On the afternoon of March 10, 429 of the Great Jin Dynasty, in a study room in the mansion of Dou Yan, the commander of the military department of Canglong City, Dou Bing, the general of the cavalry, said to Dou Yan with a solemn face: "Uncle, now among the thirteenth family, there are many people who are ready to accept the conditions offered by Zhang Mingqi, uncle, what do you think about this matter?" ”

Dou Yan, the captain of the military department, asked Dou Bing, who was expressionless, "What do you think?" ”

Dou Bing pondered for a moment and said: "Uncle, although Zhang Mingqi promised our thirteenth family that the official positions of the uncle and the other twelve court ministers remain unchanged, our thirteenth family can still control the sixteen guards of the forbidden army, and the interests of our thirteenth family in the states and counties of the Great Jin Dynasty will not be, but what if we let the Suzhou Xiang army enter Canglong City and push Zhang Mingqi to the position of prime minister, Zhang Mingqi repents and starts to deal with our thirteenth family?" ”

Dou Yan, the captain of the military department, sighed and said: "To be honest, Zhang Mingqi's conditions for our thirteenth family are already very generous, and the reason why the old man has not expressed his position is that he is worried that after Zhang Mingqi controls the authority of the imperial court, Zhang Mingqi may not keep his promise, and then our thirteenth family will be in danger." ”

Dou Bing thought for a while and then said: "Uncle, there has been news from the Western Regions Protectorate, the general Liu Ji led the Broken Army to completely defeat Gaochang State, forcing Gaochang State to cede a large amount of land to the Western Regions Protectorate, and even Gaochang City, the capital of Gaochang Kingdom, was ceded by Gaochang Kingdom to the Western Regions Protectorate, presumably as long as we hold on for a while, General Liu Ji should be able to lead the Broken Army back to Canglong City and relieve the siege of Canglong City by the Suzhou rebels." ”

Dou Yan smiled bitterly and said: "There are many people in the Thirteenth Family who think that Liu Ji is more dangerous than Zhang Mingqi, once Liu Ji is allowed to lead troops into Canglong City, maybe Liu Ji will not leave!" ”

Dou Bing opened his mouth, wanting to defend Liu Ji, but he didn't say it.

Dou Bing was unwilling to succumb to Zhang Mingqi, the commander of the Suzhou rebels, from the bottom of his heart, but the results of the Broken Army's battle in the Western Regions this time were too shocking, and it was normal for everyone to have doubts about the Broken Army and Liu Ji.

In this big battle between the Broken Army and the four great powers of the Western Regions, maybe the Dawan Kingdom, the Cheshi Kingdom and the Anxi Kingdom did not do their best, but the large area of land ceded by the Gaochang Kingdom was really swallowed up by the Western Regions Protectorate, which shows how strong the Broken Army is now.

Dou Yan said helplessly: "The old man is also in a dilemma now, after all, if Zhang Mingqi can really keep his promise, it can be regarded as a blessing in misfortune for our thirteenth family, and the foundation of our thirteenth family can at least be preserved." ”

"Uncle, no matter what decision you make, your nephew will support you!"

"Alas—let the old man think again! It's not an easy choice! ”

On the evening of March 10, in a huge tent in the Suzhou Xiang Army camp in the south of Canglong City, Zhang Mingqi, the commander of the Suzhou Xiang Army, frowned and asked the strategist Tang Yan: "Hasn't there been news from the thirteenth family in Canglong City?" Do they agree or disagree with the conditions given by the official? ”

Strategist Tang Yan said: "My lord, those who contacted us just said that they still need to do the work of other families, so it will take a while to reply to us." ”

Zhang Mingqi snorted coldly and said, "Give them a little more time, maybe the reinforcements of the Broken Army will arrive in Canglong City, are they delaying time?" ”

Zhang Mingqi was still very afraid of the Broken Army in his heart, after all, in the southeast, the Broken Army beat the Red Turban Army very badly, and now the Broken Army defeated the coalition forces of the four major powers in the Western Regions alone, and also forcibly occupied most of the territory of Gaochang Kingdom, which can be described as prestigious.

Although the Suzhou Xiang army gathered twenty-six guards in the Canglong City area, and the total strength even exceeded three million, Zhang Mingqi still did not have the slightest confidence if he faced the broken army.

Strategist Tang Yan hesitated for a moment and said, "My lord, if the Thirteenth Family is still unwilling to accept our conditions before the Broken Capture Army arrives in Canglong City, his subordinates suggest that our Suzhou Xiang Army should withdraw to the Seven Southeast Prefectures first. ”

Zhang Mingqi sighed and said: "To be honest, if the Broken Army arrives in Canglong City, I am really a little unconfident, this time the Broken Army's record in the Western Regions is too dazzling, it seems that our Suzhou Xiang Army has to be ready to retreat to the southeast." ”

Strategist Tang Yan then said comfortingly: "Lord, no matter what, now the seven states in the southeast, except for half of Suzhou, have all fallen into the hands of our Suzhou Xiang army, as long as our Suzhou Xiang army can hold the southeast, with the taxes of the southeast states, our Suzhou Xiang army will definitely become stronger and stronger, seize Canglong City and even the entire Great Jin, and there will be more opportunities in the future." ”

Just when the Thirteenth Family was still struggling with whether to agree to Zhang Mingqi's conditions, and the Suzhou Xiang Army was also ready to evacuate the Canglong City area, a shocking news came, which immediately disrupted all this.

On March 13, 429 of the Great Jin Dynasty, the State of Lu, which had just annexed the eight states of Jiao, Xun, Gu and Lai, suddenly sent troops to attack Zhezhou and Fuzhou in the Great Jin Dynasty.

Now Zhejiang and Fuzhou have been included in the Suzhou Xiang Army, as a result, the Suzhou Xiang Army guarding the border of Zhejiang and Fuzhou was caught off guard by the Lu Army, several border towns in Zhejiang and Fuzhou, under the surprise attack of the Lu Army, have fallen into the hands of the Lu Army, if it were not for the Suzhou Xiang Army on the border of these two states, there are several guards based on the elite of hundreds of thousands of border troops, maybe the situation will be even worse.

Zhang Mingqi learned that the Lu army invaded Zhejiang and Fuzhou, and at the same time he was angry, he couldn't help but feel a chill, you must know that Lu is the veritable first power in the whole East, after annexing Jiao, Xun, Gu and Lai, Lu already has fifty-seven states, and Lu's standing army has been maintained at more than nine million.

You must know that these more than 9 million standing troops of the Lu State are not temporary conscripts, but more than 9 million long-trained elites, and although the Suzhou Xiang Army has more than 6 million troops, most of them are new soldiers, and the combat effectiveness is not much lower than that of the Lu army.

Zhang Mingqi immediately had no choice but to order the twenty-six guards in the Canglong City area to immediately withdraw to the seven southeastern states, and as for the desire to enter Canglong City and control the authority of the Great Jin, he had to give up for the time being.

On the evening of March 16, in a conference hall in the mansion of Dou Yan, the chief lieutenant of the military department of Canglong City, Dou Yan said to the other twelve important ministers of the imperial court as if he had unloaded his burden: "This is really a village with no way out, although the invasion of the Lu State can be described as a disaster for our entire Great Jin, but for Canglong City at this time, it is good news, since yesterday, the Suzhou rebels besieging Canglong City have left in batches. ”

The other twelve important ministers of the imperial court included Yang Zhong, the chief lieutenant of the Ministry of Rites, Wang Zhihuan, the chief lieutenant of the Criminal Department, Zhao Boran, the chief lieutenant of the Ministry of Works, Sun Mingtao, the chief lieutenant of the Ministry of Households, Zheng Kai, the secretary of the Ministry of War, Han Renji, the secretary of the Ministry of Officials, Wu Ziyu, the secretary of the Ministry of Households, Zhang Shunran, the secretary of the Criminal Department, Chen Sikai, the general of the hussar general, Xiao Su, the hussar general, Li Hong, and the hussar general He Guangzong.

Yang Zhong, the chief lieutenant of the Ministry of Officials, said with a sigh: "I didn't expect this invasion of Lu State, but indirectly helped Canglong City to relieve the siege, and now Zhejiang and Fuzhou have become the territory of the Suzhou rebels, how to deal with the invasion of the Lu army, it should be up to Zhang Mingqi to have a headache." ”

At this time, Wu Ziyu, the secretary of the ministry, suddenly said: "Everyone, although the siege of Canglong City has been resolved, but the invasion of Zhejiang and Fuzhou by the Lu army, our court can not ignore it, once the Suzhou Xiang army is defeated by the Lu army, then the entire southeastern seven states will be annexed by the Lu state, and no one can guarantee that the Lu army will stop at the southeast seven states, and at that time our Great Jin will be in danger of losing the country." ”

After Wu Ziyu, the secretary of the ministry, finished speaking, the chamber fell into a temporary silence, everyone actually knew that the Lu State was strong, once the Lu State really had the intention to annex the entire Great Jin, it would definitely be a catastrophe for the Great Jin.

With the current situation of internal and external troubles in the Great Jin Dynasty, if the Suzhou Xiang Army was really defeated by the Lu Army, the Great Jin Dynasty alone would not want to compete with the Lu State.

The hussar general He Guangzong broke the silence of everyone in the council hall, "Don't forget that our Great Jin still has a broken army that can defeat the four great powers of the Western Regions, if the Lu State really has the heart to annex our Great Jin, the broken army and the conquest general Liu Ji will definitely not stand idly by!" ”

Zhang Shunran, the head of the household, then spoke: "There is a broken army, and it should be impossible for the Lu State to annex the entire Great Jin, but the southeastern seven states are the essence of our Great Jin, and it is best to avoid the seven southeastern states from falling into the hands of the Lu state, otherwise even if the Lu army can be driven out of the seven southeastern states in the end, the entire southeastern seven states may be finished." ”

Wang Zhihuan, the captain of the Ministry of Rites, frowned at this time and asked, "Is it possible that our imperial court still wants to send troops to support the rebels in Suzhou?" ”

Wu Ziyu, the secretary of the ministry, nodded and said, "Even if you support the Suzhou Xiang Army, why not!" Now that the Lu army has invaded Zhejiang and Fuzhou, the most important thing for us in the Great Jin is to defend against foreign enemies, Zhang Mingqi, the commander of the Suzhou Xiang Army, is also the Suzhou Prefecture Pastor appointed by the imperial court, at this time, all of us in the Great Jin should put aside their differences, unite with the outside world, and ensure the rivers and mountains of our 24 states in the Great Jin! ”

As soon as Wu Ziyu's words fell, several important ministers of the court in the council hall couldn't help but nod, in the face of the invasion of the Lu army, it was indeed not impossible to turn enemies into friends with the Suzhou Xiang army.

Dou Yan, the chief lieutenant of the military department, turned his head to Yang Zhong, the chief lieutenant of the military department, and asked, "Yang Taiwei, what do you think about the invasion of Zhejiang and Fuzhou by the Lu army?" ”

Yang Zhong, the chief lieutenant of the Ministry of Officials, hesitated for a moment and said: "Although the Suzhou Xiang army besieges Canglong City, it is already a great rebellion, but the matter between our court and the Suzhou Xiang army is an internal contradiction, and now the Lu army has invaded Zhejiang and Fuzhou in our Great Jin Dynasty, it is an invasion of foreign enemies. ”

Dou Yan, the captain of the military department, nodded slightly and said, "It seems that you can contact Zhang Mingqi of the Suzhou Xiang Army." ”

On the morning of March 17, Dou Yan, the commander of the military department, sent his nephew Dou Chong to use a rope to go out of Canglong City from the city wall and to the Suzhou Xiangjun camp in the south outside Canglong City.

In a huge tent in the camp of the Suzhou Xiang Army, after Dou Pet finished telling Zhang Mingqi, the commander of the Suzhou Xiang Army, he said to Zhang Mingqi: "Zhang Zhoumu, this time the imperial court sent me to see you, with 100,000 sincerity, I hope that Zhang Zhoumu can put aside the contradictions with the imperial court, sincerely unite with the imperial court, and jointly drive the Lu army out of the Great Jin." ”

Zhang Mingqi said in a deep voice: "Not only the imperial court is sincere, but the official is also full of sincerity, if it is not waiting for the envoy sent by the imperial court, the official will return to the seven southeastern states yesterday, and now the war in Zhejiang and Fuzhou is very unfavorable to our Suzhou Xiang army, and the strength of the Lu army to invade these two states this time is at least more than two million, or even more." ”

After a pause, Zhang Mingqi continued: "Sincerity is not lip service, this official hopes that the imperial court can officially appoint this official as the governor of the southeast to oversee all the military and political affairs of the seven southeastern states. ”

Dou Chong immediately frowned and said: "Zhang Zhoumu, the imperial court has never set up any official positions as the governor of the southeast before, and now most of Suzhou is still in the hands of our imperial army, does Zhang Zhoumu mean to ask the imperial court to give out the rest of Suzhou?" ”

Zhang Mingqi waved his hand and said: "That half of Suzhou, the official has no time to pay attention to it now, and now the official's mind is in Zhejiang and Fuzhou, and the official position of the governor of the southeast is just to appease the millions of soldiers of the Suzhou Xiang Army, and you can't let millions of the soldiers of the Suzhou Xiang Army accompany the official to Canglong City!" ”

"This ...... Zhang Zhoumu, this request is not for me to decide, I need to return to Canglong City, please make a decision. ”

"This official will stay here in Canglong City for another day, I hope to wait for the good news brought by Mr. Dou, the matter of resisting the invasion of the Lu army is not just our Suzhou army's own business!"

In response to Zhang Mingqi's request, the important ministers of the imperial court finally agreed to appoint Zhang Mingqi as the governor of the southeast under the strong leadership of Dou Yan, the chief lieutenant of the military department, to oversee all military and political affairs in Qiongzhou, Suzhou, Lianzhou, Zhejiang, Fuzhou, Hangzhou, and half of Suzhou.

Anyway, the above-mentioned areas have been occupied by Zhang Mingqi's Suzhou Xiang army, Zhang Mingqi just wants a name, in the face of the invasion of the Lu army, it is most important to appease Zhang Mingqi and let Zhang Mingqi resist the Lu army together with the imperial court.

After Zhang Mingqi obtained the official position of the governor of the southeast, which had never appeared before the Great Jin, he left the Canglong City area with the large army of the Suzhou Xiang Army, and returned to the southeast with the Suzhou Xiang Army, as well as the hussar general Xiao Su and the hussar general Li Hong, as well as the six guards of the forbidden army.