Excluding the counties of Gyeonggi, before the rebellion, there were more than 400,000 Dingkou living in Jinling City, including the children of the clan, the children of the clan lords, the courtiers and the guards, the generals of the forbidden army, the small families, the merchants and commoners, and more the slaves and maids who waited for the powerful; At its peak, there were as many as 16,700 eunuchs and maids in the palace alone.

Jinling rebellion, countless people or died or fled from other places, and there were hundreds of thousands of slaves or civil servants or the children of civil servants and military officials who crossed the river for the rebels of Anning Palace, and when Emperor Yanyou recovered Jinling City, the population of the city was only 70,000 or 80,000 people.

In recent years, Jinling has recovered its vitality, and there are five or six thousand eunuchs and palace maids used in the palace, but compared with before the Jinling rebellion, the population size has shrunk by nearly half.

This also makes the city of Jinling, which is criss-crossed, full of abandoned houses.

Deep in Xiliu Lane, a horse-drawn carriage stopped in front of a deserted house on a hot afternoon.

The sun shone hot, and except for three or five beggars who looked like they were dead, curled up in the slightly shady corners of the walls and the shade of trees, there was not a single living person passing by in the whole alley.

Zhou Yuan, who was wearing a casual robe, stepped out of the carriage, looked at both sides of the alley vigilantly, and then jumped out of the carriage first, walked under the eaves first, pushed open the hidden courtyard door, and flashed in first; After a while, Li Pu, whose beard and hair were frosted white, and his legs and feet looked neater than Zhou Yuan, stepped out of the carriage and entered the deserted mansion.

The carriage drove out of the alleyway, as if nothing had happened in the alley.

In the deserted house, a slender young man sat barefoot by a pond overgrown with weeds, dressed in a robe, holding a bamboo pole in his hand.

Zhou Yuan and Li Pu walked in, the young man glanced back, motioned for them to sit down on the muddy ground by the pond, and said: "You asked Shen Yang and Yang En to ask Emperor Chu to approve Han Qian's excerpt, and it is also expected that Han Qian is in such a hurry to establish the prince of the Hou Dynasty in violation of the name law, he may personally lead the army to the north at any time, and Tangyi has been expanding the army day after day, but in addition to the East Lake, Liyang and other central places are garrisoned with elites, Shiliang, Yiyang, Huailing and Longtan and other places, 20,000 garrisons are mostly newly formed, and 30,000 elites and the main force of the naval army are assembled in Shouchun and Huoqiu. The Liang army in the south of Chenzhou is also rushing to repair the wading post road in Yinshui, and Han Qian's army is going north, which may be a matter of ten days - Chang Guogong and Zhou Shilang, haven't they persuaded Li Zhihe to make a move? ”

Li Pu frowned, and Zhou Yuan also sat on the hot mud embankment with a big grin, and said: "Not only does Zhihe want to wait a little longer, but Changfeng and Ah Xiu don't advocate acting hastily......"

"Wait a little longer, I'm afraid the daylilies are cold," the young man laughed suddenly, "Now that Li Zhihe, Li Changfeng, and Li Xiu are not important, I just want to know if Changguo Gong has made up his mind?" ”

"Zhu Yu and Han Qian joined forces, and it was not so easy to deal with, even if Han Qian led his troops to reinforce Bianjing from Chenzhou, the victory or defeat was still five or five. I estimate that Xu Mingzhen, who has suffered too much in the hands of Han Qian, is still hesitating at this time and has not made up her final decision, right? If Xu Mingzhen has not made up his final decision, then how can we know that you are doing everything possible to instigate the Xiangbei Army to plot for Shu, and the purpose will not be to drag the main force of the Tangyi Army on the south bank of the Huai River, right? Li Pu was not so stupid, and asked in a deep voice.

"Mr. said that Han Qian is an outlier in Jianghuai, I was a little disdainful when I first heard this, but I didn't expect you to be so jealous of him, it seems that what Mr. said is really true," the young man smiled, "Do you think Xu Mingzhen may have a chance to turn back at this time, but the question is, before Han Qian led 30,000 elites to the north, did Xu Mingzhen dare to turn back?" Or, on what terms will Han Qian and Zhu Yu accept Xu Mingzhen's return at this time? Xu Mingzhen is willing to completely give up the military power, and hand over the last Xu bloodline around him as a hostage, in exchange for a chance to turn back? And once Han Qian led 30,000 elites to the north, Chang Guogong would not think that Han Qian would dare to risk the risk of being cut off and lead 30,000 elites to help Han Yuan defend Bianjing if he did not defeat the Taikang, Tuocheng and other cities that Xu Mingzhen had divided his troops at this time, and did not protect the eastern flank of Chen Bianyi Road? There is no trust between Xu Mingzhen and Han Qian, for Xu Mingzhen, either he will surrender to Tangyi directly, or he will wait for Han Qian to lead his troops north to fight the first battle with him first, and what choice will he make if he is Xu Mingzhen, the Duke of Changguo? ”

"For Xu Mingzhen, it is still the Xiangbei Army that moves first, and he moves again in order to minimize the pressure on the Shouzhou Army," Zhou Yuan said, "Zhou wants to ask, why did the Xiangbei Army move first?" ”

Zhou Yuan also confirmed more and more at this time that the Mengwu people were still afraid that Han Qian would lead his troops into Hehuai to participate in the war, although they were also eager to get Shudi, but thinking about the rise of Tangyi over the years, in the face of the desperate Han Qian, who could not be empty?

"Of course, the Xiangbei Army has no reason to move first, so Mr. and I didn't go to Li Zhihe in vain, and Zhou Shilang and Zhou Commander made the two brothers, and it seems that there is no need to move first. Or, Lu Qingxia's thoughts at this time are the same as Shen Yang, Yang En, and Yang Zhitang, and they are all looking forward to the Tangyi army going north to fight with us and lose both. When the Tangyi army really fought with us, Xiangbei would not have so many scruples about seeking Shu again, even if it competed with Huaidong, Shouwangfu and the Zheng family, how to see that in the end, the Xiangbei army would have a greater chance of winning," the young man asked with a smile, "Are you all so calculating?" ”

Zhou Yuan and Li Pu both sank like water and did not say anything, but the situation was obvious, Tangyi was so strong, whoever made the first move would inevitably be able to take advantage of something, but once they were targeted by Han Qian, they would definitely suffer a big loss.

Zhou Yuan and Yao Xishui rushed to Chuzhou before, because they wanted to persuade Wang Yang Yuanyan to make a move together, and they also wanted to make a fuss about the Wang family, but they didn't expect Han Qian to directly appoint Han Wenxin, the eldest son, as the prince of the Hou Shizi, cut off the delusions of the Wang family, and calm down the Wang family's mind.

And without Huaidong's cooperation, Xu Mingzhen also dragged on and didn't move, at this time, the Xiangbei Army moved first, if Han Qian finally gave up the plan to go north for reinforcements, and sent troops to attack Suizhou and Nanyang first, who would they cry to?

"All of them are calculating, and they are all trying to retreat for themselves, but Chang Guogong, you really don't have the slightest way out?" The young man stared at Li Pu, shook his head and sighed.

Li Pu asked in a deep voice, "How do you say this?" ”

"Did the Duke of Changguo always think that Lu Qingxia would bring the second prince into the Cishou Palace, and one day he would fully support the second prince as his heir, and the Changguo Mansion would eventually make a comeback?" The young man asked with a smile.

Li Pu frowned, staring at the young man, trying to see what he was going to say.

"If it is said that Chang Guogong and the second prince have always been just chess pieces in the hands of Lu Qingxia, and they are also destined to be abandoned by Lu Qingxia in the end, what will Chang Guogong think in his heart?" The young man asked.

"What do you mean by that?" A shadow cast on Lipu's heart, and his questioning voice couldn't help but become stern.

"Li Zhihe has been shouting his father-in-law for twenty-eight years in front of Changguo Gong's knees, and Changguo Gongzhen has no suspicion about Li Zhihe's life experience, and he really thinks that he is the orphan son left by your Deng general?" The young man said with a smile, "Mr. said that Li Zhihe at this time is like a mold printed with King Lu back then?" Of course, Chang Guogong did not have the opportunity to meet the face of King Lu in Jianghuai, I came here this time, and specially asked for a portrait of King Lu that year, Chang Guogong is interested in taking a look......"

The young man motioned to the guards standing in the shade of the willow trees on the side, and took the scroll in his hand, which was a little tattered, and handed it to Li Pu.

Li Pu's face was pale, and he stood up and took the scroll, and his hands trembled a little; Zhou Yuan stood aside, staring at the slowly unfolding scroll in disbelief.

"By the way, Li Zhihe acted so easily on the edict of the Queen Mother, and there has always been more than ordinary trust between Li Zhihe and Lu Qingxia over the years, and Chang Guogong really didn't have any doubts in his heart?" The young man asked, staring at Lip's face.

As if struck by lightning, Li Pu sat down again with his mud bank propped up, and his robe slipped into the water of the pond without noticing.

"Chang Guogong and Lord Zhou always doubt our intentions, but I want to ask Chang Guogong and Lord Zhou, if we just want to tie Han Qian's hands and feet so that he is not allowed to participate in the Hehuai War, we only need to reveal the life history of the Marquis of Xinjin, why bother to lobby Chang Guogong and Lord Zhou many times? Mr. Fei has been traveling around the rivers and lakes all these years, and he still doesn't want to realize the dream of ruling the world together with the old people of the previous dynasty? Of course, we didn't care about the mind of the Marquis of Xinjin, so we sent this portrait to the Duke of Changguo......" said the young man.

Zhou Yuan is not a three-year-old child, guessing that the reason why Xiao Yiliao and the person in front of him did not directly expose Li Zhihe's life experience, must have other scruples, and if the situation in Da Chu is completely chaotic, maybe Han Qian will get a chance to take advantage of the fire, which is definitely not what the Mugwu people are willing to see.

However, Zhou Yuan didn't feel that the person in front of him was lying about Li Zhihe's life experience.

In addition to the old portrait in front of him that is difficult to fake, it is also true that as the person in front of him said, there is an unimaginable trust between Lu Qingxia and Li Zhihe, and this matter is indeed in line with Lu Qingxia's consistent style.

"But you still revealed Zhihe's life experience," Li Pu seemed to be a little older, and asked bitterly, "You didn't use this matter to blackmail Lu Qingxia and Li Zhihe, but came to tell me this, what do you want?" ”

"I didn't think about it, Chang Guogong might be able to take this portrait and ask Lu Qingxia what he wanted?" The young man smiled, "Let's stay in Changguo Gong and think about it slowly, and the little nephew will no longer accompany him......"

After saying this, the young man bowed slightly, took a bamboo stick handed over by the guard, and his figure suddenly stiffened, like a beggar begging for food along the street, leaving Li Pu and Zhou Yuan, and walking straight to the deserted alley outside the courtyard.

After walking through two streets, the young man curled up in the shadow of the corner of a rice shop, and after a long time, he saw the carriage that had carried Li Pu and Zhou Yuan before going back and forth, heading for the desolate "Changguo Mansion" in the distance.

"Chang Guogong was unaware of Li Zhihe's life experience from beginning to end, he was really not a person who could do things, why did the prince still hand over the portrait of King Lu to him? In my opinion, it is really better to uncover this matter directly. A skinny beggar curled up beside the young man and asked in a low voice.

"Mr. is worried, Han Qian has long doubted Li Zhihe's background; And even if Han Qian didn't know before, if we directly exposed Li Zhihe's life experience, it is difficult to guarantee that Han Qian will not choose to cooperate with Li Zhihe again - these things have happened all these years, don't you know that Han Qian is not a person with a bottom line. The young man said.

The thin beggar thinks about it, Han Qian has been really capricious over the years, and it is not that he has not teamed up with Li Zhihe and Lu Qingxia. And with such a dense calculation and layout, can't they guess how Han Qian and the Tangyi army will react in the final analysis?

"By the way, Sir suspects that the Empress Dowager of Chu, Wang Chan'er, is obedient to Lu Qingxia's words, so we have lurked in Jinling and made every effort to collect all the doubts and secret rumors that Cishou Palace and Changchun Palace may have over ......the years, and there is one thing that is very suspicious," said the thin beggar.

"Oh, what's that?" The young man asked.

"The Empress Dowager of Chu Wang Chan'er has been sick for a long time in Changchun Palace, and on the eve of the Wuya Army Sailor covering Hongzepu, there was a secret rumor in Changchun Palace that the palace maid and the guards had an affair and gave birth to a child who was killed with a rod and thrown into the wilderness - I suspect that the second prince raised by Cishou Palace at this time may not really be the second prince, so Lu Qingxia can make the Empress Dowager of Chu Wang Chan'er so obedient, right? This is in line with Lu Qingxia's style," said the thin beggar, "I am afraid that if this matter is detected by Li Pu, I am afraid that things may not develop as such a prince expected, right?" ”

"If it weren't for Mr. Lu Qingxia's work, how could it be so easy to have flaws for people to see? The one in Cishou Palace, whether it is a real prince or a fake prince, I think Lu Qingxia will do a good job, we don't need to worry about her," the young man said suddenly, "Jinling City will be in chaos for a while, it is no longer a place to stay, today and tomorrow, our people will all be evacuated......"

"Even if they can persuade Li Changfeng, Li Xiu and others to follow, they may not be able to easily control Yang Yuanpu. Besides, the left and right Wuyi armies controlled by Guo Liang and Zhang Han are all elite, Shen Yang, Yang En, Du Chongtao, Zhou Bingwu and others are not easy to get along with, and Han Daoming's mansion also has two or three hundred armor soldiers, so we really don't stay and help them? The skinny beggar asked.

"Lu Qingxia has secretly mastered Cishou Palace for eight years, do you really think that in addition to Li Changfeng and Li Xiu, she can use the palace maids and eunuchs in the Weaving Bureau?" The young man smiled and said, "Now as long as they are forced to do something, even if they can't do it, they still have the ability to muddy the waters, let's see them kill Jinling City to the point of a river of blood......