"I will never agree to lay down my arms and lose the army, our Chu family is a lamb to be slaughtered, no! The old master will never allow you to do this! Chu Tianlei waved his arms desperately despite the arrow wounds on his body, roaring loudly in the courtyard, trying to rush into the house of the head of the family, and several young disciples of the Chu family hugged him desperately to prevent him from rushing into the house. \\\\

Chu Jinglei had just arrived from Jiangyang County, and he was shocked and angry when he learned that in the face of the powerful oppression of Zhang Huan's army, the Chu family meeting had voted to accept Zhang Huan's conditions, and he knew that once he accepted Zhang Huan's conditions, it would mean the demise of the Chu family's foundation for decades.

"The head of the family, you let me lead the troops to fight, I would rather die on the battlefield to see the old family master than live in such humiliation, big brother, you just let me lead the soldiers!"

Chu's thunderous roar echoed in the sky above the Chu Mansion, and many members of the Chu family involuntarily came to the courtyard of the head of the family, at this time, Chu Gui, the oldest elder of the Chu family, stepped forward and persuaded bitterly: "Thunder, everyone agrees to let the head of the family decide on this matter, it is a matter of life and death for the Chu family, so don't let the head of the family be embarrassed anymore." ”

"Uncle Gui, I'm unwilling!" Chu Jinglei fell to the ground, slammed the ground with his fist, and cried loudly, the arrow wound on his back had burst out, and the blood stained his clothes red.

Chu Gui panicked, and hurriedly pointed at the Chu family disciples on the side and scolded, "Do you want him to die?" He was not taken to the doctor yet. ”

More than a dozen children of the Chu family rushed up, picked up Chu Jinglei, who was crying and scolding, and ran out, and as Chu Jinglei went away, the courtyard was quiet again. Chu Gui glanced at the closed door, he sighed, shook his head and left.

In the room, Chu Xingshui and Chu Xingyun's brothers sat opposite each other, unaware of Chu Jinglei's cry outside, it has reached this point, any resistance will make the Chu family be destroyed, Chu Xingshui is stubborn and no one will pay attention, Chu Xingshui is the same, the news that Zhang Huan's army has arrived thirty miles away is like a heavy mountain. He couldn't breathe, Chu Xingshui seemed to be ten years old overnight, the conditions proposed by Zhang Huan were too harsh, and the Chu family fell into the dust overnight from the seven great families in the world, and the army could not be saved, which he already knew. But the wealth and power of the Chu family also disappeared, which made him emotionally unacceptable, he was miserable for the first few days, but after a few days of thinking, Chu Xingshui slowly realized something.

He stared at the map in front of him, finalizing the final surrender details, among Zhang Huan's several conditions, the warehouse located in Danyang County had been occupied by the Longyou Army, and there was no point in discussing it, the key was the 10,000 hectares of Shangtian that Zhang Huan had promised. They need to identify specific places.

"The Jinshan Grange in Jiangning is close to the Yangtze River and has a huge wharf, which must be left behind. The two granges in Jiangdu County and Baoying County are the Yongye fields of the Chu family, and they cannot be lost. ”

Chu Xingshui used a red pen to draw the three granges on the map, and silently calculated in his heart, it was already 8,000 mu, there were still 2,000 mu left, and the yield per mu of Wangtang Grange in Wu County was extremely high. It is exactly 2,000 acres, and the Bayu Grange in Shengze Town is also 2,000 acres, which is not only high-yield but also has a lake.

"Big brother. Otherwise, I'll talk to him again. At least I can leave some more land like the Cui family. ”

Chu Xingyun cautiously whispered: "After all, our Chu family is his maternal uncle. Let's talk about it, maybe there is a little room for redemption. ”

"Needless to say."

Chu Xingshui let out a long sigh. He drew a circle on the Eight Corners Grange. With a wry smile, he said, "It's because our Chu family is his maternal uncle." He's going to cut us down. cleaned up the Chu family. It is tantamount to announcing to the world his determination to abolish the family land. Even his own maternal uncle is not merciful. What other family can escape the palm of his hand? I've figured it out these days. In fact, he already has room for our Chu family. \\\\”

"Leave room for it!" Chu Xingyun was stunned. He didn't understand what Big Brother meant. How could he not see where the room was in such harsh conditions?

Chu Xingshui nodded and said, "There is room for it." Don't look at us, we only have 10,000 hectares of fields. But this 10,000 hectares of Ueda was given by him sincerely. It's what we can really have. And not like the Cui family. It was he who was forced to accept. With his determination to destroy the family. How could he tolerate the existence of a family with 100,000 acres of land? Therefore, sooner or later, the Cui family will be defeated in this 100,000 hectares of land. This is one; Next, leave us ten shops. But it was not specified which ten. This is tantamount to giving the decision to our Chu family. To put it bluntly. In confiscating the Chu family's shops, he was just making a gesture for the officials and businessmen in the world. But the most interesting thing is to seal me as the history of Yuzhang Assassin. If I'm not mistaken. He is actually protecting our Chu family. ”

Chu Xingyun was confused, and he asked anxiously: "Big brother, you might as well make it clear, why is it to protect our Chu family?" ”

Chu Xingshui smiled slightly, he stroked his long beard and said unhurriedly: "Can't you see it?" Pei right Cui Zuo, this is just a compromise he made in order to get on the throne, it will never be his real power structure, if I guess correctly, in a few years, the power layout of the Tang Dynasty will be reshuffled, he sealed me to Yuzhang to do the history of assassination, just to keep me away from the storm of power. ”

"That's us

"Then we can fully agree to his conditions, and this afternoon, I will personally lead a team to hand over power to him."

Chu Xingshui slowly walked to the window with his hands in his hand, he stared at the sky in the north, and couldn't help muttering: "Go to illness, I won't believe it if I die, will you really be so ruthless to deal with your uncle?" ”

In the afternoon, Chu Xingshui personally led more than a dozen elders of the Chu family to Shao Bo Town, only halfway through, he saw the banner in front of him from a distance, like a huge dark cloud floating quickly to this side, when it was about half a mile away from Chu Xingshui and his party, the army on the opposite side stopped, and an officer flew forward and bowed down and asked, "May I ask if the person who came is Chu Shang?" ”

Chu Xingshui nodded slightly, and said in a deep voice: "The old man is Chu Xingshui. ”

"Please come with me, the governor of my family is here to welcome Shang."

Chu Xingshui turned over and dismounted. He brushed the ground and ripped off his outer robe, ** put on his upper body, walked quickly to meet it, and walked to the front of the team to plop! Kneeling on the ground, he said loudly: "The criminal minister Chu Xingshui, ask His Highness the prison country for his guilt!" ”

The team suddenly sounded a loud horn, and a column of flags separated like chopping waves, only to see a group of cavalry rushing out of the team with Zhang Huan in a cluster, Zhang Huan looked at Chu Xingshui with a complicated mood. He sighed secretly. Lao Yuan turned over and dismounted, strode straight towards Chu Xingshui, and hurriedly helped Chu Xingshui up when he got closer, and untied his robe to put it on him, and then said in a low voice: "Please rest assured, uncle, Zhang Huan knows what to expect." ”

With a sound, Uncle made Chu Xingshui hang in mid-air, and the center of the earth was completely put down. It seems that his inference is not wrong, he secretly patted the back of Zhang Huan's hand, and a trace of shame immediately appeared in his eyes, "It is a great crime of rebellion for the criminal minister to use his family soldiers to fight against the imperial court, His Royal Highness is already a great luck for my Chu family not to increase the punishment, I don't need to say anything more at this point, my Chu family still has 16,000 remnants, and all of them are now handed over to His Royal Highness the prison country, and the conditions proposed by His Royal Highness." My Chu family also accepts all of them unconditionally. ”

After speaking, he waved his hand, and Chu Xingyun behind him handed a wooden box carved from rosewood to Zhang Huan with both hands: "Here is our Chu family's talisman, as well as the distribution map of land and shops. Please check with His Royal Highness the Prison State. ”

A personal soldier stepped forward to take the wooden box, opened it and checked it, and then raised it above his head, "Please take a look." ”

Zhang Huan glanced at the wooden box and saw a stack of texts and a tiger talisman carved from white jade, and he nodded. He said sincerely to Chu Xingshui: "I have no choice but to send troops south, Datang can only have soldiers of the country, not soldiers, otherwise thousands of Cui Qinggong will pour out, please forgive Chu Shang!" ”

At this moment, Chu Xingshui suddenly felt an unprecedented relief, and in the moment of handing over the military talismans, it meant that the seven great families of the Tang Dynasty had finally completed the road of supporting the army, and it also meant that the Chu family was dominating the southeast, and it was in the midst of a cloud of banners and swords and guns. There was a bit of a trance in front of his eyes. He seemed to go back to that year, more than thirty years ago. It was also here that my father loudly announced to the first 8,000 Chu family army that the Chu family army was to restore the Tang Dynasty and expel the rebellion.

He said to Zhang Huan with some sadness: "I'm tired, you will arrange the rest!" ”

He turned around slowly, staggering towards the direction of Jiangdu City, the dark clouds hung low, the strong wind blew across the flag, making the sound of hunting grounds, between the empty heaven and earth, Chu Xingshui's lonely figure gradually disappeared, and a once prominent Jianghuai famous family also withdrew from the front of the struggle for power.

At dusk, the 80,000 Longyou army arrived at Jiangdu City, the 16,000 remnants of the Chu family army who defended Jiangdu have laid down their arms, lined up outside the city and waited for reorganization, Zhang Huan ordered Wang Siyu to receive the surrender army, and he himself entered Jiangdu City under the protection of 3,000 iron guards.

Although he hadn't seen him for eight years, Zhang Huan still recognized at a glance that the official headed by him was his former best friend Zhao Yan, but after years of hard work, his temples were slightly white, and Zhao Yan also saw Zhang Huan, and the two of them looked at each other, and they both showed a knowing smile in their eyes.

"Guangling County Magistrate History, Assassin Shi Zhao Yan led the Guangling County officials to greet His Royal Highness the Prison State!" Dozens of officials also bowed in unison, "Greetings to His Highness the Prison State." ”

Zhang Huan smiled and arched his hand to everyone: "Everyone, please excuse me, Jiangdu City can maintain stability, all thanks to your efforts, this king is grateful, and when I return to Chang'an, I will tell the Ministry of Officials, and add a good thing to you in this year's local evaluation to show recognition." ”

Datang's official promotion has a strict evaluation system, every year by the officials to self-evaluation, listing the year's achievements and popularity, and then by the Ministry of Meritorious Service Examination Department for review, the Ministry of Meritorious Service officials will listen to the opinions of all sides, more mainly to see his actual performance and the people's evaluation of him, generally in accordance with the four good, twenty-seven most and other specific evaluation standards to correspond one by one, and finally rated as the upper, middle, upper and lower nine grades, as the basis for their promotion, and the evaluation standards are extremely strict, It is rare for Zhao Yan to be rated as the top every year, and generally speaking, most officials are rated as the top rank.

Hearing that Zhang Huan had added a kindness to each of them, the officials were overjoyed, and hurriedly bowed down and thanked: "Thank you Your Highness for your support." We are willing to do our best to serve the court. ”

Zhang Huan waved his hand and said with a slight smile: "From today onwards, the king's army will take over the defense of Guangling, I hope you will supervise the military discipline, if there are sergeants harassing the people, you can immediately tie up the army, have your own military law to deal with, never tolerate, now that it is dusk, you all go back to your home!" Early tomorrow morning. Then the king will hear your debriefing. ”

Although the officials had the intention to wash the dust for Zhang Huan, Zhang Huan's identity was there, who dared to open this mouth, everyone looked at each other, and had to disperse helplessly.

Not to mention that Zhang Huan visited the first commercial city of the Tang Dynasty with great interest, and said that Zhao Yan returned directly to the mansion after he dispersed. These days, in order to stabilize the situation in Guangling County, he has done everything himself, and he is really tired, and now that Zhang Huan's army has controlled Guangling, his task has been successfully completed, and it is time to sleep well.

But as soon as he entered the house, his wife Lin Qiaoqiao eagerly greeted him and asked, "How is it, is he willing to come?" ”

Zhao Yan was stunned, and then remembered that his wife had repeatedly told him in the morning that he must invite Zhang Huan to come to the house for a light meal tonight. At that time, he was in a hurry to go out and dealt with it indiscriminately, but he didn't expect his wife to really take it to heart.

Zhao Yan smiled bitterly and said, "Are you still serious?" How could he come to our house for dinner, he is actually His Majesty the Emperor of the Tang Dynasty now, to put it bluntly. How can we afford to hire him, I didn't say anything about it. ”

Lin Qiaoqiao was busy for a day, and she cooked a few side dishes herself, just waiting for Zhang Huan to come to the door to talk to him about his sister's marriage, but her husband didn't mention it at all, and undoubtedly poured a basin of cold water on her head. Her pretty face sank, and she sneered: "What about the emperor, how many poor relatives does the emperor have?" I don't believe that he will forget his roots when he becomes the emperor, you don't dare to open your mouth, then I will ask, my father is his master, and he died fighting for him, I don't believe that he won't even give me this face. ”

As she spoke, Lin Qiaoqiao put on a silk scarf and was about to leave, but Zhao Yan hurriedly stepped forward to stop her and said, "It's night." How can you go to him as a woman. Ay! If it were to spread out, would it not ruin my reputation? ”

"What do you mean!" Lin Qiaoqiao raised her eyebrows, and her apricot eyes glared at her husband angrily and said, "Are you saying that I went to him with bad intentions?" I, Lin Qiaoqiao, am innocent. Will it be that kind of woman? ”

She grabbed her husband's ear and pinched her desperately: "I have been married to you for so many years and gave birth to a son to you, but you still don't believe me, I really didn't see it, you are also that kind of little man, watch me strangle you!" ”

Lin Qiaoqiao's sharp nails pinched into Zhao Yan's ears, he grinned in pain, the two maids next to him were so frightened that they slipped out of the room, and closed the door with their hands, Zhao Yan easily got out of his wife's clutches, he rubbed his ears that had become purple, and apologized to his wife again and again, "Lady is angry!" I didn't mean that, of course I believe you, it's just that people's words are terrible, and we have to guard against it! ”

Lin Qiaoqiao saw that her husband's ears were really pinched by herself, and she regretted it a little in her heart, so she stepped forward to rub it for him, and said apologetically: "I hate you for refusing to ask him, I don't really blame you for that, I really have something important to find Shibalang." ”

His wife's comfort immediately smoothed the dissatisfaction in Zhao Yan's heart, and he took Qiaoqiao's hand and sat down and said, "Tomorrow!" I'll be sure to invite him over for a light meal tomorrow when I report on my work, but what's the point you're looking for him? ”

"What else can I do with him, it's not just for mediocre!" Lin Qiaoqiao sighed and said: "Pingping has been an old girl for more than ten years, if he refuses to marry Pingping, say it early, I will find a way to find a mother-in-law for Pingping, don't let my sister be lonely for a lifetime, in fact, to be honest, I really don't want Pingping to marry him, she has been free and easy since she was a child, how can she stand the lonely life of the palace in the future." ”

Zhao Yan also pondered for a while, and then said: "I think it's better to let Pingping make her own decisions in this matter, I estimate that no one will remarry except Zhang Huan, otherwise she won't wait for more than ten years." ”

"I also know, but my father has passed away, my mother only knows that she cultivates and recites scriptures all day long, and no one cares about Pingping anymore, she is so pitiful, if even I don't ask, how will I explain to my father in the future."

Speaking of this, Qiaoqiao thought that her sister was lonely, her eyes turned red unconsciously, she gently wiped the tears from the corners of her eyes and said to her husband: "You are hungry!" I've got my meal ready, let's eat. ”

Suddenly, there was a rush of running outside the door, and Zhao Yan's old family stumbled in, breathlessly and said, "Master, madam, hurry!" Fast! The eighteen-year-old who was going to be the emperor came, just outside the door. ”

"What!" Zhao Yanteng stood up and glanced at his wife, and the two suddenly said in unison: "He hasn't forgotten his roots."

(Lao Gao just issued a declaration asking for a monthly pass, begging everyone to take a look)