Fenghou

The housekeeper was a little worried: "It's very late at night now, my master has already rested, can't he come back tomorrow?"

The leader said coldly: "The Cai family only has this chance in a hundred years, the housekeeper had better report it, and don't completely ruin the Cai family because of your arrogance."

The housekeeper was taken aback, and quickly said: "You two wait a moment, I will report it!"

The butler left in a hurry, and after a while, he came running like a gust of wind, opened the door and slapped himself twice, "The villain has neglected the distinguished guest, please come in quickly, my master is dressing, he will come right away!"

The two were not angry, and followed the butler to the guest room, where a maid came in to serve tea. Not long after, a 35-year-old man hurried in, clasped his fists and said, "You have neglected the distinguished guest!"

The head guest is called Xu Mu, who is under Chen Qing's account and is a member of the military. In terms of his position, he is similar to Cai Li, but he is now Chen Qing's envoy, so of course it is different.

Xu Mu introduced his deputy again, and explained with a smile: "Actually, we arrived in Xiangyang City in the afternoon. During the day, there were many people, so we came to visit at night to disturb Cai Canjun's rest."

"It's okay! It's okay! Please sit down, both of you."

The two sides were divided into guests and hosts, and Xu Mu smiled and said: "Let's make a long story short! This time we came to visit Cai Canjun on the order of His Royal Highness King Yong, and hoped that Cai Canjun would do something for us. Cai Canjun served as the general judge of Xiangzhou."

Cai Li felt a fever in his heart, and hurriedly said, "I don't know what I can do for King Yong?"

Xu Mu took out a letter from his pocket and put it on the table, "This is a handwritten letter from His Highness to you. Everything you want to say is in the letter. The message I want to bring has already been said, so don't bother me anymore."

Xu Mu and his subordinates got up to leave, Cai Li kept sending them out of the gate, Xu Mu said with a smile: "We live in the Ping An Inn in the south of the city, Cai Canjun can find us anytime."

Cai Li was no longer sleepy, he read King Yong's handwritten letter carefully in his study, and walked a few steps with his hands behind his back, he decided to consult with his old father.

Cai Li's elder brother died of illness the year before last, and his father Cai Quan lived with Cai Li. Cai Quan lived in a small courtyard in the back house and lived like an ascetic monk. Self-grown vegetables and self-ground tofu are his ways of keeping in good health, but he still has a hobby, that is, he is addicted to tea. Every day before dawn, he would send his servants to fetch clear springs outside the city to make tea.

Is Cai Quan already asleep, but Cai Li wakes up his father.

"Why don't you sleep so late?" Cai Quan complained a little.

"A major event has happened, which is related to the fate of our family. The child is not sure, so I come here to ask my father for advice!"

Cai Quan heard that it was related to the fate of the family, so he stood up vigorously, lit the oil lamp, and asked his son to come in and sit down, "Say it! What's the matter?"

"Just now, Chen Qing sent his men down to look for the boy."

Cai Quan was startled, "Yong Wang Chen Qing?"

"Exactly!"

"What did he send someone for you?"

"He wants to recruit Wang Gui, and let me persuade Wang Gui to surrender at the right time."

"It's that simple?"

Cai Li took out King Yong's handwritten letter and handed it to his father. Cai Quan smiled and said, "I'll just say it! Things won't be that simple."

He read the letter roughly with the help of an oil lamp, thought for a moment and said: "If my prediction is correct, he is not trying to attract Wang Gui, but he is trying to get Xiangyang. If you surrendered to him, Xiangyang will belong to him, I mean! Xiangyang's strategic position is so important, how could he only want Dengzhou last year, but not Xiangyang?"

After hesitating for a while, Cai Li said again: "Father, His Royal Highness King Yong said that after the matter is completed, the child will be appointed as the general judge of Xiangzhou."

Cai Quan pointed to the letter, "I read it carefully, you didn't write that in the letter!"

Cai Li hurriedly said: "It's a message from the sender, saying that His Royal Highness King Yong personally promised."

There was excitement in Cai Quan's eyes. He was the general judge of Xiangzhou 20 years ago. If his son can serve as the general judge of Xiangzhou again, their family will really be revitalized.

But the key is to achieve the goal for King Yong and persuade Wang Gui to surrender.

"How confident do you think you are in convincing Wang Gui?"

"Father, Wang Gui has always trusted the imperial court. When Yue Yun and Zhang Xian defected to Chen Qing, he also persuaded him. He just said that everyone has his own ambitions, so he didn't lead the army northward, and the imperial court appointed him as the envoy of the Xiangzhou system. He was even more moved and vowed to be loyal to the imperial court, so it was impossible for him to surrender to Chen Qing."

Cai Quan pondered for a moment and said: "But the letter said that Wang Gui asked you to persuade him when he was desperate. I guess His Royal Highness King Yong still has means, and something big will definitely happen in the next few days."

"Or there is only Zhang Jun. The person Wang Gui is most afraid of is Zhang Jun. It is an open secret that Zhang Jun wants to swallow his army. If King Yong wants to force Wang Gui, then Zhang Jun can only help, but they But it's a war confrontation in Jiangling Mansion!"

Cai Quan said disdainfully: "What kind of war confrontation, give Zhang Jun ten guts, he doesn't dare to provoke Chen Qing, he is just pretending to show the court that's all, if Zhang Jun agrees to help Chen Qing take Xiangyang, I am not surprised at all .”

Cai Li pondered for a moment and said: "Father, if King Yong is only for Xiangyang, will he have a second move? If Wang Gui refuses to surrender, will he bribe Wang Gui's generals to get rid of him?"

"It's entirely possible!"

Cai Quan nodded, "So you can't rush, you have to see the situation before proceeding!"

The first thousand and 110 chapters and four collusion

At dawn the next day, Cai Li was awakened by a knock on the door, and the housekeeper reported in the courtyard, "Wang Tongzhi sent someone to invite the master, saying that he has something important to discuss."

When Cai Li rushed to the barracks, he saw Wang Gui was full of anger, and his two deputy commanders, Tang Huai and Zhang Xian, were also angry and shocked.

There was another person, without armor, with disheveled hair, and looking quite embarrassed. It was Cheng Zhi, the general who was going to Fuzhou with food.

"Control, what happened?" Cai Li walked into the big tent and asked.

"Hmph! Zhang Jun is too deceitful. I kindly sent people to send him food, pigs and sheep, but he sent troops to intercept and kill them on the way. A thousand soldiers and coachmen were all killed by his troops. Only General Cheng escaped. "

Cai Li was taken aback, as expected, Zhang Jun started to persecute Wang Gui when his father said so.

"Can the control be confirmed by Zhang Jun?"

Cheng Zhi hurriedly said: "The humble officer hid in the water and heard it with his own ears, but he couldn't find my body, so he couldn't report to the Xuan Fu envoy."

"If it's the Xuan Fu envoy, it can only be Zhang Jun."

"But what is he trying to do by doing this?"

Although Wang Gui was angry, he was at a loss. He didn't understand what Zhang Jun's purpose was for doing this.

Cai Li pondered for a moment and said, "I'm afraid they want to plant blame on the Western Army to anger the governor. If the humble official guessed correctly, Zhang Jun will send someone over soon to invite the commander to lead the army south and join hands with him to deal with the Jiangling Mansion."

Tang Huai, the deputy commander next to him, said: "Xiang Zhuang's sword dance is aimed at Pei Gong. Zhang Jun led a hundred thousand troops to attack the Western Army on the surface, but the humble official suspects that his real purpose is to take the opportunity to annex us."

Cai Li nodded, "General Tang is right. Zhang Jun dared not fight against the Western Army even if he gave Zhang Jun ten guts. He led an army of [-] to come here. In fact, he pretended to be united with us, and then took a bite Annexing us, so he wants to create an opportunity, isn't it his best excuse to kill a thousand of our soldiers by the Western Army?"

Wang Gui narrowed his eyes and said coldly: "I want to see if he will send an envoy to find me!"

As soon as the words fell, the soldiers said at the door of the tent: "Reporting to the control, Zhang Xuanfu envoy sent someone to deliver the letter!"

Wang Gui was furious, "He really came!"

Cai Li quickly persuaded: "Control must be restrained. You don't know the news yet. Don't let the messenger see the clues, otherwise we will be very passive."

Wang Gui nodded, held back his anger, and said to the crowd: "You all stand down, Cai Canjun can stay."

Not long after, the soldier who delivered the letter came and knelt down on one knee to salute, "By the order of the Xuan Fu envoy, deliver the letter to Wang Tongzhi!"

"Where is the letter?"

The soldier delivering the letter took out a letter and presented it to Wang Gui, who took it over and said, "Is there any other message?"

"Xuanfu envoy said that he expects Wang Tongzhi to send troops as soon as possible?"

Wang Gui pretended to be puzzled and said, "What kind of soldiers are there?"

"Wang Tongzhi will know after reading the letter."

Immediately Wang Gui ordered his soldiers to take the letter-delivering soldiers down. He opened the letter and read it carefully. As expected, Zhang Jun told him in a sad tone in the letter that his food-delivery team was ambushed by the Western Army on the way, and the entire army was killed. overwhelmed.

Zhang Jun asked him to immediately lead an army of [-] to go south to join forces against Jiangling Mansion and solve problems for the emperor.

Wang Gui handed Zhang Jun's letter to Cai Li again, Cai Li read the letter and said, "Now the ruler believes it!"

Wang Gui sighed and said, "I said, why does he only want such a little grain and so little pigs and sheep? It turned out that this was a poisonous scheme he had planned long ago. The chains were intertwined and forced me to send troops south to join him. How could I be fooled?"

Cai Li smiled wryly and said: "Zhang Jun's next step has been written in the letter, to solve the emperor's worries and problems. If the ruler refuses to send troops, it is not to relieve the emperor's worries. I am afraid he will sue the court."

"Tell me what?"

"It must be that Tongzhi colluded with the Western Army, surrendered Chen Qing secretly, and then suggested that Tongzhi be transferred away. He used the wartime status as an excuse to directly take over Tongzhi's army. The result will definitely be like this."

Wang Gui gritted his teeth and said, "I also want to complain to the court and tell the court the truth."

Cai Li shook his head and smiled wryly: "If the imperial court believes in Tongzhi, then Zhang Jun is slandering Tongzhi. In fact, it is a contest between Tongzhi and Zhang Jun in the court. Tongzhi thinks that his connections can surpass Zhang Jun? Who will the court and the emperor trust? "

Wang Gui sat down dejectedly, of course he knew that both Qin Hui and Zhu Shengfei would speak for Zhang Jun, and that he was Yue Fei's subordinate, as long as Zhang Jun concocted some 'evidence', he would be overwhelmed.

"Joining the army says what should I do?"

Cai Li thought for a while and said: "First of all, the governor must refuse Zhang Jun's request to send troops. The humble officer believes that Zhang Jun has the Emperor's Shangfang Sword or the Emperor's Gold Medal in his hand. Once the commander sends troops, he will definitely use the emperor's order to threaten him. The commander has to listen. The military power was taken away by him, and he would even kill Tongzhi with an excuse, so we can use the excuse that the Dengzhou Western Army regards Xiangyang as an excuse, and we will resolutely not send troops."

Wang Gui nodded, "That's it, then what?"

"Then it depends on the attitude of the imperial court! There is no need to appeal to the imperial court for control, the more appeals the more dangerous."

Wang Gui became impatient, "Isn't that resignation to fate?"

Cai Li said indifferently: "With Zhang Jun, the control has no chance of winning. The control is now a fish on the chopping board. Unless the control is dead, Zhang Jun can only take care of it. Good luck, transfer to another state to be the magistrate, bad luck Therefore, it is more likely that he will be demoted to Lingnan, because the emperor may suffer the worst outcome if he believes Zhang Jun's false accusation."

Wang Gui also guessed the worst ending, to put himself to death, I am afraid this is Zhang Jun's purpose, to kill himself, once and for all.

Wang Gui hesitated for a moment and asked, "What do you mean by the dead fish and the broken net?"

"Either rebel, or go north."

"Surrender to King Yong?"

Cai Li nodded, "There are some things that I don't need to talk about because I'm a low-ranking official, and the ruler should understand it in his heart."

Wang Gui sighed deeply and said, "I didn't want to take this step before, if God must let me take this step, it would be God's will!"

"Yes! Many things are God's will."

……

Wang Gui immediately wrote a reply letter, saying that he was deeply saddened and angry, but he could not send troops. The Western Army had hoarded heavy troops in Dengzhou. I can only sit in Xiangyang, please forgive me!

He handed the letter to Zhang Jun's messenger soldier, rewarded him ten taels of silver, and asked him to go back to deliver the letter.

Two days later, Zhang Jun received Wang Gui's reply letter, which was also expected by him. Wang Gui refused to send troops, obviously he was annexed by himself.

Although Zhang Jun was helping Chen Qing, he also had selfish intentions. Chen Qing wanted Xiangyang, and he also wanted to take the opportunity to annex Wang Gui's [-] elite soldiers. They each took what they needed and did not conflict.

Zhang Jun immediately brought Wang Jingxiu to discuss, Wang Jingxiu said with a smile: "Since he refuses to be fooled into sending troops, let the court step in and directly remove his military power. Now the Xuanfu envoy is in a wartime state, a wartime state! You can directly Take over the Xiangyang army."

"On what charge?"

"I have listened to the Xuan Fu envoy and made up my mind. There are three charges. First, colluding with Chen Qing in private. The evidence is that a large number of Chen Qing's army family members were resettled in Xiangzhou. He did not object; The sale of Xiangxiang resulted in the loss of the court's salt tax in Jingxiang."

"You mean the salt of Huaixi Army?" Zhang Jun asked.

Wang Jingxiu smiled slightly, "The envoy Xuan Fu doesn't need to think too much, the court can't tell the difference between official salt and private salt, but as long as he can't get the salt tax, he will definitely believe the accusation of the envoy Xuan Fu."

Zhang Jun nodded, "I see, what about the third one?"

"Didn't the envoy Xuanfu have a general by Wang Gui's side? Ask him to write a letter to testify that Wang Gui secretly bought a ten-acre house in Jingzhao, and then asked King Yong to provide a copy of the evidence. The Yellow River can't wash it clean either."

The first thousand and 110 chapters five Jiang Xia

In the past two days, the Shangshu Xingtai on Jingnan South Road was established. Without accident, Chen Qing appointed Zhang Shun, the prefect of Jiangling, as the head of the Xingtai, and continued to serve as the prefect of Jiangling.

Walking in the internal affairs hall is a qualification, not an official position. Counselor in the internal affairs hall is also a qualification. Counselor means to participate in the discussion, and walking means to attend, and you have the qualification to attend the internal affairs hall.

Of course, this qualification is one level lower than that of the counselor of the Internal Affairs Hall. Among the current four directors, Zhang Xiao, the comforter of the Henan Road, and Shi Lu Qingshan, the director of the Sichuan Road, have the qualifications for counselors. Director Shi Zhang Xiaochun is currently only in the internal affairs hall, and now Zhang Shun is the same, and the qualifications of the two of them are slightly inferior.

Shangshuxingtai was established. At present, the main task of Xingtai is to establish a material transfer warehouse group in Hengyang. The treasury will pay 20 yuan, and the states will contribute manpower and material resources. Then Shangshuxingtai will take the lead and supervise, dredge and build the Xiangshui River in Hengyang At the same time, a small warehouse group was also built at the Changsha Wharf to facilitate the transfer of materials from various counties in Tanzhou.

Chen Qing has already issued the order to allocate money. The first sum of [-] guan was issued from the Sichuan-Shaanxi No. [-] Cabinet in Chengdu. With the money, the officials of Shangshuxingtai began to move to allocate food and tents to Hengzhou. , purchased stone and timber from major merchants, and recruited peasants in Hengzhou and nearby counties.

Zhou Kuan and Jiang Yanxian have returned to Jingzhao, and Chen Qing also came to Jiangxia by boat for inspection.

In the cabin, Zhao Yingluo brought Chen Qing a cup of tea, and Chen Qing took a sip of the hot tea. Seeing that Zhao Yingluo was also holding a piece of beautiful jade, he smiled and said, "Why did you learn from elder sister and start playing with this?"

Zhao Yingluo sat down and smiled slightly: "I didn't learn this from my eldest sister, it's just that you don't understand it. The most prosperous thing in the Song Dynasty is playing with stones. From the emperor to the rich merchants, everyone is obsessed with stones. One is the Taihu stone. , one is Yushi, my name means Meiyu, Husband thinks I don't like Yu?"

Chen Qing said with a thoughtful smile, "When you said that, I remembered that your elder sister's grandfather was a famous jade idiot, and your elder sister's favorite jade was passed down from her grandfather. She now collects beautiful Khotan jade. It's hundreds of dollars, do you want me to get you some more?"

Zhao Yingluo smiled and nodded, "Husband, you'd better get more, otherwise everyone will say you're biased, and when the wind blows by your pillow, you'll get dizzy."

"That's right!"

Chen Qing laughed twice and said: "The world only knows the blessings of Qi people, but they don't know the difficulties of Qi people!"

"I don't care about others. If you promise me, you will give me at least ten pieces of beautiful jade, and even the best."

Zhao Yingluo sat in her husband's arms and acted coquettishly, and Chen Qing's lower abdomen was on fire again. At this time, a horn sounded outside, and Jiangxia City had arrived.

……

On South Jinghu Road, there are two prefectures with the most strategic positions. One is Jiangling Mansion, which straddles the banks of the Yangtze River. It has a vast territory and the largest population. It is the leader of Jinghu South Road.

The other place is Ezhou. Ezhou is located at the junction of Jingnan South Road, Jinghu North Road, Huaixi Road and Jiangnan West Road. water.