Northern Dynasties Imperial Industry

"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 relied upon 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 charm. The former treasures have been displayed, and he has failed me greatly. He won a short victory due to the fresh products from his hometown, and 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, and 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 is a good thing for the people of Dayizhou and the country of Dayi to use it smoothly!"

During the previous meeting at Shazhou, Li Tai proposed that materials could be transported along the Han River, and that the two parties could not only trade in white sugar, but also trade in other goods.

But the problem is that King Yueyang's power 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 farther away Han River Basin, the section of waterway controlled by the Du brothers was completely outside the control of King Yueyang.

Li Tai then took advantage of the situation to bring up the old matter again and expressed his willingness to send troops to help King Yueyang deal with the Du family. They cooperated with each other internally and externally to capture the city where the Du brothers were sitting on the bank of the Han River. Then King Yueyang pretended to regain the lost territory and actually took the city in 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 channel and frosted sugar, 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 leads 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 temporary 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 are defeated, there are still many powerful people entrenched in the upper reaches of the Han River. It is not easy to completely control this waterway!

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.

What he received since childhood was the orthodox royal education of Nanliang, grace and elegance. 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. They are full of vitality and imagination in everything they do and do. In particular, several miraculous deeds make 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 who knows that drugs are harmful, so he still tries to restrain himself with reason and continues to try.

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 will only be sooner or later before complete fall.

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, doing everything big and small. Work to numb yourself from random thoughts.

But an accident soon interrupted this period of hard work for King Yueyang. 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 and replace Liu Fanggui, the fallen general.

The King of Eastern Hunan is now the governor of Jingzhou, and the commander-in-chief of the military affairs of various 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. The King of Yueyang, Xiao Jin, is also under his control and has a great influence on the appointment of officials and assistants in Yongzhou. right to speak. He directly appointed Sima of Yongzhou Prefecture, which did not exceed his authority.

But this behavior was undoubtedly a direct slap in the face of King Yueyang. After all, King Yueyang was the chief of the 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 yelling. 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, 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. He also colluded with other towns to dominate my government position. You really think that I dare not..."

Seeing that King Yueyang was still unable to control his emotions even though he was so angry, 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 who sees it will be driven away." I am a step forward, and there will be no place for me to establish myself in this town for a long time!”

Before, he didn't dare to attack the Du family directly. Firstly, he was not absolutely sure, and secondly, he was worried that other big clansmen in the territory would harm his kind and would crowd up to resist 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, but the Du family has become even more arrogant, so 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 proposed before, Li Tai was no longer as enthusiastic and attentive as before, and his attitude was a little cold.

Of course, the righteous Governor Li did not mean to show off to win over Qiao, but after returning to Jingzhou, he thought about it carefully and felt that his previous proposal was a bit hasty. What they want to open up is the entire Han River waterway, not just a Du family, so of course they need a more comprehensive plan.

Of course, Li Tai raised this question to confirm again whether the Yueyang King Xiao Qing had really swallowed his bait, or whether he was just using him as a gun to deal with the Jingzhao Du family and intending to throw it away after use.

Cai Dabao knew that the other party's previous proposal was coldly rejected by them, and that bringing up the old things now 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 and Nanyang County established by overseas Chinese. They are all in the hands of the Du brothers, which shows the strength of their clan. Further to the west of the Du brothers' influence, there is Qixing County in Nanliang. The governor of Qixing County is named Xi Gu. He is from the Xi family in Anding. He is also one of the wealthy families living in Xiangyang.

Going further 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 most powerful family is Li Qianzhe, the prefect of Ankang who has settled in Shannan for generations. It can be said that without the cooperation of his clan, there would be no hope of controlling this section of the Han River.

After passing Ankang County and heading west, we arrived at Nanzheng, the core area of ​​Hanzhong and where the capital of Liangzhou is located. Hanzhong was under the control of the Western Wei Dynasty. In the early years of the Great Unification, the famous Nanliang general Lanqin came to attack. Yuanluo, a clan member of the Northern Wei Dynasty who was the governor of Liangzhou at the time, surrendered to the city. Since then, Hanzhong has been under the rule of Nanliang.

The current governor of Liangzhou is also Xiao Xun, Marquis of Yifeng of the Southern Liang clan. His brother is Xiao Fan, the former Poyang king of Jingzhou, and their father Xiao Hui is the ninth brother of Emperor Wu of Liang Xiao Yan, who was also the ninth brother of Nanliang. The famous stallion in the clan is said to have forty sons.

When Cai Dabao came to see him this time, his attitude was also quite candid. He clearly told Li Tai that the Du brothers and others in Xiangyang could handle it 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 Andingxi family is far less powerful and aloof than Wei Liudu and other major families, and they are also 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.