Updated: 2013-06-21

Knowing that the Situ brothers in the south had started a big war, Zhao Xun couldn't help but be secretly happy. This means that it will be easier for Da Zhao to conquer the south in the future.

"Let the ministries speed up the restructuring of the local government, and in addition, send an order to the Metropolitan Procuratorate to increase the intensity of censorship, and don't scruple for other reasons, this king will personally back up for you." Zhao Xun thought of the problem on the local official, and couldn't help but order in a cold voice.

When the new round of Jingzhou War in the south started again, many Zhao officials suggested that the army should go south to conquer. Although Zhao Guo still has operations in the Western Regions at the moment, the soldiers and horses stationed in the Western Regions have been able to solve the remaining problems. Moreover, the battle in the Western Regions can be temporarily suspended and the Central Plains can be leveled first.

"Situ Liang, I am the Great Zhao Liguo, the Western Regions are subject to the three countries into the court, can there be any changes in the Western Regions?" After some deliberation by the Privy Council, the first west or the first south, each has its own rhetoric, and Zhao Xun also wants to know the recent situation in the Western Regions.

Situ Liang, who had just returned from reporting from the Western Regions, said with a smile: "My Great Zhao has nearly 100,000 troops in the Western Regions, and above the place, the authority is also in the hands of my Great Zhao. In last year's war, my Great Zhao swept through the countries of the Western Regions, which has made all the people in the Western Regions dare not disobey. Although the king invited the three major countries to Youzhou City, there were not many princes and courtiers of the Western Regions who were still loyal to the old lord in the past. Situ Liang's words are true, after occupying the northern part of the Western Regions in the past, the courtiers of various countries were mostly purged by Da Zhao.

And the founding of the king is even more celebrated by the whole country. Moreover, in the course of four or five months, there were indeed a few people who were dissatisfied at first because the king had not returned for a long time, but the vast majority did not care. After some investigation and removal of these hidden dangers, now the northern part of the Western Regions is still my Great Zhao Territory. ”

Zhao Xun nodded with satisfaction: "So good!" All of you in the Western Regions are meritorious heroes. ”

"By the way, you know the situation in the Privy Council. At present, there are two opinions from top to bottom of the DPRK, one is to march west first and completely pacify the land of the Western Regions. During this period, let the southern princes continue to 'melee' wars. Wait for the Western Regions to be pacified, and then turn back to clean up the southern princes. Another opinion is to march south first, because at the moment the southern princes are fighting against each other, and we can take advantage of this. On the one hand, after the 'melee' of the southern princes decreased, a solid alliance was finally formed. You, Zhang Yuanjing, Wei Zilin and others are all in the Western Regions, do you have a lesson view on my next actions of Da Zhao? ”

Situ Liang groaned for a moment, and said in a deep voice: "Back to the lord, the minister's opinion is to continue our original plan, first march west, and go south." ”

"Oh? First West and then South? Let's talk about it! "The strategy set by Zhao Xun and others at the beginning was to first the border, then the Central Plains, first the external troubles, and then the princes. When the princes of the Central Plains were consumed by internal fighting, the Zhao army used the strength that needed internal consumption on the external troubles outside the border, first weak and then strong, and gradually advanced. In this way, it is equal to the princes, although it is consumed, but the external troubles are eliminated, and the prestige is greatly increased.

"Great King, half of the land in the Western Regions has been pacified, and it can continue to complete the southern expedition, and the main generals of our army in the west are nearly 100,000, and the materials consumed by the army are not a small amount. At this moment, it is indeed not suitable to open up and show on the southern front. Especially now that the southern princes have not yet completely fought a war, the king of Hanzhong, the king of Luoyang and the king of Shu have not yet become real mortal enemies. ”

"It seems that now the king of Hanzhong and the king of Luoyang are contained in the land of Jingzhou, and the land of Yongzhou can be taken by us. But as soon as we move at this moment, the Situ brothers will definitely not continue the civil war, and will directly join forces against us. Even, the king of Luoyang and the king of Hanzhong will be directly incorporated into the Shu army. After all, if they 'engage' with us, they will surely lose. And at this critical moment, if you fall to the Shu army, you can save your 'life', and even gain a lot of prestige among the Shu army, and gain authority. ”

"Whether it is Situ Hao or Situ Fei, they have their own soldiers and horses in their hands, and they also have a lot of prestige in the Shu army. If we want to merge with the Shu army when our army is approaching, even if the king of Shu is unwilling, the courtiers under his command will agree with it. After all, they understand how powerful my Da Zhao is, and after the merger, their losses are not big. Even because of the great increase in power, there is more hope. ”

Zhao Xun nodded, and said with a heavy face: "What you say is reasonable, and the meaning of this king is also the same." In addition, my big Zhao Xinli, the new system in various places has not been perfected, and at this moment, stability should be the priority. ”

Situ Liang said: "The king, the minister has discussed the current situation with Wei Zilin, Lord Wei, Zhang Yuanjing, Zhang and others, although we can't go south at this moment, but we can incinerate and disintegrate its interior, and win over the civil and military courtiers within the princes." After all, among the princes of the world now, my Da Zhao already occupies most of the world. There are certainly not a few who can see the general trend clearly. ”

"Even, we are now beginning to approach the princes and persuade them. Li Chi, the king of Chu, who occupies Xuzhou, has been attacking to the south now, but also because of its four sides, one side faces the sea, two sides are my Great Zhao, and one side is the Qi army in the south. Therefore, it desperately rushed southward. For two consecutive years, the Chu army and the Qi army have never stopped fighting hard. ”

"At this moment, the Chu army is already exhausted. Unlike the Qi army, it has room for maneuver, deep roots and money accumulated in the past. Since then, after the eastern sea was sealed by the Qi army's navy, all the property of the Chu army was no longer outside, especially Yizhou in the northeast sea, which could no longer provide support for the Chu army. ”

"The Chu army is now in short supply of food, grass and materials, armor and equipment, and the soldiers are also lacking in their former courage because of the continuous hard fighting. We can send someone to speak to the Chu army and accept it. ”

Zhao Xun nodded and said with a smile: "Yes, what you said is reasonable." The Chu army is really in a bad situation now, and even the money to 'trade' with us and buy grain and grass from us can't be scraped together. However, this King of Chu is arrogant, and it is not easy to convince him. ”

Situ Liang said: "It's not easy, it doesn't mean it's impossible. In the past, the king of Qi marched north against the Yongjun army and 'wanted' to raid the Xuzhou army, but was counterattacked by the Xuzhou army, which led the princes of the world to attack it together. It is also because of this that the strong Qi army began to gradually weaken and ended up where it is now. ”

"Murong Cheng's hatred for Li Chi is definitely not small, and Li Chi has no possibility of giving in to Murong Cheng. Since there is no way out, if we give him one, it is not impossible for him to surrender to us. ”

Zhao Xun laughed and said, "That's right, this king has already sent someone to Xuzhou to find a way to persuade Li Chi." Even if Li Chi is unwilling to surrender, not everyone else is willing to live and die with him. ”

"In addition, you return to the Western Regions this time, so that all aspects are ready, this time this king will do his best in one battle, and this land in the Western Regions should also be pacified."

Pengcheng, also known as Zhuolu, is the seat of Xuzhou. Of course, it is also the center of power of the Chu army and the base camp of the king of Chu.

"Alas...... In the past, Li Fangzong couldn't help but sigh ...... looking at the empty '' and 'sloppy' streets, the numb people with their faces and the soldiers coming and going.

Li Fangzong, who was ordered to come, rode a horse to the 'gate' of the Chu Palace, jumped off the horse and was just about to enter, when he saw a person rushing behind him.

"Shizi, what are you? Aren't you supervising the transportation of food and grass for the army on the front line? How to ......"

"Ah, Li Changshi! I came by order, and so did Changshi? "The person who came in a hurry was none other than Li Hao, the prince of Chu and the eldest son of Li Chi.

Li Hao is twenty-six this year, born with white teeth and red lips, handsome and chic, quite like his father Li Chi when he was young. And Li Hao is gentle but not domineering, everyone who sees Li Hao will always have an illusion: this is Li Chi when he was young, and Li Chi was the same in the past, treating people gently and domineeringly.

Li Fangzong nodded and said with a smile: "That's true, His Majesty was also in the south to supervise the local finance and taxation, and he was ordered by the king to come here, and I don't know what is important." By the way, Shizi, how is the battle on the front? ”

Hearing this, Li Hao's face froze, and then he smiled bitterly: "How?" What else? My father didn't want to stop there, and Qi Jun didn't want my Chu Jun to take the next step, and the two sides fought hard. The soldiers were already exhausted, and the food and grass materials began to gradually become nervous, and the situation was ...... The situation is not optimistic! ”

Li Fangzong couldn't help but feel bitter when he heard this, the Xuzhou Army in the past was also the overlord of one side, resisted the encirclement and suppression of the imperial court guards, and also fought against the Qi army with the Yanzhou Army. But now, because the king of Chu wanted to go south, expand his territory, prepare for the attack of the Zhao army, and fight hard with the Qi army, the situation was very bad.

"Is this fate?" Li Fangzong couldn't help but think of the Yanzhou army, which was not as good as his own at the beginning. At the beginning, Li Feng rose to Yanzhou, Li Fangzong saw all the facts with his own eyes, Li Feng overthrew the former governor of Yanzhou step by step, replaced him, and returned to Dazhao. But the Xuzhou Army, since ceding the land and standing on its own, has not been able to take a step outward.

Li Fangzong and Li Hao, who were silent, went to the palace together, only to see the pedestrians in the palace hurrying, looking like a busy scene, and then the two of them were introduced into the study by the palace 'attendants'.

Li Fangzong found that in the study, several important ministers of the Chu army were all listed. Among them were his brothers Li Fanglin and Li Fangyu, as well as generals Li Han and Li Quan, who were in the north and west. Outside the 'door', there are several 'attendants' guarding them.

When Li Fangzong saw that the palace guards were on guard at the 'door' of the study, he knew that this matter would definitely not be small. Immediately entered the 'door' and bowed, and said softly: "Minister Li Fangzong, meet the king." ”

Li Chi, who has just arrived in his forties, stands to reason that he has just reached the peak of his life. But at this moment, Li Chi seems to have begun to look old. Right now, he's rubbing his eyebrows and doesn't know what he's thinking.

Hearing Li Fangzong and Li Hao's instructions, Li Chi immediately came back to his senses, and squeezed out a slight smile on his 'gloomy' face, but it looked like the smile was very unnatural.

It's no wonder that Li Chi's life has not been easy in recent years. To the north and west of Xuzhou, they have become the territory of Da Zhao, to the south is the Qi army, and to the east, there is a sea nearby. Especially in the past two years, the sea in the east has been blocked by the navy of the Qi army, and the Xuzhou army, which originally had a 'trade' with Yizhou, has now cut off contact. In the south, it fought to the death with the Qi army, and it was difficult to advance an inch.

The successive years of war have made the foundation of the Xuzhou Army thinner and thinner. There are fewer and fewer young people in the territory, and now the people of Xuzhou have begun to be unable to supply the needs of the army. Coupled with the proximity to Zhao, Zhao's policy is very good for the people, if it weren't for the border blockade, I'm afraid that the people in Xuzhou would run out.

Because he was worried about Zhao Guo and had to 'worry' about the big war with the Qi army, coupled with the increasingly embarrassing people's livelihood, at the age of forty, his temples had begun to turn pale, and his face looked old.

"Oh, they're all here, do it, this king said that you were summoned, and there is also a big matter to discuss."

After a little silence, Li Chi continued, "Yesterday, Zhao Jun's envoy came!" ”

"Zhao Jun's envoy? What are they coming to do? Does it have something to do with our bilateral trade? Li Chi said about me, and many people began to ask. Now a large part of the materials needed by the Zhao army are from the Zhao army. If something went wrong with Zhao Jun, it would not be a good thing for Chu Jun.

Li Chi shook his head lightly and said in a muffled voice: "It's not about the trade between the two sides, but ...... It was Da Zhao who came to make a secret envoy and came to say that he had surrendered to the king. ”

"What?" At the moment, everyone in the study was stunned.

Li Chi said word by word: "The State of Zhao sent a secret envoy to come and come to the king, and asked me to surrender the Chu army and return to the Great Zhao." ”

"No, how can my Chu army surrender to Da Zhao? Your Majesty, even if we die in battle, we can't surrender! This Da Zhao is clearly taking advantage of the fire to rob. Li Quan, the general of the northern town guard, immediately said angrily, "I have two provinces in the north and one province in the west, all of which have been usurped by the Zhao army, how can we surrender to the enemy lightly?" ”

The others were silent, after all, they didn't know what Li Chi meant, and they didn't want to speak casually.

"The envoy of the Zhao army did not 'force' us, nor did he set a time limit, let alone make us have to surrender. But he told the king about the current situation in the territory of my Chu army, which made it difficult for the king to decide. ”

"In the past, I, Li Chi, raised troops from Xuzhou to stand on my own, and now, I still occupy most of Xuzhou, and I have not been able to make the slightest advance. In the past, our Xuzhou army had more than 100,000 'elite' soldiers, but now, there are still less than 50,000 'elite' soldiers, and the rest of the people are all new soldiers. In the past, Pengcheng was a prosperous place in the eastern region, but now it is ......"

"Your Majesty, if you say so, isn't Murong Cheng, the king of Qi, even worse? In the past, the king of Qi sat on several states in the southeast, but now there are only two states, and in the past he sat on 500,000 soldiers, but now, there are less than half. In the past, its wealth was the best in the world, but now, it has fallen into the hands of Zhao Jun. The king, this is all a ploy of the envoys of the Zhao State, who wants to weaken the king's brave fighting spirit once and for all. Li Fangyu immediately said in a shocking voice.

"Yes...... Now, the offensive of the Zhao army in the south is becoming more and more fierce, and our Chu army is afraid that it will be difficult to continue. We simply can't supply the food and grass needed by the army for long. And the trade with Zhao Jun, we have no money to continue. "No matter what, you must not give up lightly, your majesty, the Qi army insists on fighting, then fight, isn't he worried about fighting us too hard, resulting in his own loss of troops and difficulty in dealing with the next situation?"

Suddenly, everyone admonished in unison.

"Fang Zong, you are the most cautious and intelligent person among all the people here, what do you think?" Seeing that Li Fangzong was speechless, silent and thoughtful, Li Chi asked in a deep voice.

Hearing Li Chi say this, Li Fangzong couldn't help but sigh in his heart. Li Chi started by making trouble by coastal fishermen in the past, and his vision was not wide, and he was the first person to challenge the Dayan Dynasty. Therefore, among the Chu army, there are not many people with outstanding intelligence. Moreover, most of the civil and military generals in the Chu army were from the Li family. Li Fangzong is very clear about his ability, and there is absolutely nothing outstanding, but in the Chu army, he is already a more capable person among civilian officials.

"I think that there is no need to pay attention to Zhao Guo now. What the envoy of Zhao said was just to make us surrender so that they could take Xuzhou without blood. From Li Chi's eyes, Li Fangzong could see that Li Chi was reluctant to give up the position of King of Chu.

"As for the dilemma in front of us, there is no need to worry about it at all. Come to think of it, the Qi army doesn't want to continue to fight to the death with us. We captured the Yangzhou Water Division, and on the front line of Yingshui, Hongze Lake and Baima Lake, it was enough for the Qi army to go around without food. And the Qi army also hopes that we can become a barrier between the Qi army and the Zhao army. Therefore, as long as we truce with the Qi army with the border of Xu and Yang as the dividing line, the Qi army will still agree. ”

"Truce?"

"That's right, Your Majesty, judging from the news from the south, now the rear and flanks of the Qi army are also under attack by the Shu army. We need a truce, and the Qi army needs it even more. It is said that the Qi army took back the 'Dong' Tinghu Water Division and the Jiangxia Mansion in the western defense line of Yangzhou in Jingzhou, and in addition, the Qi army recovered half of Jiangzhou occupied by the Shu army. Now against the Shu army, a big war may break out at any time. ”

"Your Majesty, now our Chu army is indeed in a very critical situation, as the envoy of Zhao said, our Xuzhou can no longer continue to supply the army for a long time. In this case, why don't we stop fighting with the Qi army, raise the 'essence' and accumulate the sharp, and wait until the Qi army and the Shu army fight, and after the two sides lose their troops and generals, we are doing the benefit of the fisherman? ”

"What Fangzong said is right, the king, the minister thinks that at this moment, he should stop fighting with the Qi army, raise his 'essence' and accumulate strength, and wait for the next day to fight again."

"The last general also thinks that this is feasible......"

In this case, the king did not continue to negotiate with the envoys of the Zhao army. Send someone to say to Murong Cheng that our Chu army will cease war with it. If he 'forced' me too much, he would not be the Chu army but the Zhao army in the north of Yangzhou. Li Chi said coldly, "Hao'er, after the armistice, you will personally be in charge of the army on the southern front. ”

Hearing Li Chi say this, everyone's hearts were shocked. Most of the 'elite' elites of the Chu army were on the front line, and Li Chi arranged it in this way, so he naturally gathered military power and his own hands. Although this is normal, many people have a hint of other thoughts in their hearts.

Listening to the words of these people, Li Fangzong sighed in his heart. They didn't understand from their words at all, Zhao Jun was always the biggest threat to their side all the time. If you don't go south, most of Xuzhou, how can there be room for maneuver? If you surrender now, you can still get a reward from Zhao Jun. Later, when the Zhao army attacked, it was ...... Moreover, reaping the benefits of fishing is not something that the current Chu army can do......

Even grain and grass materials need to be purchased from potential enemies, where will the Chu army still have a bright future? In addition, Li Fangzong also thought of the people of Zhao who came to woo him, and he didn't know how many people in the Chu army were won over by the Zhao army......