In Jinyang, the palace, Gao Yang, with a tired face, was meeting Duan Shao, the governor of Jizhou who was accompanying Jinyang, and discussing the war in Huaibei.

Duan Shao is Gao Yang's cousin.

At the end of last year, the Liang army invaded and successively captured Huaibei prefectures and counties. Gao Yue, the king of Qinghe who led his army south, was attacked by the Liang army and was defeated and captured when he was about to arrive in Pengcheng.

When the news came, Gao Yang was so angry.

He sent Gao Yue south because Gao Yue was an important member of the royal family and had been fighting for many years. He was a long-time general on the battlefield. He led his army to rescue Pengcheng and defeated the Liang army in the Battle of Hanshan. It was not a problem to rescue Pengcheng again this time.

As a result, he lost so badly that Gao Yue himself was captured alive, which made Gao Yang unbelievable after receiving the news.

At this point, Gao Yang could only ask Duan Shao to put out the fire, because Duan Shao was a pillar of the country.

Duan Shao's father Duan Rong was his brother-in-law of Emperor Shenwu Gao Huan. He fought for his whole life and was the first hero of the Dominic Mansion. Duan Shao was the nephew of Empress Dowager Lou. He was as brave and good at fighting as his father. He fought for many years and also had great military achievements.

Even in the Battle of Mangshan, Luoyang, Gao Huan's life was saved.

Now the children of Wuxun of Jinyang are all afraid of Duan Shao, who is the most nobleman of the dynasty. This time, he was ordered to share the worries of the emperor.

But Duan Shao wanted to figure out Gao Yang's thoughts and asked: "Your Majesty thinks that the Liang army does not attack Pengcheng, does it have a deep meaning?"

"They want to make peace, and since they can attack Yingchuan, it means that Mianbei has been in the Xiao family's pocket."

Gao Yang said slowly, then smiled: "It seems that they want to reconcile, then drive away the tiger and swallow the wolf, let us attack the Western thieves, and use this as a constraint."

"They have a good plan to take the opportunity to recover Shu."

In the chaos in Liang, the Wei Kingdom took advantage of the situation and robbed the land of Liang Shu. This news had reached Yecheng last year.

"So, does Your Majesty want to join forces with Liangxi to attack?" Duan Shao asked again. He had to figure out this point before he could decide how to fight the next battle.

"Is there any difference?" Gao Yang asked knowingly.

"Of course there is a difference." Duan Shao replied, "Xiao's family is weak. Is it qualified to form an alliance with the state and fight against the Western thieves together?"

"If Xiao just wants to let the state court stand up and fight head-on with the Western thieves, he follows behind to get a bargain. If so, I think it's better not to have such an ally."

Gao Yang looked at his cousin: "What does Xiaoxian (Duan Shao's word) mean?"

Duan Shao replied: "When Xiao attacked Huaibei, he wanted to recover lost territory. Our army attacked Mianbei, which was also able to recover lost territory. Quenan can also be recovered and protect Luoyang without worries."

Gao Yang thought after hearing this, and Duan Shao waited silently.

Although his cousin is a legitimate child, he has been unpopular since childhood because of his ordinary appearance and taciturn words.

Because my own mother doesn't like her, anyone can bully Gao Yang. When she grows up, Gao Yang looks very weak, and has no foundation in both Jinyang Ba Mansion and Yecheng court.

After Gao Cheng was assassinated, Gao Yang was ordered to be in danger. Whether it was the military honors of the Ba Mansion or the court officials in Yecheng, they all thought that this person could not take on a great task.

As a result, Gao Yang's series of responses, his response was so fast and decisive that he was beyond everyone's expectations.

After Gao Yang took over the power, he acted as if he had changed someone else. The nobles were shocked and felt that the opportunity had come: they were suppressed by Gao Cheng for too long, and it was time to "remember the original and clear the source".

As long as you can control Gao Yang's decisions, the good days of the nobles will come back.

However, Gao Yang seemed to have his own ideas, and this person's sudden "transformation" made many people feel cold on their backs: Gao Yang has been bullied by many people since he was a child. If he wants to take revenge...

Duan Shao felt that it was necessary to ease the relationship between the nobles and Gao Yang, because the Duan and Gao families all prospered and lost.

Therefore, although many generals in Jinyang were dissatisfied with Gao Yang and proclaimed themselves emperors, Duan Shao decided to put the interests of the Gao family first.

The Gao family is good, the Duan family is good. Although his legitimate cousin is more than Gao Yang, his aunt Empress Dowager Lou doesn’t like Gao Yang very much.

Duan Shao has now seen Gao Yang’s thoughts, but Gao Yang refuses to make a clear statement.

Duan Shao felt that since his cousin wanted to join forces with Liang to attack the west, but did not want to be used by the other party, he now had to keep his face. Only by slapping Liang's arrogance can he have the best of both worlds.

That is to drive Liang army back to Huainan directly.

But when Duan Shao thought of the complaints from the generals of Jinyang, he also felt a headache.

The generals' opinions were to increase troops in Pengcheng and ensure that Pengcheng was not lost, so there was no need to rush to decide the outcome with the invading Liang army.

He advocated the use of the main force to attack Mianbei, recover Quenan, protect Luoyang's safety, and then free up his move to drive the Liang army back to Huainan.

This opinion is actually fine. If the problem is, the idea of ​​joining Liang West Attack may not be fulfilled.

The alliance with Liang to attack the west is in the interests of the Gao family, but not the interests of the generals of Jinyang. After all, everyone is worried about "the birds are all hidden", and Duan Shao cannot ignore everyone's ideas.

After all, he is a "middleman" recognized by all the nobles and Gao clans of the Jinyang Bafu. The position he showed on the surface should not be too biased.

Only in this way can the conflict between the two sides be reconciled.

But Duan Shao knew that the conflict between the two sides was actually increasing.

Before, my uncle (Gao Huan) and his cousin (Gao Cheng) sang together. My cousin took the name of pursuing discipline, but he severely dealt with his ancestors and old friends.

Those who are dismissed from office and those who are dismissed from office are equivalent to slapping these veterans in public, and then their uncle is a good person and coaxing them.

Many nobles were full of anger, so when Hou Jing rebelled, everyone forced Gao Cheng to kill Cui Xian to thank the world on the grounds that Gao Cheng's confidant Cui Xian was too much.

Although this matter was left unresolved, it can also show how resentful the nobles are.

Later, Gao Cheng passed away, and the nobles forced Gao Yang to execute Gao Cheng's confidants Cui Jishu, Cui Xian, and Gao Yang had no choice but to exile them, which was a compromise.

Later, Gao Yang sent people to attack Huainan and returned without success. The Liang army then invaded the north, captured the city and the land, and defeated Gao Yue. The news came, and many nobles gloated.

Gossips may have reached Gao Yang's ears.

Even Empress Dowager Lou used this to point out the haggard face, which shows how Gao Yang's face was haggard.

"What if they attack Pengcheng?" Gao Yang suddenly asked.

"It must be done by attacking and promoting harmony." Duan Shao replied very simply, "Of course they know that even if they take down Pengcheng, they won't be able to defend for long."

"But I can't lose Pengcheng." Gao Yang felt a little headache, "Hong Lue (Gao Yue's name) was defeated and captured, where is the Queen Mother..."

"Since that's the case, I led my army to drive Xiao back to Huainan, and then the court decided whether to negotiate peace."

Duan Shao said softly, "If they attack Pengcheng, I will lift the siege of Pengcheng by the way. If they capture Pengcheng, I will take Pengcheng back."

"It's not impossible to drive them through Huai River and then negotiate, and exchange Zhenyang Hou for the King of Qinghe."

"Also, since the Western thieves have lost the northern part of Mianyang, the enemy in the southern part of Quenan is like a thorn in a dry rut, which can be cleaned up to ensure the safety of Luoyang and to deter the northern part of Mianyang."

"The Mianbeiliang army attacking east naturally withdrew its troops, and Yingchuan's side was safe."

"If the Liang army can defend Mianbei and perform well, it will have the meaning of peace talks and fighting the Western thieves together. Otherwise, why would the state dynasty join forces with him Xiao?"

Duan Shao's opinion was to fight a few more battles. If the Liang army was indeed capable of fighting, it would not be too late to talk about the Wei State together. I think the nobles would not have so many opinions at that time.

This idea is good, Gao Yang nodded, and Duan Shao will not say more.

He has done his best to take into account the interests of both sides. The official army recovered Que Nan. If the Liang army, which attacked from Mian North to East, does not retreat or performs too badly, then don't blame the official army for "stop" recapturing Mian North.

What qualifications are there to occupy Mianbei?

If Liang Jun is a coward, it doesn't matter if he and Liang State get into evil again. Anyway, it's no big deal to offend cowards. It's even more impossible to rely on cowards to deal with the Western thieves together.

After talking about the troublesome state affairs, the two cousins ​​talked about private matters. Gao Yang knew that if he wanted to control the generals of Jinyang, he had to rely on the power of Duan Shao, the first generals.

Fortunately, Duan Shao was at least loyal to the Gao family, but he was always a relative. He prospered and lost.

Therefore, Gao Yang wanted to win over Duan Shao, and to be close to him appropriately, it was inevitable to give favors.

While talking, an urgent report from Xuzhou came: Liang's army had arrived at Hanshan 18 miles south of Pengcheng and began to gather manpower on the bank of the river. It seemed that it was to build a dam to return water to irrigate Pengcheng.

It took time for the urgent report to be reported from Pengcheng, Xuzhou, more than 2,000 miles away to Jinyang, Bingzhou. Then, the construction of the dam had already begun.

It is mid-spring now, and there is more rain in Huaibei. After Liang Jun successfully built a dam, Pengcheng will soon be flooded.

"Build a dam in Hanshan again to store water? Do they really want to take Pengcheng or use attacks to promote harmony?" Gao Yang laughed instead of anger, and smiled, "Okay, OK!"

"Xiaoxian, go and teach these guys a lesson!!"
Chapter completed!