Before walking back to the post house, Wang Zhe asked Zhang Shimin to find someone to ask if he could find wine and food at night in the post house, he thought about finding Huo Li, and then arrived with Huo Xiao and the three of them to drink at night; Although Princess Yunhe, Shen Peng, and Zhao Ci also lived in the post house, they were strictly guarded at this time, and Wang Zhe didn't want to take them over directly before he came back from Jinling.

And Wang Zhe has been away from Tangyi for more than three months, and he can only ask Huo Xiao about some trivial matters at this time; From Shoudong to Chaozhou, and then from Chaozhou to Jinling, you can take a carriage and then change to a boat, even if you don't sleep tonight, you can make up for sleep on the way.

There were three or four black shadows curled up on the side of the street on both sides of the gate of the post house, which were homeless beggars in the city, and when they saw Wang Zhe and Huo Xiao coming over, these people came up to beg with the broken bowls in their hands.

By the dim light of the light, these men were all ragged, unkempt, old, or handicapped, and unable to support themselves, and the garrison did not ruthlessly expel them from the city; Wang Zhe and Huo Xiao took out a dozen coins from their arms and were about to give them alms.

One of them approached, but suddenly as if he was on fire, he suddenly turned around and limped down the alley to the side.

"Stop! Who are you? Zhang Shimin, who had not yet left, saw this scene and held down the handle of the knife and shouted loudly.

The man came forward as if he wanted to beg, but he suddenly turned around and left, no matter how he looked at it, his behavior was suspicious, especially since there were several extremely key people living in the post house today, how could Zhang Shimin easily let him leave?

However, Zhang Shimin was also wary that several other beggars would be detrimental to Wang Zhe or Huo Xiao if they had assassins hidden in them, so he did not rush to catch up, but loudly beckoned the guards on duty in front of the post house to help.

Several guards on duty in front of the post house heard the movement, and reacted very quickly, pulling out their knives to catch up, without Zhang Shimin's hands, they pressed the man down in the mud that had just been covered with cinders at the mouth of the alley.

"Wang Zhe, Wang Zhe, it's me." Only then did the man cry out in pain.

Hearing someone shouting his name, Wang Zhe showed his waist card to the guards, and then cautiously approached it, and saw by the light that it was a face stained with cinders.

Listening to the voice, it was a little familiar, and when he wiped the cinders off his face with his sleeve, Wang Zhe recognized that the person in front of him was Zhou Kun, the son of Zhou Shoumin, the former young eunuch of Honglu Temple, whom he knew.

It was not a sudden assassination incident, even if Wang Zhe was a false title before, his status was not low, when he even signaled the guards to let the other beggars disperse, and then took Zhou Kun to his residence in the post house with Huo Xiao and Zhang Shimin.

Zhou Shoumin, Zhou Kun and his son are all from Runzhou, Wang Zhe saw Zhou Shoumin, Zhou Kun and his son several times when he was serving by his uncle Wang Jixiong's side, so he recognized and knew that he was selected by Emperor Tianyou to study with His Majesty who was still the third prince at that time with Han Qian, Feng Yi, and Kong Xirong, but unfortunately he accidentally injured his back a few days before the third prince left the palace, and the whole person was almost abolished.

Although Zhou Kun later recovered from a back injury, he still walked with a limp.

Wang Zhe didn't expect to see Zhou Kun in Shoudong City, let alone that Zhou Kun would be so broken.

At this time, Huo Li walked in and asked, "What was the noise outside just now?" ”

At this time, Wang Zhe introduced Zhou Kun's identity to Huo Xiao for him, and asked Zhou Kun: "Why are you in Shoudong, Lord Zhou and your brother Zhou Shen?" I remember that your brother Zhou Shen has been serving as an official in the Shouzhou Army for the past two years? ”

"Why, Wang Zhe, if you don't miss the old feelings, don't you want to report me?" Zhou Kun sat in the hall in ragged clothes, and asked Huo Xiao, Huo Li, and Zhang Shimin to stare at them, feeling uncomfortable, and questioned Wang Zhe impatiently.

"Look at you like this, what is there to denounce? Unless you are assigned by the Shouzhou Army to deliberately lurk in Shoudong," Wang Zhe said with a smile, "I think you are acquainted with Hou Ye, Feng Yi, and Kong Xirong - you really don't have any good intentions, even if your brother is still working in front of Xu Mingzhen's account, it has nothing to do with you, maybe you can still ask for an errand in Tangyi, it's better than what you are now......"

Zhou Kun's expression eased a little at this time, and when he saw that Wang Zhe instructed Zhang Shimin to go to Zhang Luo for wine and dishes, he invited him to stay and have a full meal, and he did not refuse.

Waiting for the drinks and dishes to come up, Zhou Kuncai told the truth while gobbling up the wine.

After the Jinling Incident, his father Zhou Shoumin was forced to support the crown prince with many officials, but he soon became ill and did not hold an official position under the banner of Anning Palace; After being coerced to cross the river, he did not hold any official position in Shouzhou; It was also because of the previous Zhishi that their family was not ordered to move to Bianjing.

In order to make a living, his brother Zhou Shen still trusted the relationship afterwards, and made an errand in Shouzhou Jiedu, but Zhou Kun's back injury did not heal, he still limped when he walked, and his mobility was inconvenient.

The money they carried was looted by the rebellious slaves and maids when they crossed the river, and although their brother was able to serve as a small official, his income was extremely meager, and it was difficult to support his family, and the family lived extremely poor after arriving in Shouzhou.

It is precisely because of this that his eldest brother Zhou Shenzhi's wife saw that the nose of the father and son was not a nose and the eyes were not eyes, and there were often conflicts in the house, and in the end he couldn't get over, so he and his father Zhou Shoumin moved to Shoudong, which was only sixty or seventy miles away from Shouchun City.

When the Shouzhou army abandoned Shoudong, they did not have time to withdraw and were blocked in Shoudong City, but they were worried that their sensitive identities would be liquidated, so they temporarily moved to a deserted house, claiming to the garrison that they were just ordinary households who were coerced to cross the river, and their bodies had long been lost.

Their father and son are old and young, sick and disabled; In addition, after crossing the river, his father and son have lived too hard in the past four or five years, and they have long been without wealth and nobility, and fortunately they have not been listed as the target of key inspections, so they have been able to pass the test in confusion.

The government has a certain amount of relief for the households in the city who are unable to work, but it is quite limited, and can only ensure that Zhou Shoumin, Zhou Kun and his son barely starve to death.

Zhou Kun saw Wang Zhe entering the city from a distance on the street today, hesitated several times, and finally waited for Wang Zhe to come back in front of the post house, just to rely on the old to find Wang Zhe to borrow more money and grain, but when he really walked to Wang Zhe, he was full of embarrassment and was afraid of being recognized by Wang Zhe......

"You are also in trouble now, but why didn't you think about going to Hou Ye? Even if it is not easy to meet Lord Hou, but Lord Feng is also in Shoudong these days, your family should also know Lord Feng, right? Wang Zhe asked.

"What's the use of looking for Feng Yi? It's not that no one has gone to find Feng Yimen these days, but they have been imprisoned in Linhuai, who knows what kind of torture they were subjected to? Zhou Kun said with a sneer.

Wang Zhe had just come back, and he was not familiar with some of the circumstances, and after listening to Huo Xiao's explanation, he learned that after recovering Huailing and other twelve counties, under Feng Yi's suggestion, the official eunuchs and families who escaped the Yangtze River with the Anning Palace either actively or passively were all regarded as prisoners of war and imprisoned for reform.

Tangyi didn't torture these people, but they all served as hard labor for the time being, making up for the lack of free labor after the baggage battalion soldiers were incorporated into the main soldiers. Most of these people, even after they were down, did not do anything to cultivate, and were suddenly sent to a hard labor camp, even if they were not deliberately tortured, it was miserable for them.

Only a small number of the children of the clan who were left behind were sent to Jinling and handed over to Zongzheng Temple for disposal.

Hearing Zhou Kun say these things, Wang Zhe groaned for a moment and asked, "Are you willing to work in Tangyi?" ”

"It's a confession that I can have a full meal with you, but please don't entertain me. Could it be that you can say that Feng Yi, who is ruthless and ruthless, will only open up for me? Zhou Kun leaned over and said unhappily.

"Lord Feng is in charge of the Metropolitan Administration, whether he is willing to use you to do anything, of course I can't guarantee the vote, but I serve in the Military Intelligence Staff Department, and I still have this power to do things with one or two old things, as long as you don't feel wronged." Wang Zhe said with a smile.

Hearing Wang Zhe say this, Huo Li and Huo Xiao understood first.

Except for the two of them who coincided with their meeting, no one else did not know the existence of Zhou Kun, as long as it could be confirmed that what Zhou Kun said was true, he could arrange for Zhou Kun to flee to Fengtai as a homeless person or even flee directly to Tongkou or Wuyang and other cities to stay for a period of time, and then go to his brother Zhou Shen, which is an excellent secret stake to break into the Shouzhou army and the Liang State.

Seeing that Zhou Kun was puzzled, Wang Zhe said bluntly and said: "After you took refuge with your brother Zhou Shen, you said that your father was sick and on the way to escape, I would arrange someone to take care of your father's daily life, you don't have to worry about ......"

Unexpectedly, Wang Zhe's so-called appointment was like this, Zhou Kun was stunned for a while, and he didn't know what to say.

"Liang Guo has been in turmoil twice, even if he can survive this catastrophe, it will be a big loss of vitality, and Xu Mingzhen is even weaker and lasting. If your brother can't abandon the darkness and turn to the light, how bleak his situation will be in the future, I don't think I need to say it explicitly—and when you come back on the other day, you will still be worried that there will be no place for you in Tangyi? Wang Zhe wanted to get more from Zhou Kun's side, thinking that Zhou Shen, who was an official in the Shouzhou Army, would also be pulled into the water, he saw Zhou Kun hesitating, and did not force him at this time, but instructed Zhang Shimin to carefully avoid the sight of others, and first send Zhou Kun to leave by himself from the side door.

Wang Zhe will rush to Jinling early tomorrow morning to deliver a message to send a note, and when Zhang Shimin returns after sending Zhou Kun away, he wrote a letter and handed it to Zhang Shimin, saying: "As long as Zhou Kun agrees to be the secret stake of Tangyi to lobby his brother, you will lead him to General Xi to explain this matter; There will be arrangements on General Xi's side......"

The new department will not be formally established until Wang Zhe returns from Jinling, but the Military Intelligence Staff Department is currently also responsible for infiltration and intelligence spying in the Central Plains and Heshuo areas, and he thinks that if Zhou Kun is sent back too late, there will be too many flaws that cannot be explained.

Wang Zhe asked Zhang Shimin to take his letter at that time and go directly to Xi Fa'er to arrange this in advance, but also instructed Zhang Shimin to secretly observe Zhou Kun for a day or two......

…………

…………

Zhang Shimin is still a miscellaneous fish, and he is not in a position to do more investigation into Zhou Kun's background, he listened to Wang Zhe's arrangement, and first observed Zhou Kun secretly for two days, and then came to the door to ask him about his wishes.

Before and after the Jinling Incident, too many princes and ministers, countless Gyeonggi officials and eunuchs fell from the clouds into the dust in the blink of an eye, and the Zhou family was just a tiny microcosm.

Zhou Kun was also a prodigal family when he was young, so he was selected to serve with Han Qian, Feng Yi, and Kong Xirong to the three princes, but the three princes had not yet left the palace to go to the palace, Zhou Kun was drunk and rode a horse one day, stepped off the horse and suddenly went crazy and threw him off the horse.

Zhou Kun lay in bed for three years before he could barely get out of bed and walk around, and he thought that after recovering from his injuries, he would be able to get out of the predicament of life, but he didn't want Jinling to rebel and involve the large and small officials and eunuchs in Jinling City.

The Anning Palace was defeated and fled north across the river to seek refuge in Shouzhou, while the Zhou family sank further, at this time Zhou Kun's injuries were completely healed, but it was inevitable that he would be disabled.

Wang Zhe pointed out a way for him, and it could even be said that he was the only way out of the predicament, but at this time, he was no longer a young and floating prodigal, and he knew that once things failed, he could spare his life, but if his brother Zhou Shen was involved, his Zhou family would be cut off.

He didn't dare to agree to Wang Zhe easily, and returned to the dilapidated shack for two days, and was seen by his father Zhou Shoumin, that is, before Zhang Shimin came to the door again, he told his father Zhou Shoumin the truth.

The father and son looked at each other in the shack for a long time, and only after Zhang Shimin came to the door did they decide to agree to Wang Zhe's conditions.

Ordinary people may still be ignorant of many things that happened in Jianghuai, but Zhou Shoumin and Zhou Kun can also guess that there must be a big chaos in Liangjing.

And even if there is no civil strife in Liang, the Shouzhou Army, which seems to be strong in recent years, has been beaten by the Tangyi Army and has no power to fight back, thinking that this may be doomed for Zhou Shen's family to continue to follow the Shouzhou Army with the tide, and one day they will inevitably become people who leave the chaos.

Zhou Kun agreed here, and Zhang Shimin went to Xi Fa'er with the letter left by Wang Zhe.

To have such a character infiltrate the Shouzhou Army, Xi Fa'er naturally made corresponding arrangements as soon as possible, sent people to investigate the background of Zhou Shoujun and Zhou Kun, arranged special personnel to conduct special training for Zhou Kun in hidden work, and began to arrange the channels for Zhou Kun to return to the Shouzhou Army to ensure that Zhou Kun did not leave obvious flaws during the period of disappearance.

Of course, the identities of Zhou Shoumin and Zhou Kun, father and son, are special, and it is speculated that their origins are even very likely to have an old relationship with Han Qian, and after Xi Fa'er made corresponding arrangements, he naturally found an opportunity to report this matter to Han Qian.

At that time, Feng Yi happened to have just come back from Xuzhou, Han Qian was sitting in the courtyard with Feng Yi was blowing farts and gossiping, listening to Xi Fa'er mention this, he remembered Zhou Kun's appearance for a while: "Zhou Kun ......"

"You are easy to forget things after you are rich, you just arrived in Jinling, Zhou Kun invited you to drink the flower wine of the tenth day, and gave you the wind and dust, do you remember?" Feng Yi helped Han Qian recall.

"Why didn't he come to me directly, but met Wang Zhe?" Han Qian asked suspiciously.

"Zhou Kun is a very bastard, but he is not stupid, Chen She's story of 'Gou Fugui and Forgetfulness', he should still have heard it - his brother was an official in the enemy camp, and he ate a leopard and dared to come over to expose your shortcomings?" Feng Yi said, "Do you think about why the one in the capital can't tolerate you, isn't it because you have seen through everything, so you feel uncomfortable?" ”

"Why aren't you afraid that I will kill you and cover up the ugly things before?" Han Qian glanced at Feng Yi and asked.

"You know I'm going to keep my mouth shut." Feng Yi said with a salivating face.

Han Qian smiled and raised his foot, making a gesture to kick Feng Yi away.

"By the way, you haven't seen Zhou Kun yet, after all, you have been an old buddy for many years, and you are not a person who spares his wings?" Feng Yi asked Han Qian seriously.

Han Qian pondered for a while, shook his head and said: "Since Wang Zhe thought of using the two brothers Zhou Kun and Zhou Shen, he should have some ideas, we had better not casually sabotage the plans of the people below, otherwise it will be too easy to discourage their enthusiasm - and Zhou Kun really wants to gain a foothold in Tangyi, it is better to give him the opportunity to fight for himself, after all, not everyone can be as brazen as you." ”

"I went to Xuzhou with Guo this time, to ensure that there is a big fish among the three families of the Xi family, the Yang family, and the Tian family, and hold their handles, we must lead the snake out of the hole, but we can't completely cripple the thieves who broke into the territory, and let them escape back to the territory of the big surname forces so that they can get personal stolen goods. You also know that Guo Ke is really useless, if I hadn't helped him get ideas all the way, how could I just right to block a group of thieves in the col of Lipu County? Feng Yi was unashamed to invite credit.

In late February, Guo Ke and Feng Yi went directly south from Yiyang to the mouth of the Hanshui River after meeting Li Zhihe, and at that time they learned that Yao Xishui suddenly entered Dongting Lake on the official ship of the Weaving Bureau - afterwards Han Qian guessed that Yao Xishui might have deliberately exposed his whereabouts, after all, the news they controlled was more comprehensive, and it was not difficult to guess that Yao Xishui's intention was to make something happen in the southwest to attract their attention. At that time, the Mughurs could go south at any time, leaving Yao Xishui with very limited time, so he had to successfully attract Tangyi's attention as soon as possible, so that Li Zhihe's department could grab the greatest benefits in the next Liang civil strife.

And Yao Xi is in charge of the Weaving Bureau, and her power and responsibility on the surface is to be responsible for collecting silk cloth and silk and other fabrics from Zhuzhou County to supply the palace, and she also has the power to spy on the people's feelings in the world for Cishoujun, so even if she is seen to be in contact with the big surname forces in Chen, Si and other states, as long as she does not directly lead the thieves into Xuzhou, she is not afraid that anyone can do anything with her.

As long as she understood Yao Xishui's intentions, Han Qian was not worried about how much she could make a move in these hurried times.

You must know that they secretly connived at the Sizhou civil unrest back then, from the secret preparation to the Sizhou civil unrest, and finally forced the imperial court to stop the persecution of the military and civilians of Guangde Mansion by the clan lords, which lasted for more than half a year.

Even if they didn't know that Zhu Rang and Liang Shixiong were plotting a rebellion at that time, under the circumstance that the Mughuls would go south at any time, it was certain that there would never be much time for Yao Xishui to calmly arrange.

Guo Ke and Feng Yi also speculated at that time that even if the Late Red Mansion had secretly wooed the Chenzhou Xi clan and the Sizhou Yang clan a long time ago, the greatest possibility in a hurry would be to sneak into the territory of Xuzhou through the rogues they controlled, attack one or two key targets, and create a shocking case.

Guo Ke and Feng Yi lagged behind Yao Xishui for only one day, and the backwardness in time quickly took advantage of the fast sailing boat to pull back and rushed back to Xuzhou in advance.

Although since the establishment of the Tangyi Army, Han Qian has transferred more than 5,000 generals and soldiers from Xuzhou, and in order to ensure that he can continue to draw money and grain from Xuzhou to make up for the lack of military funds in Tangyi, the seven counties of Xuzhou plus Wuchuan County only maintain a defensive garrison of less than 3,000 people.

This amount of troops, distributed among the eight counties, has become extremely limited in the defensive strength of each county, but it does not mean that after the emergency mobilization of Xuzhou, only this amount of troops will be available.

You must know that before the Jinling Incident, the scale of the Wuling army and horses in the later stage of the war once exceeded 7,000, and after the Jinling Incident, more than 4,000 generals of the Zuoguang German army directly moved into Xuzhou with their families to settle down; Not to mention that in the later period of the Sizhou Civil Rebellion, the strength of Tianpingdu once exceeded 6,000 people.

After the downsizing, both Xuzhou and Tianping retained a standing force of about 5,000 people in peacetime, but the generals who were downsized were not just kicked home and ignored.

According to the recruitment law of Xuzhou, these people also retain the reserve formation, and they have to gather together to participate in four-month rotation training every year; In addition to enjoying the regular pawn during the rotation training; And if you don't do it in normal times, you can also receive half of the soldier's salary.

Those veterans who have spent the reserve period (a total of five years of regular death and reserve service) can receive a military service allowance reduced by half for life, even if they have to support themselves in normal times, and do not need to gather together to participate in rotation training every year.

Since the formation of the Tangyi Army, even if Han Qian transferred 5,000 generals and soldiers from Xuzhou, and even if Xuzhou still maintains a standing defense force of 3,000 people, theoretically there is still the military potential to directly mobilize about 5,000 or 6,000 people and directly pull them to the battlefield without training.

And even according to the law of recruitment, these reserve veterans have to fend for themselves when they retire from active service, but in fact, they mainly stay in the workshops in Chenzhong, Qianyang, Longya, Linjiang and other counties to work, and the veterans who are accustomed to the discipline of the battalion army are the backbone even if they work in the workshop.

And even if some of them return to their hometowns, they also maintain close contact with the township inspection department, and the township department hires people to build ditches and roads, and they mainly use these people as the backbone.

It can be said that as long as they are mobilized, these horses can be quickly and effectively assembled in the county battalion in one day.

Although Han Qian was not in Xuzhou, after Feng Yi and Guo arrived, as long as the majority of the left-behind officials such as Xi Xunqiao, Xi Chang, Qiao Weiyan, and Wei Xu agreed, they could carry out a comprehensive emergency military mobilization of the whole state in an emergency.

To tell the truth, Guo Ke and Feng Yi rushed to Xuzhou ahead of schedule, and they were not afraid of how much damage Yao Xishui could cause to Xuzhou by doing things behind his back, but they were worried that they would carry out a comprehensive military mobilization and would startle the snakes, and they were afraid that the surrounding forces would not dare to act rashly.

In order to seize the handle of the restless people and have the opportunity to further crack down on the forces of the big surname, Guo Ke, together with Xi Xunqiao and Qiao Weiyan, contacted Tan Yuliang, and they judged that the most likely targets for Yao Xishui to instigate the forces of the big surname were several limited places such as the State Weaving Institute, the Longya Mountain Foundry, the Wuchuan Salt Factory, and the Engineer School.

No matter how hard the Red Mansion tried to spy on the heavenly craftsman skills mastered by Xuzhou in these years, the state-owned Weaving Institute, Longya Mountain Foundry, Wuchuan Salt Factory, and the Engineer School still mastered some secret techniques unknown to outsiders.

Unless the Late Red Mansion directly sent someone to attack and get first-hand information, otherwise, these secret techniques would definitely not be able to be seen through by pretending to be ordinary craftsmen and sneaking in.

In the end, they decided not to startle the snake, but to hide in these places and lure the snake out of the hole......

At the beginning of March, that is, two days after Han Bao returned to Tangyi through the flying pigeon, there were indeed many horse thieves who first attacked Qianyang, Zhijiang and other places to create chaos and attack the west, and then almost more than 300 elites concentrated on attacking the armor casting workshop located on Longya Mountain.

It has the most advanced casting skills in Xuzhou, and it is also the largest armor and armor casting base of the Tangyi Army, and more than 100 guards and horses seem to have been transferred by the previous attacks on Qianyang and Zhijiang.

It's just that of the more than 2,000 craftsmen used in the Longya Mountain Refining Ground and the armor casting, one-third and nearly 800 people are reserve veterans.

Guo Ke also expected that the foundry was most likely to be attacked at that time, so he and Feng Yi directly stayed in Longya Village to take charge.

Even if he succeeded in introducing more than 300 elite horse thieves into the trap, Guo was still not satisfied, and only called more than 300 old soldiers to rely on the defense of the courtyard of Longya Village and Foundry, and let the main force of the horse thieves flee before the reinforcements arrived, and then he and Wei Xu led 4,000 elite old soldiers to drive the horse thieves all the way into the territory of Chenzhou Xi's old nest in Lipu County.

Before Feng Yi rushed back from Xuzhou, the situation in Lipu County at that time was that 200 horse thieves were surrounded by Guo Ke and Wei Xu with 4,000 elite soldiers and horses in Longtan Mountain, near the east bank of the Yuan River, and guarded by the dangerous village, while Xiying father and son led 2,000 Chenzhou battalion soldiers to guard the Fu'anling at the entrance of the basin in Lipu County.

Not to mention the steep village of Fuanling Mountain, the soldiers led by Xiying's father and son have fought in the south and north over the years, and the battle momentum is extremely strong.

Even if Guo Qi, Wei Xu, Tan Yuliang, Xi Xunqiao, Xi Chang, Qiao Weiyan and others can take power, they don't need to specifically ask Han Qian, but if they really want to eat the Chenzhou soldiers who occupy a favorable position, they still have to make more preparations.

After careful weighing, they thought that it was still necessary to transfer a part of the naval army from Tangyi back to Xuzhou, to ensure that the waterway and the counties in the hinterland of Xuzhou were connected, and to deter Sizhou and Yezhou from acting rashly, and then attack Longtan Mountain first, and solve the gang of horse thieves who attacked Xuzhou - after all, after defeating the horse thieves, only by consolidating the evidence of the invasion of Xuzhou by the Xi's army - and then calmly launched an offensive against the main force of Xi's camp.

Feng Yi rushed back non-stop, first, to ask Han Qian for instructions on the matter, and secondly, he wanted to directly transfer a naval army back to Xuzhou to participate in the war......