The sun hangs in the sky, and the green forest sea rises and falls in the wind. Through the forest gap, a yellow mud path zigzags upward. The weeds on both sides of the path are densely weed, and people walk on it and scrape the grass branches, bringing a soft sound of rustling. Hou Dagui, who was wearing a hat, stepped on a horizontal branch that blocked the way, and looked back at the three people behind him: "The legs and feet are sharper, people are all horns with heads and faces, and the game we have saved needs to be bad on the face if we are late." ”

The three of them agreed, and another person walked up behind them, and said to Hou Dagui: "Commander, I have inquired to the woodcutter passing by at the foot of the mountain, and along this dirt road is the mountain temple." ”

Hou Dagui smiled at him and said, "Fang Cai is still thinking about Lao Li, why don't you have a shadow, this mountain temple meeting, if you are not here, I will lose a big help." The one who spoke to him was Li Yanlang, the sentry officer of the outpost of the Zhao Camp Wuqi Camp at the moment. Hou and Li were ordered to come to Chengtianfu not long ago to do business, and it has only reached a critical time since the starry night.

Hou Dagui is the commander of the camp and Li Yanlang's top boss, Li Yanlang is respectful and respectful from beginning to end when talking to him, and he doesn't dare to make a mistake.

Hou Dagui admired Li Yanlang's low-key personality and ability to lead troops, and hoped to draw him under his command very early, but Li Yanlang seemed to deliberately keep a distance from Hou Dagui, and pretended to be deaf and dumb to Hou Dagui's several temptations. Although Hou Dagui said that he was depressed, he was not impatient, because he knew that Li Yanlang was quite valued by Zhao Dangshi, and he had some backgrounds, and he was forced to do nothing. Therefore, I made up my mind that even if I couldn't take Li Yanlang for my own use, I had to at least maintain a good relationship with others.

In his opinion, after all, among the five major generals of Zhao Yinghou, Xu, Guo, Han, and Wang, Xu and Guo are considered to be one nostril, Wang Laixing is Zhao Dangshi's confidant, and Han Gon is detached, and he wants to consolidate his position and suppress the other four, and he must rely on the support of middle-level generals. In the Wuqi battalion, Bai Wang of the Chinese army and Qin Qigong, the counselor and overseer, are not the objects that can be wooed, so it is particularly important to obtain the support of the front, left, right, and rear sentinels.

After a few words, a partridge swept low through the treetops, and the three guards who accompanied Hou and Li waved their knives to split several bushes of thorns in front of them. Raising the eye, there are several fragments of loess walls. Behind the loess wall, there is a bamboo hut, but the hay covered on it has been scattered and uncovered, and the bottom of the wooden door of the bamboo hut is also half rotten, and it hangs weakly. On the side of the bamboo house, a temple falls between several towering ancient cypresses, but looking at its appearance, it has also been in disrepair for a long time, the bricks and tiles fall off a lot, and several stone carvings in front of the temple are also crooked, hidden in the weeds, and the bamboo house is broken.

"It's secluded and quiet, it's a good place to talk." Hou Dagui laughed dryly, his tone mocking. At this time, someone at the gate of the temple saw them and immediately turned around and entered the mountain temple. After a while, several people were about to come out, and one of the burly men was particularly eager, three steps and two steps stride, hugged Li Yanlang and said, "Nine sons!" ”

Li Yanlang also said excitedly: "Fifth brother! ”

Hou Dagui smiled: "Sure enough, it's the dragon brother and the tiger brother, and I have to get together today, which is very comforting!" ”

Li Yanlang let go of his hand and introduced: "Fifth brother, this is my Zhao Ying commander Hou Dagui. At today's meeting, Hou Tongzhi will be the main envoy and I will be the deputy envoy. He added, "Commander, he is the fifth brother of my clan......"

"I know, the three words 'shooting the sky' are reported out, but who doesn't give a thumbs up to anyone in the rivers and lakes?" Hou Dagui immediately took over, "Hou Dagui in Xia Zhao Ying, I have seen Li Zhang's plate. ”

The burly man shook his head and said, "It's just a little vain, and I don't dare to be praised as a marquis." This man is today's famous Dakou "Shooting the Sky" Li Wanqing. Li Wanqing is a native of Yan'an, Shaanxi, and I heard that his family originated from the Li family in Longxi, which is just a small branch of the partial house, and his generation has already fallen for hundreds of years, and the situation is not much better than that of the "Han clan ancestor Liu Xuande". At the beginning, he was a thief from the clan, and he used the name of "Wanqing" to avoid tarnishing the family tree, but later, he became famous and prosperous, and the name of "Wanqing" seems to have become his real name.

Li Wanqing has read some books, has a flexible mind, is good at adapting to changes, although he has had ups and downs since the beginning of the incident, but he can always be stable and upward, and he has always maintained a very independent nature. In terms of fame, they are on a par with Liu Guoneng, and their styles are somewhat similar. The reason why Zhao Dangshi sent Li Yanlang to Chengtianfu with Hou Dagui this time was also to take into account his clan relationship with Li Wanqing.

As he spoke, several people also walked up from behind Li Wanqing, Li Wanqing pointed to a middle-aged man with a swarthy five short stature, and said, "This is the palm of He." He looked at a man with a pointed triangular face on the side, "Lin Zhangpan." Finally, he patted the round-faced man on the right back, "This is Liu Zhangpan." ”

Hou Dagui listened to it and knew it in his heart. "Zuojin King" He Jin, "King of Troubled Times" Lin Chengcheng, and "King of the World" Liu Xiyao are all the great masters of the world who once galloped through Sichuan, Shaanxi and even the southeast.

He Jin looked at Hou Dagui with a smile and said, "Hou Tong, how is your family in charge of the plate now?" ”

Hou Dagui said with a smile: "Thanks to the blessing of King Zuojin, my lord is safe and healthy." Then add a sentence, "The sentence that my lord is always in the premise is that if there was no medicine from King Zuojin at that time, there would be no Zhao Dangshi today." ”

When He Jin heard this, he laughed loudly, and the laughter shook Lin Yue, which was very hearty.

Li Wanqing said: "Lao He, Brother Zhao is now an official of the imperial court, and he should be called an adult. ”

He Jin smiled: "Didn't I mean to slip my mouth." The price is talking to this boss and that boss all day long, but I have never had the honor to talk to the adults in the government, and it is difficult to change my words. Said to Hou Dagui, "I have long known that Brother Zhao is not a thing in the pool, and he will take off for nine days one day, and now it seems that my vision is not bad." He smiled again, "I heard that he recently killed Zhang Xiongfei's erection, as the so-called 'gentleman is not too late to take revenge for ten years', he is a good man and a hero!" ”

Lin Yangcheng also said: "Yes, I have also had the privilege of working with Brother Zhao. At that time, he and I both served under King Li Chuang, and it was he who overrode public opinion, set a strategy to besiege and kill Cao Wenzhao, and even cut off the head surnamed Cao with his own hands, which greatly boosted the momentum of our righteous army. Now that I think about it, that courage is really very human. Speaking of this, he went up and held Hou Dagui's hand and said, "Hou Tong, we have seen it." It's a pity that your camp was later transferred, and it is difficult for you and me to have further contacts, which is a great pity. ”

Hou Dagui smiled: "It's okay. I admire the name of the palm, and the gods have been friends for a long time, and it is extremely precious. In fact, I didn't think much of Lin Cheng's nonsense at all.

Lin Yangcheng sighed and said: "I knew that I shouldn't have stayed in Shaanxi in the first place, let alone gone out of Henan again." Otherwise, wouldn't it be gratifying to join the righteousness with Brother Zhao and do the next career vigorously! ”

At this time, Li Wanqing interjected: "Lao Hou, Lao Liu is a good brother of ours, not an outsider. He's here to cheer you on, don't you mind? Although he was half-joking, there was a hint of worry in his eyebrows.

Hou Dagui immediately laughed and said, "How can you mind! The name of Liu's plate is like thunder, I was afraid that I would not move Liu's plate before, but now I am willing to appreciate it, and it is too late to be happy. Li Yanlang echoed and said yes.

Li Wanqing and the others laughed when they heard this, but Hou Dagui's heart was clear about it. Before coming to Chengtianfu, he had already understood the current situation of Huguang and Henan, and although there were many camps of various large and small Liukou, they could be roughly divided into three factions: Cao Cao's faction, Laohui's faction and the centrists.

Cao Cao faction and Lao Hui faction, as the name suggests, the members of the faction are die-hard fans of Cao Cao Luo Rucai and Lao Hui Ma Shouying, respectively. For example, "Yizhangqing" Shi Gongda, "One Dragon" Zhang Li, "Little Qin King" Wang Guangen, "Guan Suo" Wang Guangtai and "Neat King" Wang Monk, etc., all follow the pace of Luo Rucai in both walks and battles. And like the "mixed 100,000" Ma Jinzhong, the "Ge Li Eye" He Yilong, etc., have always been around Ma Shouying and have the same hatred with him.

In fact, this is also a trend within the Liukou in recent years, that is, in the face of the increasingly tight imperial court and the gradually depleting local resources, the small forces that were scattered at the beginning slowly began to integrate into several larger battalions in order to protect themselves. In Shaanxi, Li Zicheng's camp has basically completed the integration of the Liukou in Shaanxi, and the family is dominant. And if Zhao Dangshi does not choose to go out of Sichuan, but insists on activities in Sichuan, Sichuan will basically plant the banner of Zhao Ying. Huguang, Henan and other places because of the large number of liukou, so the assimilation process is much slower, but it has already shown clues, that is, Zhang Xianzhong, Ma Shouying, Luo Rucai three stand out. Since the integration has not yet been completed, there is still a third faction, that is, the centrist.

The centrist refers to wandering between Chu and Yu, although he often joins forces with Ma Shouying or Luo Rucai, but he has always been in a state of imminent departure, among which the representative figures are "Zuojin King" He Jin, "King of Troubled Times" Lin Yangyang, "King of the World" Liu Xiyao, "King of Xingshi" Wang Guoning, "Shooting the Sky" Li Wanqing, "Shunyi King" Shen Wandeng, etc.

The reason why these people did not integrate into Ma Shouying or Luo Rucai's command was very mixed. For example, Lin Chengcheng, because he has partnered with Li Zicheng for a long time, is not trusted by Ma and Luo, and runs into walls left and right. Another example is He Jin, who doesn't look down on Ma Shou at all, and is unwilling to succumb to others.

Therefore, the rogue who belongs to the centrist is the direction that Zhao Dangshi wants to focus on. In other words, in Zhao Ying's three constructive strategies, "extensive assistance", these people are the objects to be won over as much as possible. Especially when killing Zhang Xiongfei and returning to the camp is almost a foregone conclusion, it has become particularly important to get the support of He Jin and others.

And He Jin, Lin Yangcheng and Li Wanqing have various personal relationships with Zhao Ying, so they are listed as the first choice to contact. Liu Xiyao and Zhao Dangshi have never intersected, and it is not unreasonable for Li Wanqing to worry that Hou Dagui will be unhappy when he comes to such a private place.

A few people talked a few words outside the temple and turned into the mountain temple. The temple was cleaned up, tidy, and a small round table and a little wine and fruit were put up. Before sitting down, Lin Yangcheng began to scold Luo Rucai: "It is said that Ma and Luo are Zhuge Kongming and Sima Zhongda of our righteous army, but I think they are two brainless horses and mules." ”

Hou Dagui said: "I heard that you have recently followed Cao Cao from Henan to Wuchang, and I don't know what you want. ”

Lin Chengcheng replied: "It's not Luo Rucai's dog cowardice that fools everyone, what to say is to retreat as advance." The good Henan did not leave, and had to return to Xiang...... from Macheng and Wuchang North. ”

Hou Dagui listened to him halfway through his speech, so he paid attention to it, and pretended to be indifferent: "There are Zhang Renxue, Zuo Liangyu, Chen Yongfu and others in Henan who are blocked there, all of them are fierce and abnormal, and it is indeed not easy to walk." ”

Liu Xiyao smiled and said, "Is Huguang easy to go?" Xu Chengming and Yang Shien are not good at stubble, not to mention Long Zaitian and a group of savages under him. If you don't lose a layer of skin in Huguang, I don't think you can go out. ”

Li Wanqing said intentionally or unintentionally: "You said that if we followed the old man back, would we be better?" ”

Liu Xiyao said again: "Not necessarily. It's not easy to go back a few times. It's all bitter haha, so why envy each other. ”

Lin Chengcheng laughed at himself: "It's better to stay in Shaanxi at the beginning, it's a hundred, and there are two years of tossing." ”

Liu Xiyao shook his head and said: "King Li Chuang may not be moisturized, maybe go to Shaanxi to have a look, you have to come back here." As soon as the old king left, the dragons were leaderless. Look at the past two years, following the eight kings and the old man back to them, flowing back and forth, and what good fruits have you reaped? It's all nonsense. I think this righteous day is half darkened. ”

Lin Chengcheng snorted coldly and said, "Speaking of the eight kings, this guy is really a good means." With some rhetoric, he played us all like monkeys, patted his buttocks, turned into a person, wore a gold suit, tied a jade belt, and became an official like a dog. ”

Li Wanqing coughed lightly and said, "Lao Lin, in front of Lao Hou, don't talk nonsense about some things." ”

Zhao Dangshi followed Zhang Xianzhong to accept Zhao'an, and Lin Chengcheng arranged Zhang Xianzhong, which was equivalent to bringing Zhao Dangshi to death. Hou Dagui just wanted to speak to express his generosity, but his mind was racing, and he felt that the singing and harmony of Li and Lin seemed to be a bit premeditated. Secretly glanced at everyone, but for a while, He Jin, Lin Yangsheng and others were all looking at themselves directly, their eyes full of anger.