, it's not a pity that this Liu Shouguang himself died, but the momentum of the Jin State is already so strong, if the Jin State captures the entire Hebei again, then Li Cunxuan will really be difficult to control!"

Jing Xiang pointed out his worries in a few simple words.

In today's northern situation, with Li Maozhen and Wang Jian fighting again, the remaining Jin Kingdom, Yan State and Liang State have become a three-legged situation.

On the whole, of course, the Liang State is the strongest, the Jin State is the second, and the Yan State is the weakest.

However, judging from the current battle situation, it is the Jin State that has the most amazing momentum, and even the Liang State needs to avoid its edge.

As for the Yan Kingdom, it is the weakest in every way.

It stands to reason that whether Yan chooses to unite with Jin to attack Liang, or in turn to attack Jin with Liang, it is a good strategy; It's a pity that Liu Shouguang is bent on becoming the emperor, isn't this self-defeating?

It's just that he dies by himself, but if his territory falls into the hands of the Jin State, it will greatly enhance the strength of the Jin State.

The territory of the Jin State was originally relatively barren, coupled with the continuous wars, and Li Keyong was not good at governing at the beginning, which made the development of the Jin State extremely deformed.

On the one hand, the military strength of the Jin State was extremely strong, the soldiers were very brave and good at fighting, and the powerful cavalry won victory after victory on the battlefield.

On the other hand, the financial, material, and population of the Jin State were far inferior to the Liang State, so that although the Jin State was able to achieve successive victories on the battlefield, it was extremely difficult to completely defeat the Liang State.

However, the territory of Yan is different, although Yan has also experienced a lot of wars, but Hebei is originally a relatively densely populated area, and its financial and material resources are not much weaker than the Central Plains.

If Li Cunqiao gets the territory of Yan State, it will be equivalent to making up for the last shortcomings of the Jin State, plus removing the threat of the flanks, and then the Jin State will really be able to threaten the Liang State.

Of course, Zhu Wen also understood this truth, so he nodded at Jingxiang and said, "Although Liu Shouguang has killed himself, the territory of the Yan Kingdom cannot fall into the hands of the Jin State. ”

"In the current situation, I have two choices, one is to preemptively crusade against Liu Shouguang and take him down before the Jin Kingdom; The second way was to send troops to help Liu Shouguang resist the attack of the Jin army, and at the same time acquiesce to Liu Shouguang's claim to be emperor. Which of these two options do you think you should choose? ”

Jing Xiang frowned and pondered, but Li Zhen stood up and said, "Your Majesty, the minister thinks that the second one should be chosen." Although Liu Shouguang is ignorant, his strength is not weak, and it is obviously impossible for our army to quickly seize his territory. When the time comes, it will definitely make the Jin Kingdom cheaper. Therefore, it is better to send troops to help Liu Shouguang resist the Jin army, at least to maintain the current situation. ”

Li Zhen is also a person who attaches importance to practical interests, and does not take Liu Shouguang's claim to the emperor too seriously.

At this time, Jing Xiang also clarified his thoughts and said, "Your Majesty, the minister also thinks that the second one should be chosen." Our main enemy is the Jin Kingdom, not the Yan Kingdom. Crusading against the Yan State together with the Jin State will only make Li Cunmiao's strength stronger. ”

Zhu Wen nodded, obviously his opinion was the same.

Compared with Liu Shouguang, a stupid and arrogant guy, Li Cunmiao's threat is naturally much greater; In order to contain the threat of Li Cunxuan, even if Liu Shouguang is called the emperor by acquiescence, what does it matter?

It's like a fool doing a stupid thing, but if you go to meet this fool, it will only make you seem more stupid.

The strategy against Liu Shouguang was passed without much doubt, and then Jing Xiang said: "I just received news that Ma Yin, the king of Chu in the south, has officially surrendered to Wu State!" ”

"Ma Yin has really surrendered?" Zhu Wen frowned and asked.

"Yes, this is the news sent by Gao Jichang, the envoy of Jingnan Jiedu, and in addition, our spies in Jinling also have the same news."

Zhu Wen looked extremely annoyed when he heard this, even more annoyed than when he heard the news of Liu Shouguang's proclamation as emperor just now.

More than half a month ago, there was news that Ma Yin was in contact with the state of Wu, hoping to surrender in exchange for a way out.

Originally, Zhu Wen thought that the ambition of Ma Yin's side should not completely surrender to Wu, at most he was trying to negotiate peace, and the two sides were peaceful, or trying to delay time.

Who knew that he really surrendered to the state of Wu.

"What's going on? What treatment can Ma Yin get after surrendering? Zhu Wen asked.

"It's not very clear now, but I heard that Ma Yin was finally named the envoy of the Baisheng Army, commanding Chenzhou and Jizhou, and all the other territories under Ma Yin's command will be ceded to Wu State!"

"What? So much territory was ceded to Wu State, and Ma Yin also agreed to this condition? Zhu Wen was a little shocked.

That's the territory of more than a dozen states, and if you say that you will cede it, this Ma Yin's courage is not small.

What surprised him even more was that Ma Yin's remaining two places, Jizhou and Chenzhou, were real wild lands, which were the most powerful period of the Tang Dynasty, and they only had a nominal command over the local area, but in fact they were still under the jurisdiction of the local indigenous forces, which was the so-called Bondage Prefecture.

In such two states, even if Ma Yin can take root in the local area, he will have to face all kinds of infestation from the local barbarian natives in the future, and it will be difficult to survive, let alone make a comeback.

So after hearing the news, Zhu Wen knew that Ma Yin was basically useless.

"Without Ma Yin, who else in the entire south can stop the unification of Wu? It seems that the time for the Wu army to go north is not far away! Zhu Wen sighed in his heart.

The entire south originally thought that Ma Yin would be able to resist for another year or two, but he didn't expect to surrender so soon.

As for Lingnan Liu Yan, he took refuge in Wu a few years ago, although it was only in name, but it was difficult to guarantee that when the Wu army was overwhelmed, Liu Yan would not completely surrender to Wu like Ma Yin?

In addition to Liu Yan, the other forces in the south are too small, like Lu Guangchou, Pang Juzhao, Ye Guangluo, etc., their territory is not more than a few states, and there are only one or two states.

More importantly, the armies of these forces are all rabble, they have not undergone strict training and the test of war, the equipment is also old and tattered, and the generals are not very capable mediocre generals.

Seeing Zhu Wen's expression, Jing Xiang and the others also looked extremely sad.

One Jin State is enough to make Liang Guo feel anxious, and if one more Wu State is added, I am afraid that the time for Liang State to destroy the country will come.

And Wu's Northern Expedition, if there is no accident, I am afraid that it will be within a few years.

"We must find a way to give Yang Wu something early, so that he has no time for the Northern Expedition!" Jing Xiang thought in his heart.