During this time, between Liu Xiu and Kui Huan, some things happened, which made the parties and latecomers feel: It seems that God is like this!

In order not to delay more of everyone's time, and not to say no, let's pick up 3 things and talk about them briefly.

At this time, Liu Yong and Pang Meng in the east, Peng Chong and Zhang Feng in the north, and Deng Feng in the imperial township in the south have all been leveled by Liu Xiu.

Kui Huan sent his eldest son here, and Gongsun Shu was far away in Bashu, Liu Xiu felt that the two brothers couldn't make too big waves for the time being, so they wanted to rest their hands and feet.

I am always fighting, the national strength is in ruins, the people are tired, and I myself am very tired!

Therefore, he explained to his civil and military generals: "Don't consider using troops against the two of them for the time being." ”

(And put these two sons in the outer ear.) ）

His idea is: As long as the two of them don't make too much trouble, try to write as much as they can, and try to appease them if they can.

So, Liu Xiu sent letters to the two brothers many times, analyzing the situation, explaining the gains and losses, and asking them to understand the overall situation, take care of the general situation, and return to obedience as soon as possible.

Regarding the olive branch extended by Liu Xiu, Gongsun Shu's attitude is very clear: ignore it; Lao Kui's attitude is very ambiguous: he doesn't express his position directly, and continues to fool and fool hard.

Every time Liu Xiu's letter came, Kui Huan arranged for the literati and scholars around him to reply to Liu Xiu, fooling Liu Xiu in a very literary and artistic way.

Anyway, there are literati and bachelors around him, and everyone is idle anyway, and some are time.

Many of these buddies like to dance and play with ink and rhetoric, and they regard the reply to Liu Xiu as a kind of pen meeting.

Liu Xiu is extremely busy with work, and of course he has a deep understanding of this set, so he didn't have time to talk to these people, but out of politeness and the need to win people's hearts, he still gave a serious reply, lest he lose his manners and hurt himself.

(Therefore, the emperor has a resignation, especially the meaning.) ）

However, what Lao Kui should seriously consider is how much time Liu Xiu can have to play this, and what kind of patience Liu Xiu has.

Let's talk about the second thing.

In his hesitation, Kui Huan sent an envoy to Luoyang to meet Liu Xiu.

The emissary's name is Zhou You, and the history of his mission is unknown, and we don't know anything about it. But it is clear that it is either to report to Liu Xiu, or to discuss the specific matters of further attachment of Kui Huan.

The problem is that Zhou You was killed in the middle of the road, and the location was in the military camp of Feng Yi, the general of Zhengxi in Guanzhong, and the case has not been solved.

It turned out that he was walking halfway around, and it was inevitable that he would have to rest, and he thought that the safest thing was of course in General Feng's barracks, and besides, I went to Luoyang to see Emperor Liu.

Everyone on the earth knows that General Feng is extremely strict in governing the army.

But unfortunately, at this time, Feng Yi was reporting to Liu Xiu in Luoyang, and his subordinates in the Guanzhong military camp obviously did not take the safety of the Zhou envoy seriously.

There was such a safety accident, and the case could not be solved, Liu Xiu and Feng Yi had no choice but to say that the Zhou envoy was killed by the enemy.

(Go to Feng Yi's camp first, and you will be killed by the enemy.) ）

In this way, in this treacherous and troubled world, for this strange murder, the dark and suspicious nature of Kui can't think about it.

No matter how Liu Xiu and Feng Yi explained, this case made Lao Kui have infinite reverie.

The third thing is also strange.

In order to show his good impression and respect for Kui Huan, and also to appease him, Liu Xiu gave him a batch of treasures and silks.

For the sake of prudence, Liu Xiu specially sent his garrison commander (Wei Wei) Choshi to Xizhou with this batch of property.

Liu Xiu thought about it very carefully, Cho was ranked in Jiuqing, and he was a core member of the imperial leadership team, and his business trip like this was equivalent to Liu Xiu's senior representative. At the same time, in view of the major safety accident that had just occurred when the Zhou envoy was killed in the barracks, it was possible to ensure safety by letting Choshi go.

However, unfortunately, when Commander Cho walked to Zheng County (now Huaxian County, Shaanxi), he was stolen, and all the property he had brought with him and given to Kui Huan by Liu Xiu was stolen!

(Zheng was stolen and lost his property.) ）

In this way, the Zhou envoy was killed and Commander Cho was stolen, causing rumors to spread.

Hearing this news, Liu Xiu was very emotional, and said: "It seems that my cooperation with Kui Huan is very unsmooth and discordant, the messenger came to be killed, and the reward was lost halfway. ”

(I am not in harmony with Kui's hustle and bustle, so that I will come to see and kill, and I will be given the way to die.) ）

In this way, many people have a premonition in the dark: Liu Xiu and Kui Huan will not be able to go together at all, and only by using force to determine the male and female and destroy one can everyone live in peace.

Here, we can't just blame Kui for being suspicious.

Let's think about it, his envoy was killed in the barracks of the general who governed the army most strictly, and the gift he gave himself was lost in the hands of a high-ranking cadre, the commander of the emperor's garrison, not to mention Lao Kui, who can believe it?

In fact, as early as last year, Liu Xiu's generals in the Guanzhong region kept writing books, thinking that the time had come to eliminate Gongsun Shu, and they asked for troops to be used against Bashu.

Liu Xiu sent people to show these books to Kui Huan, and also said that he planned to use Lao Kui's soldiers to fight Gongsun Shu.

His purpose is twofold, and it is also very clear: one is to beat Gongsun Shu; The second is to test the old kui.

However, Lao Kui couldn't stand the temptation at all, and immediately wrote to Liu Xiu, saying that he was weak and weak, and there was a serious threat from Lu Fang and other separatist forces in the north, and now was not the time to fight Gongsun Shu.

Liu Xiu could see at a glance that Kui Huan wanted to step on two boats, but still had the last glimmer of hope for him.

In March 30 AD, Gongsun Shu officially called on Liu Xiu and sent his general Ren Man to lead the army to invade the counties of Jingzhou.

Yes, I've been called the emperor for so long, I can't always nest in Chengdu!

It's been so long since I was the emperor, and Liu Xiu can't do anything to me, so it can be seen that he is not as terrible as the legend, and he can be completely fooled, or even completely eliminated.

Liu Xiu, if you don't beat me, I can only beat you!

Regarding his rivalry with Liu Xiu, we will talk about it later.

Now what I want to say is that when Gongsun Shu was about to take the initiative, Liu Xiu decided to use his patience with Kui Huan for the last time.

Liu Xiu directly issued an edict to Kui Huan, asking him to immediately send troops from Tianshui to attack Gongsun Shu and go straight to the hinterland of Bashu.

Lao Kui received the order, and as usual, he wanted to play Tai Chi with Liu Xiu.

He wrote back to Liu Xiu and said:

"The terrain around Baishuiguan is dangerous, and the original plank road and other infrastructure are seriously damaged; At the same time, Gongsun Shu is cruel by nature, which makes us very afraid from top to bottom, and we should wait until he is guilty before beating him, so as to receive a full response to the effect. ”

Obviously, Lao Kui explicitly refused, and the reason for refusal was very clumsy.

When Liu Xiu saw the letter, his patience was all exhausted: Kui Huan still couldn't be used by me in the end, so I could only fight!

In April, after returning to the land in spring, Liu Xiu came to Chang'an, and after paying homage to Liu Han's ancestral cemetery, he personally planned and commanded the military action against Gongsun Shu and Kui Huan.

This time, the lineup he brought was very luxurious, and there were only acquaintances from everyone: Geng Yi, the general of Jianwei, Gai Yan, the general of Huya, the general of the conquest, the general Ma Wu, the general of Hanzhong, Wang Chang, the general of Xiaocai, Liu Xin, the general of Wuwei, and so on.

If the opponent is not removed, he will not be able to sleep steadily!