In order to obtain the support of the boat gang, Wang Shoucheng's bid this time was really not low, but because of the limited negotiation skills of Cheng Hua, Li Mao had an illusion: Wang Shoucheng could offer a bigger price. In order to put pressure on Wang Shoucheng, Li Mao instructed Hu Sijin to secretly meet Li Fengji, and deliberately revealed the news to Jingzhao Shaoyin Zheng Xun, Zheng Xun had just changed his court and was trying to gain Wang Shoucheng's trust.

There were so many things in a row during the Yamato years, and someone in the court must come out to carry the black pot, and now Li Fengji's voice is the highest, and Wang Shoucheng also intends to give up his love and throw him out to tide over the difficulties. Li Fengji was willing to be killed, he secretly met Li Mao and had the heart to fight to the death, which was tantamount to exerting great pressure on Wang Shoucheng.

Wang Shoucheng knew that he should give some blood, so he unilaterally fulfilled the terms of the transaction to Li Mao, and he officially recommended Li Han to take charge of Hedong.

Although Wang Shoucheng is anxious now, he still has the absolute authority to say one thing in front of the emperor, Li Jiang's principle of leaving the town of Hedong was passed, and Wang Shoucheng let out the rumors, but the official documents have not been issued for a long time, which is forcing Li Mao to show sincerity as soon as possible.

Of course, Li Mao can continue to drag it out until Li Jiang officially takes office, but then he will make this deal a hammer deal, and there will be no next time. The big tumor in Youzhou is still there, and it will take time to dissolve, and Chang'an will not be in chaos for the time being.

Li Mao promised to persuade the boat gang to come forward to help the imperial court transfer the goods, Tu Chenghua left Youzhou satisfied, and Li Jiang was officially appointed to Hedong from Chang'an.

According to their experience in dealing with the imperial court, the imperial court has never had any credibility at all, especially for gangs like them, whose basic attitude is to suppress when they are idle, coax when needed, and throw them away when they run out, without any regrets.

"It's always a loss to work with them, and the top and bottom are not satisfied with this, even if I'm at the helm, I can't do anything."

Meng Yingchun came to Zhuozhou from Luoyang for this purpose, and met Li Mao at a small inn outside the city. **After a long absence, I couldn't talk about anything on the first day, and I didn't wake up from a deep sleep until the afternoon of the second day to sit down and talk, Meng Yingchun poured cold water on Li Mao.

Li Mao smiled and didn't say anything, beckoned her to sit down to eat, drank some sweet wine, and went for a walk by the canal outside the store after dinner. has been in the top position for a long time, Meng Yingchun's body already has a temperament that is not angry and powerful, and the guards around her who are in charge of guarding are all respectful when they see her. She also enjoyed this majesty, but when she reached a place where no one was, she immediately reverted to her old softness and peace, and her palm-sized face was full of innocent and pure smiles.

Meng Yingchun's words Li Mao had to seriously consider it, Wang Shoucheng was dictatorial and had offended too many people, seeing that this posture would not end well, whoever helped him continue his life now may become the object of revenge from others in the future, the boat gang had no grudge against Wang Shoucheng in the past, and now there is a feud, there is really no need to fall into this mud pit.

Meng Yingchun, as the leader of the gang at the helm, is understandable for saying this from the perspective of practical interests.

"I also know that it is difficult for you, and to be honest, I am not willing to help Wang Shoucheng. But now he is the one who can solve the problem of no rice in Chang'an. Chang'an is the foundation of the world, if Chang'an is in chaos, it is not only Wang Shoucheng who will fall, the entire Li Tang's sky will collapse in half, Li Tang's sky will collapse, Chang'an will become a waste capital, and the good days of your boat gang will be over. However, even if the dynasty is changed, the Central Plains is still the heart of the new dynasty, the south is still the tax foundation of the new dynasty, and Caoyun still has a lot to do, but the focus of your business needs to extend from the hinterland of Heluo to the south to Huainan and Jiangnan. This, as the leader of the helm, you should not only look at the two or three steps in front of you, but also look far away. ”

"Are you telling the truth?" Meng Yingchun looked at Li Mao, and his gaze suddenly became sharp.

Li Mao didn't like this kind of sharp gaze, and he didn't like her aggressive way of questioning, he gently held her shoulders and said seriously: "You believe me this time, help me this time." ”

Meng Yingchun's gaze softened instantly, she bit her lip and said, "I helped you, what did you reward me?" ”

Li Mao leaned down and whispered a few words in her ear, Meng Yingchun said: "The voice is too small for me to hear, you should be louder." ”

Li Mao smiled: "I said that I, Li Mao, will be responsible for you and Sheng'er." ”

A blush flew up Meng Yingchun's cheeks, and she lowered her eyebrows and muttered in a low voice: "If you dare to break your word, I will take Sheng Er to the door in the future and uncover your ugly mask." ”

Li Mao laughed and said with emotion: "Yingchun has grown up, it's not easy to fool." ”

Meng Yingchun raised his head and shouted: "When have I been so fooled, I have always been unable to rub sand in my eyes." So if you dare to lie to me, you'll just, wait, wait, look. ”

Meng Yingchun paused word by word, and pointed his finger on Li Mao's chest, but Li Mao couldn't laugh at all, he owed Meng Yingchun and his son too much, too much, and he didn't know how to compensate for it.

Meng Yingchun saw that he didn't speak, and the smile on his face condensed, so he sighed and said: "Sheng'er and my surname are Meng, I know my identity, I won't pester you to make you embarrassed, what I want is to leave an inch of space for our mother and son in your heart, think about us in the dead of night, and I will be content." ”

Li Mao hugged Yingchun, tears came out of his eyes, he had already become hard-hearted, and he hadn't shed tears for his feelings for a long time.

After three days in Zhuozhou, Li Mao returned to Youzhou, and as soon as he entered the city, he heard that thousands of believers of the Great Virtue Heavenly Master blocked the gate of the palace to petition, asking the Great Protector to preside over justice and destroy the demon in Jizhou. After careful inquiry, it turned out that Wu Huosong persuaded Zhiyi after arriving in Jizhou, and the brothers joined forces to stand up and slander the Dade Heavenly Master in Youzhou and the left and right protectors in front of the seat. They asked the Great Virtuous Heavenly Master to punish him, but the Heavenly Master was noncommittal, and everyone respected the Heavenly Master's mercy and couldn't bear to kill the lost disciples, so they all came to ask Li Mao, the great protector, to be the master.

Li Maoling invited several leaders of the petition to come in and said to them: "If I don't know the reason, I can't tell the matter clearly, if I use extraordinary means to clean him up, I am afraid that his followers will not accept it, and there will still be many incidents in the future." It's better for you to go to Jizhou to debate with him in person, remove his mask, expose him, and make him ashamed and have nowhere to hide, this is the plan to draw salary from the bottom of the kettle. Once he is defeated, how can he have the face to slander the Heavenly Master again? ”

He also said: "The Heavenly Master's refusal to use the family law to kill his disciples is out of great benevolence, and even if you are his devout disciples, you should also understand this level of morality, look at heaven and earth with a benevolent heart, look at the same door, don't shout and kill at every turn, in the end, we still have to convince people with virtue." ”

Everyone thought it was reasonable, expressed their agreement, went back to select ten debaters, took the coil given by Li Mao, and went to Jizhou.

The Internal Security Department had daily briefings on the follow-up progress of the situation, and Li Mao temporarily turned his attention to Hedong.

Li Jiang entered Taiyuan with his front foot, and the two military horses selected by Youzhou immediately entered Taiyuan City, under the banner of Li Jiang's shogunate, claiming to be soldiers recruited by Li Jiang's staff.

The marshals of Hebei and the Central Plains often moved to towns with private troops, and the number of them varied, ranging from thousands to hundreds, which gradually became a rule. Hedong is the land of the Tang Dynasty, there has always been no such rule, but there is no does not mean that there can be no one, and now the situation is chaotic, although the marshal is noble in front of the people, the actual is not safe, if there is no private guard, personal safety is not guaranteed.

There are many versions of the death of the former Jiedu envoy Li Ting, and the popular ones are poisoned, drowned, and strangled, and the end is not very good.

Li Jiang was a little crying and laughing at Li Mao's deep friendship, he knew in his heart that he could take charge of Hedong was the result of Li Mao and Wang Shoucheng's private transaction, otherwise Hedong's fat would not fall into his mouth no matter what, Li Mao was not a fortune boy who helped himself for no reason, he wanted to use himself to get involved in Hedong, and even take Hedong into his pocket.

But he has no choice, the sky of Datang is extremely dark, he was born as a loyal minister of Datang, he should do something for this chaotic world, but no matter what he does, he must have power in his hands.

And in order to grasp authority, it is necessary to put down the shelf and associate with the real power of the world. Li Mao has become a climate, strong soldiers and horses, ambitious, sure enough, one day, he will be one of the heroes who will cause trouble in the world, but the more this kind of heroes will pretend to be a righteous face before the world collapses, he can just take advantage of this, take advantage of his momentum, and wait for himself to gain a firm foothold, become a momentum and then draw a line with him, support the Li Tang royal family, and rebuild rivers and mountains.

Li Jiang finally happily accepted Li Mao's kindness, took in 2,000 uninvited guards and two generals, Chi Longshu and Zhang Kuiyi, and sent his staff to Youzhou to thank him.

As early as the Yuanhe period, Li Jiang had been the prime minister of the Tang Dynasty, was the meritorious minister who created the Yuan and Zhongxing, and visited the prime minister twice during the Changqing period, on qualifications, prestige, and ability to guard Taiyuan It was more than enough, and now with the help of Li Mao, Hedong looks worry-free for the time being. It's in Chang'an City