At the end of August 890, the Tiance Army and the Xuanwu Army, the two heavy northern princes, coincidentally set their sights on the country of abundance, and as if discussed, the intelligence organization began to carry out a secret war in Sichuan before the army moved, and the paradise from Dongchuan to Xichuan, which was basically unaffected by the rebellion at the end of the Tang Dynasty, was shrouded in a bloody storm in an instant. The Xuanwu Army sent the most elite tent swallows to act as killers into Sichuan to fight against the Xuanying Weilong group led by Hu Xiaosi, who in order to clear the Xuanwu Army and the local intelligence forces of Wang Jian and Li Maozhen in a short period of time, directly transferred part of the Flying Eagle Brigade, which had already gone to Fuzhou and Guangzhou to explore the way, to participate in it. As a result, the strongest core combat power of the two princes competed in Sichuan, and the Flying Eagle Brigade under the leadership of the third team Zheng Huang San defeated Wang Yanzhang's tent swallows that had been painstakingly operated for many years, and the elite of more than 1,000 people was completely annihilated in the north of Langzhou in half a month. The Flying Eagle Brigade has declared with its bloody record what the real king of soldiers is. And Zheng Fan, who suffered such a major blow, had to change his mind and push down the momentum of the competition with the Tiance Army, and turn it into a real intelligence search.

After winning this dark war, Xuan Yingwei did not stop there, and expanded the scope of the attack to the local forces Wang Jian and Li Maozhen, and for a while, there was chaos in Sichuan, and Wang Jian and Li Maozhen, who were beaten, realized that the mountain rain was coming, and the changes in Sichuan would happen in the short term. Hurriedly met in Mianzhou to discuss an alliance against the invasion of the two princes.

Compared with Zhu Quanzhong in the east, because of Yang Shouliang's block, there is no need to consider it for the time being, and the Tiance Army in Hanzhong on the northern front can be described as a sharp sword hanging above the heads of the two, which may be smashed down at any time. Therefore, after Li Maozhen saw Wang Jian, she didn't care about greeting and said directly: "Brother Guangtu, the situation is not good now, you and I have to think of a countermeasure." ”

Wang Jian and Li Maozhen were also at peace after getting Dongchuan, although there were conflicts on the border from time to time, but after the strong rise of the Tiance Army, the relationship with Li Maozhen was much better. So when he heard that Li Maozhen was anxious, he was also worried, and after pondering for a long time, he asked, "How did you reply to the incident that the Xuanwu Army sent a few months ago?" ”

How else can you reply? I have no opinion on fighting against the Tiance Army together, but if you and I want to take the lead, I fought against Li Xuanqing when I was in Guanzhong, and the Tiance Army is so powerful that I can't contend with it, so I can't implement the idea of the Xuanwu Army, and if Zhu Quanzhong doesn't move in the east at that time, we will definitely be swept away by the thunder of the Tiance Army, and the foundation of the past few years will also be ruined. ”

"Brother Zhengchen, this is what worries me the most. You and I shared the Xishu family and expected to be able to sit back and watch the success or failure of the world, but today, the army in Hanzhong is a strong army, and it is always ready to take action against me. You are also clear about the assassination some time ago, and it seems that we will not be able to escape this catastrophe. Wang Jian had a worse life under Yang Fugong than Li Maozhen before, and finally brought Gu Yanlang away from Dongchuan in a loophole, and he encountered Li Xuanqing's sudden rise in strength, and the difference in strength between the two sides was too great, which also made him helpless.

"You and I join forces, relying on the steep Qinling Mountains in the north, plus the passes in Longjian and other places, can't they resist Li Xuanqing's troops?" Li Maozhen was a little discouraged, Wang Jian's strength was still above him, and he was so pessimistic that Li Maozhen was a little overwhelmed.

"In my opinion, there are two points, one is the method that Brother Zhengchen said, and the other is that we still have to unite the Xuanwu Army. Yang Shouliang in the east is no longer good, Yang Fugong is also sick in bed, and the days are running out, and only with the assistance of the Xuanwu Army can we resist the Tiance Army for a long time, and use the mountains and rivers to block the torrent in the north. Wang Jian continued: "However, the conditions for negotiation cannot be followed by Zhu Quanzhong's path, our condition is that we will be responsible for blocking the pace of the Tiance Army in Sichuan, but if the Xuanwu Army does not take the initiative to attack the eastern defense line of the Tiance Army, we will not take the initiative to provoke trouble, and the Xuanwu Army will increase assistance to our two families from now on, otherwise we cannot guarantee whether we can delay the western front of the Tiance Army." ”

"This kind of condition may not be agreed to with Zhu Quanzhong's character, and there is still a Yang Shouliang's Shannan Road and the Ezhou area in the road review between us and the Xuanwu Army, and the water is far away from quenching the thirst." Li Maozhen was obviously not optimistic about Wang Jian's suggestion, but now he can't think of a better way.

Just when the two were discussing how to deal with the Tiance Army, the Xuanwu Army also started the first formal discussion, at this time, Zhu Quanzhong's enterprising spirit was still good, and when he heard that Xie Tongming wanted to find a way to open the current predicament, he immediately convened the Minister of Civil and Military Affairs to discuss this matter. But the truth was unexpected by Xie Tong and Zheng Fan. Zhu Quanzhong and Jing Xiang didn't think of a piece with Xie Tong. Jing Xiang means to continue southward and sweep the Huainan region. And Zhu Quanzhong's meaning turned out to be to prepare to attack Ezhou, and he fought Shannan Road to join Wang Jian.

Moreover, Zhu Quanzhong's two sons, Zhu Youqi and Zhu Youwen, who have been serving in the army, agreed with Jing Xiang's opinion, while Zhu Youshu, another money bag, echoed Zhu Quanzhong's meaning. As a result, the entire civil and military group began to disagree, and because everyone had their own reasons, a good pre-military meeting broke up unhappily.

When Zheng Fan and Xie Tong found Jing Xiang with a black face, the look on the latter's face made the two of them angry, and they couldn't send it anymore. It turned out that Jing Xiang already knew what Zhu Quanzhong meant before the meeting, and in his opinion, Zhu Quanzhong's attempt to beat Yang Shouliang at this time was a way to seek death, so he had no choice but to find another way, find a way to divert Zhu Quanzhong's attention, and use the huge benefits brought by the last southward movement to the Xuanwu Army Group as a bait to attract everyone's support to go south, so as to avoid the idea of beating Yang Shouliang.

But in Xie Tong's opinion, Jing Xiang's choice was not so much to divert Zhu Quanzhong's attention as to find a way out in advance.

"My lord, what's going on?" The three major think tanks of the Xuanwu Army fell into a crazy situation at this moment, and it took a long time for Jing Xiang to suddenly say: "You should know, the lord has a special habit recently. ”

"Just say it's disgusting." Xie Tong saw Jing Xiang's words and said directly: "It can't be the wind in the ears of those women, right?" ”

"Not really." Jing Xiang hesitated for a moment and decided to say it, "Didn't the lord go to the Eastern Capital a few days ago." I was infatuated with the concubine of Yin Zhang Quanyi in Henan Mansion, and said that Zhang Quanyi gave the concubine to the lord, and then I heard from nowhere that Yang Shouliang had a woman's name, and then the interest came, and I sent someone to ask Yang Shouliang for it, and I had a closed door. ”

Jing Xiang's words made a wisp of indescribable disappointment and pain appear on Xie Tong's face, and even his body began to sway, and he was supported by Zheng Fan next to him.

"Is that Zhang Quanyi's concubine? It was his main room. Xie Tongqi's beard trembled. Although Zhang Quanyi is not the core figure of the Xuanwu Army, he himself follows Zhu Quanzhong wholeheartedly, and he is full of talent, which is a rare government talent in the Xuanwu Army. At this time, receiving such treatment, Xie Tong suddenly couldn't imagine what happened later, Jing Xiang said that Zhang Quanyi gave it to Zhu Quanzhong, how can there be a reason in the world to give away his wife?

"Treating military affairs as child's play, not hesitating to hurt his henchmen for the sake of a woman, and erecting a great enemy, is this still the Zhu Quanzhong we knew before?" It took a while for Xie Tong to calm down, and his voice seemed to be without a trace of anger.

Seeing this, Jing Xiang glanced at Zheng Fan, who helped Xie Tong up and sent him back to the mansion, and he turned around and came to Jing Xiang's mansion again.

"Strategist, why don't you stop your lord from acting like this? If Lord Xie is angry, I'm afraid that our Xuanwu Army will really break the Optimus Pillar. Zheng Fan gave Jing Xiang a slash.

"Can I stop it? You don't know what kind of temper the lord has? Except for Ziming, do you think the two of us can stop it? Jing Xiang himself was also on fire, and he was completely ignited at the moment: "He is the lord, what can I do?" You think he's like you. ”

Jing Xiang also felt bored after the fire came out, and the two were silent for a long time before sighing. Zheng Fan opened his mouth and said: "The three of us, you are in charge of the military, I am in charge of intelligence, and Brother Ziming is in charge of the overall situation." What do you think we should do now? If we can't all agree on the same page, then there is no way to continue this matter. It is thankful that the three heirs of the lord did not lose the family business. ”

"Alas, in fact, although Brother Ziming's opinion is pertinent, there is one of the most important loopholes, and it is estimated that this is also the reason why the lord wants to move Yang Shouliang." Jing Xiang, who had dissipated his anger, frowned and said slowly: "After all, we and Wang Jian are separated by two roads in the south of the mountain, and I am afraid that it will be a drop in the bucket to support thousands of miles." Even if Yang Shouliang felt that he was cold and united with us, he would not allow our troops to cross the border. Relying on Wang Jian and Li Maozhen alone, even with Yang Shouliang, it can't delay the strength of the Tiance Army much. It's enough for us to deal with the Tiance army in the east, but if we go all out to deal with it, the hundreds of thousands of cavalry are not something that our infantry can stop. ”

"Originally, if the lord's mind has not changed, I am also high-spirited and want to compete with Li Xuanqing. But at this moment, there is not much heart. Among the three, Jing Xiang was originally the most optimistic person, but at this time, he said such a depressing word, which made Zheng Fan not know what to say for a while.

"After the Lord's deliberations, let's analyze it first and find a way to make the Lord dispel his thoughts. If it really doesn't work, I still have a plan here, but I can't see the end. Jing Xiang didn't want to continue talking halfway through, so he changed the topic and said: "You go to see Ziming when you go out later, the book on his body is too angry, I'm afraid he can't stand it." ”

Zheng Fan nodded, sighed and staggered out of the hall.

As soon as Zheng Fan left, Jing Xiang's face gradually became a little ugly, and his fingers were swiping back and forth on the map on the table. In fact, for Zhu Quanzhong's center, he is even more important than Xie Tong and others. It's just that Xie Tong's ideal is to assist Ming Jun to help the world. And what he Jingxiang thinks about is the death of a confidant. Zhu Quanzhong can have the insight to promote himself in the troubled times, and he will do his best for him. So in Jing Xiang's heart, no matter what Zhu Quanzhong becomes, it is the same allegiance to him. This is also the way he thought of after knowing that Zhu Quanzhong disrupted everyone's plan was to find a foothold in the south and prepare for the future, instead of being prepared to fight with Zhu Quanzhong like Xie Tong, and he attached so much importance to Zhu Quanzhong's private life.

But Jing Xiang still wanted to find a way to get the best of both worlds, so looking at the map in the hall was all night.

However, almost at the same time that the Xuanwu Army was facing strategic differences, and the monarchs and ministers were disagreeing and parting unhappily, the base camp of the Tiance Army in Chang'an was making final preparations for the strategy in Sichuan. After Yang Tiancheng went to Hanzhong with Xue Yang, the General Staff of Chang'an, under the coordination of Xu Tianxiang, quickly assembled various materials and soldiers towards Hanzhong. After Xuan Yingwei won a decisive victory in Sichuan, he began to arrange various dark lines along the way, instigating rebellion against generals and officials in various places, and making preparations before the battle.

And after these information were transmitted to the General Staff Headquarters, the flying pigeon on Zhu Quanzhong's side on the eastern front also sent the latest news, but the secret guards in Bianzhou did not hear the content of Zhu Quanzhong's pre-army meeting, but only briefly explained the fact that Zhu Quanzhong touched the nail in Yang Shouliang, and the rest was basically the matter of infighting between Yang Xingmi in the south and several feudal towns in Huainan.

Originally, even Hu Xiaosi ignored these news, everyone had been mentally prepared for the matter in Huainan for a long time, and Zhu Quanzhong didn't have the latest news, so everyone didn't care. It was a staff officer of the General Staff who discovered the matter of Zhu Quanzhong and Yang Shouliang when he was sorting out and summarizing the information, and reported the matter to Xu Tianxiang, and everyone smelled a trace of unusualness from it.

And after Hu Xiaosi knew this, he immediately ordered Biaozi to go all out to investigate this matter, and these secrets were revealed in the secret guard's investigation bit by bit. But at this time, it has been three days since Zhu Quanzhong fell out with his subordinates for the first time. After Zhu Quanzhong's first meeting broke up unhappily, he convened people again on the third day to prepare to explain his plan. But as before, Xie Tong's think tank resolutely opposed the attack on Yang Shouliang, and explained his own idea, that is, to unite all the feudal towns on the southern front to attack Li Xuanqing in the north, use Yang Shouliang and Wang Jian, Li Maozhen and others to contain Li Xuanqing's western front, and the main force of his Xuanwu army set off from the eastern front and forced the forces of the Tiance army back to Guanzhong in one fell swoop.

In fact, this plan was still a bit too hasty, but Xie Tong at this time was also helpless, and after discussing with Jing Xiang and others, he decided to throw out this grand strategy in an attempt to make Zhu Quanzhong sober up. However, Zhu Quanzhong vetoed it, and the reason was very clear, that is, Yang Shouliang's Shence Army could not play the role of containing the Tiance Army at all, and its combat effectiveness was too poor. This point was also supported by the generals led by Ge Cunzhou, and the strength of the Shence Army was not worth mentioning at all in the eyes of these leading generals, not so much as an ally as a burden to themselves.

At this juncture, what Jing Xiang was worried about still happened, Zhu Quanzhong became more determined to attack Yang Shouliang first after realizing Yang Shouliang's strength, in his opinion, this is a balance between public and private, killing two birds with one stone.

However, Xie Tong pointed out the loophole in Zhu Quanzhong's plan on the spot, that is, after occupying Shannan Province, the strength of the Xuanwu Army will inevitably be dispersed due to the expansion of the territory, and the original strength will not be as strong as the Tiance Army, and after the division of troops, it will inevitably fall into the situation of the other party's various breakthroughs. At the meeting, Xie Tong couldn't control himself anymore, not only refuted Zhu Quanzhong on the spot, but also said Zhu Quanzhong's bad habits seriously, and asked Zhu Quanzhong to learn what Mingjun did and be sympathetic to his subordinates.

These words made the people present in an uproar, and Jing Xiang looked at Xie Tong with a pale face, and even cold sweat broke out on his forehead. But Zhu Quanzhong pursed his lips disdainfully, and sneered: "According to the meaning of the military advisor, this king is not Mingjun?" Not sympathetic to your subordinates? The military advisor should assist the king in handling military and government affairs, and the king will be responsible for what the king does, and there is no need for others to ask more. ”

In fact, Zhu Quanzhong didn't have any opinion on Xie Tong, but he was quite annoyed by his way of pointing directly at his private life in front of the public, and after rejecting Xie Tong's words, he simply didn't want to ask for other people's opinions, and said directly: "This king has made up his mind and decided to send troops to Shannan Province to exterminate the rebellious Yang Shouliang and restore the territory for the imperial court." ”