"Bohou, are you finally not going to hide anymore? It's only by joining forces with you that I feel most comfortable."

"Who looked like he was ready to die just now? Why is he so happy that he almost forgot about it now?"

"I originally thought that after Mr. Lu passed away, my heart would die and I would lose interest in everything. In this way, no matter how the lord punishes me, it would be a relief for me. But I never thought that when I saw the lord's eyes

When I felt a chill, I found that I was not as desireless as I thought. Just like Lu Gong said before, maybe I have never really faced myself."

"It seems that Zixiang has recovered. My lord seemed to have wanted to let Ji come to persuade Zixiang. Unexpectedly, my lord himself had already made Zixiang wake up. It seems that the burden on me has been lightened a lot."

"Without your support, Bohou, I am determined not to succeed. There is a golden city..."

The transfer of Zhang Yan from Shangjun to Jincheng seems to be a smooth transfer. Jincheng, like Shangjun, is a mixture of Han and Hu people. Although the Han Dynasty has much more control over Jincheng than Shangjun, after years of battles, Jincheng is now about the same.

Sixty-seven out of ten houses are empty, and with the population shrinking sharply, it is unclear which side, Jincheng or Shangjun, will be more miserable.

But on the surface, Zhang Yan didn't seem to have much to lose. In fact, the situation Zhang Yan had to face was extremely harsh.

When Zhang Yan first arrived in Yunzhong, he was accompanied by nearly 300,000 combatable men from the Black Mountain Army. If you include the old, weak and sick women who took care of their families, as well as the remnants of the Yellow Turban Army from other areas that he later gradually absorbed.

and the weak Hu tribe. It can be said that this big move planned by Li Shushi allowed Shuozhou to increase its population by more than 100,000 households out of thin air.

Even if all of the increased population cannot be concentrated in Yunzhong County, after several years of battlefield baptism and elimination, Zhang Yan can hold a huge army of up to 50,000 to 60,000 in Yunzhong or Shangjun. This army

Even if the army cannot compare with the elite troops of Bingzhou under Li Shushi, the strength of a mere county can still crush everything without any pressure.

However, most of this force will be left in Shuozhou, and Zhang Yan can only take a few of his confidants to Jincheng to take office.

Probably no more than three thousand at most.

What can so many troops do?

At most, it can be guaranteed that no powerful man will dare to bully the prefect who was sent here in Jincheng.

That's all.

Zhang Yan didn't even have enough manpower to launch a war of annihilation against the local powerful.

This evaluation is not an exaggeration, because this is no other place, this is Jincheng!

Jincheng and Longxi can be said to be the two places with the strongest fighting capacity among the western frontiers of the Han Dynasty. Unlike Wuwei, Zhangye and other Hexi Corridor areas in the north, there are natural barriers such as the Qilian Mountains in the south. The invaders can only enter through a few passes;

Unlike the Yizhou area in the south, which has huge

The large Hengduan Mountains act as a natural barrier, allowing battles to take place in mountainous areas where troops cannot be deployed, thus limiting the escalation of the scale of battles. At the same time, the rich products allow trade to replace war, allowing various races here to adopt a more peaceful way.

to solve their own survival problems.

Only here, you need to face the Qiang people who rush down from the Qinghai Plateau. Face to face those sturdy tribes who are determined to avenge their ancestors. Face to face those warriors who have developed strong physiques in the plateau and desert.

Even the Huangzhong area in the west of Jincheng was originally the base for the foreign mercenaries that the Han Dynasty relied on most.

Each powerful family that can survive in such a place has its own unique way of survival, but each family also has enough strength to resist foreign enemies. Because only with this kind of strength can these families have the basis for survival.

Even after the rebellion of Li Wenhou and Beigong Boyu and others, Han Sui's sweep was like a land cleansing, which caused heavy losses to both the Qiang and local powerful people. But if Zhang Yan thought that these people could be manipulated at will, then those who like to fight would

The nationalities and people will definitely let him know what it feels like to have a head full of buns.

Therefore, Jincheng and his party are definitely a huge test for Zhang Yan.

If successful, he can rely on the power gained by Jincheng to return to the sight of the top leaders of the Bingzhou Army.

Defeated, there is nothing to say, just use his blood and life to repay the mistakes he made because of his lack of calmness.

Of course, in order to prevent Zhang Yan from thinking that she had become an abandoned son, Du Ji's role became very important.

From what Li Shushi revealed to Du Ji's arrangements for him, and what Du Ji vaguely revealed to Zhang Yan, it is obvious that Du Ji's position can guarantee that as long as Zhang Yan is not caught off guard by a sneak attack, he can basically be saved.

.

In this case, Zhang Yan felt that she had nothing to worry about and should just do something big.

For his teacher Lu Zhi who had high hopes for him and taught him many truths but he was never able to tell him, and for Li Shushi who also had high hopes for him and should be considered his senior brother according to the order of entry.

More importantly, in order to give him, who was just an ordinary little gangster ranger, a chance to go down in history!

But now, let's get drunk with Du Jimu first, otherwise he will drink up all the good wine.

Li Shushi, on the other hand, staggered back to his place, following the horoscope steps.

At this time, the people gathered around this table were no longer close advisers like Cheng Yu and Jia Xu, but instead a group of older people like Huangfu Song, Zhu Jun, Wang Rou, Sima Fang, and Yan Zhong who were familiar with Li Shushi.

A person with a rather transcendent status under his command.

Seeing that they were very familiar with each other, Li Shushi seemed to have thought of something interesting, and a cheerful smile appeared on his face. However, today is the Winter Festival, and except for a few special ones, the expressions on everyone's faces seemed to be the same.

All pretty much the same.

"Come on, come on, let me have a drink with you all and thank you for your contribution to Bingzhou's current prosperity."

This is a wonderful world, this is a magical world. Although Li Shushi looked like he was about to fall just now, as Su Xiaololi gently pressed against his waist, almost in an instant, Li Shushi was on the same spot.

Resurrection with full health and full status.

So compared to such a ferocious lolita in my family, those brothers and sisters are so weak.

Of course, this is an exclusive service that only belongs to Li Shushi, and others cannot enjoy it~

Because of this...

"Qing'er, don't think I can't see you. Put your chopsticks away quickly. If you're not allowed to drink, you're not allowed to drink. You're not allowed to drink until you're twenty years old! That one over there, don't think I haven't seen you.

You just secretly took something from my table. Mrs. Ma, please take care of her. I haven’t settled the debt with her last time because I drank too much and acted crazy.”

Taking advantage of the opportunity when the old guy next to him put down his wine glass, Li Shushi took the opportunity to manage some "naughty" lolita at home.

In fact, this was supposed to be Su Xiaoluoli’s job, but unfortunately I don’t know what happened today. Su Xiaoluoli acted like “I’m a lady and I’m quiet”. Except for helping Li Shushi sober up and wipe his sweat, she stayed quietly with him.

The sense of presence around her was so low that even Jia Xu would have forgotten that there was a "dangerous" person beside her if she didn't take the initiative to show up.

As for Li Shushi's behavior like a nagging and annoying brother, who would scold and appease a group of rebellious younger sisters, this group of elders, who were either disrespectful or superficially dignified, all had a smile on their faces.

They all looked a bit more kind.

No. Just look at the dead ant over there and his brother Sima Fu’s expressions as if they’ve seen a ghost. This old man usually doesn’t give their brothers a good look at home. He’s really a red fruit.

The differential treatment of fruits.

Therefore, Li Shushi can continue to play the role of "silly brother" for a while.

Especially when he discovered that Qiao Loli, who had not always had a very high presence today, had a warm smile on her face because of her actions, and she was really full of energy.

Of course, if Li Shushi knew that Qiao Loli would also smile sweetly under certain other conditions, and the taste of that smile was different from today's smile, what would his expression be like?

Lost? Or angry?

Or maybe just take the opportunity to throw yourself into the arms of a certain lolita for comfort?

Perhaps I already knew that this would happen from the very beginning.

After a while of fun, a new conversation finally started.

"Lord Zhou Mu, we have now taken over the entire territory of Liangzhou and Sili. I don't know how to arrange these newly attached lands after next spring. We people have been watching with a cold eye for a long time in the past few years, and we have some ideas in our hearts. We hope to cooperate with

Mr. Zhou Mu, please tell me."

The first one to speak was Huangfu Song.

Although the tone was casual, the attitude was basically the same as a formal conversation.

At this time, the generals of the Xiliang Army were "fighting" with great enthusiasm. Although the shouts of killing were loud, they could see that one by one they were getting into the table. It was very dissatisfied with them.

The Guanzhong Family Group they were dealing with was talking quietly over there, as if they were discussing something. Even though they saw that the atmosphere at Li Shushi's side seemed to have changed, they did not take the initiative to participate. Instead, they seemed to be signaling those who were ready to make a move.

Young people, stay away from here.

As for Li Shushi's old subordinates, they all hid far away at this time. Zhao Yun was dragged out by his two wives to set off fireworks, accompanied by Tai Shi Ci and Cao Chun, who looked somewhat lonely.

Hey, Su Xiaololi, it’s all your fault.

I really want to sing a song, "I admit it's all the fault of Lolita. Such Lolita is so beautiful and gentle, even her heart is as steely as her fingers are soft..." Ah.

Ahem, let's change the topic.

Huangfusong's words were not unexpected by Li Shushi. In fact, before the Battle of Chang'an, Cheng Yu, Ju Shou, Jia Xu, and even Huang Zhong had reminded Li Shushi in various ways to pay attention to the end of the Battle of Guanzhong.

Changes in the hearts of later generations.

Yes, people's hearts change.

In Bingzhou before, even though Li Shushi was a foreigner, unlike Liu Biao who entered Jingzhou on horseback, he was followed by a large number of fierce generals and troops who had experienced iron-blooded wars. Even if Dong Zhuo hadn't been so brilliant at that time and Li Shushi

He was just a fledgling young man, so perhaps Liu Hong's attitude towards Li Shushi wouldn't have been so cordial back then.

Even though the merchant emperor felt that he and Li Shushi had a good sexual compatibility.

Therefore, Li Shushi can convey his will without relying on the support of local powerful people. Even if there are some blind powerful people who want to challenge Li Shushi's majesty, he will be very happy to get the chicken that can establish his power.

Therefore, even though the powerful people in Bingzhou and Li Shushi gradually reconciled, the system in Bingzhou has long been established. Even if it is not perfect yet, the positions left for those powerful people from aristocratic families are already very limited. The only thing they can do is to bet on the future.

Bet on the future of Li Shushi and Bingzhoujun and invest enough capital to ensure future returns.

This is a rather helpless choice for them, but looking at the world, such a choice is inevitable. Because in this era of chaos, if Bingzhou wants to develop, then meaningless internal friction will only make both sides

If the best opportunity for development is lost, the result can only be a lose-lose situation. Even those powerful families will lose even more miserably.
To be continued...