At that time, it happened that Emperor Zhou Yuanqing succeeded to the throne not long ago, and his eldest brother, Zhou Yuanling, the old Qin king, was arranged to defend the border of Chang'an City. It's a pity that the old King Qin at that time believed that Zhou Yuanqing was not right, but he was a chaotic minister and thief who "usurped the throne"; But he couldn't relentlessly stir up the sword soldiers, causing chaos and fratricide. It didn't take long for him to die full of entanglement, resentment, and depression.

From this point of view, the personalities of the two generations of King Qin are exactly the same, and they really deserve to be the two fathers and grandfathers.

Since the kings of Qin, big and small, all have a bitter hatred for Emperor Tianyou, how can they really work for this "traitor who steals the country"? Therefore, until today, the southwestern border of the Northern Yan Dynasty, if there is no Zhu Yuntao, a Bashu army, has actually been facing the danger of being defenseless and the door is wide open.

For the psychological state of the two generations of Qin kings, Emperor Zhou Yuanqing can also grasp the eight or nine inseparable ten; Their fight with the Great Golden Boy Buddha of Western Xinjiang has always been just a monkey show for the imperial court: the red-clothed army of Western Xinjiang sent monks and soldiers to cross the border and plunder. Zhou Changfeng, the king of Qin, was ordered to lead his army to fight back. The baggage and soldiers of the Northwest Army lost in the battle naturally became a "private account", plundering materials and wealth, and the two sides were half of one person. Subsequently, Zhou Changfeng will also report the war damage to the imperial court to deduct the Sanqin tax paid in the coming year.

The wealth that has never appeared out of thin air in this world, every steel knife and every grain of hundreds of thousands of black-armored Qin soldiers is the family foundation that Zhou Changfeng has accumulated for many years.

The southwestern border of Beiyan has long been a monolith, a dynasty in the middle. Zhou Yuanqing didn't want to let go of a foreign emperor, so he assigned Zhu Yuntao to lead the army to guard the Bashu Road, intending to beat Xin'an Hou and prevent the red-clothed army in Western Xinjiang from getting bigger.

In fact, Zhou Yuanqing just wanted to plant a nail in the southwest, and he didn't expect Zhu Yuntao to make a difference under the heavy siege. As long as he does not die in office, the work between Xijiang and Sanqin cannot be open, and the task will be completed.

But who would have thought that Zhu Yuntao, who was both civil and military, the first thing he did when he took office was to kill the governor of Bashu Road at that time. For Emperor Tianyou, the reason for Zhu Yuntao's murder is not difficult to deduce: it must be because this governor has colluded heavily with the Qin Army and the Western Xinjiang Cardinal Sect, and he is a loyal dog fed by the Great Golden Boy Buddha and Zhou Changfeng. Zhu Yuntao, who was already trapped on all sides, how could he allow the enemy's eyeliner to be on his side?

slaughtered with a knife, clean and neat; In public and private, Emperor Tianyou is willing to help him withstand this thunder.

How do you know that Zhu Yuntao's war knife was not satisfied because he cut off the head of a second-grade master. After that, he killed several alternate governors in a row, and for a while, there was a lot of noise in the Zijin Palace, and the new party led by Wang Fang was defeated and retreated, and they did not dare to compete with the Cai Party at all.

If you don't do it, you will suffer from it.

There is no doubt that the silver of the circumference wind will never be taken in vain. This is the real shortage that every subsequent governor and Du Zhou Changfeng borrowed from the mouth of the Cai Party to falsely come to His Majesty, and he went straight to Zhu Yuntao. However, these are all tacit things, and they can't be brought to the court to fight for reason.

However, from the perspective of the court law, Zhu Yuntao's behavior is indeed too bad. A governor of the border has just arrived, and he relied on his heavy troops and the emperor of the sky to behead several governors in a row; Even if the first governor neglected his duties and betrayed the court; But the rest of the people have never dealt with him, and they have never set foot in the Bashu Road in their lives, so what is the crime?

And the most important thing is that in non-war times, the governor who is subordinate to the civilian official sequence is half a level older than the governor of the military general sequence! Zhu Yuntao, with no ironclad evidence in hand, no charges to declare, no holy decree to follow, and no law to follow, killed several officials officially appointed by the Ministry of Officials in a row, which was equivalent to rebellion.

Therefore, Zhu Yuntao has committed the felony of beheading all the people by acting like this; Moreover, because the methods were too drastic, the members of the New Party headed by Wang Fang could only protect themselves and clear themselves, so as not to provoke themselves and burn themselves. So even if Zhou Yuanqing knows it in his heart, he always has to give Cai Youxiang or those old party members who have taken advantage of it on the bright side.

As a result, the next governor who was sent to death became a document issued by the cabinet, transferring Zhu Yuntao, the governor of Bashu Province, to return to Beijing immediately to "report on his work".

Although the official article is full of flowers, there is no sense of accountability between the words. But Zhu Yuntao is not a fool, of course, he also knows that this is just a person in the old party, and he is afraid that he, the son of the border pass with a heavy army, will jump over the wall in a hurry and take risks; He deliberately put on a kind face, paralyzed his mind, and tricked himself into returning to Beijing to enter the urn.

If you don't ask, you can know that if you go back to Beijing by car; I am afraid that as soon as I leave the territory of Sanqin, I will "accidentally" die in the wilderness; If you return with your troops, you will not be able to stop the assassins who are attacking from the light and dark when there are fewer people, and if you have more people, you will be labeled as an intent to rebel; If he is under the banner of "the general is outside, the king's order is not affected", then not only will Wang Fang shrink, but even Emperor Tianyou, who "sees the wrong person", can only pinch his nose and beat him as a rebel of the court.

At that time, the Qin army, which has already been gearing up, will inevitably move into Shu and "be ordered to quell the rebellion".

So, Zhu Yuntao, who was young and vigorous at the time and relied on his strong martial arts, rode alone and embarked on the road to return to the north to die.

It is not accurate to say that it is a solo ride. Because Zhu Yuntao at that time, in addition to one person and one horse, he also held his one-year-old young son in his arms, Zhu Wenhan.

From Furong City on Bashu Road and Yanjing City on Jizhou Road in the north, the mountains and rivers are far away, the road is difficult and rugged, and the whole journey is four thousand miles away. Summoning Zhu Yuntao back to Beijing to report on his work was a dilemma, and the old party only wanted him to die, and they didn't plan to see him at all.

Therefore, along the way, it is naturally dangerous and dangerous; The "bandit robbery" with a scale of about 100 people alone, the father and son of the Zhu family have met more than 20 times; I don't know how rich a middle-aged man with a doll looks like......

Fortunately, God blessed, although the father and son were in countless distress along the way, they seemed to be like divine help! More than 4,000 miles of dead end tricked down, and there was no danger, and finally arrived at Yanjing City safely!

On the top of the Golden Palace, Zhu Yuntao, who "overcame thorns and thorns and fought bulls" all the way, completely saw through life and death. He made a rogue posture and fought the crowd alone; He scolded all the courtiers who opened their mouths to attack him, regardless of the two parties of King Cai, and scolded a bloody dog; Through this large set of foul language that came back from the army, those great Confucians in the world experienced a sense of powerlessness of "showing off and meeting soldiers".

After the early dynasty dispersed, Emperor Tianyou summoned Zhu Yuntao alone in the imperial study. As soon as the two of them met, and without even saying a word of politeness, he immediately said to Emperor Tianyou:

"Your Majesty! Bashu Road has rotted to the roots, and the princes and tribes west of the Three Jin Dynasty are also wearing the same pants as Xin'an Hou! Your Majesty wants to wish Yuntao to command the army in Bashu Dao, just like being an official in the hinterland of the enemy country, and he will face the desperate situation of death at any time! If I want to do something, I can't leave the enemy's eyeliner on my side! And now the southwest of Huayu has become an iron plate, and the people of the southwest only know that they believe in Anhou, but not Your Majesty! I am afraid that it will be impossible for the general to solve the problem in a few years, or even a dozen years. Therefore, if Your Majesty still trusts the last general, then I am afraid that the last general will still commit a serious crime such as privately killing a second-class member of the imperial court......"

Although Emperor Tianyou was young at that time, he also showed the broad mind of a generation of saints. He listened to Zhu Yuntao's obviously resentful complaints, neither talked about the etiquette between the monarch and the minister, nor mentioned the procedures of the imperial court law, but asked Zhu Yuntao a question of "his own people".

"I absolutely believe in your ability, you can clear the Haiyan River under the governance of Bashu Dao, and you can also break through the southwest iron wall of Xin'anhou; But I'm worried that I'm going to leave a Marquis of Xin'an and another Marquis of Bashu......"

Zhu Yuntao smiled innocently, pointed to the young son in the arms of the great eunuch Tang Fuquan, and said with a doting face:

"Therefore, this time, I will return to Beijing alone with my dog, just to use this son as a hostage so that Your Majesty can sleep more peacefully."

"Returning to Beijing alone? Joke! Zhu Yuntao, Zhu Yuntao, you take yourself too seriously, right? Do you know how many good hands I have secretly lost along the way in order to protect your father and son! And if I don't kill you today and let you go back to Bashu Dao, I will at least lose twice as many people! Do you think that those civil officials are powerless, and they will not be able to slaughter you? There has never been blood on the Purple Gold Palace, but who has no hands covered with blood? ”

Knowing at that time, Zhu Yuntao suddenly realized: it turned out that there was no danger on his way, not because God had an order to protect his loyal ministers and good generals, but because he had received a lot of grace from the Holy Family.

For a moment, the two monarchs and ministers looked at each other speechlessly.

"Hey, as the king of Northern Yan, how can I allow foreign barbarians to brutalize the people under my rule? It's just that it is not easy for the ancestors to start a business, and the well-being of Li Min is tied to one, and I dare not have half a big ...... I wish Yuntao, I will settle down with you today. If you leave Furong City alone that day, whether you can reach Yanjing City safely or not depends on your personal creation. To put it mildly, my Northern Yan Dynasty ruled thousands of Li people; Even if your literary talent and martial arts are all top-notch...... Oh, I don't lack you. ”

Zhou Yuanqing stood up as he spoke, looking at the flowers in the courtyard and the pale golden sunlight splashing on his body, as if to coat the young king with a layer of divine light:

"But you know that this time you turned back to Yanjing, the road ahead must be a sea of swords, fire, hardships and dangers, you are already a serious crime, and life and death are uncertain, but you still dare to come to die with your only son. This loyalty to this righteousness is rare in ancient times, and it is also the place that impresses me the most. Since you wish Yuntao, dare to tie the lives of father and son to my thoughts; How can I, as the Son of Heaven, make a loyal servant like you feel the slightest chill? ”

After listening to this, Zhu Yuntao felt a little confused; For a while, I don't know what Zhou Yuanqing's intentions are.

"The last general is dull-minded, mediocre in qualifications, and does not know the meaning of His Majesty's words......"

"Before returning to Bashu Road, I will tell you a few words: You are a guest from afar, and it is easy to break if you are too rigid. Zhou Changfeng and the Great Golden Boy Buddha, I wish you could die in my hands. And Prime Minister Cai's protégés also regard you as a thorn in the flesh, and as for the military salaries and grass of the imperial court, I don't think you can count on it...... Moreover, the people of Wang Fang will not be able to become a big climate in a short time; And I'm afraid I won't be able to help you except that I can no longer assign you governors......"