"The Central Plains is really lively!" After reading the conquest between the princes of the Central Plains from Youzhou, Situ Liang and the others all sighed, "It seems that our unification of the north has put a lot of pressure on all the princes." Otherwise, we would not have allowed these princes, who had originally stopped their conquests, to start a 'chaotic' war immediately after our westward expedition. ”

Zhang Yuanjing smiled: "How can their pressure not be great?" It is equivalent to taking half of Dayan. In addition, we have expanded our territory in the north and expanded the land of the three states. He also taught the Turks a hard lesson, making them retreat and submit. I, Da Zhao, can go south with all my might. ”

"It would be strange if these princes were not nervous, especially those small princes, who were even more anxious. In our design segmentation; The Eyong army, after the westward expedition of the army, 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 a par with my Great Zhao. Now, the Qi army has declined, and the Yong army has been divided into three, all of which have become history. The only two great princes who have the ability to compare with us no longer exist. No matter how much they struggle, they can't change the momentum of my Great Zhao sweeping the world. ”

"The Navy's Third Fleet has performed well this time, taking Qiongzhou Island as its foundation, taking advantage of the 'chaos' to occupy Guangzhou Prefecture and the surrounding two prefectures in the southeast of 'Jiaozhou', allowing us to open up new jurisdictions on the distant southern front." For Li Chenfeng, who was born in the military, he cares more about the performance of the soldiers.

Zhao Xun also nodded: "Indeed, the Third Fleet has performed very well this time. Now, the Qi army took advantage of the split of King Yong, the reign of King Shu, and internal instability, and began to counterattack 'Jiao' Zhou. Not to mention that the land of 'Jiaozhou' has re-entered the period of war and 'chaos', it has also caused local natives and bandits to rise up one after another. The Third Fleet took this opportunity to occupy the land of Canton, not only to ensure the port of maritime repair in the south, but also to allow us to occupy the most prosperous seaport in the south. It can continue to attract displaced people from the land of 'Jiao' Prefecture to join my Dazhao. ”

Zhang Yuanjing said with a smile: "The Lord doesn't know that when we first occupied Qiongzhou Island, we needed to transport people from the northern mainland as residents to develop and stabilize Qiongzhou Island. Now, Qiongzhou Island is already overcrowded. This time, the Third Fleet is not only to report the military situation to the Lord, but also to ask the Lord for help from the Lord, how to settle these people. It was not cost-effective to move north by sea, but it took a lot of effort to move from north to south, but now it is ......."

Zhao Xun shook his head, looked at the map, pointed to the east of Qiongzhou Island, the sea area east of Jiangzhou and said, "What about here?" Who is in charge of this place now? ”

Zhang Yuanjing looked at it and said, "Ryukyu Islands? Well, Lord will, let's take this place? These islands can also accommodate a lot of people. Among them, this is especially true of Ryuqiu Island. ”

Zhao Xun and others see more, this Ryukyu Islands is naturally the future Taiwan Island plus the northern Ryukyu island chain. Not to mention the resentment of this island in the hearts of the Chinese people in the future, even this huge Liuqiu Island, Zhao Xun can't let it go. This island is large enough to accommodate millions of people, and can also be used as a naval seaport and a seaport for maritime trade.

Originally, when the Zhao army navy went south, Zhao Xun was ready to fight the idea of this Ryuqiu Island. It's just that Liuqiu Island is too close to Jiangzhou, and it is located in the southeast of Yangzhou, which is very close to the headquarters of the Qi army. In addition, it is also the seaport of the Yangzhou Navy, which echoes the eastern part of Jiangzhou, blocking sea ships from south to north and collecting taxes. Here, it is the life/root of Murong Cheng, the king of Qi, Zhao Xun is afraid that he will accidentally 'provoke' the anger of the king of Qi, and if he wants to compete with himself first, it will be detrimental to his original plan.

The situation today is very different from what it was back then. Jiangzhou became a place of 'melee' battle between the Qi army and the Shu army, and the Yangzhou navy was also pulled away by one-third of it by his own command last year. The rest, too, attacked the Chu army in the north of Yangzhou and the east of Xuzhou. Not to mention that the powerful Yangzhou Navy cannot be compared with the Great Zhao Navy under his command, even if he can compete with the Great Zhao Navy under his command, Murong Cheng will not 'fight' with him at this moment, let alone 'fight'.

Today's Murong Cheng, the north is the Chu army entering, and the southeast of Jiangzhou is the Shu army, and he is in the embarrassing situation of being attacked on both sides, how can he dare to provoke another big enemy?

"The lord wants this Ryukyu Islands? Yes, this is indeed a very good place, guarded on the outer side of the mainland, and together with Qiongzhou Island, it has become the outer guardian network of the land. Taking this place will not only settle the displaced people we have taken in in the south, but also have a very powerful effect on the future attack on the southeast coastal region. "Under the influence of Zhao Xun, the officials in the upper echelons of the Zhao army also understand the important 'sex' of the navy, the important 'sex' of outward expansion, and how big the world is.

"However, although the Qi army and navy are weak, there must be naval and army officers and soldiers of the Qi army stationed on this Liuqiu Island. With the Third Fleet alone, I'm afraid it will be difficult to take this place. In addition, we also have to take into account Murong Cheng's attitude and the reactions of other princes. ”

Li Chenfeng said in a deep voice: "Relying on the Third Fleet alone, it is indeed difficult to take Liuqiu Island. However, taking this place has more significance for us. Therefore, it is worth it to let the Second Fleet, which is stationed in the east of Qingzhou, move. ”

After a pause, Li Chenfeng said again: "Although this move will make those princes suspicious, but we are attacking an island, an island that hangs overseas, and we have not sent troops to the various princes' jurisdictions, so they will not care too much about us." We dispatched the Navy, and it should be clear to everyone that the warships of the Navy cannot climb onto land. Even if they were a threat to their coastal areas, they should now be more concerned about attacking other princes and expanding their own territory to expand their strength. ”

What Li Chenfeng said, Xu Ye and Wei Zilin all agreed.

Zhao Xun smiled and said, "Why do you need to be so troublesome, why use the army?" As far as we know, the situation of the Qi army is not very good now, it is attacked on both sides, and the Chu army occupies the four northeastern prefectures of Yangzhou and has an increasingly stable trend. The Qi army has a strong army, although it now has more than half of its jurisdiction, but there are not many 'elites' under its command. And what restricts the strength of the Qi army is nothing else, but logistics. ”

Situ Liang's eyes lit up and said, "The Lord's will, we exchange grain and grass materials for the Ryukyu Islands?" ”

Zhao Xun said with a smile: "Yes, except for the main island of the Ryukyu Islands, Ryukyu Island, the rest are not valued by Murong Cheng, and there are not many residents on Ryukyu Island. In other words, on the Ryukyu Islands, Murong Cheng did not move too many residents. Most of the residents on it are residents who fled after the increasing taxes in Dayan and the chaos of the war. ”

"The Qi army occupied Liuqiu Island, in addition to being a naval port, more to collect taxes from past maritime merchants. But now, the Qi navy is weak, and the Qi navy is busy fighting against the Chu army. Coming and going to the sea, flying more of my Dazhao flag, the Qi army did not dare to act recklessly. ”

"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 see this, he doesn't want to fight us to the death. In that case, why not exchange it for something that is good for him? ”

Zhang Yuanjing nodded slightly, and said, "With the current situation of the Qi army, we should agree to the conditions for us to 'handover' the Ryukyu Islands with materials." After all, if he 'trades', he can get the materials he needs. If not, not only will he not get anything, but he will also lose his army. ”

"For us, it's not just about taking the Ryukyu Islands, settling the inhabitants, and taking control of the entire southeast coast. What's more, now that the Qi army is weak, I am afraid that it will be difficult to block the joint attack of the Chu army and the Shu army. We 'traded' materials to the Qi army, but also to strengthen the strength of the Qi army, and also to make him fight more ruthlessly with the Chu army and the Shu army. ”

Zhao Xun sighed: "Actually, if we do this, the people under the rule of the southern princes will be hurt the most. Zhao Xun's words are true. The current strategy of the Zhao army is to stabilize the Zhao army, expand outward, and not see the southern part of the Central Plains, and let the princes fight each other until each other's strength is sharply reduced and they are unable to fight. This is a great thing and a good strategy for Zhao Jun. But for the people under the rule of the southern princes, it was an aggravation of suffering.

Zhang Yuanjing said urgently: "The Lord doesn't need to feel guilty about this, and said that the suffering brought to the people is actually not us, but the princes everywhere. If we move our army directly south at the beginning of the year, then the southern princes will inevitably unite against our army. Even if it can't be united as a whole, it will form two or three dozen alliances, echoing each other from afar. ”

"And I, Da Zhao, from east to west, will face the attack of the southern princes. In this way, if we cannot quickly take over the southern princes' land, then the whole world will inevitably form a situation of war between the north and the south. The southern princes will no longer fight each other, but will enter the stage of development. At that time, the situation of confrontation between the north and the south will surely last for a long time. In this way, it will be an even greater suffering for the people in both the north and the south. ”

"We do this, although for the people of the South, it is to see that their suffering is aggravated. However, this will not last long. When the southern princes are weak in the future, it will be the time when our northern Zhao army sweeps the world. At that time, lightening the burden on the people in the south will also be the best way to save them. ”

"Moreover, the people in the south do not belong to the jurisdiction of my Great Zhao, and they should hate those princes now, and they can't blame the lord at all."

Situ Liang, Wei Zilin and others also said yes. They didn't want Zhao Xun to change his current strategy because he was too worried about the people, which would be extremely unfavorable for Zhao Jun to dominate the world in the future.

Zhao Xun smiled: "I'm just sighing like this, for my Da Zhao's established strategy, unless it is 'forced', this king will not change it." You are right, the current suffering is only temporary. Dominating the world is the best way to solve the problem. ”

"Now, let's continue this battle in the Western Regions. Although three-fifths of the territory has been won, there are still half of the countries in the Western Regions that have not yet surrendered, and almost half of the regions are still not under the control of our Great Zhao. ”

Situ Liang said in a deep voice: "Lord, when it comes to the southern part of the Western Regions, there is still good news. The four small kingdoms adjacent to the old Qiuzi Kingdom have all begun to contact us, willing to submit to the Lord, and willing to integrate their land 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 nodded and said: "Indeed, as far as we know, several larger countries in the south have now begun to contact each other, and their countries are recruiting soldiers and preparing to resist us. ”

"Let them prepare, and we will continue to plan and restructure this northern land. We have to do it, step by step, to completely integrate the area laid down by our Dazhao into our Dazhao. ”

In the south, in the eyes of Tang King Tang Xian, his abandonment of one rich and one poor has caused contradictions between the king of Luoyang and the king of Hanzhong. But Tang Xian was not reconciled. In any case, he occupied the entire territory of Jingzhou at the beginning, and there was a great situation of sweeping Jiangzhou to the south. Now it is not only blocked by the Shu army in the south, but also forced to abandon Jiangzhou because the rear is attacked by the king of Luoyang and the king of Hanzhong, not to mention, even the two northern provinces of Jingzhou are also forced to abandon. In such a situation, how can Tang Xian accept it?

As a result, Tang Xian did not immediately move his army north to recover the abandoned two prefectures, but recuperated in Bei'an Mansion, north of Hanshui and where Fancheng, an important city in the north of Xiangyang, was located. At the same time, the Tang army recruited troops on a large scale, and troops were assembled in Xiangyang and Bei'an. Tang Xian was waiting, waiting for the king of Luoyang and the king of Hanzhong to have a contradiction, and waved his army to attack north.

Theoretically, the king of Luoyang occupied the rich Nanyang Mansion, and the king of Hanzhong occupied a slightly barren mansion, but the Danyang Mansion in the west was the most suitable. However, Nanyang Province is rich and occupies a large area with a large population. Danyang Province, on the other hand, is relatively barren and sparsely populated. The side that occupies Nanyang Mansion naturally has the advantage, and the other side is naturally unwilling.

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 inheriting the power of King Yong, and they had a close relationship with each other. However, when it comes to practical interests, there are still problems between the two. Therefore, while strengthening the defense of the land near the Shu army in the south, Tang Xian waited cautiously, waiting for the opportunity to wave his army north and regain the lost territory.

However, in fact, Situ Hao, the king of Luoyang, and Situ Che, the king of Hanzhong, did have some disputes, but under the persuasion of the important ministers under Lin Shucheng and Situ Hao, the two still calmed down the fight with each other and decided to go south to occupy Jingzhou first. Compared with the entire Jingzhou, what is the land of the two provinces occupied by the two?

The Nanyang Mansion is located in the south of Luoyang, and it is natural for the king of Luoyang to occupy it. Naturally, the king of Hanzhong could not 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. The place where the king of Hanzhong is located, compared with the land occupied by the king of Luoyang, is one of the worse as a whole, and the main reason is that Luoyang is the national capital.

It is naturally impossible for the king of Hanzhong to occupy Nanyang Mansion, so he asked the king of Luoyang to compensate. However, after the persuasion of the important ministers of both sides, the two sides still took Jingzhou first, and the two divided Jingzhou equally, which is more important than the compensation of Nanyang Mansion alone. However, the two did not immediately join forces, but continued to fight each other in order to 'confuse' and 'confuse' Tang Xian.

I don't know if it was because he was coerced by Situ Fei, the king of Hanzhong, to join the first line of the king of Hanzhong with his family, which caused Lin Shucheng's plan to be even more spicy. After some understanding, Lin Shucheng finally discovered the weak point in the Tang army.

At the end of September, in the rear of the Tang army, Shen Yuanhe, who had been placed in the rear by Tang Xian, was poisoned in the mansion by someone who handled government affairs. When the news came out, the Tang army was in a 'commotion' and 'chaos'. Even when Tang Xian heard about it, his face changed dramatically, and his eyes were dark.

Who is Shen Yuan and who? This is to say the composition of the Don Army. The Tang Army was composed of the Wuwei Army and the Shence Army of the former imperial court, and the generals of the two Guards were unfavorable in resisting the Zhao Army, and they did not want to lose their 'lives' for defeat, so they united together and stood on their own, and finally formed the Tang Army system headed by Tang Xian.

Among them, the general of the Wuwei Army is Tang Xian, and the same as him is the general of the Shence Army, Shen Yuanhe. After the merger of the two, Shen Yuan and Gan were under Tang Xian. Although there was no contradiction between the two, as Tang Xian became a prince step by step, he naturally began to worry a little about Shen Yuan and this former brother and powerful figure.

However, Shen Yuanhe is also a smart person, and he has long 'handed over' the military power and let Tang Xian arrange it. Tang Xian saw that Shen Yuanhe was so cooperative and so knowledgeable, and Shen Yuanhe had a deep influence in the army, so he did not hack Shen Yuanhe, but arranged him on top of government affairs to assist him in handling government affairs.

Knowing that Shen Yuanhe was killed, Tang Xian couldn't help but sigh, he was in big trouble.

Sure enough, not long after Shen Yuanhe was poisoned, it began to be rumored in the entire Jingzhou that Tang Xian was afraid of Shen Yuanhe, who had the same status as himself in the past, in order to control the overall situation, so he poisoned him. And Shen Yuanhe is just the first target, and the former officers of the Shence Army are also the targets of eradication.

Such rumors, in fact, will not have much effect on people who are really capable. Of course, there are still doubts about Tang Xian, but they are not so direct as to believe it. After all, Tang Xian really wanted to execute Shen Yuanhe, why would he poison him, and would he 'get' such a simple thing to be known to everyone?

However, after the death of several former generals and colonels of the former Shence Army in a row, the officers of the original Shence Army began to be uncalm. Of course, they can't be calm, this is a major matter related to their 'sex' life. And so, the rumors began to work.

"A bunch of rice buckets! Who was Shen Xiangguo poisoned? Why hasn't it been found out yet? Also, who assassinated these generals? "Tang Xian, who hurried back to Xiangyang from Fancheng, had an extremely gloomy face.

No one answered, these people were assassinated, all of them were committed by the dead, and the follow-up clues were all broken. What's more serious is that these dead soldiers all bear the mark of Tang Jun himself, which makes it difficult for people not to doubt it. Of course, in the eyes of smart people, it is natural not to believe it. After all, since it is a dead man, it is impossible to leave any traces that can be detected.