Many people may think that by allowing these people to have private armies, the imperial court recognized their status as a separatist party. In fact, even if they did not admit that they had private troops, the imperial court was not capable of exercising effective rule over Mobei. On the contrary, if they are approved by the imperial court, any attempt by either side to attack and annex the other can be seen as a challenge to the authority of the imperial court, and the imperial court can justifiably crusade against them. This is exactly what Liu Ziqiu is clever about.

Of course, Tuoba Mumi's case is an exception, because Liu Ziqiu promised to crown him king and let him dominate the eight party departments. Although it is very likely that the Qiang people will become a threat to the Han people after the reunification, in the final analysis, it depends on whether the Han people themselves are strong. If the power of the Han people weakens, even if the various party departments are not unified, they can still pose a threat to the rule of the Han people. The era of the Wuhu Rebellion, which has just ended, is a good example.

It will take a long time for these decrees to be promulgated, and it is likely to be met with backlash from all sides, but Liu Ziqiu has not hesitated. He was well aware that it was only in the era of dynastic change that policies were more easily enforced. So, he has to seize this moment. After the world is calmed down, all walks of life have gradually entered the formalization, but it is no longer suitable to carry out such drastic reforms.

……

After being busy for half a month, Wei Zheng finally came to Luoyang from Jiangnan, and he was accompanied by the families of Li Jing, Han Shige and others, as well as a large number of gold, silver and jewelry left by Nan Chen.

Knowing that Empress Xiao asked Yang Qi to give up the throne to Liu Ziqiu five times, Wei Zheng laughed and said: "The Great Sui divides the world, and the lord has already obtained two of them, and it is expected that he will ascend the throne and claim the emperor." The lord refused to accept the Zen position, did he want to learn the story of Wei Wu? ”

Wei Wu refers to Cao Cāo, who himself did not usurp the Han world, but gave the opportunity to his son Cao Pi.

Liu Ziqiu laughed and said, "Liu Mou has so many crooked intestines!" Liu only acts with a clear conscience, right and wrong, and his descendants will comment! ”

Wei Zheng nodded: "Then, why did the lord hesitate again and again?" ”

Liu Ziqiu sighed and said: "Xiao Mo occupies Jiangling, captures more than a dozen counties in a row, the government in the territory is harmonious, and the people support it, Liu can't bear to cut it down." He is the nephew of Empress Xiao, and Liu is forcing her to surrender by the hand of Empress Xiao. If Liu accepted Yang Qi's Zen position at this time, a big battle would be inevitable. ”

Wei Zheng couldn't help laughing: "The lord is worried about the people, which is really the luck of all the people in the world. In this way, the lord should ascend to the throne earlier. Although Xiao Milling has won the hearts of the people, there is nothing to worry about. The reason why he refused to surrender was nothing more than luck. The main army can be divided into two roads, all the way out of the Bishui Pass, breaking the tile gang, deterring the thieves of Hebei and Shandong, all the way to Xiangyang, and entering Jiangling. As long as Wagang is repulsed, Xiao Milling will fall. The lord can accept Yang Qi's Zen position with peace of mind. ”

Liu Ziqiu was silent for a long time before he said, "Just follow what Mr. Wei said." Xiao Milling's return to the rì is when Liu accepts the Zen position! ”

……

When the news reached the palace, Empress Xiao pondered for a long time, suddenly gritted her teeth, and ordered: "Take Huang Aya!" ”

The old eunuchs who followed Yang Guang and Empress Xiao have all passed away one after another, and now the oldest in the palace is Li Cheng, and the position of chief manager is still held by him. But because Li Cheng is the person next to Concubine Xiao, Queen Xiao is very wary of him, and the Jingfan Palace where she lives is used by the people who were brought out of Longxi Palace at the beginning, even the cooks are no exception, and there is no need for people in the imperial dining room to wait.

Since there are trustworthy people around her, Queen Xiao doesn't need them to avoid it, she took Huang Aya, was silent for a while, and suddenly opened her mouth and bit her index finger.

All the palace maids were shocked, knelt on the ground one after another, and kowtowed again and again: "Niang Niang spare her life!" ”

"Get up, it's none of your business." Empress Xiao waved her hand and wrote a bloody letter on the yellow silk.

The palace maids only thought that Queen Xiao was going to do something about the edict, how dare they get up.

When Empress Xiao saw this scene, she knew that few of these so-called henchmen around her were really loyal to the Great Sui, and she was afraid that if she really wrote any edicts, they would go to tell Liu Ziqiu when they left the palace. However, Empress Xiao doesn't even want to maintain the Yang family's world now, so how can she care about where their hearts go, she couldn't help waving her hand lightly and said, "Don't kneel, go and ask Mrs. Liu to come over, the mourning family has a blood letter to hand over to her." ”

Hearing that this blood letter was handed over to Gao Xiu'er, the palace maids breathed a sigh of relief, got up from the ground one after another, and retreated.

After seeing the performance of these people around her, Empress Xiao understood that the general trend of the Sui room had gone, and she was even more determined to let Yang Qi take the Zen throne as soon as possible.

Gao Xiu'er was also taken aback when she heard that Empress Xiao had a blood book to hand over to her, and hurried to the palace, took Huang Aya and looked at it, but it was a letter written by Empress Xiao to Xiao Mo, urging him to surrender early, and couldn't help sighing: "Niangniang, you don't need to be like this." ”

Empress Xiao smiled bitterly and said: "If your husband is willing to accept the Zen position of Qi'er as soon as possible, why is the mourning family like this!" ”

Gao Xiu'er was speechless for a while, in fact, she didn't want Liu Ziqiu to be the emperor in her heart. To be an emperor is to become a loner, and to become the target of careerists all over the world, and you can no longer go back to the past.

……

Of course, Liu Ziqiu's thoughts are different from Gao Xiu'er, he wants to be the emperor, not to grasp the power of life and death like Yang Guang, but to change the rules of this world. What is an emperor? It is the supreme ruler who combines military, political and legislative powers, and this high degree of centralization is the root cause of the change of dynasties, the division of a long time, the division of a long time, and the turmoil in the world. If he were just a subject, he would inevitably be considered a rebel if he wanted to change this high degree of centralization. And it is different if he is the emperor, it is his own life, the resistance is naturally much smaller, and the goal is easier to achieve.

On the day he received this bloody letter, Liu Ziqiu appointed Li Jing as the governor of Bahan Road, commanding 10,000 cavalry and 50,000 infantry to be stationed in Xiangyang.

At this time, Nanyang Taishou Ma Yuangui had already sent people into Xiangyang City to clean up the mess left by Zhu Cang, and those rebellious people who followed Zhu Cang were placed in Xiangyang City and became residents of Xiangyang City, and Zhu Cang himself was ordered by Ma Yuangui to be beheaded in the city and hang the city gate. In addition, a large amount of grain was transported from Jiangnan, and some of the original Xiangyang people who fled to other places also returned to their hometowns one after another, and Xiangyang City regained a little popularity.

After Li Jing led the army into Xiangyang, while rectifying the city defense, he sent someone to send a war letter to Xiao Milling, and the blood letter written by Empress Xiao was sent at the same time. However, Li Jing was not in a hurry to march, and he was still waiting for a naval army to be transferred from Jiangdu. Liu Ziqiu's order to him was to put pressure on Xiao Miao, but for the sake of the generals, who did not want to make contributions, Li Jing was still ready to talk and fight at the same time.

Just after Li Jing set off, Liu Ziqiu summoned Wen Hao into the mansion and said, "General Wen, the Wagang army is shouting outside Bishui Pass, what do you think?" ”

Wen Hao patted his chest and said loudly: "Since ancient times, soldiers have been blocked, and water has come to cover the earth!" The last general is not talented, and he is willing to lead the army to set foot on Wagang! ”

Liu Ziqiu waved his hand and said: "Although Zhai Rang is mediocre, his subordinates are brave and brave, and there are many capable people, so you must not take it lightly. ”

Wen Hao said disapprenously: "Lord, the last general is willing to make a military order, if he can't retreat from the enemy, he is willing to be a military law!" ”

Liu Ziqiu laughed and said, "There is no need to set up a military order, Liu believes in your ability." When you send troops this time, as long as you repel the thieves outside the pass, you will be credited with a great achievement, and you don't have to chase and fight the defeated thieves. Treat your class teacher, Liu will reward you! ”

Wen Hao arched his hand and said, "Please rest assured, the last general will not be dishonored!" ”

……

It was only half a day's journey from Luoyang to Bishui Pass, and when Wen Hao's army arrived at Guanxia, the defenders of Guanshang had withstood the onslaught of the Wagang army for dozens of days. After so many days of bloody battles, everyone is tired and wounded, and the Wagang army outside the pass is also suffering heavy casualties, and the corpses are all over the field, which shows that the battle is extremely fierce.

In the early morning of the next year, the horn of attack sounded outside the pass, and the Wagang army swarmed in. However, today's situation is different from that of Xiangrì, the drums of war were beaten at the gate, and the closed gate was slowly opened, and a group of cavalry rushed out, firing arrows in unison, and shè held the position. At the opening of the door flag, a general came out of the crowd, holding a big knife in his hand, and shouted: "Wagang thieves listen! Quickly abandon your weapons and surrender, and you will be spared death! ”

It was Li Mi's idea to attack Bishui Pass, as long as he captured Bishui Pass, he could take Luoyang directly. On top of that, there are several large granaries built near Luoyang, which store large quantities of grain. Now the ** in Hebei and Shandong has lasted for more than a year, the land is barren, and the people have no food. As long as there is food, an army can be pulled up immediately.

If Li Mi wants to seize the world, a strong army is naturally indispensable. Therefore, after attacking for nearly two months, there were countless casualties among the soldiers, Zhai Rang was already thinking of retreating, but Li Mi still refused to withdraw his troops. Because Liu Ziqiu deliberately blocked the news, Li Mi still didn't know that Luoyang had changed hands.

In the era of cold weapons, siege is undoubtedly an extremely difficult task. Therefore, in ancient times, in order to seize the opponent's city, the generals would rack their brains, come up with all kinds of methods, and design all kinds of equipment. And to attack a pass like Bishui Pass, it is undoubtedly much more difficult than an ordinary city, because you can't form a siege of a pass at all, and the opponent can constantly get reinforcements, arrows, stones, grain and grass from the rear. In this case, the army guarding the pass took the initiative to attack, which is undoubtedly the best gospel for the besieging side.

Seeing this, Zhai Rang and Li Mi were both shocked. Zhai Rang looked around and said in a loud voice: "Who dares to go out and capture this thief!" ”