The number of officers gradually increased, and the deliberate suppression of the discussion was a little more than just now, but Zhao Xingde didn't seem to be aware of it, Shuai Case had a copy of "Character Chronicles" in his left hand and a file in his right hand, but his eyes fell in the middle, as if he was thinking about something. Since the great changes in Ezhou and the central government, he has always been this preoccupied, and his heavy eyebrows have rarely stretched out a few times.

"General Zhao," Du Fujiao reminded in a low voice as he stood behind the handsome case, "It's all here." ”

"Hmm." Zhao Xingde nodded, looked around the hall, and as far as his eyes could see, the whispering suddenly stopped.

"Very good, today we will gather and announce one thing." Zhao Xingde said in a deep voice, "This army is stationed in Guangzhou, and there was some misunderstanding with the local government a few days ago, and now the previous suspicions have been released, and the general will go ashore for a banquet at the invitation of the Guangzhou government, and the command of the naval division will be temporarily replaced by Zhou and Zhou. During the period when you are not on the ship, no matter what happens, you must obey the military orders of the Zhou Commander, and you must not violate them. Do you understand? ”

"Obey!" The officers of the Naval Division replied in unison.

Zhou He is a member of the Ministry of War, and it is an open secret among the sailors. Since the establishment of Ezhou, the imperial court has abolished the system of eunuchs supervising the army, and the supervision of the garrison troops is undertaken by the Ministry of War. Although the staff department has placed many secret agents in various armies, the identity of the generals of the staff department is public, and the identity of the generals sent to the army is actually the identity of "supervising the army". Therefore, when Zhao Xingde was not in the army, Zhou He was in charge of the water division, which had both identity and means, which was the most "reasonable" arrangement.

However, the generals' expressions were not relaxed, especially the generals of the Xia Kingdom such as Du Fujiao and Liu Zhijian. It was only a few hours before and after the banquet, but Zhao Xingde solemnly arranged for Zhou He to be in charge of the water, indicating that he was not too confident about the sincerity of Guangzhou. The party struggle is becoming more and more intense, and all parties are doing everything they can. Chen Gongju set up a banquet to invite each other, and no one can be sure whether it is good or malicious.

Feng Mi hesitated for a moment, stepped forward and said, "Zhao Shuai, this Guangzhou Mansion invites a banquet, why don't you shirk it?" ”

"Otherwise, we will lead the troops to surround the Guangzhou wharf first," Ding Ban patted his waist and said, "If the people of Canton dare to play tricks, we set fire to the Guangzhou wharf." "As soon as this statement came out, the rest of the people said yes." Arrest Chen Gongju first! ”“...... That's right, if we don't go into Guangzhou Mansion to settle accounts with them, we will be lucky. "These days, everyone is tired of arguing with the Guangzhou government. If it weren't for the fact that the Canton Mansion was stuck with the supplies of the sailors, the officers would have been eager to sail away immediately, and would no longer have to deal with these civilian officials who talked about chickens and ducks, and in comparison, it would have been much easier to kill people with knives. The generals thought that since the Guangzhou side had relented and honestly sent the supplies of the sailors, there was no need for the Governor to give them face.

Zhou He also stepped forward and said, "Dashuai, please think twice." ”

"You don't have to persuade me anymore, I've made up my mind." Zhao Xingde waved his hand, but Zhou He did not retreat, and the other generals also stood in place.

The scene froze for a while, Zhao Xingde opened the file on his right, and a letter was revealed.

The two lines of words on the envelope, Zhou He saw that this was Chen Dong's handwriting, and his eyes suddenly showed a different color.

"This is Chen Xianggong's handwriting, he specially repaired the book with me and Chen Gongju to be this peacemaker." Zhao Xingde sighed and said in a deep voice: "Chen Gongju is just fine, I can't ignore Chen Xianggong's face." Shaoyang turned the tide in the most difficult time of the Great Song Dynasty, and he also had the grace of knowing Zhao. Guangzhou is the place where Chen Shaoyang spent his hard work to operate, so he did not want the South China Sea Sailor to be in conflict with Guangzhou. He raised his head and looked into the distance, and said in a gloomy tone, "The Great Song Dynasty is stormy, and everyone must be in the same boat." ”

"But ....."

"That's it," Zhao Xingde said in a deep voice: "Don't say that if you go to the dock for a banquet, even if it is a tiger's den in Longtan, what am I afraid of?" ”

When the generals saw that he was resolute, they stopped admonishing him. Feng Mi, Liu Zhijian and others were worried, and they also retreated.

"Chen Shaoyang is a guarantor," Zhou He said to himself, "Chen Gongju must not dare to mess around." ”

"No wonder, it turned out to be Chen Xianggong's face." Staff Officer Xu Zunyu said secretly.

Feeling that the above two gazes swept down, Xu Zunyu was busy looking at his nose and nose, and stood solemnly.

Zhao Xingde also told the generals to go back and restrain the soldiers, so that there should be no chaos during this time, and the point will be over. Xu Zunyu and the generals retreated together and returned to the cabin where the staff officer was. It's a cabin shared by four people. Among them, Feng Mi of the Secret Pavilion has the highest official rank, Xu Zunyu and Liu Yang are the staff officers of the Dadu Shogunate, and Dong Xiaowu is the fire chief in charge of the Si Nan Needle on the ship. In the center of the cabin was a square wooden table and four chairs. The bed boards around it are usually fastened to the wall and lowered at night. Therefore, although there are four officers, the interior space does not seem cramped. This kind of treatment is worse than that of high-ranking officers such as commanders and commanders, but it is much better than sailors who sleep in hammocks in the bilge.

The breeze was light, the chatter and footsteps were gradually fading away, and the officers of the naval division left the White Tiger Hall in twos and threes, and jumped down the rope ladder into the small boat waiting under the side of the ship. Xu Zunyu stood in front of the window, watching the small boats sail towards the warships in the distance, as if thinking about something.

"Lord Zhao is also too ......" Dong Xiaowu sighed: "Alas, the heart of defense is indispensable!" ”

"Don't talk about others," Liu Yang also sighed: "Isn't Chen Xianggong just framed and removed?" He should be more careful. ”

"Lord Zhao is the gentleman of the world, and he has long put aside the honor and disgrace of personal life and death. If it weren't for that, he wouldn't have been able to hand over his military power in Bianliang so easily. After the rebellion in Ezhou, how could he return with a seal and be willingly placed under house arrest in the Marquis of Wuchang's mansion. This time, Chen Xianggong must have persuaded him to endure for the country, but unfortunately, he cheapened the mediocre officials in Guangzhou Mansion. Feng Mi scolded angrily, and suddenly saw Xu Zunyu standing in front of the window and asking, so he shouted, "Brother Xu, did you say it?" ”

"Exactly," Xu Zunyu had been listening to several people in the room, but at this moment, he pretended to have just come back to his senses, and was stunned for a moment, before he sighed: "General Zhao's benevolence and righteousness are not something that we can hope for." At this time, the hull of the ship shook slightly, but it was the sailor who pulled up the anchor chain, hung up the half-sail, and the warship slowly sailed towards the harbor. Xu Zunyu looked at the pier to the north, and a complicated look flashed in his eyes.

The warships of the South China Sea Navy Division are still anchored in the open sea, and Zhao Xingde's ship docks alone at the wharf of Western Australia, and waits for Zhao Xingde to come back here. The wharf is the place of Guangzhou, although the Gongle Building is next to the wharf trestle, from the berth to the restaurant is only two hundred steps, the Guangzhou government still sent ten carriages, full of honor guards to greet each other, the city of the city envoy Liu Yu personally on the wharf to wait, Zhizhou Chen Gongju and many Guangzhou gentry waiting at the door of the Gongle Building. On the side of the South China Sea Naval Division, not only did Du Fujiao, Zhou He, Liu Zhijian and other henchmen and generals not follow, but the Grenadier Battalion also stayed on the ship and waited.

Xu Zunyu stood behind the porthole, watching Zhao Xing being invited by Liu Yu to get into the carriage, and saw him get off the carriage in front of the Gongle Building from a distance.

Zhizhou Chen Gongju and Liu Yu accompanied the governor on the left and right, the guests and hosts seemed to talk happily, and the surrounding gentry also kept moving forward, looking at the situation very lively, until Zhao Xingde's figure disappeared behind the gate of the Gongle Building. A quarter of an hour later, the sound of gongs, drums and firecrackers outside the wharf has not stopped, the crowd gathered around the Gongle Building has not only not decreased, but more and more, it is so lively that it is like the Lantern Festival in Beijing, the crowd is bustling and pushing non-stop, in order not to be chaotic, the Guangzhou government has transferred a large number of officials to maintain order outside the Gongle Building, however, the crowd gathered outside the door to watch the excitement has not dispersed.

"That's it?" Xu Zunyu said secretly, "It doesn't look like a Hongmen banquet, perhaps, I spend the belly of a gentleman with the heart of a villain." ”

Ashamed of himself, he breathed a sigh of relief. Xu Zunyu was short of money, and he also owed a lot of money to others, and his handle was in the hands of others, so he had to do a lot of things that were out of his conscience, including revealing the movements of the sailor, the inside affairs of the Shogunate, and even Zhao Xingde's temperament and habits to some "unknown" traitors. However, Xu Zunyu read the book of sages after all, and he didn't want the Guangzhou Mansion to be unfavorable to Zhao Xingde, he still had a little conscience left, even if there was only a little left.

"It doesn't look like a Hongmen feast." Xu Zunyu thought about it as he spoke, his voice louder than usual.

"Not really." Feng Mi, Liu Yan and others also hugged the window to watch.

The drums on the shore are noisy, and the firecrackers are ringing in unison, such a lively and peaceful scene, there is indeed no taste of swords and swords.

"Maybe, I'll be thinking too much."

"Maybe." Xu Zunyu muttered, "I hope so." ”

"I didn't notice that there were so many people in Guangzhou a few days ago," Liu Yan stretched his waist and said, "It's almost time to catch up with Suzhou and Hangzhou." ”

All the officers were young men, and they were nervous just now, but seeing that nothing happened, they slacked off again. Anyway, it's just a feast, good or bad, at most it will be clear in an hour or two, and too much speculation is very meaningless. Thinking like this in their hearts, everyone returned to their seats one after another to be busy, Dong Xiaowu sorted out several instruments necessary to identify the course, Feng Mi put a pen on his face and practiced calligraphy, and Liu Yang carefully wiped his waist knife. Xu Zunyu's heart was disturbed, he was still standing in front of the window, frowning at the Guangzhou wharf in the distance.

Suddenly, there were several exclamations from the dock. Xu Zunyu looked at it and saw that the guests in the Gongle Building ran out like frightened ducks. The officials of the state government who were guarding outside not only did not stop them, but released them with a tacit understanding. After the crowd dispersed, two human walls appeared outside the Gongle Building. The armor is clear and well-trained, which is obviously not a government service, but a state army and regimental training. Outside these two human walls, people pushed and screamed in panic, fleeing like waves in layers, and almost in an instant, thousands of people ran clean, leaving only a dozen wounded and in a mess.

"It's really—" Xu Zunyu's face was full of shock, and he muttered, "Hongmen Banquet!" ”