At the end of December 889, before the New Year's Festival, the Tiance army in Luzhou held the final battle of the Youhe strategy. More than 100,000 troops besieged Luzhou and pulled out the last nail in the northern land. Chen Yu and Li Tianyi, who were in charge of the siege campaign, moved at the same time from the north and south, and the continuous crossbow arrows used the city tower as a shooting range, and the artillery battalion belonging to the Xixiang Corps fired a continuous rocket into the city, and the explosions came one after another, completely overwhelming the Luzhou defenders to raise their heads. At the same time, the demolition team, under the cover of the infantry, gradually approached the city wall and carried out excavation work on the blasting point.

In such a fierce battle, the local army in Luzhou quickly collapsed, forcing Zhou Dewei to rely on his own Jin army as a law enforcement team, and the defeated Luzhou army was sent back to the city wall to resist.

This chaos in the face of battle also gave the Tiance Army's demolition team enough time to set up the explosion point. The fierce battle until noon, the blasting point of Nancheng was the first to be completed, and the fire was ignited after the lead was arranged, and suddenly a black-red fireball as high as more than ten zhang rose into the air, and the city wall of Luzhou was blown open a gap more than ten zhang long in an instant, and the burst of earth and stone even almost buried the blasting team.

The city wall was broken through, Chen Yu of the southern line quickly waved his army to seize the city wall, and the brigade of men and horses swarmed in, completely breaking up the defenders of the southern city, accompanied by Gao Siji and An Xiuxiu's cavalry into the city, this battle is basically no suspense. Li Xuanqing and Yang Tiancheng didn't even have the interest to watch the battle, and after handing over the front line to Chen Yu, the two returned to the big tent and began to study the problem of the garrison after the war.

"My lord, do you want to concentrate the cavalry on the northern front for a generation, and concentrate the infantry brigade along the three points of Zezhou, Luzhou and Cangzhou to deal with the southern front." Yang Tiancheng saw that Li Xuanqing was constantly writing and drawing on the map, and smiled.

Li Xuanqing nodded and said: "After the battle, the seven infantry battalions over there in Cangzhou will be reorganized by yourself, and the people of Xuanyingwei, Xiaosi, have already arranged to prepare to withdraw, so that there are too many soldiers and horses on the front line, and the soldiers and horses of Houchun and Wanli will be transferred back to Guanzhong." For the rest of you, the General Staff will arrange it yourself. He threw down the charcoal pen in his hand and said with a smile: "Let someone inform Mr. Cen that after this battle, let's celebrate the New Year in Taiyuan Mansion, and by the way, appease the hearts of the people in the north." ”

"I have already informed the third sister-in-law, and I will come with the team when the time comes. Mr. Shum seemed to be preparing to bring some of the receivers with him. Yang Tiancheng nodded and said: "The territory of the lord has expanded so much all of a sudden, and our administrative division will increase again." ”

"I see that you will go to the Ministry of Civil Affairs to take up a temporary post." Li Xuanqing said with a smile: "I have basically thought about the administrative division, and I will wait for Mr. Cen to arrange it." If you have time, you should still help think about how to calm people's hearts and help the victims, the weather in the north this year is much colder than last year. ”

"It seems that Tianxiang has already started preparations with the logistics department for this matter, but this area is too wide, I'm afraid it will be difficult to deal with it at that time, and the roads in the secluded region are not good." Yang Tiancheng nodded and said, "Tianxiang should arrive in Luzhou today, ask him when the time comes." ”

When the two were discussing post-war matters in the tent, a bloody massacre was taking place in Luzhou City. After the Shatuo cavalry entered the city, they began to faithfully carry out Li Xuanqing's orders, and those who were unwilling to surrender with weapons in their hands directly stepped forward with a knife, and for a while, the wolves who were killed by the defeated soldiers rushed to the front. The indiscriminate killing of the local army in Luzhou by the Tiance army shocked everyone, during which the soldiers drove out of the city to surrender to the Tiance army, but most of them fell into a state of hesitation after several generals were killed, and began to run around in the city of Luzhou, some of the people were harassed, and these defeated soldiers before death also began to become crazy, in the face of this situation, Li Tianyi, who had just come in from the north city, let his infantry brigade enter the city, and some of the parts that maintained order also began to join the pursuit and killing.

After the city was broken, An Xiuxiu took part of the men and horses to block Zhou Dewei in a corner of the city, Li Chengsi was stoned to death when the southern city exploded, and the last backbone of the Shatuo people was left Zhou Dewei alone.

"General Zhou, I'm An Xiuxiu." An Xiuxiu commanded the men and horses to surround Zhou Dewei and shouted loudly.

"You traitor, and you still have the face to come to me?" Zhou Dewei walked out of the crowd when he heard this, and sneered: "As a Shatuo person, you don't want to repay the Lord's kindness, but you rebel against your own tribe and help outsiders kill your own compatriots, this is your peaceful life." ”

"I just want to protect my relatives and my people in this troubled world, so that they don't fall victim to some selfish people fighting for world domination." An Xiuxiu shook his head and said: "I came to see you today because the second general was killed, and you were the only one who opposed it, and I hope you don't sacrifice in vain for this doomed ending." Shatuo's soldiers, General Tiance said, there is no need for you to fight in the future, you can go home and reunite with your wife and children. And specially built a new pasture for us Shatuo people, your people can freely breed and enjoy the blue sky and white clouds. "An Xiuxiu is not good at agitating people's hearts, but he said the most real feelings in the hearts of many people, for so many years, with Li Keyong's crusade in the east and west, the life of Shatuo's ordinary people is actually not good, and the young and middle-aged people of various tribes are constantly drawn to join the army to participate in the war. Especially in the two major battles of Hezhong and Chang'an, the Shatuo people suffered huge casualties and were overwhelmed for a long time. At this moment, hearing An Xiuxiu's promise, the Shatuo soldiers around Zhou Dewei began to commotion, and they were no longer as silent as before.

"An Xiuxiu, you dare to bewitch the public again, see that I don't kill you." Zhou Dewei roared angrily, and rushed forward towards An Xiuxiu.

"Zhou Dewei, when you are dying, you still want to take these brothers to the funeral?" An Xiuxiu rushed out behind a person and grabbed the long knife in Zhou Dewei's hand, and sneered: "Ben will be able to get your turn to dance the knife and get the gun again?" I will kill you today to pay tribute to the soul of the second general. But it was Gao Si who came over, and with a spear in his hand, Zhou Dewei's weapon was blown away, and then a shot stabbed Zhou Dewei's chest, and a generation of Shatuo Zhi generals fell.

An Xiuxiu sighed, stepped forward and shouted: "Zhou Dewei is dead, do you want to die with him?" If not now, but when? After speaking, he patted Gao Siji's shoulder and said, "Siji, you go to the lord to pay the order, leave it to me here, and I will definitely take them home." ”

An Xiuxiu and Gao Siji solved the last resistance of Shatuo, and Li Xuanqing and Yang Tiancheng also came to the outside of the city, looking at the Luzhou army prisoners and some Shatuo people who were constantly driving out of the city, nodded and said: "When these people are cleaned up, let Tianyi be responsible for stationing in Luzhou, and before the Ministry of Civil Affairs sends someone to take over, all the hidden dangers will be cleared." ”

Yang Tiancheng nodded and was about to speak, when a group of people and horses suddenly galloped in his direction in the distance, and the high fluttering Tiance Army flag also showed the identity of the coming, Yang Tiancheng smiled and said: "Lord, Tianxiang has arrived, and the movement is fast enough." ”

"Okay, you two have arrived, Houchun's side is also fast, hurry up and discuss the garrison of the northern front, there are only a few days left in this New Year's Festival, let's pack up and go to Taiyuan Mansion." Li Xuanqing also smiled and said: "By the way, inform Xiao Si, let him stop drilling the horns of the bull, come back, this matter will be discussed in the long run." ”

When Li Xuanqing talked about Hu Xiaosi, he was also hesitant at the moment in the hinterland of Bianzhou, and he had been reflecting on this matter since the last Zhang poisoning incident. To this end, a series of internal adjustments were made to Xuan Yingwei, and the decision-making power of each branch on special events was transferred to the headquarters, and the empty box theory proposed by Li Xuanqing was strengthened, and the investigation and counter-investigation methods of Xuan Yingwei were further improved. However, he has always been undetermined to provoke the struggle between Zhu Quanzhong's sons to compete for the throne, especially since Bianzhou is still the base camp of Zheng Fan, although the other party's means are not as good as Xuanyingwei, who is constantly mentioned by Li Xuanqing, but it is difficult to ensure that there is no problem in doing this kind of big thing in the other party's lair. Moreover, under the current circumstances, the internal strife of the Xuanwu Army is not in line with the plan of the Tiance Army, and maintaining the stability of the Central Plains is conducive to the people's recuperation.

However, making up his mind in this matter does not mean that Xuan Yingwei's actions in the Bianliang area will stop, but after Hu Xiaosi came secretly, there was a wave of climax, and the secret war between the two sides entered another new height.

Originally, the two sides thought that they would end this secret war before the year, but after it was implemented, it was unexpected by both sides, and around the seven states of Bianliang, countless members of the Xuanying Guard's secret guards and dragon groups began all kinds of assassination and sabotage activities, which turned out to be a sign that Zhu Quanzhong's internal turmoil had begun. And Zheng Fan also tried his best to stabilize the situation, while organizing manpower to operate in reverse and strangle these shadow killers who haunted the dark night like ground rats.

Although the dark war temporarily stopped with Hu Xiaosi's departure, Zhao Si, the general of the Xuanying Guard, rushed from the Cangzhou region to the area of Bianliang, but let this dark war regenerate waves, compared to Hu Xiaosi's omnipotence in intelligence, this guy is actually an out-and-out killer, and after he took over the command of the Xuanying Guard in this area, the methods of the dragon group began to show a magnificent face. Zheng Fan suffered heavy losses under the surprise, and once needed to ask for help from the garrisons in various places to barely support it.

After Hu Xiaosi went north to Taiyuan and joined Li Xuanqing and others, the high-level of the Tiance Army basically gathered in Hedong, and while there was still some time before the year, everyone began to lead the team to the surrounding places to pacify the people. Li Xuanqing also took advantage of this rare time to reunite with Qiaoxi for a few days. After returning from rest, the Shatuo tribe began to convene a tribal assembly, imitating the practice of the previous party members to rectify it, some of them stayed near Taiyuan and settled as citizens, and some of them went to the newly established state-owned ranch near Daizhou according to the arrangement of the Ministry of Civil Affairs, and became industrial herdsmen of Tiance Mansion.

The army that Gao Siji and An Xiuxiu gathered in Luzhou City was reduced to 40,000 after cutting some personnel and arranging some personnel who were unwilling to join the army, of which 30,000 formed the Ninth Army of the Tiance Army, which was commanded by Gao Siji, and the remaining 10,000 people were merged and reorganized by Wang Houchun and the Cangzhou Corps.

As a result, the entire Shatuo power was also completely disintegrated, and this group, which had accompanied the entire five dynasties in history, was swept into the corner of history by Li Xuanqing, and was replaced by the Tiancefu group, which almost spanned northern China from east to west. When Li Xuanqing examined his territory on the map, he suddenly found that he had inadvertently established a new power group with a long territory spanning east and west, standing proudly in northern China like the long Great Wall in the territory.

"Big brother, what are you looking at? Are you still looking at the map at such a late hour? "Li Keyong of Taiyuan Mansion was cleaned up by the Tiance Army before the Jin Dynasty Mansion as a temporary residence for the high-level civil affairs of Tiance Mansion. Qiaoxi saw that Li Xuanqing was still in a daze at the map late at night, and walked over.

"Qiaoxi, how is your train built? Our territory is too big now, and it will be inconvenient to travel in the future. Li Xuanqing pointed to the regional distribution map he had just drawn and smiled.

"There's no problem, it's just that we can't make pump boats now, and it's a problem for this train to cross the Yellow River." Qiaoxi shook his head and said: "I plan to build a section of railway from Chang'an to Yanzhou in Guanzhong after the year, so that several industrial bases can be connected in series." ”

Li Xuanqing nodded and said, "After the New Year, move the shipyard in Weinan to Yingzhou, let's find a way to build a sea ship." ”

Qiao Xi's eyes smiled into two crooked crescents when he heard this, and said with a smile: "Okay, last time the shipyard didn't succeed in building an iron-hulled ship, and finally had no choice but to change it to a mixed ship, this time we will directly build a larger one, it should be no problem." ”

"Now that the state is gone, is the big brother going to continue the war next year? Or stop and develop the economy? Qiaoxi sat down next to Li Xuanqing and tilted his head and asked.

"Next year, let's go see Changbai Mountain and see Tianchi?" Li Xuanqing smiled, stretched out his hand to hug Qiaoxi Heng and said, "Let's go and rest late at night, Taiyuan Mansion is cold enough." ”

The next morning was already the twenty-seventh day of the lunar month, and except for a few people in Tiance Mansion, the others basically had no family, making up for the lively preparations for the New Year in Taiyuan Mansion, and the military camps outside the city also began to prepare for the Chinese New Year's Eve dinner. The Shatuo tribe is concentrated in Taiyuan Mansion, there is no shortage of meat, and the New Year's goods purchased by the Logistics Department in various tribes have also been distributed to the hands of various troops, and the entire Taiyuan City is permeated with a New Year's flavor.

"Lord, let's celebrate the New Year here." Cen Tianshi came to knock on the door early in the morning, so that Li Xuanqing, who finally wanted to lie in bed, could only get up in clothes and come to Li Keyong's conference hall with everyone in the clever laughter.

"All the preparations for the New Year have been completed, right?" Li Xuanqing asked when he saw Xu Tianxiang and Cen Tianshi.

"Don't worry, my lord, both the military and the government are all ready, and the materials for all the troops are basically in place, even in Jizhou and other places." Xu Tianxiang said with a smile: "This is finally the time to take down the Youhe region a year ago, and it can be regarded as the completion of our strategic goal." ”

"The Ministry of Civil Affairs has basically dispatched chief officials in all regions, and a small number of areas have also let the army take charge of military management in a few areas, and it will continue after the year. As for the bereavement pensions in various localities, they have also been basically completed. Cen Tianshi said with a smile: "A few of us are here to ask, how do we spend our New Year?" The lord is ready to pay for a few months and invite us to Chinese New Year's Eve? ”

"You guys, you know how to blackmail me. It seems that I have to hide with a skill, otherwise I will be eaten and bankrupt by you sooner or later. Li Xuanqing also laughed, ignoring the fact that he had inadvertently added a new word, and said: "An Xiuxiu has already told me that he plans to invite us to their tribe to be guests, I have already asked people to go to Fengzhou to pick up Li Cunxiao's family, and then we will have a different Spring Festival, and by the way, we will discuss and solve the problem of national integration." ”

"This is a good idea, I don't think it's enough to let An Xiuxiu go to the Ministry of Civil Affairs after the end of the year, this lord's territory is expanding too fast, and there is a serious shortage of officials in the Ministry of Civil Affairs." Before Cen Tianshi finished speaking, Xu Tianxiang smiled and said, "Lord Gong, the Chinese New Year's Eve dinner is solved, what should we do tonight?" ”

"What to do? Cold salad, hurry up to get some ingredients, we do it ourselves, and have enough food and clothing. Li Xuanqing glared at him and said with a smile: "Let's celebrate the New Year in advance today, and then we will have it again." ”

Accompanied by Li Xuanqing's jokes, several people didn't plan to do anything today, and after going to the barracks with great interest, they began to prepare the ingredients for the evening, and they actually ate them together at noon and night.

Qiao Xi watched these big men cook with a smile on the side, handle various ingredients neatly, prepare the Chinese New Year's Eve dinner in the evening, think about it, and go out to make some toys necessary for the Spring Festival in the future.

Li Xuanqing and the others had already finished making dozens of odd and micro ingredients, and it was already getting dark, and suddenly they heard a crackling sound outside, and then Qiaoxi walked in with a bamboo pole and a firecracker lit on it, looking at these crackling firecrackers and laughing: "Big brother, it's like the New Year." ”

With the stunned eyes of several people, Li Xuanqing's face began to warm up.