Although the Han army changed its decline, it failed to completely defeat the Shu army in Hanzhong. More than 10,000 Han troops gathered in Hanzhong City and its surroundings to confront the Han army.

In addition, the squires from all over Hanzhong who surrendered to the Shu army in the south, except for those who were killed by the Zhao army, the rest also fled into the city. And Hanzhong City is also the place where the powerful clans in the south are most concentrated, but now they have all surrendered to the Shu army. Now that the Han army is counterattacking, they want to live, and they don't want to be like the squires who were killed by the Han army, so they can only fully assist the Shu army to defend the city.

Speaking of which, the big landlords in Hanzhong City also regretted it a little at the moment, if they followed the command of the king of Hanzhong, they would not have become what they are now. Although they survived, they were far less than they had hoped. In the north, the powerful clans who were still subjugating the king of Hanzhong, although they brought out their families, private soldiers, and guards to assist the Han army in counterattacking. However, as long as they did not betray the king of Hanzhong, their original interests were not lost. However, now for the sake of the weakness of the Shu army, for the counterattack of the Han army, and in order to save their lives, they have contributed their family wealth to seventy-seven eighty-eight. After all, if the Shu army was defeated and withdrew from Hanzhong, they would have nothing.

The king of Shu conveyed to the king of Luoyang and the king of Qi about the collusion between the Han army and the Zhao army, and originally wanted the king of Luoyang and the king of Qi to also participate in isolating the Han army, but it had little effect. The king of Luoyang is now busy contacting the Zhao army and doing the same thing as the Han army, how could he go to the bottom of the Han army? Murong Cheng, the king of Qi, hoped to completely suppress the king of Hanzhong and let the land of Jingzhou lose its general strength, so that it would be convenient for him to seize Jingzhou. However, he now also got the Luo army to buy armor and equipment, recruit new soldiers, and deploy defenses on the southern and eastern fronts of Jingzhou, while there was also a rebellion in the eastern part of Yangzhou, which made his rear unstable.

Therefore, King Qi wanted to intervene, but at the moment he was powerless. Therefore, he could only shout slogans and give Situ Che a little verbal support. Of course, he also hoped that Situ Che could wipe out the Han army.

"I didn't expect that my little brother is also using this method now, in the past, he has always paid attention to the use of force to speak." Shaking the letter brought by Situ Che in his hand, Luoyang Wang Situ Hao sneered disdainfully.

"What do you think?" Situ Hao put down the suggestion in his hand about Situ Che, the king of Shu, and asked the important ministers and generals of the Luo army present in a low voice.

Lin Zixun, the general of Luojun Zhenbei, said directly: "Great King, the last general thinks that although the King of Shu Situ Che's move is for the land of Hanzhong, it is to defeat the king of Hanzhong. However, the content of this statement is still very beneficial to us. The land of Jingzhou is not as good as the king to share it with others. If we occupy the entire Jingzhou, our strength will also change dramatically. ”

What Lin Zixun said is also the opinion of many generals of the Luo Army. For them, occupying a larger territory and mastering more troops is what they want. Situ Che's suggestion was to sever the connection between the king of Hanzhong and Jingzhou, and the Han army in the land of Hanzhong would be solved by the Shu army, and the Luo army would occupy the entire Jingzhou and become the lord of Jingzhou.

Jun Sima Fangzhan shook his head and said, "The minister doesn't approve of doing this!" In Jingzhou, although half of the Han army has gone west to Hanzhong, there are still tens of thousands of horses stationed in various places. The king of Hanzhong marched westward and ceded the power of Jingzhou to the king, and it was impossible not to be unguarded at all. If we make any changes, we will definitely let the Han army in Jingzhou fight back. At that time, the land of Jingzhou will be in civil strife. ”

Lin Zixun said in a deep voice: "Even so, the Han army in Jingzhou is not our opponent. Now we have more than 60,000 troops, and we have sufficient armor and equipment. As long as the entire Jingzhou is occupied, the army can be expanded to more than 100,000 at any time. If we can be our own side, why should we occupy it with others? ”

Fang Zhan shook his head and said with a wry smile: "I am naturally not worried about the battle between the Han army in Jingzhou, and I also believe that we can win in one battle." However, there are still two princes outside our Jingzhou who are always watching us. ”

"If we cut off the connection between Hanzhong and Jingzhou, what will happen to the king of Hanzhong? Naturally, the king of Hanzhong immediately marched eastward to reopen the connection with Jingzhou, and the Han army in Jingzhou would also fight back. At this moment, if the Shu army stops attacking and allows the Han army to counterattack, what do you say will happen? ”

"That will present a civil war between the two princes of Jingzhou, we have the armor and equipment provided by the Zhao army, and the other Han army also has it. With equal forces, even if we can win, we will lose a lot. In the end, the Shu army took Hanzhong bloodlessly. In the same way, we can't control the land of Jingzhou, whether it is the Shu army, the Qi army in the southwest, or the Zhao army in the north, they will flock to take Jingzhou. You say, 'Will we still be able to meet the battle?' ”

"The existence of the Han army and the existence of the land of Hanzhong are a protective net for the Shu army in the Jingzhou region. Hanzhong is not lost, the Han army is undefeated, and the Shu army will not be able to attack Jingzhou. And as long as our Jingzhou strength still exists, whether it is the Shu army or the Qi army, it will not easily attack our Jingzhou. ”

Fang Zhan's words immediately made Lin Zixun speechless. Yes, if you want to occupy Jingzhou and get rid of the Han army, you must also cooperate with the Shu army. Even if there is no Qi army and Zhao army, if the Shu army is treacherous, not only will it not be able to occupy Jingzhou in the end, but it will be calculated by the Shu army.

Jun Sima Xue Lin also said coldly: "This King of Shu is famous for his treachery, and he is the first to attack his allies. The other princes can not be trusted, and this Situ Che must not believe it. In addition, the minister was also worried that this Situ Che would secretly spread the news that he proposed to unite with us, cut off the connection between the Han army and Jingzhou, and that the Shu army would encircle and annihilate the Han army, and that our army would occupy Jingzhou. If this happens, it may cause problems in our relationship with the Han army. ”

"The reason why we were able to occupy Jingzhou and become our own party has a lot to do with our close ties with the Han army. If the king of Hanzhong suspects that we have the idea of cutting off his back road, occupying Jingzhou, or even joining forces with the Shu army, maybe he will directly return to Jingzhou, and even take some measures. At that time, it was our Jingzhou that suffered. ”

Situ Hao's face was stunned, and he said coldly: "It is very possible, this Situ Che is not an easy person to deal with, if he learns that we not only have no intention of joining forces with him, but even start to buy supplies from the Zhao army, maybe he will immediately create rumors that they will join forces with us to attack the Han army." ”

Xue Lin continued: "Not only that, but it can even be used as evidence that we have purchased supplies from Zhao Jun to prove that we have the ambition to monopolize Jingzhou. Therefore, it is time to guard against the rumors created by the Shu army, and the king of Hanzhong will believe this idea. In other words, we should let him know now that our Luo army is on his side. ”

Situ Hao said in a deep voice: "Even if the Shu army creates rumors, it will have to wait until we don't respond and learn the news that we have purchased armor equipment and materials from the Zhao army. Now that it hasn't happened, how can I say it? It can only cause the meaning of no silver three hundred taels here. ”

Zuo Cheng Wang Dao pondered for a moment, and said in a deep voice: "Without him, just pass this letter from the Shu army to the king of Hanzhong." When the king of Hanzhong saw this, he would naturally understand. In addition, we can also let him know the news of our purchase of armor equipment to prepare for the army. Come to think of it, the king of Hanzhong already knows the news of the purchase of armor and equipment, after all, this is a matter on the boundary of Jingzhou, and the king of Hanzhong naturally knows very well. ”

Situ Hao's eyes lit up, and he nodded: "It's very good, just do this, immediately pass this letter to the King of Hanzhong, let him understand that the Shu army in the south is not easy to deal with, and now they have begun to play tricks." ”

"By the way, Zhao Jun wants to garrison troops on the border with us, what do you think? What exactly does Zhao Jun mean? Situ Hao brought up the most important thing in front of him. After the Zhao army sold their armor and equipment, he demanded that the two sides should not station too many troops near the border, and they should not block normal trade, which was a series of good news for the Luo army.

As soon as Situ Hao's words came out, everyone frowned. Seriously, the Zhao army is the great enemy of the Luo army, and it is also a mortal enemy, and the Zhao army is now relieving the north of Jingzhou, which is extremely dangerous for the Luo army. The Zhao army will live in peace with them, and even the ordinary soldiers in the Luo army will not believe it. Therefore, when Zhao Jun proposed this, they needed to guess Zhao Jun's purpose for doing so.

"Could it be that Zhao Jun wants to emulate the situation of the Chu army in Dongyongzhou and Xuzhou in the past, and wants to confuse us first, and then suddenly launch a surprise attack?" General Zhang Ye said in a deep voice.

"Probably not!" Xue Lin frowned and said, "If that's the case, he doesn't need to sell us a large amount of armor equipment at all. After all, we had already recruited a lot of soldiers some time ago, and Zhao Jun's trade provided our soldiers with the armor and equipment they needed. As a result, we now have much stronger troops and strength than before. Even if the Zhao army raids, we can mobilize troops to deploy layers of defenses, and we can also delay the advance of the Zhao army. Rather than that, it is better to go south before. ”

"Besides, even if we make an agreement with the Zhao army to reduce the number of troops in the cities north of Nanyang Mansion, will we relax our surveillance and inspection of the Zhao army? It's not easy to raid us. ”

"So what does Zhao Jun want to do? Do you really want to make peace with us? How can it be! To say that Zhao Jun has no idea about Jingzhou, this is simply impossible. Zhang Ye shook his head and said.

"It really can't be!" Fang Zhan said in a sullen voice, "Could it be that the Zhao army has other goals, and does not want to be hostile to us at the moment, and does not want us to adversely affect Dongyongzhou in the north?" ”

"Could it be because of the natural disasters in Xuyang and Yangzhou, and now Yangzhou has broken out a large-scale uprising because of natural disasters, even if Xuzhou does not, it must have made Zhao Xun worried. In addition, Xuzhou is close to the Qi army, and if there is civil strife in Xuzhou or other things, if the Qi army goes north, it will definitely have a very adverse impact on the Zhao state. Thinking about it, Zhao Jun may have to take care of the situation in the east, so he has to suspend hostility with us. Some people speculated.

"Zuo Cheng, what do you think?" Situ Hao looked at Zuo Chengwangdao, who had not spoken.

Wang Dao didn't answer directly, but asked in a deep voice: "If we live in peace with the Zhao army, trade normally, and reduce the border garrison, will this be good for us?" ”

Situ Hao was stunned, nodded and said, "For us, it is indeed beneficial." In this way, we don't need to focus on the north all the time, and it will give us plenty of time to expand our strength and focus on adjusting the southeast line. In addition, trade with the north can not only get the materials we want, but also promote the prosperity of Jingzhou's commerce, after all, we can get a lot of harvest just from commercial taxes. In the past two years, we confronted the Zhao army in Jingbei, which was a great loss for us, and it was indeed the Shu army and the Qi army that benefited in the end, and our Luo army and the Han army were basically their forward pawns against the Zhao army. ”

Wang Dao smiled: "In this case, what else do we have to fear? As long as it's good for us, what does it matter to us as to who actually suffers? This alliance of southern princes can no longer be counted on now. Since then, the Shu army has attacked Hanzhong, and the Southern Alliance has collapsed. Therefore, if we want to fight against Zhao Jun, we can only count on ourselves in the end. Now that you have the opportunity to grow yourself, why not take advantage of the trend. As for who is unlucky next, it is naturally not something we can control. At most, we will also support some grain and grass materials to defend against the Zhao army. ”

Situ Hao was slightly stunned, and then smiled: "Yes, Zuo Cheng is right, we will do what is beneficial to us, and if it is not good for us, we will refuse it, and it will resist." Since Zhao Jun wants to live in peace with us, let's live in peace. ”

Situ Hao couldn't help but think of the fact that Zhao Jun sent people to surrender himself in the past, what the other party said in the past, the southern princes could not really unite, nor could they confront Zhao State, and no one could change the ending of Zhao State dominating the world. Hearing Wang Dao say this today, Situ Hao suddenly felt that this alliance of southern princes was really unreliable.

Zhao Jun wanted to live in peace with Luo Jun, indeed because of the Xuzhou issue. Of course, it is fundamentally on the Yangzhou Qi army. Among the refugee rebel army in the western part of Yangzhou, Gu Shan, who had already gained a firm foothold, had already sent back caution, and had already collected Sanli reinforcements, occupied half of Songjiang Mansion, and merged the remaining three Zhao military captains to form the Jieyi Army to confront the Qi army.

However, Zhao's support for the Jieyi army through the maritime merchants could no longer continue, because the navy of the Qi army had begun to move out to blockade the sea east of Yangzhou, and the merchants were cut off from trade with these rebel armies for profit. Second, the Qi army also wanted to attack the flanks of the rebel army by sea. Therefore, Zhao's support for these rebels could not be continued.

In order to reduce the pressure of the Jieyi Army, and in order to prevent any accidents in Xuzhou, Zhao Xun decided to transfer the ninth town of the Zhenjun stationed in Dongyongzhou to Xuzhou, and handed it over to Li Huaiyuan, together with the fourth and fifth towns of the forbidden army, to appease Xuzhou, beware of the Qi army in the south, and even make the intention of the army to go south to reduce the pressure on the Jieyi army.

For Zhao Xun, the threat of the Qi army was greater than that of the Jingzhou Luo army. If the army really fights, for Jingzhou, the Zhao army can completely attack, no matter how much the Luo army resists, it will be difficult to resist the pressure of the Zhao army. But for the Qi army, it is much more complicated. Now that he can stab the Qi army in the back, Zhao Xun will not let it go.

The transaction that began between the Luo army and the Shu army was naturally known to the king of Hanzhong. After all, how to say Jingzhou, there is also half of the Han army, and the king of Hanzhong is naturally always concerned about the situation in Jingzhou. Although he was a little dissatisfied and suspicious of this, he himself traded with Zhao Jun and did not say anything. However, he is also worried that his control of Jingzhou will become weaker and weaker. Especially after learning that the Luo army has been expanding very strongly recently, he was very worried. However, Situ Fei also knew that Jingzhou was a big enemy on both sides, and it was normal for the Luo army to expand its army. It's his Han army, isn't it also a contact expansion?

Of course, the king of Hanzhong thought so, and it was also related to the intelligence sent back by his men and horses in Hanzhong, and the intelligence found that the Luo army did not do anything to the officials and troops stationed in the Han army, but gradually moved the army westward to make up for the loopholes of the former king of Hanzhong from Danyang Mansion and Bei'an Mansion, and intended to confront the Qi army.

When the king of Luoyang passed the letter of the king of Shu to him, the king of Hanzhong let go of his worries about the king of Luoyang and the expansion of the Luo army. turned more and more annoyed with Situ Che, the king of Shu, if things were as the letter said, his Han army would be really dangerous. Of course, after getting the letter from the king of Luoyang, Situ Fei, the king of Hanzhong, still didn't dare to be careless. After some discussion with his courtiers, there was nothing similar to what the courtiers under the command of the King of Luoyang said.

In other words, if the king of Luoyang did what the letter said, not only would there be no benefit in the end, but even Jingzhou would be lost. And the Han army and the Luo army can only cooperate with each other and link together in order to survive among the princes.

The king of Shu made a move, and he also sent reinforcements. The king of Hanzhong will naturally not be indifferent, and with the king of Shu plotting against himself behind his back, he is already angry. As a result, the Han army began to counterattack with rights, gradually pulling out the area around Hanzhong City, preparing to take the southwest region of Hanzhong.

After learning that the Luo army was moving to the southeast of Jingzhou, Zhao Xun was naturally the most happy. In my heart, the two princes of Jingzhou, one is at war with the Shu army, and the other is gradually approaching the Qi army, and your Zhao army is naturally the existence of sitting on the mountain and watching the tiger fight. Therefore, there were slightly too many garrisons in Yongzhou, so the ninth town of the town army began to officially set off and march to Xuzhou.

After confirming Zhao's actions, the Luo army also breathed a sigh of relief. Although they guessed that Zhao Jun was not targeting Jingzhou this time, after Zhao Jun took action, they could really press their hearts and determine that Zhao Jun really had the intention of stopping confrontation with them and living in peace this time.