On 15 March, Zhang Xianzhong led the remnants of his troops to attack Papayakou and Huangdun, but instead of succeeding, he lost 1,200 men. Fearing that he would be surrounded by the officials and troops, Zhang Xianzhong took the remaining more than 1,000 people to retreat from the mountain path to Huguang and hid in the mountains of Xing and Gui.

In the barren mountains and dense forests, Zhang Xianzhong recuperated and befriended the mountain people, spent a lot of money to buy grain and salt, and inquired about the outside news through them.

Since he came down from Agate Mountain, Zuo Liangyu placed Xingyuan in Pingli County and never moved his nest again. Seeing that Zuo Liangyu was not moving, Yang Sichang was greatly annoyed, and kept flying to urge Zuo Liangyu to take advantage of the victory to pursue, but Zuo Liangyu ignored this.

Yang Sichang couldn't bear it, and immediately sent a letter to Emperor Chongzhen, asking He Renlong to replace Zuo Liangyu with the seal of the thief general. Who knew that after the holy decree came down, Yang Sichang was worried that the general would commit a taboo in the army, so he once again asked the court to take back the order.

Originally, He Renlong had already received Yang Sichang's personal promise, saying that he had promoted himself to the imperial court as a thief general, but this time he heard that Yang Sichang was urgently summoned, and he came to the superintendent with joy to listen to the order.

As soon as he entered the door, Yang Sichang reprimanded him on the grounds that he caught a fake "Zhang Xianzhong" in Agate Mountain last time, and he didn't mention anything about replacing Zuo Liangyu.

He Renlong retreated in disgrace, happened to pass by the signing room, and heard two staff members chatting inside, one of whom said, "...... This is the mastery of the Cabinet Lord, just like two dogs chasing rabbits, if there is only this one hare, they will desperately chase after it, and the seal of the general of the flat thief is that hare! ”

Through the door, hearing the sound of the two laughing, He Renlong's face turned pale, and he immediately walked out of the gate quickly, and Pegasus went straight to Zuo Liangyu's station in Pingli County.

Zuo Liangyu had already heard the news that Yang Sichang wanted He Renlong to replace him, so when he saw He Renlong coming, he naturally didn't give him a good look, and sat on the Taishi chair by himself, without even raising his head, and mocked loudly: "Who did I say about this storm, it turned out that General Ping Thief had arrived." ”

Seeing Zuo Liangyu's harsh words, He Renlong knew that this matter must have reached Zuo Liangyu's ears, he looked at the servants and maids in the hall, and whispered: "Zuo Shuai, He has confidential matters to tell, please retreat!" ”

"Well, you all stand down." Zuo Liangyu glanced at He Renlong, who was standing in front of him respectfully, waved his hand at the servants and maids, and motioned for them to retreat.

After everyone withdrew, He Renlong glanced around, stepped forward, and asked in his ear: "Zuo Shuai, have you ever heard that the cabinet lord wants to take away your general seal of the thief?" ”

It's really a pot that can't be opened, Zuo Liangyu slapped the table and stood up: "I, Zuo Liangyu, have done my best for the court, and some of them are credits, but I want to see which thing I don't know what is good or bad, and dare to fight Lao Tzu's idea?" ”

As Zuo Liangyu spoke, a pair of eyes stared at He Renlong, as if to say: "Don't pretend, isn't that person who is playing right and wrong you He Renlong!" ”

He Renlong was also not ambiguous, and immediately said: "Zuo Shuai knows that Yang Gebu has personally promised to He, saying that you Zuo Shuai is arrogant and arrogant, and he is not satisfied with the dispatch, and he has been played to the court to protect He as the general of the thief." I heard that the holy decree came down a few days ago, but it was detained by the cabinet again. ”

"Is that true? Why don't you declare the holy decree when you have it, and how can you do it like this? Zuo Liangyu will be suspicious.

He Renlong showed an angry expression on his face, and said hatefully: "My Zuo Shuai, isn't this matter obvious, Lord Cabinet wants to kill two birds with one stone, and hang us with the false name of a thief general, so that we can make meritorious contributions to killing thieves for him!" ”

"Birds!" Zuo Liangyu was furious and slammed his fist on the table, "He, Yang Sichang, is treating us as monkeys!" ”

He Renlong saw that Zuo Liangyu's anger was aroused, and immediately continued to add fuel to the fire and said: "Kunshan, although our brothers are rough people, and they don't have as many fancy intestines as scholars, but now that everyone has ridden on our heads, if we endure it like this, if we are known by the soldiers below, how can we control thousands of troops and horses?" So as soon as I got out of Xiangyang City today, I came here directly, thinking that the two of us would get together and always discuss a countermeasure. ”

He Renlong's words made Zuo Liangyu's heart numb, and he didn't know how to make a decision for a while, seeing that it was almost noon, he immediately got up and said: "Old He, you see that the time is not too early, why don't you eat the banquet first, and then we will discuss slowly after we are full of wine and food?" ”

He Renlong has always been a drunkard, and when he heard that there was wine, he suddenly became interested: "It's okay!" Over the years, our brothers have been instigated by outsiders, and they have a lot of points, and today he is going to have a few big bowls with you Zuo Shuai! Reminiscence! ”

Zuo Liangyu ordered someone to set up a banquet in the back house, and the two gathered around a table of delicacies from the mountains and seas, picked up the wine bowl, and drank it all.

The soldiers behind him picked up the wine jar, and just filled the second bowl, suddenly a captain hurriedly walked in, muttering a few words to Zuo Liangyu in his ear. Zuo Liangyu frowned slightly after hearing this, and immediately hugged his fist towards He Renlong and said, "Old He, Madame is in a hurry, Zuo will go back when he goes!" ”

"What a disappointment! Okay, okay, you go and come back quickly, He is waiting for you here! He Renlong put down the wine bowl and said unsatisfied.

Zuo Liangyu then got up and instructed the soldiers around him: "You guys give me a good life to serve He Zongzhen to eat and drink, if you can't have fun, don't blame this town for being ruthless!" ”

After that, Zuo Liangyu retreated with the captain with a smile on his face, and as soon as he went out, Zuo Liangyu restrained his smile and asked expressionlessly: "Where is the person sent by Zhang Xianzhong?" ”

When Zuo Liangyu walked into the flower hall under the guidance of the school captain, he saw a burly young man with a height of eight feet facing away from him, looking at a landscape painting on the wall.

"Ahem!" Zuo Liangyu deliberately cleared his throat, and the young man hurriedly turned around when he heard the sound, bowed respectfully to Zuo Liangyu and said, "In Xiaxi Camp Zhang Dingguo, meet Lord Zhentai." ”

"So you are Zhang Dingguo? What a guts! Do you know what this place is? Aren't you afraid that the town will immediately behead you, or kidnap Xiangyang for credit? Zuo Liangyu sat on his back on the Taishi chair and stared at Dingguo expressionlessly.

Dingguo didn't talk nonsense, and immediately took out a big red gift list from his arms and put it on the table in front of Zuo Liangyu: "Lord Zhentai, this is the gift list that my father gave you. ”

Zuo Liangyu straightened up slightly, glanced at the gift list quickly, his face was obviously much more relaxed than just now, and then showed a look of embarrassment: "The emperor has a strict decree, Zhang Xianzhong disturbed the ancestral tomb, it must not be forgiven, how dare this town disobey the order and surrender?" ”

Dingguo smiled slightly when he heard this, and said with his fists clenched: "Lord Zhentai has misunderstood!" Today is not to recruit peace, but to save adults! ”

Zuo Liangyu was a little puzzled when he heard it, and laughed instead of being angry: "Ridiculous! The dignified first-class military officer of this town, the general of the thief, how can you and other rogues be used to save him? ”

Dingguo shook his head and said, "Lord Zhentai's words are wrong! As the old saying goes, auxiliary cars depend on each other, and the lips are dead and the teeth are cold. With us anti-thieves, adults can support their own troops; Now the Yang Pavilion Department is forgiving to adults in every way, but they still need to rely on you, if he loses us thieves, can the adult's wealth last long? The so-called high bird is exhausted, and the good bow is hidden; The cunning rabbit dies, and the lackeys cook; The enemy country is destroyed, and the ministers are destroyed. Such an ending, but what does Lord Zhentai think? ”

"Bold!" Zuo Liangyu's self-respecting mind was broken by the national road, and his face changed instantly, "Zhang Xianzhong is only a thousand people left now, just a few thousand people left, just lingering, your delaying tactics can deceive Xiong Wencan, but you can't deceive me Zuo Liangyu!" ”

"What if it's a delaying tactic? Even if it's only for the sake of the adults themselves, we should leave a way out, otherwise when we are destroyed, it will be the day when the adults abandon the corpse of the West Market. That's all for the next word, please think twice! After that, Dingguo bowed deeply to Zuo Liangyu again.

Zuo Liangyu's face was gloomy, and he said, "You are threatening this town!" As an official of the imperial court, this town only has the word loyalty in his heart, how can he listen to your nonsense? ”

"Lord Zhentai, do you still want to enter the army?" Dingguo asked rhetorically.

Zuo Liangyu pretended to be righteous and awe-inspiring and said: "These days, the Inspector has been constantly urging, what is the duty of this town, dare not obey?" When the army of this town arrives, you will be wiped out, how can he be? ”

Dingguo laughed when he heard this, and Zuo Liangyu asked puzzledly, "...... What to laugh at? ”

Dingguo finished laughing, and Fang Cai said: "Now, my father has entered the Xing, returned to the mountains, and joined Cao Cao, where hundreds of miles are full of lofty mountains, the road is rugged and difficult to travel, and the adults of Zhentai blindly march, are they not afraid that it will be the next Luo Monkey Mountain?" If the general loses the battle again, and the general seal of the thief is taken away by the madman He, how should the general deal with himself? ”

Dingguo's words touched Zuo Liangyu's sore spot, so he sat down again, sighed softly and said, "Then you say, what should happen to this town?" ”

Dingguo took two steps forward and said in a low voice: "Lord Zhentai might as well change some of the people into my Xiying costumes, make a big show near Pingli County, toss around, and then report to the Yang Pavilion Department that there are rogues nearby, and they must stay here to eliminate the remnants of the thieves." In this way, the Lord of Zhentai can not only preserve his strength, but also not be punished by the Yang Pavilion, wouldn't it be the best of both worlds? ”

Zuo Liangyu's heart moved, he lowered his head and thought for a long time, and then said slowly: "Near the county seat, there are sentry agents of the cabinet department everywhere, if you are a little careless, you will be caught in the handle, it will be the crime of bullying the king, how will it end at that time?" ”

Dingguo smiled slightly: "Lord Zhentai might as well think back, in the past ten years, has the current saint ever dealt with a commander general?" ”

Zuo Liangyu thought for a while, slapped his thigh suddenly, and scolded himself: "Bird! Not really! ”

Dingguo nodded and said: "That's right, since Yuan Chonghuan's punishment in this dynasty, such as Sun Chuanting and Xiong Wencan, among those ministers who have been imprisoned or executed for crimes, which one is not a civil official?" They don't have many cronies and soldiers in their hands, and the court doesn't have too many scruples when they deal with it, so they naturally say they will be arrested, and they will be killed when they say they are killed! But for a general like Lord Zhentai, the imperial court is extremely forgiving and tolerant, Zuo Shuai, you have the way of our eight kings in Luo Monkey Mountain, but the court not only did not dare to punish you, but worshiped the thief general! Why? Isn't it because Lord Zhentai has heavy troops in your hands? ”

Seeing that Zuo Liangyu was silent, Dingguo knew that he was already moved, so he immediately struck while the iron was hot and continued: "Today, in troubled times, whoever has more soldiers will be able to maintain wealth and nobility for a long time, and whoever has fewer soldiers will have to be at the mercy of the imperial court!" Xing, return to the mountain, the terrain is easy to defend and difficult to attack, and the matter of Agate Mountain may not be able to meet the second time, if the Lord Zhentai is careless, the loss of soldiers and horses is too large, and the court is punished for the crime, how should the Lord Zhentai deal with himself? In the following words, please think twice, and forgive the offense. ”

Zuo Liangyu was silent for a long time after hearing this, then picked up the gift list on the table and looked at it twice, looked up at Dingguo and said, "Go back, this gift is accepted by the town!" ”

Dingguo understood that it was done, so he made a deep bow to Zuo Liangyu, and then said: "I will leave here." ”

Zuo Liangyu nodded, then summoned a personal soldier from the outside, and ordered: "There are many eyeliners in the city, you are good to send him out of the city, don't be noticed!" ”

The soldiers agreed, and immediately led Dingguo out.

After sending Dingguo away, Zuo Liangyu walked back to the back house quickly, and before he could push the door, he heard He Renlong shouting there: "Where are you Zuo Shuai?" Don't you plan to come out when you enter the lady's couch? Hurry up and call him to drink with Lao Tzu! ”

Zuo Liangyu hurriedly put on a smiling face, pushed open the door and walked in, and apologized repeatedly: "Lao He, I'm really sorry, Mrs. was delayed there for a long time just now, forgive me!" Forgiveness! ”

He Renlong was already half drunk, and when he saw Zuo Liangyu coming back, he immediately staggered up from his seat, grabbed the wine bowl, and handed it to him: "Come on!" Old Left! Let's not get drunk today! ”

Zuo Liangyu glanced at He Renlong helplessly, and then agreed: "Okay, good!" Let's get drunk! Get drunk! ”