Although the emperors of Liang and Yan had the same ancestor, the relationship between the two countries had always been tense. The Liang court always believed that Yan was a rebellious country.
This also made the Xinyang Protectorate in Bozhou and the Yun'an Protectorate in Chizhou dare not slack off in their military preparations.
The Xinyang Army under the Xinyang Protectorate had eight guards, each consisting of four brigades, with a total strength of 160,000.
In addition, the Hao family of Yulin City, which controlled the Xinyang Protectorate, also controlled 50,000 heavily armored cavalry known as the Yulin Cavalry, and 60,000 garrison troops.
The Yun'an Army under the Yun'an Protectorate has six guards, but each guard is composed of six brigades, with a total strength of 180,000.
The Ding family of Yongpu City, which controlled the Yun'an Protectorate, also controlled 80,000 heavily armored cavalry known as the Yongpu Bear Cavalry, as well as 50,000 garrison troops.
The large groups of bandits that appeared in Bozhou and Chizhou were basically wiped out by the Xinyang Army and the Yun'an Army. Therefore, although the bandits in Bozhou and Chizhou are not extinct, their numbers are not large.
The reason why the threat of bandits in Zibo and Yizhou was so serious was that the Qingyuan Protectorate in Zibo and the Shouchang Protectorate in Yizhou were relatively weak.
More than ten years ago, there was a bandit attack in Zibo and Yizhou, and even the capital of Zibo was captured by the bandits.
In addition, the Turkic Khanate dispatched hundreds of thousands of cavalry to take advantage of the situation, causing heavy losses to the Qingyuan Army and the Shouchang Army.
More than ten years have passed, and the Gong family of Menshan City, which controls the Qingyuan Protectorate, and the Yao family of Ganquan City, which controls the Shouchang Protectorate, have not yet fully recovered.
After the bandits resurfaced in Zibo and Yizhou, the Gong family of Menshan City and the Yao family of Ganquan City only guarded their own small plots of land, allowing the bandits to wreak havoc in other areas of Zibo and Yizhou.
At present, the Qingyuan Army only has two guards, the left and right, with a six-brigades system and a strength of about 60,000 people. The Gong family of Menshan City has also separately formed 10,000 heavy cavalry and controls the military power of 30,000 wing troops.
The Shouchang Army also only had two guards, the left and right, each with only four brigades, and a total strength of only 40,000. The Yao family of Ganquan City also independently formed 8,000 heavy cavalry and controlled more than 20,000 wing troops.
The Qingyuan Protectorate, Shouchang Protectorate, Xinyang Protectorate and Yun'an Protectorate are often referred to as the Four Towns of the Northeast.
Just as the 720,000-strong army to suppress the rebellion gathered in Wuyang City, Yao Wenzhu, the Grand Commander of Shouchang Protectorate, secretly came to Menshan City, the county seat of Shengping County, Zibo Prefecture.
"My dear relatives, Prince Yong'an has already arrived in Wuyang City in Meizhou and will soon lead his troops into Zibo Prefecture.
"I'm worried that Prince Yong'an will try to eliminate our vassal states this time, just like he did over a decade ago, perhaps even resorting to direct military force," Yao Wenzhu said gravely to Gong Rong, the Grand Commandant of the Qingyuan Protectorate.
In the past decade or so, the Gong family of Menshan City and the Yao family of Ganquan City have formed a relatively solid alliance by using marriage relationships in order to guard against the Liang court on the one hand and to resist the looting of Zibo and Yizhou by the Khitans and Turks on the other.
One of Yao Wenzhu's daughters married one of Gong Rong's sons, so Yao Wenzhu called Gong Rong his relative.
Gong Rong hesitated for a moment and said, "Based on the composition of the army that suppressed the rebellion this time, the Zhenxi Army, Nankang Army, and Zhenrong Army are essentially the same as our four northeastern towns, and have all formed the momentum of vassal states.
If Prince Yong'an wants to eliminate the feudal system by force, even if the Zhenxi Army, Nankang Army and Zhenrong Army cannot help you and me, they can at least stand by and watch.
After removing these three border troops, Prince Yong'an only had 160,000 imperial guards from the two towns, 100,000 border troops from the Ganyang Army, Huaide Army and Shaochang Army, and tens of thousands of garrison troops under his command.
This way, even if Prince Yong'an really wants to take a hard line against our two families, we won't be completely powerless to fight back.
What's more, the Hao family of Yulin City in Bozhou and the Ding family of Yongpu City in Chizhou, although not as closely related to our two families, are, after all, part of the four northeastern towns.
Once our families are dealt with by Prince Yong'an, their days will definitely not be easy.
Therefore, the Hao family of Yulin City and the Ding family of Yongpu City will not sit idly by and watch Prince Yong'an eliminate our vassal states."
Yao Wenzhu nodded. "My in-laws' analysis makes sense, but I think our two families could be more proactive when facing Prince Yong'an."
"Be more proactive? What does Brother Wen Zhu mean?"
"My dear, you should know something about the Zhenxi Army, right?
Given the strength of the Zhenxi Army, even Prince Yong'an would probably be very wary of it.
Because of this, the Bai family of Sucong City, which controlled the Nankang Army, and the Li family of Binwu City, which controlled the Zhenrong Army, formed an alliance with the Zhenxi Army through marriage to prevent Prince Yong'an from taking the opportunity to eliminate their two families.
I think our two families can also temporarily join the Zhenxi Army alliance through marriage."
Gong Rong frowned and said, "Back then, the Jiang family of Fuzhou tried to bring our two families together to form an alliance, but we rejected it."
Yao Wenzhu then said, "My dear, the Zhenxi Army is different from the Jiang family of Fuzhou.
The Jiang family of Fuzhou wanted the Qingyuan Army and Shouchang Army to become affiliates of their Tianwei Army.
Forming an alliance with the Zhenxi Army is like everyone banding together for warmth, and there is no question of who is dependent on whom."
"If that's the case, I don't object to forming an alliance with the Zhenxi Army, but I need to carefully consider the choice of marriage partner."
"My dear, I have to remind you.
It is said that Sun Hao, the Grand Commander of the Zhenxi Army, has very high standards. If our two families were to marry into Sun Hao's family, the person we choose would have to be of top-notch appearance."
In Yulin City, the capital of Xiangle Commandery in Bozhou, Hao Tao, the Grand Commandant of the Xinyang Protectorate, smiled and said to Ding Si'en, the Grand Commandant of the Yun'an Protectorate, "Old Ding, you haven't been to Yulin City in several years. Tonight, we two old brothers must have a few drinks."
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