After the celebration banquet, everyone dispersed. Wang Xiaobo deliberately left Chu Lihan, Zhang Yu and Huo Ji behind to discuss the next step. The four of them walked into the government office where Qi Yuanzhen once lived. They ordered their men to clean up the living room, then sent the servants away, closed the door, and started talking in secret.
Wang Xiaobo was the first to speak: "We have captured Qingcheng County and Pengshan County one after another. The situation is very good. Martyrs from all over the country have come to join us. Now there are about 40,000 to 50,000 people. When there are more people, there will be more problems. What should we do? To effectively control these forces, I need your help."
Zhang Yu was the first to speak when he heard the words: "My lord, he obeyed the fate and rose up. Heroes from all over the world came to serve in front of the tent. It was the Duke of Zhou who vouched for his support and the world returned to his heart. As long as the commander-in-chief orders his subordinates to strictly abide by the three principles in the notice, no one will be killed in vain and everyone will be poor. If we are rich, then we will be successful."
Chu Lihan also said: "Yes, what General Zhang said is very true. Looking at the lessons of previous uprisings, the Chen Sheng Wu Guang Uprising in the late Qin Dynasty and the Huang Chao Uprising in the Tang Dynasty were both due to the arrogant and extravagant leaders of the rebel army in the later period and their lack of ambition. , and ultimately failed, we should learn from history.”
After hearing this, Wang Xiaobo nodded solemnly and said, "Sir, you are right. The reason why I started the uprising was because the imperial court was exploiting too much and the people of Shu were miserable. "Equalizing the rich and the poor" is not a metaphysical slogan, but a metaphysical slogan. This is the true yearning in my heart. We should not forget our original intention and forge ahead."
Everyone was moved by Wang Xiaobo's true feelings and stood up one after another to say yes. Wang Xiaobo turned his attention to Huo Ji again, a man who could easily capture a fortified city without spending a single soldier.
In fact, Wang Xiaobo didn't think much of Huo Ji before this, he just treated him like other leaders of the Kowloon Society. After acquiring Pengshan County, Wang Xiaobo looked at Huo Ji with admiration and wanted to ask him what he thought.
Wang Xiaobo smiled and said to Huo Ji: "Mr. Huo is a great talent. He has a clever plan to defeat the city. He is really the reincarnation of Marquis Wu. I wonder if Mr. Huo has any suggestions for our future plans?"
Huo Ji smiled when he heard this, and stood up and said, "My lord, you are too praised. Marquis Zhuge Wu is incomparable to me. I just have some superficial opinions. I hope you won't laugh at me."
As he said that, Huo Ji smiled and bowed his hands to everyone, walked to a wooden table, used the teacup as a chess piece, and placed it on the table as a map mark. He said: "We have now captured Qingcheng County, Pengshan County. We should also capture nearby Shuzhou, Jiangyuan, Qiongzhou and other places as soon as possible. After capturing all the surrounding states and counties, we can then lead a large army to attack Chengdu. The imperial court does not have many troops stationed in Shu. If it is from the capital It will take a long time to mobilize the Forbidden Army. As long as we are quick enough, after conquering Chengdu, and before the Forbidden Army arrives, we occupy the Jianmen Pass on the north gate and the Kuimen Gate on the east, and lock the middle of Shu, then we can come more Even the army can’t do anything to us.”
Chu Lihan perked up when he heard the words, his eyes filled with burning joy, and he said excitedly: "The third brother is right, Jianmen Pass and Kui Gate are both dangerous places for military strategists. One man can guard the pass and ten thousand people cannot open it. Meng Zhixiang back then After separatizing the Shu territory, they occupied Jianmen Pass and Kui Gate, supported their own troops, and established Later Shu. Zhuangzong Li Cunxu of the Later Tang Dynasty had no choice but to let him go."
Wang Xiaobo was very happy after listening to the two people's stories. He secretly praised Huo Ji's strategy as being better than ordinary people, and was happy that he could get such a talent.
Huo Ji saw that everyone was happy, and he was very happy in his heart, so he said again: "This is just one step. We should take a longer view. Think about it, what is the biggest military threat to the imperial court now? "
"You...you mean...Khitan?" Zhang Yu on the side said as if he had just woken up from a dream.
Huo Ji smiled and said: "Yes, but it's not just the Khitan in the north, but also the Dangxiang people in the northwest. While we were attacking Chengdu, we sent messengers to contact the Khitan and Dangxiang people, inviting them to attack the Song Dynasty from the north and the south. I want the Khitan We and the Dangxiang people are very willing to take advantage of the situation. Even if we cannot destroy the Song Dynasty, we can still restrain the imperial army from going south, thus buying us more time. Once we secure the Shu territory, we will contact the Khitan and the Dangxiang people to attack from three sides. By attacking the Song Dynasty, it is still unclear whether the world will be divided into three parts."
After hearing this, Wang Xiaobo stood up excitedly and said: "What a brilliant idea. Mr. Huo is really like Zhuge Wuhou, who has already divided the world into three parts before he even leaves his nest. With Mr. Huo's help from such a strategist, there is no need to worry about the great cause being accomplished, gentlemen." If you can help me achieve great things, I will live up to you."
Chu Lihan, Zhang Yu and Huo Ji all stood up and said excitedly: "We must work together as one."
There were even tears in Huo Ji's eyes. It’s no wonder that he was already in his fifties and thought that his ambition would be to amuse himself in the world. He didn’t expect that when he was in his fifties, he would have such an opportunity, which would allow him to express his lifelong ambitions. How could he not be moved to tears?
At the same time, in the Guanfang Building of Chengdu Prefecture, which is hundreds of miles away from Pengshan County, the real inspection envoy of Zi and Sui Twelve Prefectures, Lu Bin, was sitting in an elegant room drinking wine, and sitting with him were the officials of Chengdu Prefecture. Magistrate Wu Yuanzai, Xichuan Road transfer envoy Fan Zhigu and others.
Guanfang Restaurant is the largest and most luxurious restaurant in Chengdu. Although it is not as good as Fan Tower in Bianjing City, it is one of the best restaurants in the entire Shu region.
Not to mention the food and drinks at Guanfang House, Miss Luo Lan, who is the leading courtesan of the major brothels in Chengdu Prefecture, is the top star of Guanfang House.
Today, Wu Yuanzai, the prefect of Chengdu, hosted a banquet for Lu Bin, Fan Zhigu and others at Guanfang Tower, and Miss Luolan naturally accompanied him. Lu Bin has long coveted Miss Luo Lan's beauty, and he is in a happy mood to have the beauty as his company today.
After three rounds of drinking, Wu Yuanzai spoke first: "I'm hosting a banquet with you two adults today to discuss the riots in Xichuan. Do you think the army of Shu can wipe out these rioters? Do you want to report to the imperial court to request the dispatch of imperial troops?" Come to suppress?"
Fan Zhigu, who served as the transfer envoy on the Xichuan Road, heard this and said: "Your Excellency, I thought that the army from Shu would be mobilized immediately to suppress the rebels. As for reporting to the court to request the forbidden troops to come, I thought it was better not to worry. After all, a dispatch of the Forbidden Army will cost money and food, waste people and money. If we can exterminate the rebels, we should not let the Forbidden Army go further than our divisions."
Wu Yuanzai just smiled when Fan Zhigu finished speaking and did not answer. But he was thinking in his heart that Fan Zhigu kept talking about wasting people and money and wasting his teachers far away. In fact, the real reason for resisting reporting to the court was that he was afraid that the court would blame him and lead to his dismissal from office. He said nothing and looked at Lu Bin again.
As the inspector of the twelve prefectures of Zi and Sui, Lu Bin was very nervous about the fall of Qingcheng and Pengshan counties. Like Fan Zhigu, he was afraid of being blamed by the imperial court, so he also advocated concentrating the troops of Shu to fight against them. The rebels came to a decisive battle in the hope of nipping the hidden danger in the bud.
