"Great King, the population of Pengyuan and Wanchuan counties is more than 3 million, plus the population of Xianguo itself, it is already more than 10 million, and in ten or twenty years, it is enough to occupy a place in the Central Plains. At that time, it is not too late to slowly figure it out. ”

"What Da Si Nong said is very true." Gao Xun agreed, and then said: "The national strength of the Xian country has just improved, although it is generally slightly better than the other countries, but the countries are far larger than my Xian country, and we should still take it step by step at the moment, and it is easy to lose the big because of the small, and please ask the king to learn from it." ”

King Xian was not happy at this time, he is now fifty-two, and he will live sixty if he has more, and his life is about to come to an end, and the remorse and unwillingness in his heart are like a horsewhip on his back, leaving unforgettable pain.

Struggling for a long time in his heart, King Xian said:

"Fang Cai Aiqing said, at most, you can take Shangguan County again, can you take a risk?"

"Back to the king, if you take Shangguan County, it is very likely that the Changsun State will be attacked, and even retaliate, but for the Zhiguo to shorten the border with the Changsun State, and at the same time the Xiaguan County was obtained by the Zhiguo, so at this time the Zhiguo is still profitable, if our army is to take the Xiaguan County, then the Sun State takes the Shangguan, and it is bound to take the Xiaguan, so that both offend the eldest grandson, and the Zhiguo will not be able to get benefits.

Therefore, to capture Shangguan County, it is necessary to seize it before the Changsun Kingdom goes south to recover the lost territory, and the sooner the better, so that he does not have the opportunity to set foot on Shangguan County, does not give him the truth, and leaves him with nothing to say. At this time, our army must withdraw its troops, otherwise continuing to expand westward will completely anger the eldest grandson, and our army's battle line will also be stretched too long, which is not conducive to consolidating the interests that have been obtained. ”

Shangguan and Xiaguan two counties are named after Wanchuan, Wanchuan terrain is dangerous, surrounded by mountains, it is a basin that is low in the middle and high all around, it is easy to defend and difficult to attack, and the Shu Road of Sichuan has a fight.

At the same time, the Wanchuan County mountain range extends westward into Shangguan and Xiaguan, like two open arms in the north and south, embracing the two places, no matter which place is captured, it is necessary to capture the other

Bailiyan judged that it was easy to capture Pengyuan, but it was difficult to capture Wanchuan, and it took a huge amount of time.

As a matter of fact, the Black Turban Army is now a piece of rotten chaff, superstitious cults are pervasive in the locality, and they are deeply rooted, and the more territory they occupy, the more difficult it will be to clean up their stalls, and it is a highly probable event that a large-scale cult trend of thought and riots will appear in the future.

Xianguo can completely digest the land it occupies first, and wait for Sun Guo's old land to riot and cede the land to stand on its own, and with the combat strength of the infantry army of Changsun Guo, most of them will not be able to hold it. At that time, it was more beneficial to the Xianguo to send troops to collect the land.

The next day, King Xian drove back to the capital, and when the convoy was far away, Zong Botai walked out of the crowd, came to Bailiyan, and said behind his back:

"Master Hou, does King Xian want to swallow the land of Sun Kingdom?"

Bai Liyan nodded, and he said:

"Well, the king only thinks that the south of the Changsun Kingdom has lost a lot of land, and it is still far from the Sun Kingdom, and he wants to kill the Sishui River all the time and continue to expand westward. In fact, this is not the case, judging from the news from all sides, the land under the rule of the Black Turban Army is withered and agriculture is slack, and if it is delayed for another year before the alliance, it will not be able to continue.

At that time, Changsun Guo only needs to divide his troops into two roads, one to the southwest, one to the southeast, and the two roads to open the bow and hug the Sun country, so that at least more than ten counties north of the Sun country can be swallowed, so my Xianguo has no possibility of fighting the Sishui River. ”

"What the Hou Ye is very worried about is that in the past dynasties, the princes opened up the territory and expanded the territory, but it was difficult to defend the land, after laying the land of the Sun Kingdom, the most critical thing was to govern the land, and the eldest grandson country swallowed the Sun land, and if it was fast for a while, it would be trapped in the future."

"Then according to Mr. Zongbo, how should our army send troops this time?" Bailiyan asked.

"If the king insists on capturing Shangguan County, the fastest way is to take Pengyuan County, take advantage of Dao Zhiguo to enter Xiaguan to attack Shangguan, bypass Wanchuan, and after taking Shangguan, the east and west will attack Wanchuan, and the overall situation can be determined. But in this case, how to convince Zhiguo to borrow from me is very important.

In the next thought, King Zhi also wants to take Shangguan and Wanchuan, and take all the eight counties on the east bank of the Sishui River into his pocket, so that there is no need to cross the river, according to the east bank of the Sishui River. Ordered Changsun Guo and Xu Guo to compete for land with Wei Guo and Liang State west of the Sishui River, so that in the future, Wei Guo will advance eastward, Changsun Guo and Xu Guo will bear the brunt, and Zhiguo can have a chance to breathe.

Therefore, our army will take Wanchuan, and Zhiguo will not do anything, and if he takes Shangguanjun, Zhiguo may not agree. ”

"Then if the gunpowder formula is used as the price in exchange for the compromise of King Zhi, how sure does Mr. Zongbo think?"

Bai Liyan asked, and Zong Botai said with a smile:

"Hehe, although the Gongliang clan thinks long-term, but now King Zhi has strong selfish desires, and at that time, he will secretly suspect that the Gongliang clan is colluding with the Hou Ye, coupled with Tao Yong's obstruction, it will not be easy to convince King Zhi."

"Then according to Mr., what is the solution of this situation?"

"The eldest grandson proposed the alliance, as soon as February next year, the blood will be bloody, Zhiguo as the overlord, will not go, Xianguo can be early not to go to the alliance news public, I expect that the king of Zhi learned the news, will send Tao, Gongliang to invite the king of Xian to the Zhiguo alliance, the king of Xian can take the opportunity to propose Shangguan, Wanchuan, Pengyuan three places, and the Hou Ye secretly go to the Gongliang clan, so that it will do the opposite."

"Shhh...... Sir is saying that if King Xian and Tao negotiate the land of the three counties, and at the same time make the Gongliang clan oppose this proposal in Zhiguo, this matter can be done! ”

"Exactly, when the Zhiguo court opposes, the Hou Ye will propose to exchange the formula for the three places at that time, and this matter can be done."

Xianguo openly did not participate in the alliance of the eldest grandson, and at the same time did not express his stance to go to the alliance of the Zhiguo League, King Zhi must be anxious to consolidate his hegemony, and he wanted to send Xianguo to persuade King Xian to continue to recognize the hegemony of Zhiguo in his attitude, which was an opportunity.

The state of Zhi was eager to expand in a hundred years, and the surrounding countries were offended, the eldest grandson country proposed an alliance, with the participation of the Jin state, and the eldest grandson, as the vassal state with the largest output of guns and cannons, the Liang state would also participate, and at that time, the Wei State and the countries of the West Sea would go to the appointment for the sake of common interests, not to mention the Song State and the Xu State.

In this way, the overlord of Zhiguo has become a lonely person, and if Xianguo can pull a hand and give political support at this time, King Zhi will inevitably have something to say.

At the beginning of November, Jiubaili Yan returned to the court, Gao Xun persuaded the foreign envoy to promise a word, and at the beginning of November, the tenth dynasty meeting was played, and the Changsun Congress League remained neutral, Bailiyan and Lu Gao seconded the proposal, the prince and Ding Yang Hou opposed, and the rest of the officials were roughly divided into two factions, those who agreed and those who disagreed, and the recital was finally passed by the majority of the cabinet over the minority.

After the dispersal of the dynasty, the prince and the prince of the Guangyuan Palace of the Marquis of Dingyang failed to convince King Xian.

On the way out of the palace, the father and son of Ding Yanghou complained and were full of anger:

"Father, now even a three-year-old child knows that now the eldest grandson and the Jin country are powerful, but Gao Xun and Nuo mention that they will not ally anything, and the king also accepted the proposal of the two, so wouldn't it push the Xianguo on the road of no return. I think it's the king who is confused. ”

"Say less!" Marquis Ding Yang reprimanded, and continued: "If there is no Baili Yan secretly promoting, how can the king easily accept Gao Xun and Nuo's advice, and how can Promise suddenly give up his own ideas and agree with Gao Xun's proposal. ”

"Even so, what is the benefit to my Xianguo, can't he Bailiyan see it. If the king doesn't know how to make an alliance, not to mention how the Jin State and the Changsun Kingdom treat me, in the future, when all countries send troops, how can my Xian Kingdom take Pengyuan County into the bag. ”

"Baili Yan is not an idle person, there must be something strange about this matter, you go to find out the news these days, the sooner the better."

"Obey my father."

Not long after the court meeting dispersed, the news reached the prince's mansion at the same time, and Xihuan was like thunder:

"King Xian, this old fool, dares not to go to the Eldest Sun National Alliance, what does he want to do!"

"Your Highness the Princess." Ji Jinsheng said: "King Xian doesn't go to the Eldest Sun Alliance, maybe he doesn't want to offend Zhiguo, and his subordinates guess that King Xian will not risk offending our country and go to Zhiguo Alliance." ”

"Isn't King Xian going to ask for Pengyuan County!"

"This matter is strange here, King Xian not only wants land, but also wants to be recognized by the three kingdoms of Jin, Zhi and Changsun, which is probably not easy. The subordinates thought that there must be a Baili Yan threading a needle from it, and it could not be ruled out that it was secretly connected with the Gongliang clan. ”

"Is there a plan to solve this situation?" Xihuan asked hurriedly.

"Huimeng will be in February next year at the earliest, I don't know what Bailiyan's intentions are at the moment, the top priority is to find out Bailiyan's plan, and I can only start."

"Otherwise, how about this palace summon Baili Yan and test it?"

Xihuan proposed, Ji Jinsheng shook his head and said:

"The benefits of diplomatic relations are bound to be done in secret, and if Your Highness invites them, it will be counterproductive."

"Then you and Gu Chen will investigate immediately, and the palace will immediately send a letter to Brother Wang, so that Prime Minister Fan Cheng can pay attention."

"No!"

……

At this time, Bai Liyan returned to the mansion, and Xiao Chunyu's daughter Bai Lixuan had a high fever, which made him very worried.

"Master Hou, Xuan'er has been burning for two days, why don't you retreat." Xiao Chunyu said worriedly, her eyes were red from crying.

Bai Liyan looked at the thermometer scale and said helplessly:

"Xuan'er is weak, the weather is colder than in previous years after the autumn, and the cold evil enters the body under the cold, add a bed and quilt to Xuan'er, put more cold towels on her forehead, I will change her medicine, after taking the medicine, maybe it will be better."

It is normal for a child to have a headache, but in the current era when medicine is not developed, the mortality rate of infants and young children is extremely high, and an occasional cold, or even tonsillitis can kill him, even if it is in the family of the prince and general, it will not be an exception, and unfortunate deaths occur from time to time.

comforted Xiao Chunyu, Bai Liyan put the thermometer into a cotton box and kept it carefully.

Bailiyan distilled some kerosene from petroleum, as well as gasoline and diesel mixtures, and used kerosene and glass tubes to form thermometers of different specifications by atmospheric pressure method, which were used for diagnosis and industrial applications. Of course, it's still a rough early product, but it solves the problem of whether or not there is.

The traditional kerosene, diesel and gasoline are obtained by petroleum distillation, and are condensed in batches in the floating process of fuel gas according to the different condensation temperatures of the three oils, and are collected and utilized.

The principle is very simple, there is no technical difficulty in the process and equipment for soil method and early refining, so what sulfide, lead, carbide and other indicators can not be paid attention to, nor can it be compromised, just make do.

When Yongxing and Chenling built wind towers, Yongxing City built a closed condensing tower for small-scale experimental oil refining to accumulate experience for possible industrial production in the future.

Walking out of Bailixuan's bedroom, a young man around ten years old was anxiously waiting under the verandah, and when he saw Bailiyan walking out, the young man anxiously stepped forward to give a slight salute, and asked respectfully:

"Master Si Nong, is Sister Xuan'er's illness cured?"

"Don't worry, little prince, Xuan'er's illness will be fine."

"Then can I go in and see Sister Xuan'er?"

"Little Prince, please."

"Lord Xie Sinon......"

The young man in front of him is Jiang Can, the youngest son of King Xian, who is ten years old this year, and is very compatible with Bai Lixuan, and he has also learned simple arithmetic in Yongxing City Academy for two months this summer, and he is very smart.

King Xian had many sons, the crown prince Jiang Yu was the oldest, followed by Jiang Ruoli, but unfortunately Ruoli died young, and then the sons were still young, and Jiang Can was the youngest.