Liu Ziqiu caused great turmoil in the Mobei grassland. Except for Liu Wuzhou, who occupied the three counties of Mayi, Yanmen and Loufan, he knew a thing or two. The other princes did not care about the changes in the Turks, or they did not want to care. If Mo Mo
There is something else in the northern grassland that deserves their attention, and that is the large number of war horses owned by the Turks, which will have an immediate effect on improving their strength. Like Mobei, in their eyes, the West Sea is a barbaric land.
Even the counties in Hexi are not very attractive to them. Similarly, the sparsely populated Jiangnan and Lingnan are also difficult to attract their attention.
It would be wrong to say that all the heroes are short-sighted. Those who want to achieve great things must first have an overview of the overall situation. At least Li Yuan has a longer view. He has been paying attention to Liu Ziqiu in the West Sea. As the trade routes became smoother, Li Yuan and Yang Xuangan also sent out spies.
After entering Weiding City, of course, one already knew Liu Ziqiu. A young man with no foundation occupied the entire Hexi region in just one year. The speed of progress was impressive. On the other hand, knowing how to occupy the West Sea
What is interesting is that after Liu Ziqiu, Changsun Wuji also specifically mentioned to his brother-in-law Li Shimin that Liu Ziqiu was not just a brave man and must be guarded against.
Although Liu Ziqiu had a good impression on Changsun Wuji, ever since his dependent sister Changsun Wuji got engaged to Li Shimin, he had firmly sided with Li Shimin. This was the power of marriage. Therefore, at this time, he was from another side.
Let’s evaluate Liu Ziqiu from this perspective.
Of course, paying attention is one thing, and whether it can be solved is another. At least for now, Li Yuan is still beyond his reach for the counties in Hexi, because there is Yang Xuangan in the middle. Li Yuan also thought about sending someone to contact Liu Ziqiu, just
Just like the original alliance with Yu Wenhua, they would attack from the east and west and get rid of Yang Xuangan first. But Liu Ziqiu had only reached his current position from an ordinary soldier, and most of the civil and military personnel he used were born from civilians. Li Yuan really had no one who could compete with Liu Ziqiu.
Establishing relationships. Although the information Li Yuan received also showed that Liu Ziqiu had good relations with major aristocratic families, Li Yuan himself did not trust these aristocratic families.
Changsun Wuji's brother and sister did have a relationship with Liu Ziqiu, but they were both underage, and Gao Shilian was not worried about letting them go to the Western Regions no matter what. Gao Shilian was not only Li Yuan's in-laws, but also one of his most capable ministers.
Li Yuan could not help but consider his attitude.
Although Li Yuan paid great attention to Hexi, the news he received was that Hexi was calm. Because Liu Ziqiu did not hold power in internal affairs too tightly, a lot of power was delegated to Zhao Ling, He Chou and others, as well as a few ordinary officials.
It is rare to see Liu Ziqiu once every month, so Liu Ziqiu broke into the grassland for more than two months, but civil servants at all levels had no reaction. Of course the military generals knew the news about Liu Ziqiu's Northern Expedition, but the army has a strict confidentiality system, and the fate of those who leak the information will be very miserable
.In the laws formulated by Liu Ziqiu, there are only two crimes for implementing the implication policy, one is liaising with foreign countries, and the other is leaking military aircraft.
Of course, Liu Ziqiu's strategy in this Northern Expedition was to keep the enemy outside the country, and Hexi was indeed calm, so it was not wrong for Li Yuan to get such information.
On the other hand, Li Yuan is also facing great pressure. To the north is Liu Wuzhou's rebellion, to the west is Yang Xuangan, who is eyeing him, to the south is the increasingly powerful Wang Shichong, and to the east are Lu Mingyue, Wang Bo, Xu Yuanlang and other thieves Kou Yue
The trouble was getting worse, and Zhai Rang of Wagangzhai, not far from Luoyang, was his worst enemy. Under such circumstances, Li Yuan had no time to pay too much attention to the situation in Hexi and Mobei.
Yang Xuangan's life is no better than that of Li Yuan. Although he only faces pressure from Liu Ziqiu and Li Yuan, and after Liu Ziqiu withdrew to Hexi, the Longxi area has become a hollow zone. Liu Ziqiu from Hexi cannot threaten him for the time being. He only needs to withstand Li Yuan's side.
That's fine, but he lacks food. In fact, the land in Guanzhong is fertile and it is an important grain-producing area. However, Guanzhong has a large population and cannot be self-sufficient in food. In the early years of the Sui Dynasty, Yang Jian staged a story of fleeing for food.
For this reason, he was nicknamed the "Emperor Chasing Food" by later generations. It was not until Yang Guang dug canals and smoothed water transportation that the food shortage situation in Chang'an gradually improved. But even so, Yang Guang still spent most of his time in Luoyang, that is,
Because Luoyang is connected in all directions, there will be no shortage of food.
Nowadays, the four princes are divided, and other goods can still pass through, but they are reluctant to release a single grain of food from their own jurisdiction. Therefore, since the beginning of winter, the price of food in Chang'an has skyrocketed, and even military rations have been halved every other day. Here.
At that time, of course Yang Xuangan's eyes would not be on Hexi, which was not a major grain-producing area and had no obvious threat to him, but on Bashu.
Bashu was originally the hometown of the Xiliang Kingdom, and Queen Xiao was the princess of the Xiliang Kingdom. After Yang Guang came to the throne, he appointed Xiao Mian, a nephew of Queen Xiao, as the magistrate of Luo County. When the world was in chaos, Xiao Mian came to
Luo County raised troops and called himself Liang Gong. In just one year, he captured Yueyang, Jiujiang and other places, and restored all the old places in Xiliang. There is only a Wuguan between Bashu and Guanzhong. After Wuguan, it is the land of Bashu
The land, and Wuguan is currently in the hands of Yang Xuangan. Yang Xuangan is dispatching troops and generals to prepare to attack Xiao Mian, and of course he has no spare time to pay attention to Liu Ziqiu's situation.
For people like Zhai Rang, Wang Shichong, and Lu Mingyue, both Mobei and Hexi are very far away from them, and they have never thought of paying attention to those places.
However, even though Liu Ziqiu was in the Mobin grassland, he had been paying attention to the situation in various parts of the Central Plains. So as soon as he returned to Wuwei, the postman sent an urgent report on the military situation. But Liu Ziqiu never expected that what the postman sent over was actually
It's an urgent report about Jiangnan.
…
In early spring in the south of the Yangtze River, the ice and snow have begun to melt, and the branches can't wait to bloom new green, and there is a flourishing atmosphere. However, the atmosphere in Moling Town on the outskirts of Danyang is tense. On New Year's Eve, after the marriage failed, Wang Shichong once again sent people to ask for money and food, but was rebuffed by Xie Wengshan.
Refuse. Xie Wengda, who had been in contact with Wang Shichong for a long time, spread the news that the Xie family was moving south to Lingnan, and was immediately opposed by most of the Xie family. Xie Wengda took the opportunity to incite these people to force Xie Wengshan to marry him.
At this moment, Han Shi'er led a group of 5,000 elite soldiers to Moling Town. These 5,000 elite soldiers had bright armor and high morale, which greatly shocked the Xie family, young and old. Han Shi'er's attitude was very clear, he was here to support Xie Wengshan
.The situation reversed in an instant. Xie Wengda was detained by Xie Wengshan under family law, and the turmoil disappeared.
However, Moling Town has only temporarily lifted the crisis, and Wang Shichong from Jiangbei is their biggest threat. Now, Wang Shichong is gearing up, mobilizing an army, collecting ships everywhere, and will soon go south. After more than half a year of development, Wang Shichong has successively annexed the surrounding areas of Jiangdu
The strength of Lujiang, Liyang, Huainan, Zhongli and other counties has greatly increased, and the number of soldiers and horses has increased to 100,000. However, while the number of soldiers and horses has increased, there has also been tremendous pressure on supplies. In this era, supplies are money and food. There is no food.
They will be hungry, and without money, military pay cannot be issued. No matter what is lacking, the morale of the military will be unstable.
If the heroes in the north are separatist, if they continue to develop to the north and plunder money and food, they will inevitably come into conflict with the heroes in the north. Although Xiao Dapeng promised to help Empress Dowager Xiao regain power, the cunning Wang Shichong did not intend to reveal his strength so early. He wanted to capture
When the heroes fight and everyone loses, they reap the benefits.
Under this situation, if Wang Shichong wants to solve the money and food dilemma, he can only set his sights on Jiangnan. Asking for money and food from the Xie family is just a cover. He knows that the Xie family will be overwhelmed sooner or later, and he is waiting for the Xie family
Refuse, when the Xie family refuses, he can become famous. Because
Xiao Dapeng's informant also made Wang Shichong aware of the relationship between the Xie family and the Changshan Car and Horse Company, so Wang Shichong ordered the canal to be blocked, seized and confiscated many of the Changshan Car and Horse Company's ships, and used them as battleships and troop transports. Now Xie Wengshan refuses to provide money and food
, Wang Shichong had an excuse and immediately ordered to send troops to Jiangnan.
…
Liu Ziqiu has two roots, one is Hexi and the other is Jiangnan. The two places are thousands of miles apart, but they also affect his nerves. Hexi has his women and the powerful army he has built. Jiangnan has his brothers, and he has his former brothers.
His wife who shared life and death with him, and his wife in his final days
The Xie family who had supported him in difficult times. Now that Wang Shichong has seized the ships of the Changshan Carriage and Horse Company, and wants to attack the Xie family and Jiangnan, how can Liu Ziqiu ignore it! But the two places are too far apart, and Liu Ziqiu's troops are
No matter how powerful he is, he can't fly to the south of the Yangtze River for a while.
Seeing the uncertainty on Liu Ziqiu's face, Wen Hao was surprised and said: "My lord, Wang Shichong caused earth-shaking in Jiangnan, and what did he do to me in Hexi?"
Wen Hao only followed Liu Ziqiu after Yang Guangxi's battle to conquer Tuyuhun. Of course, he didn't know the important position of Jiangnan in Liu Ziqiu's mind.
Liu Ziqiu didn't want to reveal all his secrets. He shook his head and said: "There is only one Yingyang Mansion in the south of the Yangtze River, with only a few thousand troops. How can it withstand Wang Shichong's 50,000 army? I am Yu Hang, the general of Yingyang Mansion, Hua Yun."
My sworn brothers will definitely bear the brunt of this, so how can I sit back and ignore it."
Jiao Liyan was a rough man who only valued loyalty. When he heard that Liu Ziqiu was so worried for a sworn brother, he couldn't help but clasped his fists and said loudly: "Since the lord wants to save our brother, let's go to the south of the Yangtze River! I Jiao Liyan
Li Yan is willing to be a pioneer!"
Wen Hao curled his lips disdainfully and said: "It will take a long time to capture these two strong cities from here to Jiangnan, with Chang'an and Luoyang in between. By then, Jiangnan will have been defeated by Wang Shichong.
, where there is still time to save, we must find other ways!"
Kakuzato grinned and said, "I just want to come up with this stupid way, I can't think of any other way."