The Jiangbei army set off from Wamiaokou and re-marched to Heiyang Mountain two days later.

This time, Zheng Zhaoye was very cautious and sent troops up the mountain to explore first.

After a while, the soldier reported: "Report, there is a Chu army on the mountain, I don't know how many soldiers and horses." They...... They invited Inspector Yang and the second son to talk. ”

"You mean Wang Xiao is on the mountain?"

"Seems to be."

"Pretending to be a ghost." Zheng Zhaoye sneered and said, "There's nothing to talk about, attack the mountain." ”

"Yes!"

The army changed formations and slowly pressed towards the Black Sheep Mountain.

The artillery fire fell again, and this time the Jiangnan soldiers and horses were ready, slowly advancing, and constantly sending troops and horses to make a detour to attack from the side.

"Spread out the array, rush forward, and those who dare to retreat will be killed!"

In the roar of artillery fire, although the Jiangbei army still suffered casualties, it was different from the panic when it was attacked last time, and it was still able to advance in an orderly manner.

Gradually, the rate of artillery fire slowed down.

The morale gradually rose, and they began to attack the Black Sheep Mountain in a big way.

"They run out of artillery, charge!"

"Kill......"

Zheng Zhaoye looked up at the mountains, his eyes full of murderous intent.

It doesn't matter if Wang Xiao is on the mountain or not, anyway, the army kills the past and doesn't leave a piece of armor, and it doesn't matter how much it is.

- This time, I stepped on this broken mountain first.

The next moment, Zheng Zhaoye's eyes narrowed, and he found that his side was attacking the foot of the mountain with momentum, but the offensive was stagnant.

He couldn't help but ride forward and asked, "What's the matter?!" ”

A soldier patted his horse back and said: "Report, Lord Zheng, the right attendant of the military department, is on the mountain, please supervise the division to collect the troops for the time being." ”

"Who's in the mountains?" Yang Jia was stunned.

"Fourth uncle?"

Zheng Zhaoye was also a little stunned, and then he was surprised in his heart and asked, "Fourth Uncle was caught by Wang Xiao?" ”

- Don't worry about him, let him die, let's kill him.

"Lord Zheng was not arrested, but brought the edict of His Royal Highness the Emperor Sun and was announcing the edict to Wang Xiao. He asked the Overseer and the Senator to go up the mountain. ”

A bad premonition came to Zheng Zhaoye's heart.

"This is the king's trick, don't pay attention to it!" Zheng Zhaoye shouted.

He pretended not to believe it and ordered the army to continue the attack.

However, Guan Ming and Tong Yuanwei got an excuse, and they no longer obeyed the order and refused to let their soldiers and horses rush to kill.

Despite Zheng Zhaoye's best efforts to stop it, the army retreated back out of the range of artillery.

Like child's play, the battlefield finally quieted down.

Zheng Zhaoye turned his head and looked around for a while, his eyes full of helplessness and ridicule.

Finally, he dismounted? He staggered towards the mountain.

The mountain roads are rugged and the frightened birds fly from time to time? As if mocking him for being blind in one eye......

There is a small pavilion halfway up the mountain.

Zheng Zhaoye stopped? Looking up, I saw a man in white standing in the pavilion? The wind is flying, and there is a smell of dust.

"That's the king's smile." He thought to himself.

Look at each other? That blind eye made him feel more and more ashamed of himself? So he became more and more angry.

Someone in the pavilion took two steps? Zheng Zhaoye turned his gaze and saw Zheng Longxuan.

Zheng Longqiao is the fourth son of Zheng Yuanhua, who was Chinese New Year's Eve eight years old at the time, and he has a temperament of youth and strength all over his body? The official coercion between the eyebrows? At this time, there is a bit of a dusty look on the clothes.

"What are you doing?" Zheng Longqiao opened his mouth and said: "It's true that I'm here, go, withdraw the army." ”

Zheng Zhaoye opened his mouth, angry and incredulous.

Zheng Longqiao didn't say much to him? commanded his subordinates, and someone took an edict and handed it to Yang Jia.

Yang Jia as the secretary of the Nanjing Military Department? In front of Zheng Longqiao, the right attendant of the military department, he didn't dare to take it big, so he hurriedly read the edict, and his face changed, and he was about to run down the mountain.

"Commandment."

"Don't retreat!" Zheng Zhaoye yelled.

"This is His Highness's edict." Zheng Longqiao said lightly.

"Fourth uncle, what are you doing here?" Zheng Zhaoye gasped heavily, raised his hand and pointed at Wang Xiao, and shouted: "You know that he is about to be defeated, why do you want me to withdraw the army?!" ”

Someone in the pavilion laughed "sneering".

"What are you doing with this expression? Do you think you are Yue Wumu who was recalled by the Twelve Gold Medals? ”

But I saw a young man of the same age walking out behind Wang Xiao, holding a little white tiger in his hand, giggling and laughing, with irony on his face.

Zheng Zhaoye couldn't help but be furious.

His state of mind at this moment is indeed Yue Fei's sadness of 'ten years of work and wasted in one fell swoop'. But it is not easy for the other party to answer this kind of words, he Zheng Zhaoye thinks very highly of himself and has the cheekiness to compare himself to Yue Fei, but he does not have the courage to compare his grandfather Zheng Yuanhua to Qin Hui.

Therefore, even if he is resourceful and eloquent, he can't answer in the face of such sarcasm, and can only tremble with anger.

Zheng Longmiao glanced at his face, as if he had just seen him blind in one eye now, frowned casually, and said, "How did you make it like this?" If you have anything to say, go back to your grandfather and talk about it. ”

"Fourth uncle!" Zheng Zhaoye roared, "You have made peace with Wang Xiao? What qualifications does he have to make peace with us, and I can defeat him in no time......"

"It's a pity that you can't set foot in Laizhou." Wang Xiao said.

His voice was very flat, his eyes looked at the military array under the mountain, and he didn't look at Zheng Zhaoye, and said: "This is the second time you have been to Black Sheep Mountain, you see, you can't attack the small Black Sheep Mountain." ”

"I can take it!" Zheng Zhaoye said, "If those people weren't too stupid, you would have died ten thousand times!" ”

"You treat everyone else as stupid, Yang Jia, Guan Ming, Tong Yuanwei...... You think they're stupid. But it's just that their position and purpose are different from yours. It's like a sheep wants to eat grass, and you want it to eat meat and call it stupid, are you stupid or stupid? I didn't die 10,000 times, because I know better than you what they want, including what Jung Won-hwa wants. ”

"You talk nonsense! As long as my fourth uncle doesn't negotiate peace, I will kill you immediately! ”

"Oh."

Wang Xiao replied indifferently and said, "Do you know what a really useful threat is?" You transferred all the troops to Laizhou. But don't forget that Qin Shanhai is still in Jinan, plus the 40,000 defenders of Jinan City, if they directly move south, can you catch up? ”

"If you don't dare to do this, you will only be dead when you leave the city......

"Then let's die together, we can kill wherever we can, destruction is always easier than construction, even if we fight all the people, we have to kill Jiangnan into ruins, Zheng Yuanhua will not spend ten years to recover."

"Don't you dare ......"

"Then let Zheng Yuanhua gamble, see if I dare?" Wang Xiao said lightly: "Your transfer of troops to attack Laizhou is the biggest strategic mistake, thanks to you, I have already negotiated the conditions that should be negotiated with this Zheng Shilang." Hmm, thank you. ”

"Talked?" Zheng Zhaoye's expression changed, he turned his head to look at Zheng Longqing, and muttered, "You can't do this to me...... I lost an eye...... You can't say you won't fight if you don't fight. ”

Zheng Longmiao didn't answer, and arched his hand to Wang Xiao and said, "The horse doesn't have to humiliate the little nephew anymore. This is the farewell, we will withdraw according to the word, and the horses will do their own thing. ”

Wang Xiao also arched his hand, and said with a faint smile: "There will be a period later." ”

Zheng Longmiao snorted and walked towards the outside of the pavilion, Zheng Zhaoye stopped him and shouted, "You can't do this!" Three days, give me three more days, I will set foot in Laizhou and capture Jinan...... I'm going to tell my grandfather that I will have endless trouble this time if I let Wang Xiao go......"

"Smack!"

Zheng Longqiao slapped Zheng Zhaoye in the face.

"You sober me up, I let you go up the mountain, just to let you know that your father has made a decision, shut your mouth, and withdraw with me."

Zheng Zhaoye's face was flushed, he stared at Zheng Longqiao with hatred, and he bit blood between his teeth.

He was blind in one eye for this battle, and no one knew what it meant to him.

The Zheng family has the ambitions of the Zheng family, and he Zheng Zhaoye also has his own ambitions, if the Zheng family is compared to the Sima family who usurped Wei, he Zheng Zhaoye has always regarded himself as Sima Yan who is the emperor...... And now, with this blind eye, personal ideals have become slim.

Such a dedication of oneself was thrown away with disdain?

- Hate......

Zheng Longmiao didn't care about the sentimentality in his heart, waved his hand, and his own soldiers set up Zheng Zhaoye and walked down the mountain like a sack.

……

"Finally gone."

In the pavilion, Wang Xiao squatted down and touched the white tiger's head.

The white tiger stretched out its claws to slap him, but he quickly dodged it.

"You can't hit me, Meow ......"

"Whew......"

Qin Xuance pursed his lips and said, "Stop playing, when it gets bigger, it won't kill you." ”

"I don't like your analogy."

"What analogy?" Qin Xuance was stunned, "Yue Fei's one?" I didn't really compare him to Yue Fei. ”

Wang Xiao suddenly smiled and said, "Speaking of which, there is something very interesting. I used to hear people say that the reason why Zhao Gou recalled Yue Fei was because he didn't want to welcome back Hui and Qin Erzong. ”

"Isn't it?"

"I recently read the historical materials and learned that Huizong had been dead for several years at that time, and Qinzong was only Zhao Go's brother and a 'king of immorality', even if he came back, he would not pose the slightest threat."

"That's?"

"Shi Zai only said how the battle between Yue Fei and Wushu was, but at that time, Wushu was divided into four Jin soldiers to go south, and the other three Jin soldiers and the Song army are rarely mentioned in historical materials, so it must not be optimistic."

Wang Xiao said this, waved his hand, and said, "I don't want to discuss with you whether Zhao Gou is a faint monarch. What I want to say is that the ass determines the head, and later generations will look at the events of hundreds of years ago and think that this person and that person are big fools. But no matter who becomes Zhao Gou or Yue Fei, he may not be able to make a better choice according to the situation at that time.

Speaking of this incident, from Zheng Zhaoye's point of view, Zheng Yuanhua and Zheng Longqing's choice was completely wrong. But in fact, Zheng Yuanhua and Zheng Longxuan, including Guan Ming and Tong Yuanwei, from their position and purpose, everyone made the best choice.

The victory of the war does not depend on how many people you kill, but whether the strategic goal is achieved. Therefore, if you Qin Xuance can kill the enemy bravely, you can be regarded as a general, but if you can go to the army to strategize, you can be called handsome. ”

"Oh." Qin Xuance said: "So you mean, Zheng Zhaoye is a fool. ”

"I don't know if he's stupid or not, he loses and loses...... Treat everyone else like a fool. ”

"But you don't say why you don't like my parables, I see you've been using my parables."

"Your metaphor makes me look like a villain......"

-------------------------------------

There are not many people in the world who know about the peace talks between Wang Xiao and Zheng Yuanhua. However, with the retreat of the Jiang army, the pattern of the world has also been temporarily stabilized.

The corpse of Emperor Yanguang went south with the Jiangnan army and was buried in the filial piety tomb in Nanjing. The cause of death was revealed to the world with the words 'loss of water', and Jinan and Nanjing both had a tacit understanding of this statement, so the dust settled.

After the burial of the first emperor, the emperor's grandson Zhou Yu succeeded to the throne in Nanjing, and changed the yuan to 'Shouchang'.

The new emperor ascended the throne, Feng Zheng Yuan became the Duke of Ningguo, accumulated the Taishi, Fengtiandian University Scholar, and entered the cabinet service; Feng Zhou Yan was the king of Qi, and he was the king of Jinan; Changed the title of Wang Xiao to the Duke of Laiguo, the governor of Liaodong, Dengzhou, and Laizhou military affairs.

At the same time, the Chu Dynasty recognized the name of the Rui Dynasty, the two sides negotiated peace, demarcated the border, ceded Beizhili, Shanxi, Shaanxi, Henan, and most of the territory of Huguang, and the Chu Dynasty paid 300,000 taels of silver to the Rui Dynasty every year......

With this series of edicts, the world seems to have finally ushered in a little stability.

And behind these things, Zhou Zhang's humiliation and death, Tang Zhongyuan's difficulty in riding a tiger, Zhou Yu's young and ignorant, Zheng Yuanhua's step-by-step camp, Zhou Yan's helplessness, and Wang Xiao's Taoguang and obscurity...... All of this, after all the pros and cons have been weighed, have all been swept under the rug.

The Chu Dynasty changed dynasties and lost half of the country, but it also temporarily kept half of the country......

~~

Ten days later, Jinan.

The palace has been changed into the palace of the king of Qi.

The corpse of the Emperor in the main hall has been removed.

Zhou Yan sat alone in the empty hall, at a loss in his heart.

"The ambition is in the end, and it is empty......"

With a creaking sound, the door was pushed open.

Zhou Yan looked up and saw Wang Xiao walking in slowly.

"Why is Your Highness sitting here alone?"

Zhou Yan's eyes were blank and asked, "Is my brother-in-law blaming me for not going to the city gate to greet you?" But I'm just a vassal king now, my brother-in-law is a prince, and we're not kings and ministers...... I finally don't have to go to meet you......"

Wang Xiao smiled lightly and said, "It's okay, Your Highness doesn't have to care about these false courtesies." ”

He sat down beside Zhou Yan, looked at the place where Emperor Yanguang's spiritual hub had been placed, and said, "Your Highness has lost the throne, are you disappointed?" ”

"It would be a lie to say that you are not disappointed." Zhou Yan thought for a while and said slowly: "Including my brother-in-law, didn't you look like you wanted to worship me as the Son of Heaven at the beginning?" ”

"That's just in name." Wang smiled, "This time, we still held on." What's more, our army of 80,000 did not suffer much attrition. ”

"So what? We still have these 80,000 troops, and we can also be Zhou Yu's barrier? ”

Wang smiled: "Then if there is a different result, can His Highness be satisfied?" We can fight with the Jiangnan army and do our best, but we may not lose in the end. But Your Highness, you have to understand that these 80,000 people are not elites except for the original Liaodong soldiers and horses. They fled from the capital to Jinan, and they did not rest at all, and after the reorganization, they did not recognize all their robes. Let such a team of soldiers and horses fight with the Jiangnan army, how many people can be left in the end?

We have exhausted all the soldiers under our command and exhausted all the money and food. The war continued, and the people could not live in peace. After fighting for a year and a half, he defeated Zhou Yu and let His Royal Highness succeed to the throne as emperor. And then what? Waiting for Jiannu or the rebel army to go south, Your Highness, you will be the emperor of a hundred days, in this case...... Do you feel satisfied? ”

Zhou Yan closed his eyes and felt helpless again.

He let out a long sigh and said, "I'm not blaming my brother-in-law. However, if you ask me if I am disappointed, I will answer honestly...... I don't want to pretend to be excited in front of my brother-in-law. yes, what can my brother-in-law do? Can you really help useless people like me to level Nanjing, restore the capital, drive away the captives, and set the world down......"

"Huh? Why not? We bought time. ”

Zhou Yan said: "What if you get time? Shandong is the land of four wars, there are no mountains and rivers to defend, and now there is no orthodox name. The time, place, and people are not in me, and the further we go, it will only become more difficult. ”

"When I first arrived in Liaodong, General Qin said that to fight a war, you must first learn to look at the mountains. Jinzhou and Ningyuan guard the western Liaoning corridor, guarding the main road between the mountains and the sea; The north of the capital is Yanshan, and the west is Taihang; Taiyuan and Xi'an are even more advantageous in the world...... But can these mountains really hold the enemy? These places are still lost, aren't they? In my opinion, the danger of mountains and rivers can help. But fighting a war still depends on the fighting spirit in everyone's heart. ”

When Wang Xiao said this, he smiled lightly and said, "As for me, there are many small ways. But there is always no time to implement. This Chu Dynasty has always been in danger, so dangerous that people can't breathe. This time, I finally got the time to buy it, and it was worth it. To put it mildly, for me, this is worth more than His Highness getting the throne. ”

Zhou Yan looked at Wang Xiao silently, not knowing what to say.

Wang Xiao always had too many things in his mind that made him feel weird, which spanned nearly four hundred years between each other...... Generation gap.

"Nothing happens overnight, and it's normal to have victories and defeats in troubled times. Your Highness need not be too disappointed. Wang smiled: "Xu Guifei and the Queen Mother are still in Jinan, He Liangyuan and Zuo Jinglun would rather Zhishi than go to Nanjing to serve, why?" Because they can see that when we take this breath, when our strength is really enough to compete with Nanjing, the orthodoxy of the world is still on you, Your Highness. ”

Zhou Yan thought for a while and said, "They're just gambling." In the final analysis, it is because their interests are incompatible with Zheng Yuanhua. ”

"That'...... A loyal minister of the former emperor like Luo Yuan still supports His Royal Highness. ”

"That's because Zhou Yu did send an assassin to assassinate his father."

Wang smiled: "Then as long as Your Highness has not given up, they will still support Your Highness." ”

His expression slowly became solemn, and he said: "Remember, this time with Nanjing, your Highness did not support the peace talks, I insisted on going my own way, so I led the troops to leave Jinan, and Your Highness did not keep me." And suing for peace with the Rui Dynasty, ceding land, and paying tribute, these are Zhou Yu's wills, and Your Highness, you have never agreed.

Wait for those loyal literati and scholars to react, these will become the virtuous names of His Highness, and when the chaos rises again, His Highness will be able to become the real orthodoxy of the Chu Dynasty, and it will have nothing to do with the concubines at that time, just because Your Highness has made these choices, you are more assertive and courageous than Zhou Yu, so you can win the hearts of the people more. ”

Zhou Yan was stunned, raised his head, and muttered, "Brother-in-law......"

"Settle down and wait for it to ferment." Wang Xiao stretched out his hand and patted Zhou Yan's shoulder, and sighed: "The so-called 'building a high wall, accumulating grain, and slowing down the king', the most difficult thing is this 'slowing down to become the king', it depends on whether we can restrain those vain and indifferent ambitions." ”

After saying this last sentence, he stood up and walked out of the Qi Palace.

~~

On the carriage, Tang Qianqian was looking down at the file in her hand, and when she saw Wang Xiao coming back, she couldn't help but smile and said, "If it weren't for what I heard you say last time, people would still think that you would cultivate Zhou Yan into a famous monarch." ”

"Why not? The more virtuous he is, the easier it will be for the world to return to his heart. ”

"Aren't you afraid that you won't be able to suppress him?"

"I'm just afraid he's growing too slowly."

Speaking of this, Wang Xiao looked at Tang Qianqian's narrow expression, sighed, and said, "All of you, you always take the emperor's name too seriously, it's just a name......

The carriage drifted away.

Farther around the corner, a figure flashed.

~~

It was night, in a corner of Jinan City, two figures gathered together.

"Wang Xiao has returned to Jinan."

"Not bad."

"What about the Ablins?"

"He followed Wang Xiao to Laizhou, but was taken away as a homeless person, and he couldn't be contacted......"

"Mirda's group is going to do it again, and we need to do it as soon as possible."

"Don't worry, I've already gotten to Wang Xiao's side, and I can do it when I find an opportunity......"

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