Updated: 2013-06-22

"Refused? It seems that this Li Chi is still reluctant to give up his position! Hearing the return, Zhao Xun said with a smile, without the slightest sense of loss.

Yang Wangqing said in a deep voice: "I refused, but as far as we know, this Li Chi seems to be going to a truce with Murong Cheng." ”

Pei Yi sneered: "Truce? Li Chi's bitter battles with the Qi army in the past few years, what has Xuzhou become? If there is no more fighting, the people of Xuzhou will rise up. It seems that this Li Chi can't hold on, and hurriedly wants to stop fighting with Murong Cheng in order to restore the current predicament of the Chu army. ”

"Otherwise, take this opportunity to sweep the Chu army away. With the current strength of the Chu army, it will not last long at all. Coupled with the hatred between him and Murong Cheng, Li Chi had no possibility of surrendering Murong Cheng at all. It is surrounded by the territory of my Great Zhao, and there should be no accident when it is destroyed. ”

"No, it is easy to destroy the Chu army, but it will inevitably affect the princes who are 'warring' in Jingzhou. In any case, we are the greatest threat in the eyes of these princes. Once we make a move against the Chu army, we will definitely make them think that my Da Zhao is going back to the south. Yang Wangqing shook his head again and again.

"It's a pity......" Pei Yi sighed, he was in charge of government affairs, and he was not clear about the planning of military affairs.

Zhao Xun smiled: "It's indeed a pity, but even if the Chu army is given time, it is no threat to us." The current situation in Xuzhou is very bad, and the successive battles have also made the Chu army a little tired, and they are not optimistic about the future of the Chu army. Therefore, what we should win over is still to be pulled, and what should be divided and disintegrated will continue to be divided and disintegrated. ”

Regarding Li Chi's request for peace and truce, Murong was unwilling to agree. You must know that his Qi army began to go downhill in the opening of the raid on the Xuzhou army and was instead raided. At this time, although it had been fighting with the Chu army for more than a year, for the Qi army, the internal pressure it was now under was far less than that of the Chu army.

Although the Qi army lost half of its territory, it still occupied Yangzhou and Jiangzhou, and there was still half of the land in Jiaozhou. In addition, the territory occupied by the Qi army was more prosperous than that of the Chu army. Coupled with the foundation of the King of Qi in the south, the foundation of the Qi army is far from being comparable to the Chu army. If it weren't for the invasion of foreign enemies in both the south and west, the Qi army would have beaten the Chu army to the ground, and it would not have been occupied by the Chu army in the north of Yangzhou, and the vegetables would have been recovered in a year of war.

However, Murong Cheng couldn't help but consider Li Chi's threat. He Murong Cheng is not afraid of the Chu army, and the Qi army in the north of Yangzhou alone can defeat the Chu army that is now in trouble both inside and outside. However, the Zhao Kingdom in the north is still the 'yin' shadow that presses on his heart, and the heaviness makes it difficult for him to breathe.

For Zhao Xun, Murong Cheng definitely hated him. Zhao Xun rose and ended, but now he has become the lord of a country, and he Murong Cheng, the former royal family, has now become the target of the southern princes, compared to Zhao Xun, it is far inferior. Zhao Xun established the country and completely shattered the last bit of pride of the Dayan royal family, so that everyone in the world slowly ran away from the influence of Dayan, so that Murong Cheng's nobility no longer existed.

Of course, for Murong Cheng, the Qi army has changed from the former overlord of the southeast to what it is now, and Zhao Jun's "credit" is not small. At the beginning, the Qi army and the Yanzhou army raided the Xuzhou army, but they were sold by the Yanzhou army. And the Yanzhou Army, whose heart has already joined the Zhao State, Murong Cheng's hatred for the Yanzhou Army naturally has to be added to the Zhao Army.

But Murong Cheng knew very well that the current Qi army was by no means the opponent of Zhao Jun, and the two sides were far apart. The existence of the Chu army has become a barrier between himself and the Zhao army, which is actually beneficial to the Qi army. In addition, the northern prefectures and counties of Yangzhou have been recovered, and the eastern part of the Qi army has 'begotten' with the Shu army, Murong Cheng finally decided to agree to Li Chi's truce, and the two sides will be divided according to the current border, and they must not offend each other.

Since the war has been armistice, the Qi navy, which was wandering in the east of Xuzhou at that time, also retreated to Yangzhou. But at this moment, Murong Cheng found that his navy had lost control of the waters east of Yangzhou.

Originally, when Murong Cheng was still the overlord of the southeast and secretly controlled the southeastern states, the Qi army's outer river division controlled the entire southeast sea. The south is based on Qiongzhou Island and Guangzhou Prefecture, the central part is based on Liuqiu Island and the ports of Quanzhou and Fuzhou in Jiangzhou, Jian'an Prefecture, and Fuzhou Province, and in the north is based on Yuhang Dynasty, the mouth of the Yangtze River, to control the southeast sea.

The Southeast Outer River Sailor controls the Southeast Seas, and all ships sailing in the Southeast Sea must pay taxes to Murong Cheng's sailors. Therefore, Murong Cheng is also the richest among the princes. But now, the southern 'Jiao' state is in a 'chaotic' war, and Qiongzhou Island has long fallen into the hands of the Zhao army and has become the garrison of the Zhao army's naval fleet. Even, the richest place in the south, Guangzhou Mansion also fell into the hands of Zhao Jun.

And Liuqiu Island, which is located in the eastern sea of Jiangzhou, is now under the full control of the Zhao army. After waiting for the armistice between the Qi army and the Chu army, Murong Chengcai found that the population of Liuqiu Island had now been relocated by the Zhao army and navy of 300,000, and the entire Liuqiu Island, in addition to being renamed Taiwan Island by the Zhao army, had reached more than 500,000 Han people. Of course, there are still about 200,000 local natives left.

"Bastard!" Knowing the situation on the island of Taiwan, Murong Cheng could only scold. This Taiwan island is the result of his 'exchange' with Zhao Jun, and it can be regarded as his 'hand' to Zhao Xun, and he can't complain about others. However, at the thought of the countless taxes falling into the hands of Zhao Jun, Murong Cheng felt a pain in his heart.

However, even if the island of Taiwan is in his hands, the current Qi army can no longer collect as much tax as usual. Most of those who are now active in the eastern seas are merchants of the Northern Zhao State, flying the banner of the Zhao Army. The navy of the Qi army did not dare to offend easily.

And the 'trade' with the Zhao army, but also let the bitter battle, the increasingly bottoming out of the grain and grass and all kinds of urgently needed materials, have been replenished, at the very least, the next Jiangzhou defense battle and Jiangxia Mansion defense battle, the Qi army does not have to worry about the shortage of food and grass materials.

"Jiangzhou and Yangzhou are all in the hands of the king, and half of the 'Jiao' states are also in the hands of the king. Nowadays, it is still important to restore the livelihood of local people. As for Jiangzhou, let the Situ brothers fight themselves. Situ Lei, your son is far worse than you. After taking a look at the situation in the territory of the Qi army, Murong Cheng couldn't help frowning secretly. The current state of people's livelihood in the territory of the Qi army is too far worse than it was at the beginning.

Although the strength of the Qi army is not as good as before, he is stronger than the heir of the Yongjun army, the king of Shu, that is, he has a stable foundation and many talents. The land south of the Yangtze River was originally a prosperous place, and it was the place where there were the most many readers. Although a large number of scholars have gone north, there are still many talents under the Qi army.

After the armistice, Murong Cheng, who found that the people's livelihood was withering and his finances were exhausted, immediately began to restore the people's livelihood, rectify the training of soldiers, check the detailed work of other princes, and began to shift the center of gravity to the west.

Because of the rumors in the territory of the Shu army, Situ Che went north with all his strength and began to operate against the land of Jingzhou. Also because of the rumors, which involved Situ Hao and Situ Fei, the King of Shu was determined to take Jiangling Mansion first, and fight with Situ Hao and Situ Fei, so that the civil and military people who split out of the former Yongjun Army knew that he Murong Cheng was the most powerful, and he was also the heir selected by the former King Yong, not Situ Hao or Situ Fei.

Although Situ Hao and Situ Fei refused to recognize the orthodoxy of Situ Che's ascendancy, although Situ Hao and Situ Fei had already separated themselves and stood on their own, they even had the idea of eliminating Situ Che. However, definitely not now.

Although eighty percent of Jingzhou was taken, the price paid by the Han army and the Luo army was also not small. Although grain and grass materials can be obtained from Jingzhou, they also have to pay a lot of money and grain to pacify the local area. And after the war, the loss of soldiers made the king of Luoyang and the king of Hanzhong smack their lips in distress. Fortunately, there are also many soldiers in Jingzhou, as long as they are reorganized and trained, they can still make up for the losses of the two.

However, when the army of Shu came north, the situation was different. Situ Hao and Situ Fei kept cursing Situ Che while stepping up the repair of the city wall, and it was best to prepare for resistance.

As soon as the two sides 'engaged', the armies of the kings of Hanzhong and Luoyang fell to the upper hand. It's not that the armies of the two can't fight each other, but that the armies of the two have been fighting hard in Jingzhou for several months, and now half of the army is veterans, half of them have been reorganized, and they have not yet been trained. As a result, as soon as the two sides 'fought' to fight, the coalition forces began to retreat one after another.

The king of Shu was angry and attacked him, and the king of Luoyang and the king of Hanzhong passively faced the battle. The army sent by the king of Luoyang and the king of Hanzhong met the army of the king of Shu on the banks of the Youjiang River. The two sides fought head-on, and under the death order of the king of Shu, the Shu army won several consecutive battles. The coalition army was defeated, defeated four times, and after losing more than 30,000 soldiers, it retreated to the city of Xiaoling.

Not only are the 'warring' sides concerned about the development of the war, but also Zhao Xun and others in the north are always paying attention to the development of the war, and they want to see how far the battle between the Situ brothers lasts.

"Lord, this King of Luoyang and the King of Hanzhong have just taken Jingzhou, and they are not the opponents of the Shu army. It's just that the minister doesn't understand, since the strength is not as good as the other party, why don't the coalition forces defend the city? Wouldn't it be worse to take the initiative to face it? After Pei Yi and the others saw the war situation in the south, they asked with some puzzlement.

Zhao Xun said in a condensed voice: "Situ Hao and Situ Fei don't know how ambitious Situ Che is for Jingzhou, so they want to send troops to try it head-on. ”

"Secondly, although it seems easy to defend the city, it is actually passively beaten, which will make the soldiers defending the city psychologically weaker than the Shu army. It would have been nice if the defenders were all coalition troops, but there were also soldiers who had just been assembled, and the coalition forces wanted to boost the morale of the soldiers. Of course, the most important thing is that because Tang Xian originally defended Wuling City to confront the Shu army, the materials for defending the city in each city were exhausted. ”

"That's why this coalition army let the army meet the battle, and the rear continued to pass through the water division to transport supplies in the city. Otherwise, I am afraid that the Shu army will rush directly to the city of Xiaoling and go down in a battle. However, although the materials in the city are now available, the morale is almost lost in the head-to-head confrontation. Now, it's time for Situ Hao and Situ Fei to have a headache. ”

Zhao Xun then said with a smile: "Judging from the current situation, the Privy Council's strategy has succeeded, and this Situ Che has been stirred up by the rumors we have spread, and he is determined to defeat his two elder brothers, take Jingzhou, and stabilize his reputation and status. ”

Situ Hao and Situ Fei also understood now that this Situ Che was determined to open the knife in Jingzhou. The two of them scolded angrily, they worked hard to destroy the Tang State and took Jingzhou from the Tang army, but now your Shu army wants to reap the benefits, where will the two of them be willing.

"The situation is not good, or we will 'pump' the 'elite' troops stationed in the north." Looking at the military intelligence report in his hand, Situ Fei's brows shrunk.

"No!" After Situ Fei finished speaking, Lin Shucheng under his command and Wang Dao under Situ Hao shook their heads and said.

"Oh? Why? Now the troops in Jingzhou are okay to pacify the place, and I am afraid that the counterattack will ......" Situ Fei frowned and said, there are not a few coalition troops in Jingzhou, but they have been fighting hard for several months, and many of them are injured, and the rest have also been settled in the place by the two kings and taken over the place. And now the large armies stationed on the front line and 'engaged' with the Shu army are partly their respective armies, and partly they are surrendered soldiers.

"Although we have taken Jingzhou now, whether it is Chang'an, Hanzhong or Luoyang, they are all our foundations. Now, the north is connected to the Zhao State, and we can't afford not to guard against it. Once the northern frontier army goes south, then our base will be ......."

Situ Fei said in a deep voice: "Having said that, as far as we know, there are not many garrisons of the Zhao army in the land from our border, and there is no sign of the transportation of grain and grass materials mobilized by the army. Now, the Zhao army seems to be preparing to continue the war on the Western Front, and with its busy state-building affairs, it should not go south. ”

"This king knows that it is dangerous to mobilize the northern garrison, but if Jingzhou is lost, then won't our hard work for the rest of the year be in vain? Without Jingzhou, the King of Shu has gone further, where will we have a way out in the future? Big brother, what do you see? As he spoke, Situ Fei looked at Situ Hao.

In fact, Situ Hao's heart was also angry at the moment, and it was not easy for him to destroy the Tang army with Situ Fei and take the land of Jingzhou. I didn't want to fight, but now I'm being hit on the 'door' again. Previously, 80,000 allied troops were sent to the Shu army in the southern region of Jiangling Province, but they didn't want to fight the Shu army, and the army was as many as 1450,000 this time.

Of course, this is not because the coalition forces are weaker than the other side. Instead, Situ Hao and Situ Fei wanted to settle down and send many prisoners to the front line to fight. But there is one problem that is obvious, that is, the Shu army is very fierce. Situ Fei's proposal, Situ Hao also had some ideas, this Jingzhou land was originally something that the two of them could expand outward in order to get rid of the straight-line pressure of the Zhao army, and it must not be occupied by the Shu army.

Lin Shucheng commented on Situ Hao's face, and knew that Situ Hao wanted to agree, so he hurriedly said: "The two kings, you must not 'draw' the garrison from the northern front. Zhao Jun did not move, but it does not mean that Zhao Jun will not go south. If there is a gap in our rear and the Zhao army suddenly strikes out, the northern land will inevitably be undefensible. If Jingzhou gets it, but the northern land is lost, what difference is this from the original situation? In contrast, now, the northern land is more important to us than this Jingzhou, which has just been won, the place is unstable, the people's livelihood is withering, and it will take time to start providing us with a role, but the north is our current foundation, and we must not lose it. We must not pin our hopes of preserving the place on Zhao Jun's inaction and our speculation. ”

On the side, Situ Hao's important minister Wang Dao also nodded urgently.

Situ Fei said in a condensed voice: "What you said, this king also understands, but now that the situation in Jingzhou is in crisis, and the situation from Xiaoling City, we can't hold on for long, if it weren't for the capture of the remnants of the Tang Army's sailors, relying on the sailors to assist the defenders of Xiaoling City to defend the city, I'm afraid that this Xiaoling City would have been lost long ago." You should all know that if Xiaoling City is lost, then the Shu army should drive straight into Jiangling City and appear under Jiangling City. ”

"The north is really important, but so is Jingzhou. Otherwise, wouldn't it be that we were busy for a year, and finally contributed all of them to the Shu army? ”

Lin Shucheng said in a deep voice: "Your Majesty, the north is important and cannot be lost. The same is true of Jingzhou, the minister's intention is not to give Jingzhou away. ”

"Oh? Tell us what you think? Situ Hao said urgently. Although Lin Shucheng is not his subordinate, Situ Hao also knows Lin Shucheng's ability. Originally, he was supposed to leave Ling Xiao, but unfortunately Ling Xiao found out that the situation in Luoyang was wrong, and then disappeared. For a talent like Lin Shucheng, he is still very hungry.

Lin Shucheng said: "Two kings, we have an alliance with Murong Cheng. ”

"The Covenant? Murong Cheng? Immediately, Situ Hao immediately understood, and laughed, "Yes, we made an agreement with Murong Cheng for the possible invasion of the Shu army in the region. Now that Situ Che is attacking us, the Qi army of Jiangxia Mansion should support us. ”

"Having said that, will Murong Cheng come to support?"

Lin Shucheng said in a condensed voice: "Come back, because he doesn't come, this Jingzhou is the king of Shu's, and if he loses his trust in us, he Murong Cheng has no allies." By then, he would be on all sides. If Jingzhou is occupied by the Shu army, can his Jiangzhou still be kept? ”

"In addition, news came from the southeast that the Qi army and the Chu army had ceased fighting, and the current Chu army had also begun to shift its center of gravity to the west. Thinking about it, Murong Cheng very much hoped to defeat the Shu army, so as to stabilize his current territory, and even go south to recover the 'Jiao' state. It's just ......" said, Lin Shucheng hesitated a little.

"But what? But it doesn't hurt to say it! Seeing that Lin Shucheng was still hesitant, Situ Fei urged.

Lin Shucheng smiled bitterly: "If we do this, then we will be completely hostile to the Shu army." Moreover, Murong Cheng's power is great, which is equivalent to the success of the first king began to decline. ”

As soon as these words came out, several people on the agenda were stunned. The meaning of Lin Shucheng's words is very simple, that is, the coalition army and Murong Cheng join forces, which means that they are isolated from the Yongjun, and no one in the Shu army will recognize that the two are part of the Yongjun. You must know that the Shu army was the main force of the Yong army's southern expedition to the Qi army, and they defeated the 'Jiao' Prefecture, Jiangzhou and other places. Now that they are joining forces with Murong Cheng, it is equivalent to joining forces with the enemy to eliminate the exploits of the previous king.