It was nearly mid-May, and Zhou Zao's expeditionary army, which had been struggling for more than half a year on the distant Changsha-South Vietnam border, finally arrived at the land of Longxing in the Han Dynasty: Fengpei.

After decades, coming to this land to raise himself, Zhou Zao's heart can be described as mixed.

Twenty-eight years ago, when Emperor Taizu Gao was still the chief of the Qin Surabaya Pavilion, Zhou Zao was very unlucky to be selected as a private husband and sent to Guanzhong to participate in the construction of the mausoleum of Qin Shi Huang in Lishan.

And the leader of the Minfu team is Emperor Gao of the Han Dynasty, the head of the Surabaya Pavilion of the Qin Dynasty, and Liu Bang.

In that era of 'the people's team has hidden dragons and crouching tigers per capita', the people's team led by Liu Bang eventually inevitably followed in the footsteps of Chen Sheng and Wu Guang.

Of course, not an uprising, but an absconding...

One day, several people who had heard from the old man that 'the laborers had no way to return to their hometowns' and had received evidence of the laborers of the Great Wall were afraid that they would never be able to return to their hometowns, so they fled at night and disappeared.

According to the harsh system of Qin law, if a man escapes, the entire team of Surabaya people will be punished and killed.

In desperation, Liu Bang finally made the major decision that affected his life and even affected the Central Plains for hundreds of years in the future: running.

Liu Bang summoned the people and said: Now that the people have escaped, even if we go to Xianyang, we will be punished, so it is better to disband and run for our lives; If there is turmoil today, I will also find a place to avoid the limelight, if there are no relatives at home and I don't know where to go, you can go with me.

In this way, Liu Bang officially fell into the grass; And the Han general Long Zhou Zao also hugged a golden thigh since then - among the more than a dozen young and strong people left, Zhou Zao was impressively listed!

In a sense, Xiahou Ying, Fan Hao and other old friends belong to Liu Bang's 'ministers from the dragon' in the true sense, but if we talk about time, it is undoubtedly since Liu Bang fell into the grass, Zhou Zao, who has followed the left and right, can be called 'Taizu heroes'.

Since leaving his hometown that time, Zhou Zao has chased Emperor Gao to fight in the south and north, first exterminating the tyrannical Qin, and then suppressing the overlord, helping Liu Bang establish the Han family and sit on the supreme position.

After the Han Dynasty, the court was surging, Liu Lu fought for power, and Zhou Zao chose to stay out of the matter very wisely, returned to his own fiefdom, and actively built his own fiefdom, and developed Longshu County from a barren land in the Qin period into a black soil with channels and rich grain and rice!

- Zhou Zao even built a canal several miles long out of his own pocket!

But the peaceful times are always so short-lived, so unexpected.

Last year, when Empress Lu was seriously ill and felt the surging waves in Chang'an, and the princes and ministers were unstable, Zhao Tuo, the king of Nanyue, brazenly proclaimed himself emperor!

One mountain cannot accommodate two tigers, and one world cannot accommodate two emperors!

No matter who reigns, they can only make a strong response to Zhao Tuo's claim to be emperor: conquest!

But here's the problem: if Empress Lu sends the Lu clan to go out to conquer, there will be the disadvantage of dispersion of forces; If you send a noble minister in Beijing, you may face the situation that Liu Hong is facing today - the veteran military generals who do not deal with him are leading the troops outside, eyeing the tiger!

Therefore, Lu Houfu was very happy and decided to send a 'neutral' founding hero to lead the army to the south to attack South Vietnam.

In this way, Zhou Zao, who was thinking about farming with peace of mind, inexplicably became the chief general of the expedition to Vietnam, and was also awarded the rank of former general.

Recalling that experience on the Changsha-South Vietnam frontline, Rao is Zhou Zao was well-informed, and he couldn't help but feel palpitations.

The soldiers fell in pieces, and the troops lost their combat effectiveness in formations!

Dampness, pestilence, and sweltering heat all devastated this righteous army from the far north.

Later, news came from Chang'an: the princes and ministers colluded inside and outside, and brazenly launched a plan to eliminate the relatives of the Lu family, and achieved ultimate success!

Then, it is now officially in power.

Before contacting Flying Fox Commander Chai Wu, Zhou Zao could be said to know nothing about the situation in the Chang'an court - in Zhou Zao's vision, Chang'an only experienced a change of power, and the Lu family was completely ancient, but sitting on the throne was still the bloodline of Emperor Taizu Gao and the heir of Emperor Xiaohui.

But after getting in touch with Chai Wu smoothly, Zhou Zao was shocked, and immediately worried about his future...

——Chen Ping, Zhou Bo and other founding heroes actually tried to abolish the establishment after destroying Zhulu!

And it hasn't worked out yet?

This made Zhou Zao amazed, and completely gave up the confidence of the class teacher to return to the dynasty in the short term.

At this point, the expedition to Vietnam is considered a complete miscarriage - in the case that more than 20% of the fighters have lost their combat effectiveness before the army has even started the war, this battle is completely impossible to fight.

Coupled with the open and secret battles within the court, the army of the expedition to Vietnam was almost unnoticed by the court in a short period of time; Even if you notice it, you will most likely pretend not to see it.

Gai because no matter the founding merits led by Chen Ping and Zhou Bo, or the current Liu Hong on the throne, it is absolutely impossible for Guangming to admit it: the defeat of the expedition to Vietnam!

Because that means that for Zhao Tuo to be the emperor, the Han family has no choice but to let it mess around.

In desperation, Zhou Zao could only hold the mood of 'taking a risk' and asked Chai Wu to explore the wind today.

But Zhou Zao never thought that when he was less than fifteen this year, he would be able to have such a broad vision!

At the beginning of March, an order came from Chang'an: the army of the expedition to Vietnam retreated 500 miles north and temporarily stood by at the junction of Huainan and Huaiyang.

Just one order is enough for Zhou Zao to see what kind of person Liu Hong is today.

First of all, the current saint is aware of the plight of the army of Zhengyue, and he has no intention of leaving it alone and letting the army of Zhou Zao fend for itself.

The order of 'retreating 500 miles north' undoubtedly conveys such a message plainly and simply: The class teacher can, but he needs a good time and a good reason.

didn't let Zhou Zao wait long, and this time came: the sons of King Mourning Hui rebelled in Qidi, and the army of Yue immediately went north to protect the place of Emperor Taizu Gao's Longxing!

Coupled with the rank of general on Zhou Zao, he reiterated 'fake festivals, let me act cheaply', so that Zhou Zao got out of the south perfectly.

Standing at the head of Fengyi City, looking out of the city, looking at the military camp with less than 20,000 soldiers, Zhou Zao sighed bitterly.

I think that at the beginning, when Zhou Zao set off from Chang'an, there were nearly 30,000 soldiers in the army of conquering Vietnam!

There is even a Southern Army, which is from the same abundant background as Zhou Zao, and sent a lieutenant department to think that it was the framework of the Chinese army.

From the east of Chang'an, Han Valley, and then south, along the way to absorb all the townships brave and strong, so that Zhou Zao's army swelled into a huge army of nearly 100,000 soldiers when he was on the territory of Changsha State!

But only half a year later, Zhou Zao's army left at least 5,000 heroic souls in the hot and humid south.

Now there is still a strength to fight, and there are only more than 17,000 people outside the city who can follow Zhou Zao for a long distance and come to garrison Fengyu, as well as the 2,000 people of the original Southern Army who have scattered home.

The remaining 70,000 people were temporarily stationed near the long straight line of Changsha-Fengpei, temporarily repaired, and then headed north.

"Ahh I hate that Zhao Tuo, still in and out of the police, the yellow house is left..."

Although he got out of the quagmire in the south, Zhou Zao's heart was still filled with humiliation and resentment - in the extreme south of the Han Dynasty, there was actually a thief who was called the emperor and was alive and well!

This can be described as a deep shame for Zhou Zao.

"My lord, my son is here."

Just as Zhou Zao stopped at the head of the wall and looked at the south, a shout from behind him interrupted Zhou Zao's thoughts.

After turning around and seeing the face of the visitor, Zhou Zao showed a stiff smile.

"Have you ever found any traces of the rebels?"

Hearing this, the young general stepped forward and arched his hand, and said with a calm face: "My son has explored many times along the way, and there should be no mistakes: the rebels of the King of Qi have no intention of entering Fengpei, so they will go straight to Suiyang by Qi!" ”

"If there is no mistake, it should arrive in Suiyang a few days later, on the 19th day of the fifth month of the summer."

"The general has also arrived in Suiyang for a few days, so he should be waiting for him."

Nodding his head, he turned his vision back to the far south, and Zhou Zao mentioned for no reason: "This Qi army, how can the march be so fast..."

As soon as the words fell, the voice of the young general came from behind him again: "It is rumored that the rebels are running all the way, and there are no obstacles along the way, and the counties are afraid to avoid it, so they only close the city and fortify themselves, allowing the rebels to advance westward." ”

"Oh?"

A short sound of doubt came out, and Zhou Zao shook his head with a faint smile, and walked towards the city wall with his hands down.

"On the day of the end of the war, Kanto County, I'm afraid it will be turbulent for a while~"

"And go out of the city with my father, and share the evening food with the soldiers."

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"Can I still trust you?"

Recalling that day, with just one inquiry, the eunuch suddenly provoked Wang Zhong to kneel on the ground, and Liu Hong felt a deep tiredness.

Since Liu Hong began to establish the provincial imperial prison, Wang Zhong has inexplicably shown a very strange attitude.

It's not about passive sabotage, it's just inexplicably some...

Not as hard as Liu Hong imagined.

In Liu Hongdi's imagination, even if Wang Zhong is a eunuch order, he can't escape the essence of his 'house slave', and for Liu Hongdi's order, Wang Zhong should do his best to complete it with 120% of his fighting spirit.

In order to make Wang Zhong work better, Liu Hong even easily gave Wang Zhong a privilege that most eunuchs could not obtain in their lifetime: the heir of his step-son inherited the ancestral hall and gave it to Wang Zhong.

It was after this incident that Wang Zhong's 'slackness' intensified, from the original vague and vague, to the open.

Liu Hong never expected that the reward he gave to Wang Zhong for the purpose of motivation made Wang Zhong not fully concentrated, and he scattered more than half of it for the cultivation of the new step-son.

If it is a courtier like this, then Liu Hong has nothing to say - he should go to work, and he still has to have his own life after work, which is a desire that normal people will have.

But Wang Zhong is a domestic slave, but he uses his mind on 'personal life', which makes Liu Hong feel a little uncomfortable.

Even so, Liu Hong didn't make things too difficult for Wang Zhong, thinking that as long as Wang Zhong completed his explanation, it would not be a big deal to spend some effort on cultivating heirs.

But the assassination of Emperor Jing in history and the current acting crown prince Liu Qi in the palace can be said to have completely exploded the dissatisfaction that Liu Hong had accumulated for a long time!

That assassin is actually a historian in the Shiqu Pavilion!

Let's not care how this historian got on the line with Prime Minister Chen Ping, just because he was able to carry a blade in Weiyang Palace, it was enough to make Liu Hong furious-today is the acting crown prince, so who can say for sure tomorrow, will it be Liu Hong who will be assassinated?!!

It stands to reason that if the weapons and blades that should not appear in Weiyang Palace, Liu Hong should be held accountable for the defense of Weiwei Worm Da - Weiyang Palace and even Changle Palace, everything in and out of the interior and exterior is within the jurisdiction of Wei Wei, who shoulders the responsibility of guarding the two palaces.

However, in order to enhance the authority of the provincial imperial eunuch and lay a good foundation for the future secret service, Liu Hong has included almost all the affairs within the Weiyang Palace into the jurisdiction of the provincial imperial supervision under Wang Zhong.

What Wei Wei needs to ensure is that the prohibited items cannot be sent to Weiyang Palace openly, and as for the contraband that was secretly sent in, it is now within the scope of Wang Zhong's supervision!

It was in this situation that a small shrimp who lived in Shiqu Pavilion, the royal archives, served as a historian, and was responsible for sorting out the archives, actually entered the Weiyang Palace with a three-foot sword!

He also used this sword to almost stab to death the acting crown prince, Liu Qi, the historical Emperor Jing of the Han Dynasty, and destroyed the political alliance between Liu Hong and Liu Heng, the acting king!

What made Liu Hong even more unacceptable was that according to the follow-up investigation, the murder weapon entered Weiyang Palace through the channel of bribing the eunuchs and carrying it into the vegetables that Dong Kitchen went out to buy!

This shocked Liu Hong, and a deep fear welled up in his heart!

This entrainment of a sword has already made Xiao Liu Qi almost die, so if he carries something else...

Even sprinkled some poison directly in the vegetables, will Liu Hong also die?

The more he thought about it, the more Liu Hong felt a chill down his spine, and the fear in his heart was all transformed into infinite anger and sprinkled on Wang Zhong, the controller of the provincial imperial eunuch.

But Wang Zhong's words after that made Liu Hong feel a little surprised.

Putting aside the part of grieving and begging for mercy, Wang Zhong expressed his thoughts very straightforwardly: he was already old and useless, and prayed to go to Anling to keep a wake for Emperor Xiaohui.

When Liu Hong asked about the internal reason, Wang Zhong told the story of the matter.

As early as when he went to Shaofu and was seriously injured, and pretended to be dead, covered Qin Mu and Ji Yi out of the palace, and sent the edict to the Flying Fox, Wang Zhong had already had some thoughts of retreating; But because Liu Hong is the first heir, he did not mention it.

Wang Zhong really fell into self-denial, and it was after the establishment of the provincial imperial eunuch.

That injury left Wang Zhong with irreversible damage, in addition to his lungs, Wang Zhong's legs and feet were not very neat.

Such a sick appearance undoubtedly made the eunuch group in the palace despise Wang Zhong; In addition, due to the affairs of the provincial imperial eunuch, Wang Zhong's time to stay by Liu Hong's side is getting shorter and shorter, which makes Wang Zhong feel more and more haggard in the palace.

When Wang Zhong wanted to talk about retirement, Liu Hong gave Wang Zhong another gift, so that he could succeed the heirs of the clan and continue the bloodline.

This made Wang Zhong swallow the words that came to his mouth again.

Until now, there has been such an accident in the palace, and finally Wang Zhong said what he thought in his heart and asked to go to Anling to accompany Emperor Xiaohui.

Wang Zhong's sudden request surprised Liu Hong, but also felt Wang Zhong's intention: Wang Zhong's current appearance will only lead to two results.

Either the provincial imperial eunuch who can't suppress the hidden dragon and the crouching tiger, or a bunch of straw bales that Wang Zhong can suppress fill the provincial imperial eunuch.

Therefore, Wang Zhong actually didn't want to retire, but wanted to let go of the burden of the provincial imperial eunuch and let Liu Hong find another candidate.

In a brief exchange with Wang Zhong, Liu Hong could only accept this result in the end, and reached an agreement with Wang Zhong: before the end of the war, Wang Zhong temporarily withstood the provincial imperial eunuch and found a suitable candidate for Liu Hong.

Unexpectedly, as soon as Liu Hong's words came out, Wang Zhong hurriedly said: There is a suitable candidate now!

The dusty memories slowly unfolded with Liu Hongdi's memories, showing a reality-gritting reality in Liu Hong's mind.

But Liu Hong was full of fun, and his index finger rubbed a few under his mouth