: The king is not the king.

Chen Shen really hopes to read the thoughts hidden behind every face, every pair of frowning brows and every pair of tightly pursed lips.

When he saw Chen Faxing speaking, the patriarch of the Wang family of the Jiangdong clan on the other side, Shangshu Right Pushe, Sikong, and Marshal Wang Zhihui curled his lips slightly. He sat aside, with his thumb hooked on the hilt of the sword, and his face was as serious as a stone.

When you go to the hall, you will praise and worship and don’t go to court.

This is the common treatment agreed by the patriarchs of the four major clans who were in charge of heavy troops and possessed several counties when Jiangnan reinstated the Chen Dynasty.

The four major clans of the Shen family, Wang family, Xie family and Gu family each held a large army, each occupying the territory of several counties. In order to balance, these elder families of the Jiangnan Association initially agreed to follow Chen Shen as the emperor and restore the Chen State. However, the power of the Chen Dynasty was divided by the four major clans. Among them, as the patriarchs of the four major clans, all four served as the first-rank positions of the Three Dukes and the Three Gu, and were all granted the title of Dukes, appointed as marshals, and went to the palace with swords and shoes, praised and worshipped without name, and did not go to the court.

In the past two years, the nineteen counties in Lingnan, which first surrendered to the Chen Dynasty, gradually became independent. Then, Nanchen besieged Jiangdu for less than two years. The troops were exhausted for a long time, their morale was slackened, and their soldiers were damaged. On the west side, the Chen army, which had gradually penetrated into Jingxiang, was defeated by Yang Ming, who fled from Hedong to Jianghan and took it as the foundation.

More than two years have passed, and the four major families within the Chen Dynasty each had the territory of five or six counties, and their power was equal. However, two years later, the nearly 100,000 troops that were docked, under the leadership of Li Zitong, suffered heavy losses in besieging Jiangdu for two consecutive years. In particular, the territory controlled by the Xie family was all over the coastal areas of the west coast of Jinling, Hailing, Wujun, Kuaiji County, Dongyang County, and Sui'an County were all in the coastal areas. Although the Hebei army did not go south in large numbers in the past two years, the Hebei navy fleet plundered along the coast and never stopped. These Hebei navy troops were broken into pieces, coming and going like the wind, and they were snatched away, and they were unable to defend themselves.

Although Xie Zhe, the head of the Xie family, trusted his adopted son Li Zitong, they faced a naval fleet armed with a large sum of money. They were not ordinary pirates and water bandits at all. In two years, basically none of the five counties controlled by the Xie family had been broken and looted. Even the big lake Taihu Lake in Wu County has simply become a temporary base for the Hebei Navy. The wealth accumulated by the Xie family over the years has basically been consumed. What's more serious is that the troops and horses brought by Xie Zhe's adopted son Li Zitong were basically exhausted in the coastal and under the Jiangdu city. Now there are only less than 20,000 people left, all of them huddled in Dongyang County.

Among the four great masters, the Gu family was even worse than the Xie family. They had more than 100,000 soldiers and horses in their hands and controlled the seven counties of Jianghan, including Yiling County, Nanjun, Mianyang County, Jiangxia County, Yong'an, Anlu, and Jingling, and their power was even second only to the Shen family. Unfortunately, Zhu Can, the commander of the Gu family's soldiers and horses, was a arrogant and perverted madman. Zhu Can was originally a bandit leader supported by the Gu family. After seven years of Daye, the Gu family secretly supported the chaos in the Jianghan area.

However, when Zhu Can conquers the city and seizes seven counties in succession, he is already a big shot. Zhu Can didn't take the Gu family seriously at that time, and even turned against him. If Yang Qing hadn't gone south to Jingxiang, Zhu Can's next goal might have turned around and attacked Nanchen. Yang Qing crossed the river and intervened in Jingxiang and forced himself to destroy Zhu Can. Except for 20,000 or 30,000 remaining soldiers fled east of Bashui and returned to the Gu family, the Gu family was lost both people and land. Not only were their territory stolen by Yang Qing, but the army piled up with money was defeated all at once. Among the four major families, they suddenly became the bottom one, and were no more important.

The Xie family and Gu family plummeted. Although the two families still held a large number of official positions in the court on the surface, in fact, the power of the Chen Dynasty had fallen into the hands of the Wang family. Among the Chen Wang family, the Shen family gradually became the strongest because they occupied Jinling and other counties and actually controlled the emperor. Most of the powerful men of the aristocratic families in Jiangnan had already turned to the Shen family, but the Wang family was docked with more than 100,000 troops in their hands and were still holding on.

Chen Shen has always paid attention to Wang Zhihui, the leader of the Wang family. Now the only one who can compete with Chen Faxing is the Wang family. He saw Wang Zhihui's sneering just now. Chen Faxing is becoming more and more arrogant, especially after Empress Chen gave up the prince and was promoted to the crown prince, he became more and more arrogant. In the past, the four families were still discussing major issues in the court, but now, Chen Faxing does not take the other three families seriously at all and often makes arbitrary decisions.

Chen Shen has always seen the dissatisfaction of the Wang family. Now, he feels it's time for him to add another fire.

Chen Shen smiled slightly, "Mr. Situ worked hard and made great contributions and was devoted to national affairs. He is actually a city of the country. I have issued a special order to grant Situ the title of Grand Tutor, to advance to the King of Wu, to grant the title of Zhongshu Ling, to reward the python robe, to ride a chariot in the palace, and to give a coin furnace, to cast copper coins by himself."

At the end, he turned to Wang Zhihui and saw that Wang Zhihui was surprised at first, then angry, but finally his face turned pale, lowered his head and frowned. Chen Shen then said, "Duke Sikong is also working for the country. Now he specially ordered the title of King Aiqing as the Grand Tutor, to enter the King of Yue, and to be appointed as the Minister of the Jung-Secretarius, to be awarded the python robe, to be a chariot in the palace, and to be given a coin furnace, and to be cast by himself."

"I thank you for your kindness, long live my emperor!"

The Secretariat was responsible for drafting edicts and reading the letters of the ministers and submitting memorials. It was one of the three provinces. However, the Menxia Provincial Department was specifically responsible for reviewing and refuting the edicts drafted by the Secretariat, and was also one of the three provinces. The power of the Southern Chen Dynasty was subordinate to the three provinces. The Secretariat drafted edicts, the Menxia Provincial Department reviewed and refuted, and the Shangshu Provincial Department implemented it.

Chen Faxing and Wang Zhihui were both servants of the Shangshu Province, but now Chen Shen added a provincial chief to each of them. Chen Faxing issued an edict, and Wang Zhihui reviewed and refuted it. The meaning of this is self-evident.

Chen Faxing and both were old foxes, so they didn't understand the truth. But the benefits of these two imperial edicts were too great, and neither of them could refuse the temptation. Not only did they give them additional officials and money, but more importantly, they were the king. The opposite sexes of all dynasties were not kings. Although they were powerful, as long as they were still under the banner of the Chen Dynasty, they could not overcome this hurdle. Now Chen Kefu took the initiative to be the king, how could they refuse? What's more, after accepting this reward, the King and the Kings could completely get rid of Xie and Gu, and changed from the four families in the past to the two families who are now in charge.

"King of Wu and King of Yue, now I will hand over all the national affairs to the two ministers. But if you have something to do, you two will decide and don't have to ask me about everything. Okay, I feel a little uncomfortable in my body, so I will go back to the palace first. There is no major matter in the future, so don't have to come and rest again. You can discuss it yourself."

"Retreat the court, all the officials bow, get up, and go back to the palace!" The eunuch sang and sang and returned to the palace with Chen Shen.

As soon as Chen Shen left, the other people in the hall did not leave. To them, the emperor was just a puppet, and they had to decide for themselves if there was something to do. However, it seems that the decision was made by King Chen and the four families of Gu before, but now the decision was made by King Shen and the two families of King Shen.

"Now the situation in the Central Plains is becoming increasingly critical. I propose to convene all armies immediately and go north immediately. Join forces with Li Mi and Wei Daoer to fight against Chen Kefu." Chen Faxing said directly.

Wang Zhihui sneered, "The matter is hasty, how can we march in a hurry? Even if we go north, we have to come up with a charter first." It is not true that the Wang family is unwilling to go north. The territory controlled by the Wang family is north of the Yangtze River. Since the Jiangdu area was occupied by the Hebei army, the only forces of the entire Chen Dynasty are in the Huainan counties in the Yangtze River.

Once Chen Kefu really defeated Li Mi and took Henan, the one who was in the brunt of the Wang family south of the Huai River would be the one who was in trouble. However, Chen Pojun's threat was still far away, but the threat of the Shen family was close at hand. As the head of the Wang family, Wang Zhihui had to be wary of this moment. He could not fall under Chen Pojun's horse hooves but fell into the hands of Shen Faxing.

What he was most worried about was that Chen Faxing would propose to go to Henan from Huainan to North and South, so that the Chen Dynasty's troops would gather his territory. If it were not good, maybe Chen Faxing would use a fake way to destroy Guo. Even if that was not the case, more than 100,000 or 200,000 soldiers would step into his territory, and logistics supplies and other matters would definitely be borne by him.

Chen Faxing glanced at Wang Zhihui and sneered, "Asking for emergency is like putting out a fire. Now Li Mi is fighting in Luokou, we must of course immediately rush to Luokou. Now it is spring and summer, with abundant rain and river water, which is the best time for me to send troops north from the south of the Yangtze River. My plan is that I will gather troops south of the Yangtze River to cross the Yangtze River from Caishiji, and then go north across Liyang and Hefei, and then the whole army will meet with King Yue in Shouchun. King Yue, you gathered our troops in Huainan, and raised good food and grass, and try to collect and build ships. After the army arrived in Shouchun, our entire army immediately took a boat from Yingkou to go north along the Ying River, and finally went straight to Luoyang, arrived at the battlefield of Luokou, and joined with Li Mi to defeat Chen Pojun together."

Wang Zhihui shook his head impatiently and said, "The King of Wu is also an important minister of the dynasty, but he is so thoughtless when he speaks. Since ancient times to the present, Jiangnan has advanced northward, and has never been more than two routes. The first is naturally to go through the southeast, take Huai and Si, then take Pengcheng and Xia Pi, then take Shandong, guard along the Yellow River, and then go west to Henan. The other route is to go west along the Yangtze River, occupy Jianghan, capture Jingxiang, and then go east to Henan. These two routes are the first thousand choices that have not changed for thousands of years. Taking Huai and Si can protect the Jianghuai. Taking Jianghan and Jingxiang can protect the Yangtze River defense line."

"In other words, if we occupy Huai and Si, we can seize Shandong, if we occupy Jianghan, we can plan Jing and Xiang. If we occupy Jing and Xiang, we can conquer Sichuan and Shu. If we control Sichuan and Shu, we can protect the south. On the contrary, if we do not occupy Huai and Si, Jianghan, we will be difficult to defend the Yangtze River. Even if we go north to seize Henan, we will not be able to defend the land of Henan without the protection of the two wings of Huai and Si, Jianghan, and Han, we can take advantage of the land of Henan but cannot defend it. In the end, we mobilize our troops, consume food and grass, and even lose our troops, and finally wait for the enemy to attack from Huai and Han either side of Jianghan. In history, after the Western Jin Dynasty, each dynasty in the south, from the Eastern Jin Dynasty to Song, Qi and Liang and Chen, had once made northern expeditions. But except for Heng Wen and Liu Yu who went north from Jingxiang and succeeded, the rest were all defeated, and we must be taken as a warning."

"What does King Yue mean?" Chen Faxing looked unhappy.

Wang Zhihui asked a little eunuch to carry a large screen and hung a map on it.

"Please see, King Wu, Chen Kefu and Li Mi are fighting in Henan. According to the princess, Chen Kefu not only led his troops to join the war, but Luo Yi sent troops to Henan from Hebei, and Li Jing also sent troops to Henan from Shandong. Before, Li Jing had drawn 50,000 troops from Shandong to Hebei, and now he has transferred 30,000 troops to Henan. Shandong is now extremely empty. The entire south of the Yellow River and to the north of the Yangtze River, except for the 50,000 troops in Jiangdu City, which are Qu Tutong, Chen Len, Yang Shanhui, and Yang Shihong, there can be said that there is no more soldiers or soldiers."

"No." Chen Luoyan shook her head, "There are soldiers in Shandong and Huaibei. According to my information, there are many village troops and militia groups that have just been formed in various places in this area. According to preliminary information, there are at least 30,000 militia groups in Shandong and Huaibei."

Wang Zhihui didn't care about Chen Luoyan's interruption. He pointed to the map and said, "King of Wu, compared to going north to Henan, I think it is the most suitable for more people to go directly to Huai and Si. At present, Huai and Si are empty, and only Jiangdu City has 50,000 troops. Apart from the 30,000 so-called rural soldiers, there is no one in the entire Huai and Si. Even for the sake of the Henan war, Chen Pojun has been stationed at the estuary of the Yangtze River, and the fleet that assisted Jiangdu's defense has been transferred from the north. This is an opportunity, a rare opportunity. .This time, as long as we concentrate all our troops and take down Jiangdu in one fell swoop, the entire Huaibei and Shandong land belong to us. Not only will it expand its territory, but it will also further enhance the security in the east. We can move our defense line from the Yangtze River north to Huaibei, or even the Yellow River. Maybe we can take this opportunity to directly cross the Yellow River, go north to Hebei, and work with Wei Daoer to attack Chen Pojun's Youji nest."

"This plan is too risky." Chen Luoyan shook her head, "The Jiangdu city has high walls and the city has been reinforced several times, especially the Hebei Navy Fleet has replenished the city's food and grass many times. Today, Jiangdu has sufficient food and grass, and the city is strong. Especially the four defenders in the city, Qu Tutong, Chen Len, Yang Shanhui, and Yang Shihong. Among these four, two were generals of the Sui Dynasty, and two were Tongguan. What's more, there were Zhang Gongjin, Song Laosheng, Shi Danai, Qu Tugai and other large groups of strong generals. None of these people was soft persimmons. We had besieged Jiangdu for two years before, but we did not attack the city once. If we besieged Jiangdu again this time, if we can't take Jiangdu, we can't go north. If Li Mi can't stand Chen Pojun at that time, then we will not be defeated by Li Mi."

Wang Zhihui said firmly, "Jiangdu City is too close to us. Now Chen Pojun is out of reach and cannot move south. Once he frees up his hands, with the strength of the Hebei Navy and the sharpness of Hebei arms, he is afraid that he will be able to break through the Yangtze River defense line in an instant and attack Jinling. At that time, we will regret it. Now is the only opportunity. Once we miss it, there will be no more chance."
Chapter completed!