After Gu An, the prefect of Hangzhou, learned of his daughter's message, he closed the city gate in the name of checking the wanted criminals, and sent the Hangzhou Standing Army to search the city for two days, but did not get any information about Manichaeism, and finally ordered the city gate to be opened under pressure.

But he had also learned of the Manichaean preaching in the surrounding counties and villages. He hurriedly sent the news from all sides to Bianliang and handed it over to Cai Jing, hoping to attract his attention and spread the news of Manichaeism's preaching of the teachings in Jiangnan to the emperor.

Since the Tang Wuzong extermination movement, from the countries of the Five Dynasties period to the current Great Song Dynasty, the management of religion has been extremely strict, but all religions whose doctrines are contrary to the concept of governing the country have been suppressed, and many churches have been transformed into underground. Church.

Manichaeism is one of them. Later, after Zhao Ji, the son of heaven, saw Gu An's letter, he ordered the people to be forbidden to believe in this "demon religion", but all missionaries were escorted to Dali Temple for detention if they were caught.

At this time, Bianliang had already received the news of Gao Yu's defeat. But Zhao Ji, the Son of Heaven, did not give Gao Yu the death as he said at the beginning, but only demoted him and punished him for three years. For Zhao Ji, punishing the criminals is not a top priority, and if the traitor in Liangshan is not eliminated, he will be like a fish in his throat.

At the court meeting, Tong Guan Shangju asked to send the Western Army to exterminate Liangshan, Cai Jing and his cadres were supportive, and Zhao Ji also felt that only the Western Army could destroy Liangshan in one fell swoop at this time, so he was ready to order Tong Guan to lead the Western Army to rehabilitate.

However, just when Zhao Ji was about to give an order, the newly promoted lieutenant Su Yuanjing stood up and said: The Western Army is the backbone of the Northern Expedition, and now after the Liangshan thieves have won the imperial court twice, the forces are not the same, and the Western Army may be able to sweep away the rebellion, but the loss will not be small, and it will have a non-negligible impact on the Northern Expedition.

He advocated sending envoys to recruit Liangshan, believing that many of the thieves in Liangshan were poor people, and they had gone up the mountain and fallen into the grass because of the oppression of corrupt officials.

The hundred officials listened to his words and felt that it was quite reasonable, and Dazai Zheng Juzhong and Deng Xunwu, the ruling of the Privy Council, immediately advised Zhao Ji to act according to the plan of Taiwei Su.

Although Zhao Ji was a little reluctant to recruit An, he also knew that the benefits of Zhao'an were far better than those of conquest. He ordered an envoy to be sent to Liangshan to discuss the matter of recruiting security.

Su Taiwei was the proposer of the plan, and immediately stood up and petitioned to go to Liangshan as an envoy. In the end, Zhao Ji rejected his petition with "Taiwei is in a high position, how can he stoop to the den of thieves", and asked him to send his subordinate officials to go.

The wind and clouds in Bianliang City are surging, and Liangshan is also very unpeaceful.

A few days ago in the evening, Chao Gai and Song Jiang returned to Liangshan Dazhai with the victorious army, and when passing by a small road, a huge arrow suddenly shot from the shadows, Chao Gai was half a beat slower when he dodged, and was shot in the neck, and died on the spot.

By the time Song Jiang and the surrounding leaders reacted, the people in the shadows had already fled on a fast horse, and the speed was beyond everyone's reach.

At that time, the soldiers of Liangshan were in the joy of defeating the imperial court, and the news of Chao Gai's death was tantamount to a basin of cold water poured on the faces of the leaders. All the leaders threatened that it must be the court troublemakers to avenge King Chao.

At night, after settling Chao Gai's body, Song Jiang brought the arrow that shot Chao Gai and handed it to everyone to inspect, only to see the words "Shi Wengong" written on it.

Some leaders from the south didn't know who Shi Wengong was, thinking that he was a general of the imperial court, and it wasn't until Hua Rong came out to explain that they knew that he was a teacher from Zengtou City. But Zengtou City has nothing to do with Liangshan, and it is far away in Lingzhou, why did he assassinate Chao Tianwang?

At this time, a young general named Duan Jingzhu walked out of the crowd and solved everyone's doubts.

It turned out that Duan Jingzhu had stolen a BMW from the hands of foreigners in the north, named Zhaoye Jade Lion, and was going to give it to Chao Gai as a reward for his life, but when he passed by Zengtou City, he was robbed by the five tigers of the Zeng family.

And Zeng Tou City offended Chao Gai, and saw that Liangshan was becoming more and more prosperous, afraid that Chao Gai would lead the troops to begg, so the soldiers were dangerous, and the sword went sideways, so he simply sent people to hide in the dark, waiting for the opportunity to assassinate Chao Gai. But perhaps because of his impatience, Shi Wengong forgot to replace the arrow and shot the arrow with the name on it.

Even if the leaders didn't fully believe Duan Jingzhu's words, it seemed that only this made sense at the moment, otherwise why would Shi Wengong kill Chao Gai for no reason?

Knowing the ins and outs of the matter, Song Jiang angrily said that he would raze Zengtou City to avenge Chao Gai.

However, Liangshan was at a time of prosperity, and the village could not be left without an owner for a day, so Hua Rong, Dai Zong, Mu Hong and others strongly asked Song Jiang to sit on the throne of the Heavenly King and take charge of the overall situation.

However, Song Jiang rejected the kindness of his brothers on the grounds of "not avenging Chao Gai's revenge and vowing not to sit on the throne".

So in the past two days, in order to let Song Jiang preside over the overall situation of Liangshan, the leaders began to prepare for the attack on Zengtou City......

In the city of Bianliang, Lin Mansion.

Lin Chong and the old man Zhou Qi sat in the courtyard and talked softly, next to Lin Niangzi and Ming Xia, who were sewing clothes with needlework.

“…… Victory or defeat is a common thing in soldiers," Zhou Yi turned his head to look at Lin Chong, who had been calm since he came back from Yunzhou, and continued: "What's more, Your Majesty only punished Gao Yu's officials who were in charge of decision-making, and it was none of your business, why are you doing with a stinky face here?" ”

Lin Chong's eyes showed a hint of unwillingness: "Master, you don't know, I had already captured Shi Xiu, Huang Xin, and Ma Lin of Liangshan alive at that time, but when the overall situation failed, that Gao Taiwei actually sent me to carry the prisoner to the queen, and was rescued by Liangshan, and the credit I originally recorded in the marching book was crossed out." ”

"How could I not know the thoughts of Captain Gao, his mistake in decision-making caused the whole army to retreat, so he did not want anyone to achieve military merits, lest His Majesty should count him down. How can such a selfish person be a good leader? ”

When Zhou Wei heard this, he sighed and said, "Alas, although my Great Song branches and leaves are here, the foundation has been decayed. The Liangshan rebellion was already in the morning and dusk, but it still couldn't wake up the saint. If you don't eradicate the traitors as soon as possible, you will suffer a great disaster. Ling Er is going to Hangzhou now, I am afraid that she will also be in the midst of a chaotic battle. ”

Lin Chong was quite puzzled when he heard this: "Where did the master say this?" Isn't the land south of the Yangtze River the richest realm in my Great Song Dynasty? ”

"Manichaean Sect Leader Fang La," Zhou Wei looked at him and shook his head, "a storm is brewing that is enough to sweep Jiangnan. Hangzhou, where Ling Er was located, was probably the first stronghold they wanted to take, so as to expand in all directions. ”

Lin Chong was stunned and said, "Master is saying that Fang La is also going to revolt?" ”

"Your inflexible temperament should have changed a long time ago," Zhou Wei said in a deep voice, "Dealing with people is higher than pursuing fame and fortune, except for Lu Qian, who only knows how to flatter, what other friends do you have who can make deep friends?" No wonder the news is blocked to Bianliang. ”

Hearing the old man's half-hearted words, Lin Chong lowered his head. This is talking about his pain, he is upright by nature, let him do those false things, he can never do it, he believes that as long as he is meticulous and does his part, he will be able to get ahead one day.

He will definitely listen to Zhou Wei's words, but he will not listen to them.

Zhou Wei saw that he bowed his head and was silent, as if he had made a mistake and was willing to be punished, and sighed softly. This apprentice is the most worry-free for him, and it is also the most worry-free for him. What is worrying is that he will not do anything to cheat and steal, bully the king and treason, and what is not worrying is that if he can't meet someone who really appreciates him, I'm afraid he won't be able to be a high-ranking official in his life.

There was silence for a long time.

"Li girl," Zhou Wei looked at Ming Xia on the side, and a pair of old eyes blinked, "Do you want that stinky boy?" ”

Ming Xia looked at the old disrespectful Zhou Wei, stopped what she was doing, and shook her head with a red face.

Zhou Wei smiled and said, "Then aren't you afraid that he will mess with flowers and grass outside?" ”

"Don't be afraid," the corners of Ming Xia's mouth hooked up a confident smile: "When I met him, he was not a disciple of your master." I probably know him better than you do. ”

Zhou Wei sighed: "When I first accepted him as an apprentice, he was talking about looking for you every day. I searched all over Fuping County with someone at that time, but I still couldn't find you, so you died or were taken captive by the Liao. If he hadn't insisted on looking for you, I'm afraid I would have missed your life. The old man is here to apologize to you. ”

Ming Xia shook her head slightly: "Don't blame the master, I thought I was dead back then." Fortunately, my father-in-law passed by and saved me, otherwise I would have died on the road at that age. I'm very satisfied with my life now. ”

Zhou Wei looked at her and said with a smile: "In the future, if this stinky boy dares to hook up with other women, you quarrel with him, master, as long as I am alive, I will stand on your side." ”

Ming Xia lowered her head and said in a voice like a mosquito: "What did the master say......

"Don't say it, don't say it," Zhou Wei smiled, "Call Xiao Yue'er, let's go to Hangzhou." ”

"Huh?!"

Mingxia couldn't believe it.

Zhou Wei sighed: "The master is old, and he won't be able to walk in a few years." No matter what big things he wants to do, while he can still move, let's see if I can help him. ”

Hearing the old man's words, Ming Xia was also a little sad, nodded, and got up to go to find Yue'er.

When Ming Xia found the backyard, Yue'er was playing with the crickets in the backyard with Lin Niangzi's maid Jin'er. It was late autumn now, and both the iron marbles and the azure blue had lost their vitality, and even their cries had become low, and they might die soon.

When Ming Xia told her that she was going to leave Bianliang to find Xu Ziling, she was really unhappy in her heart, because she had a very good time in Bianliang, with Jin'er and Lin Niangzi to play, and Tong Guan sent some various gifts from time to time.

But after Ming Xia said that she must go, she was ready to go back to the house to pack her things, and said to Jin'er before leaving: "Sister Jin'er, I gave you the iron bullet and the sky blue blue, if they die, they must be buried well, remember to help me put a few small flowers on them." ”

Jin'er looked at her, nodded with a smile and said, "Don't worry." ”

After packing her luggage, Ming Xia took Yue'er to the courtyard.

I saw that the old man on the bamboo chair in the courtyard slowly stood up, stretched out his foot and kicked Lin Chong, who was sitting on the side, and said lightly: "Get up." Before leaving, Lao Tzu will beat you to the realm. ”