After reading the report from his subordinates that Zhao Shuaizhen had been executed by slow slicing, Li Qin...
He sat down and sighed with emotion.
This guy, who had been fighting against me ever since I raised my army, is finally dead.
Li Qin then ordered that his body be pieced together and sent back to his hometown for burial.
This was his final act of respect for the enemy who had fought against him for decades.
It took me almost half a year from ordering the encirclement and suppression to finally capturing him.
During this period, besides besieging Zhao Shuaizhen, he also...
They also secretly began implementing a plan to infiltrate various vassal kings.
Among them, Jiang Xiangyang in Datong, Li Hongji in Henan, and Jin Hufu in Jiangxi made considerable gains.
Many of their men were secretly recruited and defected to their side.
Meanwhile, the harvest was most plentiful, especially in Jiangxiangyang, Datong.
Because at this time, both inside and outside the Great Wall were under their control.
Therefore, he ordered various places to impose an economic blockade on Datong.
This made it virtually impossible for him to be self-sufficient locally, and he could only rely on the government's funding.
This left many of his officers with little hope.
Therefore, winning over officials in Datong is the most effective way to achieve twice the result with half the effort.
Of course, this so-called blockade tactic can only be effective against Datong.
We cannot use Li Hongji in Henan or Jin Hufu in Jiangxi, because their territories are far larger than Jiang Xiangyang in Datong.
As for Liu Sixiu of Bashu, that guy completely sealed off Bashu after he returned there.
The complete severing of communication with the outside world left Li Qin somewhat helpless.
Because the Sichuan and Chongqing region was originally extremely isolated, they were perfectly capable of being self-sufficient.
It can be said that Liu Sixiu of Bashu was the most difficult to deal with among all the kings, and Li Qin also placed dealing with him last in the order of the kings.
He has now categorized these non-royal princes under his command.
Jiang Xiangyang of Datong, although he had the smallest territory among them, was the first person Li Qin needed to deal with.
For no other reason than that his position was too important, and Datong was too close to the capital.
I must find a way to get rid of him as soon as possible.
Next is Li Hongji, who is located in Henan. He lives in the Central Plains. Only by taking him down can Li Qin completely open up the east, west, north, and south.
Then there's Jinhufu in Jiangxi, and Liusixiu in Sichuan.
As for Zu Zhilong in the Northwest, there is also Hong Chengchou, who is currently fighting in Fujian.
None of these are too difficult for Li Qin to solve.
Now, a large number of soldiers and officers under Jiang Xiangyang in Datong have begun to defect to him.
As time goes on, I am very likely to achieve a Shandong-style victory against him.
Using his natural political advantages and economic wealth, he completely dismantled Jiang Xiangyang's rule over Datong.
After all, he had already secretly blocked Jiang Xiangyang's territory, and Jiang's wallet was already empty.
Without money, it would be even more impossible for him to keep his subordinates in check.
As time goes on, more and more people will come to rely on him.
My advantage over Jiang Xiangyang will only grow.
Meanwhile, Li Hongji in the Central Plains, although he was also trying to win him over, based on the intelligence analysis of this period of time...
He discovered that Li Hongji's military strength, instead of increasing after the war, had declined dramatically.
Most of his generals were originally from peasant armies, and now they followed Li Hongji, fighting alongside him in his campaigns.
He himself granted Li Hongji the title of Prince, and most of them also obtained a title.
After returning to Henan, they began extensive renovations to their residences, each taking turns to see whose house was the biggest.
The competition to see who could take more wives and concubines completely exposed their limitations as a peasant army.
The level of absurdity and corruption was more than ten times worse than the lax discipline in the army after Li Qin was ennobled in Jiangnan.
Li Hongji wanted to stop them, but found that he had far less control over his peasant army than Li Qinqiang.
Following the example set by his superiors, Li Hongji's army also began to deteriorate rapidly, as evidenced by the scene in Li Qin's army where soldiers were selling armor.
It also appeared in Li Hongji's army, but it was different from the very small-scale behavior in Li Qin's army.
In Li Hongji's army, the buying and selling of weapons and armor began to appear on a large scale.
They sold everything they could, took the money back to their hometown, and started buying houses, land, and getting married.
After all, isn't this what I've been fighting and risking my life for?
Li Qin looked at the intelligence reports about Li Hongji's army in Henan, and he felt...
He probably won't even need to do much himself; his own internal affairs will become completely corrupt.
In the end, he might really break down on his own if he is even touched.
You must understand that the reason these feudal lords were able to exist was because they had their own army and guns.
However, as the power in Li Hongji's hands decayed, he lost his qualification to continue being a feudal lord.
As for Jin Hu Prefecture in Jiangxi, his army is under strong control, and there is currently no large-scale corruption within the army.
But what's the use?
Jiang Xiangyang in Datong is being constantly infiltrated by himself, and Li Hongji in Henan has also begun to become extremely corrupt.
All I need to do is wait, and I can take down these two.
At that time, all that will be left are Liu Sixiu from Sichuan and Jin Hufu from Jiangxi.
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