Yin Lihua combed Liu Xiu's beard, and his delicate and soft hands gently brushed past his chin. Liu Xiu suddenly reached out and grabbed her hand, slowly spread her fingers apart, and a white beard lay on Yin Lihua's palm.

"I'm old." Liu Xiu sighed and whispered: "The world is uneasy, and wars are everywhere. Every time the troops are sent, the head must be white."

He was only thirty-five years old, but he had a lot of white hair, which was particularly dazzling in his black hair.

He usually wears a crown and hat, but his white hair is still unaware, but his white beard is clearly placed on his face. Every time Yin Lihua tries his beard, she secretly hides the combed white beard in her hand, but this time he catches him right.

"Your Majesty is in full swing in spring and autumn, and you are far away!" Yin Lihua smiled and said, "Hey, I have combed for a long time and only saw such a white beard, but now there is no one."

Liu Xiu also smiled, "You have pulled away all of them, but not one of them is gone."

The first time he gave birth to white hair was at the age of twenty-eight, when his brother Liu Yan was just killed, he felt that the whole world had abandoned their brothers.

The reason why Liu Yan was easily killed by Liu Xuan, Zhu Yu and others was related to the collective silence of the powerful Nanyang. Needless to say, Li Yi was directly involved in the murder of Liu Yan. The other Liu clans, the Li clans of Wancheng, and various wealthy families in Nanyang were all sitting and watching the tragedy happen. Except for Liu Ji, who was from the same clan, who went to death together, no one stood up to speak.

The root of all this is interests. At this time, it was not the brothers Liu Yan who represented the interests of the powerful men in Nanyang, but Liu Xuan, who had already taken the throne of emperor. Since the interests of the powerful men can be guaranteed, why should they stand out for Liu Yan and Liu Xiu?

After suffering this betrayal, Liu Xiu endured humiliation and almost single-handedly started a difficult entrepreneurial journey. While he was struggling to survive in Hebei, the powerful men of Nanyang had already entered Chang'an with Emperor Gengshi's army, and they all stood high.

Liu Xuan was granted the title of kings, the Liu clan, the powerful people in Nanyang, and the leaders of the Green Forest were all given titles as kings. Who would still think of the dead Liu Yan and Liu Xiu who was working hard outside?

Liu Xiu did not expect that after he successfully started his business and was at the throne, he was betrayed by Nanyang again. Xu Han and Dong Xin raised an army to cause trouble, and Wu Han forced Deng Feng to rebel again.

Deng Feng rebelled, and some senior officials in Nanyang were actually secretly praised. They were suppressed by the Hebei faction in the court and were dissatisfied. Liu Xiu could still suppress the factions in Handan and maintain balance. However, after leaving the imperial capital, Wu Han and Deng Feng met two equally strong people, and immediately burst into dazzling sparks and turned into a life-and-death battle.

But can this be blamed on him Liu Xiu? His world was conquered by the power of the Hebei faction such as Wu Han, Geng Yan, Kou Xun, etc. Nanyang's tycoons all followed Emperor Gengshi and made limited contributions to Liu Xiu's entrepreneurship.

But Liu Xiu still wanted to support the Nanyang faction. He asked Deng Yu to be the general of the front and gave him half of his elite troops to enter Chang'an. Unfortunately, Deng Yu touched the door of Chang'an and was beaten back and retreated to Handan in shame.

If you don’t do your best, who can you blame?

In Liu Xiu's opinion, Deng Feng's request to deal with Wu Han was forcing him to choose between the Nanyang Sect and the Hebei Sect. This is a multiple-choice question that he didn't have to think about. Deng Feng was too overestimated!

Liu Xiu felt that he had once again been betrayed by the powerful men in Nanyang.

The consequences this time were very serious. At the critical moment when he was going westward to compete with Emperor Jianshi, Nanyang's rebellion not only lost a county, but also caused him to lose balance in the power comparison with Chang'an Han. Losing Luoyang was already at a disadvantage, throwing Nanyang, and even losing Liu Xiu's inner self and face.

Nanyang is the hometown of the emperor and the hometown of many high-ranking officials. It is a shame for Liu Xiu and the entire establishment of Wuhan.

Liu Xiu no longer wanted to use Hebei people to pacify Nanyang, as it would give people the impression of a war between the two factions and aggravate the conflict between the two factions in the court. Just like using Geng Yan from Hebei to pacify Peng Chong, who was also a Hebei faction, Liu Xiu sent Cen Peng from Nanyang to deal with Deng Feng from Nanyang.

To his surprise, Deng Feng was so powerful that the famous general Cen Peng was also in his hands. If Wu Han's defeat last time, Deng Feng had beaten Liu Xiu's generals in Nanyang and Hebei!

Do you really need him as the emperor to fight in person?

Liu Xiu had the intention of personally expeditioning, but Nanyang and Hebei were far away, and Jianshihan was eyeing him in the west, so Liu Xiu did not dare to leave, at least he did not dare to leave too far.

More importantly, Luoyang lies across the middle of Hanoi and Nanyang. If you want to go south, you need to circumnavigate from east Luoyang and you must be prepared for Luoyang's attack at any time. As one of the best cities in the world, Luoyang's size is too large, and the Hejian King of Jianshi Han is stationed, which poses too great a threat to the surrounding area.

Liu Xiu had a headache when he thought of Luoyang. In the past, his territory was full of enemies and he had no power to capture Luoyang. Now the surrounding enemy troops have been cleaned up by him and he can advance to Luoyang with all his might. However, Jianshihan also gained stability and could support Luoyang with all his strength. If Luoyang starts a war, it will definitely become a battle, and perhaps it will become the final battle between the two major forces.

Whether to fight to the decisive battle now, Liu Xiu has not made up his mind. He has just pacified the surrounding areas and needs to digest the newly occupied territory and consolidate his rule. In addition, there is another fatal problem: food shortage.

Kanto has been fighting, and the people have no chance to farm in peace. They have little grain production. In addition, they have been using troops for many years and have huge losses in military rations. Now, the construction of Wuhan is almost supported by grain from Hebei and Hanoi. Liu Xiu faces serious food problems.

From this point of view, Chang'an has been much more beneficial. After several years of military farming, the results were remarkable, the granary was full, and the people's lives were stable. The five counties in Hexi never suffered from war and returned to Liu Yu intact. The land of Bashu was also stable under Gongsun Shu for several years. Although there were losses when Shu was settled, the country of Tianfu was already rich. After a big battle, there was still a lot of surplus food.

The gap between the two Han dynasties was reflected in the refugees who kept crossing the border to Guanzhong. The people could not maintain it in Guandong, and they crossed the border and entered the pass and threw themselves into the arms of Emperor Jianshi, especially the refugees, who were born to have a sense of closeness to the Chang'an regime established by the refugees.

Liu Xiu took severe measures to exodus, and those who fled west faced heavy punishment after they were captured, but their yearning for a better life could not be stopped, and refugees still continued to move westward.

Liu Xiu thought about it and decided to take a defensive position. While digesting the newly occupied areas, he learned to build Shihan military farms and strive to solve the food problem.

Wu Han had led his army to pacify Dong Xian, and Liu Xiu ordered him to continue to go south to open up a second battlefield, occupy a vast area of ​​Yangzhou, and surround Jingzhou to the west.
Chapter completed!