The day after Zhao Dangshi returned from Fangcheng Mountain, Chang Zeyu, the left army division of Zhao Ying, and Mu Gongchun, the right army division, were summoned to a private meeting. At present, these six talents are the core group that Zhao Dangshi relies on in the huge Zhao camp. The news brought back from Fang Chengshan was too important, and it was difficult for one person to make an idea.

Sanwen Sanwu and Zhao Dangshi sat in a circle, Zhao Dangshi looked around at everyone, and said first: "The eight kings want to pull me to the court." ”

As soon as the news came out, the six people had different expressions.

Chang Zeyu stroked his long hair, and his face was like water; Mu Gongchun raised his eyebrows, ready to move; Hou Dagui's mouth opened slightly, surprised and surprised; Qin Qigong held his chin with his hand, thoughtful; Xu Hui's face was comfortable and moving, and she seemed to be happy; Guo Ruke glared and clenched his fists, and he couldn't bear it.

Zhao Dangshi had a full view of their performance, but he did not ask directly, but first recounted the situation of officials and thieves in Henan, Huguang and other places that he heard from Chen Hongfan, and then said: "This is what General Chen Hongfan personally told him, and he has checked with some of the information provided by the secret service. ”

Qin Qigong said without thinking: "Chen Hongfan and the Eight Kings went to the banquet together, it seems that they are in love with each other, and they have already hooked up. ”

Zhao Dangshi responded: "I think the same way, but the eight kings didn't say it explicitly on the mountain, and they still have reservations." ”

Guo Ruke couldn't help shouting at this time: "That Zhang Xianzhong is really a soft bone, and he has done a lot of capricious pickling things." Such a person is like a stone in a dunghill, and it stinks. Now that he wants to submit to the court, he wants to drag us into the water, and we must not join him in the same stream and get into trouble! With that, the two nostrils kept opening and closing, and they breathed heavily, obviously quite angry.

Zhao Dangshi sighed and asked, "Then Lao Guo, what do you mean, we need to draw a line with him?" ”

Guo Ruke nodded violently and said, "That's not it." Lord, you and I have been in the rebel army for many years, have you seen less of this set of tricks against the official army? If we are sluggish, concentrate on killing; If we gain power, we will lure us to peace. On the surface, the official promised, what he said was better than what he sang, but in essence, he was engaged in that unsightly means behind his back, intending to completely divide and disintegrate us, and in the end it would just kill us! ”

Mu Gongchun echoed: "Lord, the killing of Yang He and Hong Chengchou in Xiang Nian is still in front of us, which is really a lesson from the past. Now that Xiong Wencan's new official has taken office, he has three fires, and he may be fighting the old way of combining suppression and appeasement. Stabilize us, the eight kings, etc., and dispatch troops to first return to the old Hui, Cao Cao and others, and the next step will definitely be to extend the devil's claws to us. ”

Qin Qigong also said: "The matter of appeasement has never been more successful than it is. Looking at the big hands of all the families in the world, which one can be attached to the camp and be alone? In the end, it is inevitable that the rabbit will die and the dog will be cooked. If the lord has the courage to follow the example of Liu Guoneng to disperse all his troops and return to the court single-handedly, it is another matter. ”

Two months ago, in order to dispel the doubts of the imperial court when Liu Guoneng surrendered, the strong man broke his wrist and disbanded all his 20,000 or 30,000 troops, and joined the official army alone. Xiong Wencan no longer had any doubts and arranged for him to serve under Zuo Liangyu. Qin Qigong brought up this example, but he actually directly commanded Zhao Dangshi's army.

Zhao Dangshi naturally could not follow Liu Guoneng's example. Everyone has their own ambitions, and he Liu Guoneng is willing to start from a new head as a member of Zuo Liangyu's army, but Zhao Dangshi can't do it. Liu Guoneng thinks more about the safety and life of his mother and his family in the future, while Zhao Dangshi has no relatives, and all he can consider is the interests of Zhao Ying's soldiers, these people are his relatives. The soldiers followed him from Huguang to Shaanxi, and from Shaanxi to Sichuan until he re-entered Huguang. No matter what they abandoned, it was impossible for Zhao Dangshi to abandon them.

The meaning of Qin Qigong's words could not be more obvious, that is, it shows that according to the current situation of Zhao Ying, there will be no good end to rashly attached.

Mu Gongchun, Guo Ruke, and Qin Qigong successively expressed their opinions, and they all opposed the matter of recruiting An. There are factors that consider the overall situation of Zhao Ying, but Zhao Dangshi knows that it is also mixed with some personal feelings.

Mu Gongchun is a real rebel embryo. Most of the literati and Confucian scholars in the camps were forced to join the army. He was one of the few outliers who took the initiative to devote himself to the "revolutionary cause". With such a fiery enthusiasm for rebellion, it is reasonable that he would oppose Zhao'an.

Guo Ruke is similar to Mu Gongchun, he is also a staunch rebel, and he believes that if he has a road, he will go to the black. He said that his greatest wish was to go to Beijing City and pull the emperor boy off the dragon chair to see what he looked like like and his brothers.

Compared to them, Qin Qigong was driven by more hatred. Even if Zhao Ying once destroyed Shi Zhouwei, he didn't hate Zhao Ying, but he only hated the Shiyan officers and soldiers who secretly attacked and trampled on the foundation of Zhonglu and put his brother Qin Qixun and others to death. His thoughts, in fact, can also represent the voices of all Shizhou soldiers.

After the three of them finished speaking, Zhao Dangshi pondered silently, and after a while, Hou Dagui said: "Lord, my subordinates feel that this is not a good opportunity. ”

"A good opportunity? What do you mean by that? ”

Hou Dagui said in a loud voice: "My battalion started from Hanzhong, traveled for many years, traveled thousands of miles, and experienced many hardships and hardships along the way, you are all parties, and I don't need to say more." Although this way of crossing the river and entering Chu was finally successful, it is a metaphor for people, just as it can survive a serious illness, it has not yet been cured, and it still needs to be recuperated. And the lord of the situation here also made it clear that there are many auspicious and few auspicious, if people do not slow down, do not have time to rest, and run for their lives again, I am afraid that no matter how strong the soldiers of our battalion are, they will eventually be dragged down. In my old marquis's opinion, it is not necessarily a bad thing for these eight kings to recruit. ”

As soon as his words fell, Xu Hui immediately said: "This is true, I have been in the military with General Hou for a long time, and I know the inside and outside. Our army was lucky to be able to leave Sichuan. But just as it is difficult to penetrate Lu Min at the end of a strong crossbow, and then want to accumulate strength to deal with many officials and troops in Chuyu and other places, it is more than enough to have more than enough strength. As he spoke, he stretched out three fingers of his right hand, "Our army has three diseases: fatigue, lack of food, and lack of armor. If these three diseases are not eliminated, our army will not be able to move an inch. ”

Hou and Xu are the top two generals in the camp, and what they say is naturally full of weight. And as we all know, the two of them have different tempers, and they often have some discord, but now they both hold the same opinion, which is very rare.

Zhao Dangshi muttered: "Three diseases ......" suddenly remembered that there was still a heavyweight among the six who had not yet spoken, so he asked, "Mr. Chang, what is your opinion?" ”

Chang Zeyu held his own weight, and originally dragged it out until the end to speak in order to show more weight, but at this time, he just got the opportunity, brushed his beautiful hair, and said indifferently: "One piece is relaxed, the way of civil and martial arts." With soldiers, the most afraid of reckless military force, but whenever there is a chance to recuperate, why not. With the wisdom of Zhuge , counting Qishan still inevitably drags down the country; With the prestige of the item, repeated conquests eventually led to destruction and death. Even if the officers and men in our battalion are full of enthusiasm, if they do not judge the situation and assess the situation, they are afraid that in the end, they will still be ambitious and difficult to pay. Hearing this, it seems that he is also on the side of Hou and Xu.

Mu Gongchun was dissatisfied, and said with a brushing of his sleeves: "My battalion inherits the will of the old king, and vows to fight the court to the end." Now I am walking a hundred miles but half ninety, I am afraid of chilling the hearts of others and making the world laugh! ”

Chang Zeyu replied: "Where the heart is going is where the body goes." If there is a way in the court, why can't we help it? If the court has no way, what fear do we have on the contrary? It is wise to take the detour as the straight and the retreat as the advance, and I don't know that the power of the mutant hurts his ears. ”

Mu Gongchun insisted: "Last year, my camp and Chuang Ying parted ways in the middle of the river, and said that things echoed the situation together, but now it is treacherous and has become a soft-footed shrimp first. ”

Chang Zeyu said with a smile: "Master Mu's words are too pedantic. Water is dead and can still flow down, but people are alive, is there no flexibility for this? The Eight Kings are not under the King of Chuang, but they have rebelled many times, but they have not heard what is wrong with him, and who has questioned his status in the rebel army. In other words, if our battalion insists on fighting against the officers and soldiers of several provinces with the strength of one battalion, and finally the dead clan is wiped out and turned into a cloud of dust, does Mu Junshi think that at that time, King Chuang and the others will still remember you? ”

Mu Gongchun's face turned red, and he still had to argue, but Zhao Dangshi said: "What several people said is quite insightful, so there is no need to argue." As soon as these words came out, everyone knew that there must have been a judgment in their hearts, and they all gathered prestige.

"Let me ask you a question first, what do you think is the trouble in today's Ming Dynasty?"

Hou Dagui was stunned for a moment, and then grinned: "Suffer? Of course, we are the ones who suffer. If it weren't for our years of tossing, his old Zhu family would not be as anxious as it is now. ”

The corners of Zhao Dangshi's mouth raised slightly, shook his head and said, "In addition to us, what else?" ”

"And?" Hou Dagui scratched his head and pondered left and right, "Who else has such great ability as us?" ”

Xu Hui said in a deep voice: "What the lord wants to say, isn't it the Tartar outside the gate?" ”

"Tartar?" Hou Dagui listened, and looked at Guo Ruke and others a few times. They are good at military affairs, but short on strategy. On the one hand, this is due to the backwardness of communication tools, and on the other hand, it is also due to the fact that the ordinary army is busy and has no time to take care of the outside. They only knew that there was a group of Jianzhou Tartars outside the Guan, similar to the Mongol Tartars in the Hetao, fierce and abnormal, and constantly infested the Ming soil, but they did not know anything further. The left and right are just some Tartars, the hidden dangers that existed at the beginning of the founding of this dynasty, it's no wonder, what should the lord do when he mentions them?

Zhao Dangshi sighed and said, "It's a pity that Lao Han can't come today if he has something, otherwise it would be better for him to say it." "Han Gon is a native of Liaodong, and at the same time, he used to be an official and soldier who did not collect at night and was familiar with border affairs, but he was on guard and patrol on the periphery for several days and could not attend the meeting.

Mu Gongchun thought for a while and said: "The Jianzhou Tartars outside this pass are very different from the Tartars of the past. ”

Xu Hui said: "I know a little bit about this. I also dealt with them when I was on an errand under General Zhang of Xuanfu. Compared to other Tartars, this Jianzhou Tartar is particularly ferocious. He has conquered many Mongolian tribes, and I heard that in the past two years, the country was renamed 'Daqing' outside the Guan, and almost fought against the Ming Dynasty and regarded himself as the lord of the Guanwai. ”

Mu Gongchun bowed his head and said: "The Ming court has fought countless battles with the Jianzhou Tartars before and after, and it is rare to bargain. In terms of combat power, the crowd is still above the officials and soldiers of the Ming court...... However, no matter how strong they are, they are still thousands of miles away from our camp, what does the lord mean by this? ”

Zhao Dangshi replied: "You are all worried about the affairs in the camp, and you have no intention of taking care of foreign affairs, I am afraid that you don't know that Huang Taiji, the master of the current Jianzhou Tartars, is a personal master, and he is more cunning than his father and slave. Since the succession to the throne, he has conquered the east and the west, and almost put all the departments outside the Guanxi and Saishang Mongolia into the bag. He once was the base, so he had no fear, and in the past two years, he has repeatedly invaded our side, and because of this, there was the matter of King Lu Yan leaving office. Although Zhao Dangshi and others have been anti-Ming for a long time, once it comes to foreign races such as building slaves and setting slaves, they will subconsciously take the Ming Dynasty as their homeland and narrate it from the perspective of the Ming Dynasty. When Hou Dagui and the others heard this, they didn't feel anything unusual.

"Two years ago, Jianju Tatar was entered by the side wall, which greatly ravaged the land of Gyeonggi. This year, I got news that the Jianzhou Tartars were moving outside the pass, intending to invade again, and the Ming court Yin Jian was in front, and he would not sit idly by. "Zhao Dangshi said that although the Yunyang Mountains are isolated from the Guanshan Mountains in the north, he can roughly judge the overall situation in the world based on what he knew in his previous life and the careful collection of reliable information for several months. Hou Dagui and the others have always been obedient to him, and they only thought that he could judge the trend only by the information provided by the Secret Service, and of course they would not think of anything else.

Lu Xiangsheng, Zu Kuan and other generations have left Shaanxi and Henan and turned north, which is the best proof. If the imperial court wants to deal with the Tartars, the existing border army alone will inevitably be overstretched. Zhao Dangshi looked at everyone and spoke loudly, "The important land of Gyeonggi is not comparable to Sichuan and Shaanxi, so in my opinion, sooner or later, the imperial court must mobilize troops to the north to help." ”

If the previous remarks were still expected by everyone, then the words "large-scale mobilization of troops to the north" really hit everyone's heartstrings.

Chang Zeyu's heart moved, he knew that Zhao Dangshi Tao was extraordinary, but he never thought that his pattern was far greater than his own. In his opinion, in terms of the strategic pattern, there are very few talented people here, most of them are just mediocre talents, and only they are worthy of their name. Unexpectedly, Zhao Dangshi's words made him feel stunned for a long time. Living in Yunyang, but his vision has already been set on the white mountains and black waters thousands of miles away, this insight and foresight may not be compared with the word "good talent", it can be described as "the world's talent".

"What does the lord mean, in the near future, the imperial court will continue to draw troops from Yunyang, Henan, Huguang and other places to the north?" Hou Dagui's eyes were as wide as a round bell, and he was the most surprised.

Zhao Dangshi nodded and said: "I don't speculate, you think, there are Tartars outside, and my righteous army has been attacked one after another and fallen into a trough." Learning from each other's strengths and weaknesses has been the same since ancient times, if you were a Chongzhen, what would you do? It is a short May and June, and a long one is August and September, and the court will have a big move. ”

Hou Dagui couldn't help but nod when he heard this: "Reasonable, reasonable." ”

Chang Zeyu hesitated a little and said: "Lord, the truth is good, but the key is that those Jianzhou Tartars are really so powerful that they can affect the imperial court so much?" "He is an old man in the rogues, although he is smart, but due to the times and conditions, he is not as clear as Zhao Dangshi about the forces and people outside the Guan.

In order to dispel everyone's doubts, Zhao Dangshi thought about it and found an excuse: "Previously, the Secret Service Division captured many foot merchants from the north. I got a lot of favorable news from them, and I came up with this inference after analysis. ”

In the Ming Dynasty, the wars and peace with the border tribes never stopped, and in between, a group of speculators came into being, among which the representatives were Shanxi merchants. They dealt in the supply of military supplies for the border guards, and gradually accumulated capital by transporting military rations to obtain salt and silver. Therefore, they have in-depth contact and exchanges with the forces on both sides of the border wall, have a lot of information, and have a grasp of the rapidly changing situation above the army. Zhao Dangshi used them as a disguise, and others couldn't see the truth.

Hou Dagui was convinced of Zhao Dangshi's explanation, and he said: "If the imperial court transfers troops north, then there will be a lot of emptiness around us. At that time, it is not yet the sea that leaps with the fish, and the sky is high and the birds fly! ”

Zhao Dangshi smiled and said: "What Lao Hou said is good. However, there are prerequisites for the imperial court to reassure the army to go north. One is the Tartar offense, we can't be the master, we can only wait and see what happens; But the other one is closely related to us. Speaking of this, he turned to Hou Dagui, "Old Hou, what should we do to make the imperial court obediently transfer the troops away?" ”

Hou Dagui smiled, and the nasolabial folds were all over the place: "We don't need to do anything, as long as we stay obediently, those adults in the court are afraid that they will have to celebrate each other." ”

"Exactly!" Zhao Dangshixiong's slow and powerful voice rose again, "Accepting Zhao'an this time, you can rest and recuperate inside, and you can relax the court's heart outside, which is really the best of both worlds." Other obstacles are all trivial and insignificant. ”

At this point, the results of the military discussion have basically settled. Even though the six people at the meeting had their own hearts and moods, they still said in unison at this juncture: "I will swear to follow the lord!" ”

After finishing a matter of thought, Zhao Dangshi sat firmly in the chair, and the burden in his heart was suddenly unloaded, and he was very happy. However, suddenly something came to his mind, and he couldn't help but be overjoyed.