Holding the steamed bun in his hand, Si Hu shed tears.
Sitting in the palace, Xu Mu looked at his younger brother who was still crying, feeling a little unbearable in his heart. But after thinking about it, I decided to keep hiding it.
The matter in the granary can be regarded as a temporary solution. At least, as Jia Zhou said, this series of disasters should be stopped at once.
"My Lord, a personal letter from the King of Yuzhou."
Xu Mu took the letter, opened it and looked at it for a few times, his face a little moved. After reading it, he handed the letter to Jia Zhou. After Jia Zhou looked at it, he was also a little silent.
"The King of Yuzhou has done a good job in maintaining this friendship between old friends in troubled times. I thought before that the King of Yuzhou would put forward some excessive conditions."
Xu Mu breathed out, and roughly understood that Uncle Chang suppressed the advice of the family's staff and really thought that the Shuzhou granary was burned down, so he sent a batch of food and grass as a relief.
It’s not much to ask for. There is only one way to make a repeating crossbow.
"Recently, Yuan Song and Zuo Shiren have implemented a lot of good governance for aristocratic families, and as a result, many aristocratic families have settled in."
"Both of them are holding their breath."
"Have Wenlong noticed that there are far fewer people competing than in the past two years?"
In the past two years, there were still many separatist forces, such as the King of Liangzhou like Dong Wen and the troubled forces like Mi Daotu, but now, almost all of them have disappeared.
"As time goes by, the small fish will be eaten by the big fish. In the end, among the several big fish, one of them will also eat the other big fish and become the final winner." Jia Zhou said calmly.
"If there is nothing wrong, next year or the year after that will also be the time when war breaks out. In Western Shu, because of the burning of the granary, many people will probably think that we will not go on an expedition next year. My lord can take advantage of this opportunity. "
"In addition, regarding the Nanhai states to the south. My lord needs to win over them. Although Zhao Di is ambitious, he can sometimes see his position more clearly than people like Zuo Shiren. I think we can form an alliance temporarily."
"A temporary alliance?"
Jia Zhou nodded, "There are only two alliances between Xi Shu and the South China Sea Alliance. Presumably Zuo Shiren will also send people to the South China Sea to win over them."
Xu Mu understood what Jia Zhou meant. For example, Zhao Di's Nanhai Alliance, if Western Shu becomes more powerful, may one day be able to directly annex it without any bloodshed. But for people like Zuo Shiren and Yuan Song, it definitely won't work. These people are already ambitious in their hearts.
"Wenlong, I understand."
Xu Mu exhaled, the road to Xishu is long and arduous.
"Lord, I still have the previous proposal, occupy all the land south of the Yangtze River, use Xiangjiang River as a natural defense, and then attack the Central Plains from the north."
"good."
…
At dusk the next day, Chao Yi returned to Chengdu with 300 personal guards and 19 rebel heads.
After piling the heads in the palace, Chao Yi knelt down before he spoke.
"My lord, I, Chao Yi, have killed all the generals in Bingzhou who wanted to rebel. I would like to see it before my lord."
"Get up." Xu Mu smiled. Deep down in his heart, he had always placed high hopes on Chao Yi, hoping that this young general from the wolf clan could one day shoulder the power of the cavalry and conquer a larger territory for Xi Shu.
Chao Yi did not get up. He trembled and knocked his head heavily on the ground.
Sun Xun next to him wanted to give him a hand, but he was also pushed away.
"Please forgive me, my lord, and I would like to... remove you from the general position."
"Why do you want to remove the general?"
"Ding Shao, the young king of Bingzhou, was beguiled by others and wanted to rebel. I cannot escape the blame."
"You have already made a meritorious service." Xu Mu smiled calmly, "Chao Yi, let me ask you, are you a general in Xishu or a general in Bingzhou?"
"Of course he's from Xishu."
"So, you, a general of Western Shu, put down the rebellion of the generals in Bingzhou, what crime do you have? I know the kindness in your heart. As for Ding Shao, I have considered it as appropriate. Considering that he is still young, I have sent him to the hospital temporarily. General Hall. Of course, the next time, even if I am the King of Shu, I won’t be able to protect it.”
Chao Yi was stunned and burst into tears.
"Get up, if it weren't for you, Chao Yi, I, the mighty iron hooves of Xishu, would not be able to find anyone who can lead this jockey."
Sun Xun ran over again, licking his face, and this time, he finally helped Chao Yi up.
"Besides, when you go to suppress the rebellion, you should investigate some things."
"Indeed." Chao Yi stood up, his face suddenly turned grim, "During the arrest, a Bingzhou civil servant promised to tell the whole story in order to protect the family."
"That's right." Xu Mu nodded.
Chao Yi took a breath and sorted out his words.
"My lord, someone entered Bingzhou in the name of being a businessman. Although his face was hidden, the civil servant presented two beauties and learned a few things from the beauties who were sleeping with him."
"How to say."
"I came up with a name, Chen Anshi."
"Chen Anshi?"
Xu Mu searched his intestines and stomach, but in his impression, this name did not exist.
"Chao Yi, are there any other clues?"
Chao Yi shook his head, "I only know that Chen Anshi is the King of Dailiang, the person who exercises power. But I guess that if you want to enter Bingzhou, you can only pass through Dingzhou first, so it is very likely that he is someone from the inner city. .”
In Xishu, Xu Mu did not stop the flow of merchants. Not only the river boats on the Xiangjiang River, but also the caravans and caravans in the northwest could do business.
Compared with mixing into fine work, the benefits generated by trade are more worthy of consideration.
"My lord, you and the King of Yuzhou are old friends. If not, ask him to help investigate."
After thinking about it, Xu Mu shook his head.
Changshiro is different from him. He doesn't have to rely on aristocratic families, but Changshiro can't. Of course Changshiro would help with such a matter, but he must be wary of everything.
"Six heroes, pass Chen Anshi's name to the Night Owl Group and the Xia'er detectives. If you have any clues, report them immediately."
"Don't worry, helmsman." Yin Hu clasped his fists and left.
"Chao Yi, you should return to Liangzhou first and train the cavalry first. I estimate that it won't be long before we, Western Shu, are going to fight again."
Seriously speaking, the territory of the six and a half states of Shu in the west is already considered the second largest power under Chang Shilang. But in terms of background, they are roughly on par with Zuo Shiren.
For example, when it comes to food and grass, when the All-China Alliance conquered Cangzhou, Zuo Shiren dared to supply the needs of an army of 200,000. One can imagine how much benefit the legacy left over from generation to generation has brought to people like Zuo Shiren.
As for Xishu, just the autumn harvest granary caught fire. After most of it was burned, almost everyone felt that Xishu was going to be short of food.
This is the disadvantaged position of a new regime that started from humble beginnings. The aristocratic family is not happy and surrounded by heroes. If you take just one wrong step, you will fall into the quagmire, and the huge Western Shu regime will quickly collapse.
Sitting on the throne, Xu Mu fell into thinking.
Outside the palace, the atmosphere of late autumn is getting stronger and stronger. It won't be long before a new round of winter will arrive as promised.
"Sun Xun, please pass on this king's order. Except for Yu Wen, Chai Zong and Chen Zhong, I have all the generals outside Western Shu return to Chengdu to report on their duties according to their schedule."
"Take orders."
…
