In mid-July, the main force of Han Jian's personal expedition destroyed the grain and grass of the Xianbei right Khan King as a turning point, and the war began to develop in a direction favorable to the Central Plains Dynasty. At the beginning, the people of the right Khan of Xianbei tried to start a decisive battle with Su Tingxia's soldiers and horses, but after besieging Su Tingxia's department, he underestimated the resilience of Su Tingxia's department. At this time, Han Jian personally led 30,000 soldiers and horses to support, and the soldiers and horses of the Khan King of Xianbei on the right retreated in a hurry, making the largest gap in Xianbei's 200,000 soldiers and horses attacking south.

The scales of victory are finally tipping.

On July 29, Su Tingxia's troops set out from the Beiguan line, drove straight into the grassland, and ransacked the Xianbei small tribes hundreds of miles north of Beiguan. Many small tribes were even defeated by Su Tingxia Lian, and the tribesmen and horses of the soldiers and horses of the Khan King on the right side of Xianbei suffered serious losses in this war. In order to avoid the loss of a larger area of his own tribe, the king of the right Khan simply chose to avoid the war, making Su Tingxia rampant on the grassland.

What followed was a large-scale counterattack along the Beiguan line, after half a year of retreating and defending, the soldiers of the Wei Dynasty had already held back their strength, and Lin Zhan personally led 10,000 cavalry into the grassland, and the main force of the Khan King on the left clashed with the men and horses, not falling behind. The left Khan and the right Khan also chose to retreat at the critical juncture of the war, and then Lin Zhan's soldiers and horses continued to go north, winning three battles and three victories, capturing nearly 100,000 people in Xianbei, and countless cattle, sheep and livestock.

The Xianbei people originally wanted to break through the Wei Dynasty's defense line at Beiguan and return the territory north of the Yellow River to their grasp, but after all, Xianbei's internal interests were entangled, and several parties did not form a joint force. At the time of victory, they can cooperate with each other and plan well, but after a rout in one place, it is easy to form a chain reaction, and with the defeat of the two main tribes of Xianbei, the left Khan and the right Khan. Xianbei had to withdraw his troops from Beiguan. originally thought that the Central Plains Dynasty would accept it when it saw it, but Han Jian was obviously not satisfied with the peace between the two sides. Once the Xianbei people recuperate, they can launch a large-scale southern invasion in a few years, if they can't succeed in the first battle, he still has no energy to focus on how to dominate the world, but to continue to entangle with the Xianbei people.

After the victory in this battle. The grain and grass problem that the three armies originally needed to solve most urgently had been solved, and Han Jian took advantage of the situation to launch a larger-scale counterattack. Lin Zhan and Su Tingxia each led their men and horses north to the grassland, not seeking to kill the Xianbei people, but to greatly damage the vitality of the Xianbei soldiers and horses, so that they could not fight with the Central Plains Dynasty again. By the beginning of September, Lin Zhan's men and horses were triumphant, and Lin Zhan not only captured hundreds of thousands of people in the north, but also caused dozens of large and small tribes in Xianbei to surrender. As for Su Tingxia's northward journey, they chose brutal killing and looting, and even the Xianbei ordinary tribal population suffered a catastrophe. By mid-September, Su Tingxia's headquarters had penetrated more than 2,000 miles into the grassland, completely ignoring the back-end purge. Even if Han Jian ordered the troops to be withdrawn, the front of Su Tingxia's department did not disappear, and they were still raging on the grassland.

The north entered the beginning and end of a wave, and the Xianbei people fully withdrew their troops to the hinterland of the grassland, using their familiarity with the grassland to make a final deal with the soldiers and horses of the Wei Dynasty. At the same time, Han Cui and Han Zhao also led troops out of Guanzhong. It easily recovered the old land of Xiliang, which had been lost for half a year, and at the same time opened up the main road with the Western Regions. Xianbei has been operating a Midwestern tribe for many years. They also surrendered one after another.

Han Jian's main Chinese army stayed on the front line of the grassland, and did not advance an inch for dozens of days, but it firmly guarded the border defense of Beiguan. After Lin Zhan's troops withdrew, Han Jian also felt that the general situation had been decided, and the seemingly turbulent Xianbei people had suffered heavy losses in this battle, and they had to recover for several years or even more than ten years before they could have the ability to fight with the Central Plains Dynasty again. This period of time is also enough for Han Jian to run the Central Plains. Complete the basic recuperation and his grand deeds.

The army was triumphant, and Han Jian had been on the expedition for more than half a year, and he had too many people in mind. Lin Xiaoshu and Gu Xin'er gave birth to children one after another, but Han Jian had no time to go back to be by his side in the north. As for the turmoil of Han Song's family in the capital, it basically subsided after Fa Yi returned to Luoyang. Han Jian chose to return to the DPRK at the end of September. A few days ago, in addition to agreeing on the issue of building a city and setting up a capital protectorate in the grassland, it was about the resettlement of the grassland tribes who surrendered to the Wei Dynasty.

Followed by all kinds of praise for merit, even if Han Jian was in the northern military camp, he could receive the local table every day, and he did his best to praise him. Han Jian's previous move to fight the country made many local complaints, and many magistrates simply disobeyed the yang and the yin, but after the end of this battle, the strong Xianbei people were also repelled in one fell swoop, which made Han Jiangang's throne very stable, and no one dared to discuss Han Jian's usurpation.

……

……

Far south in the city of Jinling, Sima Yi finally returned to Jinling after a journey of nine deaths. But there are too many dangers around him, and for the sake of his safety, Xiao Zhan, the empress of the Qi Dynasty, did not say a word about his return to the court, and Sima Yi is still the right minister of the Southern Dynasty, but he will not make it public until he officially takes office.

Sima returned to Jinling at the end of July, just as the war in the north had just taken a turn for the worse. However, Sima learned from the conversation with Li Shanye that the Xianbei people had gone to the general trend this time, and in the first battle of Kangzhou, the Xianbei people thought that they had burned the grain and grass of the Wei Dynasty's soldiers and horses, and felt that the general trend was timed, and missed the opportunity to fight the best decisive battle with the Wei Dynasty's soldiers and horses.

According to Li Shanye, if the Wei Dynasty withdraws from the quagmire of the Xianbei people, the next step is to raise troops to the south of the Pingjiang and Qi dynasties to complete the unification of the world. At this time, the Southern Qi Dynasty was flashy for a hundred years, and it was unable to fight with the soldiers and horses of the Northern Wei Dynasty, and then it would only be the destruction of the Qi Dynasty and the completion of the unification of the world by the Wei Dynasty.

And there are only two people who have the ability to change this result, one is the newly enthroned empress, and the other is Sima Yi, who knows the roots of the north.

Sima Yi never felt that he had much power to control the situation in the world, and after several assassinations on the way back to Jinling, his mentality became more mature. Now more than one person in the Southern Dynasty wants him to die, Zhu Tongjing wants to kill him, and the people of King Hui's party want to kill him, and even the emerging forces that Xiao Zhan has just cultivated will not allow him. After he was far away in Xu Ding and was appointed by Xiao Zhan as the right minister of the Southern Dynasty, he has become the target of everyone, if he stays in the Southern Dynasty for a long time. He must have his own power, and if he is only alone in front of him, I am afraid that it will not be long before he will be in trouble.

But at this time, he only had Li Fangwei as the leader, and Li Fangwei was a few horses, but he was only limited to Xu Ding, and Sima Yi in Jinling City had no way to establish his own power as a newly rising person. Li Shanye said that he could help him.

After Sima borrowed and returned to Jinling City. He secretly lived in the residence prepared for him by Xiao Zhan, and he did not meet any courtiers of the Southern Dynasty, even envoys from the north, except for Li Fangwei and Li Shanye for half a month. So that even Han Jian didn't know his life and death, at this time, more news of the war in the north came to the south, Sima learned that the soldiers and horses of the Wei Dynasty took the initiative to attack, and the Xianbei people were no longer able to return to the sky, and he also knew very well that the soldiers and horses of the Southern Dynasty were basically in the hands of Zhu Tongjing and Xiao Ling, the king of Hui. After the failure of the Northern Expedition, the Wei Dynasty's soldiers and horses could only be used as a tool to seize Jinling's stable power, but not as a defense against foreign enemies. However, Sima Yi had a hunch that Han Jian would not immediately move his troops south, and after the battle with the Xianbei people, the north would also need time to recover.

On August 16, Xiao Zhan, the empress of the Qi Dynasty, met with the courtiers in the court, and after the court meeting, Xiao Zhan secretly came to Sima Yi's residence. At this time, Sima borrowed a chess game in one hand. In the other hand, he played against himself on the chessboard with a chess piece, and he was surprised by the Empress's personal arrival. Although Sima was secretly placed after returning to Jinling, it was Xiao Zhan's meaning. But Xiao Zhan didn't come to see him in person, and seeing that the empress had to condescend in person, it could only mean that Xiao Zhan had difficulties that could not be solved now, and he had to come to him for help.

"Sir, don't be polite." Seeing Sima get up to greet him, Xiao Zhan seemed very easy-going, she was uninvited. It wasn't until she arrived in the hall of Sima Qi's residence that she was known to Sima Qi, but in fact, she didn't want to reveal her identity.

Sima Yi just sat down with a little salute, Xiao Zhan didn't say much and sat down directly, she glanced at the chessboard that Sima Yi had placed, and then looked at Sima Yu and said, "I'm here to disturb this time." It's something to ask for. ”

Sima Yi reacted first, he is just one person now, he has no power of his own, Xiao Zhan will not ask him for lack of people, since he has something to ask for, he is here to ask. Sima said: "I don't know that Your Majesty is for the north? ”

Xiao Zhan nodded slightly, and said, "I have informed Mr. of all the news from the north before, I don't know what Mr. thinks?" ”

Sima Yu thought for a while before he said, "Your Majesty should be worried that the people and horses of the Northern Dynasty are going south, and they are not the enemies of our Dynasty's soldiers and horses." Although His Majesty has made great efforts since he ascended the throne, the soldiers and horses are not under His Majesty's control, which is trapped by His Majesty. ”

Xiao Zhan nodded, when she ascended the throne, she was just a puppet supported by Xiao Ling, the king of Hui, not to mention the military power, and even the right to govern the country was not in her hands. After more than half a year of fundraising, coupled with the fact that Xiao Ling, the king of Hui, was obsessed with pleasure and ignored the matter of power, Xiao Zhan gradually gained the initiative in national affairs, but Xiao Ling still held the power of the soldiers and horses of Jinling and even the Qi Dynasty, even if there were certain soldiers and horses that were not in Xiao Ling's hands, those soldiers and horses were also controlled by Zhu Tongjing, and after Zhu Tongjing sent people north to assassinate Xiao Zhan, Xiao Zhan also completely regarded Zhu Tongjing as an enemy, but on the surface he wanted to make a harmony between the monarch and the minister, so as to gain the initiative against the power of King Hui.

Sima Yu said: "But Your Majesty doesn't need to worry too much, the following ministers' understanding of the Northern Dynasty, in recent years, the north has spent a lot of national strength because of civil strife and the war with the Xianbei people, and the emperor of the Northern Dynasty originally intended to resist Xianbei to make the north recuperate." At this time, His Majesty should send people to the north as soon as possible to discuss so that His Majesty can gather military power as soon as possible. ”

Xiao Zhan said: "I also have this intention. Do you know who chose Mr. Beishang as the collegiate person? The officials of the court and the central government are intertwined, and they are not sincere and me, and at this time, they are sent north, or they are not capable, or they have evil intentions, and I have no good choice. I originally wanted Mr. Yu to be the envoy of the state, but I don't need Mr. to give advice at the moment, and besides, Mr. is still a member of the Northern Dynasty, and I am afraid that Mr. will never return......"

Sima Yu nodded, he invited him out, Xiao Zhan had the intention of forcing him to stay in the Southern Dynasty and refused to let him go back. With him, not only can he ask questions, but if the Northern Dynasty really kills him, he can even take him as a hostage, although Xiao Zhan didn't say it explicitly, Sima Yi also knew it in his heart. Sima Yi did not return to the Northern Dynasty after returning to the Southern Dynasty, and also as the envoy of the Southern Qi Dynasty, what he had to do was to welcome Xiao Zhan back to the Dynasty as the emperor, when Han Jian agreed that Sima Yi had communicated with Xiao Zhan when he went south, and only let him go after Xiao Zhan promised to treat Sima Yi well and respect Sima Yi's wishes to come and go freely, in fact, Sima Yi insisted on going south and refused to stay in the north.

Sima said: "The candidates of the imperial court should not be subordinate ministers. If Your Majesty really has no unscrupulous ministers to choose from, one of the ministers will propose it. ”

"Oh?" Xiao Zhan was stunned, as far as she knew, in fact, Sima Yu didn't have anyone around him as a helper, if she could say that the candidate who could be proposed was nothing more than to choose from the court, but she herself had considered that there were almost no people who could complete the task of going north to the collegial meeting. Not to mention the one who has to do a great job.

Sima Yi looked up at the door, at this time Li Fangwei had already gone out to contact the courtiers who had been in the court to come back, all he had to do in the past few days was to go out to listen to the news as Sima Yu's eyeliner. Li Fangwei only knew that there were guests coming when he arrived in the courtyard, and when he glanced inside, he realized that the situation was not quite right, and before he could turn around and leave, he saw Sima Yi and Xiao Zhan walking out of the hall side by side.

"This ......" Li Fangwei's heart tightened, seeing that the empress should have stepped forward to salute, but after all, he was a minister who was exiled, and he came to Jinling without receiving an order from the Son of Heaven, and he was still a retainer of King Hui, so he should not meet Xiao Zhan on such an occasion anyway. Just as he was about to avoid it, Sima Yi had already spoken: "Li Taishou came over to see Mr. Nan. ”

Li Fangwei was stunned, he was very uncomfortable with the title of "Mr. Nan". Although he knew that the empress was in front of him, he also learned the trick of Sima Yi's confusion, and walked forward and just saluted politely: "I have seen Mr. Nan in Xia Xu Dingtaishou." ”

Xiao Zhan was originally dressed in men's clothes, heroic and cool, and walked up to look at Li Fangwei, which made Li Fangwei feel very uncomfortable. Xiao Zhan smiled and said, "Your Excellency is Li Taishou?" I often hear Mr. Sima mention it. ”

Li Fangwei was slightly stunned again, but he was also very happy in his heart, which showed that Sima Yi still gave him face very much, and actually mentioned him in front of the empress, which was of great help to his future officialdom promotion. Xiao Zhan said: "I have an urgent matter to go back to my family, but I have one thing to entrust to Li Taishou for help, you might as well be informed by Mr. Sima and say goodbye first!" (To be continued......)