Zhu Nao

a few days later.

Wei Yue and Yu Changming came to the government together and asked Zhu Nao to report on the recent military training.

Ever since they heard that Xue Baohui had brought the garrison near Xiushan into Qianzhou, Yu Changming and Wei Yue had been intensively speeding up their training.Not only did the soldiers recruited by the Chengdu government train hard, but Yu Changming also wrote a letter to Langzhou. There were hundreds of elite soldiers left behind there. Prepare.

The three of them were talking about the latest situation when suddenly an official came to report.

"Fu Yin," said the official, "a man came from outside the city, saying that he was sent by General Liu of Qianzhou, and wanted to see the Fu Yin."

Hearing the words of General Liu from Qianzhou, both Wei Yue and Yu Changming were taken aback, and quickly turned their attention to Zhu Nao.

Zhu Nao calmly said, "Bring him in."

The officials hurried out to make arrangements.

After the officials left, Yu Changming frowned and said, "Liu Buxing sent someone? What does he want to do?"

Wei Yue was thoughtful.

Zhu Nao stretched his arms and said with a smile, "Maybe he doesn't want to fight this battle either."

Not long after, the envoy sent by Liu Buxing was brought into the government and followed the officials to meet Zhu Nao.

Zhu Nao was sitting in the backyard waiting, Yu Changming and Wei Yue were beside him and did not leave.Anyway, no matter what Liu Buxing's intentions are, they must know. Now that they listen together, they won't have to inform them later.

When Liu Buxing's envoy came to the courtyard, when he saw Zhu Nao, he immediately knelt down respectfully and saluted: "The villain sees the governor of the Zhu residence, and may the governor of the Zhu residence be safe."

He made a big salute, if it wasn't out of courtesy, he wished he could give Zhu Nao three kowtows and nine prostrations.His ceremony was not performed on behalf of himself, but to convey Liu Buxing's affection and attachment to Zhu Nao.

Sure enough, after he finished the salute, the hostility of the officials and guards who were staring at him in the courtyard weakened a bit.

Zhu Nao asked unhurriedly: "General Liu sent you, why?"

The emissary quickly took out a letter from his pocket, and untied the package that had been tied to his body: "This is a letter and gift from General Liu to Yin Zhu."

Immediately, an official took the envelope and parcel from him, and passed them to Junao.

Zhu Nao only took the envelope, glanced at the package again, and said with a smile: "I can probably guess this gift, so I won't open it."

The official who delivered the parcel was stunned for a moment, and then asked Wei Yue and Yu Changming who were sitting on both sides of him with his eyes, asking if they wanted to see it.

Wei Yue stared at the package, thought for a moment, then suddenly took a "hissy" breath, and shook her head again and again: "I don't want to look at it either."

Yu Changming was a little curious about what gift Liu Buxing would give Zhu Nao, so he reached out to take it.He unwrapped the cloth and found that it contained a large wooden box, which exuded a rancid smell.In fact, he smelled this smell when the Qianzhou envoy entered the yard. At first, he thought it was because the envoy had been running around for many days and hadn't washed, so he smelled bad. It wasn't until he held the box in his hand that he realized that the smell was actually Passed out of the box.

Before opening the box, Yu Changming suddenly realized what was inside, and hurriedly handed the wooden box back to the official with a complicated expression: "Take it away."

The official hurriedly took the unopened wooden box and stepped aside.

Zhu Nao quickly read the letter written by Liu Buxing, smiled, and handed the letter to Wei Yue and Yu Changming next to him.The two were prepared when they realized what was in the wooden box, and they were not too surprised after reading the contents of the letter.

Zhu Nao said to the envoy: "Just wait a moment, I will discuss with my two generals for a while, and I will reply to you General Liu soon."

The messenger hurriedly agreed, and was led by the officials to rest.

Zhu Nao also got up with Yu Changming and Wei Yue and went into the room to discuss countermeasures.

Only the official who helped to hold the gift box was full of curiosity, not knowing what was in the box, why everyone didn't want to look at it.So on the way to send the envoy to rest, he curiously opened a small crack in the box while no one was paying attention, and put his eyes on it to look at it.

When he saw the contents of the box, the official screamed in fright and threw the box out.

Gollum...

Xue Baohui's head rolled to the ground.He still had the dream of becoming Chengdu Yin until the end of his life, and he never thought that Liu Buxing would suddenly turn against him, and his bloodless head was still staring wide open.

=====

A few days later, the envoy sent by Liu Buxing returned to Qianzhou from Chengdu, and brought Zhu Nao's reply.Liu Buxing immediately called his officers and staff to listen together.

Liu Buxing asked: "After you went, what did Zhu Nao say? Did he doubt my intentions?"

The envoy replied: "Zhu Fu Yin said that he is very happy that the general is willing to surrender to the Chengdu government, and he is also very moved by the general's action to eradicate the traitor for him. He didn't mention the suspicion of the general, but said that everything was Xue Zhoumu's fault. "

Liu Buxing was overjoyed and said, "Very good, very good! How did he react when he saw Xue Baohui's head?"

The emissary was ashamed, and he was embarrassed to say that Zhu Nao hadn't opened the box at all. Instead, the official who opened the box scolded him and asked him what he would do if he frightened the governor.Out of anger, the official scolded the warrior for being reckless and rude.In fact, the official was not wrong, Liu Buxing didn't mean to scare Jun Nao, he really thought that Jun Nao would be very pleasantly surprised when he saw the enemy's head...

The envoy could only vaguely say: "Master Zhu is very happy..."

Liu Buxing smiled proudly: "Haha, I knew it!"

Xu Zhuben hurriedly claimed credit from the side: "General, what did I say earlier? As long as you offer Xue Baohui's head, you will surely win the favor of Governor Zhu."

Jia Cong sat on the sidelines without any concern, without any intention of interjecting.

Liu Buxing asked again: "Did Zhu Nao say how he plans to arrange my army? How much food and salary will he give me every year?"

The envoy hurriedly said: "Zhuzhou Mu said that the general can send the army to the Renshou area first, and the rest of the conditions can be discussed in detail after meeting."

"Ren Shou?" Liu Buxing hastily pulled out a map of central Sichuan to look at.

Renshou is not far from Chengdu City, separated from Chengdu by the Minjiang River.The terrain there is flat and open, with no mountains nearby.

"Let me station the army here?" Liu Buxing's first reaction was not very happy.After all, Renshou is still some distance away from Chengdu, and across the water.Zhu Nao only asked him to drive the army here, apparently to guard against him.

At this time, Jia Cong finally got up unhurriedly, and said, "General, the arrangement of Governor Zhu is really sincere."

"Sincere?" Liu Buxing gave Jia Cong a puzzled look.It's not obvious to be wary of him, why do you still say that you are sincere?

Jia Cong explained: "Ren Shou and Chengdu are separated by rivers and waters, and both sides have dangers to defend. In case we go and cannot agree with Zhu Fu Yin, and the two sides start a war, no one will suffer, and there will be a way out; Moreover, the terrain is flat, there are no mountains and hills, it is not easy to set up an ambush, and it is easy to wait and see. After we go, there is no need to worry that the other party will set up an ambush to wait for us."

Liu Buxing was stunned looking at the map.His officers also began to whisper.

Just as Jia Cong said, one only needs to look carefully at the map to understand the deep meaning of Zhu Nao's selection of the garrison here.

The place where Renshou was located was a plain, and if a war broke out in this kind of place, no one would have any tricks to use, and the only way to fight would be to fight openly.And because the terrain is open, there is no possibility of being attacked by surprise, and a person from a few hundred meters away can see it at a glance.

It is true that Zhu Nao is wary of them, but don't they need to be wary of Zhu Nao?They didn't know each other at all, and they only agreed to cooperate verbally. How could there be any basis for trust?Even if Zhu Nao graciously asked them to drive the army directly into the city of Chengdu, they still had to worry about whether Zhu Nao had set up any ambushes waiting for them in the streets and alleys.

The choice of the location in Renshou represents Zhu Nao's silent attitude: Don't try to attack me, and I have no intention of cheating you.

If this is not sincerity, what is it?

Liu Buxing figured this out, and nodded with satisfaction: "Very good, very good! Immediately inform the soldiers to get ready, and tomorrow we will break out of camp and go to Renshou!"

=====

Yanzhou.

Xie Wuji led the troops to practice riding and archery on the school grounds. After practicing for two hours, he was already drenched in sweat when he dismounted.He took off his helmet, walked out of the school grounds, and was about to go back and change into clean clothes when he suddenly saw a soldier running over.

"General." The soldier said, "The person sent by the general to give gifts to the Chengdu Mansion has returned, and they have brought back gifts and letters from Chengdu Yin."

"Letter?" Xie Wuji raised his eyebrows slightly.The person he sent only sent some gifts, at most a few words of courtesy, but did not send specific messages or letters to Zhu Nao, who did not expect that the other party would take the initiative to write to him.

He thought for a while, and said, "Let the quartermaster check and store the gifts he sent. Send the gift list and letter to my account."

The soldier hurriedly said: "Yes."

Xie Wuji first went to the well to fetch water to take a shower, then went back to the tent and changed into clean clothes.As soon as he put on his coat, Wu Cong came in.

"General, this is a letter from Chengdu Yin Junao to the General." Wu Cong also attached a list, "This is a gift list from the Chengdu Mansion."

Xie Wuji took both of them and looked at the gift list first.The list of gifts was not long, and he read it at a glance, but after reading it, he showed a surprised expression.

Although he also prepared a gift for Chengdu Mansion, the gift was just a formality, a few jewels and jades and local specialties, not worth much money.But the gift that Zhu Nao gave him back was a very generous gift!Not only is it polite, but it is also very practical.

——There are no extravagant things like Shu brocade, but there are all kinds of grains such as rice and beans, and several carts of meat such as salted pork legs, beef jerky, fish jerky, etc. What's more, Zhu Nao directly gave him 5000 taels of silver !

——5000 taels!

You must know that Xie Wuji led troops to fight, there are only two things that can cause him headaches: one is that the cities he conquered are difficult to defend;

These dozens of carts of grain and 5000 taels of silver can't completely help him solve his military needs, but they are enough to solve his urgent needs.Moreover, the value of this gift is dozens of times more expensive than what Xie Wuji sent back then.How in the world would someone give a gift like this?

Xie Wuji looked at the gift list, feeling a little dazed.

On the other hand, Wu Cong, seeing Xie Wuji's confused eyes, couldn't help sticking out his tongue quietly.He has been with Xie Wuji for several years, and there are really not many things that can surprise Xie Wuji.I have to say that the things that Zhu Fu Yin did was really confusing.Thinking that when he saw the gift list just now, he was so frightened that he wondered what was wrong with his eyes.

Xie Wuji noticed something strange on the gift list, and couldn't help asking: "He also gave me fifty knives and fifty spears?"

Wu Cong hurriedly said: "Yes, General. I have seen the weapons he sent, and they are much sharper and stronger than our own weapons. I don't know whether the minerals in the middle of Sichuan are of better quality, or their craftsmen are more skilled. .”

Xie Wuji was silent.Of course he wanted to see the weapon with his own eyes, but before that, he had to read the letter to see what Zhu Nao was planning.

He opened the letter, took out the letter paper inside and read it.

When Xie Wuji was reading the letter, Wu Cong secretly looked at his expression from the side.He was also very curious about what Zhu Nao would write, but the letter was for Xie Wuji after all, he was too embarrassed to read it, so he could only try to find some clues by observing Xie Wuji's expression.

After reading a few lines, Xie Wuji's expression became a little subtle, his lower eyelids were slightly strained, and his eyes narrowed.The muscles at the corners of his mouth twitched slightly, and he couldn't tell whether he was going to hook up or down.

Wu Cong became even more curious, wanting to know what was written in the letter as if scratching his heart.

Finally, Xie Wuji read the letter and put it down.

Wu Cong hurriedly asked: "General, what did Governor Zhu say in the letter?"

Xie Wuji still squinted his eyes, his tone was a little uncertain: "He said he admired me?"

Wu Cong: "..."

For a moment, Wu Cong couldn't help thinking about it.You must know that before the war, he was considered a romantic man of good background, and he was always very generous in giving things to the girl he admired, and sometimes he would write a letter to the girl with a few sour words... Zhu Nao's behavior now simply……

Of course, he thought about it a little bit, and immediately pulled his thoughts back.He asked Xie Wuji: "Did the general recognize that Zhu Fu Yin before?"

Xie Wuji shook his head lightly: "Never heard of it."

After a pause, he continued: "From what he wrote in his letter, it seems that he intends to join forces with me. But he didn't say what his next plan is."

team up?Wu Cong was startled.Both Zhu Nao and Xie Wuji were ambitious people, he couldn't imagine that Zhu Nao would be willing to worship under Xie Wuji, let alone that Xie Wuji would obey Zhu Nao.It's not impossible for these two to join hands, but there must be an enemy that they need to join hands to deal with.However, Wu Cong couldn't think of such an enemy, he could only think that they might fight for Jingzhao Mansion in the future, and then they would have to be enemies.

Xie Wuji lowered his eyes and thought for a while, but without any clue, he said, "Let me go and see the gift from Zhu Nao first."

Wu Cong hurriedly opened the curtain for him, and the two walked out together.

Xie Wuji didn't go far, and saw a long convoy ahead.The gifts that Zhu Nao sent were too generous, and the quartermasters under him hadn't finished counting them yet.The two sides of the convoy were full of onlookers.

"Is this another rich family that the general has stolen? Why did you pay back so many things?"

"What, this is a gift from Chengdu Mansion."

"Chengdu Mansion?? Why did Chengdu Mansion send us so many things?"

"Who knows? It may be that the guard of honor sent by the imperial court to appoint Chengdu Yin passed by us a while ago, and the general sent someone to escort them into Shu. So the new Chengdu Yin thanked us and sent us so many things. "

"Really or not? We just escorted it. We didn't give the edict of appointment. Is it worth giving us so many things?"

"You ask me, who do I ask? Anyway, no matter what it is for, Chengdu Mansion is really rich. It is so important to give any gift, no wonder it is said that it is the land of abundance."

"Oh...we will be this rich when we are..."

Xie Wuji faintly heard the discussion of the soldiers, and frowned slightly.

Soldiers surrounded the convoy on both sides, but there was one place where the most crowded.I saw the soldiers forming a circle with three floors inside and three floors outside. There was a sound of pinging, bells, bangs, and bangs in the circle, like the sound of weapons colliding.People outside the circle frequently applauded: "Wow - amazing!"

When Wu Cong heard that voice, he thought someone was fighting with weapons, and immediately shouted loudly: "What are you doing?!"

There is a rule in the army that you can practice martial arts on the school grounds, but outside the school grounds, soldiers are never allowed to fight in private, otherwise they will be dealt with by military law.

The onlookers heard the sound, turned their heads and saw that it was Xie Wuji and Wu Cong coming, and hurriedly dispersed to make way for a passage.Surrounded by the crowd were two quartermasters. They both held long knives, but the knife in one hand was still shining coldly, while the knife in the other hand had been broken in two.

The two quartermasters saw Xie Wuji and quickly saluted him: "General."

Xie Wuji only stared at the two knives.

The quartermaster hurriedly explained; "General, we are trying out the weapons sent by Chengdu Mansion."

Xie Wuji walked into the crowd and took a look at the complete knife first. The luster of this knife was obviously different from the weapons he was used to in the arsenal.He asked, "Is this the knife sent by Chengdu Mansion?"

The quartermaster hurriedly said: "Yes. The weapons sent by the Chengdu government are strong and strong. We tried to use our knives to slash at each other. After dozens of slashes, our knives broke."

Another quartermaster hurriedly showed the broken knife to Xie Wuji.

After Tie Wu presented the method of improving wrought iron, Zhu Nao immediately applied this method to forging weapons.The fifty knives and fifty spears he sent to Xie Wuji this time were forged with the new method.His knives are sharp new knives, but the knives in Xie Wuji's army are all old knives that have killed countless enemies on the battlefield.The comparison between the new knife and the old knife is even more tragic than what Zhu Nao tried in the government.Because of this, Xie Jiajun's knife was completely chopped off in just a few dozen strokes.

The soldiers around were talking again.

"The weapons in Chengdu Mansion are much more powerful than ours..."

"If we have this kind of weapon, wouldn't it be like cutting melons and vegetables to kill those rebels?"

"Don't say we can get this kind of weapon, as long as we don't let our enemies get this kind of weapon! Fortunately, this is a knife from Chengdu Mansion. We shouldn't fight with Chengdu Mansion, right?"

"Chengdu Mansion is not short of food or money, and there are such weapons. If there is a fight, I feel that our chances of winning are not great..."

The soldiers were talking, when suddenly Xie Wuji's cold eyes swept over him, everyone shut up in fright.

Xie Wuji said coldly: "All go back and rest."

The soldiers didn't dare to stay any longer, and the crowd dispersed within a short while, leaving only a few quartermasters who were counting supplies.

Xie Wuji threw the broken knife on the ground and ordered: "Complete counting as soon as possible."

He seldom gets angry, but he has an aura of calmness and self-prestige.The quartermasters didn't even dare to take a breath, they kept saying: "Yes, yes, General."

Xie Wuji turned around and left.Wu Cong hurriedly followed.

It was not until he had walked a certain distance that Xie Wuji finally said calmly: "He sent this generous gift to shake my army's morale."

Wu Cong secretly broke into a cold sweat.He was also very happy when he learned that Chengdu Mansion had sent such a large gift.Regardless of what Zhu Nao thinks, it's always a good thing if someone sends money!But it wasn't until he saw and heard the soldiers' attitudes and comments about the gift from the Chengdu Mansion that he finally realized the sinister intentions of Zhu Nao's move.

Maybe Zhu Nao also expected that he and Xie Wuji would have a battle in Jingzhao Mansion sooner or later, so he used such a bad move in advance.Thousands of taels of silver, dozens of carts of grain, and dozens of weapons.No matter how valuable this gift is, if it can buy the fear and fear of the enemy, it will be a bargain!

Shameful!vicious!

Wu Cong scolded Zhu Nao in his heart, but even though he knew it was done by Zhu Nao on purpose, he couldn't help jumping into the pit, and secretly worried: Even if the soldiers and horses in Chengdu Mansion are not yet There are many, but they are so rich, isn't it just a blink of an eye to recruit soldiers?They have such sophisticated weapons, so they should be very lethal on the battlefield, right?

As he was thinking about walking, he suddenly tripped over something and fell to the ground with an "ouch".He quickly got up and looked down, it turned out that he was absent-minded when he was walking and kicked the wooden wedge that tied the tent.

As soon as he raised his head, he met Xie Wuji's cold gaze.Feeling guilty, he stammered, "General, general."

Xie Wuji looked at him, those slightly pale eyes seemed to be able to see through what he was thinking.Wu Cong was so guilty that he broke into a cold sweat.

Xie Wuji didn't say anything in the end, turned and left.

Wu Cong looked at his back with mixed feelings in his heart.Since the war has been chaotic, although Xie Wuji can't bear the disadvantages of the rear, but on the battlefield ahead, he has always been invincible, and he has never encountered any opponent who can match him.But Zhu Nao from Chengdu Mansion... It seems that he will be a strong enemy...

=====

Liu Buxing drove for several days with five thousand soldiers and horses, and finally arrived at Renshou.

When he came along this way, he discovered a strange thing: the closer he was to Chengdu City, the more people there were wearing sackcloth and filial piety.At first, when he saw a few here and there, he thought that it was a normal thing for these people to die in their families, so he didn't take it to heart.But later on the road, he met several people in succession, and several of them were dressed in filial piety, so he began to feel confused.

Could it be that there was a turmoil near Chengdu recently, and many people died?Otherwise, how could there be so many people in sackcloth and filial piety?

Since he was suspicious, he set out to ask.

Not long after, the subordinates came back and reported: "General, I just asked a few people, and they all mourned for the late emperor."

"Huh?" Liu Buxing couldn't believe it. "A funeral for the late emperor?? When did the late emperor become so popular?"

After the death of the emperor, the imperial court did issue a notice requiring the whole country to observe mourning for three months.But this order is also valid near Gyeonggi.After leaving Gyeonggi, who would want to take it seriously?Who can really arrest and convict people for such a thing?Especially the more remote the place, the less likely they would pay attention to such an order. After all, when they heard the news, the emperor's bones would be completely chilled.

Unless it is a holy emperor who is loved by the people of the whole country, the people are distraught when they hear the news of the emperor's death and voluntarily wear mourning.But the first emperor was obviously not among them. In the past, if you went to a teahouse to drink tea, you would hear someone cursing the dog emperor.

The soldier replied: "I asked those people. They all said that the service of filial piety to the late emperor was initiated by Chengdu Yin."

"Huh??" Liu Buxing was even more confused, "Zhu Nao also ordered the people to obey the late emperor?"

"That's not true." The soldier said, "It is said that after the death of the first emperor, Emperor Zhu...cough, that's what the people called just now...Chengdu Yin voluntarily obeyed filial piety. After he himself served filial piety, the officials of Chengdu Mansion also Follow him to perform filial piety. Seeing that all the officials are like this, many people actively follow him..."

Liu Buxing: "..."

So it was not the first emperor who won the hearts of the people, but Zhu Nao.He wears sackcloth and filial piety, so that the common people follow his example.

Liu Buxing frowned and scolded: "Who are you putting on airs for? Do you really think you are a member of the royal family?"

After cursing, some doubts suddenly arose in his heart—in the past, when he heard the rumors of Zhu Nao's life experience, he always regarded them as lies.But now that Zhu Nao took the initiative to mourn the emperor thousands of miles away, is it possible that his life experience is true?

Thinking of this, Liu Buxing couldn't help but turn around and ask his staff: "Hey, you guys say, is Zhu Nao's background true or not?"

Xu Zhuben wanted to deny it when he opened his mouth, but when he saw the few filial people passing by on the road, his heart skipped a beat, preventing him from saying what he said.After a while, he began to test Liu Buxing's attitude: "What do you think, the general?"

Liu Buxing asked others because he didn't know.So he looked at Jia Cong again: "Consultant Jia, what do you think?"

Jia Cong looked humble: "I don't know."

Liu Buxing asked around but didn't get an answer, so he shrugged and ignored it.