Zhu Nao

At night, Xie Wuji returned to the house.The candles in the room were still on, but when he opened the door and entered, he found Jun Nao lying on the table and falling asleep.

Standing at the door, he was slightly taken aback, then walked forward with light steps, bent over and put his right hand on Jun Nao's back, while the other hand was about to move down, trying to hug Jun Nao back to the bed, the person in his arms But suddenly moved.

Zhu Nao raised his head, looked sleepily at the already dark sky outside, and asked hoarsely, "What time is it now?"

Xie Wuji still kept his posture and leaned beside him, whispering in his ear: "It's almost three quarters you."

Junao turned his face sideways.Xie Wuji was very close to him, and his lips brushed against Xie Wuji's cheek unconsciously.He smacked his mouth, stepped back a little, and looked at Xie Wuji.

"Thank you, General."

"Ok?"

"Although I've gotten used to it after watching it for a long time, sometimes I still suddenly feel..."

"..."

"You look so pretty."

"........."

In the dim candlelight, Xie Wuji's eyes flickered along with the candle, revealing a bit of helplessness.

Zhu Nao smiled lowly, and let out half of the chair sideways, and La Xie Wuji sat down on that half: "I came back so late... how is the progress?"

After occupying Hezhong, Zhu Nao naturally handed over the task of reorganizing the Hezhong Army to Xie Wuji.Xie Wuji has been busy with this for the past few days.

Xie Wuji shook his head, and said: "A plate of loose sand is vulnerable to a single blow." The eight concise words show how dissatisfied he is with He Zhongjun.

Junao was not surprised.

Hezhong Prefecture is not a rich place, nor does it occupy a large area, it only governs more than [-] counties.Zhao Wu couldn't afford to support an army that didn't do farming, so in addition to fighting, the Hezhong Army also had to undertake many labors such as farming and building fortifications.As a result, the Hezhong Army didn't have much time for training, and it was only natural that they were weak.Because of this, Puzhou City was destroyed by Shangguan Xian.

And the Hezhong army is so weak, Zhao Wu can still stand up to now, only because the Hezhong Mansion is located at the junction of Hanzhong and Henan. No one dared to move him easily.

Zhu Nao said, "Since that's the case, it's better to select a group of capable men from the army, and let the rest of the army be dismissed."

Xie Wuji was slightly taken aback: "Dismissed?"

Junao nodded.He just saw that the official document that fell asleep was the land registration and household registration handed over from the Puzhou government.Before the war, there were more than [-] households in this Hezhong Mansion, but last year Zhao Wu re-censused and sorted out the household registers, and found that there are less than [-] households in the entire Hezhong Mansion.Years of war have decimated the population.

In this case, the Hezhong Army has 5000 people.In other words, almost every household in the river has one or more males joining the army!This has definitely reached the point where it is a waste of time and money.

After hearing this, Xie Wuji thought for a while and said, "Alright. Then I will select 2000 people from the army, and allocate another 5000 people to garrison the river."

Zhu Nao said, "It's very good."

The Hezhong Army was raised by Zhao Wu, and it would have been difficult to reorganize it, so he simply dismissed the army on the grounds of resting with the people, which saved a lot of trouble.It's just that Hezhong borders Henan after all, and a large army needs to be stationed here.So another 5000 people need to be transferred.These 2000 elites are better at fighting than the [-] mob raised by Zhao Wu, and will not weaken Hezhong's defense, and the integration of [-] people will naturally eliminate Zhao Wu's influence. In the future, the army will only listen to Zhu Nao and Xie Wuji command to act.

Xie Wuji said: "Then I will select candidates tomorrow, and I will finish it as soon as possible."

The busy farming season was coming soon, he had to pick out 5000 men from the Shu army as soon as possible, and also pick out the [-] elite from the Hezhong army, and send the rest back as soon as possible, so that farming would not be delayed.

Xie Wuji asked again: "Is there any news from Henan?" He asked the envoys sent by Zhu Nao to Henan to say surrender.

Zhu Nao stared at him with his chin propped up, his eyes softened: "It's not going well, I heard that he got a lot of rejection."

Xie Wuji: "..."

Hearing Zhu Nao's unhurried tone, he couldn't help being a little puzzled.

Tao Bei should have received the news of Puzhou's fall, and he must have expected that they would attack Henan while the iron is hot, which would definitely strengthen Henan's defense immediately, and the dark horse army had already withdrawn.If they can't seize the time to occupy Henan, it will not be so easy in the future.

Xie Wuji knew that in the past few years, Shu merchants had infiltrated various places through business affairs, and they had accumulated a lot of connections. Whether it was to inquire about news or get close to the powerful, it was not difficult.And during the four or five months when they besieged Puzhou, Zhu Nao was not idle, and had already sent people to Henan to make arrangements, just to prepare for what happened after Puzhou was captured.It's just that I don't know how well his arrangement is, why would he still be rejected?

Xie Wuji murmured: "If Mengzhou can be captured first, the people of Ru and Zhengzhou will be panicked. Then we will intimidate the defenders and lure them..."

Before he finished speaking, Zhu Nao pointed a finger on his slightly frowning brow.

"Don't worry." Junao blinked, "Wait a while and see."

Xie Wuji was slightly taken aback.Wait a while?What are you waiting for?Wait until Tao Bei reacts...

=====

Two flowers bloom, one branch each.

Zhengzhou at the moment.

Yuan Xiao was leaning on the back of the chair in a daze, when suddenly there was a knock on the door.He came back to his senses and asked, "What's the matter?"

"Yuan Gong," said the relatives outside the house, "the Wang family sent someone to send a few brocades, saying that they were newly purchased by their house recently, and they came here to pay tribute to Yuan Gong."

Yuan Xiao frowned.

He is the commander of the capital stationed in Zhengzhou, in charge of the Zhengzhou garrison, and also Shangguanxian's loyal subordinate. He was promoted from centurion to his current position by Shangguanxian alone.

After Puzhou was destroyed, the Shu army immediately sent people to lobby him, saying that Shangguanxian had been captured, and if he could surrender to the Shu army, Zhu Nao would definitely use him and his subordinates again.Yuan Xiao immediately beat up the Shu lobbyist and drove them away, showing a firm attitude: He will only be loyal to Tao Bei, and will never surrender to the enemy!

But in fact, although he was closed to the people of Shu, he could not completely cut off the connection with the people of Shu - the Wang family came to lobby for the people of Shu.

The Wang family is a big local family in Zhengzhou, and they have been in close contact with Yuan Xiao in the past few years. They have helped Yuan Xiao a lot in raising military expenses, and Yuan Xiao has also used his position to provide some benefits to the Wang family.Although the Wang family is from Zhengzhou, they are very close to Shu because they often do business with Shu merchants.Recently, the Wang family often sent people to his house under various pretexts, it was obvious that the drunkard's intention was not to drink.

The entourage outside the door asked: "Mr. Yuan, do you want to accept Jin?"

Yuan Xiao was a little annoyed.Although he didn't have much contact with Tao Bei because of his low official position, he was deeply influenced by Shangguan Xian and was still very loyal to Tao Bei.In addition, he himself is from Henan, so of course he doesn't want to have anything to do with Shu people.

But now, Shangguan Xian was captured alive by the Shu army. He didn't know whether Shangguan Xian would turn his back in the end, so his position inevitably wavered.In addition, the Wang family has a close relationship with him, he still needs to rely on the Wang family for many things, and he doesn't want to freeze his relationship with the Wang family because of resisting the Shu people...

Finally, Yuan Xiao said, "Take it."

The entourage asked: "Then, the people of the Wang family are asking to see, does Mr. Yuan want to see them?"

Yuan Xiao clicked his tongue: "No, just say I'm unwell. You can prepare a similar return gift and send them back."

In this way, there will be no trouble with the Wang family, and he will avoid those words he doesn't want to hear.

The relative responded and left.

In the next two days, the Wang family sent people to look for him twice, but Yuan Xiao blocked them all.The Wang family had no choice but to stop temporarily.

……

a few days later.

At dusk, Yuan Xiao hurried out of the barracks with a few relatives, and was about to mount his horse when he heard a commotion not far away.

Yuan Xiao only heard someone calling his name, turned his head and saw a man was trying to approach him a few meters away, but was stopped by the soldiers.

The man looked anxious and kept waving at him: "Brother Yuan, brother Yuan!"

That man was a son of the Wang family, Wang Dun who had the best personal relationship with Yuan Xiao in the past.

Recognizing Wang Dun, Yuan Xiao's face darkened immediately.He has already given the Wang family face enough, but the Wang family is so stalking, it is too much!

In fact, after several days of hesitation, Yuan Xiao finally made up his mind to be loyal to Tao Bei.He believes that Shangguan Xian will not betray, and if he chooses to join the enemy, then he will have no face to see Shangguan Xian.Furthermore, he is a different person to the Shu people, no matter how good the Shu people's promises are, but if he really takes refuge in the past, I am afraid that Zhu Nao will not fulfill his promise, and will just throw him away after using it!He has a good future in the Central Plains, so there is really no need to take that risk.

But now, he had made his position clear, but the Wang family was still entangled, and made trouble at the gate of his barracks.If this gets out, I don't know how much trouble it will bring him!

At that moment, Yuan Xiao ordered mercilessly: "Drive him away! If you dare to pester him again, we will arrest him and put him in a military prison!"

Several guards rushed towards Wang Dun immediately.

When Wang Dun saw this situation, he became even more anxious, and said loudly: "Brother Yuan, I really need to find you urgently! Listen to me and leave before it's too late! Otherwise, you will definitely regret it!"

Yuan Xiao had already stepped on the stirrup with one foot. Hearing this, he couldn't help but stop.

After all, Wang Dun is the prince of the Wang family, and he came to find him in person today, and he was so eager, perhaps not to be a lobbyist for the Shu people, but because of other things.Otherwise, it is enough to send a servant, why bother to come forward in person?

Thinking of this, Yuan Xiao's attitude softened a bit, and he ordered: "Let him go."

Several guards had already pushed Wang Dun to the ground, but upon hearing this, they hurriedly pulled him up and brought him up in front of Yuan Xiao.

Yuan Xiao looked a little impatient, and said coldly: "Brother Wang, why do you want to ask me, you might as well make a long story short. I have important things to do, and I can't afford to delay."

Wang Dun looked around and looked around, with a look of embarrassment on his face.Obviously, what he wants to say is very confidential and cannot be said in front of everyone.

Yuan Xiao frowned again, but after all he could bear his temper and waved his hands around, motioning for everyone to back away.

After all the soldiers retreated for a certain distance, Wang Dun said in a low voice: "I'm here to inform Brother Yuan! Brother Yuan is going to the government? There is a Hongmen banquet prepared there, so you must not go!"

Yuan Xiao was startled for a moment.He was in a hurry to leave this time, and he was indeed going to the government.Just now Wu Wei, an official from Henan Prefecture, sent someone to the military camp to spread the word, saying that he had heard some news and was anxious to ask Yuan Xiao to discuss it.Yuan Xiao didn't think much, he ordered a few guards and came out. He was stopped by Wang Dun just as he went out.

Yuan Xiao immediately pulled Wang Dun aside, and said solemnly, "What is Hongmen Banquet? What does Brother Wang know?"

Wang Dun whispered in his ear, "I have planted some eyes and ears in the government. I heard that several people entered the Zhengzhou government last night, and the leader was General Qin Hou!"

Hearing Qin Hou's name, Yuan Xiao suddenly showed a surprised expression.The so-called generals are miscellaneous generals, whose status is higher than his commander.And Qin Hou, Yuan Xiao knew that he was Gao Hong's general!Zhengzhou has always been the territory of Shangguanxian, why did Gao Hong's men come here suddenly?

Wang Dun continued: "My ears and eyes have heard that Qin Hou brought a secret order from General Tao from Yedu. They plan to trick you to the government, take the opportunity to arrest you, and put you in a car and send you back to Yedu! Qin Houhui Bring someone to take over your troops in Zhengzhou!"

"Catch me?!" Yuan Xiao stared, "Why?!"

Wang Dun said anxiously: "General Shangguan fell into the hands of the Shu army. General Tao thought he had rebelled, so he was anxious to eradicate his power!"

Yuan Xiao immediately froze in place.

When Wang Dun said this, he immediately understood the relationship.Tao Bei's three major factions fought for more than three or two days, and now that Shangguan Xian was in trouble, the other two factions would immediately take advantage of the situation to loot him.And Tao Bei didn't think about how to rescue Shangguan Xian, or how to appease those loyal soldiers, but was anxious to uproot Shangguan Xian's power and distribute the power to the other two factions!

Thinking of this, Yuan Xiao was furious, trembling with anger.

For so many years, Shangguanxian led them to fight for Tao Bei, and made great contributions.But what about Tao Bei? !For his own power, Tao Bei provoked factional struggles and suppressed Zhongliang!Shangguan Xianhui's defeat in Puzhou was also because Tao Bei did not send reinforcements to rescue him!Not only did he not save him, but he actually wanted to use a trick to kill the donkey and kill the donkey! !

Chilling and disgusting! !

However, Yuan Xiao was not completely dazzled by anger.He knew that Wang Dun had a close relationship with Shu merchants and received a lot of benefits from Shu merchants.He was worried that this might be Wang Dun deceiving him deliberately in order to persuade the Shu people to surrender, so he said, "Brother Wang, this matter is of great importance and must not be joked. If you tell half a lie, don't blame me for disregarding the old friendship!"

Wang Dun hurriedly said: "Brother Yuan, how can such a thing be joked? It is a great risk for me to report to you. If you don't believe me, just send someone to the government to have a look. Once you show up, even if you feel something is wrong, you won't be able to get away!"

If he didn't say anything, Yuan Xiao would send someone to investigate.Yuan Xiao immediately recruited a few cronies, gave them such and such instructions, and the cronies took the orders, and galloped towards the government without saying a word.

After about two sticks of incense time, the confidant came back on horseback.

"Commander!" said the friend, "We will pretend to be ordinary people and go to investigate. As the commander said, there are ambushes around the government!"

Yuan Xiao's face turned pale, his figure swayed, and he held his forehead.

Really... really... really ruthless General Tao! !How could he come up with such insidious means to deal with him! !

——In fact, Tao Bei had no choice but to make such a bad move.If he mobilizes a large army to guard Henan, it will take time, and the momentum will be too great; if he orders the abolition of Shangguanxian's old ministries openly, he is afraid of causing dissatisfaction with these old ministries, and instead joins the Shu army.That's why he came up with this trick, and asked people to secretly control those old troops who were most loyal to Shangguanxian, and then sent people to take over the positions of those officers, so as to take over the military power as quickly as possible and control Henan.

It's a pity that Tao Bei didn't know that during the few months when Zhu Nao besieged Puzhou, he sent people to investigate the backs of the forces in various parts of Henan Prefecture, and spent a lot of money to buy many eyes and ears.Tao Bei's insidious trick was picked out by him before he could use it.

It is definitely not a good thing for Yuan Xiao to be the commander of the Zhengzhou capital.How could he swallow such a bad breath?For his own sake, and for Shangguanxian's sake, he couldn't even get caught without a fight!

At that moment, he had made a decision in his heart, and said viciously: "Okay, okay! You are not benevolent, don't blame me for being unrighteous! Pass my order, immediately gather troops, and prepare to attack the Zhengzhou government——I am going to mutiny today!"