"The fighting in the Central Plains is really lively!" After reading the news from Youzhou about the battles between the Central Plains princes, Situ Liang and others all sighed, "It seems that our unification of the north has put a lot of pressure on all the princes. . Otherwise, these princes who originally stopped fighting would not start fighting immediately after our western expedition. "
Zhang Yuanjing smiled and said: "How can they not be under great pressure? It is equivalent to winning one-half of Dayan. In addition, we have successively opened up territory in the north and expanded the territory of the three states. We also have to teach them a harsh lesson. If we defeat the Turks and make them surrender, we, Zhao, can go south with all our strength."
"It would be strange if these princes are not nervous, especially the small princes, who are even more anxious. After we plan to divide Eyong Army and the army's westward expedition, it is also the last opportunity for these princes to struggle. How can they not seize it. "
Situ Liang sighed: "In the past, the Yong army and the Qi army were on par with our great Zhao. Now, the Qi army has declined, and the Yong army has been divided into three. Both have become history. The two only two have the ability to compete with us. The great princes who can be compared with each other no longer exist. No matter how hard they struggle, they can't change the power of Zhao to sweep the world."
"The Navy's Third Fleet performed well this time. Based on Qiongzhou Island, it took advantage of the chaos to occupy Guangzhou Prefecture in the southeast of Jiaozhou and the surrounding two prefectures, allowing us to open up new jurisdictions on the far southern line." For those who are soldiers. For Li Chenfeng, what he cares more about is the performance of the soldiers.
Zhao Xun also nodded and said: "Indeed, the Third Fleet performed very well this time. Now, taking advantage of the split between King Yong and the internal instability of King Shu, the Qi army began to counterattack Jiaozhou. Let the land of Jiaozhou be restored again. Not to mention entering a period of war, it also triggered the rise of local natives and bandits. The Third Fleet took this opportunity to occupy the land of Guangzhou. It not only ensured that the maritime merchants were building a port in the south, but also allowed us to occupy the most prosperous port in the south. The seaport can continuously attract refugees from Jiaozhou to join our country."
Zhang Yuanjing smiled and said: "My lord, I don't know. When we first occupied Qiongzhou Island, we needed to transport people from the north to develop and stabilize the residents of Qiongzhou Island. Now, Qiongzhou Island is already overcrowded. This time The purpose of the Third Fleet was not only to report military information to the Lord, but also to ask the Lord for help as the people's envoy from Qiongzhou Island. It was not cost-effective to relocate these people to the north by sea ships. It took a lot of effort to move from north to south, but now. ¡¡±
Zhao Xun shook his head, looked at the map, pointed to the east and north of Qiongzhou Island, and the waters east of Jiangzhou and said, "What about here? Who is under the jurisdiction of this place now?"
Zhang Yuanjing looked at it and said: "Ryukyu Islands? Well, the Lord wants us to take over here? These islands can actually place a lot of manpower. Among them, Liuqiu Island is the most important."
Zhao Xun and others saw more. The Ryukyu Islands are naturally the future Taiwan Island plus the Ryukyu Island chain in the north. Not to mention the resentment that this island will have in the Chinese people in the future, Zhao Xun cannot let go of this huge Liuqiu Island. This Liuqiu Island is enough to accommodate a population of several million, and it can also be used as a naval seaport and a sea trade seaport.
Originally, when Zhao Jun's navy moved south, Zhao Xun was planning to take up the idea of ??Liuqiu Island. It's just that Liuqiu Island is too close to Jiangzhou, and it is located in the southeast of Yangzhou, very close to the Qi Army headquarters. In addition, it is also the seaport of Yangzhou Navy, which echoes the eastern part of Jiangzhou. It blocks sea-going ships traveling from south to north and collects taxes. This is the life/root of King Qi Murongcheng. Zhao Xun is afraid that he will accidentally anger King Qi. If he wants to take the lead in competing with him, it will be detrimental to his original plan.
The current situation is very different from that of the past. Jiangzhou became a battleground between the Qi and Shu armies, and last year, one-third of Yangzhou's navy was taken away by his subordinates. The rest also attacked the Chu army in northern Yangzhou and eastern Xuzhou. Not to mention that the powerful Yangzhou Navy cannot compare with the Zhao Navy under his own command. Even if he could compete with the Zhao Navy under his command, Murong Cheng would not turn against him at this moment, let alone fight with him.
Now, Murong Cheng has the Chu army entering from the north and the Shu army entering from the southeast of Jiangzhou. He is in the embarrassing situation of being attacked on both sides. How can he dare to provoke another big enemy?
"My lord, you want the Ryukyu Islands? Yes, this is indeed a very good place. It is guarded on the outside of the mainland. Together with Qiongzhou Island, it has become the external protection network of the mainland. Taking this place will not only settle the refugees we accept in the south, but also It will also play a very powerful role in attacking the southeastern coastal areas in the future." Under the influence of Zhao Xun, the upper-level officials of the Zhao army also understood the importance of the navy, the importance of outward expansion, and even more understanding of this. How big the world is.
"However, although the Qi army's navy is weak, there must be Qi army's navy and army officers stationed on Liuqiu Island. It is difficult for the third fleet alone to win here. In addition,We also have to worry about Murong Cheng's attitude and the reactions of other princes. "
Li Chenfeng said solemnly: "It is indeed difficult to capture Liuqiu Island with the Third Fleet alone. However, capturing this place is more important to us. Therefore, let the troops stationed in the east of Qingzhou The Second Fleet operation is also worthwhile.¡±
After a pause, Li Chenfeng said again: "Although this move will make those princes suspicious, we are attacking an island, an isolated island overseas, and we have not sent troops to the territories under the jurisdiction of various princes. They will not be too If we send out the navy, everyone should know that even if it threatens their coastal areas, what they care about now is attacking other princes and expanding their jurisdiction. to expand strength.¡±
Xu Ye and Wei Zilin both agreed with what Li Chenfeng said.
Zhao Xun smiled and said: "Why bother, why use the army? As far as we know, the Qi army is not in a good situation now. It is attacked on both sides, and the Chu army is becoming more and more stable in occupying the four prefectures in the northeast of Yangzhou. . The Qi army has a powerful army. Although it has lost more than half of its territory, it has many elite troops. The only thing that limits the strength of the Qi army is its logistics. "
Situ Liang¡¯s eyes lit up and he said, ¡°The Lord¡¯s intention is that we exchange food and supplies for the Ryukyu Islands?¡±
Zhao Xun smiled and said: "Yes, except for the main island of Liuqiu Island, the rest of the Ryukyu Islands are not valued by Murong Cheng, and there are not many residents on Liuqiu Island. In other words, on the Ryukyu Islands, Murongcheng did not relocate too many residents. Most of its residents were residents who had fled due to the increasing taxes in Dayan and the war. "
"The Qi army occupied Liuqiu Island. In addition to serving as a naval port, it also collected taxes from past maritime merchants. But now, the Qi army's navy is weak, and the Qi army's navy is busy fighting against the Chu army. And the ships traveling to and from the sea, The Qi army will not dare to act recklessly if we fly the flag of Zhao."
"It can be said that the current Ryukyu Islands are far less important to the Qi army than they were a few years ago. Now that we are interested in this place, he is unwilling to fight us to the death. Even so, why not use this in exchange for some support for him? What about the useful stuff?¡±
Zhang Yuanjing nodded slightly and said: "Given the current situation of Qi Jun, he should agree to our condition of exchanging supplies for the Ryukyu Islands. After all, if he trades, he will be able to get the supplies he needs. If not, not only will he not get anything, If he comes, he will lose his troops and generals."
"For us, it is not just about taking over the Ryukyu Islands, settling the residents, and occupying control of the entire southeastern coast. More importantly, the Qi army is now weak, and it is difficult to block the joint attack of the Chu army and the Shu army. We The purpose of trading supplies to the Qi army is to strengthen the Qi army and make him fight the Chu and Shu armies more fiercely. "
Zhao Xun sighed and said: "Actually, when we do this, the people under the rule of the southern princes will be hurt the most." Zhao Xun's words are true. Zhao Jun's current strategy is to stabilize Zhao Jun's rule, expand outward, and not reach the southern part of the Central Plains, allowing the princes to fight against each other until each other's strength is sharply reduced and they are unable to fight. This is a good thing and a good strategy for Zhao Jun. But for the people under the rule of the southern princes, the suffering was aggravated.
Zhang Yuanjing said anxiously: "My lord, there is no need to feel guilty for this. The suffering caused to the people is actually not us, but the princes from all over the country. If we directly send our troops southward at the beginning of the year, the princes in the south will definitely unite to fight against our army." Even if they cannot unite as a whole, they will form an alliance of two or three to fight each other. "
"And Zhao, our country, will face attacks from the southern princes from east to west. In this way, if we cannot quickly capture the territory governed by the southern princes, then the whole world will inevitably form a situation of north-south war. The southern princes will no longer fight with each other. "
"Although we are doing this to increase the suffering of the people in the south. However, this will not last long. When the princes in the south are weak in the future, it will be the time when our Zhao army in the north will clean up the world. At that time, reducing the burden on the people in the south would be the best way to save them."
"Besides, the people in the south are not under the jurisdiction of our great Zhao. What they should hate now are those princes, and they cannot blame the lord at all."
Situ Liang, Wei Zilin and others also said yes. They all did not want Zhao Xun to change his current strategy because he was too worried about the people, which would be extremely detrimental to Zhao Jun's unification of the world in the future.
Zhao Xun smiled and said: "I am just sighing like this. Regarding the established strategy of Zhao, I will not change it unless forced to do so. You are right, the current suffering is only temporary. UnifyThe next step is the solution to the problem. "
"Now, let's continue this battle in the Western Region. Although we have won three-fifths of the region, half of the countries in the Western Region have not yet surrendered, and nearly half of the region is still not under the rule of Zhao."
Situ Liang said in a deep voice: "Your Majesty, speaking of the southern part of the Western Region, there is good news now. The four small countries close to the old Qiuci Kingdom have all begun to contact us, willing to surrender to the Lord and integrate their territory into the Great Zhao. ¡±
"Oh?" Zhao Xun smiled slightly, "It seems that our actions in the north, especially the news of the defeat of the Wusun Kingdom, have made the southern countries start to worry."
Situ Liang nodded and said, "That's true. As far as we know, several larger countries in the south have now begun to contact each other, and they are all recruiting soldiers to prepare to resist us."
"Let them prepare. As for us, we should continue to plan and reorganize this northern land. We must do it step by step and completely integrate the area that our Great Zhao has conquered into our Great Zhao."
In the south, in the view of Tang Wang Tang Xian, his abandonment of two palaces, one rich and one poor, had caused conflict between the King of Luoyang and the King of Hanzhong. But Tang Xian was not resigned to this. No matter what, at the beginning, he occupied the entire territory of Jingzhou and had the potential to sweep across Jiangzhou to the south. Not only was it blocked by the Shu army in the south, but it was also attacked by the King of Luoyang and the King of Hanzhong in the rear. Not only was it forced to abandon Jiangzhou, it was also forced to abandon the two northern prefectures of Jingzhou. How could Tang Xian accept such a situation?
Therefore, Tang Xian did not immediately send his army northward to recover the two abandoned mansions. Instead, he recuperated in Bei'an mansion, north of the Han River, where Fancheng, the important city in the north of Xiangyang, was located. At the same time, the Tang army recruited troops on a large scale and gathered troops at Xiangyang Prefecture and Bei'an Prefecture. Tang Xian was waiting for the conflict between the King of Luoyang and the King of Hanzhong to lead his army to the north.
Theoretically speaking, it is most suitable for the King of Luoyang to occupy the wealthy Nanyang Mansion, and the King of Hanzhong to occupy the slightly barren Danyang Mansion in the west. However, Nanyang Prefecture is rich, occupies a large area, and has a large population. Danyang Mansion, on the other hand, is relatively barren and sparsely populated. The party that occupies Nanyang Mansion naturally has the advantage, while the other party is naturally unwilling to do so.
And as Tang Xian expected, although the King of Hanzhong and the King of Luoyang were brothers, they were both princes who opposed the King of Shu's succession to King Yong's power, and they had a close relationship with each other. But when it comes to real interests, problems eventually arise between the two. Therefore, while Tang Xian strengthened the defense of the southern area near the Shu army, he carefully waited for the opportunity to send his army north to regain the lost territory.
Although in fact, Situ Hao, the king of Luoyang, and Situ Che, the king of Hanzhong, did have some disputes, but under the advice of Lin Shucheng and Situ Hao's important ministers, the two calmed down their fight and decided to go south to occupy Jingzhou first. Compared with the entire Jingzhou, what are the two houses occupied by the two people?
??And Nanyang Mansion is located in the south of Luoyang, so it should be occupied by the King of Luoyang. Naturally, it was impossible for the King of Hanzhong to cross the northern part of Jingzhou and occupy Nanyang Mansion, and the King of Luoyang would not appear in Danyang Mansion, which was not connected to him. Compared with the land occupied by the King of Luoyang, the land occupied by the King of Hanzhong was overall inferior. The main reason was that Luoyang was the capital.
It was naturally impossible for the King of Hanzhong to occupy Nanyang Mansion, so the King of Luoyang was asked to compensate him. However, after the advice of important ministers on both sides, both sides still prioritized winning Jingzhou. Sharing Jingzhou equally between them was more important than the compensation for Nanyang Prefecture alone. However, the two did not immediately join forces, but continued to fight each other to confuse Tang Xian.
I don¡¯t know if it was because he was coerced by Hanzhong King Situ Fei to join the Hanzhong King family through his family, which made Lin Shucheng¡¯s plan even more serious. After some understanding, Lin Shucheng finally discovered the weakness in the Tang army.
At the end of September, Shen Yuanhe, who had been placed in the rear of the Tang army by Tang Xian, who was handling government affairs, was poisoned to death in his mansion. When the news came out, there was a commotion in the Tang army. Even when Tang Xian heard this, his face changed drastically and his eyesight went dark.
Who is Shen Yuan and others? This has to do with the composition of the Tang Army. The Tang Army was composed of the Wu Wei Army and the Shence Army of the former imperial court. The generals of the two guard armies were at a disadvantage in resisting the Zhao Army and were unwilling to lose their lives for defeat, so they united together and established themselves separately. Finally, the Tang Army system headed by Tang Xian was formed.
Among them, the general of the Wuwei Army was Tang Xian, and the one comparable to him was the general of the Shence Army, Shen Yuanhe. After the two merged, Shen Yuan and Gan became subordinate to Tang Xian. Although there was no conflict between the two, as Tang Xian gradually became a prince, he naturally began to worry about Shen Yuan and this former brother and powerful figure.
"However, Shen Yuanhe is also a smart man. He handed over his military power long ago and allowed Tang Xian to arrange it. Tang Xian saw that Shen Yuanhe was so cooperative and knowledgeable. In addition, Shen Yuanhe had a profound influence in the army, so he did not do anything against Shen Yuanhe. Instead, he arranged for him to be on top of government affairs to help him handle government affairs.
?After learning that Shen Yuanhe had been killed, Tang Xian couldn't help but lament that he was in big trouble.
Sure enough, not long after Shen Yuanhe was poisoned, rumors began to spread throughout Jingzhou that Tang Xian wanted to control the overall situation and was afraid of Shen Yuanhe, who had the same status as himself in the past, so he poisoned him. And Shen Yuanhe was just the first target. Former officers of the Shence Army were also among the targets to be eradicated.
Such rumors, in fact, will not have much effect on those who are truly capable. Of course, there are still some doubts about Tang Xian, but they are not convinced directly. After all, if Tang Xianzhen wanted to execute Shen Yuanhe, why would he poison him and make such a simple matter known to everyone?
However, after several former Shence Army generals died in succession, the former Shence Army officers began to lose their composure. Of course, they couldn't calm down, this was a major matter concerning their lives. Ever since, such rumors gradually began to take effect.
"A bunch of losers! Who poisoned Shen Xiangguo? Why hasn't it been found out yet? Also, who were these generals assassinated by?" Tang Xian, who hurried back to Xiangyang from Fancheng, looked extremely gloomy.
No one answered. The assassinations of these people were all committed by dead soldiers. All subsequent clues were broken. What's more serious is that these dead soldiers all bear the mark of Tang Jun himself, making it difficult for people not to doubt them. Of course, in the eyes of smart people, they will naturally not believe it. After all, since he is a dead soldier, he cannot leave any traces that can be traced.