Huaiyin Mansion, Quyang City. Since the people of Huaiyin City and the surrounding six counties were slaughtered, the former Huaiyin Mansion has changed from Huaiyin City to Quyang City. Of course, in addition to the size of the population, it is also located in the westernmost part of Huaiyin Mansion with Quyang City, which is adjacent to Yuzhou, which is safe and easy to manage.

"Chai Xu, it's been more than a month, how much population has flowed into Huaiyin City and the surrounding six counties now?"

The history of Huaiyin Mansion Thorn, in fact, is Zhao Jun's mansion Yin Chai Xu replied respectfully: "Returning to the lord, since the beginning of accepting the people, Huaiyin City and the surrounding six counties have a population of more than 230,000. Together with the rest of the counties, in the entire territory of Huaiyin Prefecture, we have absorbed more than 300,000 people from Xuzhou. Moreover, because of the war in Guangling Province some time ago, the number of people flowing into our territory is increasing. ”

"We have also paid a lot of money and food to settle these people, so that they will not have no shelter and no food. Because the people of the counties of Huaiyin Prefecture were all under the rule of the Xuzhou Army in the past, in order to prevent accidents, the subordinate soldiers were built, and the county soldiers and Huaiyin Prefecture soldiers were all drawn from the Yuzhou Prefecture. ”

Zhao Xun said in a deep voice: "Continue to accept people into the country, and we don't have too many people." As for money and food, we can afford it. It's not good, you can trade with Zhao Jun. "This transaction is naturally direct transportation, and the only thing needed is the transaction above the surface, that is, to hand over the taxes collected by the Yanzhou Army and the state governments to the Zhao Jun Finance Department.

"As for the ......government soldiers," Zhao Xun pondered for a while, and then continued, "It's better to recruit a recruit on the spot, no matter who he is, whose people he was in the past, after the training of our new barracks, those who can stick to it will be loyal to us." As for the officers, they were selected from among the Young Guards. ”

Even if he is not at ease with these soldiers, Zhao Xun is not worried about the Young Guards at all, there, but the loyal and brave people who have been trained by brainwashing.

After solving these local affairs, Zhao Xun turned to ask Sun Zhuang, who was in charge of the intelligence of the Yanzhou Army: "What is the situation of Murong Cheng and Tang Xian now?" ”

Sun Zhuang replied respectfully: "Five days ago, the Qi army broke through the interception of the Xuzhou army in Guangling Mansion and withdrew to the southwest. Now, Murong Cheng has placed his headquarters in Shouchun, the Jiujiang Mansion. Shouchun is also the seat of Yangzhou governance, and here, Murong Cheng has restored more than 200,000 Qi troops. ”

"However, Li Chi's current development is also extremely powerful, at least, among the inland water army, the Xuzhou army is not weaker than the Qi army. It was also because of this that Murong Cheng retreated to the west of Yangzhou, and did not immediately counterattack, but began to rectify the interior, and began to order Yangzhou to defend on all sides, and strictly ordered the naval fleet to start harassing the coast of Xuzhou. ”

After a pause, Sun Zhuang said again: "However, the strength of the Yangzhou Navy has also been weakened a lot because one-third of it was pulled away by the Zhao army. The current situation in Yangzhou is that the Xuzhou army occupies the four prefectures of Xin'an, Sui'an, Yuhang, and Huiji in the east of Yangzhou, and is surrounded by Qi troops in the south, west, and eastern seas. Fortunately, the Qi army has not come to its senses yet, so the two sides are deadlocked. ”

"From the information we have received, it seems that Murong Cheng has begun to send people to operate in the territory occupied by the Northern Qi army, intending to create an incident and make waves in the local area, so that the Qi army can take advantage of the situation to counterattack."

"The Tang army also occupied the land of Jingbei before the eighth day, and had already begun the operation of attacking Jingnan. However, because of Murong Cheng's timely retreat, Jingzhou quickly stabilized people's hearts and minds, and also greatly boosted the morale of Jingnan's defenders. Therefore, Tang Xian, who was in a hurry and had an unstable foundation, failed to take advantage of the situation to take the land of Jingnan. Now, they use the Han River as the boundary and divide the river. ”

"Murong Cheng's timely withdrawal also made the entire Qi land vigorous. Not only in Yangzhou, but also on the battlefields of Jingzhou, Jiaozhou, and Jiangzhou, the Qi army also began to reverse the trend of collapse and began to gradually reverse the situation. After all, they are fighting within their own borders. ”

Zhao Xun frowned and asked: "You said earlier that the current inland water army of the Xuzhou army is not weaker than the Yangzhou water army, what is going on?" When did the Xuzhou Army have a water army? ”

Sun Zhuang said in a deep voice: "The Xuzhou army originally did not have a strong naval army, but since the princes' alliance army attacked the Qi army, Murong Cheng was trapped in Xuzhou. The Xuzhou army marched south to Yangzhou and invaded Qidi. In the east of the Huai River, which is located in the south of Xuzhou and north of Yangzhou, there are vast inland lakes Hongze Lake and Baima Lake. And in it, there are a very large number of water bandits. Not long after Li Chi's operation, the water bandits here surrendered to the Xuzhou army one after another. Li Chi collected the water bandits, and recruited people who were good at water from both sides of the Huai River, as well as the Yangzhou soldiers and captured warships, and formed a large number of water troops. ”

"According to our speculation, the water bandits in Hongze Lake and Baima Lake had already colluded long before Li Chi led his army south. And these water bandits, seeing that the king of Qi was trapped and the Xuzhou army was strong, they turned into bandits and surrendered Li Chi. ”

Hearing this, Zhao Xun sighed secretly: "This Li Chi, he is moving very fast, with these water armies, he and Murong Cheng will not suffer too much loss when they fight in Yangzhou." ”

Immediately, Zhao Xun let go of his feelings for Li Chi, and said to the wind beside him: "By the way, Tang Xian recently contacted us and said that there is something to discuss, how did you talk to their envoy?" ”

Feng Ziming said in a deep voice: "Tang Xian sent people mainly to exchange his land in the north of Yanzhou and the land in the north of Xuzhou for our grain and grass materials, armor and equipment, and the right to allow his army to pass guò, in addition, to form an alliance with us against Murong Cheng in the south, Situ Lei in the west, and the lord in the north. ”

"Oh?" Hearing this, Zhao Xun couldn't help but be stunned, and then understood that Tang Xian was occupying the northern part of Jingzhou, which was better than him being in the northern part of Yanzhou and Xuzhou. After all, whether it is the north of Yanzhou or the north of Xuzhou, his Tang army occupies the territory of others. In other words, once there is a dispute in the future, whether it is the Yanzhou army or the Xuzhou army, there will be plenty of excuses to take offensive actions against him, and even occupy a certain righteous name.

In the northern counties of Jingzhou, Tang Xian has a great advantage. In addition to the fact that this is his former family sphere of influence and the place where he used to be an official, it is also his sole jurisdiction. It was he who spliced his ability to seize it from Murong Cheng, and was in a united front with the Yanzhou Army and the Xuzhou Army.

Now, the enemies he needs to face are Murong Cheng and Situ Lei, and Murong Cheng is afraid that he will not be too much of a threat to him since this time, so what he needs to fight is mainly the attack of the Yongjun army in the future. And Situ Lei, the lord of the Yongjun, is already old and about to die. Then, the Yongjun army, which will be divided or weakened in the future, is no longer much of a threat.

Zhao Xun sneered: "Ally with me to fight against Murong Cheng, Situ Lei and me?" He's not worried about any of this! Situ Lei was still sunset, and even if his son inherited his position, the threat would not be too great, at least, the first thing they had to consider was the pressure that the king had put on them in the north. ”

"Murong Cheng, it's good to be able to solve the current problem, and it is estimated that after this time, Murong Cheng's strength will also fall to a low point. And Murong Cheng's primary target and enemy was the Xuzhou army north of Yangzhou. ”

"As for this king, this king's territory in the north is not connected to the northern land of Jingzhou at all, how can he be a threat to him? If this king wants to threaten him, he can only destroy the Yongjun army first, or at least occupy the land of Yongzhou. Therefore, these are all lies, what he needs is to work with our Yanzhou army to fight Murong Cheng. To put it bluntly, in fact, he wants us to put pressure on the Qi army so that he can occupy the entire territory of Jingzhou. ”

Chai Xu asked, "Then do we agree?" Now that the Tang Army is divided into two in the north and south, we can completely swallow them completely. At that time, the Tang Army territories in northern Yanzhou and Xuzhou, and the Tang Army in northern Jingzhou will all be ours. This is extremely beneficial for our next actions. ”

Zhao Xun shook his head and said lightly: "No! What you said is indeed very reasonable, and this moment is indeed a good time to seize the foundation of the Tang Army. However, if we act like this, it will inevitably have a great impact on the Xuzhou Army, the Qi Army and Situ Lei around us. Among them, Situ Lei is even worse, he doesn't want another very strong strength to appear around him. If we occupy the territory of the Tang Army, he will certainly regard us as the first target. After all, on the surface, we were too close to Zhao Jun, and it was impossible for him not to worry. With Situ Lei's mind, he would definitely rather kill mistakes than let them go. At that point, we're not in a good position. If they were allowed to find out the actual situation between the Shang Yanzhou army and the Zhao army, the consequences would be unpredictable. Especially now that the Turks are still in the north, putting us under great pressure. ”

In fact, Zhao Xun also felt a little pity. If it weren't for the fact that there was a Turkic in the north, and if it weren't for the fact that half of the Zhao army's troops were transferred to the north, Zhao Xun could have given the order to launch a counterattack on the Tang army at this moment, and the north and south would be dispatched at the same time. But he can't take risks at the moment, the north is the powerful Turks, and the northernmost part of the northeast is the Black Water Tribe, which is also a tribe that is extremely hostile to Zhao Di. Once there is a loophole or fork in the Zhao army in the north, then Situ Lei will definitely give up Murong Cheng and turn to himself.

Of course, Zhao Xun has another purpose, which is also the purpose he has been implementing. That is, to solve the external enemy first, and then to seize the world with the internal princes. If you want to do it now, Zhao Xun hopes to solve Liangzhou, because the countries in the Western Regions in the west of Liangzhou are even more of Zhao Xun's targets.

Of course, Zhao Xun didn't want to have an overlord in the Central Plains when he resisted foreign enemies. Therefore, he wants to operate independently with a Yanzhou army, and without pulling himself, he can always grasp the movements of other princes and seek benefits. Zhao Xun didn't want to wait for the Central Plains to be unified after he finished solving the foreign enemy, and he didn't want to rule the river with other princes in the future. Therefore, the Yanzhou Army appeared......

"So we're going to say yes. Ay...... It's a shame that it's such a great opportunity! Chai Xu sighed regretfully. Although he is not a soldier, Chai Xu also understands that this moment is really a good opportunity.

Zhao Xun smiled bitterly: "Indeed, this moment is indeed an opportunity. However, it doesn't matter, let Tang Xian fight the way forward for us, first destroy Murong Cheng in the south, and let this big prince, the big force, first disintegrate several small forces in the city step by step, it is also beneficial to us, after all, the big forces are difficult to deal with, and our Yanzhou army is also growing. ”

Feng Ziming continued: "It's best, consume Situ Lei and let him die, this Yongjun will also be weakened by more than half, and the Yongjun without Situ Lei is also a small problem for us." ”

Zhao Xun nodded and said, "Although this opportunity is gone, it is not a big deal for us. After all, the Yanzhou army was still growing in all departments, while the Qi army was shrinking. And Murong Cheng is also moving towards the sunset step by step. Okay, agree to Tang Xian's conditions, we must first take over the territory under the jurisdiction of the Tang Army, and only after ensuring that there are no accidents, will we allow it to pass and deliver the materials. I don't want the Xuzhou army to appear there when we take over the two provinces in the northern part of Xuzhou. ”

Feng Ziming nodded and promised: "Don't worry, your subordinates understand!" According to the speculation of his subordinates, Tang Xian would not sell one family's land to two families. After all, he is adjacent to us, and Xuzhou is one east and one west. If we are not satisfied, even if we let him evacuate this time, we can strike at him at any time. Not to mention that he Tang Xian still needs us to assist him, and the situation in his attack on the southern part of Jingzhou is not going well. ”

…………

Shouchun, the seat of Yangzhou governance, is also the headquarters of Jiujiang Prefecture. At this moment, it has become the headquarters of the Qi army, and the former city of commerce and trade has now become a barracks. Sergeants coming and going, officers of all stripes, and generals and colonels with different faces appeared on the street from time to time. Not to mention the patrols that come and go, and they never stop.

Qi Wangfu, the most luxurious mansion in the entire Yangzhou, no one's mansion can compare, and no one dares to compare.

"Who can sue me, what's going on with the Navy? Why was our navy pulled away by a third of the Zhao army? Why didn't our naval commander stop him? Li Chengdao, can you explain to this king? Why didn't you stop these bastards at the time? Murong Cheng stared gloomily at Navy Commander Li Chengdao and asked coldly. If it weren't for the weakness of his side at this moment, if it weren't for the fear that killing Li Chengdao would greatly reduce the combat strength of the navy, and if it weren't for the fact that Li Chengdao could come in time after he issued the edict, he would have killed Li Chengdao a long time ago.

Lee Chengdao is a strong man who is over forty years old, tall and strong, with a bronzed face, and because of his long-term operations at sea, his face is becoming more and more dark. However, no one dares to underestimate this person, this person's understanding of naval warfare is unparalleled by the master of the Qi army. At the same time, he is also an old man who has followed Murong Cheng for more than ten years.

Murong Cheng trusted him very much, so he entrusted the entire Yangzhou Navy to him and did not send anyone to restrain him. And Li Chengdao did not live up to Murong Cheng's trust, when Murong Cheng was determined to develop the navy, when the Yanzhou army and navy were at their peak, they were more than several times stronger than at the beginning. Of course, it was already sunset, because a third of it was pulled away by Zhao Jun.

Li Chengdao said with a bitter face: "Back to the lord, it's not that his subordinates are unwilling to stop him, but that one-third of the naval officers and men are already determined to surrender to the enemy." Moreover, Zhao Jun's navy has already wandered around us, and his subordinates dare not stop it. If these one-third do not resist, how can the rest resist the navy of the Zhao army? ”

"In addition, the people of the Zhao army also said that if we stop us, they will lead their troops into battle and also participate in the attack on us. At that time, the lord was trapped in Xuzhou, Yangzhou was strongly attacked by the Xuzhou army, and we did not dare to provoke the Zhao army again when we were attacked by the enemy on our backs. ”

"In addition, Zhao Jun's people also said that Qiongzhou Island is now theirs, as the price for not attacking us. When all the princes of the world are conquering us, our subordinates dare not attract great enemies for us. It's not a problem for subordinates to die in battle, I'm afraid that the entire Qi army will be even worse. ”

"Bastard! What a loss was it to let go of a third of the officers and men of the Navy and a third of the warships of the Navy? Is this called not taking action against us? Not to mention that he forcibly seized the land of Qiongzhou Island. With Qiongzhou Island, coupled with their current strength, who is their opponent in the entire sea? Although you didn't go against Zhao Jun, now, we don't have the strength to go against them! Murong Cheng roared.

Zhang Tu persuaded repeatedly: "Don't worry, my lord, although General Li didn't stop us, we lost one-third of our naval strength, but General Li was also helpless." The lord is no longer there, we are enemies on all sides, and if we let the Zhao army participate in the war again, it will inevitably pose a fatal threat to us. Although the Zhao army is separated from us, he can completely use the Guò sea route, attack the eastern coast of our Qi land, and even cooperate with the Yanzhou army. ”

"In addition, although we have lost a third of the navy, we still have it in hand. They can completely suppress and attack the eastern part of Xuzhou. If the Zhao navy enters the war, it will inevitably be extremely unfavorable to us. ”

Murong Cheng also knew that Li Chengdao's decision was also related to his being trapped in Xuzhou. Immediately, considering Li Chengdao's loyalty to him, he had no intention of punishing him, "Okay, this matter will end here." Li Chengdao, the main objectives of your Yangzhou Navy now have two levels, one is to attack and harass the eastern part of Xuzhou, and the other is to take the opportunity to sneak attack the Xuzhou army in the eastern part of Yangzhou. At the same time, Ah Zhong supported and matched the eastern part of Yangzhou, and had not yet succumbed to the forces of the Xuzhou army. ”

Gritting his teeth, Murong Cheng said hatefully: "As for Zhao Jun, don't pay attention to it." One-third of the people have been pulled away, and these have become a foregone conclusion, let's even think it is to appease Zhao Jun. This Zhao Xun didn't do anything, but he took a big advantage of us in vain, and made this king lose a lot, it's really amazing! I, Murong Cheng, am ashamed of myself! At this time, he could only knock out his teeth and swallow the matter of the navy......