"Are the rumors true?"

Approaching midnight, after King Zhao heard the news, he had the heart to hug Mei Ji to sleep, but he summoned Xu Ziwei, Xu Ziwen, and Li Gu and others to the secret room.

Li Gu was late, and even this small-scale meeting was delayed until midnight.

King Zhao's face sank like water, his fingers held the white jade paperweight on the desk, and the joints of his fingers were already pinched to white.

Li Gu hugged his fists and replied to King Zhao: "The rumors in the market are true, and the rumors are false. ”

"Is it so easy to tell the truth falsely?"

Li Gu smiled slightly and said: "If it is true, if you contact Li Kaiming, Pu Shou is higher than the money, military supplies, money, food, armor, and staff, these things are true." If it is false, you have to find the captains of the convoy, the grooms and mules, and the men sent by the palace to be true. These people, none of them can be found, and they can't rely on rumors to accuse the prince of the country, even if they are below, although they only have the rank of Ru Linlang, they are also national honors, and they can't be insulted by rumors. ”

King Zhao glanced at the staff in front of him hatefully, knowing that this time he was picked up by the other party.

The people in King Zhao's mansion who were sent out were all missing, and obviously only Li Gu knew how to contact and control these people. And the people sent out by the Pu family were either exterminated, or they were the descendants of the Pu family, and unless King Zhao sent troops to eradicate the Pu family, he would not be able to arrest anyone who knew the inside story of the matter.

Li Gu took the two lines of Li Kaiming and the Pu family, and King Zhao wanted to take him out to take him out to take the blame, or kill him, but he couldn't do it. This person has a secret and contacts the two parties, and it has actually become an anti-guest-oriented trend, King Zhao's face flashed blue and black, and under his anger, he wanted to smash Li Gu to death with the jade paperweight in his hand, but he inhaled again and again, and finally held back his anger, and said to Li Gu: "Mr. does such a big thing, don't discuss it with Lone, it's too arrogant, right?" ”

Li Gu's face was as usual, in fact, the placket inside was already soaked, of course he came here this time to take risks, as soon as the news was exposed, Li Gu knew that he was worried about his life.

If King Zhao doesn't want to take advantage of the situation, he directly pushes Li Gu out to the Criminal Division, and under Miki, he will definitely be able to find out Li Gu's traces before and after, and wash away the relationship with Zhao Wangfu.

Even if Xu Ziwen is implicated, King Zhao is so great that he made his son commit suicide, and the safety of the palace is compared to the life of an unsuccessful son, how King Zhao decides, he doesn't know himself.

Li Gu never expected that the news would spread to Fuzhou so quickly, and when he was caught off guard, he could only face King Zhao with an attitude close to coercion, and put on a very confident posture, if it weren't for this, with Li Gu's understanding of King Zhao's character, it would be absolutely impossible for him to get out of the palace alive tonight.

Li Gu can't escape, King Zhao is very strict against these henchmen, his wife and children are living in the side courtyard of the palace, and the general in the palace will "protect" the safety, which is also the reason why Li Gu will not abandon King Zhao, the safety of his family is involved, so he can only grit his teeth and follow to the end.

"The safety of the lower level, the safety of the wife and children, and the safety of the palace are all one." Li Gu shook his head, and then there were tears hidden on his face, and he said to King Zhao in a deep voice: "The King of Zhongshan is pressing step by step, but His Royal Highness is hesitating, this is a taboo for soldiers!" For the sake of the palace and for the king, his subordinates can only take a risk and use this risky means to help the king build a festival and open the mansion. Once the imperial court allows, the military and political power of Fujian Road falls into the hands of the king, and no matter how strong the king of Zhongshan is, unless he openly rebels, his hand will not be able to reach into Fuzhou. The king sits on the military and political power of Fujian, dominates the southeast, sits and watches the changes in the world, supports the Son of Heaven at any time, and if things are not harmonious in the north, he can also support the Son of Heaven to go south, and the Great Wei does not lose half of the country......"

King Zhao stared fiercely at the talkative staff in front of him, and his eyes already seemed to be about to erupt with fire.

The Son of Heaven has reigned for more than ten years, and there is no longer hope of reviving the Great Wei Dynasty.

This Northern Expedition is the last chance, if things don't work out, the Son of Heaven also understands that with the situation in the north, it will be difficult to support it anymore.

If you don't get it right, you risk the ruins of the north.

He and King Zhao's father and son have long had this secret discussion, which is also the reason why the Son of Heaven has always fully supported King Zhao in Fujian, otherwise with the embarrassing position of his biological father, what King Zhao should do is to keep his head in obscurity and be his rich prince with peace of mind, which is the best way and way out.

King Zhao really didn't expect that the staff in front of him, who seemed to be cautious and cautious, would actually expose his most secret matter to his face today......

"Great King," Li Gu said more deeply, and his tone was deeper and sincere, "If you don't entrust your life to follow, how dare you talk about this?" It's a turbulent autumn, an eventful time. If the king looks forward and backwards and can't make a move, I am afraid that not only will it be difficult for the king's father and son to gain a foothold in the future, but also his subordinates and small families will also be difficult to preserve. If the king is really dissatisfied, he will go to the criminal department yamen to surrender and admit his guilt, admit his fault, and wait for the law of the country to severely punish him...... If the king is still not at ease, give the next cup of poisoned wine, or white silk, and the righteousness of our guests and hosts will be all down. ”

King Zhao's expression was ugly, and he waved his hand and said, "The matter has come to this, what's the point of saying this?" ”

Li Gu closed his eyes and was silent, but he knew in his heart that he had passed the test.

"Then Li Kaiming, can this king defeat him?"

"If the rogue has been raging for a long time, he will have his own elite soldiers." Li Gu hugged his fists and said: "At this time, Li Kaiming has not been raising the flag for a long time, and he has not yet attacked the prefecture and county, so the king can play according to the rumors, first occupy the righteousness, and then see how the imperial court is disposed of." In the following estimation, it should be the imperial decree of the Metropolitan Governor's Office and the pacification of the envoy to suppress the Pingliukou. If the war is unfavorable, the government will be granted to unify the military and political affairs of the Fujian Road, and even put the safety of the two Zhejiang, Jiangxi, Jingnan and other roads in the hands of the king. ”

"Two Zhejiang will not." King Zhao shook his head and said: "The imperial court regards Jiangling, Jiangnan East Road, and Zhejiang Road as one, which is the most important place for wealth in addition to Guangnan East Road and Fujian Road. Jingnan, the land of food, is also important, if the chaos really starts, it is possible for this king to take care of Jingnan and Guangnan. ”

Xu Ziwei clenched his fists, his eyes were full of excitement, while Xu Ziwen lowered his head, seemingly calm, but his body was trembling slightly.

This is a great future, and it is even equivalent to the south being the king and dividing one side.

"The most important thing is to defeat the rogue." King Zhao was also moved, and his eyes when he looked at Li Gu were much softer. Although this guy is bold and makes decisions without permission, he pushes himself to the road of opening a mansion. And all the obstacles in front of us are almost cleared, and what is lacking now is brilliant and decisive military exploits.

"We must also wait for the rogue to rise up, and then the king will go to exterminate it." Li Gu said very calmly: "Jianzhou will definitely be in chaos, and it is likely to affect Quzhou and Fuzhou, as well as the Xinghua Army, Shao Wujun, and the periphery of Fuzhou will also be affected." However, as long as Fuzhou, Quanzhou, and Zhangzhou are fine, Fujian Road will be fine. As for Jingnan, of course, the important thing is Tanzhou, and among the other states, Qianzhou, Fuzhou and other places are not important. Fortunately, many pirates invaded the territory before, and many Xiang troops were still stationed in Fuzhou and Quanzhou, so it was easy to assemble. After the thieves are huge, they will gather the forbidden army and the box army in one place, crusade with great fanfare, and drive away in a battle...... The king's immortal deeds will probably be successful. ”

"Do you want to wait until after the opening of the mansion before going to crusade?"

After listening to Xu Ziwen's words, Li Gu smiled slightly and said, "It's not too early, it's not too late." ”

However, Xu Ziwei heard something unusual, and couldn't help asking: "Mr. Li said that he was defeated and expelled, not exterminated?" ”

"There are many deep mountains and dense forests in Jianzhou, Shao Wujun, Fuzhou, and Quzhou, and it is easy for us to defeat them, and we want to completely eradicate them...... I'm afraid it's quite difficult. ”

"Expulsion is a good result." King Zhao was quite sober and said: "Liu An'er, Liu Anle's brother, as well as Ma Bao'er and Zhang Yingrui, the court has suppressed many times, and even the five-way and six-way soldiers and horses cooperated, and the court sent a privy council to gather a multi-way army, but it still can't be eliminated." If a thief is entrenched on one side, it is easy to get rid of it. If it wanders to many places, it will be difficult to completely eradicate it. ”

King Zhao sighed and said: "This situation is somewhat similar to that of the late Tang Dynasty, if you don't get it right, the situation of the feudal towns is numerous, and even the thieves are recruited as the affairs of the feudal towns, I am afraid it is inevitable." ”

Li Gu said: "As long as Your Highness stabilizes the southeast, the rest don't have to pay attention to it first." ”

King Zhao's face was cloudy, and he had completely understood what Li Gu meant, the matter of opening the mansion, when the chaos was just determined, he could not ask for it, and when the thief was powerful, he did not need to ask for it, the court must have considered it. After he raised the army, a slight victory, you can make the book of the imperial history of the king of Zhao in Beijing, praise the king of Zhao, and say that the thief is permeated all the roads, and it is appropriate to grant the king of Zhao to build a festival to open the mansion and control the southeast.

This is an echo of the chaos in the Central Plains and the north, and at this critical time, the imperial court will most likely allow it.

As for the convection of the Kou, whether it is a small victory or a small defeat, it will be reported as a small victory.

This game seems to be as stable as Mount Tai.

King Zhao thought for a long time, and finally sighed, and said to the staff in front of him: "Mr. is indeed doing his best for me, this game is very wonderful, it is a rare trick to break the game." ”

Xu Ziwei was happy on the side and said, "Father, I heard that Xu Zixian has already evacuated people from Nan'an. He's not very good at fighting, so why should he go? ”

King Zhao snorted coldly and said: "In a hurry, Xu Zixian is not three heads and six arms, Li Kaiming has gathered tens of thousands of people, he is the leader of the rogue who has experienced a hundred battles, and there are many embers of the rest of the battle under his command, this is not a pirate, bandit, pole, scoundrel, this is a rebellious rogue who has fought with officers and soldiers many times, and has been well versed in the tactics of riding and footing, and the combat power should be above the pirates, Xu Zixian has less than a thousand subordinates around him, and there are more than 10,000 newly recruited soldiers and horses, how can he fight with the rogues?" ”

Li Gu praised: "The king's analysis is extremely that the king of Zhongshan should have decided to evacuate as soon as he heard the news, and at the same time spread rumors that were unfavorable to the king. ”

King Zhao's eyes were slightly swollen, the sneer on his face was even more obvious, and he said in a deep voice: "When this son turned around, he didn't forget to fight back, it was really a wolf's ambition, quite arrogant. However, this evacuation still made this king see through his reality and reality, which was nothing more than to be able to fight against those thieves who did not know how to fight. In the face of officers and soldiers, opponents such as rogue gangsters are not at all like the rumors in the market, they dare not fight without a fight, and they cannot win without a fight. ”

Li Gu stood up, took a deep look, and said: "The trust of the Son of Heaven, the hope of the imperial court, the return of the gentry, and the support of the people, as long as the king can gather troops and horses and defeat the Liukou, these will all come naturally." ”

King Zhao also got up and paced back and forth in the room.

Xu Ziwei looked at his father with a blank eye, Xu Ziwen was silent, his eyes were deep, Li Gu couldn't help it, King Zhao's silk robe belt shook the candle flame belt in the room, and the faces of everyone in the room were cloudy and uncertain.

"It's done." King Zhao froze, his face was also slightly gloomy under the fluttering candlelight, and he said in a hoarse and unquestionable tone: "Tonight, I will issue an order from the Metropolitan Governor's Office, and call the commander of the Xiang Army, He Deqing, Liu Jie, and Li Yaowu to form troops to prepare for the right wing, Lin Dewu, Zhang Zhongqian, and Lin Huairen, these three people gathered troops for the left wing, and ordered Liu Guangsi, Lin Zhien, and He Zhiyuan to take the forbidden army of the three armies as the Chinese army, and they are ready to fight at any time." Money, grain, soldiers, valley and other military supplies, please Zhao Debang come over, and the king will talk to him personally. The staff, officials, and leaders of the government will not be given leave, and they will all stay in the palace on standby! ”

Everyone in the secret room was in good spirits, Zhao Wang ordered, it was the Xiang army and the forbidden army that almost all the family backgrounds in their hands, the forbidden army of the three armies, plus the box army of the six Xiang capital dozens of armies were all assembled and on standby, so that Zhao Debang prepared grain, grass and money, and supported the military needs, and the entire war machine controlled by King Zhao was about to run at full strength.

"I wish the king success." There are beads of sweat on the tip of Li Gu's nose, this time the major event is completely led by him, a staff member, to such a point, it can be said that he is proud of his life.

But at this time, Li Gu did not have any pride and pride, but only extremely nervous and afraid in his heart.

After everyone said goodbye and came out, when they arrived at the corridor, Xu Ziwen took two steps, grabbed Li Gu, and asked softly: "Mr. Li, why don't you mention that I sent a large number of people to Jianzhou to control the soldiers and horses?" If my father had known about this and had made a big decision, might there have been changes? ”

Xu Ziwen's hope is that King Zhao will give him the opportunity to lead the troops and horses, and his speculation should be rewarded.

Li Gu had a mocking smile on his face, and he whispered to Xu Ziwen, "Childe must not know yet, right?" ”

Xu Ziwen hesitated: "What does Mr. mean?" ”

"The Pu family, below, and the people sent out by Gongzi were all killed by Li Kaiming."

"What?" There is a hanging lamp in the distance of the eaves, fluttering in the faint light, but it can still illuminate Xu Ziwen's face, his face is distorted, his expression is flustered, and his face is as white as paper.

"All killed?" Xu Ziwen propped his hand on the pillar, and said in a panicked tone: "This Li Kaiming is so ruthless and vicious. ”

"Expected." Li Gu was very calm, and said in a deep voice: "This is a leisurely move, Li Kaiming can tolerate it, we can easily catch the soldiers, and there will be incense in the future, we can continue to save his life and continue to cooperate." However, Li Kaiming is ambitious, and he also has a heroic wrist. It is impossible for him to have a group of subordinates around him who do not listen to orders and have different ambitions. I'd rather tear our faces apart, and in the future, the two armies will fight against each other, each with his own ability, and each with his own destiny, we won't keep our hands, and neither will he. ”

Xu Ziwen was silent for a while, all his ambitions, and Xu Zixian's thoughts, were like tiny flames exposed to the cold wind on a winter night, and a gust of north wind swept by, and it was immediately extinguished. A self-deprecating smile appeared on his face, and his ambition in the past few days, even thinking about forcing Xu Zi to hand over Chen Wenjun first after success, was completely shattered.

"Li Kaiming is ruthless." Li Gu said very quietly: "But the prince doesn't have to be frustrated, our goal is to make the king seize the army and seize the power, and make up his mind to win the power of Jianjie and Kaifu, and the rest of the things are just trivial matters, maybe without our people over there, the king can't beat this group of rogues?" ”

"Not necessarily." Xu Ziwen was silent at first, then suddenly laughed, and said: "My father drinks and feasts guests, fights for power and profit, and designs conspiracies, these things are good hands. Do you think he has never released the scroll in his hand, reading military books and history books? How could he have personally gone to the barracks, watched the parade, and became familiar with the affairs of the army? My eldest brother is even a straw bag, the Northern Expedition, such a good opportunity, I also let it go gently, but because I can't bear the hardships of the life in the front camp. I, now in the house, no one looks down on me, but I don't stop reading, in addition to poetry and songs, I also read history books, military books, today's situation, but similar to the Southern Liang period, the clan commander, there are the Lanling King of the Eastern Wei Dynasty, and there are also those incompetent rats of the Southern Liang, in my opinion, my father and the eldest brother, are the kings of the Liang family. ”

King Zhao is the king of the Liang family, and the king of Lanling is of course Xu Zixian, Xu Ziwen is quite proud, and he is still reluctant to praise Xu Ziwen at this time, but Li Gu is also a well-educated person, and he completely understands it when he hears it.

This short and fat staff member finally put away some of his conceited and proud thoughts, and felt that he had made a dangerous move, but Li Gu thought about it carefully, and still smiled: "Son, don't think too pessimistic, to tell the truth, the matter of building a state, said to be military, is actually political, these things, from the book is very shallow, you need to slowly observe, increase experience, personal experience, in order to get the trick inside......"

Li Gu's words are also very simple, as long as King Zhao is not defeated and Fuzhou is not lost, even if he can't win, he can win!

As long as the right to open the government is obtained, the imperial court wants to protect Fuzhou and Quanzhou, and the area of Jianzhou and Fuzhou does not need to be ignored.

Therefore, this battle is mainly political, supplemented by military, it doesn't matter whether King Zhao really knows the soldiers, he can control the forbidden army, and the box army will rule, and suppress them with power, which is enough.

"I hope it will be as the gentleman said." Xu Ziwen drifted away, and finally only said: "I hope that this year can still be lived, don't ask me to commit suicide with a sword before the year, poisonous wine, Bai Aya is also good." ”

These words also echoed Li Gu's words before, secretly sarcastic, Li Gu's face was gloomy and uncertain, and after half a ring, he stomped his feet fiercely and left with hatred.

……

"It's the Xiang Army."

Li Anyuan, the governor of Qizhou, had a worried look on his face, looking at the official road with smoke and dust, don't turn his face. He is more than half a year old, more than five feet tall, with a big belly, except for the occasional shining of his eyes, showing a shrewd look, he is the image of a short and fat man with ordinary appearance and low stature.

"That's right, it's a third-box capital." Li Anyuan has a head of the Xiang army beside him, standing next to his boss with a horizontal knife, there is no defense envoy in Qizhou, and the Xiang army is directly under the command and dispatch of Zhizhou.

If the weather is fine, you can see the city wall of Fuzhou from afar, those dense dwellings, and several important official roads, you don't need to climb high to see it quite clearly.

In the last two or three days, a large number of officers and men of the Xiang Army have been mobilized to Fuzhou from Quanzhou and Zhangzhou, as well as from the southern part of the Xinghua Army, and smoke and dust are billowing every day, which has made the people's hearts inside and outside Fuzhou even more boiling and uneasy, and the officials and gentry and businessmen who have fled from various military prefectures have basically entered the city of Fuzhou, and there are still quite a few ordinary middle-class families, driving donkeys and mule carts, and rushing from all over the city to flee for refuge.

Li Anyuan frowned and said, "How much is the price of rice in Fuzhou?" ”

Someone replied: "Kill four birds with one stone, and it still continues to rise." ”

"It's amazing, it's amazing." Li Anyuan shook his head again and again, and said: "Within half a month, at least hundreds of thousands of people will have to enter Fuzhou, and the grain storage in the city will never be able to sustain it." ”

One of the staff members smiled slightly and said, "If you are smarter, you will come to our Qizhou, or you will directly want to go to the Eastern Domain." ”

In recent days, the news has spread quickly, and both the gentry and the businessmen have known about the power of the rogue...... Pirates also burn and loot, but most of the killings and slaughters are carried out conveniently, mainly looting. In addition to looting, they will not let go of everyone and their families. This is the method of coercion. The women and children were captured in the camp to blackmail Ding Zhuang, and then the new Ding Zhuang was used to kill people and set fire, and the new people were coerced into joining the gang...... This is how it snowballs and rolls more and more, and it gets bigger and bigger.

The smarter gentry and merchants basically ran to Fuzhou and Quanzhou, and those who had no financial resources and felt the crisis ran to Qizhou and the Eastern Domain.

Li Anyuan nodded lightly and said: "Qizhou Port, Zhongshan Wangfu has been taken back, and there have been Wanfu troops and Minzhuang who have come to the island and started to build ports and houses. I think their plan seems to be to build a wharf, a commercial bank, and a large number of houses in the port, and it is not difficult to house tens of thousands of people in the port of Qizhou. ”

"It's not difficult to tens of thousands, but if it's hundreds of thousands, you can only go to the Eastern Domain."

Li Anyuan sighed and said: "It's really a troubled time, the pirate rebellion has just passed, and there is a plague of rogue again. This official is only responsible for defending Tuqizhou, and he can only hope that the defense envoy will take office earlier, and he doesn't want to pay attention to the rest. ”

"Dong Weng is right." Li Anwan's staff fully agreed, and said: "No matter how fierce the rogues are, there are no boats, we don't have to worry too much, as long as we guard Qizhou well, Dong Weng will be fine, and we will be fine." ”

Li Anyuan frowned and was silent, there were still large groups of Xiang troops on the shore who came one after another, and many of the Xiang soldiers walked very scattered, walking crookedly on the official road and the surrounding paths.

A lot of Xiang army to the village to find water, looking for food, the people do not give food is robbery, everywhere there are the people's cries and cries for help, some sturdy men with fork rakes and other farm tools, as weapons, garrisoned at the village crossing, meet a small number of Xiang army to come is to scare with farm tools, the Xiang army does not dare to make too much, the two sides scold each other, Fujian soil scolding endlessly, fortunately, the Xiang army is also a native of Fujian Road, it is not good to do things too much, use weapons to kill people and cut people can not be done, after scolding for a while, There will always be military attachés on horseback, scolding both sides, and then the van army will leave in disgrace.

In the past few days, Li Anle has watched more than one such scene, and he has commented on it before, but later saw that his subordinate generals all had unsightly faces, that is, he did not comment and did not say more.

However, the forbidden army rushed back from Quanzhou, the fiery red military flag was unfurled, the red-robed military attache rode on both sides of the official road, the troops were generally intact, the army was strict, and the spears were numerous, which made people rise up a little confidence.

At this time, another battalion of the forbidden army passed by, which was very different from the box army, Li Anle nodded and said: "The forbidden army is like this, so people still have some confidence." ”

"You can't ask the rogue to go out of Jianzhou."

"Whether it's a handsome minister or His Royal Highness King Zhao, you should always send troops as soon as possible."

"The edict doesn't know how many days it will take."

A few days ago, King Zhao, in the name of the Metropolitan Governor's Mansion, as well as the patrol envoy Xiao Zan, the pacification envoy Lin Douyao, and the punishment envoy Zheng Liqi and other relevant officials all sent 600 miles of urgent envoys to the Beijing Division to report to the police.

Yang Shiwei, the governor of Fuzhou, did not send anyone, and the establishment of Fuzhou has nothing to do with Fuzhou, as long as he does not violate the Fuzhou border, Yang Shiwei can ignore this matter for the time being.

The Criminal Division, the Patrol Division, the Pacification Envoy Division, and the Metropolitan Governor's Office are all responsible for the entire territory of Fujian, and they all sent urgent messengers.

The urgent delivery of this dynasty is divided according to the grade, and the normal official report is 400 miles a day, and the urgent official business is 400 miles and an expedited line, that is, 600 miles a day.

And the six-hundred-mile rush is only used in the death of the prince, to appease the inability to see things, or local civil uprisings, rebellions, and so on.

The last time the pirates invaded the territory was also 600 miles expedited, and this time the rogue uprising, according to the normal process, was to ask them to conquer the military county, and then the local officials would report it, and then the yamen would report urgently.

This time, Li Kaiming had just raised the flag, and had not yet conquered the prefecture and county, and the rumors had already spread in Fuzhou.

King Zhao and Lin Douyao both understood that if they didn't play, Zheng Liqi and King Zhongshan would also play in a hurry, and this matter could not be concealed.

600 miles in an emergency, 800 miles a day, Fuzhou is 4,000 miles away from Beijing, a single trip has to go for five days, plus the meeting of the two prefectures, playing the Son of Heaven, it takes more than ten days to go back and forth, which is already quite a fast speed.

"The worry lies in money and food." Li Anyuan emphasized: "There is enough money and food, and this battle is still to be fought." If you don't have money and food, it's difficult for a good woman to cook without rice! ”