The night is late, and the song is over.

In the spacious main hall of the official village, only three brothers, Gao Jitai, Gao Dengtai and Gao Antai, remained. They took off their coats and gathered cross-legged around the brazier.

"You said that the prince asked you to leave two people behind, as well as weapons?" Gao Jitai asked Gao Antai with a glare, but Gao Dengtai sat next to him and did not interject.

Gao Antai replied: "Exactly! Peng Yuanke, the guard of the Feixian Pass, and Ning Sen, the deputy envoy of the Inspection Division, are really hateful! At that time, the little brother was furious, and he wanted to immediately draw a knife and cut them down! The prince did not allow the younger brother to do it, and he said that our toast could not afford to cause this trouble, and he would solve it for us. I heard from the prince that his caravan will start tomorrow night! The younger brother estimated that with the capital of Peng Yuanke and Ning Sen, he would lose his head in a quarter of an hour at most. ”

Gao Jitai asked again: "Who is leading the team?" ”

Gao Antai replied: "The leader of the team is a senior of mine, named He Youyi. I didn't know this person's younger brother before, but I only saw him for the first time when I went to Bifeng Gorge this time. The younger brother's classmate Shu Guoping is Master Shu's nephew Dao, He Youyi is from the Jiangmen of northern Sichuan, and his father was ambushed with the chief soldier Hou Liangzhu in Baiqingba. In order to cover the breakthrough of the good pillar, his father entered and exited three times, refusing to abandon the master...... Ay! After his father died, he abandoned martial arts and followed the ......"

"Then how did he enter the Shizi Mansion and start leading the troops?"

Gao Antai replied: "I don't know this little brother, maybe it was also recommended by Master Shu?" Big brother, this time the younger brother went to Bifeng Gorge to see the caravan of Shizi Lian, and then he opened his eyes. Those soldiers were trained neatly, like a man! The best part? Shu Guoping said that those people were bought by the prince on the eighth day of this month in the Chengdu Prefecture market, and they were driven to Bifeng Gorge for training, and there were only ten days in total! ”

"How many people are there in the caravan?"

Gao Antai replied: "About three or four hundred." ”

Gao Jitai shook his head and said, "How much can this person do?" With our Gao family, we can make up at least 3,000 people in five days! Second brother, you have the best knowledge among the brothers, and you have been in Chengdu Mansion for 20 years, so you know the minds of those people best. Tell me, what kind of medicine is sold in the gourd in this world? ”

Gao Dengtai stared at the faint flames in the brazier, and said slowly: "The junior brother returned to Tianquan from Chengdu Mansion in October last year. At that time, the thieves had just hit western Sichuan. In the past two or three months, the younger brother listened to those merchants and said that the thieves had made a circle around southern Sichuan and Chengdu Mansion, and then hit them in the direction of eastern Sichuan. According to the younger brother, this court and government are becoming more and more incompetent, and hundreds of thousands of officers and soldiers are chasing and intercepting, so that the thief is like entering a no-man's land, coming and going freely! The meaning of the world's military training may be as he said to his third brother, he wants to protect himself in troubled times. As for whether he has a bigger mind, the younger brother can't see it yet. But ......" Gao Dengtai paused for a moment and considered the words: "Big brother, don't despise the son of the world because he has few soldiers!" The younger brother has lived in Chengdu for a long time, as my father once said, it is a place where I rub shoulders and sweat like rain, and there are many people! If the speed of the world's training is really based on what the third brother said, there is absolutely no problem in training 10,000 people in that year! ”

Gao Jitai glared at his second brother and asked, "Then the government of Sichuan and the capital of the Yamen are at the mercy of the prince to train the army?" Don't want the royal law of their Zhu family? ”

Gao Dengtai said: "This is exactly what the little brother is worried about!" There are rules in the ancestors of their Zhu family, which do not allow the vassal kings of various places to lead the troops, and the guards are just scary. The younger brother estimated that it was in order to avoid Zu Xun that the prince deceived the governor Liao Daheng into building this caravan! ”

Gao Jitai didn't ask, and Gao Antai didn't interject. The three brothers were silent, as if in deep thought. The empty hall was very quiet.

Suddenly, the charcoal crackled in the brazier and burst open, emitting a flash of light.

"Second brother, what do you think of Shizi?" Gao Jitai broke the silence and asked.

"The younger brother only has one side, and he can't talk about understanding. The younger brother just thinks that the conversation and behavior of the prince is not like a fifteen-year-old rich and noble boy, but like an old official who has been through the journey and knows the world for a long time! ”

The second brother's joke immediately made Gao Antai laugh. He stroked his palm and said: "Shu Guoping also secretly told his younger brother that I don't know why the son of the world knows how to train soldiers!" Master Shu himself doesn't know soldiers, how can he teach Shizi the art of war? Therefore, the younger brother speculated that either the son of the world had another master as a teacher, or the origin of the son of the world was really magical, and he could be born to know it! ”

Gao Jitai said: "Although your eldest brother doesn't read much, he also knows that the sage once said that some people are indeed born to know!" I see, that son of the world is decisive in killing, and he has some means to do things, and he is a powerful master! You say, if their Zhu family opens the ban, will the prince rebel? ”

The eldest brother's worry surprised Gao Antai. However, he quickly shook his head and retorted, "How can the prince rebel? He's just a little ruthless! Big brother, you won't be intimidated by a flying immortal pass! ”

Gao Dengtai said: "My Gao family was favored by the Ming Emperor, and my father and eldest brother led the troops to participate in the pacification of the rebellion of Luxury, although the official mansion was weak and frugal, which hurt the hearts of the soldiers...... The younger brother thought, if the son of the world just wants to protect himself in the troubled times, we have received his favor, the grace of dripping water, and we should repay each other as a spring. If he wants to rebel, the emperor's edict will be issued, and we will turn around and beat him. Grandma and Daddy both taught us brothers to be loyal, filial and benevolent, and we can't afford to lose this great festival of loyalty......

Before Gao Dengtai's words fell, his third brother muttered and objected: "In this troubled world, it is the era when heroes don't ask where they come from!" Who is the right lord of the world now, and who can say clearly? The younger brother was in Chengdu Mansion, and he also heard rumors in the market, saying that it was the 'Eighteen Sons of the Main Artifact', referring to the thief Li Zicheng when he entered the capital as the emperor! The traitor can still enter Beijing and be the emperor, but the prince is noble, he can't be called? On this day, it was a barren place, surrounded by Fanbang toast. I Gao Antai was born a Han and died a Han person, I don't want to be this prison Shizi Tusi, and live next to the Fanbang barbarians for the rest of my life! I want to follow the son of the world and chase Kyushu! Like Daddy, build a great deed on the battlefield! ”

As soon as Gao Antai finished speaking, he was scolded by his eldest brother with a deep face: "Since whoever is the master of the world has no score, you are stupid to follow?" I think you are pampered by your grandmother, which is why you have a lawless and stunned temperament! ”

Gao Antai was scolded, but twisted his neck to the side, obviously unconvinced. His second brother hurriedly persuaded: "The third brother has always been so straightforward when he speaks, you don't have to be angry with him, eldest brother." However, these three brothers' words are not rough, and there is some truth in them! Big brother, you think, from the end of the Tang Dynasty when the ancestors stayed in Tianquan to the present, it has been almost 800 years. In the past 800 years, our Gaoyang family has multiplied and multiplied in this generation. On this day, six or seven out of ten people were surnamed Gao Yang (Note 1). My sky is so big, there are so many cultivated land and grassland, and it is not a way to go on for a long time! The position of Tianquan Toast, Gao Yang has one for each of the two families. The other descendants of the second and second generations will naturally disappear after a few decades. The younger brother and the third brother went to Chengdu to study and seek fame, and it was also my father and grandmother who let us find a way out! Now that the prince has come to us in person, it can be said that it has given us the face of the two families, and also given us the opportunity for the children of the two families, we have to appreciate it, right? ”

Gao Antai suddenly got the support of his second brother, and hurriedly assisted: "Big brother, do you think: Except for the prince, in the past eight hundred years, which dynasty and generation of Tianhuang nobles have ever been to my ghost place where birds don't?" It's easy for people to come once, it's better for you to hide here and be suspicious! ”

The second brother and the third brother all have ideas, and Gao Jitai understands. He said with some embarrassment: "What you said, of course the eldest brother understands, the eldest brother is just reluctant to let you leave." The second brother and the third brother left home at a young age, and they could come back once in a year or two and live for two or three months. Grandma (Note 2) is now staying in Chengdu Mansion, and she is too old to come back. I really want to go to Chengdu Mansion to see her old man's house, but although the whole toast is not big this day, there are many things up and down, where can I go, big brother? The second brother and the third brother want to go out to do things, of course the eldest brother can't stop you. It's just that choosing the master in this troubled world is more risky, so don't follow the wrong person! ”

When the two brothers heard the eldest brother say emotionally, they had nothing to say. Gao Jitai then said to his second brother: "The prince seems to have the intention of recommending you to be a scholar. If he really recommends it, will you go? ”

Gao Dengtai nodded and said, "Of course the little brother wants to go!" The younger brother is full of sages, but he suffers from being born in the toast and has no way to serve. Now that the prince Chrysostom has been opened, it is a good opportunity for the younger brother to become a leader! ”

Gao Antai patted his thigh and said, "Second brother is good to go!" Isn't the eldest brother afraid that we will follow the wrong master? The second brother is an official, and he is an official of the court, not an official of the prince. Even if the prince rebels in the future, the court will not be able to implicate us! ”

Gao Jitai also slapped his thigh and said, "The third brother is right!" I heard that last summer, Emperor Chongzhen opened the 'three-way simultaneous use' of the selection of officials in various places (Note 3). The second brother has made a name for himself, but he has not been able to become a leader so far, and he has also been affected by the identity of this toast! If the prince is willing to recommend, maybe he can really get an official uniform for the second brother! ”

Gao Dengtai shook his head and said dejectedly: "Big brother doesn't know, this court is always on guard against the vassal kings in various places, and he is most afraid that the local officials will collude with the palace. The younger brother calculated, even if he had the strong recommendation of the Shu Wangfu, it would be half of what was successful or not. ”

The imperial court is always on guard against the vassal king, and the prince recommends it, but it may not help. Gao Jitai was thinking about how to comfort the second brother, but at this time, he heard Gao Antai laugh and said, "Second brother, you are worrying about the sky!" You're back all morning, and there's something you don't know. The younger brother entered the Shizi Mansion during the day on Chinese New Year's Eve, and on that night on the Imperial City Dam, a major event happened that everyone in Chengdu knew about it! Big brother and second brother, do you want to know? ”

Gao Antai sold Guan Zi in public, and his eldest brother responded with a slap on the head. Gao Antai hurriedly said: "I heard a little guy say that that the prince went to Huangchengba to watch the lanterns that night, and a local show surnamed Su took a fancy to it and went to tease. The son of the world did not follow each other, and the two sides grabbed each other. The prince happened to be watching the lanterns on the castle tower, and he saw it. Okay...... The prince immediately rushed down the city tower and ran to the imperial city dam. The two sentences were not right, and the prince ordered the guards to slaughter this Su Xiucai! Xiucai's head was hung on a lampstand to show the public, and the other street skins of the gang were also killed and arrested! Killing a famous scholar is not a trivial matter! The next day was Zhengdan, and the hundred officials saw the prince, and the governor Lord Liao blocked the door of the carrier hall and personally asked the prince to explain! Guess what? ”

The two brothers hurriedly asked the result. Gao Antai smiled: "The result is that Lord Liao is defeated!" Not only was the prince fine, but Lord Liao also allowed the prince to build this caravan. Even the three words 'caravan protection' were inscribed by Lord Liao himself. The little brother is in Bifeng Gorge and saw the flag with his own eyes, absolutely yes! The younger brother also heard that the guard who killed people at that time was Song Zhenzong, the elder brother of Song Zhensi. That Song Zhenzong trained in Bifeng Gorge, he was really a good hand, and the younger brother also saw it with his own eyes. On the way back this time, the younger brother quietly asked Song Zhensi if he was really the one his brother killed. He said yes! ”

Gao Jitai reacted. He asked, "The meaning of the third brother is that there is a relationship between the governor and the prince?" ”

Gao Antai smiled: "Definitely! Do you think, the governor of Sichuan has been degraded and killed all these years, who will offend the Shu Palace? Besides, how good is this tea horse trade? Liao Fu is in charge of the government, but he personally wrote an inscription for the caravan, maybe there is also a share! According to the younger brother's speculation, the prince said that he wanted to recommend the second brother, and most of them would follow the door of Lord Liao. If Lord Liao is also approved, can the second brother not be promoted to the third level? ”

The three brothers all burst out laughing, and even their fears of Zhu Pingjin's rebellion diminished considerably. However, Gao Jitai, the head of the Gao family, still cautiously decided that if the prince wanted to borrow troops from his Tianquan Tusi, one could only be under the banner of protecting the caravan, and the other could only use the name of his second or third brother's personal entourage. Before the general trend of the world is decided, it is very dangerous to put all the treasures on one person, and it is not good that the toast inheritance passed down from the ancestors will be compensated.

Note 1: According to the official statistics of the Tianquan County Government, until today, the surnames of Gao Yang are still more than half.

Note 2: According to the classics, Gao's grandmother lived in Chengdu for a long time, but it fell into the hands of Zhang Xianzhong. This old lady's fierceness and toughness, I read it again today, and I am particularly shocked. The reason why Tianquan Tusi became Zhang Xianzhong's sworn enemy, and long-term threatened the official road of the Great Western Army through Ya'an to Xichang, so that the Great Western Army had to go around Guizhou into Yunnan, this old lady is an important reason.

Note 3: It refers to the "Gengchen special use" incident in which the emperor selected officials in the thirteenth year of Chongzhen.