If a group of forces can operate smoothly, it must not be dominated by its own power, as is the case with the court and the southwest.

Mu Ying is certainly credible. Li Xin never doubted his brother who had been dating for more than ten years, but the Mu family behind Mu Ying may not be credible. The Mu family was a large family in Shu during the Southern Shu period. Later, His Highness Min was able to escape from Jincheng because of the Mu family's rescue, so that the Mu family later took Li Xing and replaced him and became the real person in the Southwest.

For a long time, Li Xin was not in the southwest. Mu Ying was the southwest, or the Mu family had the final say.

Later, when the imperial court enfeoffed the title of King of Shu, Li Xin generously gave this position to Mu Ying's son. Various reasons have led to the Mu family becoming increasingly arrogant in the southwest.

Although Li Xin had already beaten the Mu family with Zhao Jia before, these were not enough. The reason why the Mu family was arrogant was because of the Mu family's status in the Southwest Army. Li Xin had never thought of cutting off his own arms, but Mu Ying could not take all the credit for the Eastern Expedition alone. Otherwise, if he really entered the capital, the Mu family jumped out and said that it was their Mu family who had captured the capital. Why did your surname Li jump out of the matter?

Li Shuo is the one who uses to check and balance the Mu family.

In the early years, when the Southwest Army was reorganized, if Li Xin was a little more treacherous, he could have directly annexed the Pingnan Army. There was no need to distribute 30% of Shuo's troops and let him station in Ningzhou. However, at that time, Li Xin was very kind to let Li Shuo lead 50,000 people, so that Li Shuo, who was only in his early twenties, became one of the three giants in the southwest who were on par with Mu Ying and Zhao Jia.

This was picked up by Li Xin.

Li Shuo was different from Mu Ying. There was originally a force behind him, that was the former remnants of the Pingnan Army. However, later the Southwest Army was reorganized, and these remnants of the Pingnan Army were also incorporated into the Southwest Army. Although in the first few years, many thorns still appeared in these old Pingnan Army, most of them had completely integrated into the Southwest Army over the past few years.

In other words, Li Shuo now doesn’t have much support behind him. In addition to the 50,000 Ningzhou troops that he can rely on in the southwest, only Li Xin, is the cheapest brother.

Therefore, although Li Shuo and Li Xin are not as good as the other two among the three giants in the southwest, he is undoubtedly the purest to Li Xin's loyal ministers. The reason is very simple, and he has no other way out.

This is precisely this reason. Only after the troops arrive at the capital city will the Southwest Army change its generals in the last battle.

This is a taboo in the army, but it is not particularly taboo for the Southwest Army, because the Southwest Army mainly relies on firearms rather than the main general. If you change the main general, as long as this person is not too stupid, the effect will not be much different.

After the Ningzhou Army was in Luzhou for three or four days, Li Shuo led 50,000 people from Luzhou to the capital. These 50,000 people were obviously not the entire Ningzhou Army's troops, but just the vanguard.

Li Xin and Mu Ying were sitting leisurely on the city tower in Luzhou, watching Li Shuo's troops walk away slowly.

Mu Ying, who had been covered with armor from southwest to Luzhou, also took off her armor and wore a blue robe. She stood behind Li Xin. After seeing Li Shuo walking away, he smiled and said, "It seems that the Ningzhou army has made a fortune after following our troops. He took out a total of 50,000 people. There are still half of the Ningzhou army in Luzhou."

Li Xin smiled and said, "Brother Mu, don't worry, it's just a temporary organization. When we enter the capital, the Southwest Army will reorganize it. There is no reason to double the number of Ningzhou Army."

Mu Ying grinned: "I don't have this meaning, I just sighed."

He leaned his head out of the city and turned to look at Li Xin, asking, "General... seems to be very confident and thinks we will definitely be able to enter the capital."

Li Xin glanced back at Mu Ying and asked, "Brother Mu doesn't have confidence?"

Mu Ying smiled bitterly and said, "Originally, there were some. My Southwest Army from Xiangyang to Luzhou were all unstoppable. At that time, I dreamed that we had to conquer the capital in three days. General, you became the emperor, but after arriving in Luzhou, I would not think so..."

After he said the three words "become an emperor", he secretly glanced at Li Xin's reaction. Seeing that Li Xin had a expressionless face, the black-faced man sighed and continued: "The battle in Luzhou City was not smooth. He fought three times, not only time-consuming and labor-intensive, but also consumed countless firearms, and even our soldiers were damaged a lot."

"We will calculate carefully afterwards. If we calculate according to the casualties in Luzhou City, we can only barely capture the capital. However, the capital is different from Luzhou. Whether it is the city wall, the city guards, or the determination of the imperial court, it will be far better than Luzhou."

Li Xin refused to comment, but just narrowed his eyes slightly and said, "Brother Mu, what if we can't defeat the capital this time?"

"Then let's go back to the southwest for now."

Mu Ying's answer was very straightforward, obviously he had thought about it many times in his mind.

"As long as we retreat to the southwest, the court will not do anything to us. Besides, even if we are unable to capture the capital, the court will not be able to pursue us. We can retreat calmly. We can take away a lot of money and food along the road. After a few years, our strength will be accumulated enough and it will be easy to make a comeback."

Li Xin looked at Mu Ying with a serious expression, then slowly shook his head.

"Brother Mu thought it a bit. This is our first attack on the capital and the last time. If we can't fight this time, it will be difficult for us to have another chance in our life. In the future, we can only stick to the southwest and wait for the court to produce a stupid and stupid monarch. The southwest may have a chance to leave Shu again."

Speaking of this, Li Xin pointed to his nose and said calmly: "The emperor in the capital is only in his early twenties this year, much younger than you and me. Although he is not as good as his father and grandfather, he is far from being a fool. If he can't defeat the capital this time, he can only wait until he dies before he has a chance. What's more, his next emperor may be even more powerful than him."

"This time, it's our last chance."

Li Xin looked calm and said, "If things fail, we will withdraw to the southwest. The Shu Palace is officially established in the southwest. The southwest will be handed over to you a few people. I will lead my wife and children to hide in the mountains, be a rural villager, and live a peaceful life."

This sentence is not a lie, but a retreat that Li Xin had long imagined. If the Southwest Army could not take over the capital, there would be little hope for the next time. He did not want to be the second one. Li Shen struggled to support the southwest for decades. It would be better to throw the Southwest stall to Mu Ying and others, and hide in the mountains without asking about the world.

With the current military power in the southwest, as long as the people in power are not particularly stupid, it will be fine to be a country for decades. They will live a peaceful life for a lifetime, and there will be no big problem.

Mu Ying's face changed slightly, and she lowered her head to Li Xin and said, "General, no matter what, the last general will do his best to capture the capital for the general!"

"If it fails, after returning to the southwest, the general will be the emperor of the southwest..."

General Mu's voice was a little hoarse.
Chapter completed!