Before the end of the first year of the Tang Dynasty, as the new emperor who succeeded to the throne this year, Li Siyuan was busy counting the people in the country, so as to understand the current national strength of the Tang Dynasty in detail and provide a basis for governance in the coming year, while the Jiangnan Wu State was also busy commenting on the situation this year.

In the past year, Wu can be regarded as a bumper year, there is no major event in the territory, although the world is not peaceful, fortunately, the war is not in the territory, the more chaotic the Central Plains, the more happy the Wu country, the comparison of national strength has always been one and the other.

Moreover, whenever there is a war in the Central Plains, many scholars, people, and craftsmen will pour into the peaceful Wu State, which is really a great good thing for the Wu State.

In the world of great controversy, the economy and the military are the two most important criteria to measure the strength of a country, and in these two points, Wu believes that he has not let too much of the Central Plains - if Shu is not counted as a part of the Central Plains. Economically, Jiangnan is rich, has long been comparable to the Central Plains, when it comes to military strength, Wu's feudal towns are not as heavy as the Central Plains, the Central Forbidden Army is a well-deserved main force, and in the past few years there have been repeated battles with Wu Yue, which can be regarded as a division of regular wars.

When Li Siyuan raised troops in the Central Plains, there were people in the court of Wu who advised him to go north, if it wasn't for Li Siyuan's ability to conquer Luoyang too quickly, once Li Siyuan and Zhuangzong fell into a fierce battle, the situation was unknown. Wu has not had a major war for many years, and his strength has already accumulated enough. After all, Jiangnan is a prosperous land of smoke and dust, if he does not try to make progress at this time, he will corrode his mind for peace and happiness day by day, and he is afraid that he will not have the ambition to enter the Central Plains in the future.

The only difficulty is that Prime Minister Xu Wen is not in good health now.

The position of the prime minister is the only one in the world.

In the state of Wu, the government and the opposition all knew that Xu Wen had the intention of replacing Yang Pu and turning the Yang family into the Xu family's world. This is probably the fundamental reason why Wu has not participated in the struggle for hegemony in the Central Plains over the years.

Prime Minister Xu Wen is discussing with the staff in the palace.

The two people in front of him sat opposite him, although they were respectful, there was no flattery, their demeanor was natural, and they were not restrained, which showed that they were Xu Wen's henchmen. These two people, the one on the left is more obese and seems to be very rich, this person is named Luo Zhishen, who is in charge of the finances of Wu State; The other person is a scribe, with a beard, and he looks weak, but his eyes are sharp, and his spirit is very strong.

Luo Zhishen spoke first, and explained to Xu Wen in detail the financial situation of Wu Guo this year, Xu Wen nodded again and again when he heard it, obviously very satisfied. In the end, Luo Zhi said in detail: "The people do not add endowment and the country has a surplus, now the imperial court has a lot of surplus over the years, and the major granaries are also accumulating into mountains, and the prime minister of Mongolia is prospering agriculture and commerce, and the fertile land in various places has increased by 10,000 hectares, and the trade is prosperous, coupled with the continuous influx of displaced people in the Central Plains, my big Wu country has increased day by day, and now it is the country rich and the people are strong!" ”

Xu Wen smiled, "The country is rich and the people are strong, this is the old man's lifelong wish, so that Wu has the appearance of today, and there is no fallacy in the phase." ”

Yan Keqiu saw the stitches, first congratulated Xu Wen, and then turned his eyes and said: "The country is rich and the people are strong, this is the time to make great plans." Prime Minister, the situation in the world is changing rapidly, and now my Wu country has enough strength, when the map is enterprising, go north to the Central Plains, and win the world! ”

Yan Keqiu said this abruptly, Xu Wen smiled, and did not give a positive answer, but said: "What is the situation in the world?" What about winning the world? ”

Yan Keqiu solemnly bowed his hand, he already had a plan in his heart, and said with a very serious expression at this time: "If Wu Guo wants to win the world, there are three strategies to choose from. ”

On the change of power, Luo Zhixue knew that he was by no means an opponent of Yan Keqiu, and at this time, listening to Yan Keqiu seemed to have a splendid strategy to say, so he quickly listened carefully.

"Oh? Say it. Xu Wen said.

"The next strategy is only eight characters, Taoguang is obscure, and wait for the opportunity." Yan Keqiu told me eloquently, the eight characters he opened his mouth can be said to be the current strategy of Wu Guo, he continued: "Over the years, not to mention the changes in the Central Plains, the situation in the world is also complicated, and the reason why Wu Guo did not act rashly before was to meet the needs of the current situation. In the struggle of troubled times, the power of the country should be the first priority, otherwise it will not be able to compete with the princes of the world. Now that the country of Wu is strong, if it can win the chaos of the world again, it is possible to move like thunder and make a final decision. ”

Xu Wen just bowed slightly, and did not speak, so he naturally had many shortcomings. What is the difference between waiting for the time to come and waiting for pie to fall from the sky?

"How's the middle policy?" Luo Zhi saw Xu Wen's lack of interest, so he asked.

"The middle policy is also eight characters: first set the south of the Yangtze River, and then map the Central Plains." Yan Ke asked, "The princes of Jiangnan, there are Jiangnan East Road, Jiangnan West Road, Lingnan Road, if you can get Jiangnan to belong to one family, then restore the prosperity of the Eastern Jin Dynasty, plus Huaisi in hand, and the Central Plains to confront the river, and then work hard, it is not difficult to enter the Central Plains." ”

Jiangnan East Road, talking about the two Zhejiang peripheries, Wuyue, Fujian; Jiangnan West Road, talking about the surrounding areas of Hunan, the land of Ma Chu; Lingnan Road is talking about the surrounding areas of Liangguang and the land of Liu Han; These princes control one side and each has its own strength, among which Wu Yue is the strongest, but compared to the truth, they are all small princes, and they cannot be compared with Wu State.

This central policy is a good policy in Luo Zhishen's view, when today, the Central Plains Dynasty is still strong, Wu wants to compete with it, first pacify Jiangnan, and then gather the power of Jiangnan, and the Central Plains decisive battle, absolutely determine the world's belonging, can be regarded as the right way.

In Luo Zhishen's view, this middle policy is already the best policy, but he doesn't know what the best policy in the other party's heart is, so he asks again.

"The best policy is the same eight words: the world fights, the world fights." After Yan Keqiu finished saying this, he didn't continue to speak, but looked at Xu Wen and waited for him to speak.

Luo Zhi saw that Yan Keqiu did not plan to continue the explanation, and secretly thought to himself, but he didn't understand it. The eight words of the best strategy are really too confusing.

Xu Wen drooped his eyes and said tepidly: "The strategy is safe, the middle strategy is perfect, and the top strategy is dangerous." ”

Hearing Xu Wen's evaluation, Yan Keqiu continued: "Although the strategy is safe, it is suspected of losing the opportunity. And there are things in the world that are contentious, and if they don't fight, they are stupid, and they have not heard of those who can become great things by waiting for the rabbit. ”

Luo Zhishen thought about it and felt reasonable, in his opinion, he could only protect himself, and if he wanted to plot bigger, it would never work.

Yan Keqiu continued: "The middle strategy is indeed perfect, but it is self-planning, and it also makes the enemy perfect. The territory of the south of the Yangtze River is vast, the princes are numerous, the peace is not a few years of work, stability is also a few years of work, if it is ten years later, the Central Plains is only afraid that it has changed with each passing day, and it has become a tiger. ”

"Those who have heard of Li Siyuan, a man of wisdom and bravery, coupled with a generous temperament, have always won people, and since he became the lord of the Central Plains, he has given both grace and might, as if he has won the hearts of the people, and over time, I am afraid that the Central Plains will be unbreakable. The servant also heard that Li Congjing, a shrewd and hard-working person, is not only good at military strategy, but also knows civil affairs, and even more, this person is brave and progressive, like a tiger in the world, with an indomitable spirit. ”

"This father and son, one steady and one advance, one defense and one attack, complement each other, and must not be overlooked. If Wu gives him ten years, he is afraid that the Central Plains will be restored to peace and Huichang. At that time, Jiangnan wants to map the Central Plains, it is as difficult as climbing to the sky! ”

The so-called "Yuanhe, Huichang Elephant", is talking about Tang Xianzong Yuanhe Zhongxing, and Tang Wuzong Huichang Zhongxing, this is after the Anshi Rebellion, in the world of feudal towns in the situation, the Tang Dynasty rare two Zhongxing world.

In addition to these two, there is also the rule of Xuanzong of Tang Xuanzong, which can also be called the prosperity of the Tang Dynasty, but Yan Keqiu did not say it.

When Yan Keqiu said this, it was obvious that he was advocating the best policy, and Xu Wen asked him: "Where is the best policy?" ”

"Since ancient times, those who win the Central Plains win the world!" Yan Keqiu's tone was high-spirited, "Sitting in the north and facing the south, there is the fact of overlooking the south of the Yangtze River, waving the army to the south is homeopathic, and the strength of the army is natural!" If you can get Shu land again and strangle the upper reaches of the Yangtze River, you can go down the river and go straight to the heart of the south of the Yangtze River. Moreover, Shu is rich, and Shu is rich in wealth, which is enough to bear the cost of the war to destroy the country, and Jiangnan wants to prevent Shu, so he has to hold Jingxiang. ”

"In the past, Li Yazi destroyed Shu, but now Shu is under the control of Meng Zhixiang, and his people are quite ambitious and do not obey orders, and Li Siyuan can't do anything for a while; Jingnan Gao Jixing, a greedy generation, is a person who only cares about selfish interests and often bullies the king, and now Jingnan is divided, and Li Siyuan cannot be controlled. At this time, it is a heaven-sent opportunity in the state of Wu, if you can unite Shu and Jingnan, make Shu rebel against Tang, and make Jingnan attached, then the Central Plains will not go south. If the Central Plains is given to Shu, according to Jingxiang, then the state of Wu is in danger! ”

"Once the Central Plains loses Shu and Jingxiang, if you want to go to Wu again in the future, you can only go through Huaisi. Huaisi is a dangerous road, Wu only needs to operate Zhongli, Shouchun, Shanyang, Xuyi four towns, then in Huaixi there are Zhongli chokehold, Shouchun chokehold, in Huaidong there are Shanyang, Xuyi control Surabaya, then the Central Plains will have millions of heroes, can only look at the river and sigh! ”

These words made Luo Zhishen stunned and admired, he turned to Xu Wen, and saw that Xu Wen also had a straight face, obviously these words also spoke to Xu Wen's heart.

Yan Keqiu hadn't finished speaking, so he continued: "If Wu wants to defend against the enemy, it must not lose the land of Shu, it must not be without Jingxiang, and it cannot be without Huaisi. And Wu wants to enter the Central Plains, go out of Jingxiang in the west, you can take the two capitals directly, go out of Pengcheng in the east, sweep Shandong, and the Central Plains can gallop at will! ”

"Therefore, the world is in a big fight, it is necessary to fight in the world, like a boat against the current, if you don't advance, you will retreat, in troubled times, you will not attack and defend, and you will not advance in peace! Now Jingxiang, just like Qin's Han Valley, Qin out of Hexi, can compete for the world, Wu out of Jingxiang, Huaisi, can win the Central Plains! ”

"At this time, my country of Wu is rich and strong, and when we are using force, we should be strong and strong, and we will attack with diplomatic relations. I heard that the sword will lose its sharpness if it has not been used for a long time, and if it has not been encouraged for a long time, it will lose its strength, and if it has been in peace for a long time, it will lose its ambition for a long time, and it will lose its ambition for a long time! Although Jiangnan is good, after all, it is a corner of the country, although Wu is rich, but it is a situation of partial security, a world of great contention, and if you fight, you will be strong, and if you don't fight, you will die. Prime Minister, Wu Guo should cross the river and be the Northern Expedition! ”

After that, Yan Keqiu looked at Xu Wen with blazing eyes, waiting for him to reply.

Xu Wen gathered his mind and closed in contemplation.

Since the first king Yang Xingmi with thirteen strong soldiers, swept Huainan in a few years, and worshiped the festival envoys, the foundation of Wu has grown day by day, and now it has Jianghuai, becoming the largest prince in the world except the Central Plains, which can be described as a great time. The world has been in turmoil since the Yellow Nest, the attacks between the feudal towns are frequent, the princes are fighting endlessly, and the beacon fire has never stopped for a day.

When troubled times are in place, when heroes use force. Let's ask the princes of the world, when they have not fallen in prosperity and pleasure, who has not wanted to achieve the hegemony of the ages?

Xu Wen pondered for a long time, finally opened his eyes, and asked Yan Keqiu: "If Wu Guo wants to fight for the world, will he be safe?" ”

"Distant and close attack, north and south attack." Yan Keqiu's eyes were bright, "Help Meng Zhixiang, collect Gao Jixing, take the land of Ma Chu, and make friends with Wu Yue and Lingnan." ”

There was no one in the room, Luo Zhishen and Yan Keqiu had already retreated, but Xu Wen was still pondering.

Xu Wen did not give a clear answer to Yan Keqiu's strategy of "helping Shu land, recovering Jingnan, seizing Chu land, and befriending other princes", and it can be seen that Yan Keqiu was very unwilling and a little lost when he left.

Xu Wen smiled helplessly, Yan Keqiu was unwilling and lost, why wasn't he?

Yan Keqiu's strategy of fighting for the world is not a problem from the perspective of a strategist, and if Wu wants to seek greater achievements, he should indeed plunge into the torrent of the world's great struggle, plan and act intensively, and should not be in a corner of peace. However, the strategist is not the emperor after all, and the emperor can only stand in the perspective of the strategist?

How difficult it is to recite his own scriptures, only Xu Wen himself knows.

King Wu is Yang Pu, not Xu Wen.

Although Yang Pu is just a puppet and has no real power, at best he is just an ornament, but Yang Pu's role has not been fully played.

When Liang and Jin were fighting for hegemony, Wu Guo had no action, and when Li Siyuan raised an incident, Wu still had no action, not that Wu had no strength - even if Wu was unable to chase the Central Plains, it was still easy to clean up a few small princes around him - it was not that the "salt gang leader" in the east, Qian Miao, the king of Wu Yue, did not stop, and to get to the bottom of it, Wu Guo's external stability over the years was because of internal strife.

The core of this battle is when Xu Wen will replace Yang Pu.

It is one thing to be a powerful minister, and it is another thing to usurp the throne, which requires a process - the world's recognition of the Xu family is greater than that of the Yang family.

Xu Wen felt like Cao Cao, not only because they were all prime ministers.

Wu is not as good as the Central Plains, the Central Plains is chaotic, then Li Siyuan was a minister yesterday, and today he is a king, and he has not seen the Central Plains Domain towns rise up and attack it. Wu Guo can't do it, Xu Wen can't act like this.

Over the years, the state of Wu has been stable, and the Central Plains has crossed to the south, making the state of Wu prosperous in literature and Taoism, and the power of scholars is also great. Scholars, they are a group of stupid guys who read and read, and they value the way of kings and ministers, and they care about the right name.

So Xu Wen has to wait.

But there is no need to wait too long, after listening to Yan Keqiu's words today, Xu Wen knows that he can't wait too long.

However, there is one more problem.

Xu Wen didn't want to be the king of Wu.

He wanted to be emperor.

This is a bit troublesome, he needs to let Yang Pu be the emperor first, and then let Yang Pu take the throne.

Xu Wen made up his mind that he had to step up preparations and let Yang Pu be the emperor, and this matter was urgent.

When he ascended the throne as emperor, it was the time of Wu's great expedition. Xu Wen thought. At that time, the meritorious deeds made by the monarchs and ministers of Wu were all from the Xu family, and there was no need to worry about them making meritorious contributions and receiving rewards, but they were grateful to the Yang family and became an obstacle to their accession to the throne.

However, helping Meng Zhixiang to rebel against the Tang Dynasty and finding a way to make Gao Jixing attached, these two things can be done and must be done.

The question is who to let do it?

It's better to let Xu Zhihe do it.

Thinking of this, Xu Wen sighed. His own sons are not talents, but this adopted son is the dragon and phoenix among people. The eldest son, Xu Zhixun, still has two points of ability, but unfortunately died too early. Of the other sons, only Xu Zhixun is good, but unfortunately he started too late, and now it is difficult to compare with Xu Zhihe. However, in Xu Wen's opinion, as long as Xu Zhixun has more experience, he may not be able to take on great responsibilities.

I can't, I finally became the emperor, and then I really want to pass on the throne to Xu Zhihe, right?

Late at night, Xu Zhihe met guests in the study, and it was Song Qiqiu who would meet.

On a cold day, both of them were brocade hats and mink furs, sitting around the fireplace.

Strangely, however, there was no fire in the furnace, only a lot of charcoal ash.

The flickering candle flame made the scene a little more terrifying.

Xu Zhihe's body is stout, sitting there looks like a big horse golden knife and elegant, he doesn't look cowering because of the cold, Song Qiqiu is worse, Dayu wraps his body like a zongzi, looking at his demeanor, it is almost the same as a silkworm chrysalis, and only one face and one hand are exposed all over his body.

"Today, the prime minister met Yan Luo in the mansion." Song Qiqiu said.

He didn't say this with his mouth, but with his finger dipped in charcoal ash and written on the desk.

Xu Zhihe watched the font appear on the desk, and his first thought was not to think about the deep meaning of this sentence, but to praise in his heart: good words, good calligraphy!

Song Qiqiu has always been famous for his talents, seeing Xu Zhihe's admiration, he was very complacent, his strength was a little heavier, pointing to the dragon and snake, and after writing a sentence, he was very satisfied, the only thing that was not very comfortable was that his fingers were a little painful.

Xu Zhihe followed Song Qiqiu's words to recognize the past, and what was written on the back was: "The prime minister asked Luo Zhizhi for details, and Yan Keqiu said that Wu should fight for the world, and made a plan to attack the north and the south, take the Chu land, help Shu become independent, and make Jingnan annexed." ”

Xu Zhihe nodded, I don't know whether he agrees with Yan Keqiu's opinion, or just means that he knows, what he pays attention to is not what Yan Keqiu has offered, but how Xu Wen evaluates.

Song Qiqiu shook his head suddenly, Xu Zhihe already understood, Xu Wen didn't know if he could do this. Xu Wen didn't say anything, Xu Zhihe was a little undecided, he was looking at Song Qiqiu.

Song Qiqiu knew that this was Xu Zhihe asking him, in his opinion, how would Xu Wen choose.

Song Qiqiu smiled indifferently and continued to write on the table: "The top priority is not outside. ”

Xu Zhihe was clear-headed, so that he could also determine what he should do next.

He is Xu Wen's adopted son.

He is just Xu Wen's adopted son.

He is now in power, second only to Xu Wen, all thanks to Xu Wen, and once Xu Wen succeeds to the throne as emperor one day, who will Xu Wen pass the throne to in the future?

Once the power is in hand, there is no way to let it go.

Xu Zhihe erased Song Qiqiu's words on the table and rewrote three words: "Xu Zhixun." ”

Song Qiqiu wrote six words: "The prime minister is in poor health." ”

Xu Zhihe groaned slightly, looked at Song Qiqiu and nodded.