one step closer to the end

Liu Tianliang suddenly found a horse-drawn carriage in the palace. After stopping outside Zhenmasi, several eunuchs came down. He immediately took out a stack of silver bills and handed it to the other party. After whispering to the other party, the shopkeeper's eyes lit up, and immediately He ran down in a hurry.

"Boss! The head manager has invited you here, come out quickly..."

Not long after, the shopkeeper shouted outside, Liu Tianliang hurriedly put on his hat and went out, only to see a few big inner guards coming up to look around, followed by "Duke Wei" walking up with his head held high, and said: "Listen! Say you have a big deal, right?"

"My lord! If there is no big business deal, how dare the villain invite you here..."

Liu Tianliang stepped forward and cupped his hands and said with a smile: "My surname is Peng, and my name is Donglai. I'm a merchant from Hedong Road. I heard that Zhenmagic Division is recruiting agents, so I came here admiringly. I found two good things. I hope my lord can mediate from it, and let's talk inside!"

"It's just that I'm tired, let's have a pot of good tea, while you talk, I'll listen..."

Chen Guangda waved his hand lazily, and the guards immediately drove away the individual customers, even Qiaomei and the shopkeeper were not allowed to come up, but after Chen Guangda walked into the private room, he suddenly pointed to the badge on his waist, and then said Made a silent gesture.

"My lord! Look at this pot of tea, the freshly baked silver tea..."

Liu Tianliang took out a large stack of banknotes, and closed the door with a smile on his face. The two talked about business for a while. After Chen Guangda took off his badge and stuffed it into a copper box, he said in a low voice, "I just got promoted. Officer, the dog emperor sent people to monitor me day and night!"

"Found it! The soul killer behind Master Kang is Baili Hongle from the Baili family, bastard..."

Liu Tianliang said the matter with his ear, and Chen Guangda nodded slightly: "This guy is probably Liu Wuya or Lu Datou. They are very cautious in doing things. I'm afraid Baili Hongle is just a cover, but following this vine must be Can touch them!"

"Aren went to meet Lao Zhao, but the Black Sun Demon King has no clue..."

Liu Tianliang said in a low voice: "We have to take care of one of the two tasks. If Lao Zhao comes back with him, I will immediately bring the money back to Mingquan County to help the poor. If Lao Zhao does not come to Luoyang, it means that Mingquan's affairs are very troublesome. , I'm afraid it can't be solved with money!"

"The second task is definitely more difficult than the first one. I'm afraid you have to go back and help Old Zhao..."

Chen Guangda frowned and said, "Counting Baili Hongle, the Soul Slayers have found three, but the other two are newcomers who don't even recognize my face, and Baili Hongle hasn't contacted them either. But you can quietly kill one and ask what their mission is!"

"Hmm! When Ah Ren comes back, I'll bore him..."

Liu Tianliang took out a porcelain jar from his bag, poured several Yin dates into the tea tray, picked up one and threw it into his tea bowl.

"Kang Shixi was so anxious that he was about to hang himself, and the work couldn't go on..."

Chen Guangda picked up one and threw it into his mouth, muttering: "The old emperor scolded him so badly that he didn't even have room for excuses. He arranged all the work by himself, but how did the little Renzi make up for the shortfall? Zhenmusi's reputation is already rotten!"

"Whoo~"

Liu Tianliang picked up the tea bowl and blew it, put it back without drinking it, and said with a wry smile: "I asked this question too, but he asked me instead, have you ever seen a pyramid scheme fill in a hole? He didn't want to fill it in at the beginning pit?"

"If you don't fill in the pits, you won't be able to continue playing. There must be someone behind..."

Chen Guangda tilted his head thoughtfully, and after the two chatted for a few more words, he ate another jujube, wondering: "The taste of your candied dates is a bit strange, sweet with some sourness, There's still something in the astringency... Anyway, it looks like a bitch!"

"Yin jujube! Great tonic..."

Liu Tianliang took out another can and put it on the table. Chen Guangda stuck out his tongue and scolded: "Damn! You didn't say it earlier, no wonder there is a familiar smell, you have a really strong taste, you keep it for yourself Eat it, I want to have a lot of talented people soak it for me!"

"Hey! Is the empress pretty? Let's arrange a noble concubine for my brother..."

Liu Tianliang looked at him eagerly, Chen Guangda got up and patted him on the shoulder, and said bitterly: "Brother, I advise you not to go on an evil path, you don't understand the suffering of the harem, there are three thousand three beauties, there are three thousand two." Virgin, I am a bridegroom every night, and I can't even straighten my waist!"

"Get out! Big Shaobao..."

Liu Tianliang angrily pushed him away. Chen Guangda took out his badge and walked out with his hands behind his back. Liu Tianliang had no choice but to send him down again, but suddenly a fast horse galloped by and knocked down two vendors. , but still ran away without looking back.

"Eight hundred miles to hurry, this is the frontline military situation..."

Chen Guangda subconsciously muttered something, and after winking at Liu Tianliang, he quickly went out and climbed into the carriage, and let people drive straight to the Ministry of War. He only brought two young eunuchs into the yamen hall, just in time to see the haggard postman Lie on the ground and drink water.

"Not good! Tubo raised 15 troops and raided Nanzhao five days ago..."

A servant had just opened the bamboo tube for sending the letter, holding up the military newspaper and exclaiming: "Nanzhao is defenseless, fifty thousand defenders... all of them are gone, Tianzhu's [-] rebels also launched a fierce attack on the same day, Tianzhu Jiedu envoy Ask for help, Mojie Jiedu envoys ask for help, Banga and Nanzhao all ask for help!"

"How could they go south? How could they go south? Don't they want to leave their lair..."

Minister of the Ministry of War shouted with tearing eyes, and even Chen Guangda in the courtyard frowned. Tubo's reaction was almost abnormal. It is estimated that Nanzhao Jiedu envoy had already called him as soon as he received the imperial edict. Bu'er was also on the way, far away from the Longyou Army.

"My lord! I'm afraid they sent troops before they realized that Tubo was going to rebel..."

A servant said solemnly: "The Longyou army is not good at attacking the city. Tubo only needs to keep [-] troops to delay it for several months. They must want to take advantage of their unpreparedness to capture Nanzhao, and then send troops back to help. Fortunately, the two reinforcements We have already set off, and we will arrive in Nanzhao within ten days at most!"

"My lord! The reinforcements are not coming out..."

The postman shouted sadly and angrily: "Jiannan and Lingnan defenders all said that they have not seen the imperial decree and are not allowed to send troops privately. This morning, I met the troops of King Yan and King Ning. They have not walked a hundred miles and are still hunting in the mountains. Bao then bury the pot and cook!"

"Pfft~"

The Minister of the Ministry of War spurted a mouthful of old blood, turned his head back and passed out, Chen Guangda also turned his head and walked out, he knew that the imperial decree must have arrived, and it was an excuse to say that it did not arrive, the soldiers and horses who rebelled were all outlaws, drunk and rich Officials don't want to die.

"Hey! Lord Consort, Lord Consort..."

The little eunuch suddenly exclaimed, only to see Zhao Guanren coming galloping alone, leaping over the courtyard wall and jumping into the courtyard, shouting loudly: "My lords! Something is wrong, there are a large number of forest demons assisting the Tubo rebels, I'm afraid they will go south to attack the city!"

"What is a forest demon?"

"It's a monster in the woods, good at jungle warfare..."

"Nanzhao is a plateau, and the battlefields are all open fields. How can there be jungles..."

"Ah! Slip of the tongue, mountain warfare, crossing mountains and rivers, walking on flat ground, vicious..."

Chapter 1276 Assassination

"It has been more than [-] years since my country was established in the Tang Dynasty. I have never seen what kind of storms. A small Tubo can make big waves. It's just a thief who meets a worthless..."

The old emperor sat calmly in the political affairs hall. The bad news didn't make any waves on his face, but dozens of officials didn't dare to raise their heads. They stood in several rows in front of him, and Zhao Guanren was naturally among them. , studying the pattern on the purple official robe.

"Li Zhiping! You come forward..."

The old emperor took a sip of hot tea and asked calmly: "How did you know that Tubo was linked with monsters, and you insisted that they would go south? You were the one who said that Nanzhao hooked up with Tubo!"

"Report to the emperor! Not going south, but going south and going out..."

Zhao Guanren went out and cupped his hands and said: "I caught a big Huang Xian'er in Chaoyang Village. It said that the Black Sun Demon King summoned Lin Yao to go to Tubo. I thought this is wrong. Lin Yao is only good at mountain warfare, and will be useless when he reaches Longyou. , must be attacking Jiannan Road, how do you know that they are actually attacking Nanzhao!"

The old emperor frowned and said, "Do you know how many monster troops there are?"

"I don't know! But most of the forest monsters are small monsters. They are good at attacking and assassinating at night, so they must not be the main force..."

Zhao Guanren shook his head and said: "Based on my experience, I boldly guessed that there are no more than [-] troops, but the strength doubles after entering the mountains and forests. The officers and soldiers of Jiannan Road must take strict precautions, especially watch out for night attacks. It's a pity that my Great Tang Town Magic Division has just been established, and I can't reach it. What a pity!"

"Humph~"

The old emperor snorted coldly, and scolded: "You still have the face to mention Zhenmagus, you have been away for seven or eight days, everyone thought you were hiding from debts, and Zhenmagic became a mess, I trust you so much , is this how you repay me?"

"Your Majesty! What exactly do you want me to do to satisfy you..."

Zhao Guanren pointed to Master Kang who was not far away, and said, "This is the Shangguan you sent. Apart from supporting him, I didn't say a word of nonsense. I went to work according to his assignment that day, and I stayed a few more days for him. He sorted out the context, why am I wrong?"

"Hmph~ What a glib tongue..."

Master Kang stepped forward and said bitterly: "Are you asking me to sort out the context? It's clear that you deliberately embarrass me. The secret recipe is all in your head, and you ran away after slapping your ass. How can I start working?"

"Master Kang! Now the emperor has heard clearly, you can't deny it any more..."

Zhao Guanren sneered and said, "The day before I left the city, five sets of secret recipes were handed over to the Ministry of Industry. The Shangshu of the Ministry of Industry personally sealed them with wax, and only waited for the money to arrive before choosing an auspicious day to start work. You actually said that I would not give you the secret recipes, no wonder you Self-proclaimed Thirteen Taibao, you can really make it up!"

"Bastard! But there is such a thing..."

The old emperor slapped the coffee table violently, and finally couldn't help getting angry. It seems that his calmness in major matters is all "extracted" from small things, and the depth of the city is also admirable.

"Report to the emperor! There is indeed such a thing..."

The minister of the Ministry of Industry quickly said: "Not only did I hand over the official document to the Zhenmo Division, asking him to give money to start the work quickly, but a few days ago, the old minister also told Mr. Kang that if the money is not enough, we should open two workshops first, and we can't just sit and eat!"

"Wait!"

Master Kang exclaimed in shock: "Master Shangshu! You did say that, but you didn't say that there was a secret recipe. You just urged me to give the money!"

"Ridiculous! It's no wonder that you have to record your affairs, how dare you deny it in a blink of an eye..."

The old Shangshu said angrily: "It is clearly stated in the official document that the craftsmanship is complete, and the work can only be started after the money. Your town magician also sent a reply letter, saying that there is a shortage of money, and the start of work is postponed. You only started when I urged you to do so." How can you work without a secret recipe after two workshops?"

"I……"

Master Kang's face turned pale immediately.

"My lords, have you seen it? He dares to deny what he said in public. He has no shame at all, but he is definitely a good hand in seizing power..."

Zhao Guanren sneered: "Master Kang has already settled down his cronies, there are 32 people in total, all of whom received first-class fat jobs. Fortunately, I had expected that he had ulterior motives, so he went to the countryside to attract investment and attracted more than 100 million yuan. Two investors come here, otherwise Zhenmensi will go bankrupt again!"

"Oh? So fast..."

The old emperor subconsciously sat up straight, Zhao Guanren straightened his waist and smiled: "Your Majesty! As long as it is what I promised, why have you ever broken your promise and gained weight? Hong Le's mother is not your concubine, is she?"

"You fart! Baili Hongle is, yes..."

Master Kang pointed at him with tearing eyes, and Zhao Guanren sneered again: "The bastard of General Baili, but if his mother is not your concubine, why did you let him sit in the court like a rascal? Could it be that you can't hold back?" , Want to collude with generals to plot big things?"

"You dog thief! I killed you..."

Master Kang raised his fist in anger, but just as Zhao Guanren wanted to make excuses to attack, he suddenly turned around and knelt on the ground, knocked his head three times vigorously, and cried bitterly: "Your Majesty! I have owed you the grace of God. The crime deserves ten thousand deaths, please the emperor grant the death penalty!"

"I will satisfy you today, come here! Drag it out and behead it for public display..."

The old emperor suddenly jumped up and poured all his evil fire on his head, but according to the usual script, someone would come out to persuade him, begging to spare his death, Master Kang cried again, and took a The punishment is fine.

"Here!"

The four guards rushed in suddenly, and the old emperor was stunned for a moment before he remembered that Director An, who knew the king's heart well, was dead, and it happened that "Duke Wei" was guarding the gate at this moment, and the other officials didn't want to cause a commotion. All hung their heads and pretended to be deaf and dumb.

"Your Majesty! Give me another chance, I know I was wrong..."

Master Kang panicked when he saw that the plot was wrong. When the guards held him down, he subconsciously shook the four of them away. Fall beside the old emperor.

"Assassination! Come quickly, protect the emperor..."

Chen Guangda seized the opportunity to yell loudly, everyone jumped so loudly that even the old emperor jumped back instinctively, and the political affairs hall was blown up.

"The emperor, let's go!"

Zhao Guanren threw himself at Master Kang. When Master Kang saw that it was him, his hand was still flashing. The master's fighting instinct burst out instantly, and he raised his hand and slapped him. As a result, Zhao Guanren rebounded with his strength and sent out a slap. There was a terrible scream.

"what!!!"

Zhao Guanren fell to the ground, his exaggerated screams startled the audience again, but instead of retreating, the old emperor suddenly jumped over him and slapped him with extremely fast movements. Right in the middle of Master Kang's Tianling cover.

"Boom~"

Master Kang fell to his knees on the ground with a bang, his knees cracked two floor tiles, half of his head was split open, and the split brains splashed the old emperor's face, but he yelled angrily: "How dare you?" Rebellion, do you really think you are the Thirteen Taibao?"

"Pfft~"

The old emperor swung his palm and struck him on the neck, and half of the head flew out at once. Hot blood spurted out from his neck more than half a meter high, spraying the old emperor all over his head and body. , Even the guards who just rushed in were stunned.

'I go!This is a master...'

Zhao Guanren, who was lying on the ground, was secretly startled. Although Master Kang was at the bottom of the Thirteen Taibao, he was still a quasi-grandmaster. The old emperor killed him in seconds, at least it was a method superior to a master, compared to his last time. Stronger than expected.

"My emperor is mighty! My emperor will live forever..."

Chen Guangda took the lead in "kneeling" and bowed down. Only then did all the civil and military personnel come to their senses, and hurriedly shouted long live with the guards, while Zhao Guanren simply touched a handful of blood on the ground, wiped it on the corner of his mouth and shouted in pain: "My emperor, ten thousand! Long live, cough cough cough..."

"Hmph~ I dragged it out to feed the dogs, and cut it all over..."

The old emperor violently kicked over the headless corpse, turned his head and said sharply: "Li Zhiping! I will give you half a year to raise the military salary, 500 million taels will not be less than a penny, is there a problem?"

"No, no problem, five months is enough..."

Zhao Guanren stretched out a hand pretending to be timid, and the ferocious old emperor snorted coldly, and then left with a murderous look, leaving a room full of civil and military officials looking at each other.

"Why are you standing still, dragging it out to feed the dog..."

Chen Guangda got up and patted his robe, the guards hurriedly carried the body and the head out, the other officials straightened their clothes and stood up, but Chen Guangda laughed again: "My son-in-law! I will trouble you about the ransacking of the house. The thief must have accomplices!"

"I just felt that he was wrong. He intentionally ruined my town magic division, which is obviously hindering the raising of military salaries..."

Zhao Guanren supported the pillar and stood up, and the Minister of the Ministry of Industry also said: "Who doesn't say anything, I also feel that something is wrong. Fortunately, I kept my mind on it early and kept all the official correspondence, otherwise I will let him beat it up. The rebels are really cunning!"

"My lords! Let's chat in another place, come here! Bring hot tea and sweat towels..."

Chen Guangda led the crowd to change rooms. Many people had blood on their bodies. When the hot water came, they lined up to wash. Chen Guangda took off his badges and asked them to wash them. He followed Zhao Guanren and walked out to the hut. a small empty house.

Chen Guangda closed the door and asked, "Have you seen the hang-up? How is Mingquan County?"

"The surrounding area of ​​the county is not bad, but Mingquan County is very extensive, with more than 300 villages..."

Zhao Guanren said in a low voice: "There is a cult that has brainwashed many villagers. Most of these villages are closed and xenophobic, and they don't aim to cheat money, and they can go to the Heavenly Palace by instilling consecrated souls. This is very scary, and they are called ...the Sun Shooter Sect!"

Chen Guangda was surprised and said: "The sun has been shot down today, isn't that... the Black Sun Demon King?"

"That's right! The main god they worshiped turned out to be Houyi, who shaped him into a hero who resisted heaven and feared power. Even his wife was taken away by the Jade Emperor..."

Zhao Guanren shook his head and said: "To put it bluntly, it is instilling the idea of ​​rebellion. Houyi has become the god of rebellion, and this Sun Shooting Cult is spreading everywhere. It has not attracted the attention of the court just because it is taking the rural route. Old Zhao is investigating Where is their headquarters!"