This westward expedition was known to the whole of Jiangnan, but it ended quietly, and Fang Yuan was already very embarrassed. In addition, offending Li Zicheng, who was originally an ally, for no reason, caused irreparable losses in terms of strategic interests.

It's like Sun Quan wanted to seize Jingzhou, but he made a fuss for a long time but gave up halfway, and the result was that he not only lost face, but also offended Liu Bei, which was simply ridiculous and generous.

Although the incitement plan of the Beijing court did not work, it also succeeded in driving a wedge between Fang Yuan and Li Zicheng. At least Li Zicheng will definitely put a big embankment on Fang Yuan and increase troops in Henan and Huguang to relieve the pressure on Fang Yuan from the imperial court.

Fang Yuan hated this move of the imperial court so much that his teeth itched, but he had no choice but to find Li Zicheng's envoy Li Yan to make up for it a little.

He ordered Jinyiwei to bring Li Yan, Li Zicheng's envoy, who had been detained for many days.

Although Fang Yuan had Li Yan detained, it only restricted his personal freedom, and his daily expenses were still compared to the treatment of entertaining foreign envoys, and there was no shortage.

Li Yanshi saw Fang Yuan again after half a month, and his expression was not embarrassed, but became more and more energetic, and he asked, "The regent has finally figured it out?!" The western expedition to the king was a defeat for both sides, which benefited the fishermen of the court. ”

Fang Yuan sneered, and said solemnly, "Master Li, anyway, my purpose is to unify the world, whoever comes first is the same. ”

Fang had already given up his military plan to conquer Li Zicheng in the west, but he was deliberately blackmailing Li Yan in order to get a little benefit from the negotiating table.

Li Yan obviously didn't believe his statement, and said in a good time, "The regent is really so confident that he wants to start a war with the imperial court and the king?!" ”

Fang Yuan said coldly, "Young Master Li, since you are a dying person, it doesn't hurt for me to tell you. Now that I have sent troops to Fengyang Mansion, I want to lure Sun Chuanting from Shandong to fight. As long as I can severely damage Sun Chuanting's main force in Shandong, the imperial court will not have the ability to march south again in a short period of time. At that time, I will use Fengyang Mansion as a base and start a war with King Chuang on all fronts. Before the war, if Li Gongzi does not submit to me, I will take Li Gongzi as a sacrifice flag! ”

Li Yan frowned and asked, "Why does the regent have to go west first and then go north?!" ”

Fang Yuan said lightly, "Because Huguang and my territory are too close, starting from Wuchang, you can reach Jingkou Wharf in five days along the waterway; Even if he took the land route, with the large number of cavalry and the rapid offensive, he could attack Anqing and Luzhou in five days. Shandong of the imperial court is too far away, and there is also the territory of King Lu as a buffer, and it is impossible to sneak attack Nanzhili. I thought about it, but the threat of breaking into the king was greater. ”

Li Yan was slightly stunned, his eyes stared at Fang Yuan, but his mind was constantly thinking about what was the purpose of Fang Yuan's inexplicable strategic idea with himself? Fang Yuan's true intention was that he really wanted to sacrifice himself before the Western Expedition, or did he mean something else.

After a long time, Li Yan had a flash of inspiration, and suddenly said with a smile, "The regent is too worried, if King Chuang does not deploy cavalry in Huguang, but mobilizes 50,000 cavalry to Henan, what else does the regent have to worry about?" ”

According to Li Yan's guess, Fang Yuan was a regent in a dignified manner, and unless he was too idle to panic, he would come to him to chat with a subordinate prisoner. Fang Yuan's words were extraordinary, and he made it clear that he was afraid of the cavalry of the Chuang army, of course, he was implying that the main cavalry of the king of Chuang could not be placed in the territory of Huguang. In other words, Fang Yuan's idea was that the two sides should follow the previous agreement, and the two neighboring provinces of Jiangxi and Huguang must not deploy a large number of troops to show their sincerity in non-aggression.

Li Yan responded to Fang Yuan's condition that he would mobilize the 50,000 cavalry with the strongest combat strength to Henan to reduce the pressure on Fang Yuan in the direction of Huguang.

Fang Yuan asked with a deep groan, "Li Gongzi promised too happily, can Li Gongzi really be the master of the king?" ”

Li Yan shook his head and said, "Of course I can't be the master of King Chuang, if King Chuang knows that the regent really has the intention of going west, he will definitely put a strict embankment on the regent." ”

Fang Yuan was very appreciative of his frank confession, if he really dared to admit that he could call the shots, then Fang Yuan would immediately end the conversation with him, and said with a sneer, "Then Li Gongzi is fooling me, and he wants to leave quickly?" ”

Li Yan Zhengrong said, "King Chuang sent me as an envoy to find out whether the regent has any intention of going west. According to my observation in Jiangnan, although the generals and cabinets of Jiangnan were clamoring for a westward expedition, the regent resolutely upheld the alliance with the king and attacked Fengyang Mansion instead of going west. ”

"And I, Li Yan, blocked the waterway of the Yangtze River, just to spend the belly of the regent with the heart of a villain, and to be a villain in vain! If that's what I'm saying when I go back, King Chuang will send heavy troops to the embankment Regent?! ”

Fang Yuan's mind was guessed by Li Yan thoroughly, Li Yan's self-defiling statement was to take all the blame for this time on himself, which not only maintained the relationship between the two parties, but also preserved Fang Yuan's face, and hit Fang Yuan's inner thirst at once.

Of course, the reason why Li Yan lied for Fang Yuanyuan was not for Fang Yuanyuan, but for Li Zicheng. Li Zicheng has just captured Kuizhou and Fengjie, and is preparing to attack Chengdu in the west, so it can be said that he is deeply trapped in the Sichuan battlefield.

If Fang Yuan really killed Huguang and Henan from behind, Li Zicheng must give up the occupied Kuizhou front line to help. Whether Fang Yuan can be defeated or not will not be mentioned for the time being, if he wants to enter Sichuan again and solve the strategic dilemma in front of the breaking army, it will be even more difficult.

Li Yan would rather defile himself and lie for Fang Yuan, but also drag Fang Yuan's side before King Chuang captured Sichuan.

And Fang Principle needs him to be thoughtful in front of Li Zicheng, and the interests of both parties are a hit!

His loyalty to Li Zicheng made Fang Yuan secretly praise, and sighed, "Li Gongzi, he is really a national warrior in the world!" ”

Li Yan's irrepressible smile flashed, and he saluted him respectfully, "The regent is wise, it is really the blessing of your two armies, and the blessing of the people of Nanzhili and Huguang." ”

Fang Yuan said suddenly, "After Gongzi Li returns to King Chuang, let's come to Nanzhili!" Entering the cabinet, or entering the palace, is selected by Li Gongzi. ”

He opened his mouth again to solicit, and even offered generous conditions, allowing Li Yan to choose an official position, which shows the heart of reuse.

Li Yan was slightly stunned, and said solemnly, "King Chuang does not live up to me, I also live up to King Chuang, the regent's kindness, I am not blessed." ”

Fang Yuan's solicitation failed again, and he said with a smile, "Li Gongzi, I have solicited several times, but I still can't shake your determination in the slightest, you are really a loyal minister and a national soldier!" Okay, I will immediately order a warship to escort you back to Wuchang, and give you five hundred taels of gold and silver, and one fur. ”

Li Yan bowed his hand deeply to Fang Yuan, "The regent is magnificent and elegant, and he is really the benevolent lord of the world. Since the regent treats me as a soldier, I will repay the regent as a soldier. ”

Now that King Chuang is deep in the battlefield of Sichuan, the regent should seize this rare opportunity to find an opportunity to fight Sun Chuanting in Shandong. If the regent can hit the headquarters of Sun Chuanting in Shandong before King Chuang captures Sichuan, the world will be owned by the regent! If the regent can't hit the Shandong Sun Chuanting department before the fall of Sichuan, one-third of the world will become a trend, and the domination of the world will be far away! ”

The 200,000 elite Ming troops under Sun Chuanting in Shandong were the first and most important line of defense for the Ming Dynasty to defend against Fang Yuan. If Shandong loses, the capital will be gone.

The two glanced at each other, and the so-called heroes saw the same thing, and suddenly the heroes felt sympathy for each other, and they couldn't stop laughing.