Chen Yuanyuan's entry into the palace has come to an end, but there is still a small tail left, that is, Zhu Yihai, the king of Lu, retreated.

Fang Yuan ordered Jinyiwei to go and send a message to Zhu Yihai, inviting him to come to Jiangnan again to discuss future plans. Of course, he solemnly summoned Zhu Yihai to come, not because of Chen Yuanyuan's matter of a woman, but because of other plans.

Zhu Yihai's relationship with Fang Yuan is no longer an equal in the strict sense. His fiefdom, Huai'an Mansion, suffered heavy losses after being plundered by Gao Jie, the subordinate of Sun Chuanting. It was still relying on Fang Yuan's Xuanjia Army to repel Gao Jie, who almost broke through Shanyang County, to survive.

The Lu army has been completely lost in this fierce battle to defend Shanyang, and the remaining 30,000 Lu troops are less than 10,000, and the entire Huai'an Mansion is a withered people's livelihood and has long become a mess.

If you lack confidence on the battlefield, you will inevitably be short-cut diplomatically. Now Zhu Yihai is already half of the vassal kings under Fang Yuan's protection, as long as Fang Yuan turns his face, Huai'an Mansion can fall within ten days.

Fang Yuan's invitation, whether it was out of kindness or malice, Zhu Yihai couldn't help but come. Half a month later, Zhu Yihai rushed to Suzhou City to meet Fang Yuan.

Fang Yuan set up a banquet in the peach garden to entertain Zhu Yihai. Chen Yuanyuan, one of the heroines of this banquet, hid behind the big screen, waiting for Fang Yuan's arrangement and summoning.

After a brief greeting and politeness between the two sides, Fang Yuan asked, "His Royal Highness King Lu, how much did Sun Chuanting's troops enter Huai'an Mansion to loot this time?" ”

Zhu Yihai replied, "Regent, Huai'an Mansion has experienced great hardship this time, and it is the people's livelihood that is difficult, alas! I came here to ask the regent to borrow some food for relief. ”

When he opened his mouth, he borrowed grain, and Fang Yuan couldn't borrow it, but how to borrow it and what conditions to attach must be clearly discussed.

Fang Yuan smiled and said, "Since His Royal Highness King Lu has spoken, how can I not borrow it?" But, His Royal Highness King Lu, borrowing grain is only a way to cure the symptoms but not the root cause! King Lu managed Huai'an Mansion well, and Sun Chuanting went south to plunder and swept away the results. King Lu is so tossed, who is he working for and who is busy? ”

Zhu Yihai is still the vassal king of the imperial court, Sun Chuanting wants to rob if he wants to go south, how is this kind of behavior different from rogues and bandits? He also gritted his teeth with hatred, slapped the table heavily, and shouted, "Sun Chuanting is simply too deceitful!" He plundered my Huai'an Mansion, and I didn't settle accounts with him, but he even went to the court to visit me first, saying that I had defected to the enemy and colluded with the regent. This is the wicked sue first! ”

Fang Yuan took a leisurely sip of tea and continued to fan the flames, "King Lu, so it is necessary to treat the symptoms and the root cause, otherwise there will be endless troubles!" ”

Zhu Yihai said angrily, "Regent, what do you say about the root cause." If the regent wants to raise troops to the north to crusade against Sun Chuanting, I, the Lu Palace, will also send troops to participate in the war! ”

Fang Yuan smiled secretly, Zhu Yihai was really shrewd, he just roasted Fang Yuan on the fire. Relying on Fang Yuan's Xuanjia Army to meet Sun Chuanting, he followed him to get a piece of the pie, which was better than looking around at the moment, and he was still afraid at any time.

Fang Yuan smiled and said, "His Royal Highness King Lu, I take it as my responsibility to support Your Majesty on the side of the Qing Monarch. Since Sun Chuanting is in the front, he must be defeated. However, I am worried that it is not justified to raise troops in the Northern Expedition! If I have a loyal heart to the Ming Dynasty, but in exchange for everyone in the world scolding me for wanting to usurp the rebellious ministers and thieves of the Great Tomorrow, who am I working for and who am busy?! ”

What loyalty, what Qingjun side, are all slogans used to fool the people of the world. Zhu Yihai heard that Fang Yuan was talking about something, and asked straight to the point, "Does the regent need my help?" ”

Fang Yuan saw that he was asking a cheerful question, so he stopped beating around the bush and said directly, "If there are two highly respected kings of the Ming Dynasty who are on the side of the Qing monarch with me, then no one will misunderstand that I am trying to usurp the Great Tomorrow, alas! ”

Zhu Yihai happily understood when he heard it, Fang Yuan wanted him to also hang out the banner of Qingjun's side. The so-called two vassal kings, in addition to Zhu Yihai, there is also Zhu Cunji, the king of Qin who is far away in Shaanxi, this pair colluded to smuggle and sell war horses, and even the difficult brothers of Mongolian knights.

Fang Yuan's strategic intentions couldn't be more obvious, if Zhu Yihai and Fang Yuan were on the side of the monarch together, they would be able to go on a northern expedition without worries.

Sun Chuanting in the Northern Expedition to Shandong, when the war situation was urgent, it was difficult to predict whether the imperial court would send troops south to support Sun Chuanting. If Zhu Cunji, who was in Shaanxi, also hung the banner of the Qing monarch's side, he would be able to contain the Jin army of Zhou Yuji in Shanxi, and he would not dare to be easily transferred to the Shandong battlefield.

Go to the army to fight, and then fight and fight.

Fang Yuan wanted to divide the various forces in the north, isolate Sun Chuanting in Shandong, and then break them one by one. If the imperial court in the capital twisted into a rope when the strong army pressed the border, and sent reinforcements to fight with Sun Chuanting in Shandong, the difficulty of the Northern Expedition would be doubled.

Hanging the banner of the Qing monarch's side, that is, a blatant rebellion, Zhu Yihai sighed deeply, and obviously couldn't make up his mind for a while.

Fang Yuan took his hesitation in his eyes, and said with a faint smile, "If His Royal Highness King Lu hesitates, or if his heart is towards the capital, won't I have to worry about the future when I go on a northern expedition?" ”

The threat outside his words is obvious, if Zhu Yihai does not hang the banner of the Qing monarch with him, then Fang Yuan will inevitably destroy Zhu Yihai's fief in Huai'an Mansion before the Northern Expedition, and it is impossible to leave such a potential hidden danger behind him.

Zhu Yihai trembled slightly, and said hesitantly, "Regent, I just agreed, and King Qin won't agree!" ”

Fang Yuan saw that he had moved out of King Qin to be used as a shield, and he also said slowly, "His Royal Highness King Lu, I will talk to you about my heart. The vassal kings of the Ming Dynasty have too many clans, at least more than one million, and they have long become a burden that cannot be lost. Therefore, every time Li Zicheng and Zhang Xianzhong captured a place, they slaughtered the Ming vassal kings and clans in a place. What about me! is dedicated to the Ming Dynasty, and the slaughter of the Ming vassal kings and clans will never be done. However, the people of the world are too bitter to raise such a large group of people who do not work and cannot support themselves! ”

"After I unify the world, among the many feudal kings of the Ming Dynasty in various places, only two lines of vassal kings, clans, and fiefs will be retained. The rest were deposed and confiscated their fiefs, and all the clans of the family were reduced to commoners and no longer enjoyed any support. ”

Fang Yuan raised his wine glass, toasted Zhu Yihai again, and said with a sigh, "His Royal Highness King Lu, this place is not much!" It was for the sake of His Royal Highnesses King Lu and King Qin that I wanted to retain the names of the two vassal kings of Lu and Qin. If the king of Lu and the king of Qin are unwilling to accept it, and the clans of the two families want to support themselves, then I will go to the other vassal kings to discuss and discuss. ”

Fang Yuan's words couldn't be more straightforward. Many vassal kings of the Ming Dynasty must be deposed, and only two vassal kings are retained to decorate the façade of the Ming Dynasty. The first to surrender to Fang Yuan, and the two vassal kings on the side of the Qing monarch with Fang Yuan can retain the vassal kings and fiefs. If you want to ride the wall and wait for the dust to settle before placing your bets, it will be too late.

The reason why Fang Yuan gave Zhu Yihai and Zhu Cunji this opportunity was because the two kings were indeed old acquaintances, and they continued to smuggle war horses to expand the number of cavalry of the Xuanjia Army, which was a great achievement; The second reason is that the two kings have the most value to win over, Zhu Cunji has three hundred miles of Qinchuan, and Zhu Yihai has the land of Huaiyang, all of which are fat meat in Fang Yuan's pocket without cutting blood.

For example, King Gui and King Su were the vassal kings who were sealed in the poor mountains and bad waters, Fang Yuan really couldn't raise the interest to win them over. If you don't honestly obey, send a brigade of troops to destroy it.

Zhu Yihai's hand holding the wine glass was also trembling, obviously hesitating in his heart. In the case of Zhu Cunji, the king of Qin, the mountain is high and the emperor is far away, maybe he can wait and see. And if he refuses to play the banner of the Qing monarch with Fang Yuan, the catastrophe of King Lu's family is just around the corner.