"Huainan is not calm, but the county prince doesn't seem to be thinking about Huainan. Guo Tao's eyes were like torches, and he looked directly at Hou Chen, "The smoke is rising in the north, what does the county prince want?"

This question was asked sharply, Hou Chen couldn't answer for a while, and after a deep sigh, he said: "What the adults said about Huainan is not calm, it is not accurate, it should be that Jiangnan is not calm, but the root cause is still the ant thief, but the ant thief has crossed the river, and the county prince is probably also powerless." ”

"No, I don't care about ant thieves, or Jiangnan, and I mean Huainan. Guo Tao glanced around, and his voice lowered slightly.

The guests on the ship were all watching the scenery from the Huaishui to the canal in the cabin, and no one noticed the conversation between Guo Tao and Hou Chen.

"Oh?" Hou Chen's color changed slightly, "What do you mean by ......?"

"That's right, Chuzhou and Yangzhou. Guo Tao's face was indifferent, "Since Li Yu's focus is on Runzhou and Changzhou, why doesn't the county prince take Chuyang, but wants to go north? If it is said that taking Xuzhou and Huaibei is to ensure the safety of Huainan, but what about Yanyunyi? What about Pinglu? How can these places be compared with Chuyang and Yang? Besides, how can the Huaiyou cavalry be compared with the cavalry army in the north? ”

Hou Chen shook his head, "There is some truth in what my lord said, but we must also see the changes in the situation in the north, if the Shatuo people enter the Central Plains, and the Khitan people go south to Heshuo, wouldn't it be the discolor of the Middle Earth?

Guo Tao was stunned, he didn't expect this Hou Chen to have such a point of view, but there was also something new.

"I always feel that the county prince is a little hasty to go north, well, if he can take Chuyang Erzhou, wouldn't he have more confidence to go north at that time?" Guo Tao also thought for a moment, "Of course, what Lord Hou said is also reasonable, but if he can take advantage of Li Yu's weakness now and take the opportunity to let Huainan unify, I am thinking that even if the Shatuo people set foot in the Central Plains and the Khitan people invade Heshuo in the south, the county prince can also have more strength to deal with it." ”

Guo Tao's fervent hope that Huaiyou and Li Yu would fight again also made Hou Chen a little puzzled.

He estimated that it may have something to do with Li Yu's miserliness, although he was named the king of Wu, but Li Wu's offerings to the court were scarce, far less than the original Yang Pu's wealth, which was probably also a reason.

In addition, it may be that the imperial court also felt that due to the collapse of the Great Liang, the entire balance of Middle-earth was broken.

The Shatuo people, who were originally the objects of the imperial court's dependence, suddenly became a force that might threaten the survival of the imperial court, and it could not be controlled by the imperial court, so the imperial court was eager to hope that one or several Han feudal lords who could balance the Shatuo people and even the Khitan people in the future, so as to ensure that the imperial court would not be thrown aside, or even destroyed easily.

Zhuhu is not as taboo as the Han feudal lords, and Liu Yuan's destruction of the Jin Dynasty is the best example.

This trend is worth paying attention to, and Hou Chen feels that he needs to report to the county magistrate immediately after coming down to see if it will have an impact.

Hou Chen's guess should be said to be partly correct, but the reason why a veteran like Guo Tao, who has been up and down for many years, so openly expressed to Hou Chen that the imperial court's support for Jiang Feng's expansion to Chuyang and Yangzhou was a few other factors.

Now Guanzhong really has some unbearable taste, especially there is still half a year of summer grain harvest, and the situation in Guanzhong and even the Central Plains is not very good, although the drought situation is slightly better than last year and the year before that, but the signs of spring drought are still revealed, plus there is little snow in winter, it is estimated that the summer harvest situation is worrying.

However, the situation in Shannan, Nanyang, Caizhou and Jianghuai, which originally supported Guanzhong every year, has changed dramatically.

Yang Wenchang of Shannan West Road has become a big problem for the imperial court, and it is impossible to get a little money and food from his mouth, if he wants, he can make a group of nobles in Chang'an City ashamed to death.

The party members also tore their faces with the imperial court, and in previous years, they had to worship some horses, animal fat, and skins like the Guanzhong imperial court, but this year not only did not, but they were also extorting money from the imperial court by force, which was also unprecedented.

Hedong, Nanyang, Caizhou and Jianghuai were originally the biggest dependents, but Hedong, Nanyang, and Caizhou are now using troops against the Great Liang, and Li Cunhou, the king of the Jin Dynasty in Hedong, has clearly stated to the imperial court that Hedong will be difficult this year, and I am afraid that he will not be able to contribute to the imperial court, which will cut off a road for the imperial court.

The situation in Nanyang and Caizhou is similar, both have to use soldiers, and it is estimated that Nanyang will contribute some, but Caizhou may not have it.

The rest is Jianghuai and Liangchuan, Tanyue and Zhennan Army.

Tanyue, Zhennan Army and Liangchuan are estimated to be able to make contributions, but the passage of Liangchuan is blocked by Yang Wenchang, and it is estimated that they will find excuses to make less contributions, or even if it is not reduced, the consumption on the road will be much greater.

Jianghuai should have been the most important source, but since the Central Plains War, Wu Yue is fighting with ant thieves again, and Huaiyou is in the non-stop Northern Expedition, which consumes a huge amount, which cannot help but make the imperial court panic.

Wu Yue Erdi used the excuse that the road was far away, and he himself made little contribution to the imperial court's attack, but Jiang Feng has always been quite obedient, even when he was still in Guanghushou's defense, he was constantly worshiped at four o'clock, and there was never a shortage of money and silver, otherwise the court would not be so happy to seal the county prince first, and then the county king would come again.

It is estimated that if the marriage with Princess Jin can really be finalized, it will be a matter of course to directly seal the prince of Jin.

Guo Tao also shouldered several tasks when he came to see Jiang Feng this time, one is to match the marriage between Jiang Feng and Princess Jin, the second is to observe the real strength of Huaiyou, and the third is to promote Huaiyou to defend the north and attack the south, pass through Huainan, and accumulate strength.

The reason why it is necessary to promote the Huaiyou to defend the north and attack the south is also this opinion reached after the secret discussion of the Privy Council of the Imperial Court and the Political Affairs Hall.

They believe that the foundation of Huaiyou is still too weak, although it has expanded rapidly in recent years, but this is also a hidden danger, especially the Pinglu Town and Taining Town that they have won should be a burden rather than an area that can be immediately converted into a strength reserve.

Huaiyou wants to compete with the Shatuo people with his current strength, and the chances of winning are extremely small.

The Imperial Court and the Privy Council agreed that Huaiyou would be the most important chess piece for the future imperial court to balance the Great Jin Dynasty in the Central Plains, and it was also a powerful barrier to prevent the Khitans from going south.

And to help Huaiyou stabilize his position, and if the rich Chuyang Erzhou is obtained by Huaiyou, it will definitely be able to make Huaiyou have the confidence to resist the Shatuo and Khitans.

It should be said that the turn of the face of the party members to the south has sounded the alarm bell for the princes of the DPRK and the central government, and the party members who originally bowed their heads in front of the imperial court suddenly changed color after their wings were full-fledged, so what about the Shatuo people, whose power is several times stronger than that of the party members? Will they still be as obedient to the imperial court as they used to be? And the Khitan people who are eyeing the northeast have always not bought the imperial court, and if they gain power, will they not be even more of a threat to the imperial court?

is still the same sentence, the hearts of those who are not of my race will be different, this sentence has repeatedly rolled in the hearts of the princes of the court, and it has become a law.

When they suddenly discovered that the entire Zhuhu capital in the north had formed a very dangerous encirclement against the Central Plains and even the Jianghuai and Jiangnan regions, and even continued to attack the Central Plains, they could not be shocked or disturbed.

They felt that something had to be done to fight the Zhuhu, who now seemed to be too big and even unstoppable, especially their leaders, the Shatuos.

"Are the envoys from the imperial court gone?" Leaning quietly in front of the window, Xu Ning's eyes flowed outside the window.

"Well, they all changed to a boat, preparing to go north from the canal to Tongqiao and then land in Xuzhou. ”

Xu Ziqing stood in the hall with his hands behind his back, the doors and windows were open, although the two were cousins, but Xu Ning was already a clear county wife, and he also needed to be taboo.

After a few months of rest, Xu Ziqing's body has fully recovered, and the Huzhou side has calmed down because the main force of the Nanyang Army turned north to Ruzhou and Xuzhou, if it weren't for Jiang Feng's strict order not to move, Xu Ziqing really wanted to take the opportunity to recapture Guangzhou.

"Is the county prince still in Qingzhou?" Xu Ning retracted his gaze and walked back to the center of the room gracefully, "I heard that he transferred the Pinglu Army to Yunzhou?"

Xu Ziqing knows his cousin's style and is extremely concerned about politics and military, but as the wife of the county duke, the interests of the Xu family are now firmly tied to Jiang Feng, which is not an exaggeration.

"Well, this is also what it should mean, whether it is the original Pinglu Army or the Ziqing Army, it is definitely not suitable to stay in Pinglu Town, and it is also reasonable to transfer to the jurisdiction of Tianping Town, Daliang can't tell when it will collapse, and I didn't see that there were many more people coming from Luoyang and Bianzhou during this time. Xu Ziqing said thoughtfully.

With the drastic changes in the situation in the Central Plains, people who are well-informed or have a keen sense of smell have begun to look for a way back.

In the past two months, the number of wealthy gentry and wealthy families who have come south from Luoyang and Bianzhou to settle in Shouzhou by boat through the canal has increased dramatically, and almost every day there are several boats on the Shouzhou wharf carrying all kinds of old and young women, children and a large number of family assets.

The price of residential land in Shouzhou has also skyrocketed, and the houses in the area around the East Gate are all dilapidated and low-rise houses, which have been bought by wealthy businessmen from Heluo in the past few months, and all of them have been demolished and rebuilt, so that the land prices in the East Gate area have also skyrocketed.

Now even the land prices along the banks of Feishui and Dongtai Lake and Daogong Temple from outside the East Gate have begun to rise, which is rumored that Shouzhou City is going to be re-expanded, mainly to the east, and may even include Feishui and Dongtai Lake in the city.

It should be said that this is not a rumor, Jiang Feng has always intended to expand Shouchun City, and wants to build Shouchun into a real industrial and commercial center in Huaiyou, forming a pattern centered on the two major water and land towns of Huaiyou Shouchun and Huaibei Xuzhou.

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