As Zhao Jia said, this time in the war between the southwest and the imperial court, the Pingnan army must win in the first collision, and if it is a big victory, if the first battle is lost, it is a corner of the southwest, and the people's hearts will be scattered in an instant.

As soon as the people's hearts were scattered, southern Xinjiang, which was already on the inferior side, almost lost any possibility of victory.

So this time, the No. 1 and No. 2 characters of the Pingnan Army appeared in Hanzhong Mansion at the same time, and the attitude of the two of them at this time was already very distinct, that is, no matter what, the first battle in Hanzhong would be fought beautifully.

Even if Hanzhong is lost in the end, and the Pingnan army retreats to the Sword Pavilion, it must give the imperial court a head-on blow.

General Zhuguo pulled Meng Qi to the main hall of the Hanzhong General's Mansion, and the three of them sat down one after another.

Li Shen sat on the main seat and said indifferently: "There should be more than 100,000 people on Ye Ming's side. If they want to enter Shu, the first thing is to take Hanzhong, there are 20,000 people in Hanzhong, and I will transfer 50,000 people to you, can you defend it? ”

Meng Qi immediately stood up and clenched his fists in a deep voice: "General, the last general must defend Hanzhong!" ”

Li Shen waved his hand and motioned for him to sit down, and then he continued: "Ye Ming, this person, is famous for leading troops to Fadu, the Zhenbei Army has not missed anything in his hands for more than ten years, he wants to fight Hanzhong, most of them will be step by step, it is difficult to completely hold Hanzhong, this general means that Hanzhong can be lost, but it must be guarded until the end of the year." ”

Speaking of this, Li Shen paused and continued: "In addition, when we meet Ye Ming for the first time, we must win, and when the time comes, I will let Li Yan lead the troops, and General Meng, you will help Li Yan by his side." ”

Meng Qi immediately bowed his head and said, "The last general knows." ”

To be honest, it is very taboo to change generals like this, especially for people like Meng Qi, who have been a general in Hanzhong for many years, he knows Hanzhong very well, but Li Yan has a very high prestige in the southwest, and he came forward to fight, and Meng Qi did not dare to have any opinions.

Li Shen sat firmly on the throne and said with low eyebrows: "This time, I will be here in person, and I will meet this eldest son of the Ye family for a while." ”

He and Ye Ming, although there is a gap in age, they are considered to be the same generation, the old man Ye Sheng and his father Li Zhijie have always been compared by the people of the Great Jin Dynasty, and now the eldest son of these two people finally has the opportunity to fight for the first time.

After they spoke a few more words, Meng Qi got up and retreated, Li Shen sat on the main seat and did not move, and Li Yan went to see off the Hanzhong general in place of his brother.

A moment later, Li Yan returned to Li Shen's side.

General Zhu Guo sat on the main seat, was silent for a long time, and finally looked up at his righteous brother, and asked, "What do you think our chances are this time?" ”

Li Yan lowered his hand and said, "Is the eldest brother asking about this battle in Hanzhong, or is he asking about the overall situation?" ”

"Let's talk about it."

Li Yan nodded and said, "This time, Ye Ming shouldn't know that we came to Hanzhong, and the reinforcements we deployed were also broken into pieces and sent to Hanzhong little by little. ”

"But it's just a loss?"

Li Yan continued: "Ye Ming, this person, the junior brother has read some of his military reports in the north, this person is the most cautious in leading the troops, there are almost no flaws to catch, we can take him by surprise, we can hurt his flesh and skin, but we can't hurt his muscles and bones, as long as he reacts, we won't take too much advantage." ”

Ye Ming's temperament is very different from his father Ye Sheng, Ye Sheng led the troops back then, and the most memorable thing is the word "reckless", it is this recklessness that Old Man Ye can send the Northern Zhou into the grave in one fell swoop.

But Ye Shaobao's style is much more stable, and it is precisely because of this calm temperament that Jimen Pass has been solid for so many years, and the remnants of Zhou in the north may harass the border towns near Jimen Pass, but he has never dared to fight Jimen Pass head-on.

"It's enough to let him shed a layer of skin."

Li Shen frowned at first, and then said: "Ye Ming has suffered a loss here, so he will be more cautious, after the first battle, let Meng Qi guard here, and you go to the Sword Pavilion to prepare for defense." ”

"As long as Hanzhong can hold Ye Ming for half a year, the Sword Pavilion can hold him for a year or two, and then the forbidden army led by Ye Ming will fall into the southwest, and after two or three years, even if the Sword Pavilion is broken, we will be able to become a trend."

The so-called success does not mean that the southwest will suddenly become stronger, but if the southwest can survive the imperial court for three years, there will be people in the world who will fall to the side of the abolished prince, and then the southwest will be even more unbreakable.

Even so, if the southwest wants to confront the imperial court, there is still a long way to go, according to Li Shen's own calculations, it will take at least ten years or so for the southern Xinjiang side to accumulate enough strength to counterattack the imperial court.

It's been a long road.

Li Shen was originally reluctant to take this road, but the current situation forced him to this road step by step.

Today's Pingnan Hou Mansion, there is only such a road to go, if this road can't go, then Li Zhijie's department will all be wiped out.

So no matter what, he can go on with his head down, because if he turns around, he will die.

Li Shen closed his eyes, recalled in detail what had happened in the past few years, and finally exhaled slowly.

He thought of the young man who was still a little immature when he first met, and who was gritting his teeth in front of him.

If it weren't for him, although I don't know what the current Pingnan Hou Mansion would be, it would definitely not be like this.

Thinking of this, Li Shen glanced back at his righteous brother, and said silently in his heart.

If the Son of Heaven in Chengde was still alive, he would not have come to this point anyway.

The Son of Heaven in Chengde is still alive, no matter how Li Shen is, he has a chance to "surrender", he hands over the military power in Southern Xinjiang, and the Holy Son of Heaven will give him a way to live, but now this Son of Heaven ......

There is already a grudge against his father in southern Xinjiang.

The former Marquis of Pingnan, the former Marquis of the Great Jin Dynasty, snorted and left these complicated thoughts behind.

"No matter what, this battle in Hanzhong must be won, if we lose to Ye Ming in Hanzhong for the first time, then we don't have to protect His Royal Highness the Prince, wipe our neck with a knife, and die a crisp death."

Li Yan stood behind Li Shen and bowed his head respectfully.

"The last general, obey!"

"This battle is not won, and the last general will come to see you."

Li Shen didn't speak, and walked away.

He was somewhat resentful of his righteous brother in his heart.

Li Yan also knew that his eldest brother was very dissatisfied with his killing of the Chengde Emperor, but the matter had come to this point, and the Chengde Emperor had no way to come back from the dead, the most courageous general in the Pingnan Army shook his head and turned back to his room.

……

On the third day of Li Shen's arrival in Hanzhong City, a letter was delivered to the Hanzhong General's Mansion.

This letter was not addressed to the Hanzhong general Meng Qi, but to Li Shen.

When General Zhu Guo received this letter, his face changed before he could open it.

Because this letter was sent by Ye Ming.

Li Shen took a deep breath and turned to look at Li Yan and Meng Qi.

"How did he know I was in Hanzhong?"

Both shook their heads.

Li Shen frowned, barely suppressed the doubts in his heart, and opened the letter.

The content of the letter is simple.

"The brothers haven't seen each other for more than ten years, so I'm looking forward to it."