The fall of Sichuan made Wu Sangui realize that the Zhou Kingdom was unable to fight against the Ming Dynasty, and that Guanzhong would sooner or later be captured by Zhao Ming.

Under such concerns, Wu Sangui recognized Hong Chengchou's suggestion and decided to flee west and enter the Western Regions.

However, this matter cannot be stated explicitly, so it can only be carried out in secret.

In the past six months, Hong Chengchou has sent many people, craftsmen and materials to the Western Regions. Now with Wu Sangui's approval, Hong Chengchou has begun to carry out a larger-scale transportation.

On this day, in Chang'an City, inside the Ministry of War.

Chen Mingxia, the Minister of War, came to Hong Chengchou's case with a document and frowned and asked, "Prime Minister, Sichuan is newly defeated and the pressure in Guanzhong is greatly increased. How can the court increase its troops in the Western Regions?"

Hong Chengchou was the prime minister and also served as the Minister of War, so he usually stayed in the Ministry of War office.

Hong Chengchou raised his head and said in a deep voice: "This is not a increase in troops, but a change of defense. The two armies of Anxi and Beiting have been stationed in the Western Regions for two years and are very nostalgic about their hometowns. It is time for the soldiers to return to their hometown to take a look."

The Ming army captured Sichuan in less than a year, which would certainly arouse Zhao Ming's ambitions. The Ming army might soon launch a general attack on Zhou State, and Hong Chengchou must seize the time.

Hong Chengchou casually thought of an excuse to send Chen Mingxia, but Chen Mingxia was also worried about the country and the people. As a senior member of the Zhou State, he thought that he had the talent to save the world and was not as capable as Yu Hong Chengchou, so he had doubts.

"Not long ago, the court sent the families of Anxi Army and Beiting Army to the Western Regions, and now they are transferred back?" Chen Mingxia frowned, not understanding Hong Chengchou's decision, but felt very stupid. "Now the Prime Minister asked the new army to take their families to change defenses. Isn't this a waste of money and food in the court?"

After discussing with Sun Kewang, Hong Chengchou decided to transfer his strength to the Western Regions, but this matter cannot be stated explicitly, otherwise everyone would know that the court was about to escape, which would inevitably lead to great chaos in the morale of the army and turmoil in the hearts of the people.

Therefore, Hong Chengchou could only conduct it secretly. After he returned to Chang'an from the Western Regions, he tried to use various excuses to transport population and materials to the Western Regions.

One of the things was to send the relatives of the Anxi and Beiting armies to the Western Regions and guard the border with the army.

At that time, the Ming army was ready to attack Sichuan, and many people objected, but Hong Chengchou still opposed it, saying that only when his family members arrived in the Western Regions could the soldiers guard the border with peace of mind and insisted on sending their family members over.

Of course, in addition to the family members, there were also a thousand craftsmen who sent them.

Now that Zhou Guo had just sent his family, Hong Chengchou was going to send troops to the Western Regions to change defenses, and exchanged the Anxi and Beiting armies back to Guanzhong. The troops who changed defenses also brought their families with them, which made Chen Mingxia feel unreasonable.

The Great Zhou just lost Sichuan. Isn’t this a mess?

In Chen Mingxia's view, the court should concentrate all its forces to consolidate Guanzhong's defense and should not waste national strength in other places.

Hong Chengchou glanced at Chen Mingxia, with a stern face, and said in a deep voice: "No one expected Sichuan to be thrown so quickly. The Anxi Army and the Beiting Army are both elite troops. It is a pity to put them in the Western Regions. Let the new army change their defenses, which is to transfer these two elite troops back to Guanzhong and increase the defense in Guanzhong."

As he said that, Hong Chengchou waved his hand and said impatiently: "Okay, don't ask about this matter anymore. It's the decision of the Lord and the Lord. Please follow the order."

It makes sense to say this, but Chen Mingxia always feels that something is wrong.

The Western Regions are far away from Guanzhong, and the cost of replacing troops with defense is too high. The Anxi and Beiting armies are just ordinary border troops. If you switch back so far, it is better to have another army in Guanzhong.

However, the first level of official position was crushed to death. Seeing Hong Chengchou pick up the teacup, Chen Mingxia said tactfully: "I understand the humble vocation!"

After the ceremony, Chen Mingxia retreated, but as soon as she turned around and walked to the door, she heard Hong Chengchou say, "I was worried that after the Ming army captured Sichuan, the next step would attack Hedong. Therefore, I want you to go to Hedong recently and urge Jiang Xiang to guard the Hedong land."

Chen Mingxia was slightly stunned, and anger arose in her heart, thinking that Hong Chengchou was intentionally suppressing him, so she sent him to Hedong.

After several years of Zhou State, Hong Chengchou had been the prime minister for several years. The following six ministers and ministers wanted to be promoted to prime minister.

Chen Mingxia also had this idea, but those who were sitting in the position of prime minister would not come down by themselves, and would prevent the people below from posing a challenge to his status.

Chen Mingxia was resentful when he heard Hong Chengchou's words, but in order to avoid giving Hong Chengchou an excuse, he still politely said: "I understand the humble position!"

In the evening, Chen Mingxia returned to the mansion and locked herself in the study without even having enough food.

At this time, the door of the room was knocked by the servant, "Master!"

"I said it all, I won't eat it tonight!" Chen Mingxia cursed impatiently.

The concierge whispered, "Master, it's the family from the south of the master who came to ask for a meeting."

Chen Mingxia was slightly stunned when she heard this. The family in the south? Chen Mingxia is from Changzhou Prefecture, Jiangnan. Most of her tribe members are in Jiangnan, but they have not had any contact for more than ten years.

When Chen Mingxia entered Beijing for the exam, she passed the third place and stayed in Beijing to become an official, but who knew that soon, Li Zicheng entered Beijing.

Chen Mingxia finally passed the exam for fame and fortune, but she didn't control her for a while, so she lost her integrity and defected to Li Zicheng. But who knew that Li Zicheng was unreliable and was driven out of Beijing by the Qing Dynasty before she stayed in Beijing.

This made Chen Mingxia suffer. He had to flee south overnight and prepare to go to Nanjing to serve. But halfway through the way, he heard that he had been beaten into a rebellious case, so he turned back to Beijing in shame and surrendered to the Qing Dynasty.

Over the years, he has been an official among various forces in the north and has long been cut off from the Jiangnan family.

At this time, someone suddenly came to the door, and Chen Mingxia immediately became alert.

"Go and send them away. Let them not come!" Chen Mingxia narrowed her eyes and pondered for a moment, then ordered in a deep voice.

The disciples took the order and left. Soon after, they returned the same route and reported outside the house: "Master, the man refused to leave. He said it was not easy to come from the south. Please be sure to meet him."

This made Chen Mingxia frown. Thinking of such a person who wandered outside the mansion, it might attract other people's attention and cause trouble to him, he compromised and said, "Okay! Take him in and others will let him see it."

Soon, a middle-aged man was led by his disciples into Chen Mingxia's mansion and into the study.

Chen Mingxia was wearing a simple regular dress and sat behind the desk, looking at the visitor, frowned in the character Sichuan, and asked coldly: "Who are you? I don't remember having a relative like you."

The visitor smiled slightly and bowed: "I am not a relative of Lord Xia, but it is true that I came from the south, and I brought letters from Lord Xia's brothers."

After saying that, the man handed a letter to Chen Mingxia. Chen Mingxia hesitated for a moment and began to open the letter to check it. It was indeed his brother's handwriting.

In the letter, Chen Mingxia's younger brother talked about the recent situation of the family, praised Zhao Ming, the regent of the Ming Dynasty, and then expressed his hope that his brother could return to Jiangnan as soon as possible to meet them.

After reading the letter, Chen Mingxia's face sank and she couldn't help but feel a little regretful that she shouldn't have let the man come in.

The man's name was Zhao Hao, who was written by the Ming Dynasty Military Information Department and was ordered to come and rebel against some important officials of the Zhou State who could win over.

Previously, the Military Intelligence Department's rebellion work was not going smoothly. However, recently, with the Ming army conquering Sichuan, some ministers of Zhou who had refused to recruit the Military Intelligence Department began to actively contact the Military Intelligence Department, and the Military Intelligence Department also began to take the initiative to attack, looking for the targets they needed.
Chapter completed!