Hearing what Zhao Xun said, Situ Liang also said in a deep voice: "That's right, although it seems that the king of Hanzhong is just to take revenge on those big clans, but his original intention is to let his rule no longer be affected by the big clans. In other words, the king of Hanzhong wants to make his governance like our Zhao State. ”

"It's just that this king of Hanzhong didn't make a big move, and he also found a good excuse so that others didn't suspect it. However, it is precisely because the king of Hanzhong, like other princes, has to take care of his own internal situation, so in this way, the king of Hanzhong does not dare to comprehensively reform the system under his own rule. ”

"Therefore, the king of Hanzhong is not a big threat to us, and even if he increases his strength, it will be beneficial to us. The Han army now has two enemies, one bright and one dark. Whether it is the Shu army or the Luo army, it is not something that the Han army can easily deal with. Therefore, the stronger the Han army, the more it can suppress and counterattack the strength of both sides. ”

Liu Wenqi, who was in charge of the intelligence of Jingzhou and the Qi army in the south, continued: "The action of the King of Hanzhong this time is not only to prohibit the powerful clans from reaching out in Wuling Mansion, but also because those powerful clans in the past have an attitude towards the envoys he sent, and in a few days, dozens of powerful clans have been exterminated. And these big families are basically the sons of their families who are officials in the Luo army. In other words, these big clans are actually the heroes and betrayers who saw the Han army defeated by the Shu army, lost their troops and lost their generals, and surrendered and attached themselves to the powerful King of Luoyang. But they have now been in contact with the Luo army, and they can be regarded as Luo Jun's people. Therefore, the problem between the king of Hanzhong and the king of Luoyang is only afraid that it will become more serious, and it may even make the two sides directly become enemies. ”

Zhao Xun frowned and said: "This Situ Fei, just shot at the Shu army and took away the Wuling Mansion, and now he is directly facing the Luo army, he will really cause trouble!" He probably thinks he's relying on us. ”

Liu Wenqi said: "Situ Fei dares to act like this, in addition to being extremely angry and hated by these big clans, it is not unrelated to our attitude, Situ Fei is very clear, we don't want Jingzhou to be monopolized by a prince, and now the strength of the Luo army is far stronger than the Han army, so Situ Fei wants to use this to expand his strength, even if he is now turning against the Luo army, he can also use our strength to suppress the possible counterattack of the Luo army." ”

However, Situ Fei did not directly attack the Luo army, and the target was only within the Han army, so even if the king of Luoyang was dissatisfied now, he would not directly attack the Han army. The minister thinks that this matter is not all bad for us, at least, in this way, the contradiction between the Han army and the Luo army will intensify, so that there is no longer the intention of union between the two. Two opposing princes is more beneficial to us. ”

Zhao Xun nodded slightly and said, "It's not unreasonable to say so. The strength of the Luo army has indeed increased a lot now, so it is good to let the Han army compete with him! By the way, from now on, our trade with the two princes of Jingzhou will no longer have preferential treatment, and the sale of armor and equipment will also begin to decrease. After all, our standard weapons cannot be sold to the Han and Luo armies, and the trophies we have captured are not unlimited. In particular, the trade in armor and equipment for the Luo army must be restricted, and if they make a move against the Qi army, we can increase it as appropriate, so as to support them to fight against the Qi army for a longer time, or defeat the Qi army. ”

"As for trade among merchants, it continues and can even be expanded. Trade back and forth, not only make Yongzhou more prosperous, but also get a lot of taxes, more importantly, with our trade with the southern Jingzhou, not only let a lot of money flow into our territory, but also let the people of Jingzhou know the situation of our Zhao State, which is also convenient for our Zhao State to go south to attack Jingzhou in the future.

After thinking about it, Zhao Xun asked again: "By the way, does the Luo army have the intention of doing something to the Qi army?" The king of Hanzhong took Wuling Mansion, and his prestige soared, and he King Luoyang would not be indifferent. ”

Liu Wenqi said with a wry smile: "Although the King of Luoyang has some intentions after the King of Hanzhong seized Wuling Mansion, and has also secretly taken certain actions, until now, the Luo army has not made any major moves, and the various armies have no intention of converging to the southeast. And after Jiangxia Mansion was raided by the King of Hanzhong in the Wuling Mansion of the Shu Army, it seems that they also began to be afraid of what the Luo Army would do against them, and strengthened their defenses in Jiangxia Mansion. Therefore, until now, the Luo army has not taken direct action. ”

Zhao Xun said suspiciously: "Strange, is the King of Luoyang willing to watch the King of Hanzhong rise again, and is willing to watch the Han army gradually expand and press forward step by step?" After taking Wuling Mansion, the king of Hanzhong is now in great strength, and he shouldn't be so inactive. ”

Liu Wenqi continued: "Not only did the King of Luoyang take no action, but there are now rumors that it seems that Situ Che, the King of Shu, is preparing to send people to form an alliance with the Luo army and the Qi army to jointly fight against us and the Han army. According to our secret agents in Chengdu Prefecture, this information should be true. ”

"Could it be that the reason why we cooperated with the Han army to take action against the Shu army made the king of Luoyang have to stop the action against the Qi army?" Situ Liang said puzzledly, "Even if the Luo army is now allied with the Shu army, it will not be of any benefit to him, unless they want to take action against the Han army." However, now that we have our presence in the north of Jingzhou, they will not take any action against the Han army even if they are united. ”

"In addition, the Shu army has just fought with us, and the internal army is being restructured, even if you want to fight back, it will not work in the short term. Besides, there is also our army in the land of Hanzhong, approaching Yizhou. As for the Qi army, they are now busy encircling and suppressing the rebel army in the east, and even if they want to act, they will wait until after the battle with the rebel army. And the Taluo army will not benefit in a short time, and it will be suppressed by the Han army and our joint suppression. For the king of Luoyang, this is not a good thing. ”

Zhao Xun said in a deep voice: "Maybe this Situ Hao has other plans, don't pay attention to them for the time being, whether they form an alliance or not, it doesn't hurt us to do anything." Now among the southern princes, the king of Hanzhong has united with us, and the other princes are also facing various problems, and the situation of uniting the army together in the past is afraid that it will not appear again. So, even if they form an alliance, they are fighting on their own. In this case, there is no longer much threat to this alliance. Even if they want to coordinate the actions of other princes, they must first solve the internal problems of their own land. ”

"Needless to say, the Qi army wants to counterattack us, wait for him to solve the righteous army first, and besides, the north and south of the Qi army are our territories, he just wants to take action against us, and we are not afraid. As for the Luo army in Jingzhou, unless he can solve the Han army without us having time to react, unify Jingzhou, and get the support of other princes, otherwise, the more than 100,000 troops in Yongzhou are not decorations. ”

"The last is the Shu army, because the Shu army in the past did not border with us, we didn't have much to do with him. However, now that this Hanzhong has fallen into our hands, the Shu army can only send troops to Hanzhong again, but will we be afraid of them? Without the Han army as a channel for their union, the Shu army was isolated alone. Moreover, what kind of attitude Situ Che has towards his allies, and what kind of results will be the result of being his ally, the king of Hanzhong is a clear example. So, we don't need to worry too much about their alliances now, we just need to monitor their every move. As long as we can grasp any of their actions, their so-called alliance will mean nothing to us. ”

"However, this king does not believe that this king of Luoyang will be willing to form an alliance with the Shu army and the Qi army, and after the alliance, it will have no practical meaning for him. Even if the Shu army promised to join him in attacking the Han army, it would have to wait until the Shu army eased the losses of this battle. In addition, we are to the north of the Taluo army, and we are allies of the Han army. Therefore, even if the Shu army and him join forces to attack the Han army, it will only be the Shu army that will benefit in the end, not him. This kind of unflattering and unbeneficial, how could the King of Luoyang easily agree? ”

"By the way, what do we have to gain now by sending the people we sent to win over and buy the Qi army and navy? Now the Qi army still has an obstacle to us, and it is the navy in the eastern seas. Deal with them, and we will be able to attack from the south, east, and north at the same time, and fully attack the territory of the Qi army. Zhao Xun said in a deep voice, "Speaking of which, among the southern princes, Jingzhou is the easiest to attack, but it will give the Qi army and the Shu army time to reply." And the north and south of the Qi army are all our people, especially now that there is our subordinate Jieyi army to the east of it, it is more beneficial for us to take the Qi army as the first hand. After all, the current strength of the Qi army is stronger than the two princes of Jingzhou, and if we solve him, our next action will be much easier. As for Jingzhou, even if they are given time, they will not be able to develop even bigger. Without the Qi army, the east gate of Jingzhou will be fully open to us. ”

Although the Zhao army did not use force in any place except for the action against Hanzhong in this year, the Zhao army had already made preparations for the southern princes to attack. Within a year, Zhao Jun had also stabilized his newly occupied territory, and the rear had been secured, and there was no further trouble. Therefore, one of these southern princes is the next target of Zhao. From now on, because of the participation of the righteous army, the Qi army became the first target of the Zhao State.

Hearing the king's inquiry, Situ Liang said in a deep voice: "Back to the king, because we have already taken away one-third of the Qi army navy a few years ago, so the current Qi army navy has been replaced by Murong Cheng, the king of Qi, with many soldiers, and the navy establishment has also been adjusted before. So, we're moving very slowly.

However, because of Murong Cheng's suspicions and major adjustments to the Qi Navy, coupled with the fact that our Navy now controls the eastern waters under the jurisdiction of the Qi Army, the current Qi Navy has no power to receive the benefits of the past fleet, so that many of these Qi Navy officers and men are also dissatisfied with this. Therefore, the people we sent can win over some of the officers and men of the Qi army. However, it will take a while to do this, after all, most of our navy is now at the north and south ends, and there is no naval fleet to show up, and the officers and men of the Qi army just want to join us, and they also have to consider whether they will be sunk by the warships pursued by the Qi navy. ”

Zhao Xun nodded and said, "We have already pulled away a batch of Qi Navy last time, so this time, we must be careful." Since the Qi army has already suffered a loss, it is difficult to guarantee that they will not have a defensive strategy. So, it's better to be slower, but not to have any surprises. After a pause, Zhao Xun continued: "Even if you can't pull them away, you have to let them have internal suspicions." It's best to be able to use them for yourself, but if you can't, then weaken them. ”

"The minister understands, and the minister will definitely advise again."

"What is the situation of the rebel army in eastern Yangzhou now? Also, what is the current state of the Jieyi Army? ”

Situ Liang said in a deep voice: "The rebel army in the east of Yangzhou and the northeast of Jiangzhou is in a very bad situation now, south of Qiantang and Huiji, except for a few rebel troops who are hiding in the mountains and forests, the rest have been swept away by the Qi army, or under the coercion of the Qi army, they have surrendered to the Qi army." These surrendered rebels have now become the vanguard of the Qi army's attack on other rebels. ”

"The Qi army's action this time was very swift and decisive. Originally, our manpower in the southeast of Jiaozhou was ready to send people to win over and support these rebel armies, and continue to fight with the Qi army. Unfortunately, before we could react, the Qi army swept through. Even if we die a few rebel armies that we support, it is difficult to resist the encirclement and suppression of the Qi army. ”

"Originally, we thought that the primary target of the Qi army was the rebel army and the surrounding rebel army, but we didn't expect that the first attack of the Qi army was the rebel army in the south, which caught our people a little off guard. Especially in the land of Jiaozhou, the Qi army is very tightly guarded against us, so it is difficult for the people we sent to contact these rebels to develop. After all, without the support of armor and equipment, food and grass, they could not hold out for long. Most of these rebels were refugees, and food was very important to them, without food, they would not be able to train and fight normally. ”

"However, because of our people's involvement, we also guided a part of the rebel army close to the north to gradually begin to merge with the Jieyi army, so that they could be merged into the Jieyi army, which can be regarded as adding a little strength to the Jieyi army."

Zhao Xun said: "This is also our carelessness, we didn't think of using these refugees to make trouble, even if it was the Jieyi Army, they started first, and we sent people to win it over." To the south, we moved even later. It's a pity that if all the nets were cast in the eastern part of the Qi army, I am afraid that now the eastern part of the Qi army has been occupied by a righteous army supported by us. In that case, we can all align our armies now. ”

Situ Liang and Liu Wenqi also deeply felt the same way for the king's sigh, the eastern part of Yangzhou of the Qi army, the northeast of Jiangzhou and the Xuzhou land of the Zhao army all suffered natural disasters, and they also thought about disaster relief and did not think about taking advantage of the natural disaster. If he really took the initiative to start an incident and took organized actions, I am afraid that the eastern part of Yangzhou, the eastern part of Jiangzhou, and the area of more than 1,000 miles from north to south will now be secretly controlled by the Zhao army. In that case, the Zhao army could now move south and take an all-out attack on the Qi army.

Seeing the expressions of the two under his command, Zhao Xun naturally understood what the other party was thinking, and said with a light smile: "If you miss it, you will miss it, after all, it is not a righteous act to incite refugees to rise up, this is not what this king wants." ”

After that, Zhao Xun frowned slightly, and said in a deep voice: "In that case, isn't the Qi army now that it has solved the rebel army in the south, and it is now heading north, and the Jieyi army is their next target." ”

Situ Liang continued: "The Qi army is marching north at the moment, encircling and suppressing other rebel troops in the south of the Jieyi Army. Come to think of it, this Qi army is preparing to take the Jieyi Army as their last target. This situation should be related to our relationship with the Jieyi Army. For the Qi army, with our participation and support, this section of the rebel army is not easy to deal with, so it first solves the other rebels, and finally works together to encircle and suppress the festival rebel army, so as to avoid any further problems in the rear, and also avoid the possibility of us meddling in other rebels again. ”

"Now the Jieyi army has begun to accept and integrate the other rebel armies that have been defeated in the south, and they have been deployed in the south of Yuhang Province. At the same time, the Jieyi Army also developed a naval division in the waters of Taihu Lake as a retreat when the enemy could not align the army. At the same time, the waters of Taihu Lake are also a passage for the Jieyi army to attack the interior of the Qi army. ”

Zhao Xun said in a deep voice: "Wai Wei to save Zhao? Through the waters of Taihu Lake, they can indeed attack the Qi army territories in the northern, western and southern parts of Taihu Lake at any time. However, the victory or defeat on the frontal battlefield is the key to the overall situation. ”

"Give Li Huaiyuan in Xuzhou an order to make a move to the south, this time, you can make the action bigger, you must mobilize more Qi troops to defend our army in Xuzhou, and reduce the pressure on the Jieyi army. In addition, it continued to send manpower and merchant ships to support the Jieyi army, and sent them some armor and equipment. ”

"It seems that our actions against the Qi army are going to be accelerated. Li Jinqian of Jiaozhou was given an order to mobilize the garrison in the southeast of Jiaozhou, make a move to the north, contain the Qi army, and let them reduce part of their troops to stay in the north of Jiaozhou, even if they could not let the Qi army that encircled and suppressed the righteous army retreat. ”

Situ Liang said with a smile: "Now the Jieyi Army is not developing in the northeast of Yangzhou is still very good, according to the latest intelligence, they have established two town water divisions in the waters of Taihu Lake, and the water division has nearly 25,000 people, and they have also thwarted some actions of the Qi army in the waters of Taihu Lake. Saying that, Situ Liang told the story of the Jieyi Army's sailors defeating the water bandits attracted by the envoys of the Qi Army in the waters of Taihu Lake.

Zhao Xun said with a smile: "They did a good job, and it was in vain for them to study at the Royal Academy." Continue to strengthen the attention to the Jieyi Army, and let the secret guards of the Qi army pass on the information to the Jieyi Army at any time, so that they can make all preparations. ”