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Chapter 761: The Secret Covenant

Li Qing did not meet Xiao Yuanshan in the meeting hall of the former marshal's mansion, but on the same night, he asked Tie Leopard to secretly approach his private residence, and met with this former boss, the patriarch of the Xiao clan, and his first famous subordinate defeated in his study. Pen @ fun @ pavilion wWw. ｂｉｑUｇE。 ｉｎｆｏ

"Li Dashuai, I, Xiao Shi, am willing to negotiate under the premise of the two points you raised." Xiao Yuanshan took a deep look and said in a dry tone. The form is pressing, people are under the eaves, and they have to bow their heads, Xiao Yuanshan's heart is full of bitterness.

Li Qing smiled all over his face, "Great, welcome, Patriarch Xiao understands the righteousness and saves the millions of people of Youyan from the flames of war, which is really a great achievement, and I will not forget the sacrifice made by the Xiao clan for this." On the basis of the two premises, it is much easier to say anything else, and Patriarch Xiao may wish to put forward any conditions as much as possible. ”

Xiao Yuanshan cleared his throat and said, "First of all, it is the safety of my Xiao clan. ”

Li Qing nodded, "Over the years, the major families have owned their own territory and gathered heavy troops to protect the continuation of their families, and the Xiao family has handed over their military power, and they are worried about their personal safety, I am very clear, but the Xiao clan can rest assured, you can take a look, under the jurisdiction of Dingzhou, whether it is the barbarian nobles who surrendered, or the former Luzhou marshal Xu Hongwei, they have all regained their positions in my Dingzhou, Qi Yu, Jingpo and others are not only my Dingzhou's senior ministers, but also my Dingzhou important businessmen, I, Li Qing, are still like this to the barbarians, let alone your Xiao clan? Moreover, the Xiao family's century-old family, there are many elites in the family, and there are many places for me Li Qing to borrow in the future, such as you, the Xiao patriarch, you are a good hand in war! ”

Xiao Yuanshan snorted, "This is not mentioned, Xiao Yuanshan has lost one battle after another in recent years, and he has no face to say that he is one of the battlefield generals." ”

Li Qing smiled slightly, Xiao Yuanshan has indeed been unfavorable over the years, first of all, he was defeated in his own hands, and it was under the situation of taking advantage of himself, and then he met King Ning, and then he encountered Qiu Zhi, these people are indeed far stronger than Xiao Yuanshan in terms of intelligence and military strategy, but if they belittle Xiao Yuanshan because of this, it is also very inappropriate, their military thinking and tactical thinking have their own uniqueness, with the greatness of Great Chu, the commander of the army and tens of thousands of generals, Xiao Yuanshan can still be firmly in the forefront.

"Patriarch Xiao only talked about your Xiao family's personal safety, let me talk about the political treatment I Dingzhou gave you! First of all, in the two states of Youyan, Patriarch Xiao can choose one state to serve as the governor, and the other state will be appointed by me to serve as the governor. Of course, the officials at all levels under Zhizhou, according to the official appointment procedures of my Dingzhou, there will be some corresponding adjustments, these things, after going down, Patriarch Xiao can talk to Lord Lu Yiming in detail. ”

Lu Yiming bowed slightly on the side.

"Since the Xiao family has decided to belong to my Dingzhou, then, according to the usual practice, we will invite the Duke of Qi Xiao Haoran and the Xiao family to come to my Dingzhou to live in peace." Li Qing said slowly, "I don't know what Patriarch Xiao thinks about this?" ”

What can Xiao Yuanshan think? In Xiao Haoran's letter to him, it was made clear that in the past, some important people in Dingzhou who surrendered were kept in captivity in Dingzhou, how could Xiao be an exception?

"I agree."

Li Qing was very satisfied with the other party's cheerfulness, and couldn't help but admire Xiao Haoran for being really an old bachelor, he really could afford to take it and let it go, and with the respect of his country, he was actually willing to come to Dingzhou to be soft and small to his own posterior boy.

"After the Xiao clan people arrive in Dingzhou, as long as they have talents, Dingzhou will definitely use their talents, and they will not let their talents be buried, and if the Xiao clan people are willing to join the army, my Ji Mingze Military Academy will also open the door to them. Of course, whether they are officials in Dingzhou or in the army, they have to compete with others, and Patriarch Xiao should know about these things in Dingzhou, so there is no need for me to say more. ”

For this, Xiao Yuanshan really didn't think of it, and Xiao Haoran didn't mention it, in their minds, if the Xiao family surrenders, it will inevitably be shelved, whether it is an official or in the army, it will definitely be set up with many obstacles, but I didn't expect that Li Qing didn't care about this at all, if it was really as fair and urgent as Li Qing said, the Xiao family's century-old family has a profound heritage, whether it is an official or an army, it is much higher than others, which is a big advantage over civilians in the competition, if Li Qing succeeds, Perhaps in a few decades, the Shaw will re-emerge as a great clan and occupy an important place in the new empire.

"Thank you Li Dashuai for your generosity!" Xiao Yuanshan stood up, and this time he sincerely bowed deeply to Li Qing.

"No need, use talents in an eclectic manner, this is my national policy in Dingzhou, as long as you have talents in the Xiao family, I dare to use them!" Li Qinghao said briskly, but there was an extreme confidence in his tone.

"The question of the reorganization of the army!" After talking about the arrangements for the Xiao clan, Li Qing's topic turned to the most important issue, "The Xiao clan now claims to have 100,000 troops, but in fact, there are only more than 120,000 people who can fight, that is, these 20,000 people, and its combat efficiency is also worth considering. Li Qingdao, "Most of these armies must be disbanded, and the rest of the people will be assessed by Dingzhou, eliminate the inferior and retain the superior, and then unify them into the Dingzhou battle sequence." ”

"What Li Dashuai said is extremely true, but if the troops are suddenly disbanded on a large scale, once the Luoyang side notices it, it will inevitably march into the valley in a big way, and Youyan will be in danger." Xiao Yuanshan Road.

"That's what we're going to talk about next." Li Qing waved his hand and said,

"The matter of the Xiao family's surrender to Dingzhou, in the near future, must be kept strictly confidential, and there must be no leakage in the slightest." Li Qing said slowly: "Our strategy in Dingzhou has undergone some changes now, and we must first solve the Liaoshen and southern issues, so Youyan maintains an independent status, which can effectively buffer the conflict between us and Luoyang." ”

"It's just such a big move, I'm afraid it's very difficult to keep it secret, and the Luoyang Department is also extremely interested." Xiao Yuanshan Road.

"We already have a complete plan for this." Yan Nanfei on the side took over the conversation, "The lord has drawn up a plan, and I will briefly talk to Patriarch Xiao." ”

Xiao Yuanshan turned his head to look at Yan Nanfei and arched his hand, "I want to hear about it." ”

"Patriarch Xiao's coming to Dingzhou is an extremely secret matter, I believe that it is difficult for the Ministry of Affairs to find out, after we sign the treaty, the Xiao clan can gather troops to Xiangshan Mansion on a large scale, and ostensibly make a false appearance of attacking Xiangshan Mansion, and we will also transfer Yang Yidao's department to Xiangshan Mansion at the corresponding time."

Xiao Yuanshan suddenly realized, "The military reorganization is being carried out in Xiangshan Mansion. ”

"Yes, we transferred to Yang Yidao's group, on the surface, it seems to be to reinforce Lu Dalin's troops, but in fact, we will gradually transfer Lu Dalin's troops out and send them to the north in a series of troop transfer processes. The actual task of Yang Yidao's department in Xiangshan Mansion was to reorganize the Youyan army, cut the inferior and retain the superior, and the personnel who were laid off returned to their respective places of residence in small groups, so that the scale was small and not easy to attract attention. ”

"At the same time, in this process, we will successively send troops to pretend to be Youyan's army to take over the fortress of Xiegu and strengthen Youyan's defense, of course, the troops sent out will also take into account the task of reorganizing the Xiegu garrison. The whole process, if it were to be completed, would take about a year. ”

"I agree in principle, but I'm afraid it's difficult to keep this secret!" Xiao Yuanshan frowned.

"The confidentiality work will be handed over to the Dingzhou Supervision Yuan." Li Qingdao, "As long as you get through the initial stage safely, it will take a certain amount of time for Luoyang to verify and implement." ”

"Li Dashuai, what kind of food and other materials are urgently needed by our Youyan?" Xiao Yuanshan asked about this big issue related to the stability of Youyan, and the food problem in Youyan area is already urgent, which is also the biggest reason for Youyan to give in to Dingzhou.

"Don't worry about this, after we sign the treaty, the first batch of grain will be used, I believe that when you return to Youyan, you can get this batch of materials from Lu Dalin. To solve the urgent need, of course, we hope that after you get the first batch of supplies, Xiao Guogong can also leave for Dingzhou to settle down, I have been looking forward to Xiao Guogong for a long time! Li Qing said with a smile.

Xiao Yuanshan nodded, "Don't worry, Li Dashuai!" ”

After finalizing the big festival, Li Qing got up and left, and some of the remaining details were negotiated between Lu Yiming and Xiao Yuanshan, anyway, since the Xiao family was willing to be attached, there was no need to worry too much about some trivial matters.

On the Heishui Ocean, a huge fleet was breaking through the waves, and they had entered the sea area under the complete control of Dingzhou, and when they saw the undulating mountains in the distance, many Dingzhou sailors rushed to the deck and cheered loudly.

"We're back, we're home!"

The shouts spread from one ship to another, and in a moment the whole fleet burst into cheers, and most of the other soldiers poured onto the deck, except for the sailors who could not leave their posts, many of them wounded, and with the support of their companions, looking at the familiar shoreline of their homeland with tears in their eyes.

Naval battles are more brutal than land battles, most of the dead soldiers are impossible to find the corpses, and this time the battle in the storm is even more brutal, and when everything calms down, the bodies of any comrades can no longer be found. It's really exciting to be able to survive and return home. Almost all the ships in the whole fleet were scarred, and the same was true of the two giant ships Qiyuan and Kaitai, and ten ships were dragged behind the giant ship by one cable after another, which was too much injured in the hull, although it did not sink, but it lost the ability to sail, and after emergency repairs, it could only be dragged home with all its might.

A patrol clipper flying the flag of the Dingzhou Navy Division saw this fleet and quickly greeted it. The ship's signal men repeatedly waved the flag, "Welcome home our heroes!" ”