The wind blows from the north, shaking the steel-colored pool water.
In the newly built palace south of Taiye Lake, Liu Cong was leaning on the couch, looking at the gloomy sky outside, silent and speechless.
Liu Can sat patiently with him on one side.
He seemed very busy, and officials came in from time to time and asked for instructions in low voices.
Liu Can replied in a low voice. After the official received the accurate information, he saluted the two of them and left quietly.
The layout of Chang'an is very strange.
The emperor led more than 4,000 people across the river, which can be said to have lost most of the capital. The nine counties west of Tongguan, including Jingzhao, Beidi, Fufeng, Xinping, Shiping, Anding, Nan'an, Lueyang, and Tianshui, were all owned by Prince Liu.
Can spent several years capturing one by one. Only Feng Yi and Liu Han's newly established Shangjun were captured during the late emperor's time.
Of the eleven counties of Liu Han, nine were captured by Liu Can.
Officials are appointed by him.
The tribal chieftains surrendered to him.
The aristocratic family married him and his confidants and generals.
To put it bluntly, it has little to do with Liu Cong.
Before the Shao bandits started to attack Bingzhou, Liu Cong was very happy to see this situation. After the national policy of "crossing Yongzhou and merging" was proposed, Liu Cong even pushed it hard.
As of this year, the six-year immigration process has never stopped, and even Shan Yutai has been established in Chang'an, just to lay a solid foundation for Liu Can and consolidate his position. After all, the serious prince Liu Yi is not dead yet.
But the situation in the world is changing rapidly, and everything has changed too fast.
Inadvertently, the Xiongnu lost ten counties in Guandong within three years, leaving only eleven counties in Kansai. This was embarrassing.
Liu Cong is named Emperor, but he actually does not have much influence in Kansai.
Even the five Xiongnu tribes who were loyal to him in the early years are not sure who they will listen to now. After all, six years have passed. During these six years, Liu Can has continued to make contributions and establish prestige. It is hard to say who the ministers will listen to - Da
There is a chance that Liu Cong will not be listened to.
In short, he was no longer worthy of his reputation as emperor, and was overtaken by the crown prince Liu Can.
Of course, Brother Cong knows this very well.
When Shao Xun defeated Shi Le and conquered Hebei, the knowledgeable people in Pingyang already understood that Bingzhou could not stop the Shao thieves who had countless manpower and material resources in Henan and Hebei. Therefore, the policy of "crossing Yong and merging" entered an accelerated state.
.
At the military and political level, the specific manifestation is the transfer of manpower and material resources - especially the transfer of the Xiongnu headquarters, and the adoption of active defense tactics externally.
However, the effect of going down the mountain several times was not good. As time went by, active defense turned into passive defense, until this year's disastrous defeat.
The national policy of "crossing Yongzong" is not without effect. At least after many years of implementation, it has brought a complete Yongzhou, half of Qinzhou and a small half of "Henan" including Shangjun to the Xiongnu - the so-called "Henan"
", is the Hetao Grassland. It was named because the Yellow River flowed eastward close to the southern foot of Yinshan Mountain (Wujia River area) at that time. It was not until the Qing Dynasty that the Yellow River changed its course and flowed further south.
To be fair, the "cross-over Yongbian merger" was half of the success. At least the territory of Kansai was restored, but the Bingzhou was indeed lost.
Liu Cong does not regret his actions over the years too much.
I know what my body is like. I was no longer able to do well three years ago. I feel powerless and dizzy. The only reason I can hold on until now is because of an obsession in my chest.
He won't live long, maybe three to five months, maybe one or two years, that's all.
No one will take refuge in a king who will not live long.
Therefore, Liu Cong was very free and easy. When he was outside Pujin Pass, he issued an edict to let the prince supervise the country, which was equivalent to a formal transfer of power.
Liu Can received power and the right to exercise power, so he had no dissatisfaction.
In addition, his father looked like he was not going to die soon, so why should he be too ugly? It would be fine to wait silently for his father to die, not to mention that he was still somewhat grateful to his father.
Therefore, he often visited his father and used the Jianzhang Palace, which was rebuilt in recent years, as his father's residence to show his filial piety.
"Is it safe here in Guanzhong?" Liu Cong withdrew his gaze and asked aloud.
"These pavilions will be built first..." After Liu Can finished explaining to an official who came over, he looked at his father and said, "Don't worry, father, there is nothing wrong with the counties of Yongzhou."
He didn't even bother to say "Your Majesty" now, but Liu Cong didn't care and just asked: "Where is Qinzhou?"
"There are Chinese people in the two counties of Lueyang and Nan'an. On the other side of Tianshui, there are soldiers and horses from the imperial court stationed. Chen An is attacking Sima Bao's general Zhang Chun and others, and they are about to attack. The three counties of Yinping, Wudu, and Longxi are still recruiting.
." Liu Can said: "Next year the Shao thieves will not be able to advance westward, but there may be a chance."
"After taking these three counties, we will face Liangzhou." Liu Cong looked at the map hanging in the palace and sighed: "How do you plan to deal with it?"
"You are also hesitating." Liu Can frowned and said: "Some people in the imperial court think that it is inappropriate to attack Liangzhou from the west, destroy the Zhang family, and take all eight counties and forty-six counties. However, some people think that Liangzhou has a strong army and horses, so it is not suitable.
If you act rashly, now is the time to go up the northern mountains, capture the land of Henan, appease the tribes, and build a solid foundation. In the areas along the river in Shangjun, you should set up military forts and mansions to prevent Shao's troops from crossing the river and marching westward."
To put it simply, should we attack Hexi or go north to the Hetao grassland?
"What do you think?" Liu Cong asked.
"I feel that after the Shao thieves recuperate, they will definitely find a way to move westward, so Henan is more important." When he said this, Liu Can's face looked a little ugly.
After all, life was still at stake. The pressure on Shao Thief was too great and he had to go all out.
There are many internal conflicts within the Zhang family in Liangzhou. If you don't attack him, it will be difficult for him to take the initiative to send troops to attack you, and there will be no unified opinion internally.
Judging from what they have done in the past few years, their main purpose is to gather refugees, reclaim wasteland, and separate themselves to protect themselves. The intention is very obvious - there is no threat to the west, and it would be foolish to create a threat randomly.
"That's right." Liu Cong closed his eyes and thought for a long time, sighed, and said, "I heard that in the past three years, there has been abundant rain in Guanxi and abundant pasture in Henan. Is this true?"
"Yes." Liu Can nodded and said: "In the mountains, riverbanks and even between the sand moraine, pasture is flourishing, and there are more cattle, sheep and miscellaneous animals. There are many descendants of the Xiongnu, Diqiang, Xianbei, Jie, etc. scattered among them.
People, Wuhuan and other tribes are scattered here. If we take good care of it, it will not be a problem to have one hundred thousand more people who can control strings."
After Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty defeated the Xiongnu, he settled a large number of Xiongnu surrenderers here, and later many Qiang people migrated here.
By the late Han Dynasty, it had become a bit out of control.
After the fall of Xinmang and the establishment of the Later Han Dynasty, the control was greatly reduced. The local Huns nominally submitted to the Han Dynasty, but in fact they acted on their own terms and continued to encroach southward.
By the time of Emperor Ling, the Xiongnu royal court had moved to Lishi. The Fenshui River Valley further south was full of Xiongnu tribes, and the Sanfu area in Guanzhong was also full of barbarian tents. The Han court had to build defense lines in Hedong and Pingyang to try to stop them.
These nominal Han subjects burned, killed, and looted.
At the end of the Han Dynasty, Cao Wei and even the Jin Dynasty completely lost control of this land, and no longer even had nominal submission.
Nowadays, the Xiongnu people are the most numerous on this lush grassland, followed by the Qiang people, and then the Di people, Xianbei people, Wuhuan people, Jie people and all kinds of miscellaneous people whose ethnic origins are unclear.
Migration between tribes was frequent, and no one could really figure out how many people there were and which tribes they belonged to.
Tuoba Dai and Liu Han were probably the two largest political powers in Henan. The former had slightly greater influence, while the latter had slightly less influence.
But together, they only account for one-third of the land and population in Henan. The rest is completely a "dark jungle". The "neutral wild monsters" reach a balance after fighting each other, but there are still people coming in and out.
, mess up the local situation, and then fight for it again.
Generally speaking, these Hu people do not have a unified political power, but their folk customs are wild and fierce, and their fighting power is not weak. Otherwise, Tuoba Xianbei, the Huns and even Liangzhou will annex them.
Liu Can wanted to win over these people through both political and military means, but he was actually helpless.
"The Tiefu clan has been at odds with Tuoba since the Xinxing and Yanmen moved westward. Now they have surrendered entirely because they were defeated. We can think of a way." Liu Cong said: "But -"
He wanted to say something, but in the end he just sighed and said: "You can decide on your own."
"Okay." Liu Can responded without hesitation.
"Have the envoys been sent to Pingyang?" Liu Cong seemed a little tired and closed his eyes and asked.
"Sent."
"That's good."
Liu Can smiled slightly.
My father wanted to use gold and silver to redeem some of his captured courtiers, clan members, and concubines. He "basically" agreed, but he didn't fully agree.
Some ministers can try to redeem, but some cannot.
He did not intend to redeem most of the clan, but only some had redemption value - value to Liu Can.
As for the concubines, he felt that they could all be redeemed.
However, Thief Shao should have already enjoyed them, right? Taking over the enemy's palace and enjoying the wife and daughter of his sworn enemy, what man can bear it?
Does the father mind if his woman is enjoyed by Shao Thief?
Liu Can thought that he probably didn't mind, and he didn't mind either, after all, women. Historically, Liu Cong saw that Sima Chi had no women around him, so he rewarded him with the noble lady Liu. After Sima Chi died, Liu Cong took back the girl.
, continue to love.
Seeing that his father had nothing to say, Liu Can bowed and left. He still had a lot of things to do. There was no way, the pressure from Shao Thief was too great and could not be ignored.
****
The envoy sent by Chang'an finally arrived in Pingyang a few days before the New Year. At that time, Shao Xun hosted a dinner in front of the Jianshi Hall to entertain meritorious soldiers, Bingzhou nobles, Hu chieftains, and some of Liu Han's demoted officials who were about to be commissioned.
After receiving the letter, he chuckled.
Liu Cong is nostalgic for his old friendship, but he hasn't enjoyed the three queens yet, so how can he give it to him? Of course, even if he enjoys it, it's impossible to give it back to him - can I still take out the things I put in my piggy bank?
"Do you want to go back to Chang'an?" At the highest point of Shangqiu Pavilion, Shao Xun stood behind Queen Xuan, overlooking the lights of Zhaode, Wenming, Huiguang and other palaces in the north.
Xuan bit her lip lightly, with a slight panic in her eyes, as if she was afraid that someone was watching them in the dark.
She is still a little cold.
The gorgeous crown dress didn't bring much warmth to her because there was nothing inside.
From time to time, two bags bulged out from the upper body of Mianfu. The bags kept changing their shapes, as if there was something bulging inside.
"Think." Xuan's head was dizzy and she didn't know what she was talking about.
"How long have you been in the palace, and you still think about Liu Cong so much?"
Under the crown, the hairy legs and white legs are intertwined, creating a sharp contrast.
Xu Shi had practiced dancing, and her white legs were often picked up and made to perform difficult movements, so that Xuan had to hold her hands on the window sill.
Locks of hair soaked in sweat fell from his forehead, obviously suffering an extremely strong impact.
Xuanshi's tears fell.
In the evening breeze, the wind chime in front of Zhaode Hall blew gently. It was made by Emperor Liu Cong for her when he was extremely bored, and she regarded it as a treasure.
When she saw the wind chime, she seemed to see Liu Cong.
It was as if Liu Cong was quietly watching her sweaty and embarrassed appearance in the night.
Maybe it’s not just Liu Cong.
At tonight's banquet, there were many people who were demoted. Every time she thought of the looks in their eyes, Xuan almost cried.
"So innocent? Liu Cong is really blessed." Shao Xun took out a hand and gently wiped away her tears.
After wiping away my tears, I put my hand in again, and the strength seemed to be stronger.
Xuan let out a soft cry and shed tears again, secretly hating herself for not living up to expectations, because she actually felt the joy contained in the pain, her whole body tensed up, and goosebumps arose.
The ringing in the wind became louder, as if it was angry.
"Liu Cong wants to ransom you back. It's really a dream." Shao Xun said: "If I lose the battle, my woman will end up like this."
Xuan seemed a little impatient, more like he was trying his best to restrain himself.
Amidst the louder and louder sound of wind chimes, unstoppable tears flowed down the neck, across the upper body, accumulated in the depression of the waist, and then flowed to the round and smooth high pout, finally under the strong vibration.
It rolled to the ground.
The dark clouds quietly dispersed, revealing the bright moonlight, which illuminated the two people standing close together in the attic.
"Will Liu Cong still want you?" A devilish voice came from his ears.
Xuan couldn't control himself any longer. She was so ashamed that she cried and laughed at the same time.
After a long time, Shao Xun sighed with satisfaction: "I'm very happy."
After saying that, he gently picked up Mr. Xuan and placed him on the couch. He said with a smile: "I have three ambitions. All major national affairs are my responsibility. The first one is to lead commanders to march far away and take charge of their rulers and punish those in front. The second one is that
"No matter how close or distant you are, you can have the most beautiful woman in the world and marry her. This is the third chapter. Now it's all done."
In the attic, Queen Wang, Fan, and Xiao Liu all bowed their heads after hearing this, not knowing what they were thinking.
Chapter completed!