Xu Rui, the Prince of Qingjiang, occupies the southernmost Qingjiang Prefecture and is the only remaining prince of a different surname.

Xiangnan Prefecture, which is adjacent to Qingjiang Prefecture, was originally the territory of King Lu Daxu of Xiangnan. However, last year the imperial court reduced the power of the princes and removed the King of Xiangnan, making him the Marquis of Xiangnan.

Lu Daxu was naturally dissatisfied, and at the end of last year he established his own regime, directly declaring himself emperor, known as the Emperor of Lu.

The imperial court issued a letter of rebuke, stating that Lu Da had forgotten his ancestors, who had fought alongside the First Emperor of the Han Dynasty and swore never to betray him.

He also ordered Prince Xu Rui of Qingjiang to join forces with Liangzhou Prefecture to attack Lu Daxu and eliminate the rebels.

After receiving the imperial decree, Prince Xu Rui of Qingjiang saw off the official who delivered it and sneered, "I know that if the lips are gone, the teeth will be cold. The next step will be to strip me of my throne."

Xu Rui outwardly agreed and assembled 50,000 troops at the border between the two sides.

They hit it a few times, but they didn't really put in any effort; they just went through the motions.

Lu Hongfang, the prefect of Liangzhou Prefecture, was an incompetent official. He often had dealings with Lu Daxu and received a lot of gold, silver and beautiful women from Lu Daxu.

Therefore, when Lu Daxu first rebelled, his rebellion was not reported to the emperor, which gave Lu Daxu ample time to prepare.

Taking advantage of the court's lack of response, they captured the adjacent Xinyi Prefecture.

Wei Jun, the prefect of Xinyi Prefecture, did not resist and surrendered directly.

The reason is that Xinyi Prefecture is surrounded by the sea on three sides, with only one side being land, which is adjacent to Xiangnan Prefecture.

Although it was a prefecture, it was small, had few soldiers, and no support. It was no match for the strong army in southern Hunan. Prefect Wei Jun surrendered without moving a single soldier.

Lu Hongfang, the prefect of Liangzhou Prefecture, should have been convicted of dereliction of duty, but the Eighth Prince spared him and allowed him to redeem himself through meritorious service.

Lu Hongfang, greedy and lustful, was cowardly and incompetent, allowing Lu Daxu to quickly defeat him and lose the capital of Liangzhou, forcing him to retreat to northern Liangzhou.

At this time, he did something foolish: he levied exorbitant taxes and conscripted laborers to build an observatory in northern Liangzhou.

He took a new favorite concubine who loved to climb high places to admire the moon and stars, so Lü Hong spent a fortune to build a luxurious star-gazing tower.

The people, who were already suffering from the forced conscription of soldiers and grain due to the war with Lu Da, were dealt another blow, becoming even more miserable and prone to unrest.

At this time, the Luanjiang River flooded Liangzhou Prefecture, Qiqu Prefecture, and Jiangxia Prefecture.

The disaster-stricken areas of Liangzhou Prefecture were in the northeast, but Prefect Lü Hongfang did not reduce the population conscription in these areas, causing widespread suffering and leading to several uprisings and frequent unrest.

The southern part of Liangzhou Prefecture, which Lu Da had occupied, was not affected by the flood.

Taking advantage of the turmoil in Liangzhou Prefecture in the north, they launched a major offensive and captured the entire Liangzhou Prefecture in one fell swoop.

Prefect Lü Hongfang fled, eventually reaching the Yizhou Prefecture region on the outskirts of the capital.

The Eighth Prince Yelü Zhang was furious and personally sent men to arrest Lü Hongfang.

"Remember, it was a secret execution."

Yelü Zhang gave instructions to his secret guards.

"yes."

Several bodyguards obeyed the order and left.

Lu Hongfang knows too much about the Eighth Prince and has done too many bad things for him. Once he falls into the hands of others and these dark things are exposed, even if he is still favored by his father, he will inevitably lose the protection of many people.

How can he possibly compete for the position of crown prince then!

Lu Hongfang wasn't a very good official, but he had keen intuition and a strong network of connections. He knew about the Eighth Prince's plot to kill him almost immediately.

They hurriedly led their men to seek refuge in Qin Chuan Prefecture.

Qin Chuan Prefecture is currently embroiled in a conflict with Miao Jiang Dao. Miao Jiang Dao has been a turbulent region since ancient times, covering a large area with dense forests, and is said to be "more difficult than ascending to heaven".

Miao Jiang Dao declared independence two years ago, and the former governor proclaimed himself King of Miao Jiang.

The imperial court sent troops to attack, but they suffered repeated setbacks. The roads there were difficult to travel, and there were many jungles. One could easily be poisoned by miasma.

Besides, there have been constant large and small battles over the past two years, and the imperial court is already overwhelmed.

After three attacks, they simply stopped sending troops to attack and only allowed Qin Chuan Prefecture to station troops on the border to prevent Miao Jiang King Miao Lian from attacking.

Lu Hongfang, who fled to Qin Chuan Prefecture, went directly to seek refuge with Bao Qing, the prefect of Qin Chuan Prefecture.

Bao Qing hid the person, and the Crown Prince was just looking for the Eighth Prince's big mistake.

If Lü Hongfang were to reveal that the Eighth Prince was colluding with the border troops of Hejian Prefecture and Haozhou Prefecture, and was also frequently colluding with local officials, even if the Emperor favored the Eighth Prince, he would be severely punished.

What the emperor fears most is the alliance of his subordinates with the army, the factional strife among his ministers, and even his own son.

The Eighth Prince Yelü Zhang's men pursued them to Qin Chuan Prefecture, where they were killed by men sent by Bao Qing.

Yelü Zhang also learned that Lü Hongfang had entered Qin Chuan Prefecture and that the secret guards had not returned, so his chances of survival were slim.

"Crown Prince!" he gritted his teeth in hatred.

He looked at his staff and ordered, "Let's do it!"

After a moment's hesitation, Lei Changchun, the advisor, said, "Your Highness, isn't it a bit too early?"

Yelü Zhang said fiercely, "What are you afraid of? Yuzhang Prefecture and Yanqi Prefecture are all our people. Although Jingchuan Prefecture and Yizhou Prefecture are under the control of Father, they are both facing the threat of Lu Daxu."

"As long as Father is gone, they will only watch from the sidelines."

“But things are not easy to handle in Ruyang Prefecture!” said He Tian, ​​another advisor, expressing his biggest concern.

Ruyang Prefecture has a large territory and many soldiers, making it the greatest safeguard for the capital, Xuandu.

Yelü Zhang, however, did not take it seriously: "Marquis of Ruyang, that old fellow is very cunning. As long as we don't provoke him, he won't make a move for the time being."

"Besides, the Commander-in-Chief of the Capital is also one of our men. With the Crown Prince away and Third Brother fighting Xie Ning, now is the perfect time to make our move!"

At this time, Shenxi is actively developing the county's economy.

Developing the economy is the only way forward.

War is essentially an economic war; without economic support, who will fight a war for you?

Soldiers will fight hard for you if they have food, pay, their families are settled, and their loved ones are safe.

The major unrest in the surrounding area had not yet begun. Although there was chaos in Jianming Prefecture, it was concentrated in the prefectural city and did not reach her small county town.

Besides, she lives next to the peaceful Xianghe Mansion.

At this point, playing it safe and focusing on development is the best strategy!

About ten days later, the well water was drinkable. After testing, it passed the test, and the people were overjoyed.

During this process, Chenxi taught his method of finding water veins to the technicians who followed him.

Then let them go and find other water veins, because Chenxi can't keep running around looking for water veins.

She is the leader, and she has things to do.

After more than half a year of competition among the three northernmost prefectures, a rebel leader named Ma Zhigang emerged victorious and was known as the "Red Guards".

The Red Guards all wore red cloth bands around their wrists; they were the largest rebel army in the north.

The Xin'an Prefecture, Weijing Prefecture, and Shoutian Prefecture in Northeast China were connected and unified under the leadership of Wen Changhan, who declared himself "King Wen".

The various small militia groups in Yonghe Prefecture have divided up Yonghe Prefecture, with some joining Wen Changhan's forces and others joining the Red Guards.

The prefect of Yonghe Prefecture died in battle.

From then on, the north and the east were occupied by two forces.

The imperial court issued a decree to launch a campaign, but unfortunately, it was no longer possible to exert the strength to do so.

The Zhonggui Prefecture has been so harassed by the Red Guards from the north that it has no time to attend to anything else.