Cui Shang also laughed.

Indeed, now Xuzhou's ambition and appetite are getting bigger and bigger, looking at Heshuo in the north, looking at Chuyang in the south, and the west wants to recover Gwangju, and even further annex Anshen Erzhou, the ambition and appetite are not small, but this can also reflect the enterprising spirit and vitality of a new feudal lord.

There is no hope for a vassal regime that is poor and conservative and content with the status quo, and the era of hegemony in the world is like sailing against the current, if you don't advance, you will retreat, and if you don't want to strengthen yourself, then you can only watch the strong neighbors next to you stretch out their claws to you, which is a very dialectical and realistic objective existence.

Cui Shang felt that he was fortunate to live in this regime, and he could fight for a higher goal, even if it was a little harder and harder, it was worth it.

"The king of the county, my subordinates still feel that I am afraid that there must be a priority. Cui Shang pondered for a moment, "The issue of the two states of Chu and Yang is very important for consolidating the rule and strength of our Xuzhou Grand Governor's Mansion. Lu Wuzhou can become the core area of our Xuzhou Governor's Office, it can be said that in addition to the land of these five states, any place, even if we have a mistake, will not hurt our vitality, we have the strength and confidence to get back, no matter who the enemy is, Xuzhou will be our political center and strategic hub, but also the iron smelting center, Shouzhou, Luzhou is our granary, but also the center of the ceramic industry, Yangchu Erzhou is the center of the silk weaving industry and salt industry, but also our grain base, which has formed a very stable and balanced development pattern, so we will not be afraid of any enemy. ”

Of course, Jiang Feng understands this truth, and Cui Shangli pushes to solve the problem of Chuyang and Yangzhou first, which means that the strategic focus will temporarily shift to the south.

Although the news from Youzhou that the Khitans and Liu Shouguang had a bad relationship over the issue of Tan Ji Erzhou, it is estimated that Liu Shouguang will succumb to the pressure of the Khitan people and be forced to withdraw from Tan Ji Erzhou, which may win Liu Shouguang some time, but Jiang Feng judged that this time will be very short, at most one year.

The Khitans are wolves that can't be fed, and it is wishful thinking to expect them to stop there, so they must be fully prepared.

One year is indeed too tight for not only to solve the two states of Chuyang, but also to go forward to control the three states of Di, Cang, and De to establish outpost fortresses, which is like a string that has been taut for the continuous Xuzhou, Jiang Feng is still a little worried about whether it will collapse.

Fortunately, the Pinglu Army and the Taining Army that were incorporated into it still alleviated the pressure on this aspect to a great extent, and the situation in the north can be supported to a large extent by relying on the Tianping Army and the Ziqing Army, and the Pinglu Army as the main force to march into Heshuo, while the Shangyunxi Army and the remnants of the Liang, which were incorporated from Daliang, should be fully prepared for the future confrontation with the Khitans as the newly formed Heshuo Army and the Pinglu Army in the future.

"Bai Ling, I know what you think, the Heshuo strategy and the Chu Yang strategy can go hand in hand?" Jiang Feng stroked his chin.

"You can consider a little dislocation in time, in fact, we do not conflict in the arrangement of troops, fight Chu Yang with the Huaiyou Army, Wu Ning Army can be used as a reserve, but in terms of money, silver, grain and grass and military funds need to be controlled, but the subordinates think that as long as we take Chu Yang Erzhou, we can get everything we want, which is enough to support the battle against Heshuo, and even the battle against Nanyang is enough. Cui Shang also understood Jiang Feng's worries in this regard, "King Jun, the opportunity must not be lost, and it will not come again." ”

Jiang Feng also understands that this opportunity is indeed too rare, Yue Guo and the ant thieves have already colluded, if he does not join in, then once Li Yu suffers a setback in the south of the Yangtze River, retreats to Jiangbei, and wants to take Chuyang Erzhou in the future, the price paid will be several times greater, now it is to take advantage of Li Yu's main force to be dragged by Yue Guo and the ant thieves, and attack hard with the momentum of sweeping the leaves in the wind, and take Chuyang Erzhou in one fell swoop, Chuzhou is second, after all, it is close to Huaishui.

Especially in Yangzhou, there is still Chuzhou in the middle, and Chuzhou, which is the closest to Xuzhou in the east, is still some distance away, and it will take a lot of trouble to take it, when Li Yu learned that the Xuzhou army was going south, could the strong man break his wrist, completely abandon the Runchang Erzhou in the south of the Yangtze River and return to the north, and whether the Xuzhou army could conquer Yangzhou, the premier city in Huainan, in one fell swoop, there are still many variables here.

So this matter has to be cautious, even if Jiang Feng understands that this opportunity is too rare, he also needs to think carefully about it.

"Well, there is indeed no chance to be lost, how is the preparation of the navy over there?" Jiang Feng already had a fixed opinion in his heart, "I am already ready to stop, Mei Shumi is in charge personally, and Wenli and they have been actively preparing during this time." ”

"What about Ziqing?" Jiang Feng clasped his hands together and rubbed them gently.

"The Huaiyou Army is still adjusting, because it involves the handover of Xia Cai, it may take some time, probably a few days. Cui Shang explained.

"Don't wait, since the collusion between Yue Guo and the ant thieves has been determined, then we don't need to hesitate any longer, and it seems that Li Yu also has a move, maybe the two sides will get together, Wuwentang said that Chuzhou and Yangzhou have been moving recently, Chuzhou has a sudden increase in ships going south at night, and the fine work and scouts are suspected of the possibility of transporting troops, and the south of Yangzhou is also deploying garrisons on a large scale to enrich the defense, which may be a harbinger of Li Yu's desperate gamble. Jiang Feng shook his head, "Let the Wuning Army send four infantry troops out, go south to the Huaiyin and Lianshui lines as soon as possible, and cooperate with Ziqing's Huaiyou Army to prepare for battle." ”

"Wu Ningjun's ......" Cui Shang hesitated.

"Don't worry, I estimate that Caizhou will also settle down for a while during this time, the Shatuo people are adjusting and resting, as long as Yuan Changhe is not stupid, he should think about it, the next blade of the Shatuo people is either pointed at them, or pointed at Nanyang, no matter which side it points to, he has to be careful, it really makes the Shatuo people fight their temper, Xuzhou side, the Shatuo people don't care if you and Nanyang have a tacit understanding, Caizhou maybe the Shatuo people also want to take a bite. Jiang Feng sneered.

With the news from Caozhou, the performance of the Yuan army in Songcheng softened a little, and for the invasion of Xiangyi by the Shatuo cavalry, the Caizhou cavalry was simply expelled and confronted, and only a slight "exchange" of arrows occurred between the two sides, which did not evolve into a fierce confrontation.

In Jiang Feng's view, this seemingly "reasonable and modest" action actually exposed the Yuan family's inner worries, or this is a disguised show of weakness, in the eyes of these Shatuo people, the weak are the best targets for attack.

The Yuan family wants to avoid a head-on conflict with the Shatuo people, or they want to cause trouble to the east, or they may want to let the Shatuo people attack Nanyang, so they want to deal with it with such a means that both moderately show their attitude and avoid being too stimulating, this method is effective sometimes, but in front of the Shatuo people who have just swallowed Daliang Zhi and are proud and arrogant, it seems a little soft.

Mei Guo jumped on the bow of the boat, stepped on it, and looked around, the mast was like a forest, and the white sails were like clouds.

After taking Luzhou, the main construction direction of the Huaiyou Water Army began to shift from the Huaishui side to the Jiangshui side, and a considerable number of officers and veterans began to move to the line of Chaohu, Weixushui and Jiangshui.

Now the southern navy is mainly divided into two parts, one is the Huaishui navy, which is mainly based on the Shouzhou navy, and the other part is the Chaohu navy, which is reorganized from Kou Wenli's original Chaohu water bandits.

With the establishment of the Xuzhou Governor's Office, the construction of the navy has also begun to enter a new stage, and Mei Guo personally sat in Chaoxian County to supervise the training and construction of the Chaohu Navy.

In fact, the lower reaches of the Huaishui River have become the inland rivers of the Xuzhou Governor's Mansion, so the importance of the Huaishui Water Army began to decline, and the importance of the Chaohu Water Army began to highlight, so some officers and veterans of the Huaishui Water Army were transferred to the Chaohu Water Army and formed the Second Army of the Chaohu Water Army, and the original Second Army of the Huaiyou Water Army was changed to the First Army of the Chaohu Water Army.

Although the number of troops was adjusted, the ships needed to be newly built, and the states along the Yangtze River controlled by Xuzhou were not very good at shipbuilding, which also forced the Chaohu naval army to buy ships from the upstream states.

Fortunately, there is still an ally of Ehuang, and Ezhou has given strong support, and it is still in place in a timely manner.

"Wenli, how is this boat?" Mei Guan took a closer look at the sail rope and pulley, and turned to ask Kou Wenli next to him.

"Ezhou is the most important shipbuilding town in the upper reaches of the river, large and small ships can be built, Jiangzhou can not be compared with it, the quality standards of the ship are no problem, the key is that we need to transform after we get the ship, and the Privy Council does not allow us to disclose some of our designs to the shipyard in Ezhou, so it is a bit time-consuming and laborious to transform it after taking it back. ”

Kou Wenli is much more calm and experienced than at the beginning, in the past two years in Luzhou, his navy has played a number of black roles, but as the situation in Luzhou and Chuzhou stabilized, these jobs gradually disappeared, or transferred to some specialized people under the command of Nighthawk, and his main energy began to shift to the business of the navy.

"That's also a helpless thing, these things are all researched by the Magic Material Official's Academy at great expense, in order to keep it secret, the Magician Official's Academy has only agreed to adopt its technology in a shipyard in Shouzhou so far, and they have all signed a confidentiality agreement, and Nighthawk also has someone stationed in the shipyard. Mei Guo shook his head, "These craftsmen are all from Shouzhou, and they are all doing their own work, and they are neither allowed to communicate with each other, nor are they allowed to replace each other, just to keep it secret." ”

"Hey, but the power of the assembled dragon cannon is too strong, and our training is dedicated to no one, just for fear of leaking. Kou Wenli licked his lips, "I'm looking forward to seeing how the Wu fleet will deal with these weapons of destruction when our fleet arrives in Yangzhou." ”