The world is impermanent, who would have thought that Zhang Xutuo, who exterminated countless rebels for the Great Sui, would one day suffer from prison? Li Xuanba entered the palace again on the second day, and with a cold face, he proposed to go into the prison to see Zhang Xutuo, and King Yue wanted to refuse, but Li Xuanba had 20,000 Xingyang troops in his hands, and Luoyang needed 20,000 soldiers very much, so he finally agreed.

The cells in Jingzhao Yin's Mansion are dark and damp, and the inside is stinky, but the prison is extremely clean, and it is carefully cleaned every day, and when the weather is good, there is a faint sunlight falling from the sky, so that those who are locked up in the prison will not endure the smell of mold and rot. The people who can be imprisoned in the heavenly prison have extremely noble statuses, and as long as their heads are still there, no one dares to bully them.

Zhang Xutuo was locked in a separate cell, the air was smooth, and he could smell all kinds of fragrances when the flowers were in full bloom, but Zhang Xutuo was obviously not a vassal and elegant person, he sat in the corner of the cell, staring closely at the hay in front of him, which was arranged in a very irregular order, like a line of troops on the battlefield.

"General Zhang." Li Xuanba was ushered into the cell, bowed respectfully, and called softly.

Zhang Xutuo glanced up, his eyes revealed sadness, and sighed: "Xingyang was still given up by His Majesty. ”

"I failed to protect the people of Xingyang, and I ask General Zhang for forgiveness." Li Xuanba knelt in front of Zhang Xutuo, arched his hand and said: "Your Majesty ordered Xuanba to lead the army to aid the Eastern Capital, and Xuanba did not dare to disobey the order. ”

"I understand." Zhang Xutuo sat up straight and said calmly: "When Tang Guogong conspired against him, I guessed that there would be today. Li Xuanba's face was slightly red, and he secretly said that Zhang Xutuo was still so direct.

"General Zhang, the eastern capital is trapped, and it is the time to employ people, why did King Yue lock you up in a prison?" Li Xuanba calmed down his emotions and said: "The general is cautious, and he will never be caught. ”

"What's the trouble of wanting to add sin?" Zhang Xutuo shook his head and smiled, and said: "The king of Yue is not good at using troops, which leads to the defeat and retreat of the imperial court, and the Wagang thieves even invaded the outer city of the eastern capital, looted property and set fire to it. I wanted to ask to lead the troops to fight, but the king of Yue refused in every possible way, and in desperation, I could only leave secretly, preparing to go to Jiangdu to meet Your Majesty. ”

The fire set by the Wagang thieves caused the death of more than 100,000 people, and according to Zhang Xutuo's character, it was indeed intolerable.

"Wagang thieves keep saying that they want to overthrow the ****, what they do, where can they go?" Li Xuanba said casually, but his eyes secretly looked at Zhang Xutuo, observing his reaction, seeing that Zhang Xutuo did not look angry, he put his mind at ease and continued: "The general is deeply popular with the people, and the king of Yue is worried that the general's military power will be detrimental to the imperial court, so he will do such a stupid thing. ”

Whether Li Xuanba mentioned ****, or he said that King Yue was stupid, Zhang Xutuo's eyes did not change, and after experiencing many things, Zhang Xutuo seemed to see a lot.

"Xuanba, no matter what King Yue does, he is ultimately representing the court and the people of the Great Sui, you must not be resentful." Zhang Xutuo was silent for a long time and said, "However, you can't easily hand over the military power in your hands. ”

This kind of words came out of Zhang Xutuo's mouth, which surprised Li Xuanba, he lowered his head and thought for a moment, convinced that Zhang Xutuo was not saying the opposite, so he was curious: "What does General Zhang mean by this?" ”

"You should know what I mean." Zhang Xutuo glanced at Li Xuanba, and said lightly: "If you really don't understand, then hand over the military power." ”

Li Xuanba smiled awkwardly and said: "The general is still so serious, of course Xuanba understands, I am familiar with the princess, and I will naturally stand on King Zhao's side in the future, yesterday I went to the palace for a banquet, but I didn't see King Zhao and the princess, it seems that the relationship between their uncle and nephew is not very good." ”

"Other than that, I don't want to see soldiers die in vain." Zhang Xutuo was old and serious, and said without a smile: "The skills of Liu Changgong and others are far inferior to Li Mi, and it is difficult for them to defend the city, let alone expect them to take the initiative to attack and exterminate the Wagang thieves." "When it comes to leading the army to fight, Zhang Xutuo's complexion is a little better.

Li Xuanba also realized this, so he tried his best to keep the military power, and he was more reluctant than Zhang Xutuo to die in the Xingyang army.

"In the battle and killing field, who can compare to you, the general." Li Xuanba said with a smile: "Since the general has the intention to lead the troops, then Xuanba will send someone to Jiangdu to inform His Majesty, so that His Majesty can understand the general's intentions." "As for whether Your Majesty will believe it, I can't care, Li Xuanba said it and said to himself in his heart.

"This is not Xingyang, do you really dare to do this?" Zhang Xutuo said meaningfully, Li Xuanba was silent for a moment, and just wanted to express his position, Zhang Xutuo waved his hand and continued: "The Xingyang Army is in your hands, you can have no fear, if you are just alone, I am afraid that tomorrow, you will come to the prison to accompany me." ”

Although Zhang Xutuo's words were a little unlucky, Li Xuanba had to admit that his words were very reasonable.

When he entered the palace yesterday, Fang Xuanling and Liang Xiao went back to the Tang Mansion, but found that the Tang Mansion had been sealed, as for the whereabouts of Wei Zheng and others, it was not clear for the time being, the only thing that could be confirmed was that before the imperial court sealed the Tang Mansion, the mansion was empty, and the imperial court did not arrest a person from the Tang Mansion.

In addition, he dared to be arrogant in the palace, relying on the Xingyang army, otherwise even if he borrowed a gut, he would not dare to go toe-to-toe with King Yue like that.

"As long as Your Majesty believes in the general, your grievances can always be resolved." Li Xuanba said very frankly: "Xuanba is indeed unwilling to let go, but once General Wang arrives in Luoyang, the fate of the Xingyang Army will still be controlled by others, and I trust you more than General Wang, so Xuanba always has to try His Majesty's attitude." ”

"The envoy of the king of Yue is afraid that he is already on the way." Seeing that Li Xuanba was willing to say what he really thought in his heart, Zhang Xutuo smiled rarely, and said: "Your Majesty is more willing to believe in His Royal Highness King Yue than to believe me, after all, Tang Guogong is in front of him, it is difficult for His Majesty to trust anyone in the court, you can come to Luoyang so soon, you should have already realized in your heart." ”

Big brother, you're just a general, how smart should you be? Li Xuanba silently recited a sentence in his heart, and arched his hand and said, "Then what should Xuanba do at this time?" ”

Li Xuanba's strategists are only Fang Xuanling and Jia Yanfu, Fang Xuanling has grown up very fast, and he has been able to give Li Xuanba a lot of advice, but in the face of the intricate court disputes, he can't think of a perfect strategy. And Jia Yanfu's wisdom is more on the march and fighting, and it is impossible to solve the current dilemma for Li Xuanba.

Zhang Xutuo casually fiddled with the weeds in front of him, and said: "The grain in Hanjiacang is far from enough for the people of the Eastern Capital to eat, and it is very important to defend Huiluocang.

"General, Huiluocang has been captured by Wagang thieves." Li Xuanba cautiously reminded.

Zhang Xutuo was stunned when he heard this, smiled bitterly, and said: "You have been saying goodbye to Her Royal Highness the princess for a long time, why don't you go to the palace to meet her?" ”