The First Tyrant

  Where to start first? This question seems unnecessary, since Liu Xuan is in charge of Chang'an and has control over Tongguan, the natural barrier. In that case, there's no need to think much, just take down all the northwestern counties directly.

  But there is still some truth to it.

  The current court's northwestern neighbors are Li Jue and Guo Si, with one stationed in Tianshui and the other in Anding, each commanding tens of thousands of troops, both posing a great threat to the imperial court.

  In comparison, the total number of troops in Chang'an City, including Cao Cao's army to the north, is only over 10,000. Although the formation of the Imperial Guard has been put on the agenda, it will not have any effect for the time being.

  After all, this is not a game, where you can click and draw, and then wait for three to five minutes to have thousands of soldiers at your disposal. A qualified soldier, from enlistment to being able to go onto the battlefield, requires at least one or two years of training - otherwise, it's just impossible. Even if they were forced onto the battlefield, they would probably be confused before even engaging with the enemy.

  Moreover, even with a year's time, it would only be enough to train a batch of usable soldiers. If you want to produce seasoned veterans who have been through a hundred battles, then it is no longer just a matter of training.

  In this case, Li Jue and Guo Si are not people that the current imperial court should provoke. But if they don't provoke them, will they definitely be safe?

  Moreover, these two forces have almost blocked the northwest passage. If they don't take down these two places first, wouldn't Liu Xuan turn his head to the east? Or go north out of the pass - he must be crazy to do so.

  At this glance, the direction that can be fought is still only Li Jue and Guo Si. If an ordinary person hears Liu Xuan ask like this, I estimate they would think about whether to fight Li Jue first or Guo Si first?

  But Guo Jia was no ordinary person. After a moment's thought, the situation in the northwest became clear to him, and he gave a different answer.

  "Your Majesty, if you want to take over the western and northern counties, it would be better to start with Western Liang."

  Xi Lian can refer to Xi Lian County, or the entire Liangzhou. However, either way, it seems a bit far-fetched, and even if Liu Xuan wanted to attack Liangzhou, he would have to deal with Li Jue and Guo Si first.

  However, Guo Jia believed that the current Governor of Xiliang, Ma Teng, was still loyal to the Han dynasty. When Yuan Shao and Gongsun Zan issued a proclamation against Dong Zhuo, Ma Teng, although in a distant land, responded from afar - it was his response that made Dong Zhuo leave behind many troops to guard his old home in the northwest.

  Now if Liu Xuan and Ma Teng can be contacted, in the name of the imperial court and the emperor, then there is no need to waste a single soldier, and Liangzhou will return to the imperial court.

  At the same time, it can also trap Li Jue and Guo Si in the middle, making them attacked from both sides, and they have no choice but to divide their troops to defend two places, so the pressure on Chang'an is slightly smaller.

  If possible, further sow discord between Li Jue and Guo Si, so that they will be on guard against each other. In this situation, neither of them will have more energy or troops to attack cities and territories.

  The plan is good, but will Ma Teng really be a loyal minister of Han?

  Liu Xuan did not quite believe this, so at first he didn't think of going to contact Ma Teng. Although in the Romance of the Three Kingdoms, Ma Teng was indeed a loyal minister of the Han Dynasty, who could guarantee that everything would conform to the content of the Romance?

  In orthodox history, Ma Teng was absolutely not a loyal minister anyway.

  But judging from the current situation, if Ma Teng can really show his loyalty to the imperial court, it will undoubtedly make Liu Xuan's plan to unify the northwest smoother.

  Not to mention the soldiers under Ma Teng's command, the prestige of the Ma family in the northwest was enough to reduce a lot of trouble - although Liu Xuan wanted to suppress the powerful clans, the situation of the Ma family was a bit special. In fact, the Ma Teng family had long been declining, and Ma Teng was a woodcutter when he was young, and only gained his current status after joining the army.

  That is to say, Ma Teng has prestige but no foundation. As long as he is used well, he is not afraid of causing any trouble - plus the Ma family and the Qiang people are closer, maybe they can also let Liu Xuan try the second step in the plan.

  But now there is another problem - how to convey the meaning of the imperial court and even the emperor to Ma Teng?

  Kuo Chia also thought of this problem. After explaining his idea in detail, he directly recommended one person as the imperial envoy.

  "Your humble servant has heard that Liu Ye, also known as Liu Ziyang, is currently serving in the Temple of Imperial Ancestors. Your humble servant has a prior acquaintance with him and knows that he is a man of great talent, who can certainly take on this important responsibility."

  Liu Xuan did not expect that Guo Jia's arrangement was so detailed, and even the person who would be sent out had been prepared, and he happily agreed.

  Anyway, Liu Ye was sent to the Western Liang, and if it didn't work out, there wouldn't be much loss - the possibility of Ma Teng killing Liu Ye is too low; if it succeeded, the court would gain tens of thousands of troops and a state.

  Of course, what Liu Xuan is more concerned about is that he has gained several more great generals - not to mention Ma Teng himself, but his sons are also extraordinary, the most famous of whom is naturally Ma Chao, and even his nephew Ma Dai is a good general.

  Moreover, there is also that Pound who is under Ma Teng's command. If these few generals were to be incorporated into the imperial court's camp, Liu Xuan would be able to deploy them even more easily and abundantly. Unlike now, although there are many generals, the only ones he can trust to deploy are Cao Cao and Lü Bu.

  It's not that Liu Xuan can't let others use it, but the current situation is like a radish in a pit. If you mess around casually, the political affairs that have just entered the right track will probably be messed up again, and then take turns replacing each other. The whole court will become a chaotic scene again, which is something he absolutely cannot tolerate.

  After discussing this matter with Guo Jia, he also talked about some miscellaneous things, most of which were the government affairs handled by Liu Xuan during this period. Guo Jia gave his own suggestions one by one. After talking for a while, Liu Xuan found that Guo Jia was best at strategy, especially outstanding in tactics.

  His ability in domestic affairs was not particularly remarkable, but he had a unique insight into criminal law.

  "It seems that he can also take the position of Minister of Justice." With this thought, if there is no suitable arrangement for the time being, Guo Jia can be arranged to go to the Ministry of Justice first.

  Anyway, Guo Jia is superior in strategy, and this strategy can be asked on the court, it's not that only people with specific positions can offer strategies, as long as Guo Jia can stand on the court, it's enough.

  In military strategy, Guo Jia had his own views on both strategy and tactics. However, to be honest, strategically speaking, he was not as good as Xun Yu. Tactically, Liu Bei did not intend to rely too heavily on high-ranking officials like him, but rather hoped that the generals and those mid-to-low-level officials who followed the army would take charge. After all, tactical command requires adjustments according to the battlefield situation at any time, and it's impossible to bring a group of high-ranking officials from the court to every battle.

  If the emperor personally led the expedition, it would be possible, but what about in peacetime? Even if they really went, could those military generals suppress these court bigwigs?

  So, Liu Xuan does not value the tactical abilities of these civil officials who are destined to be reused by him. He values their internal affairs and strategic abilities more. As for generals, they value tactical command ability - as for personal martial power? Liu Xuan is confident that he can raise their martial power to a level beyond this planet's standards, so it doesn't need to be too entangled, at least not currently.

  It wasn't until the time of the evening lamp that Guo Jia left, and as for sending Liu Ye as an envoy to Xiliang, it couldn't be settled so easily. Although Liu Xuan had made up his mind today, he still needed to discuss it with the officials on the court tomorrow before issuing the order.

  Xun Yu and Cao Zhen were called to withdraw, Liu Xuan sat in his original place, meditating as he usually did, then continued to refine the imperial seal.

  After finishing these two things, he saw Cao Jiao poking his head in to take a look. Calculating the time, he guessed that it was the maid who had come to deliver food, so he nodded at Cao Jiao.

  Cao Cao understood what to do after receiving the order, and let the person in. Liu Xuan then saw Diao Chan holding a tray and walking in quietly.

  She has been very well-behaved since entering the palace, and is extremely clever. She is also beautiful and still has a bit of cuteness due to her age. Cai Yan likes her very much and soon treats her like her own younger sister. She even privately asks Liu Xuan when he plans to give Diao Chan a formal title?

  The title of imperial concubine, that is the title of the imperial concubine. Liu Xuan didn't hesitate and replied: "Wait until she grows up in two years and then we'll talk."

  Cai Yan nodded slightly, without any expression of dissatisfaction or jealousy.

  Since she entered the imperial palace and became the emperor's concubine, she understood that it was absolutely impossible for a dignified son of heaven to be tied down by just one wife. If there is anyone in this world who can freely take wives and concubines, it would have to be the emperor.

  Not only the imperial concubines, but any palace maid in the imperial city is actually the emperor's woman. If Cai Yan was a vinegar jar, she would probably end up souring herself to death sooner or later.

  It's better to be open-minded, so Cai Yan, who had mentally prepared herself for this, took it lightly and didn't show any dissatisfaction. On the contrary, Liu Xuan looked up to her even more, and the idea of making Li Zhi his empress, which had been put aside, was brought up again. After thinking about it for a few days, he would issue an edict when he had time.

  As soon as Diao Chan put down the dishes and poured wine, Liu Xuan suddenly asked: "How's the practice of what I taught you those days?"

  Diao Chan seemed to have not expected Liu Xuan to suddenly ask about this matter, but she reacted extremely quickly and immediately replied respectfully. In her speech, there was no hesitation or panic: "The movements are all memorized in my heart, it's just that those two handles of the pumpkin hammer are a bit heavy, making them somewhat difficult to use."

  When it comes to this, Diao Chan's beautiful eyebrows were twisted together, probably thinking that the emperor taught himself but couldn't learn well, and if he made the emperor angry, things would be bad.

  Liu Xuan wouldn't get angry over such a small thing, and upon hearing Diao Chan say that the gourd hammer was too heavy, he smiled and said: "You're still young now, after a while have someone make you a lighter pair to use."

  Originally, Wang Yun said that Diao Chan had practiced swordsmanship, and Liu Xuan just listened to the music. The other day, he was bored and called Diao Chan to show off her skills, seeing that this little girl wielded a pair of short swords very beautifully, suddenly having an idea to replace the pair of short swords with a pair of hammers.

  Although Xiao Die didn't understand what this meant, she still obediently followed the instructions and carefully memorized the few moves that Liu Xuan had demonstrated. However, she didn't know that Liu Xuan did this completely because of his personal wicked taste.

  "I watched a show before crossing over, and the main character was really good at copying, he copied a bunch of people and things; now I'm much stronger than him, although I also copy, but these characters are authentic originals."

  Recommendation:

  Dominate the court, reign supreme on the basketball court!

  From the moment he welcomed a new opportunity in his career, the spectators on the sidelines gradually became the focus of attention for the entire audience! When he raised his arms to celebrate victory, who else dared to be his enemy at this moment?