When winter and spring intersect, it seems that hot and cold alternately always seem to be the season when people's resistance is the weakest. Shortly after the beginning of spring in the eleventh year of Qiande, Lan Zhi, the Duke of Liang, the former prime minister, and the patriarch of the Lan clan died at the age of seventy and three.

Lan Zhi can be regarded as the end of his life, and he did not have any major physical abnormalities until he died, and he was tortured by serious illness. If counted since the Southern Xiongnu era, Lan Zhi went from Yiling Ruo's corpse to Shan Yu, to Tu Te, to Hu Zheng, and then to Liu Yuan, a genuine old minister of the Four Dynasties.

In the process of Liu Yuan's historical precedent and the southern and northern wars, he helped him stabilize the rear, adjust contradictions, and release internal pressure, which was indispensable. He has served Liu Yuan for more than 20 years, and he has held the "Xiangquan" for more than 20 years, from the Xiongnu to the Xia Kingdom to the Xia Empire, there has never been any change.

For a monarch like Liu Yuan, it is extremely rare to tolerate a courtier holding the "phase power" for so long. It is also Lan Zhi who is smart enough, knows current affairs, knows advance and retreat, has ability, and has enough identity and prestige, coupled with Liu Zhi's future "sustenance", under many factors, Lan Zhiquan has been in charge of the center for so long.

It wasn't until Liu Yuan became the crown prince that Wang Rou replaced Lan Zhi, and from then on, Liu Yuan more or less began to suppress the Lan family and the aristocratic forces of his family. In addition to Liu Yuan's own suspicion of this aristocratic interest group, he also had the intention of limiting Liu Yu's strength, after all, the Lan family had never concealed his support for Liu Yu.

Without this scheming helmsman, the future of the Lan clan is not clear, and the new patriarch Lan Li, with his ability, even if he has gone through the Great Xia region and the center, the army and the political arena, it is still not enough to control the Lan clan's huge power.

The most affected is estimated to be Liu Jue, the king of Zhou, and without Lan Zhi, his support for the crown is on the verge of collapse.

Liu Yuan still attached great importance to Lan Zhi's death, personally came to the door to offer condolences, and rewarded the Lan family with more edicts. This is Liu Yuan's gift to the Lan family, the last Jun En.

And Lan Zhi's death also represents the Xia State completely saying goodbye to the old aristocratic era, don't look at Lan Zhi has always actively cooperated with Liu Yuan to promote the reform of Sinicization, but in the entire Great Xia Hu aristocratic forces, he is still a banner, symbolizing the symbol of the old Xiongnu clan. Now the flag has fallen.

The news of the changes in the north and south also continued to reach Liu Yuan's ears, making him turn his attention back to the east of Cuihan and Taihang. There is no intention to take the opportunity to vigorously go east.

Over the years, the Great Xia Iron Cavalry has continued to harass Zhao, Wei, and Chu, and the results are not as obvious as at the beginning, but Hu Xia's advantages in the strategic situation have been established. Maybe he is really old and tired, Liu Yuan no longer has much hope for dominating the world.

Liu Yuan's mind is still sober, with the current situation of the Xia Kingdom, not to mention the difficulty and cost of defeating Zhao Wei, even if he exhausts the power of Great Xia, he has done it. After the unification of the north, it is just the end of a "former Qin". At that time, Liu Yuan was afraid that he had completely reached the stage of dying old age, how to deal with the unknown and complicated situation.

Sort out the country well, balance the forces of all parties, alleviate the contradictions between Hu and Han, and lay a good foundation for future generations. This is Liu Yuan's plan now.

But although the tiger is old, it does not mean that the ambition is gone, and the sword is not good. On the Wei and Chu side, he was not interested at all, Cao Cao went south again, Sun Wu went west, and Liu Yuan was happy to see it. The three southern countries fought to the death, and the more fierce the fight, the more excited he became.

However, in the north, as soon as the news of Yuan Shaofang's departure came, Liu Yuan issued an edict to Liu Qi and Lu Bu in Modong, ordering them to attack Youzhou again. It's still the same old thing, making trouble for Yuan Zhao and weakening its war potential. If Yuan is not enough to stabilize Zhao, it is not impossible to take the opportunity to capture Youzhou and invade Hebei.

After the war between the north and the south broke out, Liu Yuan's heart completely returned to his stomach, and he continued to be his emperor in Chang'an, sitting in his dragon court, and ruling Great Xia.

After entering the summer, Liu Yuan was also entangled in one thing, which was nerve-wracking.

Probably because the whole world is not at peace, affected by the "evil spirit", Yizhou is also a war. The Shu Han Dynasty, who had been farming for many years, mobilized troops, and Emperor Liu Fan ordered the Northern Expedition to Zhang Lu, the king of Hanzhong, with Zhang Ren as the general of the expedition to the north, Gan Ning as the deputy, and 50,000 soldiers from Tongyizhou went north.

After the army, Liu Fan also prepared another 100,000 Ding Zhuang in Yizhou for grain and grass transfer, and the grain depots and arsenals of the counties were opened, and a large number of military resources were continuously transported to the front line. In the south, Liu Fan recruited 20,000 Southern Barbarian warriors with heavy capital in the Southern Barbarians, which were also used to conquer the north.

All kinds of actions prove that this time, Shu Han is trying his best to fight for Hanzhong in the north. To seize it, you can not only rely on it as a barrier in Yizhou, but also take the opportunity to spy on Guanzhong, waiting for a "good opportunity"; If it is not taken, it will always face the invasion of Hanzhong, and Shu Han will also spend a lot of energy to deal with it.

Liu Fan has been preparing for so long, and he has the support of the upper and lower courtiers and soldiers, and the elite soldiers and strong generals in Shu have been sent to the north, and there is a kind of momentum of "not breaking the Hanzhong and not returning to the army".

Zhang Ren and Gan Ning led the army, out of Jiameng, crossed the Baishui Pass, and went north along the Han River, straight to the Hanzhong Basin. Shu Han was well prepared, Hanzhong couldn't deal with it, and Gan Ning ventured to take the mountain trail to raid Yangping Pass, the gateway of Hanzhong, so that the Shu Han army quickly gained a foothold in Hanzhong.

In the face of Shu Han's strong attack, Zhang Lu felt tremendous pressure, and he was used to being a master for many years. Hu Xia in the north does not seem to have any intention of going south, and most of the troops he sent to the south to invade, and the hinterland of Hanzhong has never experienced war.

Now when this evil comes, there is a danger of destruction. Without much hesitation, he hurriedly sent his brother Zhang Wei to lead the generals of the Han Dynasty to garrison in the west to resist in Chuyang. Zhang Wei took Hanzhong's family background, an army of 30,000 soldiers, and saw that Gan Ning had not yet arrived in Shuzhong's main army, so he led 10,000 soldiers to attack.

consciously seized the fighter plane, decisively went west, and attacked Gan Ning in the yin of the water, intending to annihilate this Shu Han front army first. It's a pity that the idea is always good, Gan Ning, as the general of Shuzhong and the deputy marshal of the Northern Expedition, has a real status.

Gan Ning's style is tough, his will is firm and his soldiers are hard-working, and his subordinates Lei Tong, Wu Lan, Yang Huai, Gao Pei, etc. will perform heroically and brilliantly. And there were three or two big cats and kittens on Zhang Wei's side, and the army of 30,000 was simply carried by Gan Ning. As soon as the reinforcements of the Shu army arrived, Zhang Wei was directly defeated.

Zhang Wei was defeated, and it was naturally Nan Zheng who was frightened. Zhang Ren came here to fight steadily, and after collecting and surrendering the army, he was not in a hurry to advance eastward, but stationed in Chuyang as a base, waiting for the grain, grass and ordnance in the rear.

Zhang Ren was as stable as an old dog, and Zhang Lu was as anxious as ants in a hot pot, and hastily called on the people of Hanzhong to defend Nanzheng and Shijun. In the face of the Shu Han army, the younger brother defeated the family without fighting, and if there was no foreign aid, it seemed that sooner or later it would be broken by the Shu army.

This foreign aid actually came to Liu Yuan. Liu Yuan had no ambition for Hanzhong and Yizhou, and Zhang Lu expressed his surrender. The condition is just to let him stay in Hanzhong forever and help him preach, and directly agree, first take Hanzhong and then say, when the promise will be fulfilled, and then it depends on the situation.

Liu Yuan's headache is who to send to lead the army to Hanzhong!

It's just around the corner, do you want to do it yourself? Liu Yuan thought for a long time.