The room was filled with a strong smell of medicine, Gao Yunquan was lying on the couch leaning over, indifferent, at the mercy of the servants who were waiting, and the sound of footsteps from outside made his cloudy pupils light up, and he turned his head to the door with difficulty. Gao Shaoji walked in from outside with a depressed face, with a slight amount of shame and anger on his face, which made the servants and maidservants in the room tremble one by one. This Yanai has been so hot-tempered in recent days that he will whip his subordinates at every turn, and I don't know who will be unlucky today.

Gao Shaoji ignored the thoughts of these slaves, walked straight to his father's couch, and waved everyone in the room to retreat.

"Didn't see Zhe for a long time?" After the subordinates withdrew, a wry smile appeared on Gao Yunquan's face and asked lightly.

The news of the Zhejia Army Brigade marching into Yanzhou frightened the father and son day and night, and the letter brought to Gao Yunquan by Zhe Congruan's messenger did not make this Yanzhou Jiedu envoy feel relieved at all. From Lao Zhe's seemingly cordial and polite letter, Gao Yunquan read naked humiliation and contempt. Although Zhe Congruan said politely, he didn't have the slightest intention of discussing with the Gao family, at best, he just informed him.

But the Gao family father and son had nothing to do about it. Zhe Congruan was appointed by the imperial court as the envoy of the Three Towns Festival, and the appointment document clearly stated that he had the authority to "govern the defense of the central government and mention the soldiers and horses of the town". Before, it was one thing for this old guy to pretend to be humble and not use this power, but now he drove into Yanzhou with the soldiers and horses of the Zhe family in this name, but he was extremely arrogant.

Then again, at the height of the Gao family's power in Yanzhou. Perhaps they can also rely on the advantages of local people and land to secretly resist the actions of the folding family, not to mention that the three thousand military horses should not be able to survive without food and salary. It's just that it's very different now, although the nine counties of Yanzhou now nominally recognize this "senior servant" as the lord of Yanzhou, but there are no officials or generals behind their backs, and they all know very well in their hearts that now the boss of Yanzhou is no longer the old waiter who is seriously ill and is almost running out of oil in bed.

In this case. Whether it is Gao Yunquan or Gao Shaoji, he can only knock out his teeth and swallow blood, and acquiesce to the fact that the Zhejia army is stationed in Yanzhou.

If that's all it takes, it's okay, and if there is no strength to fight, the Gao family will naturally choose to cooperate with the Zhe family. Gao Yunquan is even ready, as long as he negotiates the conditions with the Zhi family, he is willing to ask Zhi Deyuan to be the next envoy of the Zhangwu Army. He had already said this to Zhe Deyuan at the end of last year. He really wanted to give way sincerely, but Zhe Deyuan refused to agree, which made the Gao family very faceless.

This time, Gao Yunquan did not rashly propose a second proposal to Zhi Congruan, he sent Gao Shaoji out of the city to meet Zhi Congruan, hoping to probe the tone of this Zhi Congruan first.

However, Gao Yunquan was also secretly worried that Zhi Congruan would do everything possible to shirk and refuse to meet with him, if this is the case, it means that this old guy really has the ambition to annex Yanzhou......

"Let's talk about it......" Gao Yunquan sighed and closed his eyes, and instructed his son.

Gao Shaoji has restrained a lot in front of outsiders in the past few months, and he is no longer as arrogant and arrogant as before. Even privately on behalf of his father, he went to see the old military leaders who were squeezed out of the army by his father and son, and Gao Shaoji respectfully respected his son and nephew to these old guys, and he was very humble. When he went to see Zhe Congruan today, he originally planned to endure humiliation no matter how arrogant the Zhe family was, as long as he could find out the true intentions of the Zhe family, he would pretend that his grandson would endure it himself.

However, to his surprise, it was. After waiting outside the gate for half an hour, he walked out of a soldier who was as young as a doll, and told himself that he was not in the camp today, and he carelessly asked him to come back another day.

Gao Shaoji was furious and immediately turned around, forgetting even the etiquette of farewell.

Gao Yunquan smiled wryly while listening to his statement: "...... Why don't you think about it carefully, how strict the army is? Will you call an insignificant little doll out to perfunctory you? ”

Gao Shaoji was stunned for a moment, and then said unconvinced: "That little doll has a thief's look on her face, and she doesn't look like a good person at first glance." And he is wearing a soldier's uniform, what kind of important role can he be? ”

Gao Yunquan frowned and said, "Listening to the description in your words, it seems that this person should be the Emperor of the Imperial Palace......"

Gao Shaoji was stunned: "Fold Yuqing? ”

Gao Yunquan nodded: "It sounds like him - I can't be sure about it, so I sent him out to deal with you from Ruan." Although it is a little slow, but Origoro is not around, it is no wonder that he is rude, counting the Origo, he should probably be regarded as the highest priest in the army except for Origoro, you are rude to him, but it should not be ......"

Gao Shaoji was stunned for a long time, then lowered his head in frustration and said, "My son didn't expect it to be this person......

"That's it...... It's not your fault, if you are willing to see us, even if you don't take the initiative to visit him, he will come to the door by himself. He doesn't want to see you, my father and son, and he won't meet after all...... Sending the Imperial Secretary out to perfunctory you is just a precaution, leaving room for future meetings. Zhi Yuqing didn't say where his family Ah Weng went? ”

Gao Shaoji shook his head in frustration: "My son didn't ask ......"

Gao Yunquan glanced at him helplessly: "You have to learn to calm down......"

After a long time, he said softly: "The folded family is here, maybe they will have some ties with your seventh uncle in Bianliangdi......

Gao Shaoji frowned and said, "If the Zhe family is unwilling to take over Yanzhou, why do they have to do more?" Zhang Zuowei should already be in Guanzhong at this moment, since the Zhe family refused to accept this hot charcoal group, they sat on the wall and watched

Good? And why do you want to pull people to Yanzhou at this time? ”

Gao Yunquan sighed, how did his son look very smart and wise, but now he has become so unresponsive. Although his spirit was already weak, he patiently explained: "It is one thing for the Zhi family to be unwilling to take over the hot charcoal regiment of Yanzhou and Zhangwu Army, but it is another thing whether they come to Yanzhou or not. Yanzhou guards the southern foot of the Dingyan Army, echoing Fuzhou from afar, it is an excellent chess piece to contain the party members, and it is also a place where soldiers must fight......

Seeing that Gao Shaoji still didn't quite understand. Gao Yunquan had no choice but to make his words more and more clear: "The Zhe family doesn't want to occupy Yanzhou, but they may not want Yanzhou to remain in the hands of you and my father and son......"

Gao Shaoji was taken aback: "Could it be that Zhe Congruan wants to help that pranky to the position of the feudal town?" ”

Gao Yunquan glanced at him: "Why not?" ”

Gao Shaoji suddenly had a look of deep disgust on his face, and he got up and shouted, "Why? ”

Gao Yunquan snorted and asked, "After the mutiny at the end of last year, your position in the yamen is still there, and in the past few months. Can you still mobilize the soldiers in the city? ”

—

Gao Shaoji was speechless.

Gao Yunquan coughed a few times and continued to ask, "Zhang Tu is a person who was pulled up by you and my father and son, right?" A few days ago, those martial artists conspired to elect Li Bin as the envoy of the festival, did he report to you? ”

Gao Shaoji gritted his teeth and said: "That husband turned out to be a villain who was two-faced and stabbed at Qin Duchu, and it was a shame that his son used him to be a simple and simple person before he was deliberately promoted......"

"Don't blame him...... If it weren't for his intentional negligence, even I wouldn't know about it, in this world, a military general like him can already be regarded as conscientious......" Gao Yunquan said coldly.

He paused and said, "The entire Zhangwu Army is no longer surnamed Gao now. We are all about to give these people food, and they may not be able to listen to us. The mutiny a few years ago scared them all. Nowadays, few of these people dare to provoke Li Wenge, if someone proposes to replace us with Li Wenge, I am afraid that this group of Qiu Bahui will be the first to jump up and support us. Your father has been through a lot of things over the years, and he has long seen these things through......"

Gao Shaoji's face turned pale: "Dad means that if that broken skin is willing, the head of the entire Gao family is no longer on the neck?" ”

“…… You've finally figured it out......"

Gao Yunquan sighed.

"It's no longer possible to fight hard? The last mutiny fell into his hands, in fact, it was not accidental, and we certainly underestimated him. Isn't it overestimating yourself? In the past few months, your father has been lying on the couch half-dead, thinking about it many times, and finally he has figured out one thing - there is no way to survive with this person, and it is precisely because he understands this that he dares to release our father and son. Speaking of which, the old man was eager to eat his flesh raw. But I also have to admire the beauty of his hand, not to mention that in the Zhangwu army, even in the world and the town, it is very rare to be able to afford to let go of a far-sighted martial artist like him......"

"That'...... Is there no other way out for our family except for the extinction of the clan? ”

"Yes-" Gao Yunquan's two eyes suddenly burst into a strange look at this moment, and he gasped: "Today's Yanzhou is a battlefield where many forces compete for deer, and the Zhe family forcibly intervenes with their strong soldiers and horses. Li Wenge relied on the support of the civilian officials and the little military power in his hands to plot to ascend to the top, although these are extremely unfavorable to our family, but the strong fight against each other, and the final winner is not necessarily the strongest ...... Who can take a break from this. Whoever can make a thousand pounds in four or two will be able to win in the end......"

“…… Li Wenge is a good person, and he has a lot of loose hands when he leads the troops, but with these alone, he can't defeat your father, and he can't take Yanzhou......"

Gao Shaoji looked at his father and said bitterly: "Dad, even if the six houses of the imperial court have arrived, what can they do?" Who would want a feudal town with no soldiers and no money? Will Zhang Zuowei really support us? If the prince sent someone, it would be easy to speak, but unfortunately this concubine was sent by the emperor from the forbidden army, and before this person arrived in Yanzhou, no one knew what he meant in his heart......

Gao Yunquan sneered: "You are too shallow...... Your father desperately sold his ancestral land to bribe Wang Xiufeng, and he didn't expect the imperial court to support our family, as long as the imperial court was willing to send someone to Yanzhou, the matter would be half over. I want to muddy the already muddy water of the Yanzhou altar even more, so that no one can see what is underneath the water, so muddy that everyone does not know its depth......"

"Does that work?" Gao Shaoji looked at his father puzzled.

Gao Yunquan shook his head slightly, and sighed: "Your father has played all his life, and those who dare to play with me have already died, but your father and I are alive and well." If you talk about martial arts and bravery, if you talk about knowing soldiers, Zhou Mi's horseman is much stronger than me, isn't he still running away with his head in his arms? Although Li Wenge is smart, he does not know the overall situation of the world, let alone the thoughts of the imperial court. ”

Gao Shaoji asked in a daze: "But Li Bin understands......"

"Li Wenzhen does understand, but what he understands is power and conspiracy, and it is those who deceive you and fight for me between the feudal towns above the court. The general trend of the world, how much can he know? Gao Yunquan snorted softly conceitedly.

Seeing that his son was puzzled, Gao Yunquan said softly: "Do you know who else came to Yanzhou with Zhang Yongde this time, except for those military attaches in the forbidden army?" ”

Gao Shaoji thought for a while and said, "There is another one called."

Old man. It's a civil official, and it seems that the official position is very low......"

Gao Yunquan smiled lightly: "This person's official position is no more than the Lanzhou Records Office, why did your seventh uncle want to list him in the letter?" ”

Gao Shaoji said: "I heard that this person is a champion......"

"He is Confucius, and it doesn't matter much in today's world-" Gao Yunquan shook his head disapprovingly.

"Although Wang Pu is well-known at home, he is not a great person. The really powerful character is the one who stands behind this person......"

"Who?"

Gao Shaoji asked dumbfounded.

"The Zhou Festival makes Taiyuan Marquis Guo Rong——"

Guo Rong——? Oh, it's Chai Rong......" Gao Shaoji reacted at this time, and said with a wry smile: "What's so great about that, it's just that he was born as a tea guy." Thanks to the blessing of the son of heaven of the Guo family, he suddenly became a feudal town......"

"Shallow-" Gao Yunquan reprimanded his son unceremoniously, and then said slowly: "Do you know that the children of the current emperor's family all died in the chaos in Bianliang two years ago...... This emperor is different from the previous Zhu Quanzhong, he is actually a seed of infatuation, not only did he not establish a queen after the death of his wife, but even the four concubines and nine concubines did not accept it, and even accepted the nephew of the previous Empress Chai-that is, this Chai Rong-, as a righteous son and changed his surname. That is to say. Now today, there is only one prince under his knees......"

Gao Shaoji then understood: "Dad means that Chai Rong may be the Son of Heaven in the future?" ”

Gao Yunquan nodded lightly: "The capital alley, this person is the first person to inherit the throne......"

Gao Shaoji said: "Then this royal secretary is not equal to the person sent by the prince?" ”

Gao Yunquan sighed: "That's right, this Wang Wenbo is a first-class strategist by Chai Rong's side. Shrewd and calculating. With him by Zhang Zuowei's side, it is actually equivalent to the Marquis of Taiyuan coming to ......"

At this moment, Gao Shaoji was confused again: "A small Yanzhou, as for being so nervous?" ”

Gao Yunquan sneered and asked rhetorically, "What do you think is the first big thing in my heart today?" ”

Gao Shaoji thought for a while and said, "Is it Shandong Taining Army?" ”

Gao Yunquan shook his head: "You still only see the point and don't see your face, why did the Shandong Taining Army become the emperor's heart disease?" ”

He took a deep breath and said slowly, "Actually, the reason is very simple. It's nothing more than two words - Fan Town! ”

"The emperor wants to cut the domain?" Gao Shaoji was so frightened that he knocked over the medicine cup in his hand all of a sudden, and the medicinal juice was dripping and dripping with stains on the placket of his clothes, but he didn't realize it......

"What's the fuss about this, all emperors want to cut the domain-" Gao Yunquan said lightly. "So this time, Zhang Fu came to Yanzhou, and he also brought Chai Rong's henchmen and strategists, not for anything else, but to observe and examine the situation in Yanzhou. First, Yanzhou is facing the party, and whether the military and political people can block the party's infiltration and invasion to the south is extremely critical, and the imperial court does not need to use the land to use the town; The two, Yanzhou was originally like a separation, if the father did not submit to the court, this place should not be owned by the Great Zhou, the court wanted to accept the right of my Gao family for a day, if this time can take the opportunity to cut the domain, of course it is the best; Third, if it can't, then it is necessary to test what kind of person this Li Wenge is, and if the imperial court feels that this person will become a big deal in the future, it will get rid of this person as soon as possible, so as to avoid future troubles......"

Gao Shaoji began to understand a little: "Father means to say...... We want to make Zhang Juma and the Wang Ji family think that this person is a guy with a backbone in the back of his head, and use the knife of the court to get rid of this splash? ”

Gao Yunquan smiled: "Why not?" In fact, if the splash killed you and my father and son a few years ago, the imperial court would have ordered the Zhe family to destroy him, and maybe the Zhe family would have temporarily taken Yanzhou, but after all, this family is an outsider and has no foundation in Yanzhou, as long as the Zhe family is transferred after a while, the nine counties of Yanzhou will naturally be governed......"

Gao Shaoji said: "But my father also said that if this person can block the party members, the imperial court will use him to screen the northwest domain......"

Gao Yunquan nodded: "That's right, that's what I said." But what if this person is even more difficult than the party members? ”

"What do you mean by ......?"

"What is the court most afraid of? The most feared thing is that the feudal town will not be able to fall away, threatening the safety of the imperial court. For 50 years, the world has been like this. The reason why the Son of Heaven did not send Wang Xiufeng's people to come was because he was worried about the feudal town, although Wang Xiufeng was powerful, he was not the most intimate person of the Son of Heaven after all. Zhang Zuowei is the son-in-law of Tianzi, and he also has a part in the big candidates in the alley discussion. Guo Rong is a well-known crown prince, these two people are the emperor's most trusted people, so much pains, the emperor just listens to the truth......"

Gao Shaoji sighed: "But the Zhe family is sitting in Yanzhou, after all, it is a matter that even the imperial court has to resign itself to......"

"So what?" Gao Yunquan asked rhetorically, "If you want to cooperate with the Zhe family, even if Zhe Congruan has this meaning, the quid pro quo is not something that no one can afford...... It's not easy to get the old fox's approval......"