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Chapter 1503 Conquering the Empire (49)

The prime minister smiled and said, "Isn't Zhao Hu the one you fancy? It doesn't matter if it falls into his hands."

The marshal shook his head with a wry smile: "What about the one you like? Who can guarantee anything in these years when people's hearts are unpredictable? Moreover, after the five coastal provinces are given to Zhao Hu, no matter whether Zhao Hu is loyal or not, the empire's sea frontiers will also be destroyed. It is in the hands of outsiders, and the maritime trade has been cut off since then, what a huge loss!"

The prime minister smiled and said: "Hehe, our Majesty will not fail to see this. The three provinces of Haiquan, Haibin, and Haiping are nothing, but don't forget that the two provinces of Haiwu and Haiguang are the territory of the imperial fleet. Well, in this troubled world, local taxation and maritime trade have long been in the hands of local dignitaries, and the imperial fleet has gained a lot of benefits from the sea, do you think they will willingly accept that their territory belongs to others?"

The Marshal shook his head: "I'm not optimistic about the Imperial Fleet. No matter how powerful they are at sea, they can't compete with the army on land. Since Zhao Hu can easily occupy Haiquan Province and put the Seventh Prince under house arrest, it is enough to prove that his army ability, so as long as the Imperial Fleet's garrison is completely occupied, the Imperial Fleet will harass the coast for a period of time at most, and in the end it will either surrender or become a pirate."

"When Zhao Hu owns these five provinces, his strength will definitely become the number one warlord in the empire! It's good that he will be loyal at that time, but if he has any ambitions, it will be another catastrophe!"

The prime minister still smiled: "Hehe, maybe that's the case. The rich and powerful can do anything to defend their own vested interests. After all, the imperial fleet can't control two provinces with their sailors alone, and His Majesty is You said that the second prince and the third prince knew that Zhao Hu was going to educate them for His Majesty, for those who made that imperial decree known to the world, do you think they would wait anxiously for Zhao Hu to come to your door?"

Seeing the marshal thoughtful, the prime minister patted the marshal on the shoulder: "As long as His Majesty doesn't expressly increase Zhao Hu's control area, so what if Zhao Hu owns the five coastal provinces? As long as he is obedient, the southeast governor can Do it for a while.

If he is too ambitious and reaches out to other provinces, then there is a reason to dismiss Zhao Hu from his post openly.You don't think that after His Majesty unifies the inland, such a huge population base and property base can't defeat Zhao Hu who only has five provinces? "

The marshal nodded and did not say anything, but he sighed in his heart: "Hey, that's what I said, but all of this can only be realized on the premise of unifying the inland."

The continuous news of the emperor's enthronement has made the people of the empire a little numb, and those who had hoped for the orthodoxy of the imperial capital were also disappointed.
There are actually seven or eight emperors in the entire empire, and all of them are the blood of the former emperors. Anyone who is a little smarter knows that the war of emperors is about to break out, which is more cruel than the melee of warlords. People probably won't be able to see it.

However, the news of the Ming Dynasty from the imperial capital still shocked the numb people, and they began to look at the coastal areas of the empire with curious and doubtful eyes.

The big and small warlords in Haibin Province were all dumbfounded. Knowing that Zhao Hujun was strong, he didn't expect to be so strong, he could easily destroy Haiquan Province, and he even had an extra division of war horses?In this coastal area, who else would dare to provoke Zhao Hujun?

He knew that Zhao Hujun was famous, but he didn't expect to be so big that he not only became the governor of the southeast, but also the governor of the five provinces!The entire sea area has justifiably fallen into Zhao Hujun's hands!

Now that I am staying in the jurisdiction of the governor, what should I do?Some warlords immediately imitated the original head of the seaside division, swept away their inventory funds, and went abroad to become rich.

Some of them immediately sent envoys or went in person to express their willingness to serve Zhao Hu because of their relationship with Zhao Hu's army. There are also turbulent winds and clouds in the new year and new moon.

In Zhao Hujun's territory, when they learned that Zhao Hu was appointed as the governor of the five provinces in the southeast, the members of Zhao Hujun who were busy paying New Year's greetings to Zhao Hu were all stunned, and immediately cheered, and their faces were full of red. Busy about decorating the Governor's Mansion, oh no, it should be called the Metropolitan Governor's Mansion now.

The members of Zhao Hujun don't care about the governor of the southeast, the governor of the five provinces, the lieutenant general, or the baron. What they care about is that with this title, they can openly attack the five provinces, and they are not afraid of someone jumping out and calling them traitors. Therefore, the people will not feel resistance to such a recovery war.

Unlike his subordinates who were happy, Zhao Hu was a little dazed.

He just sent someone to pay homage to the new emperor's enthronement, but he gave himself such a careless title?Isn't the emperor afraid that his tail will not fall off?

In the lobby of the Governor's Mansion with a brand-new plaque hanging, the civil and military officials of Zhao Hujun gathered and began to discuss military and political affairs.

Before the military and political council began, under the leadership of Peter, everyone congratulated Zhao Hu: "Congratulations, my lord, you are the governor of the southeast and the governor of the five provinces."

The two positions of lieutenant general and baron are not taken seriously by these old Zhao Hujun. Officials from the empire don't think such ranks and titles are useful among warlords, while those from the southeast peninsula completely think that their lord is Monarch, why do you care about the seats that these courtiers can only have?
Zhao Hu waved his hands helplessly to get everyone to stand up and said, "Don't talk about these useless words, the imperial decree has not yet arrived. I know what you mean, but our current task is to control the two provinces of Haiquan and Haibin, and then we can Plotting against the other three provinces."

Peter laughed and said, "My lord, Needless to say, Haiquan province has indeed been in the hands of your lord since the local tyrants recommended their children, and now the warlords in Haibin province are either going to spend money to sneak into the wild or preparing to take refuge in your lord. There are only a few preparations Fight us to the death.

It can be said that there is no need for us to deploy troops, but to urge those warlords who are willing to join us to send troops.It won't be long before your lord will be able to control the entire coastal province."

"Well, since this is the case, how about attacking Haiping Province after stabilizing Haiquan and Haibin provinces?"

The rotating chief military officer said, as soon as the words came out, everyone immediately applauded.

Zhao Hu shook his head and said, "You guys, don't get carried away too much. Haiping province is connected with Haiwu and Haiguang provinces, and Haiwu and Haiguang provinces are the home of the imperial fleet. They won't look at it. We attacked Haiping Province, and it is unlikely that they would strike first.

You must know that the Third Fleet on our side is regarded as a traitor by them, and now that the five coastal provinces are under my jurisdiction, they have already become sworn enemies with us!

Don't think that our enemies are only Haiwu, Haiguang and the Imperial Fleet. The second and third princes mentioned in the Ming Dynasty must regard us as enemies that must be eliminated quickly.So we can't be careless at all.

Ask the No. [-] brigade to step up its patrols, so as not to let the enemy know about the attack from the sea, order those warlords who are willing to surrender to give their certificates, and start to recruit a garrison division again. The cavalry division stays in Haiquan Save rest and gather the other two divisions for training..."

When Zhao Hu issued a series of orders, the civil and military officials were overjoyed, because this indicated that external expansion was about to begin.

In the northern part of the Maritime Province, a dense army is besieging a small city.

A man with the appearance of a general on the top of the tower was yelling and jumping towards the bottom of the tower: "Okay, you damn bastard! Didn't you say that the well water does not violate the river water? Why did you come here to attack treacherously?"

An officer under the city tower shrugged his shoulders with a smile and said: "Sorry brother, the previous agreement has been voided, because I am no longer a warlord, but a member of the commander-in-chief, so the order is bad, I am a small You can only obey orders, brother, if you want to blame, blame yourself for being so ignorant of current affairs."

"What? You actually took refuge in Zhao Hu, you are not sick, you are a lackey if you don't do a good job!" The general on the tower said with wide-eyed eyes in disbelief.

"Hey, a running dog who lives in style is better than a dead emperor, right? Brother, don't blame me."

The officers under the city tower raised their hands, and the tens of thousands of soldiers around them immediately began to work hard.

The general on the tower hurriedly waved his hands and shouted: "Wait a minute, I am also willing to seek refuge with the governor!

"Hey, brother, if I kill you, I can not only expand my army, but also loot a lot of wealth. If I keep you, there will be many competitors. How do you think I will choose?"

After finishing speaking, the officer below the tower immediately waved his hand, drowning the shouting and cursing of the general above the tower in the sound of fighting.

Such a similar scene was staged all over the coastal province. The warlords who had taken refuge in Zhao Hu all used their greatest strength to attack those warlords who still wanted to be the emperor of the country.

No wonder they worked so hard, because after the war, their status is determined according to their meritorious deeds, and it is likely that the colonel or major will be the reason for the one less battle.

Since it's about his own glory and wealth, he doesn't even have to talk about his own brothers, let alone his former allies.The warlords in the seaside province were in turmoil, but the hearts of the people were thrown into Zhao Hu's arms. The result was self-evident. After less than a month of melee, all the existing warlords in the seaside province became the subordinates of the southeast governor.

When these local emperors hung up the ranks of the empire and raised the banner of the No.20 Legion, the coastal province officially became a province under the jurisdiction of the Metropolitan Government.At this time, the imperial edict from the imperial capital was also delivered to Zhao Hu.

(End of this chapter)