In the middle of May, the heavy rain continued, and the fingertip-sized raindrops fell like a scoop, adding a coolness to Jiangzhou, which had just been a little hot. Pen ~ fun ~ pavilion www.biquge.info

It was on this day that Zhong Xiuning's team to visit the sick in Hongzhou arrived in Jiangzhou.

In addition to Zhong Xiuning, Diao Yanneng, the commander of Huainan's Crane Control Army, led a battalion of 500 people as an escort to Hongzhou together.

Recalling the task assigned to him by Yang Wu when he was in Guangling, Diao Yanneng was a little excited in his heart: this was the first time he had undertaken such a major task alone, although he had made a lot of contributions before, but it was all established with others, but this time he was directly responsible for this matter; And he's only sixteen years old!

Of course, sixteen years old is not too young, when Yang Wu first became a general, he was also only sixteen years old, and it was at that time that Diao Yanneng joined Yang Wu's command.

"General, Jiangzhou City is ahead, do you want to go into the city to rest for a while?" His deputy asked.

After the team set off from Guangling, they sailed up the Yangtze River and arrived directly in Jiangzhou, with almost no stops except for sending people ashore to get supplies.

The reason why they were in such a hurry was because they received the news that Zhong Chuan was critically ill one after another on the way, and there were messengers from Zhong Chuan urging them to speed up all the way.

Fortunately, everyone traveled by boat, and even if they traveled in a hurry, the soldiers did not feel too tired.

"Okay, get ready to stop the ship, let's go to the city!" Diao Yanneng agreed without even thinking about it.

The main task given to him by Yang Wu was to get him in contact with Jiangxi officials, including the assassins in various places, and try to win them over as much as possible. For this reason, Yang Wu also deliberately gave him the right to confer officials on the spot, of course, this kind of temporary appointment is limited to those smaller officials.

Zhong Yangui, the assassin of Jiangzhou, is the second son of Zhong Chuan, and he is at odds with the eldest son Zhong Kuang, who is about to take over, and the two compete with each other for more than ten years before they can decide the winner; Now that Zhong Kuangshi is about to ascend the throne, is there no jealousy in Zhong Yangui's heart? No worries?

In addition, the location of Jiangzhou is extremely important, it is the gateway of Jiangxi, and it is also the upstream gateway of Shengzhou and other places.

Therefore, Diao Yanneng chose Zhong Yangui as the first target on the way here.

Under Diao Yanneng's order, ten ships gradually docked to the shore and prepared to land and enter the city.

At this time, a maid came to give an order, saying that Zhong Xiuning had summoned him.

Diao Yanneng's heart moved, and he hurried to meet him.

Although Zhong Xiuning is the daughter of Zhong Chuan, and her relationship with Yang Wu is only a marriage, she has no background in Guangling, and those high-ranking officials in Huainan don't pay much attention to her, but she is Yang Wu's concubine after all, and Diao Yanneng naturally has to respect her.

"General Diao, why did the ship stop? Didn't you go straight to Hongzhou all the way? Seeing Diao Yanneng, Zhong Xiuning asked in a deep voice.

Diao Yanneng saluted her respectfully, and then replied: "Madame Qiyu, the reason why the ship stopped was because the boatmen on board were very tired from the rush of the journey; Now the heavy rain continues, so that the river is turbulent, if you continue to rush in the rain, there is a danger of capsizing, so you must stay in Jiangzhou for a while. Moreover, Zhong Yangui, the assassin of Jiangzhou, is the elder brother of his wife, doesn't his wife want to see him? ”

Diao Yanneng casually found a reason, Zhong Xiuning was stunned, she naturally couldn't tell whether what Diao Yanneng said was true or false, but Diao Yanneng was the main general in this team, if he insisted on stopping the boat, Zhong Xiuning would have no choice.

It's okay to see Zhong Yangui in the past, after all, he is his brother, and the relationship between the two brothers and sisters was still relatively deep when they were in Hongzhou. It's just that his father is critically ill at this time, could it be that Zhong Yangui still stayed in Jiangzhou and didn't go to Hongzhou to visit the sick?

Zhong Xiuning felt a little strange in her heart, after all, she was just a daughter who grew up in a deep boudoir, and naturally she didn't know much about the dirtiness in politics, and now Zhong Kuangshi was about to take over, where did Zhong Yangui dare to go to Hongzhou at this time.

Soon, the group braved the rain to land on the shore, but fortunately, Jiangzhou City was not far from the shore, and they only walked for a while before arriving at the city.

At this time, the continuous heavy rain gradually stopped, and Zhong Yangui, the assassin of Jiangzhou, had already taken his entourage to greet him on the city tower, and when he saw Huainan's team appear in the distance, Zhong Yangui hurriedly got down the city tower, rode on a horse and hurried up.

"Haha, isn't this my good sister? After marrying King Wu, he is now more and more radiant! As soon as they met, Zhong Yangui praised loudly, and then talked with Diao Yanneng very warmly and politely.

Diao Yanneng's heart moved, and his thoughts about Zhong Yangui suddenly became clear.

Although he is Yang Wu's pro-army commander, he is still only a non-ranking role in the Huainan Army, and more importantly, he is only sixteen years old now, it stands to reason that Zhong Yangui will never be so enthusiastic to him, at most he is polite to Zhong Xiuning.

But now, judging from Zhong Yangui's attitude, Diao Yanneng feels that he may have the idea of taking refuge in Huainan.

With this judgment, Diao Yanneng's attitude towards Zhong Yangui also became enthusiastic, and the two began to talk about each other like old friends who hadn't seen each other for many years.

Although Diao Yanneng is still young, he has followed Yang Wu to the east and west over the years and participated in many major battles, and he told some of the things that happened, which also aroused Zhong Yangui's great interest.

On the side, Zhong Xiuning seemed to be a little unaware of this brother. In her impression, when she was in Hongzhou, this Zhong Yangui was a master with a higher eye than Xiang, except for being polite to those high-level officials, he didn't have a good color for others.

Of course, Zhong Xiuning couldn't care so much at this time, and she was more concerned about her father's condition at this time. However, Zhong Yangui only said a few words to her, and then asked his wife to take Zhong Xiuning back to the mansion with some impatience, while he stayed with Diao Yanneng to continue the conversation.

As soon as Zhong Xiuning left, Zhong Yangui looked whole and sent all the other subordinates away, leaving only a few cronies and Diao Yanneng.

Diao Yan could see him behave like this, and immediately knew that the critical time had come, and then it was time for him to show his attitude.

"General Diao, this official knows that you are a close confidant of King Wu, and this official will not go around in circles here, everyone is happy, if this official takes refuge in Huainan, what position can King Wu give to this official?"

Zhong Yangui was originally dissatisfied with his father's choice of Zhong Kuang and did not choose him as the heir, but when his father was still there, he did not dare to make any small moves, for fear that his father would find out and even be unable to keep the position of Jiangzhou Assassin; But now that Zhong Chuan is seriously ill and Zhong Kuangshi is about to ascend to the throne, he can't care so much.

In his opinion, he and Zhong Kuangshi have been fighting for more than ten years, and the two sides can be said to have a great grudge, and he asked himself if he became the lord of Jiangxi, he would definitely not let Zhong Kuangshi go; So in turn, he also thinks that Zhong Kuangshi will never let him go.

So the current situation is extremely unfavorable to him, even if Zhong Kuangshi ascends the throne, he can still protect himself with Jiangzhou, but if Huainan sends troops to attack, he will not have the slightest chance.

Jiangzhou is not comparable to Qianzhou, Jizhou and other places located at the southwest end of Jiangxi, which is located on the edge of the Yangtze River, and it is very convenient for the Huainan army to mobilize.

But will Zhong Kuangshi of Hongzhou send troops to reinforce him at that time? Zhong Yangui felt that it would definitely not.

So instead of waiting for Huainan to attack and then surrender, it is better to have a relationship with Huainan now, anyway, he has a sister who is closer to him and is married to the current King of Wu, with this sister here, he will make a contribution to Jiangzhou again, presumably Yang Wu will not treat himself badly, right?

His personality was originally very anxious, and he always had something to say, and he had already felt impatient with Diao Yanneng for so long just now, and as soon as Zhong Xiuning left, he simply went straight to the point.

Although Diao Yanneng had already made some mental preparations, he expected that he would have the idea of defecting to Huainan, but he still didn't expect him to be so direct, and he reacted after a while.

"Since Zhong Zhijun said it so bluntly, then if Ben Jiang didn't speak out again, it would be too sorry for the envoy. When he set out from Guangling, the king once said that the envoy was the brother of Mrs. Zhong after all, and if the envoy could understand the righteousness and vote for Jiangzhou, then the king would be willing to make the envoy a hereditary earl, and then serve in the Jiedu Embassy. ”

Zhong Yangui couldn't help but be a little disappointed when he heard it, the hereditary earl, it sounds good, but in this era, not only are there many official positions, but also titles.

When the Tang Dynasty was founded, only the clan could canonize the princes, and those with high merits such as Li Jing, Xu Shiji and others were only crowned as national princes; In later generations, foreign surnames began to be canonized as county kings; Nowadays, princes are not rare, and the number of county kings is even greater, and as for the earl, it is not attractive at all.

As for the appointment of the Jiedu Embassy, it is even less attractive, he is still a party to the history, and he must have no actual power when he arrives at the Jiedu Embassy, how can this satisfy him.

"Is King Wu so reluctant to hold an official position?" Zhong Yangui thought to himself, very dissatisfied in his heart.

Diao Yan could see his dissatisfaction, and explained with a smile: "Does the envoy think that the conditions given by the king are too low? In fact, whether the conditions are good or not should not only look at the present, but should look at the long run. ”

"In the long run?" Zhong Yangui was a little puzzled.

"Yes, imagine it, if the king directly gives the envoy a high-ranking official, then what will those Huainan ministers think? Their merits are far greater than the contribution of the envoy to the city, if the envoy suddenly occupies a high position, it is difficult to guarantee that those Huainan ministers will not be jealous, and all kinds of rumors will spread everywhere, what should the envoy be? ”

Zhong Yangui suddenly broke out in a cold sweat, he only thought about asking for more benefits now, but he didn't think about whether this benefit could be maintained.