Sign a Lu Fengxian at the beginning

The Hall of Nourishing Heart.

Zhou Chen sat on the dragon throne and looked down at the backer king Zhou Zhan with a dusty face.

After several days of running around day and night, patron king Zhou Zhan has just returned to Luoyang.

He went straight into the palace to meet the Saint without even tidying up.

The emperor personally ordered the patron king Zhou Zhan to return to Luoyang as soon as possible. The patron king Zhou Zhan thought something had happened to the court.

Therefore, King Zhou Zhan, the patron king, rushed non-stop along the way and basically didn't take much rest along the way.

"I have met your Majesty, Zhou Zhan." The patron king Zhou Zhan bowed respectfully to Zhou Chen who was sitting on the dragon throne.

Zhou Chen looked at the patron king and said, "Uncle Emperor, you don't need to be polite."

In terms of seniority, patron king Zhou Zhan is Zhou Chen’s grandfather.

Therefore, when Zhou Chen calls the patron king, he also calls him according to his seniority, so that he can appear closer to him.

I have to say that the feeling that the patron king Zhou Zhan gave to Zhou Chen was very similar to the feeling that the late Grand Master Wen Zhong gave to Zhou Chen. They both grew stronger with age.

However, the aura of the patron king Zhou Zhan was stronger than that of the late Grand Master Wen Zhong.

This may be caused by the patron king Zhou Zhan who has been stationed in southern Xinjiang all year round and fought with the southern barbarians.

In Zhou Chen's memory, he had only seen this patron king who was in charge of southern Xinjiang a few times.

Zhou Chen secretly nodded at the attitude of his backer king Zhou Zhan.

As a veteran of the three dynasties of the Great Zhou Dynasty, one of the two pillars of the sky, and commanding hundreds of thousands of troops to suppress the south, it can be said that for the Great Zhou Dynasty, his achievements are outstanding.

There is no arrogance in him.

This is rare.

If it were anyone else, there would be a trace of arrogance in them.

"Give me a seat for your uncle," Zhou Chen said immediately.

The inner chamber guard who was standing in the hall immediately moved a squatting chair to the backer king Zhou Zhan.

"Thank you, Your Majesty."

Backer King Zhou Zhan was not polite and sat directly on the squatting chair.

After the patron king Zhou Zhan sat down, Zhou Chen looked at the patron king Zhou Zhan and asked, "Uncle Emperor, is there peace on this journey?"

"Thanks to your majesty for your great blessings, may your journey be peaceful."

"I am a military commander, and some young people do not dare to challenge me."

Backer King Zhou Zhan said.

"Your Majesty, why are you summoning me back to Luoyang so urgently? Did something happen to the court?"

Backer King Zhou Zhan asked again.

In order to rush back to Luoyang as soon as possible, he kept running non-stop, day and night.

Zhou Chen shook his head; "The court is very stable now, nothing happened."

"The reason why I summoned the emperor's uncle to return to the court is because of the border issues between Northern Xinjiang and Xiliang."

"I twice issued decrees to the Marquis of Zhenbei and the Marquis of Xiliang, asking them to mobilize some troops to put down the rebellion, but they used various excuses to frustrate me."

"I asked them to return to Luoyang during the New Year's War to report the border issues, but they used various excuses to frustrate me."

"Uncle Emperor, how do you think this matter should be handled?"

Zhou Chen looked at his backer king Zhou Zhan.

After the patron king Zhou Zhan heard Zhou Chen's words, he suddenly understood Zhou Chen's intention of calling him back to Luoyang.

"It seems that His Majesty is planning to attack the two Marquis of Zhenbei and Xiliang."

Backer King Zhou Zhan thought secretly in his heart.

Although Zhou Chen was asking him on the surface how to deal with this patron king, in fact, Zhou Chen, the emperor, may have already made decisions and plans in his heart.

Maybe it has already started to be implemented.

Otherwise, he would not have directly issued an order for him, the patron king, to return to the court as soon as possible.

The patron king, Zhou Zhan, pondered for a moment and then said, "Your Majesty, border affairs are no small matter. They are somewhat different from cleaning up the court or annihilating aristocratic families."

"Northern Xinjiang faces Beidi, and Xiliang faces Xirong."

"Once things are done too hastily and something goes wrong, the consequences will be immeasurable."

"The Marquis of Zhenbei and the Marquis of Xiliang already showed signs of supporting their own troops when the late emperor was in power."

"These two princely mansions have been operating in Northern Xinjiang and Xiliang for a long time. The Zhenbei Army and Xiliang Army have long been different from the past. Most of the army generals are their cronies."

"If Your Majesty wants to take back the power of the Zhenbei Army and the Xiliang Army, he must take a long-term approach and not act too hastily."

"Otherwise, it will cause turmoil and give opportunities to alien races outside the customs."

"When the time comes, the foreign races outside the customs take the opportunity to break through the border defenses, which will cause trouble."

Backer King Zhou Zhan reminded him with a cautious look on his face.

The patron king Zhou Zhan thought that Zhou Chen would use force to deal with the Zhenbei Marquis and the Xiliang Marquises and take back the power of the Zhenbei Army and the Xiliang Army just like cleaning up the court and annihilating the aristocratic families.

If that's the case, it's not a wise move.

Zhenbei Houfu and Xilianghoufu have been operating in Beijiang and Xiliang for several generations.

The Marquis Mansion of Zhenbei and the Marquis Mansion of Xiliang controlled hundreds of thousands of armies in Zhenbei and Xiliang.

Once force is used, it will ignite the border war.

When the time comes, the consequences will not be as simple as border turmoil.

"Uncle Emperor, I understand everything you said."

"But I don't have the time, nor the patience, to spend several years solving the problems in Northern Xinjiang and Xiliang."

"I have already begun to arrange things for Northern Xinjiang and Xiliang."

"I called the emperor's uncle back because I hope that he can help me stabilize the Zhenbei and Xiliang armies and prevent too much turmoil in the Zhenbei and Xiliang armies."

Zhou Chen did not hide the fact that he had already begun to arrange things for Northern Xinjiang and Xiliang. He looked at his backer king Zhou Zhan and said.

Zhou Chen understood what the patron king Zhou Zhan said.

Things on the border are indeed somewhat different from cleaning up the court and annihilating aristocratic families.

Once things go wrong on the border, the consequences will be unimaginable.

But Zhou Chen didn't have the patience to boil a frog in warm water, so he spent several years solving border issues.

Besides, Zhou Chen's current strength can support him to cope with ordinary changes.

If there is really any difference between Beijiang and Xiliang, with Zhou Chen's current strength, there will be no problem in dealing with the changes in Beijiang and Xiliang.

As long as there are no problems on all sides of the border, that's fine.

This is also the reason why Zhou Chen dared to take action against Beijiang and Xiliang.

After hearing Zhou Chen's words, patron king Zhou Zhan knew that the matter was a foregone conclusion.

Emperor Zhou Chen has already made a decision and started making arrangements, so there is no possibility of turning around.

The patron king Zhou Zhan immediately stood up and expressed his position: "Since your Majesty has made a decision, I will not say anything more."

"If your Majesty needs anything, I will always be there to help you."

Backer King Zhou Zhan said sonorously and forcefully.

Being able to solve the shortcomings of the Great Zhou Dynasty and revive the Great Zhou Dynasty in his lifetime was also the long-cherished wish of the patron king Zhou Zhan throughout his life.

Regarding the statement of the patron king Zhou Zhan, Zhou Chen nodded with satisfaction; "With the words of the emperor uncle, I feel relieved."

With the prestige and influence of the patron king Zhou Zhan in the army, it should not be difficult to stabilize the Zhenbei and Xiliang armies.

After finishing the matter, Zhou Chen said apologetically to the patron king Zhou Zhan: "Uncle Emperor, I have already reprimanded Cao Zhengchun for his arrogance in the patron palace."

"I hope your uncle can understand and don't blame Cao Zhengchun for his wanton behavior."

After saying that, Zhou Chen glanced at Cao Zhengchun who was standing beside him: "Cao Zhengchun, why don't you apologize to the patron king quickly?"

The patron king Zhou Zhan is a veteran of the three dynasties, the pillar of Zhou Dynasty, and a member of the royal family.

Even if Cao Zhengchun, as the governor of Dongchang, had the privilege to kill first and report later, it was considered an act of impudence to kill the generals of the Zhennan Army in the palace of the patron king.

Moreover, Zhou Qi is also the adopted son of patron king Zhou Zhan.

Therefore, Zhou Chen still needs to maintain his posture.

Giving some explanation to the patron king Zhou Zhan can be regarded as saving some face of the patron king Zhou Zhan, a veteran of three dynasties.

Cao Zhengchun immediately stepped forward and bowed to the patron king Zhou Zhan and said, "In the patron king's palace before, it was the Za family who were reckless. Please forgive me, the old prince."

Cao Zhengchun's posture was very low.

Even the emperor Zhou Chen spoke, Cao Zhengchun's attitude was not low.

This is the cleverness of Cao Zhengchun.

The backer king Zhou Zhan glanced at Cao Zhengchun and said to Zhou Chen who was sitting on the dragon throne: "Your Majesty, Governor Cao is also acting according to orders. During this time, I have often heard that Governor Cao killed the rebels for me, Great Zhou."

Thief, how can I care about this matter?"

"Speaking of which, it was because of the old minister's lax discipline that this happened."

"Otherwise, the remnants of the Yuan family will not be able to escape."

"Your Majesty, please atone for your sins."

The patron king Zhou Zhan said in apology.

Zhou Chen asked Cao Zhengchun to apologize to him. Backer king Zhou Zhan would not think that Zhou Chen really reprimanded Cao Zhengchun.

This is nothing more than a gesture.

"Uncle Emperor, the Yuan family has made preparations for a long time."

"As the head of the seven aristocratic families of the Great Zhou Dynasty, the Yuan family wants to secretly send some of their children out of seclusion. That is not difficult."

"Even if the emperor knew about it in advance, he might not be able to stop it."

"Let's not talk about these things for now."

"Uncle Emperor, please tell me about the border issues in southern Xinjiang!"

Zhou Chen did not dwell on these matters anymore, but asked about the patron king Zhou's battle at the southern border.

Although the factory guards of Dongchang now have dark spots in southern Xinjiang, they also send back news about southern Xinjiang's border gates from time to time.

But what came back was only superficial information.

Dongchang still cannot monitor some really specific and important information.

Now that the patron king Zhou Zhan is back, Zhou Chen happens to learn about the situation at the southern border from the patron king Zhou Zhan.

"Yes, Your Majesty."

The patron king Zhou Zhan began to report on the situation at the southern border.

…

Northern Xinjiang.

Zhenbeihou Mansion.

Xue Shaowen, the Marquis of Zhenbei, looked at the young figure in front of him with a slightly surprised look on his face: "You still dare to enter the pass, you are quite courageous!"

"Don't you know that the plan of King Shu and your three great families has failed?"

"Your Fan family has been uprooted. Even the patriarch of your Fan family and all the masters of the Fan family have died in Luoyang."

Xue Shaowen looked at the unexpected visitor in front of him and said.

"I already know the news of King Shu's defeat, and I have also received the news that our Fan family has been annihilated."

"The only reason I dare to enter the border is because I believe that the Marquis and I are both the same people, and the Marquis will not hand me over to the imperial court."

Fan Shaohe said affirmatively.

That's right.

The figure standing in front of Zhenbei Marquis Xue Shaowen was none other than Fan Shaohe of the Jiexiu Fan family who had escaped from the customs before.

Xue Shaowen, the Marquis of Zhenbei, did not expect that Fan Shaohe would dare to enter the Pass and come to his Mansion of the Marquis of Zhenbei.

It's really courageous.

Hearing Fan Shaohe's words, Xue Shaowen didn't say much and said directly: "Tell me! What's going on in my Zhenbei Hou Mansion this time?"

Xue Shaowen didn't believe what kind of risk Fan Shaohe took to enter the Pass and come to Zhenbeihou Mansion. Fan Shaohe had nothing to do and came to the Pass for fun.

"Master Hou."

"I came to the Marquis Mansion this time to save the Marquis."

Fan Shaohe raised his hands and said.

"help me?"

Xue Shaowen was stunned for a moment, thinking he heard wrongly.

What a joke.

Fan Shaohe, a bereaved dog who escaped from the customs, actually dared to save him, the Marquis of Zhenbei.

This is simply the most ridiculous thing in the world.

If Fan Shaohe had not escaped from the border, he would not have been able to save himself. How could he brazenly talk about saving others?

Besides, he, the Marquis of Zhenbei, is doing fine now, what else does he need to save?

A sneer appeared on Xue Shaowen's face: "Fan Shaohe, for the sake of the Fan family, I will let you go."

"Wherever you came from, go back there!"

"In this way, you can still live happily."

"If you dare to amuse me again, I will send you down to reunite with the Fan family without the court taking action."

Xue Shaowen said coldly.

In the past, Xue Shaowen would have given Fan Shaohe some face for the sake of the Jiexiu Fan family.

But now, the Fan family has been exterminated.

If Fan Shaohe is ignorant and thinks that anyone in his Zhenbei Hou Mansion can come if he wants, then he does not recommend sending Fan Shaohe directly to reunite with the Fan family.

"Master Hou, I have no intention of entertaining Master Hou."

"I am indeed here to save Mr. Hou."

"The Marquis has disobeyed the imperial edict twice. Do you think the emperor in the palace will let the Marquis go?"

Fan Shaohe said with an unchanged expression, not paying attention to Xue Shaowen's warnings and threats.

Well?

Xue Shaowen frowned when he heard this.

"go on."

Fan Shaohe did not hesitate and continued: "The one in the palace could not spare his time before. He was involved in the chaos in the four northern states and was controlled by both inside and outside the court."

"But it's different now. The four northern states have been pacified, and the constraints inside and outside the court have been basically eliminated."

"The plan of King Shu and our three great families failed, and they were all killed."

"The Marquis thinks that now that the emperor in the palace has freed his hands, will he target the Marquis next?"

Fan Shaohe looked at Xue Shaowen sitting on the main seat, his eyes full of wisdom.

Zhenbei Hou Xue Shaowen was silent for a moment, looked at Xue Shaowen and asked, "Who is behind you?"

Xue Shaowen didn't believe that Fan Shaohe, a bereaved dog, would dare to come to his Zhenbei Hou Mansion to talk about these things without anyone's back.

"I came from outside the customs. Who do you think is behind me?"

Fan Shaohe did not answer clearly, but asked with a slight smile.

When Zhenbei Hou Xue Shaowen heard this, his pupils shrank slightly.

Although Fan Shaohe did not answer clearly, Xue Shaowen already had the answer in his heart.

Coming from outside the customs.

Isn’t the answer already obvious?