Zhang Xianzhong, the eight kings of Xiying, has many sons, and Zhang Kewang, who is young and weak, is not outstanding among them. However, at the end of last year, Zhang Xianzhong lost in the battle of Zuo Liangyu, Zhang Kewang disregarded life and death, saved Zhang Xianzhong from the chaos, and since then he has become famous in the first battle, and has been greatly loved and trusted by Zhang Xianzhong, and his status in the West Camp has also skyrocketed.

It can be seen that Zhang Kewang can be reused not just because he saved Zhang Xianzhong's life, Zhao Dangshi talked to him for a few words, and found that this person is very sophisticated, far beyond his actual age.

"My father stationed troops in the house and guarded, and fought with the officers and soldiers. Today, when I heard that the breakthrough was coming, I sent the younger generations to come to make friends. ”

Hearing that it was Zhang Xianzhong's person, Zhao Dangshi wanted to take a seat, but after thinking about it, he kept his mouth shut for the time being, let Zhang Kewang continue to stand, and asked, "The Eight Kings know that I came to Yunyang?" ”

Zhang Kewang was stunned, and said, "Yes." My father has been paying close attention to the movements of the rebels in the provinces, and when he broke into the future, my father wanted to send someone to respond, but he was entangled with the officials and the army, so he had no choice but to give up. Speaking of this, he paused, and then said, "My father often said that the general was a first-class hero at that time, but it is a pity that he has never had the opportunity to see him, and I deeply regret it." The arrival of your camp today can be regarded as a wish. ”

Zhao Dangshi said with a smile: "It's over, Zhao is just a country horseman, how dare he inherit the blue eyes of the eight kings." After speaking, he asked, "I don't know where your camp is now?" With such love, Zhao will come to thank him! ”

As soon as these words were asked, Zhang Kewang's eyes suddenly dodged to the side, Zhao Dangshi opened his mouth to say more, Zhang Kewang said first: "It's not a secret, our battalion is currently dealing with the officers and soldiers, and the shape is uncertain. As he spoke, he looked apologetic.

"Oh, I see." Zhao Dangshi smiled, didn't hold on to the topic anymore, and changed, "My battalion has just arrived, I don't know the danger here, can Brother Zhang mention a little bit or two?" ”

Zhang Kewang waved his hand again and again: "I can't call it a point, I will ask questions, and the younger generations know everything." Speaking of this, Zhao Dangshi waved his hand, moved a few stools left and right, Zhang Kewang thanked him again and again, and after sitting down, he pointed and continued, "At present, the officials and troops of Yuchu are gathered in the east of Tongbai Mountain, and the number of people left in Yunyang is not much, only Chen Hongfan, the general of Changping, and Long Zaitian, the deputy general of Shiping. Chenbu is now in Xiangyang, and Longbu is in Yicheng. ”

Zhao Dangshi nodded, believing that what Zhang Kewang said was not far from ten. From Fang County and Baokang County to the east, it is out of the mountains, and it is between Xiangyang and Yicheng. The officers and troops were stationed in the two places, obviously to prevent the thieves hiding in the Yunyang Mountains from infiltrating the north and south again.

"These two armies are added together, and there are four thousand men in all. Among them, Chen Hongfan had 2,500 Changping soldiers and Long Zaitian had 1,500 Yunnan and Central Native soldiers, all of which were quite difficult to deal with. Zhang Kewang continued.

Zhao Dangshi asked again at this time: "I don't know how many people there are in the Eight Great Kings?" I heard that some time ago, your camp suffered a loss under Zuo Liangyu's grandson. ”

Zhang Kewang looked at Zhao Dangshi and said loudly: "Zuo Liangyu is a treacherous villain, taking advantage of the unpreparedness of my camp to suddenly use cold hands. Although our battalion was unfavorable, its vitality was not injured, and there were still 10,000 people. As he spoke, he straightened his chest, but his face pretended to be careless.

Zhao Dangshi stroked his palms and smiled: "The eight kings use their soldiers like gods, advance and retreat in an orderly manner, and they are really models for my generation!" ”

After a few more words, Zhao Dangshi obviously felt that Zhang Kewang's words began to be confused, and his ability to control the topic began to be staggered. On the one hand, being young and inexperienced is one thing, and on the other hand, it can be seen that Zhang Kewang did not make a lot of preparations in the early stage, and he really just came to "say hello".

"Today, I can see the honor of the general, and the real three lives are fortunate." After chatting for a while, Zhang Kewang stood up and was about to say goodbye, his face was sincerely frightened, "The juniors came in a hurry, and they didn't bring some meeting gifts, so please forgive me." ”

Zhao Dangshi shook his head and said: "Compared with the Eight Great Kings, I, Zhao, am a late-born junior. I should have come to visit first. Speaking of this, think about it, "Zhao has admired the Eight Kings for a long time, and when he heard that his dignity was just around the corner, he couldn't wait to fly to see him." However, the military has decided that military affairs are complicated and difficult to adjust for a while. I can't do without me here, I really lack skills, and it is difficult to go to meet the eight kings in person. Why don't I send someone in my camp to go to your camp for me and talk about my heart, but I don't know what to do? ”

Zhang Kewang had already prepared for his answer, and even claimed that it was: "Before the younger generation came, my father also told him in every way, saying that if he was entangled in official business, he must not force it to abolish the public office for personal reasons." The righteous army in the world is a family, and now your camp has come to Yunyang, and it is even closer to my Xiying, and there are many places to rely on each other in the future. Zhao Ying is settled, and he can follow me with Xiying. ”

Zhao Dangshi sighed: "This is very true! ”

Zhang Kewang said with a smile: "My father and Chuang have been friends for a long time, and sooner or later we will see each other, not at this time." As long as someone goes to your camp, my father knows what he wants, and his happiness will not be diminished by half. ”

Zhao Dangshi nodded yes, and after a few words of greeting, Zhang Kewang said goodbye. When he left, Zhao Dangshi had already found an envoy to Xiying. It's no one else, but Yang Zhaofeng.

The reason why he sent Yang Zhaofeng to see Zhang Xianzhong on his behalf was because of Zhao Dangshi's trust in him. It is believed that he has not only read books, is knowledgeable, but also has a lot of knowledge and courtesy, which is enough to undertake the task of this envoy. On the other hand, it also has the meaning of-for-tat to Zhang Xianzhong - can you send a weak-crowned descendant to see me, is there a lack of young talents in my camp?

Since he was demoted and observed, Yang Zhaofeng obviously found that Zhao Dangshi was intentional or unintentional, and often gave him opportunities to perform. He knew that this was Zhao Dangshi's intention to promote him, and he was grateful in his heart, but he felt that even if he went up the knife mountain and went down to the sea of fire, it would be difficult to repay Zhao Dangshi's kindness. Of course, I did not hesitate to accept this mission.

After sending Zhang Kewang and his party away and Yang Zhaofeng and others, Zhao Dangshi found Chang Zeyu.

Chang Zeyu loves to read very much, and he almost can't let go of the scroll on weekdays, but the road out of Sichuan is hard and dangerous, and he doesn't have the time to take out to read books, so it is easy to settle between Zhuxi and Zhushan counties in the past two days, and there is nothing important, he nests in his barracks and reads the scroll carefully to quench his thirst. At this time, he received an order from Zhao Dangshi, but he was actually unwilling.

"Zhang Xianzhong sent someone." Zhao Dangshi went straight to the point and named the essentials.

As soon as he heard this, Chang Zeyu's expression, which was still a little tired, immediately regained his vitality. He thinks very highly of himself, every time he compares himself to Zhang Liang and Zhuge , he focuses on the overall situation of the military strategy, and never cares about the small things and miscellaneous things in the army, he thought that Zhao Dangshi had some trouble in handling daily military affairs, and he was not very motivated, but he thought that the three words "Zhang Xianzhong" suddenly rushed into his ears.

"Zhang Xianzhong......" Chang Zeyu muttered thoughtfully.

Zhao Dangshi said: "This person is famous, but I have never met, and I hear people talk about deeds every day, which is also uneven, and it is difficult to distinguish the authenticity." The military advisor has been up and down for many years, and he should know his people. And when he said this, he did not speak. Li Zicheng and Zhang Xianzhong are all influential figures in the late Ming Dynasty, but similar to most people, Zhao Dangshi's understanding of them is only limited to some major events in their original history, and as for more specific deeds, it is not clear.

From the few major events that have long been rumored to have lost their authenticity, it is absolutely difficult to judge a person, whether Zhang Xianzhong is an enemy or a friend, Zhao Dangshi hopes to know more about his situation. At this point, Chang Zeyu, who has been in the Liukou Group for more than ten years, has experience and qualifications that he cannot match.

Chang Zeyu thought for a while, stroked his beard and said slowly: "I actually know very little about this person. But tell what you know, and the lord listens. ”

Zhao Dangshi was stunned when he heard this, and then remembered Chang Zeyu's resume. He first followed Wang Jiayin, and then moved around for many years, but in fact, he did not jump out of the system of Wang Jiayin and the rest of Wang Jiayin. If the internal situation of the most primitive Liukou is divided according to the number of the first year of Chongzhen, then Wang Jiayin, Zhang Cunmeng, etc. actually belong to different Liukou systems from Gao Yingxiang and Shen Yiyuan. It can be said that it is a regional faction according to the small points, but it can also be said that it is different from the peasant line of the Liukou border military system according to the large points.

Although Zhang Xianzhong is the "junior" who only started the incident in Chongzhen's three years, according to the composition of the troops, he is closer to the Liukoubian military department. And since the beginning of the army, his people have been independent camps, and they have never relied on anyone to belong to them, so Chang Zeyu has played well on Wang Jiayin's side, but in fact, the intersection with Zhang Xianzhong and others is not large.

But even so, Chang Zeyu has been wandering around the "upper echelons" of the Liukou Group, and he knows more things than Zhao Dangshi, who has been rolling at the bottom all year round.

"This person is a native of Liushujian in Fushi County, Yan'an Prefecture, who worked in a variety of businesses in his early years, and also served as a soldier on the side, but in the end he was uninhibited by nature and eventually fell into the grass. Chongzhen started an incident in Mizhi for three years, and was called the "Eight Kings" at the beginning, and later it was called the "Eight Kings of Nanying" from the people of Qingjian, so it was called "the Eight Kings of Xiying". Chang Zeyu thought about it and said, "Most of the members of the early Xiying were big thieves, and Zhang Xianzhong thought that he had been a border army, and recruited many generals from the border army of the Ming Dynasty, and the combat power of the troops was quite strong. In the fourth year of Chongzhen, Wang Jiayin died at the hands of Cao Wenzhao, and he and Cao Cao, Lao Huihui and others jointly promoted Wang Ziyong as the leader. I had a relationship with him at that time. ”

Chang Zeyu was the mastermind of Wang Ziyong, and when Wang Ziyong was able to take the throne and subdue the crowd, it was inseparable from Chang Zeyu's plan. Chang Zeyu supported internally, Zhang Xianzhong and others supported externally, and the cooperation between the two sides led to Wang Ziyong's follow-up known as "Zijin Liang", which became the head of the new generation of gangsters after Wang Jiayin.

"In the opinion of the military advisor, how is this person? How is it compared to Li Zicheng? Zhao Dangshi asked. He knew that Li and Zhang were both unborn heroes, but that was only based on his views on the original historical development. He wanted to know what Chang Zeyu, who didn't know the original historical trajectory, had been saying about the two of them so far.

"This ......" Chang Zeyu groaned when he heard this, and he could see that he also needed to consider the comparison between the two.

"Haha, ask casually on a whim, the military advisor doesn't have to be serious." Zhao Dangshi said with a smile.

Chang Zeyu didn't seem to be diverted by Zhao Dangshi's explanation, he thought about it again, and said solemnly: "In my humble opinion, the Ming Court is a deer, and the world will chase it." There are small nights everywhere, all of them are foxes and jackals, at best, they are only bears. Li and Zhang Renjie, out of people, can be called lions and tigers. ”

"Liger?"

Chang Zeyu bowed: "Li Zi has become a lion, tenacious and unyielding, and can gather strength and be good at convincing the public; Zhang Xianzhong is a tiger, fierce and cunning, and domineering and arrogant, never yielding to others. ”

Zhao Dangshi said thoughtfully: "The lion and tiger are the king of beasts, and the military advisor uses this metaphor for the two, which shows that he attaches great importance to it." At the end, he asked with a half-joke, "The lion and tiger have all been taken up by the two of them, and I don't know what I belong to in the heart of the military advisor?" ”

He thought that Chang Zeyu had said that the most venerable of the hundred beasts was a rare mistake, and he was about to see him embarrassed, but Chang Zeyu did not hesitate at all, and almost blurted out: "The lion and the tiger, it is powerful to the sky, but it is reckless on land, what a way!" The lord is very human, how can he be compared with ordinary beasts? In my opinion, compared to the heroes at that time, the lord deserves it, it is a flying dragon soaring above the nine heavens! ”

Zhao Dangshi let out an "ah", his face was surprised, he didn't expect that he was "cocooned and self-bound", and his words ended up embarrassing him.

Chang Zeyu's face did not change and said: "The lord, his subordinates have been living for more than 40 years, and they have also gone through personnel, and many strongmen who are currently making waves in the world of the Ming Dynasty have also seen it all over and over again, and when they meet the lord, they know the meaning of being otherworldly." Although Li and Zhang are strong, they are only prosperous for a while, and with the talent and virtue of the lord, they are the true heroes who can open the peace for hundreds of years! ”

Zhao Dangshi said continuously: "The military advisor is too famous, the military advisor is too reputable!" "I think that you are a lotus with a bright tongue, flattery and praise are at your fingertips, almost invisible, so capable, no wonder the king was willing to obey your words with his own intentions, I am not the king's own use, but I don't eat this set, I continued, "I Zhao does not have such lofty ideals, take one step at a time, just for myself, for every soldier in my Zhao camp to have a good home, I am satisfied." After saying that, he smiled.

Chang Zeyu shrugged his eyebrows, raised his eyes to look at him, and then silently moved his gaze down and did not speak again.

Zhao Dangshi re-provoked the topic and said: "Speaking of Zhang Xianzhong earlier, the military advisor said that he is a tiger, which seems to be difficult to deal with. ”

Chang Zeyu nodded and said, "Yes, this person has a strong personality, a strong sense of revenge, and is also very good at adapting." But if you form a bond with him, it is not a good deed. ”

Zhao Dangshi thought for a moment and said, "Then you look at this dedication to loyalty, is it an enemy or a friend?" ”

"Fear of enemies is greater than friends."

"Oh? What do you mean by that? ”

Chang Zeyu said: "Li Zicheng and Zhang Xianzhong are evil to each other, and the lord must also know it." Now the lord and Li Zicheng have a very close relationship, one is the king, the other is the general, Zhang Xianzhong is in his heart, and there will naturally be resistance. ”

Zhao Dangshi raised his eyebrows and asked, "You said that Zhang Xianzhong thinks I am from Li Zicheng's side?" ”

Chang Zeyu stroked his beautiful hair: "It's not me who said, it's something that everyone in the world knows." The lord not only openly supported Li Zicheng to succeed King Chuang after the death of King Lao Chuang, but also took refuge in Hanzhong, and then the second battalion fought in Sichuan together, so Zhang Xianzhong had to believe even if he didn't believe that the lord was Li Zicheng's faction! ”

"This is falling into Li Zicheng's ....." Zhao Dangshi's eyes moved, quite lonely. Previously, he tried his best to clear up the relationship with the camp, but with all his efforts, he was not annexed by the camp, but the one who is close to Zhu is red and the one who is close to ink is black, no matter how much he avoids it, he can't change the opinion that he is a camp in the eyes of outsiders.

This is not to say that Zhao Dangshi doesn't look down on the camp, on the contrary, it is Zhao Ying's greatest blessing to be able to break into the camp. It's just that this blessing is not easy to use at the moment.

As we all know, in recent years, Li Zicheng has been staying in Shaanxi to develop, even if Gao Yingxiang, his closest comrade-in-arms who moved in the joint venture, led his troops out of other provinces, he did not move. On the contrary, Zhang Xianzhong, Luo Rucai and other departments have crisscrossed several provinces outside Shaanxi until now. Among the rogues, the one from Shaanxi is the most powerful, so every time they go to another province, the local bandits and bandits will be invincible and seek attachment. Originally, Gao Yingxiang had the greatest influence in Henan, Chu and other provinces, but after he missed, there was a power vacuum. Needless to say, Shaanxi and Sichuan went without saying that after fierce competition, in the end, Li Zicheng and Zhao Dangshi won to become the biggest winners, while in Henan, Shanxi, Huguang and other places, the power left by King Chuang was divided by Zhang Xianzhong, Luo Rucai, and Ma Shouying. Among these three, Zhang Xianzhong is the first.

Luo Rucai has a general relationship with Li Zicheng, and Zhao Dangshi has not been in contact; Ma Shouying has some friendship with Li Zicheng, but first, the distance is long, and secondly, the strength is not too strong, and it is not useful at this stage. In this sense, when Zhao Dangshi arrived in Huguang, he actually went to Zhang Xianzhong's territory. Even so, no matter how good the relationship with Li Zicheng is, it is not easy to make, and it may even be bad. Therefore, it is not groundless for Chang Zeyu to say that Zhang Xianzhong's hostility may be greater than his good intentions.

"One mountain does not tolerate two tigers, Zhang Xianzhong is currently forced into Yunyang Mountain by the official army, and development is already difficult. When our army comes again, won't it be a tiger's mouth? Chang Zeyu shook his head, "Look at that Zhang Kewang again, no matter how clever the words are, it will be difficult to hide the apprehension in my heart after all." ”

Zhao Dangshi was silent, although Zhang Kewang was young and old, but no matter how old he was, he lacked experience after all, no matter how he covered it up, he still had nothing to hide when he met a scheming person like Zhao Dangshi and Chang Zeyu. There was a ghost in his heart, and Zhao Dangshi saw it from the first time he saw him.

It's just that Zhao Dangshi has another idea. The origin of this idea, of course, cannot be clearly stated with Chang Zeyu. To put it bluntly, Zhao Dangshi knew what Zhang Xianzhong was thinking at this time. At the same time, it is also foreseeable that what Zhang Xianzhong will do will be an unexpected decision.