Looking at Lu Chang who was chatting eloquently, Wei Shuo's heart fluctuated, if he guessed correctly, the so-called Right Route Army would probably enter Xichuan from the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau along the 'Ancient Tea Horse Road' in later generations. Pen & Fun & Pavilion www.biquge.info

The Ancient Tea Horse Road originated from the tea and horse market in the ancient southwest frontier, flourished in the Tang and Song dynasties, flourished in the Ming and Qing dynasties, and was the most prosperous in the middle and late stages of World War II.

The Ancient Tea Horse Road is divided into Shaanxi-Gansu, Shaanxi-Kang-Tibet, and Yunnan-Tibet, connecting Sichuan, Yunnan, and Tibet, extending into Bhutan, Sikkim, Nepal, and India, until it reaches the Red Sea coast of West Asia and West Africa.

No wonder Lu Chang has a lot of worries, walking on the ancient tea horse road must be a matter of life and death.

At the end of the meeting, Wei Shuo stood up and concluded: "Although the proposal of the Right Route Army is very risky, as the General Staff said, it is not without hope of success. Next, the Privy Council should improve the proposal of the General Staff and pay close attention to training the Qiang people to take on important responsibilities. ”

"In addition, in order to confuse Cheng Han, in addition to the secret preparations of the Central and Right Route Armies, the Left Route Army must assemble on the front line of the Qinling Mountains in Yongzhou with great fanfare, so that Cheng Han will think that our main attack direction is in Yongzhou."

"No!"

……

In June of the first year of Taining, the war machine of the Yan Kingdom was once again in motion.

Wei Shuo appointed Beigong Chun as the governor of the conquest, and commanded an army of 100,000 (actually 50,000) to go south to conquer Shu, accompanied by generals Jia Jian, Ji Tang, Xue Tao and others.

On June 20, Wei Shuo personally led the cabinet and the senior members of the Privy Council to see off the soldiers on the Luoyang campus.

"The success or failure of this expedition to Shu is the key to the great cause of the reunification of Yan State. In order to ensure the success of the battle of Shu, the cabinet and the Privy Council made careful preparations, not only with sufficient supplies, but also mobilized elite infantry from all over the country to join the conquest army. ”

"But this is not to say that Yan will undoubtedly win this battle, the only thing to worry about is that the land route in Shuzhong is rugged and steep, and the waterway is full of dangerous shoals."

In the face of Yan Wang Weishuo's faint advice, the main general Beigong Chun said proudly: "The geography of Shuzhong is certainly steep, but my Liaodong army has no opponent in the world. Please rest assured, a certain general will personally cut off Li Xiong's head and dedicate it to the throne. ”

"General Beigong is brave, I am very relieved, but you must remember: the battle of Shu is related to the strategic layout of Yan State, and you can only succeed and not fail."

The rest of the generals clasped their fists and said: "The ministers and others have a strong army, and the Military Intelligence Agency has investigated the situation in the mountains and rivers of Shuzhou in detail, the garrison places, the distance and proximity of the Daoli and the deployment of the Cheng Han troops. With such a use of troops, although our army has few soldiers, victory is just around the corner. ”

"Okay, so the important task of conquering Shu is entrusted to the generals, and the widow will personally sit in Luoyang to ensure logistics for you."

"The king is so sincere, the ministers dare not do their best!"

……

"What?! The Yan army made a big move and gathered on the north side of the Qinling Mountains in Yongzhou? ”

In the main hall of the Chenghan Palace, Li Xiong, who was discussing with his subordinates, couldn't help but change his face drastically when he learned of this situation. Since Fan Ben returned from Luoyang last year and brought back the news that Da Sima asked Cheng Han to surrender to Chengcheng, he thought that there would be today's scene.

In order to prevent the Yan army from sneaking attack, Li Xiong completed the deployment of Hanzhong at the end of last year, and asked his cousin Li Shou to personally lead the troops to sit in Hanzhong and closely monitor the ancient roads of Qinshu and Shu.

In Li Xiong's view, even if the military strength of the Cheng Han Dynasty is far inferior to that of the Liaodong Army, as long as it can maximize the geographical convenience, it may not be able to block the Yan army.

Later, Li Xiong heard that Yan was in conflict with Mobei Rouran and Eile, and forced Goguryeo to hand over Obifang and Lelang, he thought that the conflict between the east and the north would contain most of Yan's energy, and he should not use troops against Cheng Han for the time being.

Who knew that the development of things was far beyond Li Xiong's expectations, and the northern Rouran and Eile were firmly blocked by Shao Yuniang, the governor of Bazhou, and Yang Hu, the governor of Shuozhou, and Mo Nan Zhuhu. As for Goguryeo, which has strong national strength, it is very spineless to agree to the unreasonable request of King Yan and move the whole country to the Samhan Peninsula. It was the inability of the northern and eastern forces to contain the Yan State that led to the Yan army now moving south to Shu.

"It's over! Finished! This must be Yan Wang Xingshi's questioning. ”

"The Yan army invaded, this ...... How good is that? ”

"I heard that Beigong Chun is a famous general of Yan State, and he is deeply relied on by King Yan, and now that he is here to command the army, he will not give up!"

"If you knew that there was today, you should have accepted the conditions of Yan Country as soon as possible, otherwise how could there be a disaster in the future?"

The Yan army went south to disrupt the political situation in the Cheng and Han dynasties, and some of the timid or heart-oriented people of the Jin family clamored one after another, openly and secretly demanding that Li Xiong give up resistance and surrender to the Yan State.

Listening to everyone's discussions, Li Xiong's face turned pale with anger, but he couldn't deal with the other party rashly, so he could only look at Prime Minister Fan Ben with a blushing face.

"Ahem!" Receiving Li Xiong's signal, Fan Ben got up and interrupted the courtiers' discussions, and arched his hand: "Ladies and gentlemen, now that the Yan army is heading south, we should work together to assist the lord of the country to defend the foundation of Chenghan. Don't forget, King Yan has always been hostile to the family, and once he becomes the master of the Han Dynasty, the Er and other families will inevitably suffer. ”

Fan Ben's remarks immediately aroused the hatred of the great families in the Cheng Han Dynasty. Seeing this scene, Li Xiong couldn't help but quietly breathe a sigh of relief, but he still didn't have much confidence in whether he could defeat the Yan army and keep Cheng Han Guozuo.

When the situation is clear today, the trend of Yan State dominating the world is almost unstoppable.

Cheng Han's desire to divide one side is tantamount to pulling teeth out of the tiger's mouth, and he will definitely be violently retaliated against by Yan State.

In the face of the precarious situation, the only thing that made Li Xiong feel a little comforted was that Wang Dun, the general of Jiangdong, came to reinforce the troops.

Although Kui'an only has 10,000 cavalry in his hands, because he is a cavalry, his strength should not be underestimated.

"Your Majesty, I would like to protect General Kui'an and go to Hanzhong County to support General Li Shou of Zhengdong."

Just when Cheng Han was at a loss, he saw the 'quasi-prince' Li Ban, who had never expressed his opinions in the court, stand up and recommended Kui An to lead the troops into Hanzhong. This is the strategy set by Li Ban after colluding with Kui'an, with the help of this time when the Yan army went south to conquer Shu, he made meritorious contributions on the battlefield and prepared for the future battle for succession.

Li Ban's suggestion made Li Xiong quite excited, but he wasn't sure what Kui'an's attitude was. Although Kui An came to help Cheng Han in the name of Wang Dun, who knows if people are willing to go to the front line as soon as they come up. If it is not handled carefully, it is very likely that Cheng Han's only ally will be forced away.

Perhaps seeing Li Xiong's concerns, Li Ban patted his chest and promised: "Your Majesty does not need to worry, a few days ago, the minister was ordered by the emperor to banquet General Kui'an, and he had secretly probed him, and he was very eager to go into battle to fight with the Yan army to avenge the hatred of the clan." ”

"Ban'er, are you really sure to convince Kui'an?" Li Xiong said excitedly.

"I am willing to make a military order, and if I can't persuade General Kui'an to go to war, I am willing to be punished by Your Majesty."

Li Xiong was overjoyed when he heard this: "Okay! As long as Ban'er can convince General Kui'an to defeat the Yan army in the future, I will make you the crown prince. ”

"What?!" As soon as Li Xiong's words fell, there was an uproar in the court, and no one expected Li Xiong to make such a promise.

Prime Minister Fan Ben was very worried about this, and he was very dissatisfied with what Li Xiong was doing at the moment. Cheng Han had been caught in a huge dispute over the position of the crown prince before, if it weren't for his bitter admonition with the prince Li Xiang, so that Li Xiong temporarily canceled the idea of enclosing his nephew Li Ban as the crown prince, maybe Cheng Han would have already broken out civil strife.

At present, the Yan army is moving south, and it is time to raise the strength of the whole country to resist the strong enemy. didn't expect Li Xiong to provoke the battle for the heir again when he was facing life and death, isn't this even worse?

Looking at the happy Li Xiong and Uncle Li Ban's nephews on one side, and the Li Yue brothers with angry faces on the other side, Fan Ben was full of bitterness, the original national strength of Cheng Han was far inferior to that of Yan State, if civil strife broke out again at this time, what future did Cheng Han have at all?

Li Yue, the general of the chariot cavalry, heard with his own ears that his father Li Xiong had made a promise to Li Ban to make a prince, and he couldn't help but secretly hate. Originally, he was going to make a fuss immediately, but then thinking of Song Yuan's advice, Li Yue took a lot of effort to suppress the anger in his heart.

Song Yuan once reminded Li Yue that most of the military power of the Cheng Han Dynasty is now in the hands of Li Xiang and Li Shou father and son, if he only cares about being with Li Bandou, it is difficult to guarantee that Li Shou will not take advantage of the fisherman.

After following Song Yuan's advice, Li Yue had already realized that Li Ban was not the only enemy in the battle for succession, and that if he wanted to win the final victory, he had to master more military power. Only with a large army in hand can he be invincible, and even if Li Ban inherits the throne in the future, what can he do? (To be continued.) )