"Cai Canjun, do you think I should listen to Li Boshan's advice?"
After this meeting, on the way back, King Yueyang no longer had the expectation when he came back. With his eyebrows furrowed and a look of contemplation and entanglement on his face, he looked at Cai Dabao, his most trusted confidant and the one who traveled the most to Mianbei, and asked.
Cai Dabao knew that this question was difficult to answer, so he pondered for a while before speaking: "No matter what his temperament and talents are, Governor Li, after all, ministers of other countries are definitely not people who can be trusted to collude with each other in state affairs."
"Yes, no matter how righteous and powerful Li Boshan is, he is still a minister of another country. No matter how unruly and disrespectful the Du family is, they are still people under my rule in Yongzhou. It is indeed inappropriate to invite outsiders to attack oneself."
After King Yueyang heard this, he also sighed, but his tone was full of unwillingness and regret, which led to his dissatisfaction with Li Tai: "This captive general is really clever with his words and tricks. The former treasures are all displayed, and he has failed me greatly.
He won a short victory based on the fresh products from his hometown. He boasted loudly but could not live up to it. He deliberately made things difficult for me by proposing a condition that I couldn't agree to. It's really annoying!"
After saying this, he still couldn't let go, and he scolded Du again: "This thieves are corrupt officials and dominate the people. They are very rich, but they are still unwilling to be satisfied! Even if there is no such thing as Li Boshan, if the blue waves of the Han River can do it for me,
It can be used unobstructed, which is also a good deed for the people of Dayizhou and a great benefit to the country's affairs!"
In the previous meeting at Shazhou, Li Tai proposed that supplies could be transported along the Han River, and the two parties could not only trade in white sugar, but also trade in other goods.
But the problem is that the power of King Yueyang is far from enough to cover the entire Han River Basin. Even Xiangyang, where he is currently sitting, took advantage of Li Tai's invasion to control the people, money and food. Not to mention the Han Dynasty that was further away.
The water basin, just the section of waterway controlled by the Du brothers, was completely outside the control of King Yueyang.
Li Tai took advantage of the situation to bring up old matters again and expressed his willingness to send troops to help King Yueyang to deal with the Du clan. They cooperated internally and externally to capture the city where the Du brothers were stationed on the bank of the Han River. Then King Yueyang pretended to regain the lost territory and actually took the city into his hands.
Although this proposal seems to be beneficial to King Yueyang, he can expand his sphere of influence without spending much money, and can also gain control of the Han River waterway and frost candy, a luxury product with extremely high value and profit.
But in addition to considerations of pros and cons, people also have moral constraints after all. What's more, King Yueyang is a serious King of Xiaoliang. If he invites outsiders into his own territory, it will ultimately be an act that breaks the bottom line for him.
"Alas, Li Boshan seems to be elegant in appearance and spirit, but his essence is still mediocre. He used this trick to gain access to me, but he really used himself to judge others and underestimated me. His conspiracy and tricks are far from the right path. I can't do anything with him in the future.
Get to know this person deeply to avoid being infected by his weirdness!"
After thinking and weighing for a long time, King Yueyang still reluctantly rejected this tempting proposal in his heart. Although there were benefits, the risks were also too great.
Their brothers were already in a sensitive situation. If his greed and indulgence caused other brothers to be harmed, he would not have the face to see his brothers and sisters again. What's more, even if the Du brothers were defeated, there were still many powerful people entrenched in the upper reaches of the Han River who wanted to have complete control.
This waterway is easier said than done!
Although he said this, King Yueyang still felt regretful in his heart, whether it was giving up Li Tai's proposal or giving up this friendship with Li Tai.
He received the orthodox royal education of Nanliang since he was a child, and he was graceful and elegant. Although he had extreme thoughts due to the untimely death of his father and the abolition of his grandfather, he did not completely abandon the constraints of his family education.
For him, people like Li Tai, although they have the style of a famous family, are less constrained by red tape and are full of vitality and imagination in everything they do and do. In particular, several miraculous deeds made Xiao Qing full of envy and jealousy.
Since the two sides came into contact, I have often imagined that I would be like this...
King Yueyang said that he would be protected from his strange influence, but in fact he was worried that he would be affected by Li Tai's wild imagination again, but he did not have enough courage and strength to realize it, which would only increase his annoyance. Just like a person
Because I know that drugs are harmful, I still try to use my reason to restrain myself and continue trying.
But in fact, the biggest addiction for people is the addiction of the heart. As long as there is a thought in the heart, it is only sooner or later that the person is completely destroyed.
Since he decided not to accept this temptation, King Yueyang temporarily put the matter behind him and did not think about it. After returning to Xiangyang, he immersed himself in military and political affairs all day long.
Work to numb yourself from random thoughts.
But soon an accident interrupted the days of King Yueyang's hard work. Previously, the Du brothers had appealed to Xiao Yi, the king of eastern Hunan who was in Jiangling, because of the war in Xiangyang. Now Xiao Yi sent his envoys to arrive.
Du An, of the Du family in Jingzhao, was ordered to be the Sima of Yongzhou Prefecture, taking over the position of Liu Fanggui, the fallen general.
The King of Eastern Hunan is now the governor of Jingzhou, and the commander-in-chief of all the military affairs in the states between Jiang and Han such as Jing Yong. He is now the highest military and political officer in the middle reaches of the Yangtze River. King Xiao Jin of Yueyang is also under his control and has a great influence on the appointment of officials and assistants in Yongzhou.
He has the right to speak. He directly appointed the Sima of Yongzhou Prefecture, which does not exceed his authority.
However, this behavior was undoubtedly a direct slap in the face of King Yueyang. After all, King Yueyang was the chief of Yong Mansion, and Du family in Jingzhao was suspected of surrendering to the enemy and planning to drive away King Yueyang. Now King Xiangdong directly bypassed King Yueyang and appointed Du family as
What kind of good intentions could the governor of the state have?
"The slave is tired of me sitting in the Great Yong Mansion, so he uses this trick to belittle me. It's too much to bully others! Since I am a humble man, how can he be noble?"
After King Yueyang learned about this, he immediately broke his guard. He pointed in the south direction of Jiangling in the palace and started to curse. He hated the seventh uncle who was unwilling to give him any dignity.
As he spoke, he was about to put on his armor and charge towards the state capital, massacring the envoys from Jingzhou and Du An and others in the hall to vent his full anger.
"Your Majesty, please calm down. Your Majesty, please calm down..."
Cai Dabao and other subordinates rushed over after hearing the news. Seeing that King Yueyang was furious, they all spoke out to comfort him.
King Yueyang also knew that it was unwise to do this, but he couldn't swallow the bad breath in his heart, and he cursed fiercely: "It's really not a pity to die for the Du family's unscrupulous slaves! The former surrendered to the enemy and committed evil, and I have lived a righteous life. Now
He also colluded with other towns to dominate my government position. You really think I don’t dare to..."
Seeing that King Yueyang was still unable to control his emotions even though he was furious, Cai Dabao and several other confidants hurriedly waved their hands and retreated to other people waiting in the hall. When only a few core members of the palace were left in the hall, Cai Dabao knelt on the ground and said in a deep voice:
"If your Majesty has really made a decision, I would like to ask you to go to Mianbei as an envoy to inform the Li family of this intention..."
After hearing this, King Yueyang became a little calmer, returned to the banquet, sat down, pondered for a long time, and then said in a deep voice: "The Du family must not stay any longer. If we can't control it, everyone will see it and drive it away."
I am the stepping stone for advancement, and there will be no place for me to establish myself in this town for a long time!"
Before, he did not dare to attack the Du family directly. Firstly, he was not absolutely sure, and secondly, he was worried that other big clans in the territory would harm him and would boycott him. But now that such a long time has passed, the attitude of the big clans in the territory towards him has not changed much, and
Du's false pretense made him even more arrogant, and he finally decided to kill him.
When Cai Dabao came to Rangcheng again, Li Tai was not surprised and still warmly entertained him and his party. However, when talking about the things he had proposed before, Li Tai was no longer as enthusiastic and attentive as before.
Somewhat cold.
Of course, the loyal Governor Li did not mean to show off to get Joey, but after returning to Jingzhou, he thought about it carefully and felt that his previous proposal was a bit hasty. What they wanted to open up was the entire Han River waterway, not just a single Du.
home, so of course a more thorough plan is needed.
Of course, Li Tai raised this question to confirm once again whether the Yueyang King Xiao Qing had really swallowed his bait, or whether he was just using him as a gunman to deal with the Jingzhao Du clan and planned to throw it away after use.
Cai Dabao knew that the other party's previous proposal had been coldly rejected by them. Now bringing up the old matter would not go as smoothly as before, so after hearing Li Tai's additional questions, he immediately told them about their plan.
From Xiangyang to the west along the Han River Basin, there are Xinxing County, Nanyang County, etc. that were set up by overseas Chinese. They are all in the hands of the Du brothers, which shows the strength of their clan. And further west from the Du brothers' influence, there is Qixing County in Nanliang.
The governor of Qixing County was named Xi Gu, and he was from the Xi family in Anding. He was also one of the wealthy families living in Xiangyang.
Going west from Qixing County, you enter the territory of Hanzhong. There are many powerful barbarian chiefs in this area, and their forces are complex. Among them, the clan of Li Qianzhe, the prefect of Ankang who has settled in Shannan for generations, is the most powerful. It can be said that if you don’t know your clan,
If we cooperate, we will never be able to control this section of the Han River.
After passing Ankang County and heading west, we arrived at the core area of Hanzhong, Nanzheng, where the capital of Liangzhou is located. Hanzhong was led by the old Western Wei Dynasty, and the famous Nanliang general Lanqin came to attack in the early years of Datong. At that time, he was the governor of Liangzhou.
The clan of the Northern Wei Dynasty, Yuanluo Jucheng, surrendered, and from then on Hanzhong returned to the rule of Nanliang.
Today's Liangzhou governor is also a member of the Nanliang clan, Yifenghou Xiao Xun. His brother is Xiao Fan, the former Poyang king of Jingzhou, and their father Xiao Hui is the ninth brother of Liang Wu Emperor Xiao Yan, who was also the Nanliang prince.
The famous stallion in the clan is said to have forty sons.
When Cai Dabao came to see him this time, his attitude was quite candid. He clearly told Li Tai that the Du brothers and others in Xiangyang could work together internally and externally, and Xi Gu, the prefect of Qixing, also tried his best to persuade. After all, in Xiangyang where there are many wealthy families, the Xi family can be settled.
They are far less powerful and aloof than the Velyudu and other major clans, and they are still subject to the control of the state leader.
As for Qixing County going further upstream, King Yueyang, who had just established a foothold in Xiangyang, was beyond his reach, and they still needed to negotiate with each other.