"Meng Zhong, do you have any objections to this?"

In the quiet east hall, Master Zhao looked at Meng Zhong with a frown, feeling a little unhappy that Meng Zhong had just ignored his orders.

Seeing that under the gaze of several pairs of eyes in the hall, Meng Zhong shook his head and said, "No, the minister has no objection. On the contrary, the minister was very pleased with the expectations of Lord Zhao's father to defeat Anpingjun Zhao Cheng, Fengyangjun Li Dui and others, and put it on the shoulders of Pang Xuan's brother and ministers...... Master Zhao, your expectations for the minister are much higher than the minister's expectations for himself. ”

『……』

Everyone in the hall looked at Meng Zhong with strange expressions, because there was a bit of irony in Meng Zhong's words, and most people in the hall still didn't understand why Meng Zhong said that.

Sure enough, Meng Zhong's faintly ironic words made Master Zhao immediately frown, and asked unhappily, "Meng Zhong, are you ridiculing me?" ”

"Not really." Meng Zhong shook his head and explained, "The minister is just telling the truth. Master Zhao, you appointed Brother Pang Xuan and the minister to assist An Yangjun, how Brother Pang Xuan thinks about this matter, the minister does not know, but the minister himself thinks that my personal talent is not enough to help An Yang Jun defeat Zhao Cheng, Li Dui and others. …… Unfortunately, this is probably just a policy. ”

Seeing that Meng Zhong was not dissatisfied with himself, Master Zhao's face softened a lot, he chuckled lightly and asked Meng Zhong: "Since you call this move a good policy, in other words, do you have a good policy?" Your best policy, won't you let me come forward? ”

"Exactly!"

Meng Zhong hugged his fists and said: "As Anyangjun said, Zhao Junshang has fled from Jize, or has joined the reinforcements led by Anpingjun Zhao Cheng, Fengyangjun Li Dui and others, in other words, Zhao Cheng, Li Dui and others have obtained, or are about to get the righteousness of the justifiable crusade against Anyang Jun, and what about Anyang Jun?" …… A few days ago, when An Yangjun made trouble in the sand dunes, the minister raised this question to Lord Zhao's father, that is, An Yangjun did not have the problem of 'reputation', and even for some reason, An Yangjun also had the notoriety of "holding the master father hostage", under the premise of this notoriety, even if An Yangjun played the banner of 'Qingjun's side', Zhao Guoguo would not obey or respond to An Yangjun's orders, which was the result of 'improper name and disobedience'. …… Zhao Cheng, Li Dui and others have a righteous reputation, but An Yangjun has no reputation, and the domestic Zhao people will naturally gradually fall to Zhao Cheng and Li Dui, which is the 'general trend'. …… To put it simply, the longer this matter drags on, the more unfavorable An Yangjun's situation becomes. ”

"That makes a lot of sense......

Gongzizhang and Tian Buyu glanced at each other, and the former was a little surprised that Meng Zhong spoke for him at this time.

But Meng Zhong didn't pay any attention to Gongzi Zhang's grateful gaze, and still said to himself: "Therefore, the minister doesn't think that the current situation, Anyang Jun and Zhao Jun are still in the 'Fifth Five-Year Plan' situation. The minister believes that An Yangjun has fallen behind in righteousness, and the longer it drags on, the more obvious it becomes. But even so, there is still a chance to reverse the situation at the moment, that is, Lord Zhao, you personally came forward to give An Yangjun affirmation, and supported An Yangjun's army with your reputation, only if you got the 'name' you gave, even if Zhao Jun will accuse An Yangjun as a 'traitor', the country will maintain a neutral wait-and-see attitude in this matter because of your relationship, which gives us the opportunity to defeat Zhao Jun's previous side. …… The minister thinks that this is the best policy. ”

Hearing Meng Zhong's words, Master Zhao and Que Guanzi did not react for the time being, while Gongzi Zhang, Tian Buyu, and Pang Xuan all showed surprised expressions.

Different from Pang Xuan's simple surprised expression, Gongzizhang and Tian Buyu were surprised with incomparable joy, as if they had obtained some unexpected gain.

Yes, Gongzi Zhang's intention this time was actually just to get the help of about 20,000 cavalry of Zhao under Niu Qian's command, but this was not worth mentioning at all compared to Lord Zhao's father who came forward to give him affirmation.

But when he looked at Master Zhao happily, he suddenly saw that Master Zhao's face had sunk, which made him dare not follow Meng Zhong's words and beg Master Zhao to come forward to support him.

Master Zhao's face sank at this time, which naturally meant that Master Zhao was not satisfied with Meng Zhong's words, as for the reason, in fact, everyone in the hall knew it - even if it was Gongzi Zhang, he had already learned the truth from Tian Buyu's mouth.

Without him, he just cares about his own reputation.

Zhao's father, the "Zhao Wangyong" in the mouth of the princes of the Central Plains, ascended the throne at the age of fifteen, and led the Zhao State, which was in danger of overturning at that time, step by step to the situation that is enough to "stand on three legs" with Qin and Qi today.

If it is said that the Marquis of Zhao Su, who rejected the kingdoms back then, can be called the most powerful male lord of the Zhao State in modern times, and even so strong that after his death, all the countries united together to take the opportunity to deal with the Zhao State, then Zhao Wangyong, that is, the monarch with more ambitions than his father Zhao Suhou, in addition to making people criticize in the matter of "abolishing the queen" and "abolishing the prince", he really deserves the honorific title of "male lord".

And such a wise male lord, when he was nearly half a hundred years old, supported his eldest son Gongzi Zhang to seize the throne of his younger brother Zhao He, and even wanted to use this incident to regain the throne that he took the initiative to hand over to Zhao Wanghe.

In all fairness, Master Zhao's concerns are not incomprehensible.

But understanding is understanding, at this moment, everyone in the hall is actually more inclined to Meng Zhong's point of view, whether it is Que Guanzi, Pang Xuan's master and apprentice, or Gongzi Zhang and Tian Buyu.

"Enough!"

Master Father Zhao interrupted Meng Zhong's words with a displeased expression, and said expressionlessly: "I have my own measure in this matter. ”

After that, he glanced at all the people in the hall, and saw that they all looked at him in unison, the tense look on his face eased slightly, and after thinking about it for a while, he said in a deep voice: "In short, I will immediately order Niu Jian to lead the army here, and ask him to try to help Zhao Zhang, as for before that, Pang Xuan and Meng Zhong, if you two have no objection, you will go to assist Zhao Zhang." ”

"Whoa!"

Pang Xuan clenched his fists again and immediately turned his head to look at Meng Zhong.

I saw that under the gaze of several pairs of eyes in the hall, Meng Zhong lowered his head and was silent for a moment, and then slowly clasped his hands into fists: "Minister...... Receiving orders. ”

Seeing this, Master Zhao's face was a little pale, and he regained his usual cheerfulness, nodded and said, "In that case, you can go back first, Crane Guanzi, I will also go to the palace to rest for a while." ”

"Congratulations to the master." The crane smiled and arched his hand, as if nothing had happened before.

When Master Zhao got up and walked to the inner room, Meng Zhong looked deeply at the former's back, and after that back disappeared from sight, he didn't say a word and turned to leave.

Seeing this, Gongzizhang hurriedly called out to Meng Zhong: "Ah Zhong, slow down." ”

"......" Meng Zhong stopped and turned his head to glance at Gongzi Zhang.

I saw Gongzi Zhang arch his hand and said sincerely: "Ah Zhong, thank you for speaking for me today." ”

Hearing this, Meng Zhong said coldly: "An Yangjun misunderstood, I am not speaking for you, I am just to ensure our victory, hoping to reduce the losses of Zhao in the civil war as much as possible, in the final analysis, this is just for the Song State, for my Meng clan, under the protection of the Song State and the Zhao State, will not be violated by other countries, that's all." …… An Yangjun doesn't have to thank me, if someone else is in your position, I will also make such a suggestion to Master Zhao, not for you or Tian Buyu, just for victory. Farewell. ”

With that, he hugged his fists out of courtesy, and then turned and left.

Looking at Meng Zhong's departing back, Gongzizhang frowned slightly.

If it were someone else, I am afraid that he would have been furious when he heard these words, but for Meng Zhong, Gongzi Zhang felt a little guilty and regretful in his heart, after all, a few days ago, it was indeed him and Tian Buyu who had a negative Meng Zhong first, and wanted to use Meng Zhong to trap Feiyi, which caused Meng Zhong to part ways with them.

At this time, Tian Buyu walked to Gongzizhang's side, smiled and said with relief: "Don't care, Childe, this son is still young, childlike nature, after the matter is completed, Childe, you will bring more Meng's family and grant him Tian Jue, which can naturally slowly dissolve the mustard in this son's heart." ”

"Hmm."

Gongzizhang nodded slightly, and then turned to Crane Guanzi and Pang Xuan and said, "Crane Guanzi, Pang Sima, I'll go first." ”

"Anyang-kun, please."

Crane Guanzi smiled back.

Seeing that Master Zhao, Meng Zhong, Gongzi Zhang, Tian Buyu and others left one after another, at this time, Pang Xuan said to Que Guanzi: "Teacher, Meng Zhong's point of view is undoubtedly correct, why is Master Zhao unwilling to adopt it?" ”

Crane Guanzi made a silent gesture and beckoned Pang Xuan out of the main hall.

After walking out of the main hall, Que Guanzi said to Pang Xuan: "You must know that that that day, Gongzi Zhang and Tian Buyu pretended to have kidnapped Master Zhao's father, and used Zhao Master's father's order to trap Feiyi, and attacked Zhao Wang He in the West Palace...... If Meng Zhong's suggestion is adopted, how should the events in the palace be explained to the outside world? Isn't it that Lord Zhao's father instructed Gongzi Zhang to attack King Zhao? Back then, Zhao's father abandoned Zhang, who was the prince, and supported Zhao He as the prince, and even later handed over the country to Zhao He, and now, Zhao's father instructed Zhao Zhang to overthrow Zhao He. ”

"Could it be that fame is more important than victory in this battle?"

Pang Xuan frowned and said, obviously his teacher Guanzi's explanation failed to convince him.

Hearing this, Crane Guanzi stroked his beard, and said with a somewhat helpless smile: "Fame and fortune, fame and fortune, what the world wants, isn't it the word fame and fortune?" Especially this reputation, how many people in today's world can not care about it at all? I'm afraid there are only a few sages of my Taoism, such as Song Rongzi (Song Rongzi) and Zhuangzi......"

Pang Xuan was silent for a moment, and said in a low voice: "From this point of view, Master Zhao is not a reasonable monarch......

Hearing this, Que Guanzi chuckled and said: "Master Zhao is also a human being, how can there be a perfect person in this world?" It's just that compared to the monarchs of other countries, Lord Zhao's father can be said to be a Ming monarch......"

Hearing this, Pang Xuan exhaled slightly and said in a low voice: "However, such a Ming Jun is not as far-sighted as Meng Zhong's sixteen-year-old boy. …… As Meng Zhong said, after the Dune Incident that day, if Lord Zhao's father was willing to follow Meng Zhong's suggestion and give Gongzi the title of Zhang, and then send an army to besiege Zhao He in Jize, it didn't matter if he killed him or not, as long as he dragged Zhao He; On the other hand, together with Gongzi Zhang, he led the army to Handan, even if Zhao Cheng, the king of Anping, Li Dui, the king of Fengyang, and others led the army to resist, they were not worthy of righteousness, and they were not enough to fight against the reputation of Zhao's father, and Handan would definitely fall into the hands of Zhao's father...... got rid of Zhao Cheng and Li Dui, and then made Gongzizhang control Handan, and announced to the whole country in the name of Zhao's father, this can be said to be the overall situation, even if Zhao Wang He and others escaped from Jize, what could they do? I'm afraid there is only one way out to flee to the Qi country. …… And Zhao Guo, are you still afraid of Qi Guo?

“……”

Crane Guanzi stroked his beard and looked at his disciple with some surprise.

He had to admit that his disciple Pang Xuan seemed to have a vision that was not inferior to Meng Zhong, such as what Pang Xuan had just said, and he really couldn't find anything wrong with it.

Well, it's still slightly inferior to that Meng Zhong, after all, Meng Zhong thought of this, and Pang Xuan just agreed with Meng Zhong's point of view.

After thinking about it with his beard, he said to his disciple: "Okay, the matter has come to this point, and it won't help you to say these things again, and for now, the only way to do this is to help Gongzizhang defeat An Pingjun and the others...... Be careful, as a teacher, I expect you to inherit my knowledge. ”

"The disciple obeys."

Pang Xuan replied.

After that, Pang Xuan summoned Zuo Sima Ju Xin, and ordered Ju Xin to gather his Tan Guards, and then, he ordered Sima Zhao Hao to lead a thousand soldiers to protect the Dune Palace, and he and Ju Xin led the rest of the army to join Gongzi Zhang's army.

On the other side, Meng Zhong also returned to the army and ordered Sima Leyi to gather the Xinwei army and go to the Jize area together to join Gongzizhang's army.

The next day, at noon on August 14, Meng Zhong and Pang Xuan led their respective armies to the area of Jize, and then came to Gongzizhang's army.

For this reason, Gongzizhang recruited the generals under his command, except for Han Gu, who was still blocking Zhao Xi in Zhangshui, Hu Qian, who was killed by Lian Po, and Peng Zhen, who was still recuperating from his injuries, the rest of the three generals of Weiyuan, Tian Huang, and Zhai Dan all gathered in the tent.

"Zhao He escaped from Ji Ze, I have told my master."

After glancing around at the three generals Wei Yuan, Tian Huang, and Zhai Dan, Gongzi Zhengse said: "Knowing that Zhao Cheng, Li Dui and others may lead the army here, the master father has sent someone to send an order to Niu Jian and order him to lead the cavalry to help me." In addition, the master father also sent Pang Xuan and Meng Zhong to help me, although they are young, they are both familiar with the art of war and are well versed in the use of soldiers, so I decided to hand over the army that Hu Qian and Peng Zhen were in charge of to the two of them, do you have any objections to this? ”

The army he said about Hu Qian and Peng Zhen was the more than 10,000 troops that were attacked and routed by Lian Po at night, although they were attacked by Lian Po at night that night and suffered heavy losses, but there were still as many as six or seven thousand soldiers, and after the rupture, they returned to Gongzi Zhang, who decided to allocate another three or four thousand people from the army under his own control, and let Meng Zhong and Pang Xuan each take charge of 5,000 troops.

After listening to Gongzizhang's words, Wei Yuan, Tian Huang, and Zhai Dan glanced at each other, feeling a little uncomfortable in their hearts.

After all, the military power they hold on weekdays is actually only 5,000 people, in other words, Pang Xuan and Meng Zhong are on an equal footing with them all of a sudden, not including the Tan Guards and Xin Wei Army under Pang Xuan and Meng Zhong's own command.

But considering that Pang Xuan and Meng Zhong are both the guards of Lord Zhao's father, and their identities are special, Wei Yuan, Tian Huang, and Zhai Dan can only acquiesce in this matter.

Subsequently, Gongzizhang ordered the army to be reorganized, and he used the army under the command of himself and Wei Yuan, Tian Huang, and Zhai Dan as the main force, appointed Meng Zhong and Pang Xuan as deputy generals, and granted them the power to make their own decisions - that is, before Gongzi Zhang's decisive battle with Zhao Junshang's army, Gongzi Zhang allowed Meng Zhong and Pang Yuan to make their own decisions.

I have to admit that this is a lot of authority.

In the afternoon of the same day, Gongzizhang handed over 10,000 soldiers to Meng Zhong and Pang Xuan, and Meng Zhong gathered the 5,000 soldiers under his command in the open space on the south side of Jize, and inspected the army with Le Yi, Meng Sui, Wu Ying, Meng Hu and others.

I have to say that there are many problems with these 5,000 generations of county soldiers.

The first is the discipline of the army.

The Xinwei Army under the command of Meng Zhong, whether it is an old soldier or a new soldier, first pays attention to military discipline, and this military discipline refers to the degree of obedience of the soldiers.

And Meng Zhong, Le Yi and others suffered because they were too young, so that the 5,000 soldiers and soldiers of Daijun did not think much of them, and even some soldiers questioned Meng Zhong, Le Yi and others without authorization.

Of course, Meng Zhong understood that he must not be merciful at this time, so he ordered the Xinwei army to execute several Daijun soldiers who challenged his authority.

I have to say that the reaction of these Daijun soldiers was very fierce at that time, after all, most of the Daijun soldiers were composed of Rong Di or Rong Di descendants in the northern Zhao State, compared to the Zhao people in the south of Zhao State, these northerners were more bloody, and it was inevitable that Meng Zhong would order the execution of the soldiers who did not obey him, which would inevitably arouse the resistance of the rest of the soldiers.

Fortunately, there were nearly 1,000 Xinwei soldiers to help Meng Zhong, and with the order given by Gongzi Zhang, these soldiers did not cause turmoil.

Blindly tough, of course, can't rein in the hearts of the army, so after giving these soldiers a deterrent, Meng Zhong also made all kinds of promises, probably "How will Master Zhao and An Yangjun reward Yunyun after the matter is completed".

But to be honest, for these promises, Meng Zhong actually has no bottom in his heart.

Because in the current form, whether it is him, or Master Zhao's father and Gongzi Zhang, there is no money to reward and entrap these soldiers? Unless they can defeat the army of Zhao Jun's previous side and occupy Handan.

In other words, this was just a means of coaxing, but it was very effective, at least after Meng Zhong's promise, the resistance of these soldiers to him was significantly reduced.

In addition to the discipline of the army, there are also big problems with the way these soldiers fight.

In the final analysis, this is still a relationship of insufficient training, at least in the eyes of Meng Zhong, who pays attention to "soldiers are more valuable than fine", the training of these soldiers is far from enough, and some basic battle formations have not been systematically trained, with such an army to fight, Meng Zhong feels that as long as he gives the order to attack, there may be nothing for him to do in the follow-up - because these soldiers do not know how to respond to the situation at all.

Either defeat the other side or be defeated by the other side, there are only these two endings, like changing formations in battle, using formation changes to restrain the enemy army, which is simply unrealistic.

The only thing that is gratifying is that the personal strength of these Daijun soldiers is not bad, but that's all.

How to lead such an army is really a test for Meng Zhong.

That night, Pang Xuan personally came to Meng Zhong's army and exchanged experiences with Meng Zhong.

For Pang Xuan, Meng Zhong had nothing to hide, and said truthfully: "Although these five thousand generations of county soldiers are more than brave, they are not well trained...... It can't be said that there is insufficient training, but that the way of training before is wrong......"

Pang Xuan agreed with Meng Zhong's point of view, nodded and said, "I think too." …… One-on-one, maybe the Tan Wei soldiers under my command are not the opponents of these Daijun soldiers, but if it is five thousand against five thousand, I am absolutely sure that they will be defeated! I really don't know how these soldiers trained these soldiers before, they were just a group of rabble, no wonder a night attack, more than 10,000 soldiers were defeated by only three or four thousand people. ”

After that, he paused, and then said: "Let's not talk about this for a while, count the days, Zhao Wang He has almost fled back to Handan, and I believe that soon, an edict will be issued to convict Gongzi Zhang as a traitor...... I decided to lead the army to Xindu first and stationed in the Xindu area, what are your plans? ”

"Then I'll go to the Zhangshui area, that is, the Feiyi area." After a slight pause, Meng Zhong said with a little melancholy: "It's just right, by the way, to return the body of the fat phase to his family, it can be regarded as an explanation for his family......"

Pang Xuan took a deep look at Meng Zhong.

He had heard that after the Dune Incident, Meng Zhong ordered his subordinates to build a coffin and place Zhao Xiangfeiyi's body in it, which had been parked in the camp of the Xinwei Army until then.

Otherwise, if there was no Meng Zhong, God knows how Gongzi Zhang and Tian Buyu would treat Feiyi's corpse, after all, the two of them hated Feiyi quite much.

"That's fine, when the time comes, you, me, and Gongzizhang can ...... Handan three breads."

Pang Xuan nodded slightly.

The next day, that is, on August 15, Zhao Wang He returned to Handan and issued an edict to all major counties and counties across the country, listing more than ten criminal evidences such as Zhao Zhang, the king of Anyang, "plotting to kill Zhao Xiangfeiyi", "leading the army to attack the king", "holding Zhao's master and father hostage", and "raising troops to rebel", and judged Gongzizhang's traitor status, and ordered Anpingjun Zhao Cheng, Fengyangjun Li Dui, Yangwenjun Zhao Bao and others to lead the army to quell the rebellion.

In view of the fact that Gongzizhang also had eyeliner in Handan City, he soon learned of this and was greatly furious, and immediately led his main army of 30,000 on August 16 to Handan in an attempt to attack Handan.

As for Pang Xuan and Meng Zhong, Gongzizhang gave them three days to recuperate, and ordered them to set off with their army before August 19 to help him defeat the army of Zhao Wang He's side.

At the same time, the armies of Anpingjun Zhao Cheng, Fengyangjun Li Dui, and Yangwenjun Zhao Bao were stationed in the "Quliangyi" between Handan and Jize, as if they were preparing to wait here to meet the rebels led by Gongzizhang.

On 17 August, Gongzizhang led his army to Quliang and set up camp about 20 miles northeast of Quliangyi.

On August 19, Pang Xuan and Meng Zhong each led their troops to set off from the area of Jize and the former rushed to Xindu, and successfully took over Xindu with the order of the Tan Guard, and then garrisoned outside Xindu; Meng Zhong, on the other hand, led his army southward, garrisoning about 20 miles east of Quliangyi.

A big war is inevitable.

It is worth mentioning that when the soldiers under his command set up camp, Meng Zhong led fifty Xinwei soldiers to Feiyi in person, returned Feiyi's body to the latter's son Feiyou, and explained the cause of Feiyi's death to Feiyou.

Seeing the fat boy lying on his father's corpse and weeping bitterly, Meng Zhong felt very uncomfortable, and led the guards away with a gloomy sigh.

As a result, before he had left far, he saw Fei You running out of the house, panting and running to Meng Zhong, and asked, "Thank you Meng Sima for returning my father's body, so that my father can be saved from the insults of Gongzi Zhang and Tian Buyu after his death." …… A few days ago, before returning to Handan, you passed by Feiyi, and said that Meng Sima you assisted Gongzi Zhang in rebellion, but I don't understand, why do you want to help Gongzi Zhang and other traitors like Meng Sima You, a person with both ability and integrity? ”

“……”

Meng Zhong didn't explain, and after smiling reluctantly at Fatty You, he took his leave and left.

Looking at Meng Zhong's departing back, Fatty Stomped his feet anxiously.

On the same day, Fei You went to Handan and reported the matter to Zhao Wanghe.