"When you were with me, I promised you that I would take you to open up this unjust world, but now the time has not come, we have to secretly accumulate strength."

Hearing Li Zuo's words, everyone immediately responded excitedly: "Please ask King Ming to command!" ”

Seeing this, Li Zuo nodded with satisfaction and said: "Although the imperial court is weak now, its strength is still there, but with the dictatorship of eunuchs, the division of feudal towns, and the party strife among courtiers, now the whole world is full of holes, the people are not happy, and the chaos in the world is not far away." ”

"And before the chaos of the world comes, we must accumulate enough power, if we have been in the dark, our strength development is too slow, not to mention, leaking out is also a big trouble."

"Therefore, my plan is to turn from darkness to light and develop generously."

Hearing this, Shi Shoudao's heart suddenly moved, and he said: "What does King Ming mean by taking advantage of this opportunity to invade the north and south, and swallow Qianzhong?" ”

"That's right." Li Zuo nodded when he heard this, glanced at Shi Shoudao appreciatively, and said with a smile: "Now with the Qianzhong Economic Strategy Qin Kuangmou to abandon the city and flee, the five thousand soldiers and horses guarding Qianzhou are also fleeing, scattered, and leaving behind is also the army's morale is scattered. ”

Li Zuo's original plan was to wait for Qin Kuangmou to be executed before taking the opportunity to annex the entire Qianzhong Dao, but he then thought that it was now a melee situation in the late Tang Dynasty, and there was no need for him to be so cautious.

And, after thinking of the news that Jingnan Jiedu had caused Du Yi to die of illness, Li Zuo thought of taking the opportunity of annexing Qianzhong Dao to see if he could attract Du Yi, and then take the opportunity to take the three prefectures of Zhongzhou, Wanzhou and Kuizhou west of Guizhou in Jingnan Province to control the east gate of Shu.

Even if Du Yi doesn't come, Li Zuo can take the opportunity of escorting Qin Kuangmou's family to take the land of the above three states.

"King Ming is wise." Shi Shoudao first slapped a sycophant when he heard this, and then said: "Dare to ask King Ming, are we still sending troops in the name of the Marquis of Banzhou?" ”

"For the time being, let's still borrow the name of Banzhou Hou." Li Zuo nodded when he heard this, and said: "However, borrowing the name of others is never a long-term solution, so prepare on your side, military advisor, and after we annihilate the invading Nanzhao army, you may have to take a trip to Chang'an with gifts to see if you can operate the position of the envoy of the Qianzhong Economic Strategy." ”

After defeating the Nanzhao army, plus the previous recovery of Banzhou and other places, it can be said that Li Zuo's military exploits are enough, and then he only needs to take the gift to the relationship with the eunuch Tian Lingzi.

Although Tian Lingzi's status is still very low, Li Zuo knows that when Tang Xizong succeeds to the throne in July, Tian Lingzi will jump from a small eunuch to one of the four nobles, become a privy envoy, and become the central figure of the ruling group at that time.

At that time, Tian Lingzi was in power, and if anyone wanted to be an official, he had to go through his back door, give him gifts and bribes, and he appointed officials or gave knighthoods, and he did not need to report to the emperor, he himself could be the master.

Li Zuo fought the idea of bribing Tian Lingzi, and when he had an official and a half-post in hand, he could learn from Wang Jian in history to annex other forces in Bashu in a grand manner.

Of course, Shi Shoudao also knew about their current embarrassing situation, so after hearing Li Zuo's words, he immediately responded: "Yes, the subordinates will definitely live up to the trust of King Ming!" ”

Li Zuo nodded when he heard this, and said, "Of course, before this, we must completely control the Qianzhong Dao, so that even if the imperial court does not agree, we can take the opportunity to cause trouble directly." ”

As he spoke, Li Zuo raised his head and looked at the first biao-type general on the left and arranged: "Lian Xingbao, your first army will immediately go north and enter Nanzhou, Qianzhou, Fuzhou, Shizhou, Sizhou, Xizhou and other places. ”

The military system used by Li Zuo is adapted from the military system of the Tang Dynasty in this period, that is, five people are a team, and a team commander is established; The second army is a group, and a gang leader is set up; Five groups are a team, with a captain, plus the standard-bearer and others, and the total number of people in a team is about 60 people; The five teams are a battalion with one captain; The five battalions are one box, with one captain; The second compartment is one capital, and the capital is one person; The five capitals are one army, and the capital is unified with people.

According to this standard, with the addition of the secretary and other staff members in the army, there are about 15,000 people in a full army.

After two or three years of continuous recruitment and training, the army under Li Zuo's command now has more than 70,000 people, of course, except for the First Army and Li Zuo's personal guard army, which is full, the other armies are about 10,000.

"The last general commands!" When Lian Xingbao heard this, he hurriedly replied.

Seeing this, Li Zuo nodded, Lian Xingbao was the first general he recruited and trained, and when he first crossed over, Lian Xingbao, like Shi Shoudao, was one of the first people to see him.

Lian Xingbao was born in a military family, in the third year of Taihe (829), Jiannan Jiedu made Du Yuanying not know the military, the military equipment was lax, and the soldiers were harsh, causing the soldiers to lead the southern Zhao into the Kou and break through the outer city of Chengdu.

Later, the imperial court used Li Deyu as the envoy of the Jiannan Festival, rectified the border defense, eliminated some slack generals, and the Lian Xingbao family began to decline during this period.

Originally, Lian Xingbao planned to be called to participate in the Battle of Pingbo to accumulate military merits and start anew, but after arriving at Iron Mountain, he saw the scene of Li Zuo's arrival.

Coupled with Shi Shoudao's sentence "The world will be chaotic, the people will not have a good life, the king of Ming will come to the world, and all living beings will be universal", which suddenly made Lian Xingbao, who was already disappointed in the court, moved.

After Shi Shoudao knelt down to Li Zuo, Lian Xingbao followed the second kneeling down, and later he was Li Zuo's personal guard for more than three months, until Li Zuo decided to recruit young people for training in Lezhi, he stayed in Lezhi's Bosa Mountain to train recruits.

It can be said that Lian Xingbao, like Shi Shoudao, was one of the first henchmen after Li Zuo came to this era, and the northern defense line of Qianzhong Dao, and even Jiangguan (Qutang Pass) handed him over, Li Zuo was quite relieved.

At this moment, Shi Shoudao suddenly spoke: "King Qiming, my subordinates think that the land of Sizhou should not be moved. ”

Li Zuo frowned when he heard this, and then he also reacted, starting from the Sui Dynasty, when Tian Zongxian, a native of Lantian County, led the ten surnames to the south, the Sizhou Tian clan has experienced nine generations, and now it has taken root there.

Especially after the 23rd year of the Kaiyuan Dynasty, the soldiers and horses of the righteous army made Tian's Jiasi Prefecture Jiedu envoy promoted to the middle school scholar, and now Tian Zuoyu awarded the righteous army soldiers and horses in the 11th year of Xiantong, and still leads the Sizhou Jiedu envoy.

Thinking of this, Li Zuo thought while tapping on the table.

Seeing this, Shi Shoudao continued: "Although there are not many soldiers and horses in Sizhou, with the advantage of the terrain, the three thousand soldiers and horses may suffer heavy casualties if we rush into the army, and besides, we have not yet reached the point of tearing our faces with the imperial court. ”

Li Zuo nodded when he heard this, and then asked, "What does the military advisor think Sizhou should do?" ”

"King Hui Ming, according to the opinion of his subordinates, Sizhou can be ignored for the time being." After a pause, Shi Shoudao picked up a wooden stick and gestured on the sand table and continued: "Now that Feizhou and Zhenzhou are already in our hands, General Lian will be stationed in Qianzhou, Shizhou and Xizhou and other places, and if you want to come to Chongzhou, King Ming of Jinzhou will also send people to go." ”

"In this way, Sizhou will be completely surrounded by us, and it will be available at any time if necessary."

Li Zuo stared at the sand table and pondered for a moment after hearing this, and then nodded and made a decision: "Okay, Sizhou will not move for the time being, in addition, except for the most evil people in various places, the others will also maintain the status quo for the time being." ”

After thinking about it, Li Zuo raised his head and arranged for a general behind Lian Xingbao: "General Cai Congshu, your second army will go south from Feizhou to recover Chongzhou, and at the same time attract the attention of the Nanzhao army. ”

After saying that, Li Zuo turned his head to look at the general behind Shi Shoudao and arranged: "General Li Ziwang, I will hand over Shaoming Pass to you." ”

Jinzhou, Chenzhou, Yizhou, and Xiangzhou must be taken, and when the Central Plains is in turmoil in the future, he will march east to take Hunan, and south to Guizhou, Annam, and Lingnan.

With the southern half of the wall as the rear of the unified world, Li Zuo's Northern Expedition will be much easier when he arrives.

"The last general commands." Cai Congsu and Li Ziwang hurriedly responded when they heard this.

If Lian Xingbao is strong and strong, Cai Congsu and Li Ziwang look very thin, Cai Congshu is tall and thin, with the nickname of a hemp pole, while Li Ziwang is very thin and a little dark, and they call him a thin monkey in private.

After Li Zuo nodded, he immediately looked at a bald general on the right and said: "Monk, Wujiang Pass will be handed over to you, in addition, the 3,000 flying cavalry battalion will also be transferred by you, if necessary, my personal guards will also be mobilized by you, I have only one request, be sure to destroy all the invading enemies." ”