When Zhong Mo walked out of the south gate of the imperial city, the sky was already dark, the surrounding garrison was heavily guarded, and the guards of the forbidden army stood still like a sculpture, not squinting at him, who walked out of the palace gate.

Above the night, there was a crescent moon, and the moonlight was dim, but under the imperial city, Zhong Mo's expression was with a touch of relief, and he looked back at the Han Imperial City like a mountain, and breathed a heavy sigh of relief.

After a Q&A with the Han Emperor, his intention of letting himself go back to Jinling was obvious, that is, he wanted to serve him as the internal response of the Northern Han Dynasty in the small court of the Southern Tang Dynasty. For Zhong Mo, this is not too joyful, because when you think about it, it seems to be a poisonous fruit.

First of all, if he returns south from Tokyo, whether he can gain the trust of Li Jing and the Southern Tang Dynasty court is a question, if he is like Li Deming, he is asked about the crime of collaborating with the enemy, that kind of result is not what he wants.

Secondly, being a traitor to the Lord is a little difficult in my heart. If you are in the Han Dynasty, you are given an official and a half-position, and you still have such a big obstacle in your heart, if you go back to Jinling and eat Tang Lu, but you do treason against the king and spread it, it will not be good for your reputation.

However, after thinking about it, Zhong Mo found that he had no more choices. As soon as the Han Emperor summoned him, then he had no room to survive in the city of Tokyo. On the other hand, although he can endure a down-and-down life, Zhong Mo really doesn't want to be like this for a long time, and in addition, his wife and small clans are all in Jiangdong, and it is always a good thing to be able to return to his hometown.

Another point is that what Zhong Mo said to the Han Emperor was full of heart, he really felt that according to the current situation, it was only a matter of time before the Northern Han Dynasty flattened the countries and unified the world.

One step, one step, Zhong Mo can only make this plan for the time being. Probably knowing Zhong Mo's constraints and predicament, Liu Chengyou rewarded him with a hundred taels of silver, carrying the reward in his arms, heavy, but Zhong Mo's steps were extremely brisk. When he returned to the rented residence, Zhong Mo had already thought about how to explain to Li Jing after returning to Jinling, and how to face the interrogation of the Southern Tang Dynasty ministers.

......

"Your Majesty, that Zhong Mo took the certificate issued by the Ministry of Rites, boarded the ship and returned south!" In the palace, Liu Chengyou received a report: "Before Zhong Mo left, he paid a generous report to the sojourners and the benefactors to them, and hired two retinues in the city to serve as guards......"

"Since I can remember the grace of food and lodging, I hope it can live up to my high hopes!" Liu Chengyou said lightly and commanded: "Pass the orders to the checkpoints along the way, it's convenient!" ”

"Yes!"

After the planting, the temperature has risen significantly, and large wheat fields in Hebei have begun to be harvested. Here in Tokyo, it was another summer rain, and it was very heavy.

"Your Majesty, slow down, your clothes are wet!" Zhang Dejun held a big umbrella and followed step by step, reminding him that he was a little busy.

It wasn't until the Privy Council that Liu Chengyou's pace slowed down, and Zhang Dejun put away his umbrella and hurriedly helped to dust off some raindrops stained on the imperial robe.

"Alright, take care of it yourself!" Liu Chengyou pointed at Zhang Dejun and left most of his eunuch robe wet.

Inside the Privy Council, there is an orderly scene, because of the weather, less busy, more leisurely. Along the way, the officials all put down their affairs and saluted.

In the military engine room, the two envoys, Zhe Congruan and Guo Rong, were discussing something, and when they learned that the Son of Heaven was coming, they hurriedly came out to greet them.

"Excuse me!"

"Cook tea for Your Majesty!" Guo Rong commanded his subordinates.

"Sit!" Liu Chengyou sat down with a golden knife, gestured to Chao Zhe and Guo, and asked, "What are you talking about?" ”

Guo Rong chuckled and said: "Cao Yin of Lizhou reported that Zhou Xingfeng used troops to Langzhou, and sent 7,000 troops from Changsha, both by land and water, and the target was directly aimed at Wuling!" ”

"This week, I can't sit still!" Liu Chengyou couldn't help laughing.

In the two months since the end of the Huainan War, the Hunan side can be described as a sudden change in the situation, with Ma Chu's old generals Wang Kui, Zhou Xingfeng and other sworn brothers as the protagonists, around Langzhou, staged a storm of changes, brothers turned against each other.

The cause of the incident also lies in the fact that Wang Kui, the envoy of Wuping Jiedu, was ordered to attack the Tang Dynasty, intending to take a bite of the fat meat of the Southern Tang Dynasty, but he didn't think that Ezhou was a hard bone, and he was beaten by the Tang general Liu Rengan, and nearly half of the soldiers were lost, and he returned in embarrassment and returned to Langzhou.

After Ma Chu was destroyed, the military and political affairs of Hunan, except for the south of Gui and Chen, which were captured by the Southern Han army, the rest of the chassis was basically divided by Wang Kui's ten brothers. Among them, Wang Kui is the strongest, occupying Langzhou, and most of his soldiers are Wuling soldiers, who are the backbone of their troops against the Ma clan and the Tang army.

However, after the defeat of Ezhou, the troops were greatly damaged, and the strength of the brothers was lost, which made the balance within Hunan be broken. Wang Kui, a martial artist, was originally just a general under Ma Xixu, brave and scheming, without foresight, perverse personality, insatiable, because of fate, he was able to divide a place and save one side.

Of course, probably as an instinct, he consciously weakened his strength, for fear of attracting the prying eyes of others, especially Zhou Xingfeng, who occupied Tanzhou. There is a desire to expand strength, and the easiest and fastest way is to annex other people's soldiers and horses.

So, Wang Kui set his sights on Chenzhou, west of Langzhou, and the one who occupied it was Uncle Pan, one of the ten brothers. He sent his subordinates to lead an army of 2,000 to the west along the Yuanshui River to ask for money and grain to supplement the Wuling Tomb.

Wang Kui was greedy, and his subordinates were even more unscrupulous. Uncle Pan was not muddy, and in the face of the persecution of Lang's soldiers, he simply defeated the army sent by Wang Kui under Yuanling City.

After making a move, there was no room for any more, Uncle Pan was ruthless, and simply used all the Chenzhou soldiers to quickly march eastward, intending to preemptively strike before Wang Kui reacted. Raiding Wuling City, Wang Kui was unprepared, and was captured by him in one fell swoop, and Wang Kui was killed by the rebels.

As a result, Uncle Pan successfully occupied Langzhou, the source of the disaster in Hunan.

Probably Uncle Pan, he didn't expect that the progress would be so easy, and he was unexpectedly happy. However, the action was also swift, and he absorbed and scattered the soldiers, annexed Wang Kui's subordinates, and was able to occupy Lang and Chen Prefectures, with more than 5,000 troops, and became a major force in Hunan, and his ambitions also followed.

After occupying Langzhou, Uncle Pan quickly changed his position and began to worry about the other brothers, and the biggest threat to him was, of course, Zhou Xingfeng, who occupied Changsha.

Zhou Xingfeng originally had Changsha City that had been looted and destroyed by the Tang Army, but this person was ruthless and capable enough, and after controlling Changsha, he killed hundreds of criminals in one day, and showed no mercy to those who did harm to the people, so as to quickly stabilize people's hearts and restore order.

Later, he recruited the displaced people, sheltered the Chu soldiers, and when the Huainan war was in full swing, he sent troops to the south, controlled Hengzhou, and pretended to be ordered by the Han Dynasty to appease Gui, Chen, Yong, Dao and other prefectures, and took the initiative to suggest that Zhang Wenbiao and other brothers should be stationed.

Later, he had a quarrel with Wang Kui, and each wrote to the court and pointed at each other. Liu Chengyou was self-assured and let Zhou Xingfeng lead the troops to attack the Tang Dynasty, and Zhou Xingfeng did the same, leading the army to pour out of the city and go east to attack Yuanzhou in the Southern Tang Dynasty.

Zhou Xingfeng was quite scheming, entered the Tang realm, and did not care in the face of the Tang generals who defended the state city, and led an army to monitor it, and dispatched his subordinates to loot goods and people in Yuanzhou, and returned to Changsha with 7,000 men and women and goods.

Within half a year, Zhou Xingfeng was able to actually control Tan and Heng Erzhou, with tens of thousands of troops, and his strength completely overwhelmed the defeated Wang Kui.

Therefore, when Uncle Pan got Langzhou, how could he not be jealous of Zhou Xingfeng, a hungry wolf. While training soldiers and horses, repairing the city, and looting money and grain, he sent people to Changsha to tell Zhou Xingfeng about his "bitterness" in attacking and killing Wang Kui, saying that he was only for his life, and generously invited Zhou Xingfeng to live in Wuling City.

In this regard, Zhou Xingfeng expressed his understanding and offered to propose that he was willing to go to the Tokyo Imperial Court and ask Uncle Pan to be the envoy of the Wuping Army. Uncle Pan refused to resign, and helped Liu Yan, the former jiedu envoy who was originally pushed by their ten brothers as the "façade", to come to power, and he became the deputy envoy, and at the same time went to Tokyo.

Regarding those situations in Hunan, Han Ting did not mean to intervene, and took a wait-and-see attitude, and agreed to the edict. got what he wanted, with "righteousness" in hand, Uncle Pan felt stable and began to enjoy it in Wuling City.

And Zhou Xingfeng, how could he not have ambition for Langzhou, and seeing that he succeeded in paralyzing Uncle Pan's heir, he began to provoke his subordinates. Previously, in Changsha, Sun Lang and Cao Jin, who were rebelling against the side, entered his field of vision.

At the beginning, after these two people led their subordinates to join Wang Kui, they were quite reused, and in the process of expelling the Tang army, they made many achievements with their familiarity with the Tang army. After Wang Kui was killed by Uncle Pan, they were all taken in, but under Uncle Pan's leadership, his wealth and official position were not promoted, and he was resentful.

In the face of Zhou Xingfeng's secret contact, he was really tempted, and not long ago, he set up a banquet to kill Uncle Pan, and directly led the army to raid the Shuaifu, and Liu Yan also solved the festival by the way. Subsequently, the two occupied Langzhou, Sun Lang claimed to be the Wuping Army Festival, and Cao Jin was the Chenzhou Festival, and asked the court to be sealed.

In this regard, Han Ting's side has not reacted yet, so Zhou Xingfeng will take the lead.

Guo Rong said to Liu Chengyou: "Zhou Xingfeng waved the banner of 'doing the right thing for heaven and controlling the violence and quelling the chaos', and widely spread the text and the brothers in the south, saying that it was for the revenge of Liu Yan and Uncle Pan. The minister discussed with Zhe Gong that Langzhou had been attacked by several rebellions, the number of troops had been sharply reduced, and the army was unstable. ”

Liu Chengyou nodded and asked, "In response to the rebellion in Hunan, what do you think the imperial court should do?" ”

Zhi Congruan replied: "Wang Kui, Liu Yan, and Pan Shuhei are all festivals who have been rewarded by the imperial court, and their subordinates have rebelled and attacked each other, completely ignoring the authority of the imperial court. If this is the case, in order to consolidate the majesty of the imperial court, it should be supported to quell the chaos in Zhouxing. However, without the permission of the imperial court, Zhou Xingfeng privately sent troops and horses, which was clearly in the name of quelling the chaos and revenge, and the fact of annexation and expansion was obvious, and his ambition was obvious, and he could not indulge! If Zhou Xingfeng is allowed to occupy Langzhou again, it will be completely occupied by Hunan, which will inevitably cause harm, and it will be even more difficult for the imperial court to control in the future! ”

"Have you found it, this week, the means of pulling the tiger skin to make a banner are extremely skilled!" Liu Chengyou shook his head and said with a smile.