The two local snakes from Wuhu and Jiangnan exchanged surprised looks and nodded. Liao Qichang said with a slightly embarrassed expression: "Brother, it seems that nothing can be hidden from you. We also know about the Qiankun Dao you mentioned and the people behind it. I understand, but firstly, His Highness the Sixth Prince’s usual performance is not worthy of praise. Secondly, the power of the Qiankun Dao alone may not be able to support the crisis. Now if we want to stabilize the Five Lakes, I am afraid that some local forces alone will not be able to turn the tide. , but the military power of the emperor is on the surface. The fifth and sixth legions stationed in Wuhu are all attached to His Highness, but His Highness seems to be unable to fully control it. The situation of the Sixth Legion in particular is even more suspicious. Several The situation of the independent division is similar. How can the Sixth Highness protect the Five Lakes without military power? Another most important reason is that the Sixth Highness’s matrilineal family is a wealthy landowning family in the Wuhu area, and is the number one representative of the wealthy landowning families in the Five Lakes area. He has always been hostile to the industrial and commercial class in Wuhu. Even if His Highness can control Wuhu, it will only further increase the power of these landed nobles. The situation of the industrial and commercial class behind Brother Chang will be the same as before or even worse. This is not in line with Brother Chang and The thoughts of Wuhu’s industrial and commercial classes.”
After hearing what Liao Qichang said, Wu Feng could initially understand the two people's wishful thinking. These two people and the industrial and commercial forces they represented behind them saw that their northwest was vigorously developing industry and commerce. In recent years, although Jiangnan and Donghai were rich, they were prosperous and declining, and there were faint signs of decline. In the past two years, the empire In the list of the most dynamic and most suitable for industrial and commercial development and the list of potentials selected by the General Chamber of Commerce, no prefecture in Wuhu County was selected, and the names of the seven prefectures in the south of the Yangtze River gradually disappeared. From this alone, we can see the industrial and commercial class in these two places. After being suppressed from all aspects by the conservative landowning and aristocratic forces, the original booming development momentum has completely disappeared, and the industrial and commercial economy has stagnated. Instead, six northwest prefectures and two northern Luzon prefectures have taken turns to be on the list. This phenomenon is seen in everyone's eyes and anxious in their hearts, but the empire's landowning and aristocratic forces in Jiangnan and Wuhu have received support from the conservative forces in the empire's court. Various measures have been introduced to restrict the participation of the industrial and commercial classes in political affairs and the development of industry and commerce. , such as strictly prohibiting industrial and commercial entrepreneurs from donating official posts to fill vacancies, restricting overseas trade, increasing taxes on industrial and commercial industries, and increasing turnover income from commodity circulation between prefectures, etc. These have greatly affected the enthusiasm and enterprising spirit of the industrial and commercial classes in the two counties. Heart.
Now the Five Lakes are in danger. They are neither willing to see foreign forces invading the Five Lakes, nor are they willing to let the imperial land aristocrats represented by Situ Yuan, Situ Biao, etc. completely control the Five Lakes. Although they are from noble families, they are employing people. Wufeng, who has no distinction between high and low in recruiting scholars, strongly supports hairpin industry and commerce. Now the power of the northwest has extended to most of Kansai, approaching the gate of the Five Lakes. The strength of the northwest in external and internal wars has also made the industrial and commercial forces in various places secretly steal. Fortunately, at this critical moment, Wu Feng has become the primary target of alliance with the entire southern industrial and commercial forces represented by Liao Qichang and Chang Gui.
Seeing Wu Feng's silence, Chang Gui thought Wu Feng had some scruples, so he said: "Brother, Situ Jun's position in Guanxi and Wuhu is not stable. I can also see that you are making assumptions. The reaction of the central government of the empire, otherwise Hanzhong and Jincheng should have been under your control long ago. In this case, why not take this opportunity to simply march into the Five Lakes? As soon as your northwest army enters the Five Lakes, I, Chang Gui, will be the first to respond and support you. I, Chang Gui, am responsible for all the logistics and supply of the land and border area. In addition, I have full authority to arrange the personnel of local officials in the Wuhu area. What do you think?"
The conditions offered by the other party are not unattractive, but Wu Feng knows that good conditions are often full of risks. The condition reached with Situ Yuan and Situ Lang is that he cannot enter the Five Lakes and his sphere of influence can only be limited to Kansai. , once entering Wuhu, it is possible to break up with Situ Yuan and Situ Lang, and the most important thing is that Situ Biao's potential power has not fully surfaced. The restlessness of the Sixth Army represents this. Wu Feng has always suspected The Sixth Army is actually a double-sided card in Situ Biao's hand. He will not play it easily until the critical moment. Moreover, Wu Feng also firmly believes that if Situ Biao wants to compete for the throne, he will not only have the Sixth Army and Qiankun Dao. There must be other trump cards in his hand that he hasn't used yet, but now Wu Feng can't deduce what else the other party is ambushing.
But one thing is for sure, now is definitely not a good time to enter the Five Lakes, especially when the battle for the throne of the imperial capital has not yet come to light. Regardless of estimates, it will be soon. Once the alliance between Situ Yuan and Situ Lang succeeds, it will When it's time to fulfill his promise, as long as Kansai is legitimately brought into his hands, his sphere of influence within the empire will be truly formed. At that time, he can actively integrate the forces of all parties in the circle of influence and recharge his batteries. Rui, while paying close attention to the situation in Wuhu and Heshuo, sit back and watch the various forces fighting in the Central Plains and the South. Once the time is right, they can choose any point on the thousands-mile front line from Lujiang in the south to Jieluoke in the south as a breakthrough point. Start your second round of expansion. By then, maybe what these two people said will be truly included in your plan, but at this time, it is not a good time.
But now is not the time to tell the other party these situations, but it is necessary to give the other party some hope so that the other party cannot lose confidence in themselves. Wu Feng thinks about how to persuade the other party to accept his ideas.
"Brother Liao and Brother Chang, I am very grateful for your love for me, Li Wufeng. I don't want to see foreigners taking over our Central Plains land. The Five Lakes are the granary of our Tang people and the place where our Tang people prosper. It’s just that the current situation leaves Li with more than enough ambition but not enough energy." Wu Feng thought carefully before speaking.
"You two also know that the current situation in the imperial capital is chaotic, but I can be sure that this situation will change in a short period of time. We will not talk about who can ascend the throne for the time being, but what is certain is that no matter who takes the throne, Even if he holds the throne, he will not just watch Wuhu fall into the hands of foreigners. Now Li is just a northwest military and political envoy. Although the four Kansai prefectures are temporarily controlled by the northwest army, this is for historical reasons. The Taiping Sect, Sanjiang Lin Family The Tiannanlang family and the Tiannanlang family are fighting endlessly on the land of Kansai. Li couldn't bear to see Kansai in ruins so he sent troops to Kansai. If you say that Li is passionate and only wants to help the empire solve its problems, you two may say that I, Li Wufeng, am too hypocritical. , I do not deny that I have selfish motives for occupying Kansai. Although the economy of the six northwest prefectures has made great progress, due to historical reasons, the foundation is too poor, and they are almost starting from scratch. If you want to compare with the counties in the Central Plains, it is really far behind. As for the special geographical location of the northwest, there are nomadic tribes in the northwest, the Sisluo and Kaman people in the north, and Luzon and the countries in the Western Regions in the southwest. Surrounded by such enemies, the northwest has to maintain a considerable number of army."
"But you two also know that the army cannot be fought by a group of farmers. They need training equipment and salaries. This burden has overwhelmed the northwest finance. To be honest, the two brothers, if there were not Indians in the west, After looting and making a fortune, the northwest finance had long been bankrupt. However, this temporary emergency method was neither commonly used nor available often, but the northwest could not do without this huge army, so Li I have no choice but to shamelessly pursue Kansai. Although Kansai is not as good as Wuhu Jiangnan of the two elder brothers, its fiscal revenue is much stronger than that of Northwest China. This will allow Li to breathe a little. Even so, Li entered Kansai under the guise of the Third Highness of the Mediator, but was criticized verbally and verbally by the central ministers of the empire. Now that the new emperor of the empire is about to ascend the throne, his two brothers want Li to send troops to the five lakes in the name of defending the territory. Think about it, what impression will this bring to the new emperor, and what will this bring to the people of the empire? I think the public opinion of the people of the empire alone is enough to drown Li. So I also ask my two brothers to understand me. difficulties."
Wu Feng's words were both emotional and reasonable, and the half-truths and half-falsities revealed some unknown inside information, which made the two of them feel that Wufeng's words were not unreasonable and well-founded, but their wishful expectations were not. Such an ending really made the two of them a little disappointed, especially Chang Gui, who was concerned about personal interests, and his disappointment was palpable. He has completely lost confidence in the internal strife of the Situ family in the empire. Whether it is Situ Jun or Situ Biao, he does not believe that the new emperor's accession to the throne can reverse the situation in Wuhu. Even when Situ Mingyue was in power, he was still worried about Ma The invasion of the Qi Khans was helpless. In his opinion, these princes were not even as good as Situ Mingyue. At least Situ Mingyue dared to fight head-on with the Machi Khans.
"Brother, why don't you think about it again? Can you bear to watch Wuhu fall under the iron heel of the alien race?" Chang Gui couldn't help but want to make one last effort.
"Is this good? Since Brother Chang has no confidence in the empire, I, Li Wufeng, will leave my words here. If one year after the new emperor takes the throne, the situation in Wuhu is still the same, or there are signs of deterioration, I, Li Wufeng, Promise you two, no matter what the circumstances, our Northwest Army will definitely send troops to Wuhu to regain the lost territory! This will be regarded as a reward for your love and trust in my little brother!" Wu Feng stood up and said decisively with sonorous words.
"Are you serious?!" Like a drowning man picking up a life-saving straw, Chang Gui and Liao Qichang's eyes lit up at the same time, they stood up and took Wu Feng's hand and asked in surprise.
"A gentleman's words are hard to chase!" Wu Feng's words were unequivocal.
"Okay! I, Chang Gui, will wait for the good news of my brother!" Chang Gui laughed loudly, regardless of his naked body without any clothes on.