Since he ascended the throne, Liu Chengyou has basically spent his time busy between summons and interviews with ministers, generals, honorees and even envoys from all parties. It is a bit sad that the Central Plains has alternated between old and new, and among all the countries in the world, only the Wuyue Kingdom and Hunan in the southeast corner Ma Chu sent envoys to express his condolences and congratulate Dengji.
As for the others, they were extremely indifferent. Even the young ruler of the Central Plains made some changes, including the Khitan in the north. It seemed that Meng Shu, who had been defeated in the previous campaign, was energetic again. He camped in the north to recruit Zhang Qianzhao. , they are gearing up in Dashanguan. The current external situation of the Han Dynasty is really bad. It can be said that it is surrounded by enemies on all sides, and it is alarming at every step. The situation is really worrying.
On the other side of Ma Chu, Ma Xiguang was cowardly and pedantic. Forced by his brother Ma Xi'e, he took the initiative to show his goodwill to the court and asked for asylum, hoping to use the Central Plains edict to calm Hunan. However, the envoy went north and passed through Jingnan with tributes and property. At that time, he was intercepted. That's right, Gao Laizi did the same thing again. He sent troops around last year to offend the big man. This time, he took advantage of Liu Chengyou's new accession to the throne and flirted with him to get some benefits.
Hearing this, this was a slap in his face. Liu Chengyou burst into laughter from anger, as if he was amused by Gao Congjie. If it weren't for the inappropriate timing, he would have really wanted to send troops to let Gao Laizi see the iron fist of the Han Empire.
In fact, although Gao Congjie's behavior was rogue, we learned from Feng Dao and others that he was actually not that bad as a king. It is more helpless than rogue. Jingnan is a narrow territory and is located in an important thoroughfare. It is not easy to survive in the real cracks between various countries. In terms of governing the country, Gao Congjie is much better than his neighbor Ma Chuke.
Regarding Jing Nan's little move, Liu Chengyou could only pretend that he didn't see it for the time being. As long as Jing Nan didn't use troops, Liu Chengyou ignored him.
As for Wu Yue, he came to Tokyo as an envoy at the risk of crossing the feudal territory to seek justice and comfort. In the past two years, Wu Yue was also unstable and the political situation was turbulent. In June last year, Qian Hongzuo, the loyal king of Wu Yue, died. , his younger brother Qian Hongjue succeeded to the throne. However, his personality was very impatient, and at the beginning of his administration, he hated the old generals and wanted to expel the old ministers, but he was not secretive and indecisive in his actions.
At the end of last year, a coup took place in Wuyue. Hu Jinsi, the commander of the Neiya army, led his party members to depose Qian Hongchu, and appointed Qian Hongchu as the king of Wuyue. It was also the young master who succeeded to the throne, but he came to the throne through a coup. Qian Hong Chu's performance was very good, he stabilized the government, avoided tax arrears, won people's hearts, and still did not forget to appeal to Tokyo.
In fact, up to now, only Meng Shu and Khitan are fighting against the foreign aggression of the Han Dynasty. Needless to mention Meng Shu, the two sides are still fighting in Guanzhong. As for Khitan, the two countries are at odds. Although they have no news about Youbei, they can still communicate through sporadic communication. According to the news, many people have died in Khitan this winter, and there seems to be some internal instability. But because of this, we are even more worried about the Khitan being a beggar neighbor and invading southward.
The Southern Tang Dynasty is something to worry about, but not something to worry about. Among the countries in the world today, in terms of wealth, the Southern Tang Dynasty ranks first. There is little external pressure and it has been stable for more than ten years. But it is too comfortable, and instead Having lost his enterprising spirit, Emperor Li Jing has completely become a passive person.
Last year, due to the chaos in the Central Plains, Li Jing issued an edict to send troops to invade the Central Plains. As a result, Liu Zhiyuan entered Kaifeng, and the Southern Tang Dynasty did not take any action. As far as Liu Chengyou was concerned, during the most difficult period of the Han Dynasty, the Southern Tang Dynasty They don't dare to send troops, but what's happening now.
However, the Southern Tang Dynasty did not necessarily react to the new establishment of the Central Plains Young Lord. The Tang Lord gave Liu Chengyou a "surprise" by setting up a checkpoint at the border between the two countries, canceling the trade between the two countries, and also ordered that northerners were not allowed to go south to buy rice. I want to use a grain of rice from the north of the Huainan River to enter the north.
Due to the shortage of food in the Central Plains, the Han Dynasty bought a large proportion of its food from Huainan. Although the relationship between the two countries was not harmonious before, it was not clearly broken, and normal private transactions were not severed. But Li Jing took advantage of this. With Liu Chengyou's new move, he added insult to injury and was full of malice, which made Liu Chengyou extremely angry. He was even more angry than Gao Laizi who robbed Ma Chu's tribute. Although the impact has not spread yet, Liu Chengyou can almost predict what will happen next. In half a year, the court will be very sad, and it will be necessary to cut back on food and clothing.
Although the impact is not immediate, the consequences will appear sooner or later. In order to delay the tension in the market, Liu Chengyou ordered the news to be kept secret for as long as possible. After all, the city that is most short of food is Tokyo.
Of course, even if Li Jing did not issue that edict, the Han Dynasty would not be able to buy much food from Huainan, because the Han court was very poor and the people of the Han Dynasty were very poor. As for the local governors and the courtiers, maybe their families had wealth, so they could It is basically impossible to share the joys and sorrows with the imperial court and donate some money.
However, this move of the Southern Tang Dynasty gave Liu Chengyou a handle, and by the way, it aroused Liu Chengyou's greed for the fourteen states north of the Yangtze River in the Southern Tang Dynasty. Since ancient times, the land of Huainan has been an important place of wealth for the country. , Yang Xingmi also established the Wu Kingdom based on Huainan, and Huainan's barrier effect on Jiang's defense...
"Zhou Shizong" conquered Huainan three times and returned Jiangbei to the Central Plains. Liu Chengyou already had that idea in his mind. However, it was just an idea. There was nothing he could do about the Southern Tang Dynasty at the moment. The most important thing for the Han Dynasty was to regulate the country and recuperate. .Moreover, Liu Chengyou's attention was still on the war in Guanzhong to the west.
There is no peace in the country, and my heart is uneasy. This is the truest portrayal of Liu Chengyou's heart today.
Moreover, Li Shouzhen in Hezhong was also restless. When he learned that Liu Zhiyuan had passed away and the young master had succeeded to the throne, he immediately became excited. He was deceived by Master Zonglun and became confused. He was confident that he had "destiny" and felt that the opportunity had come. .In Puzhou, we repaired the armor and repaired the city defenses. Although the anti-rebellion flag was not raised, the anti-rebellion spirit was already rising.
Regarding this, in order not to continue irritating Li Shouzhen, Liu Chengyou just pretended not to know anything, as long as he did not officially raise the flag of rebellion. Feeling aggrieved? It is true, but no matter how aggrieved, you have to endure it.
A small leak will sink a great ship.
Li Shouzhen's illness was a minor one, as was the Shu soldiers' illness. What really worried Liu Chengyou from the bottom of his heart was the situation in the north. Youzhou reported that Zhao Yanshou, king of Yan, fell ill due to overwork.
There is no reason why Liu Chengyou is not nervous. If Zhao Yanshou dies suddenly, the situation in Youyan that Liu Chengyou has painstakingly planned will collapse in an instant. The Khitan will never let go of that opportunity and will definitely go south.
Thinking of the consequences, Liu Chengyou shuddered. On the one hand, he sent envoys and imperial doctors to the north to comfort him. On the other hand, Liu Chengyou had begun to think about how to deal with the situation after Zhao Yanshou if he really died and who should replace him.
Now in the Yan army in Youzhou, Zhao Yanshou is the leader, and Zhang Li is the deputy. Yes, it is the former Khitan servant She, Tongping Zhangshi, who also secretly communicated with Liu Chengyou, but he did not get a positive response from Liu Chengyou .Last year Zhao Yanshou entered Youzhou and made a lot of efforts to improve people's livelihood.
However, Zhang Li is also ill... Moreover, this is a scholar and he is old. Even if he succeeds Zhao Yanshou, he may not be able to scare the military leaders in the Yan army. If the imperial court is directly under the jurisdiction, to be honest, Today's Han Dynasty does not have the strength and energy to do something forcefully, but it will carry a big burden. If another Han Dynasty is found to suppress it, I am afraid it will be difficult to deal with the Yan army that has established its own system. If there is a little discord, I am afraid it will be The situation is falling apart. If one of the Yan generals is promoted, whether the court can trust it is a problem, and whether it can be recognized by other Yan generals is also a big problem...
Wei Renpu, who was promoted to the Privy Council with Guo Wei, discussed for a long time and listed all the possibilities. Wei Renpu gave a suggestion, and sent Zhao Kuangzan, the military commander of Jinchang Army, to go north. He was the son of Zhao Yanshou, the son of Zhao Yanshou. After thinking about it, this was a choice that was barely acceptable to all parties. Although Zhao Kuangzan was young, he did a pretty good job in Jingzhao. He was comprehensive in resisting Li Tinggui.
The premise is that Liu Chengyou must have this capability. In addition, Zhao Kuangzan is currently leading the Jingzhao Town Army, cooperating with the Guanyou Army and Wang Jun to deal with the Shu Army.
After careful consideration, Liu Chengyou decided to accept Wei Renpu's suggestion and move Zhao Kuangzan as the observation envoy to Lulong. He would set up camp in the north and take him north to Youzhou in case of unexpected events. On the other side of Guanzhong, he replaced him with the veteran Bai Wenke to hold the capital. Zhao. In addition to his promising qualifications, Bai Gong was used to make plans for the future. Last year, Liu Zhiyuan transferred to various towns. He once appointed Bai Wenke as the governor of Hezhong instead of Zhao Kuangzan, and he was also familiar with Puzhou. .....
Although the edict was issued, Liu Chengyou couldn't help but murmur in his heart. Could Zhao Yanshou be pretending to be ill in order to get his son to go north?
Of course, this thought just passed away in a flash. Liu Chengyou didn't think that Zhao Yanshou had the ability to accurately predict the court's reaction. Furthermore, even if the Zhao family and his son had different intentions, allowing them to separatize Youzhou would be worse than falling into the hands of the Khitan again. It is better to be in good hands. If the Yan army collapses, the pressure on the Han will be even greater.
Even if he is well prepared for contingency, Liu Chengyou still has to pray that Zhao Yanshou can live for two more years...
