Chapter 353 Fainting

Yancheng. Reading

On the fourth day after Chang Wei received the news, Xu Ke sent the news that Ma Jin surrendered to Xiliang to Zhao Xu.

"Your Highness, the news that Beidi sent troops is probably false, but it is hard to guarantee that if Xiliang is not doing well in the war, it will ask Beidi to send troops. After all, Xiliang will never let Dasong take back these two states." Xu Ke analyzed it.

Before Chang Wei set off, this worst-case scenario flashed through his mind.

After all, there are too many such things in contemporary history.

During the Five Dynasties, Shi Jingtang gave the Sixteen States of Yanyun to Khitan and borrowed Khitan soldiers to dominate the Central Plains.

After the Jingkang Shame of the Northern Song Dynasty, Zhang Bangchang, a favorite of Song Huizong, was established as the Emperor of Great Chu by the Jin Kingdom and established the "Pseudo-Chu".

More recently, Wu Sangui surrendered Shanhaiguan.

In his opinion, in troubled times, people's bottom line is very low.

The bottom line of a villain like Ma Jin is even lower.

But even though he thought of this, he had no way at all.

After all, outside the Ma family's Xiaoguan is Xiliang.

It only took a few days for Ma Jin to surrender to the enemy.

"That's right, Xiliang just lost Jinzhou and hates Dasong to the core." Zhao Xu said, "Now we can only let Chang Wei withdraw from Qinzhou and help the Ma family defend Qinguan."

"Fortunately there is a Qinguan, otherwise Xiliang can march straight in." Xu Ke said.

He didn't know much about the geography of Dasong before.

But since he took over Yanwei and now became the head of the four courtyards, he must know everything about Dasong, so that he can provide accurate information to King Yan.

Zhao Xu nodded and looked at a map on the east wall.

This map was drawn by him, and it is a map of mountains and rivers in Dasong.

The location of Qinzhou is actually the birthplace of the contemporary Daqin, the Guanzhong Plain.

Qinguan is the contemporary Tongguan. Crossing Tongguan can reach Luoyang, which belongs to Henan in the contemporary era.

Dasong is divided into Sizhou and Yuzhou.

Among them, the area of ​​Sizhou is only half of Yuzhou.

Yongzhou is located west of Jinzhou and north of Qinzhou, inside the Yellow River, which is equivalent to the contemporary northern Shaanxi and Ningxia regions.

This is where the three states of the Ma family are located.

So as long as the Qin Pass is defended, Xiliang will still not be able to enter the heartland of the Central Plains.

However, in this way, Yizhou is exposed to the military force of Xiliang.

But Yizhou has always been easy to defend and difficult to attack, and it is not so easy to capture.

"I didn't expect that the northwest of Dasong would become like this." Zhao Xu sighed.

He had to let Chang Wei withdraw his troops, and Xiaoguan fell into the hands of Xiliang.

Xiliang can enter Qinzhou in large numbers. If Beidi also joins at that time, Qinzhou will become a real meat grinder.

And it is a meat grinder that bleeds for a long time.

His family assets cannot withstand such tossing.

Even Dasong cannot withstand such consumption.

Retreating and defending Qinguan is the only correct choice.

"In my opinion, this is not surprising at all. Such a big mess will happen in the northern border sooner or later. Take Yanzhou for example. If it weren't for Your Highness, Beidi would have taken Yanzhou long ago. Maybe Dasong would be in flames now." Xu Ke persuaded the King of Yan when he saw that his expression was a little gloomy.

Zhao Xu smiled bitterly. He understood what Xu Ke meant.

What he wanted to say was that Dasong was corrupt at the moment, and nothing was surprising.

This coincided with his thoughts.

Dasong seemed to be a dynasty that was about to come to an end.

If it weren't for his arrival, Dasong might be replaced by Beidi just like the late Ming Dynasty.

"Besides, I don't think this is necessarily a bad thing." Xu Ke continued.

Zhao Xu looked at Xu Ke in surprise, "Oh? Tell me about it."

"As the saying goes, when it rains, open an umbrella; when it's sunny, close it. The emperor needs your highness now. Ma Jin has defected to Xiliang, and the situation in the northwest is even worse. The emperor can only continue to rely on your highness to maintain the stability of the border." Xu Ke said slowly, "When your highness sits firmly in Yanzhou, he will be safe."

After thinking for a while, he continued, "Moreover, Ma Jin defected to Xiliang, and the one he fears most is the Xiao family. The Xiao family is on good terms with the Dou family, which means that both the Dou family and the Xiao family are restrained at the same time."

"As the head of the four academies, your thoughts are getting deeper and deeper." Zhao Xu said to Xu Ke.

He still remembered the first time he met Xu Ke, Xu Ke was still a simple hunter's son.

Now he seems to be much more mature than before, a little mature.

But as the head of the four academies, he must have such a transformation.

Otherwise, one of his mistakes will lead to the death of many members of the four academies.

"Thank you for your compliment, Your Highness." Xu Ke bowed.

Zhao Xu glanced at him again, "I understand what you mean. You continue to keep an eye on Xiliang and Beidi, and report to me in time if there is any movement."

"Yes, Your Highness." After saying yes, Xu Ke turned and left.

Although Ma Jin's surrender to the enemy came a little suddenly, it must be faced since it happened.

Although Xu Ke's words were full of conspiracy, they were not without reason.

Although the chaos this time was big, there were pros and cons.

What was good for him was that Zhao Heng would rely on him more. After all, if the situation continued to deteriorate, Dasong would be in real danger.

Secondly, it was the Xiao family and the Dou family. Their good days of hiding behind the Ma family and plotting intrigues were over.

In order to resist the possible attack, they would definitely ask him to buy artillery.

And there was the Ma family. Only one Ma family general in Sizhou was left. They could only follow him closely to keep this last piece of land.

The disadvantage was how Zhao Heng would deal with the betrayal of the Ma family next.

Whether to send troops to take it back like Jinzhou or to admit the reality like Ningjindusi, it is still unknown.

Another bad thing is that the sphere of influence of Xiliang and Beidi is equivalent to extending to the hinterland of Dasong again. Qinzhou and Yongzhou are the origins of the contemporary Daqin.

And their strength has increased again.

With this in mind, he sent someone to Qinzhou and asked Chang Wei to withdraw to Qinguan.

He didn't want his troops to be trapped in Qinzhou.

In the last battle of Jinzhou, Beidi was careless. After learning the lesson from the last time, Beidi would definitely not give him the opportunity to take back Qinzhou and Yongzhou this time.

In his opinion, it is impossible to take back Qinzhou and Yongzhou without gathering all forces in Dasong to attack together.

Thinking of this, he decided to send the news to Jinling in an emergency for 800 miles to see what the court would react.

Five days later.

His memorial arrived in Zhao Heng's hands.

At this time, Zhao Heng was painting. After reading the contents of the memorial, he drew a heavy stroke on the rice paper and drew the eyebrows of the beauty on his face.

Liang Cheng cried out "Aiya", and looked at Zhao Heng, who was pale and covered in cold sweat.

He was about to say something when he saw Zhao Heng stumble and fall to the ground.

Liang Cheng was so frightened that his face turned pale, and he hurriedly shouted: "Call the imperial physician! Call the imperial physician!"

As he spoke, he picked up the memorial, took a look, and cursed: "None of these powerful families are worry-free."

Then he looked like he was about to cry, "Your Majesty, you must not be in trouble!"