On July 16, the commander of the water division came to Hu'er and Zhou Fashang to meet in Luokou.

Zhou Fashang didn't see Cui Junsu, he was very surprised, and after greeting him, he asked, "Where is the Duke of Gao Tang?" ”

"Gao Tang Gong stayed in Liyang." Laihu'er said quietly.

Zhou Fashang became more and more surprised, "There is a change in Liyang? Now that the navy has come here, and Yang Xuangan has not yet broken through the Tong Pass, the shape is already very unfavorable to it, in this situation, the king of Qi is not giving up, and he wants to enter Beijing to get involved in the imperial system? ”

Laihu'er shook his hand and smiled indifferently, "Qiaogong misunderstood. King Qi is far smarter than you think, and this time even Mou was impressed by him. ”

"Misunderstanding?" Zhou Fashang was thoughtful, "Did he give up?" Or did he have other plans? ”

Lai Hu'er stroked his beard and head, and his expression was stern, "It is indeed another plan, and it is an unexpected plan." ”

"I want to hear about it."

Lai Hu'er had no intention of concealing that he needed more help in pushing the Holy Lord and the Central Center to launch the Third Crusade, and Zhou Fashang's support was crucial, so he recounted in detail the process of his two meetings with the King of Qi after he arrived in Liyang.

"The King of Qi took the initiative to ask to go north to the border?" Zhou Fashang was very surprised, but it was reasonable to think about it carefully, but the previous appearance of King Qi in the government was too naïve, stupid and too willful, so that everyone overestimated his talent, and now it seems that after the ruthless blow of the political storm, the King of Qi has indeed grown up and matured, and has his own ideas, and at this stage, at the critical moment when the general situation at home and abroad is deteriorating day by day, and the crisis between the north and the south is becoming more and more severe, the maturity of the king of Qi is a good thing for the holy lord and the center, At least in the short term, for the sake of the interests of Middle-earth and Guozuo, everyone can temporarily abandon disputes and put aside contradictions, and work together to the outside world.

"What is Rong Gong's attitude?" Zhou Fashang asked. Since the King of Qi sued such secrets related to his own interests to Lai Hu'er, of course, he wanted to win the support and help of Lai Hu'er, but the identity of the King of Qi was too sensitive, the whirlpool of the battle for imperial domination was too terrifying, and the Jiangzuo people and the Holy Lord had an intimate relationship of honor and disgrace, so whether to intervene in this matter really needs to be weighed repeatedly, carefully considered, and cannot be rashly decided.

"Judging from the general trend of China and foreign countries and the development trend of North-South relations, a war between the North and the South is inevitable and even imminent." Lai'er said solemnly, "The interests of Middle-earth are paramount, and the interests of Guozuo are paramount, so we should support the king of Qi to go north to the border." I believe that the Lord can understand us and know that we have no selfish motives in making this decision. ”

Zhou Fashang smiled slightly, and said with a pun, "Duke Rong, before Duke Xu (Yuwenshu) went to Liyang, he should have heard King Qi's words. The king of Qi used this mutiny to control the Grand Canal, the purpose was very clear, that is, to threaten the Holy Lord with the Grand Canal and blackmail the interests he needed. But going north to the border is an impossible goal for the king of Qi. If the king of Qi repeats the mistakes of the Han king Yang Liang after going north to the border, or uses the safety of the northern Xinjiang to blackmail the holy lord and the center, the consequences will be unimaginable. Therefore, Yuwenshu not only did not give any promise to the King of Qi, but on the contrary, he was even more determined to eradicate the King of Qi, which is undoubtedly one thing. However, Rong Gong's attitude is diametrically opposed? And Rong Gong represents not only his own position, but also Jiang Zuo people behind Rong Gong, so Rong Gong can decisively make decisions diametrically opposite to Yuwenshu, there must be a heavy reason, and even ...... Did Rong Gong be caught by King Qi for something? ”

Lai Hu'er smiled, pointed at Zhou Fashang, and shook his head again and again, with a helpless expression that you old guy is really powerful, "I really owe King Qi a favor, what a big favor." ”

"Is it because of the people from Lai Yuan, Zhou Zhong, and Yu Rou?"

Laihu'er was surprised, "How do you know?" ”

Zhou Fashang sighed, "Not only does XX know, but he also knows that they are all hiding under the white-haired thief's tent now, and he also knows that the white-haired thief participated in this mutiny with an elite team. Rong Gong, things are far more complicated than you think? ”

Lai'er's face changed, and he asked in disbelief, "The white-haired thief participated in this mutiny?" Doesn't it mean that the white-haired thief has already crossed the river to the north and fled? Do you have conclusive evidence? If there is definite evidence, it will be very unfavorable to King Qi, although it is not yet true that he and Yang Xuangan are treacherous and rebel, but at least the Holy Lord and the Central Committee will feel his threat and will eradicate this threat as quickly as possible. The implication is that his support for King Qi to go north to the border has become a wrong decision, which will not only affect him personally, but also damage the interests of the Jiangzuo people.

"There is no definite evidence, but there is such a speculation, and there is absolute certainty about this speculation."

Laihu'er breathed a sigh of relief. It's good if there is no definite evidence, as long as there is no evidence, even if the king of Qi leaves some clues, he still has the opportunity to help him completely erase these "traces".

"I want to hear about it."

Zhou Fashang told the story. Many "traces" on the battlefield of Dongdu and Xingyang can confirm his speculation, and now there are two "evidences" of King Qi's active northward march to the border and King Qi's initiative to give up Liyang.

"The facts of the conspiracy exist, but we can't see them." Zhou Fashang finally said, "Before, I thought that King Qi was plotting to seize the imperial throne, but now it seems that King Qi still despises him. The king of Qi was very clear about his own strength and the crisis he was facing, so he used this mutiny to control Liyang, not arrogant at all to seize the imperial throne, but cautiously and carefully seek to go north to the border and seize a glimmer of life from despair. ”

Lai Hu'er nodded again and again, agreeing with Zhou Fashang's analysis, "Now that the truth is revealed, although King Qi has some advantages in terms of righteousness and reason, it is still too difficult and difficult to win a glimmer of life from the Holy Lord and the center. ”

Zhou Fashang shook his hand and said with a stern expression, "The more important question is, who is responsible for such a huge, subtle, and unbelievable plan?" This was certainly not something that King Qi came up with, his understanding of the situation in the north and south was very limited, and it was impossible for him to suddenly jump out of Middle-earth and find life from the general trend of the whole world; It is not something that Li Zixiong, Wei Fusi, Li Hun, Dong Chun, and Li Shanheng can fabricate, because they have either long left the central core or live in a corner of the Wei Mansion, and they know very little about the general trend between China and foreign countries and the latest progress and future trend of North-South relations. ”

Laihu'er's heartbeat suddenly stagnated, his eyes suddenly became fierce, and a strong sense of crisis came to his face, "Qiao Gong means ......"

"Of course you know what so-and-so means."

It's an incredible feeling to come to Hu'er. The amount of information behind this plan is too large, not only to know the past and present of the general trend of China and foreign countries, but also to have an accurate analysis and deduction of the future trend of the general trend of China and foreign countries, so this plan can only come from the core of the center, because only those political "bigwigs" can grasp such a huge amount of information. Among the central high-level leaders, there is only one person who is familiar with the general trend at home and abroad and has the ability to formulate such a huge and complex plan. It was according to his plan that the Holy Lord successfully passed through the Western Regions, not only dividing and weakening the Western Turks, subjugating the countries of the Western Regions, but also destroying Tuyuhun, expanding the territory of the actual control of Middle Earth to the distant hinterland of the Western Regions, and helping the Holy Lord to build immortal martial arts.

"Is this possible? Will he support King Qi? Lai Hu'er questioned.

"With his prudence, he will definitely not intervene in the battle for imperial dominance." Zhou Fashang said, "But the general trend between China and foreign countries and the deteriorating relations between the north and the south are directly related to him, and it is his responsibility, so he will naturally do his best, even at any cost." ”

"The general trend between China and foreign countries and the deterioration of North-South relations are directly related to his conservative stance." Lai Hu'er said angrily, "If it weren't for him accommodating the northern captives everywhere, if it weren't for his insistence on razing the northern captives, we could directly launch the northern expedition, kill into the desert, and take advantage of the heavy damage to the northern captives before they became stronger, why should we suffer the heavy setback of the eastern crusade?" The Eastern Crusade is fundamentally a wrong decision, and avoiding the truth is an opportunistic shortcut, and the result is self-inflicted. ”

Zhou Fashang resolutely raised his hand to stop Laihu'er's fierce words.

It is normal for the two sides to be in different political groups, and to belong to the military and political circles, which are already full of contradictions, and to have different or even diametrically opposed concepts, stands, and demands on national defense and foreign strategy, but as one of the supreme commanders of the Wei government, it is very inappropriate to directly attribute the blame to the mistakes in national defense strategy because of the two defeats in the Eastern Crusade.

"From a conservative standpoint...... Zhou Fashang glanced at Lai Hu'er and accentuated his tone, "As far as the current situation between the north and the south is concerned, it is only conservative, so he does have a reason why he needs King Qi to suppress the northern frontier." ”

Lai Hu'er agreed, "Indeed, the king of Qi can play a role in deterring the northern captives, and can effectively ease the tension between the north and the south, once our Weifu army wins three to five years of recovery time, even if the war between the north and the south breaks out, our Middle Earth has an absolute chance of victory." "Immediately came to Hu'er and thought of other things," he was not enthusiastic about the Second Eastern Crusade, and remembered that his opinion at that time was to delay the fight against Goguryeo for a few years, which shows that he was very pessimistic about the domestic situation, so after the Holy Lord made the decision of the Second Eastern Crusade, he began to make arrangements in advance to prevent accidents, and the King of Qi estimated that it was at that time that he became an important chess piece in his hands. By extension, he will inevitably oppose our Third Crusade. ”

"The Third Crusade must be launched to completely destroy Goguryeo." Zhou Fashang's attitude was very resolute, "So I think that King Qi is also a chess piece in our hands, and we can coerce King Qi to force him to make concessions." ”

"Good!" Laihu'er made the final decision, "According to Qiao Gong's plan, he will attack it back and forth." ”

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