The weather in July is particularly hot, and people sweat like rain on the bustling streets of Chang'an, but in order to make a living, they have to go out to work hard and earn a little money to support their families.

On this morning, three people walked in from outside the Chunming Gate, a servant led the horse, a servant carried the burden, the burden was a bookcase, and immediately sat a young man, at most in his early twenties, wearing a brocade robe, burly, his name was Wu Jinlin, learning literature and martial arts, chivalrous and righteous, quite famous in Huaixi, his father Wu Shaocheng, was Li Xilie's confidant general.

Chunming Gate comes in, the north is Xingqing Palace, now changed to Taiwei Mansion, the palace wall is tall, the building inside is magnificent, Wu Jinlin constantly looked at Xingqing Palace, praised it, pointed with a horse whip and said, "This is where the big husband should live, if he wins the power in the future, he will change this place into my palace!" ”

Passers-by on both sides listened to his wild words, and they all hid their mouths and laughed, and the servant smiled bitterly and said, "Childe, let's go to Pingkangfang!" There are many inns over there, and it's close to here. ”

Wu Jinlin saw that passers-by on both sides were laughing at him, he was not angry, and laughed loudly: "The golden scales are not in the pool, they will turn into dragons when they encounter wind and clouds, do you know who they are talking about?" That's Uncle Ben, Wu Jinlin! ”

Wu Jinlin stayed in an inn and walked to the front of Xingqing Palace, but he waited in front of Xingqing Palace for three days and did not meet Zhu Jun.

Early in the morning of the fourth day, he came to the front of Xingqing Palace, and at noon, he saw a team coming, the cavalry in front of him held high eighteen kinds of honor guard weapons, and more than a dozen guards held high the Qingluo umbrella cover, and the front and rear guards a company of wide and gorgeous carriages, and the soldiers who opened the road shouted in front, "The captain returns to his house, and the idlers avoid!" ”

Finally waiting for Zhu Zhu, Wu Jinlin strode forward, and was immediately discovered by the guards, and they raised their spears together, "Stop, who is it?" ”

"I'm from Huaixi, and I want to see the captain!"

The guards said angrily: "How noble is the captain, how can you be seen by an idler, get out of the way!" ”

Wu Jinlin shouted: "If Taiwei Zhu wants to take Huaixi, why do you refuse to see me?" ”

His voice was high-pitched and penetrating, Zhu Zhu could hear it clearly in the carriage, he opened the curtain and glanced at it, and shouted: "Stop!" ”

The carriage stopped, and Zhu Jun ordered left and right: "Bring the young man who shouted just now." ”

Not long after, Wu Jinlin was led to the carriage, and Zhu Jun asked in the carriage, "Who are you?" ”

"I'm just a small person, and my name is not enough, but my father is Wu Shaocheng, the envoy of Huaixi soldiers and horses, can you hear about it?"

Of course, Zhu Jun knew Wu Shaocheng, the number one general under Li Xilie, he nodded, "Take him into the palace!" ”

The carriage continued to move forward, and the procession entered the Xingqing Palace.

Zhu Jun sat down in the inner hall of the Qinzheng Building, and ordered left and right: "Bring Wu Shaocheng's son up just now!" ”

Not long after, Wu Jinlin was brought up by more than a dozen guards.

Wu Jinlin knelt down on one knee and saluted, "See the captain!" ”

"What's your name?" Lee Hee-yeol asked.

"The villain Wu Jinlin, now Li Xilie is serving as the flag officer, and he is specially ordered by his father to ask to see the captain."

"What's the matter with your father?"

"He doesn't want to be loyal to Li Xilie anymore, and he is willing to surrender to Taiwei and seek a rich future."

Zhu Jun was immediately overjoyed, and hurriedly asked, "In addition to your father and son, is there anyone else willing to raise the banner of righteousness together?" ”

"It's still the general Chen Xianqi, my two uncles, Wu Xiu and Wu Shaoyang, and Li Xilie's seventy percent of the troops are in our hands."

Speaking of this, Wu Jinlin took out a letter from his arms and presented it to Zhu Jun, "This is my father's letter to Taiwei, and the specific promises are all in the letter." ”

After reading the letter, Zhu Jun immediately ordered left and right: "Go and invite the military advisor!" ”

Zhu Zhu's military advisor Liu Sigu also lived in Xingqing Palace, and after a while, Liu Sigu came in a hurry.

Zhu Jun handed him the letter, "The military advisor took a look at this letter, and Wu Shaocheng, the envoy of Huaixi soldiers and horses, asked his son to send it." ”

Liu Sigu glanced at Wu Jinlin, unfolded the letter and read it carefully, and after reading the letter, he asked again: "How many Huaixi troops are there now?" How many warships are left? In whose hands is it controlled? ”

The Northern Tang Army was supposed to launch the Huaixi Campaign two months ago, but because the Huai River ferry was destroyed by Li Xilie's army, their plan failed, and the crossing of the Huai River has always been a problem for them.

Wu Jinlin bowed and said: "The Huaixi army is about 40,000 people, and there are 1,200 large and small warships, which are mainly controlled by my uncle Wu Shaoyang, but we can deal with Li Xilie, and we are also willing to serve the Taiwei, I only hope that the Northern Tang Dynasty can recognize us." ”

Zhu Jun nodded, "You go down to rest first, I'll discuss it with the military advisor, and then reply to you!" ”

"The villain lives in the Sizhou Inn in Pingkang Mansion, and the Taiwei can send someone to summon him at any time."

Wu Jinlin saluted and retreated.

Only then did Zhu Jun ask Liu Sigu, "What do you think of the military advisor?" ”

Liu Sigu said lightly: "Didn't the Taiwei understand what they meant?" They didn't want us to interfere, but they dealt with Li Xilie themselves, and then Wu Shaocheng joined the Taiwei, hoping that we would let him inherit Li Xilie's Huaixi Domain. ”

Zhu Jun lowered his head and pondered for a moment and said, "Do you think their plan is acceptable?" ”

Liu Sigu smiled: "I think it's acceptable, didn't we decide to temporarily stop attacking Huaixi before?" just took advantage of Wu Shaocheng's contribution and let him work for the captain. ”

Before, Zhu Zhu's plan was to take Huaixi and Huainan, and then turn back to clean up Li Na, but the plan did not change quickly, Guo Song's occupation of Taiyuan made Zhu Zhu have to seize the plan to seize the southeast of the river in advance, he must seize the southeast of the river this year and next year, the plan to seize Huaixi can only be pushed backwards, just Wu Shaocheng intends to surrender, Huaixi can surrender without a fight.

Zhu Jun was silent for a long time, and finally agreed, "We have to tell Wu Shaocheng, on the premise that his son wants to stay in Chang'an as a hostage." ”

.........

At present, Li Xilie's territory is the thirteen prefectures of Huainan Province except Yangzhou and Chuzhou, and the ruling center is located in Shouchun County, Shouzhou, where Li Xilie proclaimed emperor and built a large imperial palace.

In the past two years, Li Xilie has become more and more brutal, killing people like hemp, using murder as a means of intimidation to prevent his subordinates from betraying him, he is extremely suspicious, many generals who have followed him for many years have been killed by his suspicion, killing people is not counted, and they also put their wives and daughters into the army as prostitutes.

He thought that this would intimidate his subordinates and dare not betray him, but his cruelty and suspicion made all his subordinates endanger, and some generals began to form an anti-riot alliance, led by Wu Shaocheng and Chen Xianqi.

That night, in the mansion of the Wu Mansion, several core members of the anti-riot alliance began to meet secretly.

This includes Wu Shaocheng, the general of the left guard, and his two brothers Wu Xiu and Wu Shaoyang, as well as the general of the right guard, Chen Xianqi, the assassin of Shouzhou, Zhang Jianfeng, and Dou Liang, Taichangqing.

Among them, Dou Liang is Li Xilie's father-in-law, and his daughter Dou Qianjiao was forcibly married by Li Xilie as a concubine, and was named the mother of the West Palace, but Dou Liang was not grateful, but hated Li Xilie to the core.

They met secretly today because Dou Liang brought an important news, Li Xilie fell ill, and they saw an opportunity.

But there is still a big disagreement between them, that is, what to do after taking down Lee Hee-yeol?

The political attitudes of the people varied, such as the Wu brothers who favored the surrender of the Northern Tang Dynasty, while Chen Xianqi, Zhang Jianfeng, and Dou Liang advocated allegiance to the imperial court.

One of the main points of their deliberations today is to settle this issue first so as to avoid infighting.

"Guys, let me tell you about it!"

Wu Shaocheng got up and said: "I suggest that we first set a principle, that is, no matter what, we must ensure that we do not kill each other, the winner is king, and the loser will be sent out of the country as a gift, so as to protect the other party's property and the safety of the family, what do you think?" ”

Dou Liang was the first to agree, "I just want to avenge my daughter, I won't be nostalgic for power, once Li Xilie is killed, I will take my daughter back to my hometown Bianzhou." ”

Zhang Jianfeng also said that he would continue to serve as the assassin of Shouzhou and would not participate in the distribution of power.

At this time, Chen Xianqi said slowly: "If General Wu is willing to serve as the envoy of Huaixi Jiedu, then I can withdraw, I will return to my hometown Tuzhou, according to the existing sphere of influence, I want Tuzhou and Hezhou, and the other eleven states of Huaixi will be ceded to General Wu." ”

Chen Xianqi knew in his heart that his army only had 10,000 people, and the Wu brothers' army had 30,000 people, once they fought for power, they were not their opponents at all, so it was better to retreat to the next best thing and keep the existing interests.

Wu Shaocheng was overjoyed and vowed that he would keep his promise and ensure everyone's wealth.

After deciding the distribution of benefits afterwards, everyone began to discuss, how to deal with Li Xilie, Chen Xianqi thought for a while and said: "Li Xilie loves to eat beef, I know a famous chef, roast meat is a must, it is better to recommend him to the palace and cooperate with Dou Niangniang to poison." ”

Dou Liang hesitated and said: "I heard my daughter say that Li Xilie is very suspicious, and his meals and decoction must be eaten by his own soldiers first, for fear of being discovered." ”

Chen Xianqi smiled slightly: "I've heard about it too, but there are actually loopholes in this, and the key lies in the people around him." ”