In the winter of the second year of Yonghe, Li Yi of the Han Taibao raised troops from Jinshou 1, and many Shu people followed it, reaching tens of thousands. The Han lord ascended the city and refused to be safe, and rode alone to break through the door, and the doorman shot and killed him, and his crowd collapsed. The situation is amnesty in the territory, and the year is changed. arrogant, unsympathetic to state affairs, mostly forbidden, rarely receiving ministers, neglecting old ministers, trusting left and right, slandering and slandering, and harsh punishments, from Chinese and foreign centrifugation. Shu soil first no fang, to the beginning from the mountain, from Brazil to Qianwei, Zitong, covered with more than 100,000 valleys, can not be banned, great for the people. Coupled with famine, within the four realms, it will lead to depression.

------- excerpt from the introduction

"Are you still against it?" Huan Wen looked around at the subordinates who were kneeling around him, Yizhou Assassin Shi Zhou Fu, Longyu General Zhu Tao, Nanjun Taishou Wang Sima Wuji, General Jianzhong Military Leader Yicheng Taishou Liu Yi, Governor Jiangxia, Sui, Yiyang Three Counties Military, General Jianwu, Jiangxia Prime Minister Yuan Qiao, Anxi General Chang Shi Fan Wang, Joining the Army Mao Muzhi, Gong Hu, Sun Sheng, Zhou Chu and others sat there with different expressions, but they were all silent.

Zhou Fu, Zhu Tao, Sima Wuji, Fan Wang, Mao Muzhi, Gong Hu, Sun Sheng, Zhou Chu, and others, who had attended the "enlarged military conference" for several days, were all opponents.

They have just reiterated their objections. If the Northern Zhao takes advantage of the void to the south, directly takes Jingxiang, and occupies the river, then the Jin family downstream will be in danger, and this Jingxiang and others will be sinners through the ages. Send fewer troops, I'm afraid I don't have full certainty, the puppet Han has been established for decades, after several generations of monarchs, it is not so easy to bully, when the time comes, stealing chickens will not become a counter-erosion, and if you return defeated, not only will the strength of the Jingxiang Theater be greatly reduced, but Huan Wen's own prestige in the government and the opposition will also be completely lost, and the crowd will attack it again, and the consequences can be imagined.

The reason has been explained very clearly, but this general Anxi still ******** want to go west, and he holds meetings as usual every day, and the meeting only talks about this old topic, and whoever listens to it knows what it means. Even if the boss and everyone have a different meaning, everyone has finished what they should say, and it's not good to press it anymore, and if you continue to talk about it, you will be working against the leader. But follow the leader to send troops to the west, this matter is too important, and no one dares to take on this involvement. So everyone had to sit there and not be able to speak, and use silence to express their meaning.

Liu Yi and Yuan Qiao, who arrived at about the same time as Zeng Hua, had different reactions. Liu Yi was sitting on the lower left of Huan Wen, his back was straight, but his eyes were slightly closed, his ears were not listening to the things around him, and he looked like a celebrity who had everything to do with Lao Tzu's.

And Yuan Qiao sat there, contemplative, digesting the information he had just knew. After thinking about it alone for a while, he seemed to understand something, and when everyone was still silent, he suddenly raised his head and was ready to speak.

It's not good, if Yuan Qiao also spoke up against the Western Expedition to the Han, Huan Wen's face would be explained here today, and the Western Expedition plan would not know how long it would be delayed. Yuan Qiao and Liu Yi are Huan Wen's right-hand men, and they are the two largest local powerful figures in Jingxiang area.

Last year, Huan Wen went to Jiangling, the governor of Jingxiang, and the two things that opened the door were to appoint his friend Liu Yi as the general of the conquest, and to replace his deceased friend and former governor Jiang Jing Si Yongliang Yi of the six states of the military, General Anxi, Jingzhou Thorn History, Fake Festival, Yu Fangzhi, the son of Yu Yi, the uncle of the Xiankang Empire (also Huan Wen's brother-in-law), was replaced from the position of the military leader of the military leader Yi Cheng Taishou in the prison, and then appointed Yuan Qiao as the general of Jianwu, the military governor of Jiangxia, Sui, and Yiyang, and the military leader of Jiang Xiaxiang, which can be regarded as gaining a firm foothold in the Jingxiang area that the Yu family has operated for decades. Later, Zeng Hua, a confidant of his confidant, commanded 60,000 tun people to form the Changshui Army; Sima Xun, the assassin of Liangzhou stationed in Wudang (he is the most pitiful, he has no soldiers and horses, and he can't get Huan Wen's weight, and this time he is not even qualified to participate in the military conference) responded to the refuge; The henchmen of the younger brothers occupied important positions, and Huan Wen's position became stable, and only then did he begin to quietly clear the Yu family's forces.

Back then, Yu Yi and his brother Yu Liang also used this trick in order to control the Jingxiang region. First, he appointed his cronies to supervise Jiangxia, Sui, and Yiyang counties as the military Jiangxia Taishou, and then moved from Wuchang (now Hubei Exian County) to Xiangyang under the pretext of the Northern Expedition, and then changed the military leader of Xiangyang Taishou Huan Xuan (which had nothing to do with Huan Wen) to be the assassin of Sizhou and drove him out of Xiangyang, which can be regarded as really occupying the territory of Jingxiang.

In addition to the soldiers of the Governor's Office, the soldiers of the Nanban Captain's Mansion and the soldiers of Zhuzhou County, there are also two other special armies, one is the border army of the military leader Yicheng Taishou Liu Yi stationed in Xiangyang, and the other is the border army of the three counties of Jiangxia, Sui, and Yiyang, General Jianwu and Yuan Qiao, the governor of Jiangxia. As long as these two people do not agree to the western expedition, it is estimated that Huan Wen will have a lot of trouble in transferring troops.

It can be seen that Liu Yi and Yuan Qiao have a pivotal position in the entire Jingxiang officialdom because of their official positions and personal relationship with Huan Wen, which is not comparable to Zhou Fu, Zhu Tao and others, and also has a key role in the decision-making of this Western Expedition.

Liu Yi has put on a look of doing whatever you like, looking impartial and neutral, and Huan is gentle and opposed to his subordinates, who can't get the support they want from Liu Yi. Then Yuan Qiao's opinion plays a pivotal role.

Zeng Hua didn't know what Yuan Qiao wanted to say, but for the sake of safety, he opened his mouth and said first: "Lord Dudu, my subordinates have heard about the world's major events, and they are within the reach of ordinary people, and the wise man knows it in his chest, and he doesn't have to wait for everyone to agree. Now he is a patient in the world, Hu and Shu are only two Kou (referring to the Cheng Han of Later Zhao and Shu in the north). Although Shu is dangerous, it is weaker than Qianhu. If the governor wants to do it, it is advisable to take it first. Li was unreasonable, his subjects were not attached, and he was in danger and far away, and he was not ready for battle, which was an excellent opportunity for attack. Thousands of elite soldiers can choose to gallop lightly, and when the enemy feels it, I have already crossed its dangerous pass, and driven the hinterland for a long time, and Li Shike can be captured in a battle. Moreover, Shu is rich and the population is prosperous, and in the past, Zhuge Wuhou relied on this to contend with China, and if he could occupy it, it would be a great benefit for the country. ”2

As soon as Zeng Hua said this, Huan Wen couldn't help but beat the knots and applauded loudly. It's really worthy of my intimate little padded jacket, and I will definitely award you a big red flower after the meeting.

Huan Wen's proposal for the western expedition to Shu is quite meaningful. At that time, he and his wife-in-law and uncle Yu Yi encouraged each other and intended to go on a northern expedition. When Yu Yi swore the Northern Expedition and moved to Xiangyang, he used Shi Huan Wen as the "Forward Governor" to enter Linhuai with the then Lang Xie Nei Shi Huan Wen, echoing each other. Now that he has succeeded Yu Yi to occupy the power of Jingxiang, Huan Wen hopes to realize the great ambition of the Northern Expedition he set before, but to achieve this goal, he must have enough power.

But Huan Wen had already sensed that there was already a discordant voice in the imperial court now.

In the early years of Yonghe, Fangzhen's forces were dominated by Xu, Yan Chuxin, Jing and Liang Huanwen.

Chu Zhen's father was the general of the Northern Expedition, and his rank and military title indicate that the imperial court intended to use Chu Pei Xu and Kezhi to manage the military affairs of the Northern Expedition and not let others interfere, so as to prevent others from coveting the Northern Expedition in the name of the Northern Expedition and the achievements of the Northern Expedition. Xu and Yan have been the important towns of the garrison Beijing Division since Xi Jian, and Chu Li took the governors Xu and Yan to conquer the north, which was a combination of garrison and Northern Expedition.

However, Huan Wen sat in Jingxiang, replaced Yu Yi, and cleared the Yu family forces that had threatened Jiankang from the upstream.

After the death of He Chong in the second year of Yonghe, Sima Yu, the king of Huiji, was in the middle of the auxiliary government, and gradually found that Huan Wen was slowly developing while cleaning up the power of the Yu family, which may be more difficult to control than the previous Yu family. Therefore, the famous man Yin Hao was the general of Jianwu, the assassin of Yangzhou, and the main Yangzhou, with the intention of using his fame to stabilize the political situation and restrain the upstream.

It seems that those nobles do not want to see themselves, the turbid officials, occupy the river and take full control of the Jingxiang army. When Huan Wen thought of this, he couldn't help but sigh secretly in his heart, no wonder Xu Ping once sighed to himself, those in power are far better at preventing internal differences than against foreign enemies.

But Huan Wen was not reconciled to this, he was determined to consolidate his current position, continue to fight for higher power, and establish greater achievements, so he must use his military exploits to establish his authority. But now there are only two directions that can use troops, the Northern Expedition, the strength is not enough, and the time has not yet come. Then there is only the Western Expedition, "If you want to do it, you should take it first", Xu Ping said it well!

Zeng Hua stood up to speak for Huan Wen's plan to go west, and the reason he said was reasonable, leaving everyone speechless. Zeng Hua's speech just now was like a heavy weight, put it on the side of Huan Wen and the Western Expedition.

But Zeng Hua knew that this was not enough, and he had to increase his weight.

"The main reason for you to dissuade the Governor from attacking Shu is that he is afraid that our army will advance westward, and Qianhu will take advantage of the gap to spy on and plunder. However, when he heard that our army was on an expedition of 10,000 miles, he did not know whether it was true or not, but he would definitely believe that I had heavy preparations in it, and he would never dare to act rashly. Even if there are dangerous criminals, the garrison troops along the river have not moved, and they are enough to resist the defense, and there will be no trouble. ”

"And I've been keeping an eye on the movement of the northern karma. According to the spies' report, in May, Xiping Zhongcheng became the prince Zhang Junxue, and the prince Chonghua succeeded him. Zhang's Suzhong court, lonely in the west, attached to the back of the pseudo-Zhao, has always been a thorn in the eye of Shi Hu. Now that the Duke of Xiping is young, Shi Hu will not take advantage of this to attack the west. It is reported that Shi Hu has sent the general Wang Bao to attack Wujie, and Liangzhou assassin Shi Maqiu and general Sun Fu have attacked Jincheng, and Liangzhou is shocked. On the occasion of the destruction of the West Liang, Shi Hu had no time to look south. As far as Shihu is concerned, the northwest is more urgent than the south. ”

"In addition, there is Beiyan Murong in the northeast of Northern Zhao, and his wolf ambition has been revealed. Its king Murong Hao thought that the princes of the ancients had ascended the throne, and each called it the first year, so he did not use the name of the year of my Jin family, and claimed to be the twelfth year. The person mapped by the Northern Yan must go south to the Northern Zhao and enter the Central Plains. Zhao Wang Shihu made tens of thousands of soldiers of Deng Heng, the general of Zhengdong, to control the attacking tools, in order to take Yan. Yan Wanghao took Murong Ba as the general of Pingdi, and the two armies had been facing each other for many years, so how could Zhao and Hu in the north have the spare strength to look at the south? ”

At this time, Zeng Hua suddenly stood up and said impassionedly: "Governor, Zeng Bucai, is willing to be the forward, bow to be a stone, and lead three thousand children to open the way and build a bridge for the army, thinking that it is the vanguard." ”

Zeng Hua's words resounded throughout the conference hall like a Hong Zhong, making everyone present stunned, even Liu Yi, who seemed to have turned into an immortal, opened his eyes, stared at the impassioned Zeng Hua for a long time, and finally closed his eyes and went to cultivate immortals with satisfaction.

Zeng Hua's words were like a typhoon, completely blowing away the thick clouds of opposition to the Western Expedition that had just hung over the council hall. Everyone thought that Zeng Hua might support Huan Wen's expedition to the west, because everyone felt that these two people felt a little sympathetic to each other, but everyone never thought that Zeng Hua would not only support Huan Wen's expedition to the west in a high-profile manner, but also say so many reasons in a measured manner, from Shu Han analysis to Northern Zhao, from Xiliang analysis to Northern Yan, all the factors that will affect the western expedition have been considered and analyzed, and they are interlocking, and they sound almost impeccable.

Huan Wen endured the joy in his heart, glanced around at the people sitting around, and saw that no one refuted anything, so he turned to Yuan Qiao and asked loudly, "Uncle Yan, what do you think?" ”

Yuan Qiao, who had been sitting there in a daze, suddenly smiled: "Lord Huan, Zeng Changshui's words are deep. If you want to do it, it is advisable to take it first, Zeng Changshui has already told the key points. I would like to add that everyone is afraid that the army will go west, and the Hu will go south to spy on it, but this is plausible, and the reason Zeng Changshui has already made it very clear. For a possible reason, do you have to give up the great cause of the western expedition to Shu? ”

After speaking, Yuan Qiao turned to Zeng Hua and said loudly: "Xuping, you and I have seen the same thing, but this time you have taken the lead." ”

Zeng Hua couldn't help blushing, bowed his head and said, "I'm ashamed!" Ashamed! ”

Seeing Zeng Hua like this, Yuan Qiao couldn't help laughing.

And Huan Wen, who was sitting on the main seat, couldn't help but breathe a deep sigh of relief, it turned out that Yuan Qiao was also a member of the Western Expedition, and he didn't speak at first, I thought it was an opposition, and it scared people to be careful.

Huan Wen turned his head and smiled at Zeng Hua, who was "ashamed" but secretly raised his head. They knew in their hearts that this expedition to the west was a foregone conclusion.

Zeng Hua's words just now were analyzed by him and his subordinates, and then polished by Shi Cheyin, the captain of Changshui, otherwise how could Zeng Hua, who was "illiterate in ancient times", say such a literary and imposing word. However, Zeng Hua never expected that what he said was almost exactly the same as what Yuan Qiao wanted to say, but Yuan Qiao did not analyze the North Zhao in the back so thoroughly. Maybe it's really the same thing that the hero sees. (Shameless!) ）

On the second day, Huan Wen asked Yicheng Taishou Liu Yu to personally protect the Western Expedition Table to Jiankang, and then commissioned Zhu Tao, the general of Longyu, to go out of Zhenjiangxia, and appointed Shi Fan Wang, the general of Anxi, to guard Xiangyang, and to add the military posts of the four counties of Liangzhou (which is equivalent to the military of Zhushu in Chuzhong) to jointly defend Northern Zhao. However, this side began to quickly mobilize troops and horses to prepare for the westward expedition.

"Meet your lord!" When Comrade Zeng Hua, the pioneer of the Western Expedition, who had settled in the interior, was about to go back to Dangyang to gather people, Huan Wen sent someone to invite Zeng Hua to come to the house. The boss spoke, and Zeng Hua naturally wanted to run around to deal with the errand.

"Xuping, the Western Expedition is imminent, there are many things, and you shouldn't be delayed, but this expedition is very important, I can't rest assured, I want to talk to you again and listen to your opinions." Huan Wen said calmly.

Understand, whether you can eat and drink spicy food in the future depends on whether this ticket is done beautifully, Zeng Hua said secretly in his heart, but he still has to say modestly: "Go back to my lord, the western expedition is big, and Zeng is ugly and short-minded, so he doesn't dare to say anything." ”

"Xuping is too humble! Too humble! Huan Wen shook his head with a smile and said, "Do you know what Liu Zhenchang said about you?" ”

What would Liu Yi say about me? I guess it's a good word, but I don't know how good it is. Zeng Hua shook his head again and again and said he didn't know.

"Resolute and resolute, far-sighted and wise, although he is happy and angry, laughing and scolding frankly, he has millions of soldiers in his chest!" Huan Wen's words startled Zeng Hua. Is this what that Liu Banxian said? If such a high evaluation spreads, I don't know how many people will find themselves alone.

"Xu Ping, I have always admired Zhenchang's vision, and I also know your ability. So I understand that you have already been involved in the Western Expedition, so you might as well talk about it! When Huan Wen said this, he suddenly smiled, "Zhu Longyu told me that you moved to Lishan. ”

This old Zhu is really a big mouth.

"Lord Hui, I do have a little idea about the subordinates of the Western Expedition." has said all this, and it would be a little ill-intentioned to hide it any longer, and Zeng Hua was not polite at the moment.

"The most important thing about going to the west is that the soldiers are fast. But this soldier's speed is not the speed of the other soldier. Zeng Hua was simply tongue twisters.

"How?"

"From Badong to Shu, first of all, Jiangzhou, and then along the North Road into Deyang to Chengdu, this is the right way. However, the mountain roads along the way are rugged, the passes are dangerous, and the heavy troops are stationed, even if we want to be fast, there is no way to be fast. ”

"Interesting, Xuping, keep talking." Huan Wen stroked Hu and said.

"Yes, sir. But we have few soldiers and all of them are elites, so we can go wherever we want, and we can go as fast as we want in unguarded places. Avoiding the real and attacking the false is the most important key to the Western Expedition. Zeng Hua's words were a bit like he didn't say anything.

"Avoid the real and attack the false!" When Huan Wen heard this, he couldn't help laughing, and the laughter shook the roof beams.

After Huan Wen finished laughing, he suddenly asked, "Xu Ping, you should be twenty-one years old now." ”

"Lord Hui, it's twenty-one."

"You are so old and have not yet married, how can you be worthy of your great-ancestors? Although you have experienced hardships in the Western Regions, now that you have returned to the court, this human gift has to be handled with heart. Do you have a favorite woman? Huan Wen said with a smile.

How do I turn to my life's work? Zeng Hua originally wanted to answer very boldly: How can the Huns be home if they are not destroyed. But he felt that he couldn't say it, and he had to be kind! During this time, I couldn't help but sing "Loneliness" at night, alas, it was all hormones.

Zeng Hua twisted twice, and finally said with a red face: "I haven't found it." ”

"Haha, Xu Ping'an followed the army to the west, and I have entrusted Liu Zhenchang to go to Zhangluo for your life's events."

When he came out of the gate of Huan Mansion, Zeng Hua was still in YY, and Liu Zhenchang didn't know what he would find for himself. is alone, Huan Wen and Liu Yi value themselves the most, and they also respect them very much, no different from their brothers and fathers. Let them handle their own marriages, and how can others disagree? It's just that this Liu Banxian changed his career to become a matchmaker, I don't know if he is incompetent?

Note: 1. Jin Shou, the name of the county, belongs to Liangzhou, and is the station of the Liangzhou Thorn History of the Cheng Han Dynasty at that time, between Jiange and Guangyuan in Sichuan today, and on the east bank of the upper reaches of the Jialing River.

2. This passage should have been said by Yuan Qiao to Huan Wen in history, the plot needs it, and after modification, it shamelessly became Zeng Hua's important speech.