Luoyang, the former Luoyang Wangwangfu, today Zhao Wangyuan.

"Your Majesty, there is information from the Xuzhou Branch of the Shadow Division that Li Chi and Li Hao's father and son are dead, and all Li Chi's family has been wiped out, in addition, the Li clan and the people of the big wealthy clan who are implicated in it, a total of more than 3,000 people, these people have been executed together." The Shadow Division Commander of the Luoyang Branch reported to Zhao on the battle situation of the Zhao army in Xuzhou.

Zhao Xun said in a deep voice: "Who executed these people? Are we people? ”

"It's an order from Li Zhe and Li Fangzong!"

Zhao Xun nodded slightly and said, "Yes, these things that are not good for us must not be handled by our people." By the way, Emperor Yan to Youzhou City, what is abnormal? ”

"Back to the king, Emperor Yan went to Youzhou City, and was placed by the princess in the side courtyard close to the palace. In addition to my Shadow Division, which is secretly monitoring, the Security Division of the internal security system is also secretly monitoring, and so far, no anomalies have been found. ”

The Security Division, originally alongside the Shadow Division, the Eagle Eye Division, and the Inspectorate Division. But later Zhao Xun hid the Security Division and the Supervision Division separately and became a shadow in the shadows, like the Eagle Eye Division and the Shadow Division, directly under their own jurisdiction, and other people and other systems, not under each other's control, but supervising each other. He is responsible for internal counter-espionage, encircling internal security, and has full authority to deal with enemy spies, spies, and killers who enter the territory of Zhao State, and is also responsible for the security and supervision of some people.

Zhao Xun understands that it is normal to have no reaction now. After all, the surrendered Emperor Yan had just arrived in Youzhou City, and he hadn't given any instructions, so who would dare to approach him easily? Moreover, in Youzhou City, under the rule of Zhao State, there are very few people who still think of Emperor Yan.

"When you go back, you only need to monitor it, and don't disturb its life." Although he had to monitor some unstable factors, Zhao Xun had no intention of killing Emperor Yan. After all, Emperor Yan is just a child.

Subsequently, Zhao Xun learned about the intelligence of various parts of Zhao State, the two states of the Western Regions, the northern Turkic tribes and other places. On the whole, there are no major problems in the territory of Zhao State, and everything is moving forward smoothly. The two states of the Western Regions are also slowly integrating into the Great Zhao system. The local heroes, private people, and horse thieves who wandered all over the country were completely disappeared under the sweep of the Zhao army.

After the head of the Shadow Division branch reported the situation, Situ Liang also walked in from outside with a happy face.

"What? There is information from Xuzhou? Zhao Xun asked with a smile.

Situ Liang said: "Not only Xuzhou, but also Jingbei in the south, the situation has also begun to be favorable to us. ”

"General Li Huaiyuan of Xuzhou reported that now one-third of Xuzhou's territory has been controlled by us, but above these areas, the officials we sent have not yet arrived, and we need to be urged by the countries. The remaining regions, even if they have not fallen into the hands of my Great Zhao, will not be too resistant. ”

"Now, the Chu army in Xuzhou has been divided, and most of them have begun to contact General Li Huaiyuan and are willing to submit to our army. The remaining part is afraid that they are reluctant to give up their power and want to dominate the region. These people are naturally vulnerable to my Zhao Jun. In general, above the boundary of Xuzhou, there is no existence that can confront the nearly 100,000 troops under Li Huaiyuan. ”

"There is no movement in the Qi army?" Zhao Xun asked with a smile.

Situ Liang said: "No, it is estimated that the Qi army is also afraid of the might of our army and does not dare to act rashly." Of course, this is not to indicate whether there is anything on the surface, as for whether there is secretly, these are not clear. However, as long as the Qi army did not dispatch a large army on the surface, even if it did something in secret, it would not have an immeasurable impact on the affairs of Xuzhou. The occupation of Xuzhou by my Zhao State has become an unchangeable fact. ”

"After we occupied Xuzhou, it bordered the Qi army in Yangzhou, and now, Murong Cheng, the king of Qi, was in a mood that was definitely not good. The minister thought that from now on, Murong Cheng, the king of Qi, would not easily participate in the alliance between the southern princes, otherwise, he would be attacked by our Great Zhao at any time. At the very least, he will not intervene during the period when we attack Jingzhou and Xiyongzhou. Situ Liang said with a smile on his face.

Zhao Xun said in a deep voice: "Murong Cheng may not, but there are still capable people under his command, how can he not see the cold lips and teeth." However, after we take Xuzhou, we can put pressure on the Qi army from the north, and Murong Cheng's ability to take care of the affairs of other princes will be much smaller. ”

Situ Liang nodded and said, "What the king said is very true! After this Xuzhou is taken by us, we will be able to contain a big prince in the south, so that the southern princes cannot unite without scruples. After we attacked Dongyongzhou, they were able to quickly form a so-called alliance, not because Shu and Qi did not face our positive pressure. When they attacked, they didn't have to worry about their direct losses, so they sent troops to confront us. ”

"But now, Shu may still be able to send troops to support the king of Hanzhong and the king of Luoyang at any time, as in the past, but the state of Qi is afraid that it will no longer be without scruples. As long as we stationed a large army in Xuzhou, the king of Qi would never dare to easily transfer the Qi army to the west except that he did not want Yangzhou, the foundation of the Qi country. ”

"What about the land of Jingbei in the south? Are the coalition forces still gathering in Nanyang Province? My Da Zhao's army, but a lot of it has been withdrawn, and it is stationed in various places, and there is no intention of coercion. Could he still hold on to Jingzhou? Zhao Xun said with a smile, the confrontation of more than 100,000 troops may not be too fatal for Zhao Guo, but it is also a great increase in pressure. Otherwise, after the war in Xuzhou, Zhao Xun would have gathered in the southern part of Henan Province and withdrawn the troops that confronted the Jingbei coalition army and arranged to garrison the place. Even Zhao Xun himself is unwilling to let the 100,000 or so troops confront each other, can the princes of the two countries in Jingbei insist like this?

Situ Liang shook his head and said with a smile: "Most of the Jingbei coalition forces have also withdrawn, after all, even we don't want to settle for a stalemate, where can the King of Hanzhong and the King of Luoyang hold on?" If it weren't for the King of Qi and the King of Shu who were forced by the King of Hanzhong and the King of Luoyang to support a large amount of money and grain, I am afraid that the Jingbei coalition army would have collapsed long ago. ”

"Now, the kings of Hanzhong and Luoyang have transferred their armies from Jingbei to various places and will no longer continue to be stationed in Jingbei. In addition, the king of Hanzhong also began to shift the center of gravity to Xiyongzhou. Dongyongzhou is lost, and Xiyongzhou is not safe. In addition, the last time my big Zhao took advantage of the dispute between Zhao and Chu to raid Dongyongzhou, Situ Fei, the king of Hanzhong, couldn't help but worry, this time, will we take advantage of the dispute between Zhao and Chu to raid Xiyongzhou. ”

"That's fine, the army continues to stalemate, not only to the south is uncomfortable, but also not to us." Hearing about the situation in the south, Zhao Xun said with a little satisfaction.

After a pause, Situ Liang high-fived and said, "Eh, I almost forgot, General Li Huaiyuan asked the lord for help." ”

Zhao Xun was slightly stunned, and said puzzledly: "Li Huaiyuan...... Seek help? Didn't you say that there was no problem with the Battle of Xuzhou? Is there a need for other conveniences? ”

Situ nodded and said: "That's true, not only General Li Huaiyuan asked for help, but also the newly sent civil officials began to ask us for help, and in addition, the Zhongshu Province of Youzhou City began to make corresponding decisions, but these need your approval." ”

Zhao Xun's face turned straight, and he said in a deep voice: "Let's talk about it!" "Since it can make it a little unbearable for local officials and central officials, including the commander of the leading party, this is naturally not an ordinary thing.

Situ Liang told Zhao Xun about the current situation in Xuzhou in 1510, and also told the changes in Xuzhou in the past ten years. In the past ten years, the population of Xuzhou has plummeted by two percent, and the vast majority of them are young and strong. Since Li Chi's uprising, Xuzhou has no longer received heavy tax oppression from the imperial court, but the population has not only not increased, but has decreased sharply, which also shows that in the past ten years, Xuzhou has been frequent.

Zhao Xun frowned and said, "I didn't expect that the situation in Xuzhou was much more difficult than we expected. Let the province of Zhongshu pass the decree, Xuzhou, tax exemption for three years. In addition, let the household department send a batch of livestock to Xuzhou for the people of Xuzhou to use for farming. As for the measurement of fields and the distribution of fertile land in Xuzhou, the local government is responsible. By the way, Li Huaiyuan was also ordered to cooperate with the local government, and anyone who refused to cooperate with the local government's administration in various places and the gentry of the big families would be killed. Taking advantage of the chaos in Xuzhou, we can completely let the Chu army in Xuzhou act in front. ”

"In the midst of the chaos, it is normal to kill and injure a few wealthy families of large clans. Once a son of heaven and a courtier, now I am the ruler of Zhao State, and all the people in Xuzhou must act according to the rules of our Zhao State. By the way, I also want Li Huaiyuan to be careful of the Qi army in Yangzhou. Although the Qi army will not send troops to Xuzhou, it cannot underestimate the Qi army's small actions in Xuzhou. When necessary, you can make a trend of the army moving south from Xuzhou to give Murong Cheng a little pressure. ”

It is said that since the surrender of Emperor Yan, Murong Cheng has taken up the banner of Great Yan and has also gathered many Great Yan courtiers. No matter what he does, strength is the most important thing. ”

Situ Liang said disdainfully: "Old ministers of Dayan? Now people with a slightly better vision understand that it is the general trend for my Zhao country to sweep the world. Most of the people who were co-opted by Murong Cheng's banner were not highly talented, but they were reluctant to accept their official position and treatment when they were Dayan, and as soon as Murong Cheng's banner was established, they naturally went. In the past, Emperor Yan had no power in his hands, and he was surrounded by old ministers of Great Yan, so many of the Great Yan courtiers were not all attached to Emperor Yan. ”

"But now, the King of Qi has the right to soldiers, and he still has territory, and he is completely a prince, and the remaining old ministers of Dayan have run to Murong Cheng's command. If they were really for Dayan, they would not have wandered around at the beginning, and even many of them were idle at home, but came directly to Luoyang to work for Emperor Yan. ”

"Murong Cheng brought these old ministers of Great Yan over, although he was able to increase the strength of his command and keep himself from being overstretched, but these old ministers of Great Yan also had disputes with the officials of the Qi army, and it was inevitable to win the battle."

"Ignore this Qi army for the time being, and they don't dare to march to Xuzhou easily. In addition, it traded with the eastern Turkic tribes, exchanged grain for livestock and slaves, and in addition to livestock, slaves were also taken to Xuzhou, and began to build Xuzhou Chi Road, water conservancy facilities and other projects. The same is true of the land of the Western Regions, let our people begin to enter the Wusun country and plunder the population of the Wusun country as slaves to support the construction of Xuzhou. ”

"In addition, continue to increase the number of chambers of commerce that hold slave catchers, and let them go north to the western Turks, or west to the Wusun Kingdom, and plunder, whether it is population or property, it is something that can be plundered. As in the beginning, all slave hunters owned half of them went to the treasury and half of them belonged to the caravans. The army at the border can provide them with intelligence, as well as the necessary security protection. Zhao Xun continued to order.

Situ Liang frowned slightly, and said worriedly: "Your Majesty, if these slave hunting teams do not do good things with the force in their hands, or collude with the local government and border army, then it will be ......."

"This king will order the Shadow Division and the Eagle Eye Division to fully monitor their every move, but those who behave lawlessly will all be raided and wiped out by the three clans. This king gives them the opportunity to get rich, but if anyone does not know how to cherish it, it will only make them do the wrong thing. In addition, the border army is a rotation system, which is not to worry about, in addition, all officers and colonels, once they collude with these people and seek illegal benefits, they will also be killed and wiped out by the three tribes. ”

Seeing Zhao Xun say this, Situ Liang didn't continue to worry about anything, even the Shadow Division and the Eagle Eye Division were dispatched, and these people would not have much to do with the border army. In addition, the rotation of various armies and the rotation of officers will avoid some problems. In addition, within the Zhao State, the largest establishment of the army is five thousand people in one town, two bowls. The question of one person, one officer, will not have much impact on Zhao Guo at all.

Since then, after the Zhao army and the Chu army began to officially fight, the confrontation between the land of Dongyongzhou and the land of Jingbei in the south began to slow down. First, the Zhao army began to reduce the army that confronted the Jingbei coalition army in the southern part of Henan Province, and among the coalition forces, the king of Hanzhong and the king of Luoyang also reduced their troops after finding out that the Zhao army was really engaged in a war with the Chu army. After all, it is not easy for them to maintain the consumption of more than 100,000 troops. Even if there is some support from the King of Shu and the King of Qi, the vast majority of them still have to bear it themselves.

The king of Hanzhong was more worried about the safety of his Xiyongzhou, so after the Zhao army began to withdraw, he also began to withdraw after consulting with the king of Luoyang. After that, the king of Hanzhong went to the land of Chang'an and personally did not know about the defense affairs of Xiyongzhou.

For Zhao Jun, although Dongyongzhou is approaching the land of Jingbei, it has also begun to approach Jingnan and Yangzhou in the south of Yuzhou, but its east is Yuzhou and Yanzhou, and the north is Jizhou and Bingzhou. Therefore, in addition to some of the 100,000 troops stationed in Luoyang and its eastern Yongzhou prefectures, the rest were in the first meeting of Bingzhou, Yuzhou and Yanzhou, especially Yanzhou, which has now become the defensive front line of the Zhao army.

The land of Yuzhou is Yangzhou to the southwest and Jingzhou to the southeast, which can not only put pressure on the Qi army, but also threaten Jingzhou from the flank, and protect Dongyongzhou and Luoyang. Therefore, the garrison of Dongyongzhou was reduced, but it did not put the land of Dongyongzhou into danger.

"King Qiqi, the envoy of the king of Luoyang has come to Luoyang." On this day, Situ Liang reported to Zhao Xun a situation that made him feel a little weird.

"The messenger of the king of Luoyang? How could he send a messenger here? This king took his land of Dongyongzhou, and also took his lair, and even his family...... Is it because of his family? Zhao Xun said in surprise.

Situ Liang said with a smile: "The king's guess is right, the envoy of the king of Luoyang came here with this intention, and in addition, he also came to negotiate peace." ”

"So...... Well, then, go and see what they are doing. If we negotiate peace, we can promise them, after all, we have no intention of going south to Jingzhou now. At the very least, it will not be immediately south in the short term. Now Jingzhou in the south is already preparing to resist us, and the Shu army and the Qi army are not continuing to fight, so going south at this moment will inevitably cause a full-scale counterattack by the southern princes. Even if it is a Qi army, it will send an army against us. ”

Situ nodded and said, "The minister understands, what if the king of Luoyang asks us for their families?" ”

Zhao Xun said in a deep voice: "What do you think should be done?" ”

Situ Liang said in a deep voice: "This family of the King of Luoyang does not have much effect on us. If not, it will be returned to the king of Luoyang, and in this way, maybe it can also make the other princes and kings wonder if the king of Luoyang sent people to Luoyang this time to have other secret connections with us, so as to achieve the point of dividing them. In addition, this time sell a good one to the king of Luoyang, the current king of Luoyang is already the sunset, in the future we will go south to attack Jingzhou, maybe we can also say that he will surrender because of this. As the king said in the past, children are long, heroes are short of breath, and a prince who does not care about the loss of his territory and the loss of his troops and his family is often not a qualified prince. ”

Zhao Xun nodded and said, "What you said is reasonable, even if you can't make him surrender in the future, you won't let him resist to the death because we killed his family." Okay, then do as you say, and the messenger of the king of Luoyang will be handed over to you to be responsible. As for the negotiation of peace, there is no problem, this is what we want now, the land of Dongyongzhou, or to restore and develop as the priority, the army gathered here, it is not good for Dongyongzhou, plus we have already transferred half of the military strength to the west of Yuzhou, and the negotiation of peace is also beneficial to us. ”

Zhao Xun caught the Luoyang royal family who failed to escape from Luoyang, and did not embarrass them, originally left them in Luoyang, Zhao Xun almost never paid attention to them, and now, he also took this opportunity to let them go. No matter what the king of Luoyang said, he was a prince, and Zhao Xun was not willing to embarrass him above his family.

Situ Liang also followed Zhao Xun's intentions, and after a brief secret discussion with the envoy of the king of Luoyang, he returned the family of the king of Luoyang. Of course, Situ Liang also deliberately made the envoy of the King of Luoyang secretly discuss with the Zhao State, and received the news that the family members who were captured by Zhao Junsheng were brought back, and quietly spread to the ears of the King of Shu and the Qi army in the Jingbei coalition army. For Situ Liang, no matter whether this is useful or not, if you start laying it out first, maybe it will have an effect in the future?