Liu Tai finally chose to attack Xuzhou, where Gou Xi was located, instead of choosing to attack Xiangyang, to be honest, there were some different voices in Liu Tai's interior, especially Zhao An and Wang Sang in Yuzhou, because the soldiers of Yuzhou had been transferred by Dai Yuan to fight Wang Dun, and they were defeated by Wang Dun, which made Yuzhou empty, and Zhao An did not make much effort to conquer the city.

At the same time, Wang Dun's main force was still controlling the situation in the Jin court in Stone Town, and if he started from Yuzhou and attacked Xiangyang City after taking Nanyang County, there was a relatively high probability of taking Xiangyang.

When the time comes, it will be much easier to control the middle reaches of the Yangtze River, whether it is to take the Jin court or retreat to the north.

But after thinking about it, Liu Tai still aimed at Gou Xi, not Xiangyang, the most important reason was that Gou Xi had the last group of northland refugees in exile in the south, and this group of people had to be solved by themselves.

If this force is not resolved, then Gou Xi will become the most unstable factor on his chessboard.

Compared with other people, more attention is paid to the direct benefits brought by geographical advantages, but Liu Tai is different from the people of this era, Liu Tai's eyes first focus on class, political power, and then the so-called geographical advantage.

If Liu Tai pressed all his capital this time, he might really be able to destroy the Jin court at one time, just like Jin destroyed the Northern Song Dynasty.

But the problem is that Liu Tai didn't have to do this, because by doing so, on the surface, Liu Tai completed the unification of Huaxia, but in fact, his own unification results will definitely be stolen by the family.

There is no way, Liu Tai does not have so many management personnel in his hands, and it is impossible to master so many places at once.

In order to avoid the vacuum of local power, it is inevitable to cede their rights to the family, and then the family continues to be drunk and dreaming of death, and when Liu Tai dies and changes to the throne, he will continue to elevate the emperor and live a life of music and dance.

Therefore, Liu Tai's attack on Jin Ting decided that it was impossible for him to beat Jin Ting to death at one time.

In other words, Liu Tai hopes that those corrupt families, those powerful families who have tasted the positions of power in the government and the opposition, will accompany the Jin court to die for themselves at one time.

Even if there are still some families who have completed their new life with them, at least they are new families who are familiar with their own rules.

After understanding this political goal, Liu Tai must be clear about what his strategy is this time, whether it is to divide the river with the current Jin Court, to take the key position of the Jin Court to block the development of the Jin Court, or to break the backbone of the Jin Court!

And Liu Tai made it clear that the purpose of his southern expedition this time was to complete the guarantee when he got the three states of Sizhou, Yanzhou and Yuzhou.

The next thing to do is to break the backbone of the Jin court, so that the Jin court can no longer take off the Northern Expedition.

And if you want to break the backbone of the Jin court, you must know where the backbone of the Jin court is, is it the Sima clan who was spurned by thousands of people? Is it the Langya Wang clan that is rampant now, or the only remaining famous general Gou Xi of the Jin Dynasty? Neither!

For Liu Tai, these people are not the backbone of the Jin court, the real backbone of the Jin court, or the Jin court has only one need for the Northern Expedition, that is, the political group formed by the displaced people in the north.

They are different from those exiled warriors in the north, who are firmly occupying the center of the Jin court, and are fighting fiercely for power and profit, who has the heart to subdue their homeland.

Only the northern refugees are organized into organizations, they receive the northern nobles, the southern tycoons, and the multiple exploits of the Sima clan at the bottom, they do not seek to live a prosperous and rich life, but at least they lived a decent life in the north.

Therefore, the Northern Exile Organization was the most rebellious group in the Jin Dynasty and the most eager to go on the Northern Expedition.

Because of this, Liu Tai understood that he had to completely dismantle this group, and now the last northern refugees were probably absorbed by Gou Xi, and after solving this group, it does not mean that there will be no northern refugees in the south.

Rather, the northern refugees were either absorbed by the local tycoons or became slaves of the south, and they did not have the leading figures on the official plane to truly represent them on this historical stage.

It is like any political force, and if there is no representative figure standing on the stage to condense this force, then this political force can be ignored.

So Liu Tai set his sights on Gou Xi, as long as this last political group of northland refugees is eradicated, then even if the Jin court wants to go on the Northern Expedition in the future, it will only be an action launched by the politicians at the head of the Jin court because of their own selfishness.

This kind of Northern Expedition, which has no support from the bottom and no response from the bottom, basically has very limited social forces that can be dispatched.

It's like after the Jin State in history destroyed the Northern Song Dynasty, even if Yue Fei was killed, the Southern Song Dynasty may not have the possibility of continuing the Northern Expedition.

But what really broke the foundation of the Southern Song Dynasty's Northern Expedition was that the Southern Song Dynasty signed the policy of returning northerners to the north and southerners to the south.

Under this policy, the Southern Song Dynasty government, from the hearts of the people to the legitimacy, really lost everything that could be lost.

The most important thing is to let a group of displaced people who were most likely to help the Northern Expedition be pushed to their opposite, so that the Southern Song Dynasty will only be destroyed.

The same is true now.

With the surrender of Li Ju, Zu Yue, Huan Xuan and others, those people who wanted to return to their hometowns were comforted and returned home by Liu Tai, and it can be said that the group that originally belonged to the political system of the Jin court with the most desire to resist and the most hopeful Northern Expedition was being disintegrated by Liu Tai.

And now Liu Tai has set his sights on Gou Xi, as long as Gou Xi in Xuzhou fails or surrenders, and the last organization with the potential of the Northern Expedition collapses, then Liu Tai's purpose is enough.

At this moment, Gou Xi felt the pressure that Liu Tai brought under his command to slowly press, and more or less felt what kind of thoughts those guys who faced him when he was at his most majestic.

"Assassin, are we going out of the city to fight?" Shao Xu looked at Gou Xi and said, "I think that Liu Tai led the army to attack Xuzhou, and we should use the strength of Xuzhou City to slowly negotiate with it, consume Liu Tai's grain and grass, and wait for the rescue of the Jin Court!" ”

"We have been doing business with Liu Tai for so long, even if my subordinates are buried by Liu Tai, I can't guarantee how many nails, are you sure to hold on to Xuzhou City, is it really enough to hold on?" Gou Xi shook his head when he heard Shao Xu's words.

Shao Xu heard Gou Xi's words, and also understood Gou Xi's worries, or rather, because he failed to join forces with Wang Jun to flank Liu Tai, and accepted Liu Tai's help after his vitality was greatly injured.

Although Gou Xi survived, it inevitably led to Gou Xi's subordinates being infiltrated by Liu Tai, especially this infiltration, even Gou Xi had no way to confirm who had the problem.

It can't be said that whoever has made a deal with Liu Tai will be pulled out and beheaded, right?

Then there are really few people left in Gou Xi's army, is it really true that Gou Xi raised such a large group of soldiers to eat, drink, and Lazar without money and food?

Even the leather armor that Liu Tai gradually eliminated on his side was gradually equipped on Gou Xi's soldiers, and it can be seen that Liu Tai and Gou Xi had a close relationship.

Therefore, Gou Xi did not expect that the garrison of Xuzhou City could be stationed in front of Liu Tai.

Because Liu Tairuo launched the dark line, Xuzhou City, which seemed to be impregnable, could not give people any sense of security at all.

Maybe he didn't know anything in his sleep, and he was already sent to Liu Tai when he woke up.

In contrast, it is better to take the initiative to go out of the city to fight, relying on the soldiers who have been retrained by the northern refugees, as well as their own overseers, at least to ensure that their orders are delivered on the battlefield.

As long as he is not defeated head-on, those veterans who were left by Liu Tai because of the miserable sand will not be able to jump back directly on the battlefield.

After all, even if these veterans knew that Liu Tai's side was well treated, even if Liu Tai was defeated, they would not embarrass them, which made the resilience of their army weak.

But even so, veterans are veterans in the end, and the experience they have accumulated on the battlefield makes them at least know what they should do on the battlefield, instead of kneeling down when they see Liu Tai.

It can only be said that Gou Xi took advantage of the rebellion in the Jin court to find a way to kill Xu Gong, which can only be regarded as completing the symptoms for his army.

If they want them to really become a powerhouse, Liu Tai's army is how Gou Xi can't get around the problem, and only by defeating Liu Tai can Gou Xi have a new future.

But the problem is that as Liu Tai led the army towards Xuzhou's menacing oppression, Gou Xi found it really difficult.

Liu Tai's army entered the Xuzhou territory, but the people of the Xuzhou territory did not feel fear.

Because of what Liu Tai's army is like, the people in other regions may not believe Liu Tai's propaganda, but the people in Xuzhou know it.

There is no way, the people of Xuzhou who circulate from Taishan County do not know that the paper, dragon pattern porcelain, snowflake salt and other specialties from Taishan County do not know, as long as they are rich in Xuzhou, who is not rich by Liu Tai's industry in Qingzhou.

And these merchants circulated between Taishan County, Qingzhou and Xuzhou, and clearly knew the gap between these places.

Most importantly, they knew that Liu Tai's army valued discipline and would not attack the people, at least under normal circumstances.

Especially these merchants dressed in white, after the army was stationed, there were merchants dragging behind the army one after another.

For a relatively well-disciplined army, merchants are a bit like vultures, they like to entrench behind the army, and when the army defeats their opponents and plunders something good, the merchants will come and buy the goods in the army at a low price and sell them.

At the same time, the merchant will also take the initiative to solve problems for the army, and there is no need to think about some food and grass, but if he just wants to have fun, the merchant will soon find enough for the army to have a pastime.

As usual, there were no female dependents in the barracks, but if necessary, local merchants could send enough prostitutes directly to the army.

Now, this group of businessmen followed behind Liu Tai, carefully keeping their distance, but they didn't dare to get too close.

After all, Liu Tai's military camp had not yet been set up in the camp, and at this time they were also afraid that they would be regarded as enemies, so not only were their wealth and goods swept away by the army, but even they were pulled into the army as strong men.

This is also very normal for these white-clad merchants, so they are very aware of the unspoken rules of the battlefield.

And Liu Tai didn't pay much attention to these white-clothed businessmen, because since Lu Meng's white-clothed crossing of the river, the environment of this kind of businessman who provided special services to the army was even worse.

Basically, unless they know the generals in the army, they will all be driven away, and there is no need for Liu Tai to scratch their hearts for them.

Not to mention, Liu Tai is more aware of the productivity of his army, even if they are captured, Liu Tai has been eyeing it early.

Not only do they have to cut a knife in the quartermaster department when they trade here, but even if they go back, they will also take advantage of the situation to let the factories in the rear produce a wave fiercely, ensuring that these soldiers will have nothing when they come, and they will be satisfied with debts when they leave.

After all, if you dare to buy materials for these embryo-killing on credit, do you white-clothed businessmen dare to pay on credit!

All in all, Liu Tai led the army and arrived at Pengcheng County smoothly, and at this time, seeing that Gou Xi took the initiative to lead the army, there was a city not stationed, but stationed outside Xuzhou City, ready to fight with himself.

"Gou Xi is really here!" When Liu Tai saw the scene in front of him, he understood very well that if Gou Xi wanted to surrender to him, as long as he stayed in Xuzhou City, with the family in Xuzhou City under his control, it would not be difficult to deceive the city of Xuzhou City at night.

Because with the capture of Xingyang, Yanzhou and Yuzhou by Liu Tai, Liu Tai already initially had the courage to unify the world.

For the vast majority of families, in the face of the overlord who is really likely to be the Sanxing Han family, it is normal for them to choose to surrender.

After all, Liu Tai is not of an alien race, but a Han nationality, which in itself is orthodox.

Orthodoxy is useless when it comes to it, but when you really have enough strength, then it can often play a role in conforming to the destiny of heaven.

It's just that Xingyang, Yanzhou and Yuzhou are dominated by old families, and they are afraid of the changes brought by Liu Tai, the loss of their rights, and Liu Tai himself, which makes Liu Tai have to fight in order for them to surrender unconditionally.

But Xuzhou is different, Qingzhou, which relies on Liu Tai, is gradually regaining its vitality, and it is not ignorant of Liu Tai's policies towards the family.

It's just that before Liu Tai came over, they chose to maintain their existing interests, and after Liu Tai came over, especially after watching Gou Xi be defeated several times, knowing the gap with Liu Tai, they were also psychologically prepared to accept Liu Tai's "Qiantian Tax" and "Conscription Tax".

After all, although the surrender of Liu Tai is serious, the assets in his hands are still his own, and if he does not surrender Liu Tai, Gou Xi is defeated, then he will be robbed, and everything he has managed with great difficulty will be gone.

Therefore, Xuzhou may become a venue for Liu Tai to win without a fight and submit.

It's just that all this may be said after Gou Xi chose to take the initiative to come out of Xuzhou City to fight Liu Tai.

Because it is no longer themselves who will decide their fate, but the winner between Liu Tai and Gou Xi!

What Liu Tai and Gou Xi adopted was the most incredible, but the most understandable mode of engagement between the two sides, about war!

(End of chapter)