I have to say that such a promise is very attractive to Wu Sangui.

When the Qing army entered Shanhaiguan and appointed him as king, Wu Sangui knew that the King of Pingxi was just a title. Only with his own foundation and his own army could this king be regarded as a real king.

If it were to be emperor, Wu Sangui did not have such ambition yet. But Wu Sangui had indeed thought about cede land and becoming king, otherwise he would not have had any contact with Zhou Xian secretly.

But stealing chickens will not lose a lot of rice. In the end, not only did it fail, but it offended Dorgon because of this. It was also beneficial, at least Zhou Xian got 100,000 stones of grain and grass and some of the weapons.

Now that he has prevented Haoge from entering Sichuan, one of the reasons is that he wants to protect himself. If he can always maintain Bashu, he will not only not have any worries about his life, but his descendants will also at least gain wealth for a hundred years.

Wu Sangui wanted to accept it completely, but Prime Minister Xia advised him that the situation in the world was not decided, so he asked him to wait and see.

So, on the one hand, he wrote a letter to Dorgon to show that he was loyal to the Qing Dynasty.

He promised to provide food and grass to Haoge in Shaanxi, and sent people to send a batch of treasures to the capital to offer them to Dorgon and Emperor Shunzhi. At the same time, he secretly connected Hong Chengchou, Feng Quan, Leng Sengji and other Manchu and Han ministers to let them speak for themselves.

On the other hand, Wu Sangui sent people to return the King of Shu to Qin Liangyu to make friends with the Southern Ming Dynasty. In his letter to Zhu Cixuan, he still claimed to be the Marquis of Pingxi of the Ming Dynasty, and reserved a way out for himself.

But in contrast to the seemingly pleasing with both sides, Wu Sangui used the gold, silver, treasures and food left by the King of Shu to actively recruit soldiers. In the past three months, he expanded his army to nearly 100,000 and recruited surrenders everywhere.

In the southwest region, no force can compete with it.

He pleased both sides, but was not completely loyal to anyone, so Wu Sangui became the local emperor of Sichuan.

When Zhou Xian walked into the backyard, Li Yan was lying on a bamboo chair and closed his eyes to rest. Next to him was a stack of documents, which were information from all over the country.

The April sun shone on him, making his already fair face pale. The injury that time was severe and he has not yet fully recovered.

Zhou Xian originally arranged a few maids for him, but he refused, leaving only a personal soldier Li Qiang who had followed him for a long time and a cook who was in charge of his diet.

Every once in a while, Zhou Xian would come to see him. He would bring the doctor to consult him and chat with him.

At first, Zhou Xian rarely informed him about what was happening outside to avoid affecting his recovery. But as his health gradually improved, Zhou Xian asked him to hand over the pond newspapers from all over the country to see.

Sometimes, he would ask for his opinion on certain matters.

Hearing the movement, Li Yan opened his eyes. Seeing that it was Zhou Xian, he had no joy on his face and said in a very plain tone: "Wang Zi, are you finally here?"

He didn't get up as he spoke, with a lazy and unfavorable look on his face.

Zhou Xian curled the corners of his mouth, but he was not angry, and knew why.

Li Yan felt that his health had recovered, so he asked Zhou Xian to return to Kaifeng. Zhou Xian shirked for various reasons and finally disappeared.

It has been more than half a month since the last time the two met.

Li Qiang brought a square stool, Zhou Xian thanked him, and sat next to Li Yan. He smiled and said, "What, you are still angry! Isn't it just to let you stay in Shandong for a longer time?"

Li Yan was angry and snorted. He turned his head to one side and simply ignored Zhou Xian.

Zhou Xian crossed his hands behind his head, leaned against the wall, and said slowly: "Li Chuangjun repelled the Qing army. At present, Haoge has retreated to Tongguan. There should be no major problems in the Central Plains in a short period of time. Gu Junen came to Shandong under the order of the King of Chuang to buy some food from me, but I refused. He asked to come and see you, but I said you didn't want to see him, so he asked him to go back."

Li Yan turned his head suddenly, his eyes ignited, "How could you do this?"

Zhou Xian smiled faintly and said, "Who told me that your brother Li is a talented person! Since you have come to me, of course I can't let you go easily."

Li Yan sighed silently, unable to hide his loss on his face, "What a talent? Hundreds of thousands of troops were killed and abandoned their armor and fled in a panic. I am ashamed of the trust of the King of Chuang."

Zhou Xian comforted him and said, "Time is the momentum! The collapse of the Chuang Army was because the Chuang Army did too many stupid things in the capital, and it has nothing to do with your plans."

Seeing that Li Yan couldn't help sighing, his face was full of regret, Zhou Xian continued: "Tell you a good thing, Sister Hong may be coming to Shandong soon."

Seeing Li Yan's expression of disbelief, Zhou Xian said: "Really. I just told Gu Junen that I will definitely not let you go back to the King of Chuang. But I am willing to give the 10 red-clothed cannons, 5,000 flintlock guns, and 100,000 stones of food and grass to the crusade army for free. At the same time, Li Guo was allowed to lead more than 20,000 soldiers to return to Henan to compensate for his losses. You said that he got those things and knew that you would not be able to go back to his place. Do you think he could not let Sister Hong come here to reunite with you?"

Li Yan was stunned for a moment. He knew that the crusade army would not be able to start a war with Zhou Xian at this time. Zhou Xian gave those things to give both sides a step. Li Zicheng had no reason to refuse. "Do you want to leave with a heartless heart?"

Zhou Xian nodded, "The initial reason was that I was left behind because I was short of troops and needed him to help me block Wu Sangui's army. Now Wu Sangui has led his troops to leave, and Tang Tong does not have much force in his hands. The Qing army has not planned to attack me for the time being. The King of Chuang sent people to come here many times, wanting to let Li Guo go back, so I will do a favor! Anyway, I have helped the Chuang Army a lot before, and I don't care about this more."

Li Yan frowned and said, "Then why do you insist on keeping me here!"

Zhou Xian smiled faintly, "Maybe I'm afraid of you! Think about how much you suffered in Shandong in the beginning. Although the Chuang Army suffered defeat in the north, its basic vitality is still there. At present, Li Zicheng gathered soldiers everywhere in Henan to collect food and grass, and obviously was preparing to go south. If you plan for it, I am worried that he will get all the southern part. Even if I get Liaodong, I'm afraid it will not be his opponent. Therefore, I can only keep you, and I am short of people around me who can plan the overall situation. Brother Li, stay! Let's do something big together."

Li Yan sighed and lay back on the bamboo chair. "Forget the pen, will you eventually become emperor?"

Zhou Xian did not answer, but asked back: "Isn't it okay?"
Chapter completed!