Hunan Jiedu envoy and Tongping Zhangshi Ma Yin, these days are very tormented.

Last year, he went to Chang'an with the envoys of the world's festivals, although he gained a lot of titles, his status in the dynasty was greatly improved, and the court rewarded a lot of wealth, but after returning to Chu, he dominated the thousands of miles of Chu and the life and death of tens of millions of people to seize power, and he was divided by the officials sent by the court little by little.

Today, Ma Yin does not have much power in his hands. Although he is still the king of Changsha and retains the nominal command of the Chu army, in fact, his military and political orders can no longer leave Changsha City.

From the king of a land of thousands of miles to the chief official of a city in Changsha, from having unfettered power to obeying the orders of the court in everything, Ma Yin felt like a tiger with teeth and claws removed, reduced to a situation of four dislikes.

I don't feel comfortable and don't say anything, and I don't have any majesty at all, and even killing a staff member will be in great trouble.

Although the officials of the Assassin's Mansion still respect him, but the children of his clan are outstanding, and if he wants to arrange an official position, he can only be in Changsha City. Whether it's the county below or other states, he can't even think about it.

Outside Changsha City, no one knows who Ma Yin is, but any official of a certain rank can talk about the legal authority in front of him.

Even if he had expected that there would be today, the cruelty of human affection still exceeded Ma Yin's expectations. He gradually realized that he was once the king of Chu Land, and he couldn't bear such a life at all.

If the husband can't wake up and take over the power of the world, he is really living in vain.

His old ministry has been divided into two factions, one faction has defected to the imperial court, and has been transferred to other places by the imperial court, and has become a so-called imperial court official, which has nothing to do with him;

One faction is not favored by the imperial court, or is unwilling to leave the foundation of Chudi, except for a few people who still have power, most of them are idle at home.

Needless to say, the former faction has no connection with Ma Yin anymore, and has no contact, while the latter faction is in groups of three or five, coming to his mansion every three or five times.

They complained to him about the hardship of their situation, expressed their resentment at the imperial court for taking away his authority, cursed the domineering and unscrupulous officials of the imperial court, and signaled that as long as he raised his arms and shouted, they would summon their servants and follow the king of Chu to do something!

At first, Ma Yin often recalled what happened in Chang'an, and was deeply jealous of King An's strength, so most of them appeased and persuaded his old subordinates.

It was precisely because of his appeasement and persuasion that his old ministry did not make trouble and did not clash with the court officials.

If he is not in Changsha, just looking at the resentful and unwilling appearance of his old department, I am afraid that there will be many chaos in Chudi, and it is likely that there will be a rebellion.

With the passage of time, the old ministry continued to express loyalty, praise his prestige, and convey the resentment of countless people who were "oppressed" by court officials.

He gradually realized that his influence and control over Chu were actually very huge.

If he wants, he can still be the king of Chu who can make the world tremble.

Especially after drinking, Ma Yin felt that he was living too much now, and his original choice was indeed wrong.

But most of the time, Ma Yin was still sober, and he knew that he really couldn't compete with King An's power. If you act rashly, I am afraid that the head of Xiang Shangshang will be taken away by King An at any time.

Even if he is unwilling, angry, and regretful, he is helpless now.

So he was in pain and suffering.

Until a procession under the guise of a caravan handed him a prayer post.

Ma Yin knew that his turning point might have come.

The people who came to visit him were not actually one force, but came from two different directions.

The horse-faced middle-aged man at the head was an envoy sent by the Khitan Yelu Abaoji, and he was also a great monk of the Khitan Divine Sect, and the fat man standing next to him with a smile on his face was the envoy of King Nanzhao.

Ma Yin originally thought that the caravan had come to offer treasures to him, but for the sake of their face with enough weight of the knocking bricks, Ma Yin met them in the hall.

Ma Yin has not received a satisfactory offer for a long time, and although it was a businessman who gave the gift this time, he also met it in person with great interest.

When the other party revealed his identity, Ma Yin invited them to the study and closed the door to entertain them secretly.

"The Khitan is thousands of miles away from Chu, and Nanzhao is not adjacent to Chu, so the two of them came to talk to the king about a joint move, I'm afraid it's a bit exaggerated. Ma Yin maintained his prestige and said lightly.

The word "this king" is not said casually, after he handed over the power of Chu, the court named him the king of Changsha County.

Ma Yin was not satisfied with the title of the king of the county, he originally wanted to be knighted as the "King of Chu". But at that time, he was frightened by Li Ye's strength, and the court was willing to knight a county king, but he was grateful to Dade at the beginning, and he didn't dare to pick a thorn.

This has also become a pretext for Ma Yin's old ministry to attack the imperial court, in his "faithful" old department, but there are no outsiders in private, and he has always agreed to call him the king of Chu.

The Khitan envoy Yelu Xiannechi took a sip of tea, frowned slightly, as if he was not used to this taste, and put down the tea bowl with disgust, but still smiled and said to Ma Yin: "The king of the county is wrong. It is precisely because the Khitan and Chu are one south and one north, that they can support each other and involve the Tang Dynasty's troops to the greatest extent. The king of the county has been on the battlefield for a long time, so naturally he will not fail to understand this truth. ”

Nanzhao envoy Shun Huazhen nodded and agreed: "That's right. My Nanzhao is also because it is not adjacent to Chu, so I can unite with the king of the county. If they are connected to each other's jurisdictions, then I am afraid that the county king will not allow our soldiers and horses to enter, and it is close to the county king's territory, I am afraid that it will make the county king unhappy. ”

Ma Yin was silent.

He naturally understood the truth that Yelu Xian Nichi and Shun Huazhen said.

After all, these people are aliens, and Ma Yin can't be unguarded against them, and he will definitely not let their soldiers and horses come under his control.

If the opponent suddenly turns around and attacks him, then he will be doomed, and this kind of thing is not impossible.

Now that each other's jurisdictions are somewhat far away, it is only appropriate to raise troops together, not only to support each other, but also to disperse and contain the soldiers and horses of the imperial court.

Of course, in this way, everyone's forces cannot be combined, and it is not without flaws. If you can't twist into a rope, you won't have the ability to fight a decisive battle with the imperial court.

Ma Yin pretended not to be moved, and said slowly: "Why should I believe you? I have no relatives and no reason, just relying on Your Excellency's three-inch tongue, it is like inciting this king to betray the court, which is too child's play." ”

Yelu Xiannechi smiled and said, "Since I have brought the caravan here, the caravan will naturally be able to provide what the king wants." We can exchange money and food, recruit troops and buy horses, and we can give as much as the county king wants. ”

Ma Yin's pupils shrank: "As much as this king wants, you can give as much as you want?"

Yelu's smile became more and more intense: "Of course. We have formed an alliance with the king of the county, and we have come with sincerity, and if we can help our friends, the Khitan will definitely do their best. If the county king is willing to form an alliance with the Khitan, he must also be sincere. ”

Ma Yin nodded.

Khitan and Nanzhao will give him a lot of money, and even the amount he can draw up by himself, but it must not be outrageous, otherwise it will be blackmail, and there will be no sincerity.

However, Ma Yin did not let go, and said thoughtfully: "Since the two of you dare to come to form an alliance with this king, you must also know the power of the imperial court, then the two of you should understand that if you want to do something in the Tang Dynasty right now, it is not enough to have money and food." ”

Shun Huazhen took over the conversation: "This is nature. There are not many great monks around the county king, and we are willing to send people to strengthen the power of the county king. ”

Ma Yin immediately asked, "How much can Your Excellency give?"

Shun Huazhen smiled and said nothing.

Ma Yin looked at Yelu Xiannichi again.

Jerushshnechi also maintained an unfathomable smile.

Ma Yin now understood. The other party subsidized his own wealth and sent a great monk to help, so he should also show sincerity, and he must not only gain but not pay.

At the very least, both the Khitan and Nanzhao had to confirm that Ma Yin would do something, not with the idea of taking money and getting away, or even asking for merit from the Tang Dynasty.

Ma Yin pondered for a moment, "The most important thing is money, food and monks, both of which have been given, and this king naturally doesn't need to give feedback to the two of them in these aspects." So the two of them mean ......"

Speaking of this, a gloomy look flashed in Ma Yin's eyes, and he already understood what the other party wanted.

Yelu Xiannechi chuckled and said, "The king of the county is right. What we want is indeed protons. ”

Ma Yin fell silent again.

sent his son to Khitan and Nanzhao, then there was no room for regret about uniting with them.

It's not that Ma Yin must take care of his son's life. How many heroes who want to achieve great things, although their hearts ache when necessary, they can also give up their sons. What he was worried about was that once his son arrived in Nanzhao and Khitan, if he repented, the other party would be able to send people to Chang'an and expose the fact that he had rebelled.

There are protons, plus the covenant, and the court will believe it if it doesn't believe it. Even if Ma Yin quibbled that his son was arrested by them and that he was framed, it would be useless.

Ma Yin did not give a clear answer to this question, but stared at Yelu Xian Nichi and Shun Huazhen, and said meaningfully: "If you Khitan want to drink the Yellow River, won't you capture Chang'an?

Although two questions were asked to two people separately, in reality, both questions were asked of two people.

Yelu Xiannechi laughed, laughed extremely presumptuously, pointed at Ma Yin and said unceremoniously: "King of the county, don't forget, our common enemy is the Tang Dynasty, as long as Li Ye is destroyed, who will own the world at that time, isn't it by their own means?"

"Could it be that today you and I have made an alliance to clearly divide the territory of the Tang Dynasty, and we will always be safe and sound in the future? If the county king thinks like this, then we will be too disappointed. The king of the county wants to achieve great things, but he doesn't have the ambition to be strong and strong when the time comes, and he will compete with us?"

Ma Yin's face darkened.

Shun Huazhen said at this time: "Actually, King Nanzhao doesn't have much ambition, he just wants to occupy Shu and establish a real dynasty." Could it be that the king of the county thinks that the king of Nanzhao is just a chicken and a dog, and he has no ambitions? After all, the land of Nanzhao is still too barren, and achieving hegemony in Shu is what my king dreams of!"

Ma Yin's face became darker and darker.

But his heart became very open.

He is only now preliminarily sure that the Khitan and Nanzhao are indeed not playing tricks on him, not holding on to let him cause trouble in the Tang Dynasty, they are sitting and watching a good show, taking the opportunity to grab some small profits on the side.

In fact, whether the Khitan wants to capture Chang'an, whether it wants to swallow all the states and counties of the Tang Dynasty, Ma Yin doesn't care at all. Just like what Jerushshnichi said, when the time comes, it will only depend on one's ability.

Ma Yin didn't believe that when he swept Jiangnan and the court collapsed, he would not be strong and strong, and there would be no large number of real people under his command.

When the time comes, the deer will be chased to the Central Plains, and it is still unknown who will kill the deer.

As long as the Khitan and Nanzhao really want to overthrow the Tang Dynasty and be able to contain most of the imperial court's forces, then Ma Yin will have a chance to achieve his great cause.

As for what the future will be, Ma Yin also thinks very clearly: defeat the Khitan and slaughter Nanzhao. The Han and Tang dynasties fought against foreign races, except for the Anshi Rebellion, when the country was unstable and lost the Western Regions and Hexi, they did not suffer much loss.

As long as he loses no time in quickly sweeping the south of the Yangtze River, occupying the land of Jianghuai, and at the same time destroying Liu Yin and Wu Yue's Qian Mu in Lingnan, he will definitely be monstrous, and it will not be difficult for Wang Shi to go north to the Central Plains to expel the Khitan barbarians.

At the very least, it would be easy to drive the other side north of the Yellow River.

When he enters Chang'an and owns the Central Plains, he will be able to map Hebei; once he will be able to pacify the Shu land and destroy the Nanzhao, and then fight a decisive battle with the Khitan and level the grassland, it will be just around the corner. In this way, the hegemony of the emperor is in his own hands, and his exploits will be like Emperor Taizong, shining in the annals of history.

A great future is within reach.

Ma Yin's heart swelled with turbulent waves.

It turns out that Li Ye's current achievements seem to be in full swing, but in fact they are just flowers in the mirror, and in the end everything will come to his own hands!

He didn't go crazy. On the contrary, the more he thought about it, the calmer he became.

The downfall in Chu these days has polished his heart very tenacious.

Ma Yin's sharp eyes looked at Yelu Xian Nichi and Shun Huazhen, "If we want to succeed, we should try to win over as many allies as possible, and although we can also give it a go, it is not stable." Li Ye's power should not be underestimated now!"

Yelu Xian Nichi and Shun Huazhen glanced at each other, and each saw the smile in each other's eyes.

They knew that Ma Yin's heart was moved.

Perhaps, Ma Yin was already moved, just waiting for an opportunity.

"The king of the county can rest assured that he is preparing for big things. We have already contacted the Uighurs, Tibet, Shatuo, Dangxiang, and the Bohai Kingdom, and when the time comes, there will be large armies attacking the Tang Dynasty in all directions. Even if Li Ye has three heads and six arms, there must be only one dead end!"

......

Lingnan has been a narrow place since ancient times, not only rampant with smoke and miasma, but also poor in materials. Many officials who were exiled by the imperial court would come here, so it was naturally not a good place.

A morning plays nine heavens, and the sunset falls eight thousand on the sunset.

If you want to eliminate the evils for Shengming, you are willing to decay and cherish the last years!

Where is the house of Yunheng Qinling, and the snow hugs Languan and does not move forward.

Knowing that you are far away, you should have an intention, so as to collect my bones and miasma riverside.

This is Han Yu's masterpiece. At the beginning, because he was obsessed with Buddhism because of his opposition to Xianzong, he submitted a "Buddha Bone Table", but he was sent to Lingnan by the emperor. "Chaoyang" is Lingnan Chaozhou.

Liu Yin, the envoy of the Lingnan Festival, said that he had jurisdiction over dozens of states, but in fact, a state in Lingnan was far less than a county in the Central Plains. Dividing this place, relying on the danger of mountains and rivers, it is easy to be the king of one side, and if you want to rely on the power of Lingnan to enter the Central Plains, it is simply a fool's dream.

But even so, Liu Yin and Ma Yin still fought a lot of battles.

Going north, Liu Yin was actually not so interested, but he couldn't stand Ma Yin and didn't allow anyone in the backyard, so he always raised troops to go south, and Liu Yin had to deal with it.

Lingnan's wealth outlet actually lies overseas, so the future of Lingnan lies in the prosperity of businessmen. Over the years, Liu Yin has been doing this, in order to want his soldiers and horses to be stronger and be able to hold the foundation.

But since he came to Chang'an last year and saw the power of King An, he knew that what he could leave to his descendants could no longer be the foundation of the royal industry, but a wealth and prosperity.

It's not bad to be able to stay rich. If he is the king of the county, his son can be a prince, and his grandson is still a marquis. The title alone is enough to be passed on for several generations, and it lives up to his fight over the years.

So Liu Yin has always been very leisurely, and he thinks that such a day is very good.

But now, Liu Yin doesn't think so.

He is now very nervous, anxious, and even restless.

Two days ago, an envoy from Nanzhao came, saying that he would form an alliance with him and not invade each other in the future; the envoy from Khitan also came, expressing his willingness to send some great monks to help him achieve great things, as long as he sent troops to Fujian and Wu.

After Liu Yin dealt with the two messengers, he pretended to be sick at home.

As for the other party's request, he did not dare to agree.

He knows his strength very well, and he has no qualifications to fight for the world at all, and it is even more of a joke to use troops in Fujian. It is also a barren land, and it is difficult to travel in many mountains, and raising troops is tantamount to asking for your own death.

Pretending to be sick is to not see people, not to see the people of Khitan and Nanzhao.

But the method of pretending to be sick has long been used by others, and it is obvious that the Khitan and Nanzhao envoys cannot be allowed to leave.

That night, Liu Yin, who was drunk and relieved of his sorrows, was lying down in his clothes when the door of the window was suddenly slammed open! Several swift figures jumped into the room, waking Liu Yin up at once.

Liu Yin himself was a great monk, and he noticed the movement at the first time, but as soon as he jumped up from the bed, he couldn't help but feel cold in his hands and feet.

There were six great cultivators in front of him, and the leader had a strong aura, and his strength was obviously not weaker than himself!

And when these people broke into their rooms, there was no one in the house to warn them! This shows that their guards have been killed, and they have done it quietly!

Under Liu Yin, there were originally several great monks. However, since he accepted the canonization of the imperial court, became the king of Guangzhou, and handed over the military and political power in his hands, the great monks under his command all left him and went to the court to seek a future.

In the entire palace, except for Liu Yin himself, there were only two great cultivators of the Lingchi True Realm left—those two were loyal to him and swore that they would never fail each other.

And now, these two people have obviously set foot on Huangquan Road.

"Who are you waiting for?" Liu Yin knew that he was in a catastrophe, but he did not lose his majesty, and asked in a deep voice.

The leader sneered: "Give you the opportunity to achieve great things, do you dare to accept the gift of our Khitan Divine Sect, and refuse if you want to? Since you have chosen to disobey God's will, you can only face death!"