Zuo Qiuming, who was in his early forties and the same age as Li Xu, was also Li Xu's most trusted general and confidant. He had been guarding Yanzhou for many years.

Yanzhou, as the first strategic location after leaving Hengshan, is also home to more than 20 natural salt lakes and an inexhaustible treasury for the disaster-defeating army. Its importance is naturally

it goes without saying.

Salt seems extremely cheap, but because it is an indispensable thing in daily life and something that everyone uses every day, its huge sales volume means huge profits. And it has always been associated with iron

It is also listed as a national strategic material and is a special commodity that the court must firmly control.

Li Xu started to grow step by step because of these dozens of natural salt lakes.

The salt produced in Yanzhou became Li Xu's most advantageous weapon in reaching out.

His tentacles extended to Qinfeng Road and Qingtang. His caravan even reached far away places such as the Western Regions, and the two most important commodities among them were salt and tea.

In these trades, Li Xu not only made a huge amount of money, but also began to deeply penetrate various forces in these places. Countless tribes in these places gradually regarded Li Xu as their leader.

Over the years, these tribes were either forced or voluntarily joined the Dingnan Army, making Li Xu's power and strength stronger day by day.

With Ganzhou, Dingzhou and other places as his core ruling areas, his influence spread out in all directions like an octopus.

While doing this, Li Xu tried every means to deceive the court. Countless money was transported to Bianliang one by one, and was sent to the homes of some key officials, and also to many Qingliu scholars and literati who had the right to speak.

The poet's home.

Then, in the mainstream opinion of the court, Li Xu's series of actions in the land of Gan and Ning became actions that showed the power of the court and showed the ambition of the Song Dynasty.

Among the people, articles and poems praising Li Xu appeared one after another. At the gatherings of scholars, they were full of praises that Li Xu was a mainstay in the border areas of the Song Dynasty.

When these people were spending the bribes sent by Li Xu like water, when they were playing with those exquisite jewelry and bright gems with great interest, they never thought that Li Xu was constantly recruiting troops.

Forging weapons, they moved tribes one after another to the Ganning area, where villages appeared one after another and farmland was cultivated.

With the fertile Hetao area and the population that has been migrating over the years, Li Xu had the foundation to dominate. By the time the Song Dynasty court discovered all this, Li Xu was already uncontrollable. And this

At that moment, Li Xu finally showed his ferocious face.

The imperial court invited him to return to the capital many times to report on his duties, but he always declined on the pretext of illness. At first, he sent his son to the capital to handle some errands, then he only sent his subordinates to fulfill his duties, and finally, he simply did not bother to pay attention to such orders from the imperial court.

Already.

What is most embarrassing to the court is that you still have to allocate every cent of the military pay and supplies for the disaster-defeating army every year.

In the words of some people in the court, you cannot anger Li Xu and give him an excuse to rebel for such a small amount of money.

In order to maintain such a situation, the imperial court kept giving Li Xu promotions and promotions. Now, Li Xu is almost beyond promotion. With his current position, if he really wants to return to the capital, Chen Gui will have to give up immediately.

Come out to know the affairs of the Privy Council.

Of course, if Li Xu dares to return to the capital, what awaits him will definitely be shackles and a carriage.

Of course the imperial court wanted to kill Li Xu.

Li Xu also wanted to establish an independent country as soon as possible and fulfill his ultimate dream.

What influenced all of this, in addition to the general trend between Song and Liao, was more importantly the attitude of Hengshan Dangxiang.

The small tribe in Hengshan didn't care. They would follow whoever gave them more money and food.

If you have milk, you are a mother, which is the way of survival for these small tribes.

Those who really control the situation in Hengshan are the large tribes like the Tuoba Tribe, the Weiming Tribe, and the Renduo Tribe.

People who can develop their tribe to such a scale are naturally not fools. Seeking greater benefits for their tribe will be a problem for them. As for whether they are loyal to Li Xu or loyal to the imperial court, it is also not a problem.

It was under the guidance of this concept that when Li Xu was still relatively weak at first, people like Ren Duozhong and Ren Duozhong did not hesitate to tilt their butts to Li Xu's side.

Their attitude made the court's desire to wipe out Li Xu as soon as possible come to naught. After several tentative attacks on Hengshan in the name of suppressing bandits, all of which resulted in heavy losses, the Song Dynasty court finally realized that it wanted to

To deal with Li Xu, we must eliminate or win over Hengshan's party members.

Of course Li Xu also understood what the Song Dynasty court was aware of, and the Hengshan Dangxiang people were also aware of it.

Over the years, Hengshan party members have moved their butts up and down in order to get more benefits from both parties.

They simply don't want the two sides to decide a winner.

If there is really going to be a victory or defeat, there will only be one master left over them, and life will not be easy. At the earliest, a mere low-ranking official in the Song Dynasty could treat them with dignity.

They didn't want to live with this kind of humiliation caused by the clan leader yelling back and forth.

But this kind of life of a wallflower will eventually come to an end.

With the changes in the overall situation between the Song and Liao Dynasties, when the Song Dynasty court finally made up its mind to solve the northwest problem, the Hengshan party members also had to make their final choice.

In this choice, the Weiming tribe chose Li Xu, while Tuoba, Renduo and other tribes chose the Song Dynasty.

The Weiming tribe, who was on the wrong team, was uprooted by Xiao Cheng, and the tribe was exterminated. The demise of the Weiming tribe also represented Hengshan Party Xiang's final attitude. Yanzhou became the first place where Li Xu fought against the imperial court.

Wire.

"Uncle Shi, it is inevitable for us to fight the imperial court." Young Li Hao sat opposite Zuo Qiuming, sipping warm wine while saying to Zuo Qiuming.

On behalf of his father, Li Xu, he came to Yancheng to express condolences to the Yanzhou garrison. Due to the sudden blizzard and muddy roads along the way, he was actually late for several days. When he arrived at Yanzhou City, it was already New Year's Eve.

.

The army is the foundation of one's life. Li Xu is very clear about this, so the treatment of soldiers and soldiers in Dingnan is excellent. Compared with other armies of the Song Dynasty, it is completely different, such as those stationed in Bianliang.

The Fourth Army was probably jealous of the treatment given to the Dingnan Army, and such a well-maintained army for more than ten years also fostered the Dingnan Army's absolute loyalty to Li Xu.

This time, Li Hao brought thousands of people, a large amount of wine and meat, brand new clothes, and shiny copper coins to reward the Yanzhou garrison.

Zuo Qiuming of Yanzhou was naturally very wealthy because he had a golden rooster that laid eggs. In fact, Yanzhou had no shortage of these things, but they were transported all the way from Ganzhou, so the meanings they represented were naturally different.

This means that Li Ji attaches great importance to this army. Of course, Zuo Qiuming also understands this. Because he understands, he chooses to remain silent about this kind of behavior that wastes people and money.

Sometimes what ordinary people think is a waste of time and money has an unusual meaning for those in power.

Depending on your location, your starting point and perspective on the same thing will naturally be different, and you will naturally have different expectations for its consequences.

"We must fight, and it won't be too long!" Regarding Li Hao's judgment, Zuo Qiuming nodded in agreement: "After the Weiming tribe was destroyed, we became blind and deaf in Hengshan, Tuoba

, Renduo and other tribes all voted in, and other small tribes will naturally follow suit."

"The money spent in Hengshan over the years has really been spent on dogs!" Li Hao said bitterly: "A bunch of unfamiliar white-eyed wolves!"

In response to Li Hao's excited words, Zuo Qiuming just smiled: "Dalang doesn't have to be so angry. We didn't expect them to be people who can confide in us. It's a pity that we underestimated the Weiming tribe.

That Xiao Cheng, otherwise he wouldn't be as passive as he is today."

"Second Uncle, this matter is really done so that people have nothing to say." Li Hao said a little discouraged.

The second uncle he was talking about was Li Xu's brother Li Du.

"Dalang, after the spring of next year, Yanzhou City must increase its troops. According to the information I have found, Xiao Ding began to form Tibetan soldiers after arriving at Hengshan. You also know that once the imperial court starts recruiting Tibetan soldiers, it will mean

War is imminent."

"Uncle Shi, don't worry. After next spring, my father will be free. By then, the Yanzhou garrison will not be less than 10,000 people." Li Hao said: "Now we are not sending the main force to subdue the barbarians over Qingtang.

Has the transfer been completed? Now the Yuzang tribe over Qingtang has expressed its surrender to my father, and the two sides have formed an alliance."

"Yu Zang's tribe?" Zuo Qiuming said happily: "So, with Yu Zang's strength and prestige in Qingtang, we can recruit more soldiers and horses there."

Li Hao nodded: "Uncle Shi, you have seen the ferocity of these people. When the time comes, bring them over and let the people of Song Dynasty also see how effective these people are in fighting? Hahaha!"

"In this way, we are rich in terms of military strength, but these people are also a double-edged sword. Once we cannot feed them, it is easy to cause trouble." Zuo Qiu Ming said. "What did the Liao people say?

?”

There was a hint of darkness on Li Hao's face, "Second uncle is back. The Liao emperor is not sincere and unwilling to send troops. He also wants to seize our Black Mountain area. When he came back, second uncle went to Nanjing Dao again.

Governor Yelujun has been supported by some weapons and armor, but do we need these things?"

"Aren't the Liao people willing to take action? This is beneficial to both of us." Zuo Qiuming sighed.

"Yelujun said that if we support him for about a year, he might be able to help us!" Li Hao said, "Father said that Yelujun must be planning something."
Chapter completed!