Looking at the Xuzhou army envoy in front of him, that is, Li Chi's son, Li Yu, the young master of the Xuzhou army, perhaps, will become the master of the Xuzhou army in the future. made Zhao Xun can't help but think of another character with the same name as him, Li Yu, the queen of the Southern Tang Dynasty.

Li Yu, the queen of the Southern Tang Dynasty, as the monarch of a country, did not think about politics, indulged in beauty and poetry, and in the end, he became a poet, but he was captured and finally poisoned. And Li Yu in front of him, although he does not have the same prominent identity as the queen of the Southern Tang Dynasty, but as the young master of the Xuzhou army, he can be civil and martial, and he is not known how many times stronger than the queen of the Southern Tang Dynasty.

The Li Yu in front of him is not much older than Zhao Xun, at most he is twenty-eight or nineteen years old, and he is only two or three years older than Zhao Xun. Like Zhao Xun, he led the army to fight and was brave.

"Li Dudu, I don't know what you mean?" Seeing that the other party was speechless for a long time, silently in a daze, Li Yu frowned slightly, and then asked lightly.

Zhao Xun was stunned, sobered up, and said: "I understand what the young general means, to be honest, the governor of Pontus also wants to send out a large army." However, presumably the major general also knows how much our Shanyang army paid in order to appease and relieve the people last winter. In order to stabilize these prefectures, which were newly incorporated into the command of our Shanyang Army, large-scale tax reduction and exemption policies and land distribution policies were also carried out. In addition, our Shanyang Army wantonly recruited new recruits, and the combat effectiveness of the soldiers was extremely low. Therefore, in the short term, our Shanyang Army will not act lightly. Not to mention, the biggest constraint is the food and grass needed for the army's operations. ”

"Actually, before, the edict from Luoyang sent Situ Wen and the governor of Bendu to send troops. However, with no money or food in his hands, An dared to personally mobilize the army to go to war? As he spoke, Zhao Xun sighed lightly. The meaning expressed is all because of objective reasons, and the Shanyang army cannot be dispatched, not because our Shanyang army is unwilling to go out.

Li Yu scolded angrily in his heart, he knew that this was an excuse, and the other party clearly had no intention of going out to the army, or in other words, the other party was unwilling to act without actual benefits. But Li Yu and the Xuzhou army both hoped that the Shanyang army on the west side of Xuzhou could fall into the war, whether it was to share the pressure for themselves or not to let the Shanyang army develop and grow, it was what the Xuzhou army needed. But it is clear that the other party has understood his position, that is, he does not take the initiative. In this way, neither the Wuwei Army nor the Tang Army will make a move against the Shanyang Army first, and can only sit and watch the Shanyang Army gradually develop and grow.

The side of the couch does not allow others to snore! Li Yu was well aware of the trouble caused by the Shanyang Army. In the current situation of the Xuzhou Army, defeating the Tang Army and the Wuwei Army is the most basic goal. After that, he took advantage of the battle between the Qi army and the Yongwang army to expand himself. However, even if the Xuzhou army defeated the Tang army in the north, further north was the land of Qingzhou. The land of Qingzhou is not something that he can provoke by the Xuzhou army, it is the territory of the Xiaoguo army. If you start a war with the Xiaoguo army, it is better to take advantage of the battle between the Qi army and the Yongwang army to make a move against the Qi army.

The northern line of Xuzhou is not allowed to enter, and the eastern line is the sea area, so there are only the southern and western lines left. The southern line is Yangzhou, the jurisdiction of the Qi army, and the place that Murong Cheng values the most. Even if Murong Cheng and Situ Lei fought in the dark, but if his Xuzhou army wanted to make a move against the army and seek the land of Yangzhou in the south, it would be even more difficult, and maybe he would directly involve himself in the big war. In this way, it is not advisable for the southern front, like the northern front, to face a great enemy.

Since it is not advisable to go north, south and east, then in the end there is only one way left, and that is the western front. The western route is naturally Yanzhou and Yuzhou, speaking of which, the part of Yuzhou and Xuzhou is greater than the part of Yanzhou and Xuzhou, and the land of Yuzhou is a better target. However, the land of Yuzhou is the jurisdiction of the Qi army, and not only that, but it is also the forefront of the competition between the Qi army and the Yongwang army. He Xuzhou Army didn't want to be mixed in and become the first leftovers to be swept out.

As a result, this Yanzhou land has become the only best position for the Xuzhou army to expand outward, and it is also the most promising direction. Since the beginning of last year, the land of Yanzhou has been mixed with the Wuwei army of the Qi army, the Yanzhou government army of the land of Yanzhou, and the Tang army from the north to the south. The three parties competed, and then the Xuzhou army also mixed in and dug up a place from the land of Yanzhou.

However, as the Wuwei army became stronger and stronger, the situation changed after Situ Wen arrived. In the end, under the imperial court represented by Xu Jie and Situ Wen, the decision of the three armies to jointly conquer the Wuwei Army was reached. To be honest, neither Li Chi nor the current Li Yu himself is very interested in this decision, but in the face of the nominal owner of Yanzhou, the Yanzhou Mansion Army, the representative of the imperial court, Situ Lei's forces, and the Qi Army's forces, the Wuwei Army, the Xuzhou Army can only agree. Speaking of which, this decision, on the surface, is that the Yanzhou government army has obtained the lord of the land of Yanzhou. The Tang Army, after being driven from Qingzhou by the Xiaoguo Army, gained new development, and its own Xuzhou Army naturally could also gain a little territory. But in fact, Li Yu knew very well that it must be Situ Lei who would profit in the end, otherwise, would they come back and organize everyone to act together?

It's just that one of the changes appeared, the Shanyang Army rose, and the Tang Army retreated, not only defeated, but aimed its attack at itself. At this time, his Xuzhou fell into a situation of enemies on three sides. And the land of Yanzhou also appeared in the situation of Yanzhou army struggling to support, and then in order to resist the strength of the Wuwei army, the Yanzhou army not only let the Shanyang army join the battle, but also ceded the governance of Yanzhou. But as a result, no one expected that in the end, it was this inconspicuous Shanyang Army that got the greatest benefits, replacing Xu Jie and the Yanzhou Mansion Army, and becoming the master of the land of Yanzhou, which was many times stronger than the original Yanzhou Mansion Army.

As soon as he thought of this, Li Yu felt his heart skip a beat. He even wondered if the withdrawal of the Tang army and the attack on his northern Xuzhou were related to the Shanyang army and the Yanzhou governor in front of him, who was younger than himself. Li Yu knows very well that his current plan, the strategy of letting the other party relieve the pressure on his side and fall into the quagmire of war, has been seen through by the other party. Although the other party bluntly said how the Shanyang Army was insufficient, Li Yu really knew very well that if anyone underestimated them, there would be absolutely no good fruit to eat, and Xu Jie was the most obvious representative.

For Li Yu, the greatest threat posed by the Shanyang Army was not its powerful attack power, but its ability to suppress the expansion of territory and the revenge of hatred, and turn to local restoration. If the combat power is only strong, it can only show the courage of the butcher at the time of the other party, but it is not enough to be afraid. However, the other side is not only powerful in fighting, but also able to manage and govern the local area and win the support of the people. Then, such a force is the biggest threat to his Xuzhou army. And he also knows very well that no matter how big the threat of the other party is, the current Xuzhou army can't and dare not provoke the Shanyang army again, otherwise, among the surrounding forces, it can only be the Xuzhou army that will perish after Xu Jie. It can be said that the current Xuzhou Army has no allies around it at all, and independently resists the suppression of the surrounding Tang Army and the Qi Army.

After talking to Zhao Xun for a few words, and after saying that the other party would not agree, Li Yu understood that this master of the Shanyang Army was definitely not a person who was easy to deal with like Xu Jie. Although Xu Jie was shrewd, he was already fascinated by power. But the person in front of him was sober and tight, and he already knew his intentions. Therefore, Li Yu couldn't continue to persuade him, so he could only leave with a wry smile.

"Want to take advantage of me? Hum...... Have one's head in the clouds! After Li Yu left, Zhao Xun sneered.

March is coming, and spring is back to the earth. In other words, all the places in the world, except for the north of Youzhou, are basically no longer cold. In addition to the beginning of spring ploughing, the beginning of the people planting hope also means that war is coming again.

After the Shanyang Army said that it would not take action against the surrounding forces, neither the Tang Army in the north nor the Wuwei Army in the south believed it much. However, as the Shanyang army began to be busy with training and the governor of Yanzhou presided over spring ploughing matters in various places, and there was no preparation for a big war at all, the two forces relaxed a little. Of course, this does not mean that they are completely assured that in the border land, scouts and horse scouts are very active. In this regard, Zhao Xun naturally will not deal with it. Now, he really didn't prepare for a big fight.

To be honest, in order to kill Xu Jie and the Yanzhou Mansion Army and replace them, Zhao Xun and the Shanyang Army spent a lot. Especially in order to appease the people and relieve the victims of last winter, the logistics of the Shanyang Army were dragged half to death, and the Shanyang Mansion and Yanzhou Mansion were almost wiped out. If it weren't for the seizure and confiscation of a lot in Songzhou Mansion, Jiyin Mansion, and Luzhou Mansion, I am afraid that Zhao Xun would not immediately expand the quota of the three guards now, and he would not have expanded the county soldiers and inspection divisions in various places.

But no matter what, the current Shanyang Army really does not have enough logistics to support a long-term operation, and in addition, the expansion of various ministries and the formation of local governments will also take a certain amount of time. If the place is not stabilized, how dare Zhao Xun start a big war lightly. It's okay to win, but if you stalemate and lose, it will lead to unpredictable consequences. Zhao Xun didn't believe that Tang Jun and Xuzhou Jun were good people, but they were afraid that they would like to be planted in this.

Within a few months, the navy of the Xiaoguo Army, in the name of merchant ships and escort merchant ships, established harbors and villages on Qiongzhou Island in the eastern waters of Jiaozhou as a resting harbor for ships coming and going. In addition, in order to prevent harassment by pirates in the South China Sea, a convoy was created around Qiongzhou Island. Of course, these are the navies of the Xiaoguo Army, in Zhao Xun's meaning, they are all from the Third Fleet, they will attack the whole island and immigrate here, stabilize this place, and become the southern territory of the Xiaoguo Army.

Although this territory is only an enclave, with the navy on the side, it does not take the initiative to show its fangs, and develops slowly. Naturally, there is no problem. Of course, even if Murong Cheng found out, he couldn't say anything more at this moment, after all, he had no time to care about the issue of Qiongzhou Island now, let alone take it lightly against the people of the Xiaoguo Army.

In the past three months, the Qi army and the Yongwang army fought hard in the land of Jiaozhou for many days, and the two sides fought endlessly over the land of Jiaozhou, coupled with the scattered Yizhou, which made it difficult to decide the victory or defeat of the war. After each side paid the price of 50,000 or 60,000 casualties, the Qi army and the Yongwang army almost divided the land of Jiaozhou, and the two are now in a stalemate.

In addition to the situation in the land of Jiaozhou, the situation of the Wuwei army in the land of Yanzhou also made Murong Cheng angry. The Wuwei army in the land of Yanzhou was first defeated by the Shanyang army, which was not valued by them, and then suffered a crushing defeat at the hands of the Yanzhou army and the Xuzhou army. It can be said that the current armed guard army has lost six or seven percent of its combat strength. Compared to the beginning, I don't know where it went. Because of this, Murong Cheng's anger towards Xu Jie added another layer. It is also because of this that in the middle of February of the new year, not long after the heavy snow melted, a fierce attack was launched in the south of Xuzhou to retaliate for the Xuzhou army's participation in the war in Yanzhou, which ruined its own big event.

What made Murong Cheng resentful the most was that this inconspicuous Shanyang Army had now gained the greatest benefits and became the master of the land of Yanzhou. After learning the news a few years ago, Murong Cheng killed five intelligence officers in charge of Yanzhou in a row. In his opinion, if it weren't for the fact that these intelligence officers had misjudged the strength of the Shanyang Army, how could there be such a situation that was extremely unfavorable to his own side today?

However, Murong Cheng also knew that the Shanyang Army was now profitable, and it also made Situ Lei suffer, which made the anger in his heart calm down a little.

Now that he has obtained some details about the Shanyang Army, don't talk about others, even Murong Cheng has also begun to be vigilant against this Shanyang Army. Because most of the new policies implemented by the other party in the month war are the same as those of the Xiaoguo Army, but they are not as perfect as the Xiaoguo Army.

Of course, what worries and warns Murong Cheng is not that the Shanyang Army implements the policy of the Xiaoguo Army. It's about how far the Xiaoguo Army will grow and develop after implementing these policies. The princes of the world, there are not a few who follow the example of Xiaoguo Army to implement some new policies. But they all know what kind of benefits this new deal will bring to all parties.

Even if Murong Cheng himself, although he did not implement the policies of the Xiaoguo Army, he could also make a lot of profits through some policies, such as taxation and supervision. In addition, there is also the separation of the navy and the navy, which also makes him clearly see the strength of the Xiaoguo army. If this Shanyang Army also follows the new policy of the Xiaoguo Army, then sooner or later, this Shanyang Army will also develop and strengthen the city side. Well, it's not good for you. You must know that in addition to the southern part of Yanzhou, which is occupied by the Wuwei Army, there is also Yuzhou, which is adjacent to it, which is also under its jurisdiction.

Then, in this way, the existence of this Shanyang army is a great hidden danger. Especially now that he is fighting with Situ Lei, if this Shanyang army comes down from the north, it will bring huge trouble to himself.

Fortunately, the Wuwei Army has passed the meaning of the Shanyang Army back, at least, in the short term, this Shanyang Army will not attack the south. This also means that although this Shanyang Army accepted the canonization of the imperial court, that is, Situ Lei, it did not follow Situ Lei's wishes.

"As long as it's not with Situ Lei!" Murong Cheng said in a deep voice, at this moment, he had nothing to say to the others. Now he will not provoke an outsider to be an enemy again.

"Lord Wang, no matter what, this Shanyang Army must step up investigation, and it is a key target." Zhang Tu said in a deep voice, after seeing the situation of the Shanyang Army, this picture began to calm down.

"What do you mean? The king is also ready to win him over and let him attack Situ Lei's men from the north side. Murong Cheng said slowly.

Zhang Tu frowned, and said in a deep voice: "Lord Wang, with all due respect to his subordinates, this Shanyang Army must not be trusted, and it cannot be allowed to develop and grow anymore." His subordinates suspected that this Shanyang Army was a branch of the Xiaoguo Army. ”

"Tell me your reasons!" Murong Cheng said in a condensed voice, he couldn't turn a blind eye to what Zhang Tu said. If this Shanyang Army is really a Xiaoguo Army, then the consequences will be troublesome. No, it should be in trouble by now. If this Shanyang Army is a part of the Xiaoguo Army, then this means that when he and Situ Lei were fighting, a fierce tiger was eyeing behind him and was about to pounce.

"Lord Wang, this Shanyang Army is not only very close to the Xiaoguo Army in terms of policy, but also the same as the Xiaoguo Army in terms of army establishment. The only difference is that the Xiaoguo Army is called the Zhen Army, while the Shanyang Army is called the Wei Army. The preparation under it is exactly the same, without the slightest difference. The subordinates dared to assert that the relationship between this Shanyang Army and the Xiaoguo Army was extremely close. Even if it wasn't a part of the Sanyang Army, we couldn't afford not to guard against it. The previous governor of Yanzhou, Xu Jie, is the best example. Even Situ Lei, wasn't he being played by this Shanyang Army? How dare this Shanyang Army go against Situ Lei? Isn't it the Jizhou Xiaoguo Army on his side? So, we can use it, but we can't let it into our territory. Otherwise, the matter between Xu Jie and the Yanzhou Mansion Army may happen again. Zhang Tu said slowly.

Murong Cheng took a deep breath, nodded, and said, "What you said makes sense, from now on, we must not only pay more attention to this Shanyang army, but more importantly, find a way to pull it into the fight against Situ Lei." ”

Like Murong Cheng, Situ Wen's face was also gloomy at this moment, and he returned to Luoyang Yongwang's Mansion with a heavy heart to meet his uncle Situ Lei.

"How's it going? This Shanyang Army is not easy to deal with! Situ Lei asked, a little tired. In recent months, the battle with Murong Cheng has become more and more intense, so Situ Lei is also very busy. As for his nephew, he knew the result by looking at the look on her face.

Situ Wen said in a deep voice: "Uncle, things are as you expected, this Shanyang army master will be uncontrollable." ”

Situ Lei said lightly: "Control? can resist the invasion of the Tang army, can turn defeat into victory, can fight the Tang army is miserable, can replace Xu Jie and the Yanzhou army, you say, is such a character a fool? How can he not know your intentions? If you look at what he did in the place, he is famous. To tell the truth, this kind of person, it can be said that in the eyes of the people, he is a generation of masters. Can ordinary people do the restoration of production, the recruitment of scholars, the reduction of taxes, and the benevolence of the people? After he did this, even if my family was killed in Yanzhou in the future, it would be difficult to gain a firm foothold in the same place. Even if it is occupied, it will need the same policy as the Shanyang Army. However, if the opening is made in the land of Yanzhou, how should it be dealt with in other places? ”

Situ Wen said bitterly: "It's all because my nephew is too self-righteous, in order to control the situation in Yanzhou, in order to force Xu Jie to be obedient, and in order to allow my Yongwang army to march eastward to Shun Lì, I forced Xu Jie to agree to cede Yanzhou Mansion and let the Shanyang army go south to join the conquest army." Who would have thought that this Shanyang Army ......"

Situ Lei sighed and said, "I know what you want to say, but you only thought of squeezing Xu Jie tightly in the palm of your hand, but you ignored the threat that this Shanyang Army might bring. You ignore that this Shanyang Army once defeated the Tang Army, and you ignore the real combat power of the Shanyang Army. In fact, when we learned that he had a deal with the Xiaoguo Army, we should have killed him. Even if you didn't have that time, you should have thought of it when the Shanyang Army asked to transport grain and grass from the rear. If you can trade with the Xiaoguo Army, how can you not buy it from the relatively close Jizhou because of the heavy grain and grass, but have to transport it from the rear nearly thousands of miles away? ”

"Forget it, don't think about him, if you fail, you will fail, at least, this land of Yanzhou has not fallen into the hands of the Wuwei Army. As long as it doesn't fall into Murong Cheng's hands, it has no direct relationship with us in the overall situation. Find a way to provoke a fight between the Tang Army, the Wuwei Army and the Shanyang Army. The Xuzhou Army is ostensibly on our side, and it is fighting with the Qi Army, so let's let the Shanyang Army share the pressure for the Xuzhou Army as much as possible. ”

Situ Wen smiled bitterly: "Uncle, I have already told Li Feng, the commander of the Shanyang Army, about this. However, the other party just didn't get in the oil and salt, and there were a bunch of excuses, and they had no intention of participating in the war at all. According to his intentions, he must completely govern his territory before taking counter-offensive actions against the surrounding forces. In addition, Li Yu of Xuzhou Army also received such an answer from the other party. This Li Feng will only act after he asks me for money and prepares food and grass for his army. In my opinion, this is completely a deliberate evasion, and it also expresses our dissatisfaction with letting him act just by giving him an official position, but without any real benefits. ”

When Situ Lei heard this, he frowned and said, "Really? In this way, it would be a pity that the money that was invested in Xu Jie's body at the beginning. ”

Situ Wen bowed his head and said, "It's all my nephew's fault!" In order to support the battle between Xu Jie and the Wu Wei Army, Situ Lei threw out more than three million silver coins, but Xu Jie was gone, and the Yanzhou Mansion Army was gone, which meant that they threw the money out in vain.

Situ Lei shook his head and said, "It's okay, if you suffer some losses, you can also make some progress." In this way, give this Shanyang army 800,000 silver coins and let it move south to recover the lost territory. As long as the Wuwei Army can be defeated, there will definitely be a reward in the future, and as for money, it is naturally not a problem. Now, it is only right to kill Murong Cheng first. ”