When the news came back, Ji Huan's opinion was similar to Han Xi's.

"Fifteen or sixteen thousand soldiers?"

The soldiers that King An brought out of Jingzhou were all elite soldiers. He read ten lines at a glance: "Guo Huai, Chen Ang and other ministers are still there, as well as Wei Xu."

Ji Huan frowned: "I'm afraid the court may not be able to eliminate Prince An."

The north is covered with ice for thousands of miles, making it difficult to fight. The imperial court does not have much geographical advantage. Of course, if we surround them with several or even ten times the number of troops, the chances of winning are very high, but the question is whether the imperial court can mobilize so many troops now?

The three sides have temporarily ceased fighting, but are still eyeing each other covetously. The court's defense line is already very tight, how dare they mobilize 50,000 or even 100,000 troops to encircle Prince An?

Zhang Yong angrily slammed the case with his hammer: "So, this Prince An escaped again?!"

"not necessarily."

Everything is just speculation. It's not easy for Prince An and his tens of thousands of soldiers to survive in this icy and snowy environment. If they don't find a place to stay as soon as possible, they will be in great trouble.

Ji Huan stared at the map for a long while: "If Prince An quickly leaves Sizhou and goes north to establish a foothold in the three states of Ji, You and others, he can be considered to have completely escaped."

The three states of Bing, Ji, and You were no longer under the actual control of the emperor, nor were they as well-organized as the south, with warlords of all sizes ruling their own territories, and it was easy for them to take advantage of any opportunity.

Ji Huan thought about the counselors around Prince An and Wei Xu. In fact, he felt that it was impossible for Prince An's side to fail to come up with the best strategy. Just one look at the sullen-faced Wei Jing at the top of the table made him speak more tactfully.

But how could Wei Jing not have thought of this?

"waste!"

This is an insult to the emperor. Despite such a good situation, Prince An was able to escape successfully and join up with the remaining troops.

He was in a very bad mood. Shao Qing, who was sitting next to him, used the long table to block him and quietly held his hand to comfort him. He said, "The three states of Bing, Ji, You, and the three states have been rooted for many years. This Prince An has just arrived and has a reputation for rebellion. I'm afraid it will be difficult to change the situation in a short time."

How could it be so easy to save up wealth again and restore the previous life? She said to Wei Jing: "After our Eastern Expedition, we will wait for an opportunity to launch a Northern Expedition. Then we can kill this thief with our own hands. Wouldn't that be great?"

His wife's words of consolation were clear and logical, and Wei Jing did feel better. He didn't want her to worry, so he shook her hand in response and didn't dwell on the topic anymore. He changed the subject.

"Where's Fu Pei?"

In a hurry, Han Xi's handwritten report focused on the mission, reporting the process of searching for Prince An and the latter's current situation. Fu Pei only mentioned two sentences. However, Qing Zhai Wei, who was specially sent back to report the news, knew all the details and immediately bowed upon hearing it.

"Wei Xu did not abandon Master Fu during their escape. Master Fu is currently in Prince An's camp."

Compared with the imperial court's search for troops, Han Xi and others posed a greater threat. Fu Pei was thin and weighed little, and Wei Xu was probably not exhausted, so he did not abandon him along the way.

Qing Zhaiwei added: "Captain Han is leading our men to hide near Prince An's camp, waiting for an opportunity to kill Prince An."

Han Xi was waiting for this opportunity to see if the imperial court could annihilate or kill these tens of thousands of soldiers. He was few in number, and Prince An could not take action unless he was alone.

Wei Jing nodded and ordered: "Tell Han Xi that if there is no suitable opportunity, he should retreat to Pingyang."

Although he hated Prince An, he was not lacking in rationality. It would be good to kill him, but if the opportunity never came again, Han Xi and his group of good men should not make unnecessary sacrifices.

"yes!"

…

In fact, Wei Jing, Ji Huan and others were not wrong in their guess. Prince An's side was indeed aiming at the north.

On the day Prince An returned to the camp, as soon as he landed, Wei Xu put Prince An and Fu Pei down. His face turned pale, and Prince An even staggered two steps.

The two men had new and old injuries on their bodies, and they had not had a chance to rest during the journey. When Prince An was supported, he immediately asked, "Jinzhi, how are you injured?"

If it weren't for Wei Xu, Prince An would have died several times during the Luojing trip. After this experience, he was even more grateful for Wei Xu's trust.

Wei Xu shook his head: "Nothing."

His injury is not serious, but the main problem is that he suffered a lot of damage from the continuous rush to break through. But it's safe now, and I will recover after regulating my breathing. He said to King An: "Temporary stationing is not a long-term solution. We need to discuss the follow-up matters immediately."

This is true. The front line has been sending troops to chase Chen Ang and others. They have been fighting and avoiding all the way. The target is too big and they cannot be escaped. Now that Prince An has returned to the camp, I estimate that the encirclement and suppression will begin after dawn.

Prince An didn't want to lose any more of these tens of thousands of soldiers.

The two men hurriedly changed the bandages. All the ministers had gathered in the central tent and the meeting began immediately.

Spreading out the regional map that he had made in the past few days, Guo Huai cupped his hands and said, "Your Highness, I think we cannot stay in Si and Yan states for long. We should head north quickly."

With a stroke of his hand, he united the three states of Ji, You and Han.

"There are many large and small forces in the three states of Jiyou, and each of them has its own separate regime, which is the best choice."

It is easier to get involved when all the big and small forces are independent of each other. If they are like Xuzhou of Prince Ji and Qingzhou of Zhenquan Army, which are solid bases, it would be asking for trouble to break in.

Prince An nodded: "Ji He's words are exactly what I meant."

There is no need to discuss the general direction. The key now is which of the three states is more suitable. Chen Ang thought Bingzhou was the best, Guo Huai thought Jizhou was better, and some were optimistic about Youzhou. They discussed for a long time but could not reach a conclusion.

King An looked at Wei Xu and asked, "Jinzhi, what do you think?"

Wei Xu changed out of his coarse linen clothes and now wore a black Hu suit with tied sleeves. He had a nimble figure and sharp eyes. He had been staring at the regional map for a long time without saying a word. Hearing this, he pondered for a moment and finally pointed his hand.

Jizhou, Qinghe County.

There is still a small part of Jizhou under the jurisdiction of the imperial court, which is exactly bounded by the line of Chiqiu and Wuan in Qinghe County.

What Wei Xu had his eyes on was Ping'en, a county town about a hundred miles away from Chiqiu.

This area is similar to a no-man's land. There are no large or medium-sized forces, and various small forces change frequently. It is the most ideal place to settle down. Ping'en is an ancient city with some history. Although the city is not big, it is quite solid. It is backed by Eshan Mountain and faces Chunshui in the east. It is a good place to recuperate and live.

Compared with Liling, the former base camp of Prince An, it is not worth mentioning, but it is indeed the most suitable one for their side at the moment.

What's even better is that it is far away from the front line, and the court is unlikely to send a large army to encircle and suppress it. Ping'en can hold its ground with more than 10,000 soldiers and soldiers as the several major forces in neighboring Jizhou are not too big.

Prince An and his companions pondered it carefully and found that it was indeed so. Guo Huai and his companions were convinced and Prince An had no objection.

"Okay, we will break camp tomorrow and march quickly to Ping'en!"

…

In the biting cold wind, the soldiers were greatly encouraged by the return of their main force, and were ready to go at dawn the next day.

Prince An jumped on his horse and looked around at Guo Huai, Chen Ang, Li Xin, Xu Cang and others. Although it was sad that more than 20,000 elite soldiers were lost, at least most of the ministers and generals were still there.

With good generals and wise counselors, we have the confidence to turn things around.

"Shuying, I'm so sorry."

Prince An's gaze finally fell on Xu Cang, who was wearing a mourning belt around his waist.

That’s right, Xu Cang is still under Prince An’s command.

Because the Xu family has been overthrown in this great change.

As soon as the Prince An incident broke out, the emperor immediately purged Prince An's faction inside and outside the court, confiscated their property, and exterminated their clan, including the Xu family.

Isn’t the Xu family a neutral party?

That was in the past.

Long before Wei Jing left Yizhou, King An admired Xu Cang's bravery and wanted to recruit him for his own use. So he made some arrangements in secret.

After the new emperor ascended the throne, the Xu family actually lost the emperor's favor. Wei Xian was not impressed by these neutral people who were trying to protect themselves, especially since the Xu family had rejected his advances in the past. A new emperor appoints new ministers. Over the years, the Xu family has lost its former glory, but at least it has deep roots and is still standing firmly.

Prince An did not do anything to the Xu family because he wanted to regain Xu Cang, not make enemies. This was not difficult for him because he knew the emperor's mind too well.

After the new emperor ascended the throne, the court was divided into two factions. One was the powerful old followers of the previous emperor, headed by Qi Tian, ​​and the other was the followers of the emperor, headed by Prince An. Sitting on the throne of the emperor, Wei Xian had to balance the two parties on a daily basis and was high above everyone else.

Prince An showed weakness and was suppressed by the Qi Party several times in succession, with a tendency that he could not hold his head up anymore. The emperor naturally wanted to support them. After thinking about it and looking around the court, he took a fancy to the Xu family, which was not very popular but had strength.

The current emperor and the late emperor are not on the same page. He has indicated that the Xu family is part of the An Wang Party. How dare the Xu family disobey?

So, Prince An easily tied Xu Cang and even Xu Jiaju to his chariot through the emperor.

However, this action brought devastating disaster to the Xu family today.

Prince An was attacked by Wei Jing before and was trapped in the capital later, but the intelligence network he had set up outside remained intact. After Chen Ang and other ministers escaped from Zhangcheng, they immediately received the news. Guo Huai knew what his lord was thinking, and how important the generals were now. In an emergency, he made a decision for Prince An and sent people to notify the children of the Xu family who were away in an attempt to rescue the remaining scattered members of the Xu family.

When Prince An learned about it last night, he really praised it highly. In the past, he had doubts about Xu Cang because he was an old subordinate of Wei Jing, but he did not find any problems after monitoring him for a long time. Now, brave generals are extremely valuable.

He had sent more people last night to pick up the Xu family members outside, comforted Xu Cang, and patted him on the shoulder: "We have captured Ping En, so you can take care of the tribe members."

Xu Cang's eyes were red and he looked haggard. He knelt on one knee and said, "Thank you for your grace, Your Highness!"

"Get up quickly."

After pacifying Xu Cang, King An immediately gave the order to move the camp northward at full speed.

On the way, they encountered imperial troops who were surrounding them, but the ice and snow posed great restrictions to the enemy. King An wanted to avoid them and did not engage in a head-on confrontation. He made a circuitous route all the way and finally crossed the Yellow River to arrive in Jizhou.

It is not easy to attack the city with cold wind and heavy snow, but Ping'en is currently occupied by a small force of bandits, and it is difficult to compete with the regular army that has experienced many battles. Wei Xu used a strategy to lure the enemy and Ping'en City was captured.

Prince An finally occupied a foothold and left the encirclement behind.

After enduring the hardships of the journey, everyone finally took a break, but there were still many problems to be dealt with afterwards.

After two days of rest, Wei Xu said, "Zhonghe, the next step is for us to gain a firm foothold."

Prince An led the remaining troops to capture Ping'en, which attracted the attention of all the forces in Jizhou, both large and small. Fortunately, this area was a lawless place and no one took any action for the time being.

But what needs to be prepared must be prepared. King An wants to develop and become stronger again. I think the princes of Jizhou can guess his intention. Vigilance is necessary, as there is no guarantee that someone will not strike first.

Wei Xu, Guo Huai and others all agreed that they should first find an ally to intimidate the princes and at the same time seek follow-up plans.

Prince An deeply agreed with this.

So who should we choose as our ally?

After more than half a month of investigation and analysis, they finally identified Anping County Magistrate Gao Chang.

Anping County was not a big county, and Gao Chang's strength was only average among the princes of Jizhou, but analysis revealed that this man was a very ambitious man, who frequently made friends with distant countries and attacked nearby ones. However, his counselors were mediocre and he had no strong generals, so the results were not satisfactory.

This person just complements Prince An.

I think the other party would be happy to form an alliance with King An.

Prince An raised his eyes and looked at Guo Huai: "I want to marry Gao Chang's daughter. I'll leave this matter to Ji He."

…

As expected, Prince An and Gao Chang hit it off immediately. Wei Jing read the letter and reported: "Gao Chang promised his legitimate daughter to be the wife of Prince An. The wedding will be held on the sixth day of the first lunar month."

Shao Qing's eyes widened: "But Princess An is still imprisoned in Luojing!"

After Prince An fled alone, all his family members fell into the hands of the emperor. All the concubines were killed, leaving only the Princess An, who was imprisoned along with his six sons and three daughters.

The emperor probably thought that Prince An was still alive and that keeping him might be useful in the future.

But, but it had only been more than a month since the incident and Prince An was about to remarry. Did he still remember his wife and children who were imprisoned in Luojing?

Shao Qing knew that Prince An's behavior was not surprising in the eyes of politicians and military strategists, but she was still angry. As a woman, she was angry and felt sad for the Princess An, whom she had never met.

Her mood swings were huge after she became pregnant, and she suddenly became depressed.

Wei Jing patted her gently and said, "You are an evil villain with ulterior motives, so you act heartlessly and unrighteously."

Time has suppressed his hatred in his heart again. He has calmed down long ago, but when he talks about this person, there is still a cold light in his eyes.

"You don't have to worry about him."

The fact that Prince An had married Lady Gao and formed an alliance was a piece of news for Pingcheng. After comforting his wife, Wei Jing summoned all his ministers to inform them of the news.

Ji Huan hissed, "First he went north to Qinghe in Jizhou, then to Ping'en, and then formed an alliance with Gao Chang. This Prince An has completely established his foothold and can attack or defend."

Although he was in adverse circumstances, he took every step skillfully. He immediately thought of Wei Xu, who was indeed a difficult character.

He frowned and said, "My lord, there is no chance to kill Prince An anymore. We need to recall Cheng Ping and others."

It's a pity, but there's no point in fighting to the death. We can only wait for the Northern Expedition to kill this villain.

Wei Jing pursed his lips slightly, but nodded: "Don't worry, Boyan, I sent a message to Chengping seven days ago. He should be back in Pingyang in the next two days."

Although he had a blood feud with Prince An, he still had some sanity.

Let this thief live for a while, and I will chop off his head with my own hands in the future and bring it to the spirits of my mother, brother and nephew to pay tribute to him.

Wei Jing's eyes were cold.

Ji Huan also meant this. His current priority was to attack Yang. He asked, "My lord, will Lü Jian arrive tomorrow?"

Wei Jing nodded: "That's right."

Lu Jian was the first one among He Hong's former subordinates to surrender to him. Lu Jian's military ability was only mediocre, but he was good at government affairs. Wei Jing did not bring him out when he left Yi, but instead entrusted him with another important task.

Supervise the construction of warships and naval training.

The purpose was to defeat Yang.

The terrain of Great Chu is high in the west and low in the east. The Yangtze River waterway is a great weapon for Yi to conquer Jing and Yang. The warships rushed down and were invincible. As soon as Wei Jing conquered Yizhou, he ordered the construction of warships and the training of the navy.

This important task was entrusted to two generals from Qing Zhai Wei, Geng Ming and Gan Quan. Later, county governors such as Lu Jian were added. After nearly two years, remarkable achievements were made.

Since Wei Jing decided on the strategy of marching eastward, these warships and navy have become the focus of attention. It was reported that it was almost done. This time, Geng Ming and Lu Jian came to Pingcheng together to report in person.

Zhang Yong clapped his hands and said, "Once the navy is complete, we can attack Yangzhou by land and sea at the same time. It is already the twelfth month, so we will find a good opportunity to fight after the spring snow melts!"

He gritted his teeth and said, "After we take Yangzhou, we can wait for an opportunity to march north. Then we'll see where Prince An's grandson will go!"

Zhang Yong was very obsessed with Prince An's repeated escapes, and he would always grit his teeth every time. Everyone laughed and was eager to fight. Fan Qing hit the long table and agreed, "Yes, that's right!"

Everything is ready for the attack on Yang, only the east wind is missing. No wonder the ministers and generals are in high spirits. Everyone is talking at once. Wei Jing is not reserved either. After a while, he raised his hand to calm them down.

"You all have made great contributions in conquering the city. I will hold a banquet tonight and we will not leave until we are drunk!"

"good!"

“Hahaha, okay!”

…

He held a banquet to reward his ministers and generals. Both the host and the guests had a great time that night. Zhang Yong and others were carried back drunk, but Wei Jing did not drink too much. He was worried about his pregnant wife and was afraid that the smell of alcohol would disturb her.

Shao Qing sat at the banquet for a while and then went back. Wei Jing specially washed and changed clothes in the side room before returning to the house.

He bent down and hugged his wife who had just finished bathing, with his big hands on her plump waist and abdomen. He felt the child's active kicking, and he remained silent.

"What's wrong?"

There was something wrong with his mood, Shao Qing immediately sensed it, stroked the top of his head and asked softly.

"Ah Qing, I was thinking, wouldn't it be better to wait until you give birth to the child before going to Yang?"

Everything was ready for the attack on Yang, but Wei Jing hesitated for once. His wife was blind and needed him just now, so he was reluctant to leave.

It is already very bad that I cannot be by her side, but what should I do if the war is not over by the time she gives birth?

Wei Jing would never let his wife give birth alone.

As expected, Shao Qing sighed and gently stroked his face: "If the opportunity to fight comes, how can we miss it?"

Of course, she wanted Wei Jing to be by her side, but the Eastern Expedition was a major war plan that would not only affect the present but also the future, so she had already prepared herself mentally.

"The mansion is very safe, and I don't go out, so I'm not afraid."

She comforted him in return, saying that ever since the Meng family incident, the security configuration of the county magistrate's office had been upgraded again, and it was really safe, with no water splashing in and no needle being able to penetrate.

"Will you write to me more often?"

She laughed again: "But it's not like you can get a chance to fight against Yang just by saying so. Maybe we have to wait until summer."

She just gave birth to her full-term baby in the summer.

But come to think of it, spring would be better.

Pinching his face, Shao Qing joked: "It would be best if you could come back in the spring of next year. In a few months, you can conquer Yangzhou and come back to accompany me. That would be the best."

His wife was laughing and talking, and Wei Jing felt relieved. He stood up, hugged her and kissed her: "Yes, Ah Qing is right."

Shao Qing chuckled and snuggled into his arms.

The thing about fighter planes was actually just something she said casually. At this moment, the couple embraced each other, but she didn't expect it to come true.