On the wide official road, the carriage creaked as it moved forward.

On the way back to the city, in order to take care of Ling Hujin, Xiao Chen deliberately arranged an extra carriage.

At the front, Xiao Chen was riding a big horse with a complicated expression.

Xue Wuxing stepped forward immediately and reported in a low voice: "Lord Wang, I have already sent someone to contact Linghu Chu just now, and the whereabouts of Zhang Gu's predecessors and others have indeed not been found in the city, I think they have already left Manshenzhou, once they know that the prince has escaped safely, with their skills, they may return to Yong'an faster than us."

Nodding slightly, Xiao Chen didn't have much joy on his face.

His expression changed, and Xue Wuxing, who had roughly guessed Xiao Chen's thoughts, said again: "Lord Wang, although Zhuang Shu's move is a little inappropriate, after all, it has helped the prince, and in this way, the prince has more allies like Linghu Chu and Ji Sheng, with them, our Yong'an is enough to gain a foothold in the troubled times."

There was a drizzle of snow in the sky, and snowflakes were scattered on Xiao Chen's face, Xiao Chen squinted his eyes and said, "It's just that in this way, there will be no possibility of mediation between me and Your Majesty, if His Majesty is restored one day, then I will definitely never recover."

With a flicker of his eyes, Xue Wuxing suddenly said fiercely, "Actually, Ling Hu Chu is right, this Cao Xun has long been a joke for Wei Guo. Since Mr. has already made a decision for you, it is better for the prince to push the boat with the current, Your Majesty will always be Your Majesty, but he can only be Your Majesty in the hands of the prince."

Xiao Chen's eyes narrowed: "Are you trying to make me rebel?"

Xue Wudaunt bowed: "Lord Wang, you have no choice."

Xiao Chen waved his hand to signal Xue Wuxing to step back, and then drove his horse on.

After five days of traveling, Xiao Chen finally re-arrived in Yong'an.

At the same time, Zhuang Shu's "oracle" on Xiaogang Mountain that day was also spread throughout the Wei Kingdom. Wei Guoton's time was turbulent, and folk rumors abounded.

Some people say that Xiao Chen is a chaotic minister and thief, and he pretended to issue an edict, his crime is unforgivable, and only General Bai Qi in the world is the humerus of Wei, and the heroes should obey Bai Qi and kill the thief Xiao Chen.

Some people also say that Xiao Chen is a loyal minister of the Wei State, not only took His Majesty out of Manshenzhou, but also was willing to work hard to help the Wei family. On the contrary, it was Bai Qi who stole the country, and the crime was extremely evil, and Xiao Chen's name as the protector of the prince was justified.

The people of these two factions all take Xiao Chen and Bai Qi as their positions, and they are inextricably linked.

At the same time, there were also voices loyal to the Wei royal family lamenting.

Xiao Chen and Bai Qi are both thieves, but it's a pity that the royal family is humble, when will they be able to clear up......

On October 25 of the Wei calendar, Emperor Wei issued an edict again, ordering Xiao Chen to open up Yong'an and the three southwestern states along the prefectures and counties, and send a large army to garrison them.

For a time, the states and counties along the way, under Xiao Chen's hundreds of thousands of black-armored troops and the heavenly power carrying the holy decree, chose to surrender one after another.

So far, the three southwestern states and Yong'an have been integrated and renamed Huazhou, which is led by Xiao Chen. It occupies one-fifth of the area of the Wei State.

At the same time, Bai Qi was also drastically rectifying the rebellion, and most of the rebels in the country could not stop Bai Qi's military might, so they either surrendered or fled, and finally took Kyoto as the center of Wei State, and nearly two-fifths of the area fell into Bai Qi's hands.

And the remaining two-fifths are still partly held tightly in the hands of the former princes. Some of them are still trapped in a life-and-death situation with the army of Qianguo.

Since the establishment of Huazhou, Xiao Chen, as the supreme commander of Huazhou, has become busy, and many major affairs in the state need to be decided by Xiao Chen himself.

This includes a series of personnel appointments, personnel deployment, reorganization of soldiers and horses, etc......

In the Yong'an Palace, Xiao Chen sat on the main seat, browsing the military intelligence and people's livelihood reports from all over the country, I don't know if I don't know it, this look, Xiao Chen's heart instantly hanged.

One is the problem of people's livelihood, due to the floods and the ensuing snowstorms, many people in the state are struggling to make a living, and many states and counties have run out of grain and grass.

The second is the soldiers and horses, with the name of Cao Xun, plus the establishment of Huazhou, for a time countless heroes in the world have come to vote, the number of soldiers and horses, is growing with an extremely terrifying number, except for the 100,000 black armor army before Yong'an, now

Now Huazhou's military strength has reached a terrible figure of 200,000, and this number is still not counting the nearly 100,000 people of Ji Cheng and Ling Hu Chu.

It's really full of calculations, and there are at least 400,000 troops in the entire Huazhou.

400,000 troops, that means 400,000 mouths, and the amount of food, grass and salary needed to support these armies is simply an astronomical amount.

Fortunately, all the states and counties had some surpluses in previous years, and with the 20 million silver brought by Shi Cai, the situation was barely stabilized. And this does not include the money to rectify people's livelihood.

Xiao Chen sighed anxiously, fortunately, before Ji Wushuang left, he allowed himself to raise 20 million silver, otherwise Huazhou had just been established, and I am afraid that civil strife would break out.

"Dreadnought."

With a gentle call, Xue Wuxing, who had been guarding the door, immediately stepped into the main hall.

After the establishment of Huazhou, Xue Wuxing also changed from the previous commander of the Black Armor Army to the generalissimo of the three armies, commanding all the soldiers and horses in Huazhou except for Ji Sheng and Linghu Chu.

"Fearless, now that Huazhou's financial pressure is too great, the expansion of soldiers and horses should not be carried out again, and the current 300,000 troops will be trained first, and then the next step will be made."

"Yes!" Xue Wuxing arched his hand and said, "But Mr. ...... over there."

The expansion of soldiers and horses is something that Zhuang Shu has done, or rather, it is the deployment left by Ji Wushuang, Xiao Chen chose to stop recruiting at this moment, which is undoubtedly at odds with Zhuang Shu.

At the mention of Zhuang Shu, Xiao Chen's face changed again.

It can be said that the reason why he can become the lord of Huazhou today is all because of Zhuang Shu.

Without Zhuang Shu's false decree, there would be no today's protector.

Similarly, opening up the states and counties along the way and establishing Huazhou was also done by Zhuang Shu. Even before the "Holy Decree" was promulgated, Xiao Chen himself did not know.

But despite Zhuang Shu's transgression, Xiao Chen did not deprive him of the power in his hands, and most of the things in Huazhou were still handled by Zhuang Shu, among them, Xiao Chen was giving Ji Wushuang face, or if there were other plans, no one knew.

Xiao Chen put down the letter in his hand and muttered, "Count, I haven't seen Zhuang Shu for a few days, right?"

Xue Wuxing slowly raised his head: "Lord Wang, since you returned to Yong'an, you haven't seen Mr."

Smiling slightly, Xiao Chen waved his hand and said:

"Then tell the people below to prepare a banquet, and the king will invite him to a meal. Location......

Xiao Chen looked around: "It's in this hall."

Xue Wuxing pondered slightly for a moment, then nodded slightly:

"Yes!"

Some people died, but not completely......