The news that Zhang Xiu's army had been defeated and died and that 10,000 troops had been wiped out had reached the county seat of Baozhong, and this terrible news spread to the whole city like the plague a few months ago, and caused a huge panic.

Zhang Jin paced back and forth in the lobby without a master, and the muscles on his face twitched nervously from time to time. As the younger brother of Zhang Xiu, he is known for his wisdom, although he ranks fourth in the twenty-four sacrificial wines, his power is really second only to Zhang Xiu and Zhang Lu, but at this moment, he can no longer hide the fear in his heart in front of his subordinates.

Finally, he couldn't help yelling: "A bunch of waste, you are all pretentious on weekdays, and at this time of life and death, no one can share the worries of this seat!" ”

All the generals and subordinates under the hall were silent, and only one of them said in a cold voice after a while: "Sacrificial wine, now that the master is gone, there is not much left of the twenty-four sacrificial wine, and that Zhang Lu has descended to the Han army, my heavenly master is really poor in the twilight, what other way out?" ”

Zhang Jin gasped for a few breaths, and said angrily: "According to what you said, can I wait here to die?" ”

Suddenly, a person came out of the crowd and said proudly: "The sacrificial wine is not good, although my Heavenly Master Dao has a worrying future, but where to start with the word death!" ”

Zhang Jin narrowed his eyes and carefully looked at the young man with red lips and white teeth in front of him, but he couldn't remember who this person was anyway.

He licked his chapped lips, tried to calm himself, and said slowly"

Oh? Who are you? At such a young age, he dared to speak wildly here. I ask you, do you have a good plan? If not, hum! I will punish you for the sin of not saying anything! ”

The young man was not afraid, and said loudly: "The subordinate Yan Pu is now the Jicao of Baozhong County, and he is consulted by the sacrificial wine, and there are three strategies for the upper, middle and lower ones!" ”

As soon as this remark came out, everyone was shocked.

Zhang Jin's eyes lit up, and he laughed: "What a newborn calf, good!" I'll listen to what kind of upper, middle and lower strategies your little Ji Cao can say? ”

Yan Pu said unhurriedly: "The best policy, the sacrificial wine should be immediately abandoned in Baozhong, and retreat north to the Liangzhou area to develop, in order to make a comeback." In the middle strategy, all the defenders of Weiyang will be transferred to Baozhong, and the official army will fight, as long as it can be held for a few days, there will be enough capital to negotiate with the Hanzhong Taishou to surrender to the matter. Under the plan, the whole army of the Heavenly Master Dao secretly marched eastward to seek the protection of the great sages and good teachers of the Taiping Dao. ”

"What!" A subordinate general couldn't help but refute, "The three strategies you said are all subordinate strategies, my Heavenly Master Dao started in Hanzhong for more than ten years, there are many believers, and the foundation is solid, how can you easily abandon the fundamentals, or even surrender!" ”

"That's not true," said the other, "even the Great Sacrifice Wine has been lowered to the officers and soldiers, so why can't I?" Leaving a useful body and continuing to pass on the Heavenly Master Dao is the right way! ”

Everyone talked about it for a while, and it was a mess.

"Shut up!" Zhang Jin said angrily, "You waited for the right people to say nothing, but now they have their own opinions, it's really ridiculous!" ”

He turned to Yan Pu and said coldly, "Young man, I would like to ask you for advice. Why is it the best policy to go north to Liangzhou? It sounds good that we are transferring, but in fact we are lost dogs, is it also the best policy? ”

Yan Pu said lightly: "I have been preaching for more than ten years, although I mainly operate in the Yizhou area, but I also have a certain influence in Liangzhou, and Liangzhou is mostly inhabited by Qiang and Hu, and I have a lot of resentment towards the Han family. What's more, since Duan Cheng was unjustly killed, his old department in Liangzhou was even more dissatisfied with the court, and we preached in Liangzhou, not only did we not worry about the pursuit of local soldiers and horses, but we would be like a fish in water, and the people we were worried about were just how to get along with the local heroes! Yes, foolish to think that this strategy should be the best policy! ”

Zhang Jin couldn't help nodding when he heard this, and immediately looked at Yan Pu, and his words were a lot more polite: "What Yan Jicao said is very true, but there are still some puzzles in this seat, why even surrendering to the court has become the middle policy, but eastward expansion to take refuge in Zhang Jiao has become the next policy?" ”

Yan Pu laughed and said, "Lord Sacrificial Wine has always been witty, but why do you have to take the test for the younger son? ”

He sighed and said: "This time, my Heavenly Master Dao took advantage of the momentum of victory and went all out to capture Nanzheng, but he ended up annihilating the entire army. Why? There must be a master in the Han army, who quietly surrendered the big sacrificial wine, and put on the illusion of the emptiness of Nanzheng, luring our army to take the initiative to trap, what kind of wisdom is this? I can imagine that the people who laid out the plan must have taken the psychological offensive very seriously, and if we surrendered, we would never be purged afterwards! They will rely on us to continue to manage the people of Hanzhong, and we can also become court officials and make a comeback! However, they will not be so cheap ours, they will definitely set a lot of restrictions, this is a risky move, it is better not to go if you can! ”

"I see!" Zhang Jin said suddenly, "Then sir, please talk about this strategy!" At this time, he was quite convinced, and his title changed from "young man" and "Yan Jicao" to "sir".

"What's next?" Yan Pu smiled bitterly, "This strategy may save our lives, but the Heavenly Master Dao will never exist in this world again!" The reason is very simple, the Taiping Dao ambition is far superior to our sect, once they get into trouble, they will spare no effort to unite all the people in the same way, but it is impossible to allow a Taoist sect that can compete with them to exist with the same origin! If we go, they will treat us with courtesy, and then they will gradually eat and swallow us! ”

He glanced at the generals with shocked faces, and said with a wry smile again: "Why are you surprised? Ask yourself, would it be the same with us? ”

Yan Pu paused for a moment before he said heavily: "So I thought that this strategy would not be exhausted, and I would not be able to go no matter what!" ”

He bowed down and said, "That's all your subordinates say, please make a decision!" ”

The generals glanced at each other and said abruptly: "Please make a decision!" ”

Zhang Jin's face flashed with a look of struggle and contradiction, and finally shouted in a deep voice: "My will has been decided!" Immediately choose Mr. Yan's best policy, immediately abandon Baozhong, go north to Liangzhou, and Xu Tu will make a comeback! ”

Yijiang suddenly said: "Dare to ask Lord Saijiu, there are still a thousand brothers in Chuyang, how will they be settled?" ”

When Yan Pu heard this, his face twitched, revealing a look of compassion.

Zhang Jin also showed a look of unbearability, and said softly: "Just let them buy a little more time for our evacuation!" ”

All the generals were silent, and they all gave birth to the sadness of the rabbit and the fox.

Yan Pu suddenly said: "Lord Sacrificial Wine, I expect that the Hanzhong army will come to conquer after a day's rest. Before we go north, we have three more important things to prepare! ”

Zhang Jin was stunned and said, "Oh! What are the three major events? Please sir! ”

Yan Pu thought for a moment and said: "The first major event, now that the situation is urgent, the Hanzhong army may come to attack at any time, and the Heavenly Master Dao talent is withering, all of you here are the only remaining leaders, and they are the cornerstone of my Heavenly Master Dao to create brilliance in the future, and there is no room for error." In the next fight, I beg the sake lord to allocate half of the 1,000 soldiers who are guarding the city, and escort the sake priest and everyone to leave first! ”

Zhang Jin and the generals were happy at the same time, although this place was precarious, but no one dared to do it first, otherwise it would attract endless infamy. Now, the shameful escape has been proposed by people with a grandiose reason, which is really like a voice of heaven.

Yan Pu muttered: "The second thing, in fact, is no different from the first thing, my Heavenly Master Dao is now outnumbered, and it will not be conducive to development in the future, please visit the city all over the city, recruit the young children of the Heavenly Master Dao believers, and go to Liangzhou together, this is our most reliable team!" ”

Zhang Jin clapped his hands heavily and said happily: "What Mr. said is extremely true!" If there is no fire, how can my Heavenly Master Dao rekindle the momentum of the prairie fire! I'll do it right away! ”

At this time, Zhang Jin had no more worries about Yan Pu, and smiled: "Please ask Mr. to teach me one last thing!" ”

Yan Pu suddenly leaned over and said: "The so-called name is not right, it is not good, for the revival of my Heavenly Master's Dao in the future, please sacrifice the wine lord to exercise the power of the master!" ”

All the generals scolded in their hearts, why was this posterior boy the first to say this, so they had to echo together: "I respectfully ask Lord Sacrificial Wine to succeed to the position of the master!" ”

Zhang Jin couldn't help but be overjoyed, he smiled and said, "Okay! Good! I will continue to be with you in the same boat! ”

He looked at Yan Pu again, and was extremely satisfied with him in his heart, and personally stepped forward to help him up: "If Mr. does not give up, please accept the position of the great sacrificial wine and help this seat fulfill his wish!" ”

Yan Pu ignored the jealous gazes around him, and said unhurriedly, "Dare not do your best?" ”

In the tooth-aching "squeak", the heavy city gate slowly opened, and dozens of cars hurriedly drove out of the north gate under the arch guard of five hundred soldiers, including these guards, few people knew where the real end of this mysterious convoy was.

A general of the Heavenly Master Army watched the convoy disappear into the dark and deep city gate from afar, with a sad look on his face, he was the only person in the city who knew the truth at this moment, and he knew that with the departure of this convoy, there would be no more so-called Heavenly Master Dao in the Hanzhong area, at least in the short term.

He sighed and cleaned up his mood, after all, he was also going to follow, leaving this land where he grew up, although it made people sigh sadly, but it was more important to save his life.

He decided to complete his mission as soon as possible, turned around and said, "Convey my order, immediately issue an urgent collection order to all my Heavenly Master Daoists in the whole city, and all young people between the ages of fourteen and eighteen in the family should gather at the north gate within an hour!" ”

One of his subordinates hesitated, and finally asked the doubt in his heart: "My lord! Are we going to withdraw too? Where will it go? ”

The general of the Heavenly Master Army said angrily: "Don't ask what you shouldn't ask!" ”

He looked at the aggrieved looks of several of his henchmen, and said softly in his heart: "Our luck is good, at least we can save our lives, right?" ”

Another subordinate said, "So, my lord, if there are school-age teenagers in the family, but they don't want to leave with us, what should the subordinates do?" ”

That day, the general of the division raised his eyebrows, and a cold word "kill" almost popped out on his lips, and finally said gloomily: "That's it!" Don't force it, after all, they're still kids! We are already about to leave our homeland, so how can we bear to force them to separate their flesh and blood? ”

Several subordinates glanced at each other, showed a look of relief, and bowed down and said in unison: "No! Do your bidding! ”

"Report!" A soldier rushed to the ground and knelt down on one knee, "Your Excellency! Suddenly one or two hundred ordinary people came from outside the east gate, claiming to be my Heavenly Master Taoists, and they had to enter the city in a commotion! ”

That day, the generals of the division and army looked nervous, how could this kind of thing happen at this fateful time? He blurted out: "Could it be a spy of the Han army?" Send me more men at once, and make sure to keep them out of the door, and never put a single person in! ”

The soldier shook his head and said, "Go back to your lordship, your subordinates don't look like it!" ”

That day, the general of the division army was furious and said: "You stupid, can it be that the Han army spies will write on their faces that they are meticulous?" ”

The soldier defended: "But my lord! Those people are all sixteen or seventeen-year-old teenagers, how can the Han army use these little hairy children as spies? ”

That day, the generals of the division and several subordinates were shocked all over the body, and said happily: "What are you talking about!" ”

Outside the east gate, more than 100 young men in shabby clothes hugged the city, and their voices were so loud that the soldiers in the city frowned.

"Let me in, I have relatives in the city! I'm going to join my family! ”

"Your grandmother's, my father and my brother have all dedicated themselves to the battle of the Heavenly Master, and you dare to block the door of the Loyal and Righteous Queen!"

"Uncle, I haven't eaten for two days! Poor and pitiful! Whining! ”

"Open the door! My third uncle's brother-in-law's godbrother is a Heavenly Master Taoist sacrificial wine, and if you don't know each other, I'll sue you! ”

The head of the soldiers guarding the gate looked at the chaos below, but he was at a loss, to say that these half-sized men were Han soldiers, and he didn't believe it when he was killed, but at this time of turmoil, how could he dare to open the city gate easily? You can't beat it, you can't let it go, you can't drive it away, how can this be good?

As soon as he raised his eyes, he suddenly saw that his immediate boss was hurriedly ascending the tower, and his heart was relieved that someone could finally help him make up his mind.

The soldier saluted and said, "Your Excellency, you are here!" These boys all say that they are the children of my Heavenly Master Taoist sect, and if they have to enter the city, their subordinates dare not make their own decisions, please decide! ”

The person who came was the general of the Heavenly Division, the only person in charge of the city at this moment.

He leaned down and looked carefully at the hustle and bustle of young men in the city, and his heart was mixed. Gladly, there is such a coincidence in the world, as soon as he issued a conscription order, a group of teenagers who met the requirements were immediately sent to the door, and as long as he coaxed these boys into abduction, he could complete the task without much effort. This happiness came a little abruptly, and even made him a little sluggish.

However, this is inevitably too coincidental, not only is it unbelievable, but what is even more puzzling is how more than 100 Heavenly Master Dao teenagers can get together? And there is no official Heavenly Master Taoist leader? This is definitely doubtful.

He thought about it, decided to ask clearly, and yelled, "Boys! Don't be noisy! Find a leader to come out, Ben will have something to ask! ”

There was another commotion in the city, and the boys pushed and pulled, and finally selected a thin and weak boy to stand up.

The thin young man respectfully bowed to a Heavenly Master who only knew how to do it, and said loudly: "Boy Su Fei, I've seen an adult!" ”

The generals of the division were unmoved that day, what is the situation now? The general trend of the Heavenly Master Dao has gone, are there still few people who surrender to the Han army? What is an internal etiquette? It's no secret anymore!

He said coldly: "Su Fei! Ben will ask you, where are you from? What is your father's name? What is my current position in the Heavenly Master Dao? ”

Su Fei replied like a stream: "Go back to your lord!" The boy Bajun people's clan, his father Su Guang, joined the religion five years ago, and is now a ghost official under the rule of Yuntai in Bashi County, Heavenly Master Dao! ”

That day, the generals of the division frowned when they heard this, but they were speechless. The Heavenly Master Dao is divided into 24 divisions, in fact, there are 24 dioceses, distributed in various counties of Yizhou, and even Jingzhao has a northern ruler, with nearly 200,000 believers, and the number of ghost officials and Taoist officials under each rule is also huge. No old man with profound Heavenly Master Dao qualifications would dare to say that he knew more than thirty percent of the people. It was only six or seven years since the generals of the division entered the Tao that day, and although they had never heard of Su Guang's name, they did not dare to deny it casually.

He was stunned for a moment and smiled, "Oh! Originally, your father was under the rule of Yuntai, and I have a friend who seems to have just been promoted to Yuntai Zhijiu last year, his name is Li Sheng, I don't know if you know! ”

Su Fei was stunned and said, "What did you say, my lord?" Isn't Li sacrificial wine the sacrificial wine of Gehuang Shanzhi in Shu County? My Yuntai sacrificial wine is obviously surnamed Huang! ”

That day, the general of the division turned red, and coughed dryly: "Ah! Not bad! Ben remembered it wrong! Right! It's surnamed Huang! ”

He rolled his gaze and finally asked his most puzzled question: "Su Fei, how did you gather more than 100 people to vote together?" ”

Su Fei's eyes turned red, he knelt heavily on his knees, and cried: "My lord, you don't know anything!" We really escaped death! ”

That day, the general of the division was surprised: "What? Tell me about it! ”

Su Fei wiped his tears and said, "My lord! A few months ago, my Heavenly Master Dao started an incident and attacked various county seats, and your lord, you know, my Yuntai Zhi has always been under the jurisdiction of Zhang Lu, the Great Sacrifice Wine! ”

That day, the general of the division nodded and said, "Not bad!" So what? ”

This time, it was Su Fei's turn to be surprised: "Then adults won't know about Chenggu's later ghost pawns!" ”

That day, the generals of the division said "ahhh On the same day, Zhang Lu waved 6,000 troops to take Chenggu, but he quickly became a fire and water with Zhang Xiu, ready to fight against him. Unexpectedly, the most elite 2,000 ghost pawns among the 6,000 men and horses had already been infiltrated and bought by Zhang Xiu, and the situation between the two sides had just become tense, so the 2,000 ghost pawns directly opened the city gate and went straight to Zhang Xiu, almost not making Zhang Lu so angry that he vomited blood.

That day, the general of the division narrowed his eyes and said, "Could it be that your father Su Guang is the one who was the one of the two thousand ghost strokes?" ”

Su Fei pointed to the young men behind him, and wept and said, "It's not just me, we are all the families of those two thousand ghost soldiers left behind in Chenggu!" ”

That day, the generals of the division thought that the two thousand ghost soldiers had all been folded in the battle of Nanzheng, and they couldn't help but feel sorry in their hearts: "Then, I'm afraid you will have a hard time in Chenggu!" ”

Su Fei cried: "Exactly! I waited for all the humiliation, and finally escaped from Chenggu in a gang, ready to come to Baozhong, Chuyang to find my father and brother, but halfway, I heard the bad news that my Heavenly Master Dao's 10,000 army was wiped out under Nanzheng City, this, this, we have no way, and there is no way out, only to come here! My lord! ”

Speaking of sorrow, the rest of the teenagers also cried in unison.

In the city, many Heavenly Master Daoist soldiers were moved to tears when they heard this, and even the generals of the Heavenly Division Army were moved.

He had no doubts in his heart, and thought that he could easily complete the task of recruiting teenagers, so he couldn't help but show a smile on his face, and shouted: "Come on!" Open the gates to me! ”

The city gate slowly opened, and the generals of the Heavenly Division Army personally went down to the city gate to welcome the return of a group of Heavenly Master Dao disciples in order to show their appeasement and retraction.

Su Fei stumbled over, bowing his head to the generals of the division that day.

That day, the general of the division hurriedly helped him up and comforted: "Good boy! You can follow the general with peace of mind in the future! Ben will never be disadvantaged! ”

Su Fei saw that all the young men behind him had already entered the city, and showed a bright smile to the generals of the Heavenly Division: "Don't worry, my lord, we will never treat you badly!" ”

That day, the general of the division almost couldn't believe his ears, and said dumbfoundedly: "What did you say? ”

At this moment, the city gate suddenly protruded.