Xiao Jiu listened to the report of his subordinates and was stunned for a long time.

"Xia Cheng, dead?"

Zhou Jin and the old man Xiao Ziying on the side were all suspicious, as if they couldn't believe it.

A few days ago, Xia Cheng, the governor of Jizhou, who was still in the limelight, died in this way, and everyone was a little surprised.

But listening to the report of the soldier 1510 sent to Jizhou before, they had to believe it.

Jizhou Governor Xia Cheng, a feudal official with real power, was poisoned at a banquet, and there must be a bigger conspiracy behind it.

The rebellion in Jizhou had just been suppressed before, and now with Xia Cheng's death, it would never be as calm as in front of him.

Great Xia, it's going to change again.

Now that winter has begun to gradually enter, if the rebel army in Yuzhou is allowed to hold out until the beginning of spring next year, it will surely sweep tens of thousands of people back.

At that time, there was a fire at the city gate, which affected the pond fish, and it was difficult for Lingshui County to maintain the current calm.

Moreover, as soon as Xia Cheng, the governor of Jizhou, died, except for Jizhou City, the military power of each county was in the hands of local military generals.

A chaotic Jizhou will definitely be eaten by the growing rebel army.

And now Xiao Jiu not only has to worry about the rebel army in Yuzhou, but also has to guard against Lu Yaoliang, who is eyeing Qingzhou.

Previously, through Zhou Jin, Xiao Jiu had already learned that the Shenhuo Sect and Qingzhou's Baoyu Qianzhuang had an unknown filth.

If Qingzhou and the rebel army joined forces to attack Lingshui County, then those big and small warlords in Jizhou would definitely not be able to spare their hands to take care of his little Xiao Jiu.

Now that the situation has begun to become delicate, Xiao Jiu is also a little helpless in the face of this dilemma.

This time, Xiao Jiu summoned these henchmen and generals to listen to their thoughts.

But these old brothers who started with Xiao Jiu have long been accustomed to directly obeying Xiao Jiu's orders, and it is really more difficult to let them come up with ideas at this time than to kill them.

After listening to the whole circle, most of the ideas were to continue to live in Lingshui County and accumulate grain and expand troops according to the original plan.

Xiao Jiu has hoarded a lot of grain now, but where do the soldiers go to recruit?

Just when everyone was at a loss, Zhou Jin put forward a different opinion.

"Lord Xiao, generals, I don't know if I should say anything."

Zhou Jin can now be regarded as having passed the inspection period given to him by Xiao Jiu, although he joined relatively late, he can be regarded as his own person to some extent.

Looking at Zhou Jin's appearance of wanting to speak and stopping, Xiao Jiu motioned with his eyes for him to continue.

I heard Zhou Jin say unhurriedly: "The people in the northern part of Great Xia have changed everywhere, and the people have been bewitched by demons and poisoned the world. ”

"Now that Yuzhou has been captured by the rebel army, Jizhou has been unable to spare his hands in the face of major changes."

"The governor of Qingzhou has been eyeing Lingshui County, and the only way to attack at a critical time is to send troops to Yuzhou."

Listening to Zhou Jin's tiger and wolf words, the leaders of the Xiao Zi Battalion in the house all had a little hesitation on their faces.

Everyone knows that Yuzhou was occupied at this time, and in the face of hundreds of thousands of rebel troops, these thousands of soldiers in Lingshui County really could not afford to have the confidence to resist.

When Xiao Jiu heard this, he frowned and pondered, as if he was considering the feasibility of Yuzhou.

After a long time, Xiao Jiu's eyes stared at Zhou Jin and asked, "Mr. Zhou, you must know that there are at least 100,000 rebel troops in Yuzhou at this time. ”

"If my Xiaozi battalion has not made merits in Yuzhou, it will be faced with tens of thousands of troops."

Listening to Xiao Jiu's slow words, everyone in the room couldn't help but nod slightly.

But Zhou Jin still has that calm and breezy appearance, but there is a different look in his eyes.

"No, although there are millions of rebels in Yuzhou now, they have just suffered a defeat and are unable to advance eastward."

"We don't need to lead all the soldiers of Lingshui County to Yuzhou, we only need to pay money and grain to recruit troops in Yuzhou."

"Most of the people of Yuzhou still have a sense of belonging to today's Great Xia, but the thief army is just powerful, if we form or recruit an army in the name of the imperial court, we can naturally plot Yuzhou, and we don't need to pay for the money and food."

Xiao Jiu was also interested when he heard Zhou Jin finish speaking, and asked, "Oh? Don't have to pay for us? ”

Zhou Jin nodded and analyzed the situation for Xiao Jiu and everyone present.

Now the entire northern part of Daxia has been affected by the disaster, and the uprisings and rebellions in Jizhou and Yuzhou have also intensified.

Although it is unlikely that the Yuzhou rebel army is inextricably linked with Qingzhou, if Lingshui County declares a counterinsurgency in the name of the imperial court, then Qingzhou will definitely not dare to openly oppose it in the face of the world's condemnation.

If Lu Yaoliang of Qingzhou really didn't care about his face, he directly united with the rebel army in Yuzhou to flank Xiao Jiu, and he would inevitably lose the support of the people.

Because Lingshui County is the gateway to Qingzhou, if there is a loss, it will only be the people of Qingzhou who will suffer.

Then again, the current Xiao Jiu has money and food, but Lingshui County is too small after all, and there is no capital to gain a foothold in the troubled times due to the lack of people and territory.

Now that Yuzhou has been captured by the rebel army, it has become a borderless land, and if he can take some of the counties, Xiao Jiu will also have a springboard for development.

The only thing to worry about now is whether Lu Yaoliang in Qingzhou will tear the last layer of face and attack Xiao Jiu directly.

After all, although the current Qingzhou nominally belongs to Great Xia, it is actually in a state of autonomy.

Everyone discussed until late at night before leaving, but Xiao Jiu never decided whether to go to Yuzhou to quell the rebellion.

Thinking of what Zhou Jin said to himself before leaving, he gradually fell into deep thought.

"Does Lord Xiao really not want to dominate the world and control his own destiny?"

This sentence has been haunting Xiao Jiu's heart, and it has not dispersed for a long time, making him stunned for a long time, and he didn't even notice that Li Luoyao came in with dinner.

"What is the husband thinking, can you tell me?"

Hearing Li Luoyao's voice coming slowly, Xiao Jiu came back to his senses from his thoughts.

Now Li Luoyao has faded away from her former youthfulness, and she has gradually become a dignified woman.

Looking at his lovely daughter-in-law, Xiao Jiu's depressed mood was slightly relieved, and he told Li Luoyao about the previous discussion with Zhou Jin and others.

"Mr. Zhou's words are not unreasonable, if the rebel army is allowed to become bigger, how can Lingshui County protect itself."

Listening to Li Luoyao's words, Xiao Jiu was silent.

He didn't know the pros and cons, but now that he sits, the more worries he has.

If you fight, you will die, and if you make a wrong decision, you have to fill it with the lives of your subordinates, and he must think it through.

The husband and wife talked for a long time in the back hall of Lingshui County, and finally Xiao Jiu also made up his mind to start entering Yuzhou to quell the rebellion.

During this period, Li Luoyao proposed to go to Kyoto to return to her parents' home, and Xiao Jiu knew that she must want to go to his father for help.

Early in the morning of the second day, Xiao Jiu reconvened the leaders of the Xiao Ziying camp who were discussing at the county government yesterday, and prepared to study this Yuzhou.

Although these old people in Lingshui County have some different opinions, it can be seen that Xiao Jiu has made a decision, so he no longer advises and listens to Xiao Jiu's arrangement wholeheartedly.

Most of these leaders of Xiao Zi Camp are old people who follow Xiao Jiu, maybe their heads are not very bright, but their execution is not to be said.

As Xiao Jiu and the others discussed, they arranged their respective tasks one by one and returned to the camp to raise funds.

Zhou Jin began to write letters in the county government study, which were sent to Qingzhou, Jizhou and Kyoto.

Although Jizhou can't take the time to go to Yuzhou, Xia Ming, the prince in Jizhou City, will definitely raise his hands to support and fund a large amount of money and food.

Needless to say, Yuzhou is one of the nineteen states of Great Xia, and the young emperor said that he didn't care about it.

Even if he can't mobilize the forbidden army to set off in Yuzhou to quell the rebellion, he can ask for an edict to let him get the righteousness of entering Yuzhou.

As for Qingzhou, Xiao Jiu was not sure.

He knew that Lu Yaoliang would definitely not borrow troops to go to Yuzhou, after all, not long ago, he had gathered the Qingzhou army to attack Lingshui County.

But as long as he guarantees that when he quells the rebellion in Yuzhou, he will not get in the way and attack Lingshui County.

If things can really develop as Zhou Jin conceived, first take Yuzhou, and then slowly grow from the foundation of Yuzhou, they will definitely be able to become the princes who dominate one side.

But once it is decided to use troops against Yuzhou, one careless move will be a complete loss, and the current situation in Lingshui County will be completely overturned.

Xiao Jiu could only be cautious, and every step he took was to cross the river by feeling the stones.

……

Qingzhou, the city lord's mansion.

Lu Yaoliang quickly browsed the letters in his hand in the study, and the expression on his face gradually changed from initial calmness to surprise.

He didn't expect that thousands of people in Lingshui County, Xiao Jiu District, would dare to go to Yuzhou to quell the rebellion, completely forgetting that he was blocked by the other party not long ago outside Lingshui County, and it was difficult to enter the country.

"Is Xiao Jiu relying on the cannon in his hand?"

Lu Yaoliang had already known through various sources that it was not demonic art that defeated his Qingzhou army at the beginning, but a weapon.

I heard that Xia Cheng, the former governor of Jizhou, was able to hold Jizhou City under the siege of the rebel army, and he had to rely on this powerful cannon.

Although Lu Yaoliang is also very keen on Xiao Jiu's sharp weapon, after all, he is at odds with the other party, and Xiao Jiu will not sell the weapon to Lu Yaoliang.

During this period, Lu Yaoliang also sent people to Lingshui County many times to inquire about the news, but he learned that the cannon was cast for steel, and even discovered the iron ore on Wild Wolf Mountain.

But the most critical cannonball making technology was held in Xiao Jiu's hand without revealing a trace of wind.

After undercover work in Lingshui County for a long time, the spy learned that the most important raw material for artillery shells was a black powder called gunpowder, but they did not know anything about how this gunpowder was made.

In the study, Lu Yaoliang thought about it again and again, and finally sent a handwritten letter to Wen Jie's in Yangjun, planning to borrow Wen Jie's hand to purchase a batch of cannons from Xiao Jiu.

Now Kyoto and Jizhou have successively wooed Xiao Jiu in Lingshui County, and Xiao Jiu also sold the cannons in his hands to each other.

This kind of mutually beneficial behavior made Lu Yaoliang can only stare dryly, and there is nothing he can do.

Now the letter from Lingshui County is an opportunity to ease relations.

As for whether Xiao Jiu will develop in Yuzhou, Lu Yaoliang didn't put it on him at all, and he didn't think that relying on a small place in Lingshui County could make any waves.