After bidding farewell to Liu Kun and leaving Yanmen Pass, Wei Shuo left Liu Yao and 12,000 cavalry in Shanbei and Daijun to take charge of the defense of the two places. At the same time, in order to reunite Liu Yao and his wife, he asked Sun Wei to return to Zhuo County to replace Shao Yuniang.

After arranging everything in the end, Wei Shuo took Han Shou, Lu Chang, Nengchen, Wei Xiong, Ji Yu, Mo Han and others to embark on the journey back to the east quickly, preparing to return to Xiangping for the New Year.

"Lord, there is Jicheng ahead!"

"Good! Go to Jicheng for a little rest, and after the fifteenth day of the lunar month, we will go back to Xiangping for the New Year."

"No!" Hearing the word New Year, Nengchen's spirit was shocked and shouted loudly.

Looking at Jicheng in the distance, Wei Shuo couldn't help but breathe a long sigh of relief. This expedition to Shanbei and Daijun lasted a month and a half, but he was tired, and now it feels really good to return to Jicheng again.

"Congratulations to the triumphant return of the lord!"

There were many Youzhou officials standing outside the west gate of Jicheng, and when they saw Wei Shuo, they hurriedly bowed their hands and shouted loudly.

Wei Shuo rode on the horse and took a look, and it turned out to be Gao Zhan and Liu Han who came out to greet him.

Seeing that it was his two confidants, Wei Shuo hurriedly got off the horse, stepped forward and said to Gao and Liu: "Oh, it's cold, it's freezing, why bother the two gentlemen to come out to greet me in person?" ”

Gao Zhan and Liu Han clasped their fists and said loudly: "The lord is running outside the northern part of Shaanxi for state affairs, and he is not afraid of wind and snow. Today, the lord has returned triumphantly, and I am just suffering from some cold when I come out to greet him, if I am even afraid of this little hardship, then what kind of official will I come out of, why don't I go home and be a rich man? ”

Wei Shuo smiled and didn't say anything, turned around and introduced a few people around him to everyone.

"This is Mr. Mo Han, who will be the head of the money bank in the future, responsible for the issuance of currency. The two big men standing behind Mr. Mo Han are Wei Xiong and Ji Yu, two generals. After the civil strife in Tuoba. The two generals, Wei and Ji, led 30,000 households of Hu and Han to run south to Dai County, and made great contributions to Youzhou's control of Shanbei and Dai County. ”

"Hahaha, I didn't expect that I have added several talents to Liaodong today, which is really gratifying! My lord, I have good news for you right here. ”

"Oh? What's the good news? ”

"Hahaha, congratulations! Congratulations to my lord! The day before yesterday, there was news in Liaodong. The housemother successfully gave birth to a liner for the lord! ”

"What?! It's true! Hearing this, Wei Shuo's head was clouded, his face was full of surprise, and he couldn't believe it was true!

At this time, Gao Zhan and others next to him congratulated him one after another, "Congratulations to the lord!" ”

That night, in order to celebrate the victory of the Western Expedition and the birth of his eldest son, Wei Shuo held a banquet in Jicheng to invite all the civil and military forces in Youzhou. The participants not only included the newly attached Mo Han, Wei Xiong and others, but also Gao Zhan, Liu Han and other former confidants. Everyone sat in two columns, gathered together, chatting and chatting while tasting wine.

Wei Shuo raised his glass and said to everyone present: "Today's feast is to celebrate the victory of the Western Expedition. I congratulate my son-in-law on the birth of my son-in-law. Please let go of your inhibitions and have fun. In addition, Shuo would like to express his gratitude to everyone present with a glass of wine! Do it first in the next for respect! Ladies and gentlemen, please! ”

"Please!" Everyone raised their glasses.

The wine has passed three rounds, and the dishes have five flavors! After a few glasses of hot wine, everyone gradually let go of their restraints. Some acquaintances, three or three of them gathered at the head and ear. Say something considerate. Only Mo Han, Wei Xiong, and Ji Tang, the three new people who came over, still can't let go.

Wei Shuo hurriedly turned sideways. Towards the three people, "Shirong and the two generals Wei and Ji, you have just arrived in Jicheng, and you are not very familiar with me. But after a long time, you will understand that Zai Xia is actually a very easy-going person. Not so much in private. For example, at this feast, you don't have to think about my feelings, just enjoy yourself! ”

Lu Chang next to him also took the opportunity to interject: "That's it, that's it, the lord is right!" There are so few people who are so easy to get along with as the lord. We are really lucky to be able to follow my lord in my lifetime. ”

Hearing this, Wei Shuo nodded Lu Chang with his hand and scolded with a smile: "If you want to say that you are also full of talents under your hands, but only Changzhi is the most free and uninhibited. However, having him alone is enough of a headache for me, so don't learn from him! ”

"Wow, hahaha......"

As soon as Wei Shuo's words fell, a loud laugh broke out at the scene, and many people were laughing straight down.

Mo Han looked at the harmonious scene in front of him and couldn't help but feel a lot of emotion. In the past, in Liu Kun's shogunate, Liu Kun would only seem happy when he talked freely with people about literature and music.

Everyone gossiped for a while, and involuntarily talked about business again. Although the connection with the state has been opened, Wei Shuo is still worried about the situation in the state. When he was at Yanmen Pass, Liu Kun mentioned to him many times the difficulties of merging states, and several times Wei Shuo immediately led his army westward to merge states.

In the end, considering the actual situation in Youzhou, he could only temporarily press the heart of impatience. Now that he was drinking to the end of his ears, he couldn't help but think of the merger again.

"Mr. Jingqian, Liu Gong specially asked me to express my gratitude to you, saying that if you hadn't given him a plan before leaving, the situation in Jinyang would have been even worse."

Hearing this, Gao Zhan put down the wine bottle and said with a chuckle: "I really don't hide it from the lord, the strategy I offered to Liu Gong is not just for the sake of merging states, but also for my Liaodong." ”

"Oh? I didn't expect that there was a secret in this matter! Mr. Gao came quickly, and let me wait to see it! ”

"The lord didn't know that the reason why Liu Gong died in Jinyang and Yangqu and was unwilling to leave was that in addition to being influenced by the court, the biggest resistance came from the Bingzhou family headed by the Taiyuan Wang family and the Yangqu Guo family. Those big families still have to rely on Liu Gonghuwei to protect the ancestral hall from Hu Lu, how can they be willing to withdraw to Dingxiang? ”

But the pressure of reality forced Liu Gong to shrink his line of defense to Dingxiang! Hmph, look, in the future, Duke Liu will fall out with the Bingzhou family because of this matter. But this is just right, if he doesn't fall out with the family, how can I, Liaodong, have the opportunity to meddle in the annexation of the state? ”

Gao Zhan's words brought a great shock to everyone, and many people secretly said: No wonder Wei Shuo asked Gao Zhan to help him with so much effort, it turns out that people are really capable! At the same time, they couldn't help but feel sorry for Cui Yu, if Cui Yu could reuse Gao Zhan like Wei Shuo, maybe Liaodong would have nothing to do with Wei Shuo!

"Mr. Gao, you ...... It's not good for you to do that! In any case, Liu Gong is also the leader of the Youhe Alliance, and at the same time, he is also the official of the imperial court, so he should not be so calculating. ”

Although Wei Shuo felt very comfortable, considering the impact, he still had to do some superficial work, and pretended to scold Gao Zhan.

Gao Zhan was also very cooperative, covering his cheeks with his sleeves, and retreated 'ashamed'.

Unexpectedly, at this time, Mo Han said: "Lord, although what Gao Changshi did had the intention of calculating Liu Gong, it may not be a good plan for Liu Gong!" And from the perspective of the interests of the people in the state, it is indeed much stronger for you to join the state than Liu Gong. ”

At the beginning, Liu Gong did not accept good words and insisted on going his own way, but as a result, Jinyang was lost, resulting in tens of thousands of Li people being taken captive by the Huns, which shows that Liu Gong is indeed not suitable for herding one side. If the lord can enter the annex state, he will definitely sweep away the decline of the previous annexation state army and reverse the already dangerous defense line. ”

Wei Shuo saw that the more everyone talked, the more outrageous it became, and he hurriedly interrupted: "Okay, okay, no need to say it again!" ”

It's not that Wei Shuo doesn't want to take the state, but the situation in the state is complicated, and the reality does not allow him to make a strong enemy. Besides, it is very simple to reverse the decline of the state, only tens of thousands of troops from Liaodong are enough to help Liu Kun stabilize the situation, but the key is how he should deal with the family and the attention from the imperial court.

In Wei Shuo's view, the key to solving the problem of merging states is not the military, but mainly the political aspect, the most important of which is how to reach a compromise with the family and the imperial court. The Bingzhou family is close to Guanzhong and has close ties with the imperial court, as long as there is any disturbance, the imperial court will react.

Wei Shuo didn't want to be the target of public criticism because of his recklessness, and Bingzhou was definitely going to take it, because this was his passage into Guanzhong. In the future, only by taking and merging the state will Liaodong have the opportunity to intervene in the chaotic Guanzhong. In the case of a strong enemy blocking the way to the south, Wei Shuo has long regarded Guanzhong as a bag. (To be continued.) )