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Wang Shichong laughed: "In fact, it is also a friend of life and death with Yuan Changshi, and a few of them are also familiar at first sight, if they are loyal to the country, they should naturally be here to prepare for the war, waiting for the orders of the imperial court, but have you ever thought about a question, if the orders of the imperial court cannot arrive, how will Chief Dou and General Xue deal with it at that time?" ”

The corners of Dou Kang's mouth twitched: "Wang Yuanwai, what do you mean by this?" If the King of Han rises up an army, won't the imperial court order my Youzhou army to assemble to quell the rebellion? ”

Xue Shixiong said with a smile: "Manager Dou, what Wang Yuanwai means should be that at that time, maybe the connection between our Youzhou and Daxing will be cut off, so the orders of the imperial court may not be able to pass, Wang Yuanwai, do you mean this?" ”

Wang Shichong nodded: "Yes, that's right, Youzhou and Daxing are separated by a merger, if the King of Han really starts an incident, I'm afraid that he will divide his troops to attack Jizhou and Qingzhou, and it is impossible to get news from the imperial court from here, the only way is to fake the Turks, go around a big circle from the north, so even if you can get there, it will take a lot of time, but I am afraid that the envoy of the King of Han has already arrived." Chief Dou, if there is no official counterinsurgency edict from the imperial court, how can you deal with yourself? ”

Dou Kang gritted his teeth and said in a deep voice: "The court has the law of the court, and if you send troops without an edict, it is a rebellion. ”

Wang Shichong turned to Xue Shixiong: "Is General Xue thinking the same way?" ”

Xue Shixiong said: "Sui law is like this, if the imperial court issues an edict to quell the rebellion, you need to have an edict and a tiger talisman." Otherwise, we will have to defend with the whole army. Don't take the initiative. ”

Wang Shichong nodded: "That's true." With the attitude of the two, Yue Guogong can also rest assured. As long as Youzhou is loyal to the imperial court and does not follow the king of Han, then the idea of the king of Han opening up this place and connecting Goguryeo and the Turks will buy time for the imperial court's counterinsurgency. ”

Xue Shixiong nodded: "But I still think it's a little unnecessary to worry about the prince, the emperor is in good health, and the king of Han should not dare to make trouble when he is alive." And now the crown prince has also begun to consciously send loyal and reliable generals in the Kwantung states to defend, and this battle may not be fought. ”

Wang Shichong smiled slightly: "I hope so, who in the world doesn't want to be too peaceful?" ”

After the four of them discussed and established, they all let go of the shelves and began to eat and drink openly, and the atmosphere was much more relaxed than when they talked about the whereabouts of Youzhou just now, and the servants and maids who had just retired were also called back, and the sound of silk and bamboo drums in the living room continued, and a stone in Wang Shichong's heart fell to the ground. I also drank a few more glasses and was a little drunk. Looking up at the two young warriors behind Xue Shixiong, he asked, "General Xue, these two strong men are really rare warriors, are they your son?" ”

Xue Shixiong looked back, smiled, pointed to the yellow-clothed young man on the left and said, "This is my third son, Wan Jun." Then he pointed to the stronger blue-clothed young man on the right and said: "This is my fourth son Wan Che, who grew up in the military with me since he was a child, and likes to ride and shoot horses. ”

Wang Shichong laughed: "Sure enough, the tiger father has no dog, the two Xiao Xue generals are heroic, and they will become the pillars of the country in the future, Wang Mou respects the two sons with a glass of wine." Saying that, Wang Shichong stood up and drank all the wine in front of him.

Xue Shixiong turned back to his two sons and said: "Wang Yuanwai is a noble man from Daxing, a hero who has experienced a hundred battles, he took the initiative to toast, you two must not lose your courtesy." ”

That Xue Wanche understood, and directly picked up a small wine vat next to Xue Shixiong's table, a large vat weighing thirty or forty catties with the wine belt, and gave him a hand to grasp it, as if there was nothing, he said loudly: "The king respects me a knight, and I should give back a vat to show respect." After that, he directly carried the jar in one hand, tilted his head, and poured the wine directly into his mouth, and the white Yuyang wine flowed down from his mouth like two streams, and Wang Shichong's eyes were a little straight.

Xue Wanche drank half a jar like this, and the third brother Xue Wanjun on the side smiled: "Fourth, leave some for my brother." ”

Xue Wanche laughed, took the wine jar, handed it to Xue Wanjun, he also picked up the jar and poured it into his mouth, walked around his father's seat while pouring, walked around his father's seat while pouring, walked twice, and the wine in the jar was also filled to him, he wiped his mouth, put the wine jar to the ground, and drank proudly: "Good wine, thank you Wang Yuanwai." ”

Wang Shichong really served these two brothers, and he looked less than twenty years old, but he could drink not a drop of this vat of spirits without getting drunk at all, such a person must be at the level of ten thousand enemies on the battlefield. No wonder Xue Shixiong wants to take these two boys with him, although Zhang Jincheng and Shan Xiongxin under his command are also brave, they may not be able to beat these two boys.

Wang Shichong thought for a moment, and laughed: "The two young generals are really heroes, Wang admires, General Xue, Ling Lang is so heroic, don't you find an errand for them to guard?" ”

Xue Shixiong shook his head: "Xue's four sons, the eldest and the second are already in the Xiaoguo Army, these two boys are not willing to follow my brother's path, so they want to follow me and make contributions." ”

Wang Shichong nodded: "Youzhou is a border area, and there will be no opportunity for the two major generals to make contributions in the future. ”

After drinking the wine, the guests and hosts enjoyed themselves, Wang Shichong drank a little too much today, and finally returned to the pavilion with the support of Zhang Jincheng, drank two bowls of decanting soup, and after spitting up, he recovered from it.

Repelled other waiters and servants, Wang Shichong left Wei Zheng alone, today Wei Zheng did not follow him to the banquet, but went to the Zhangji tea shop to connect with the Turks as agreed, this is also Wang Shichong's main concern now, after everyone left, Wang Shichong said in a low voice: "Xuancheng, how is that thing done?" ”

Wei Zheng nodded: "The person who came has already connected with me, and the appointment time will be tomorrow night." A deserted shrine ten miles west of the city. Meet there. ”

Wang Shichong smiled slightly: "It seems that the Turks have also operated here for a while. We can't go to the meeting lightly, you can arrange it for a while, and a hundred capable brothers from our shop here will go to the meeting with us tomorrow, and let Jin Cheng take someone to step on it tomorrow morning. ”

Wei Zheng said with a smile: "The lord has been operating in Youzhou for a few years, and today I took a look at the Zhangji Tea Shop, along with your other industries here, there are two or three hundred strong guards. There is no problem at all to draw a hundred people, my lord, according to the scale of your current industry, if you want to pull out 30,000 or 40,000 people with an order, there is no problem at all. ”

Wang Shichong shook his head: "I'm not so optimistic, many of these people are indeed dead soldiers who are willing to work with me to the end, but the number of these people together does not exceed 10,000, and the rest are mostly coming for my Wang Shichong's money, and they will not do things with me to lose their heads." So I asked Zhang Jinwei to let the shopkeeper of the tea shop pick a hundred people. Tomorrow only these people can be relied on. ”

Wei Zheng nodded: "The shopkeeper of the Zhangji Tea Shop is a relative of Zhang Jincheng, and he has taken care of it well here over the years." I've checked it, and it's all in order to do business, it's organized. My lord, if you want to achieve great things in the future, you can make good use of it here. ”

Wang Shichong said: "There are a lot of old brothers in this Zhangji tea shop who have been following Zhang Jincheng before, and they have been going south and north in recent years, and they have been armed to guard the tea all the way from Jiangnan, and their ability and loyalty are very reliable. By the way, Xuan Cheng, what do you think about the interview with the Turks tomorrow? ”

Wei Zheng pondered for a while: "I have been thinking about this matter these days, with all due respect to Wei, if the lord intends to fight for the world, it is best to keep a certain distance from the Turks, if you get too close, you will become a puppet of the Turks, and you will only lose the hearts of the people in the Central Plains." ”

"When the Wuhu was chaotic, Wang Jun, the assassin of Youzhou, once completely relied on the cavalry of Xianbei and Wuhuan, and he was also dominant in the Central Plains, but these Hu people were not worth relying on, or they were greedy for money, and they would go back after robbing enough, Wang Jun wanted to find these Hu people again when he was in danger in the end, but they refused to fight, and in the end they were killed by Shi Le of Hou Zhao, leaving only a reputation for attracting wolves into the house."

"Closer to the Northern Qi clan, Yingzhou assassin Shi Gao Baoning, also led the Turkic soldiers to attack Youzhou constantly, but even his own subordinates ran out, it can be seen that my Chinese people still have rods and scales in their hearts, colluding with foreign captives, and those who invade the Central Plains will definitely be abandoned by the people of the Central Plains, and the lord must not be careless."

Wang Shichong smiled slightly: "Xuancheng, I, Wang Shichong, have been fighting with the Turks for more than ten years, how can I be stupid enough to collude with the Turks, if the Turkic Khan has ambitions and wants to send troops to fight for the Central Plains, then I will definitely be eliminated, on the other hand, if I am just a puppet, then I will not be able to gain a foothold in the Central Plains." I understand this very well, but in troubled times, sometimes, especially at the beginning, you can't completely stiffen relations with the Turks, at least you can't let them help their main opponents with all their might, that's all. ”

Wei Zheng's brows softened, and it could be seen that he didn't want to follow Wang Shichong to join the Turks and become a traitor. Wang Shichong continued: "Actually, this time I contacted the Turks, not because I really wanted to have anything to do with them, but for two reasons, one was to see who was engaged in pig iron smuggling in the Turks and what their purpose was. Second, I also want to take the opportunity to find out who is colluding with the Turks in our Great Sui to do this business, and what is this person doing with the Turkic nobles. ”

Wei Zheng nodded: "These two things are indeed very important, lord, you said that even Elder Sun Sheng pretended to be deaf and dumb about this matter, who can have such power?" I also think that this person is not only for money, but more likely to have a relationship with the Turks and achieve ulterior purposes. ”

Wang Shichong sighed: "I've been thinking about this question, and in my opinion, the two people are the most suspicious. One is the Han King Yang Liang, he is the most motivated person to have a relationship with the Turks, the reason is not for me to say, and if Changsun Sheng does not have real evidence in his hands, even if he knows that the Han King is doing this, he does not dare to report the Han King, and now Changsun Sheng's eldest son Changsun Wunai is serving as a Kucao to join the army with the Han King Yang Liang, this appointment was made when Changsun Sheng was recalled from Dali City and served as the general of the Right Tun Guard, I don't know what the emperor's intention is, is it to let Changsun Sheng leave a way out of the Han King? ”

Wei Zheng suddenly said: "My lord, are Yang Yong and Yang Xiu still detained in the camp of Changsun Sheng?" ”

Wang Shichong reacted suddenly: "What Xuan Cheng means." It was the emperor who was worried that the crown prince would poison him. Therefore, the eldest grandson Shengkong zhì lived in two abolished princes. Once you can't control the situation, you will escort them to the king of Han and crusade against the prince in the name of righteousness? ”

Wei Zheng nodded seriously: "It is very likely that if it were not for the emperor's instructions, then Changsun Sheng would not have been recalled to serve as the guard of the capital." If he is loyal and reliable, he may not be the most suitable candidate, but his relationship with the Turks has allowed him to hold this important position at this sensitive moment, even if the emperor knows it. Relying on Yang Liang's strength alone is not enough to pose a threat to the crown prince, he also needs two things, one is fame, and the other is foreign aid. ”

"In terms of name, as long as Yang Yong is released and joins forces with Yang Liang, he can naturally win the hearts of many scholars who are unhappy for him, and if the emperor dies unnaturally, it can be directly pointed at the crown prince killing the monarch and usurping the throne. In this way, at least there will be many people in the Kanto region who will respond to Yang Yong and Yang Liang. Even people like Dou Kang and Xue Shixiong will stand still to see how the situation changes. ”

"But just like this, I'm afraid that it is still the Guanzhong army that is not defeated by the prince's side, after all, the military aristocratic group of Guanlong has been through the Northern and Southern Dynasties for more than two hundred years, brave and good at fighting, and Guanzhong and Longyou can levy a large number of elite divisions, with the command of good generals, they should be invincible."

"Back then, Wei Chi raised troops to make a rebellion, and he also claimed to have hundreds of thousands of troops, but in front of Guan Longxiong's division, he didn't hold it for a month, and Yang Liang's soldiers and horses in the state didn't even fight with the Turks, so how could they be the opponent of the Guanzhong troops. If he wanted to hold on, he had to find a way to get Changsun Sheng to come forward at the beginning stage, saying that he would move the Turkic cavalry south to contain the advance of the Guanlong army, and then he would send troops through the land of Kwantung and Jianghuai to strive for a balance of power. ”

Wang Shichong said with a smile: "Xuan Cheng's analysis is extremely true, in this way, you are inclined to the Han King Yang Liang to secretly collude with the Turkic nobles through pig iron smuggling, in exchange for their support when he raised his army, right?" ”

Wei Zheng nodded: "That's what I think, otherwise it would be difficult to explain Changsun Sheng's actions, maybe Changsun Sheng himself is also betting at both ends, he used to be a high-ranking servant, and then switched to the prince, but he has never been reused by the prince, and the left and right guards of the East Palace are not his share, so it is not impossible to turn to the King of Han in anger." ”

Wang Shichong thought about it, but still shook his head: "There is one thing you can't explain, if Changsun Sheng wants to communicate with the King of Han through the Turks, then do you need to do pig iron smuggling again, as long as he says a word, then the Qimin Khan is not following him in a hurry." ”

Wei Zheng smiled slightly: "Maybe Changsun Sheng has not made up his mind yet, and it is the Han King's own people who are looking for the Turks, Changsun Sheng just didn't expose this matter, after all, following the Han King is the last risk, and now he has the military power in his hands, if he can show favor to the prince, he may not be prosperous and rich in the new dynasty in the future." ”

Wang Shichong nodded: "Then it involves the second possibility I mentioned, could it be someone from the prince's side who went to secretly form a Turkic?" ”

Wei Zheng's face changed: "Is it necessary for him to do this?" ”

Wang Shichong said with certainty: "Didn't you analyze it just now, it's not unnecessary to prevent King Han from getting foreign aid." And if the prince sent people to secretly connect with the Turks, it is likely that he would not trade with Qimin Khan, but look for a few younger and more ambitious steppe wolves, that is, the sons of Qimin Khan, so that they can bite their own Lao Tzu after they have the strength, or they will go around on the grassland and have no time to take care of going south for a while. It was obviously in the prince's interest to do so. ”

Wei Zheng let out a sigh of relief: "The lord's insight is really higher than me, Xuan Cheng admires it." It's just that His Royal Highness the Crown Prince has no contact with the Turks, so who can he find to do these things? ”

Wang Shichong sneered: "Yuwenshu and Yu Zhongwen are the two people he trusts the most now, if it is really the prince who did it, then it must be these two people who sent someone to contact the Turks, if Changsun Sheng does not report the king of Han, then he will not dare to report the prince." ”

Wei Zheng laughed: "What the lord said is very true, then tomorrow your task is to find out the bottom of the Turks, but we are in contact with the Turks like this, in case the matter leaks out, it will be extremely unfavorable to the lord." ”

Wang Shichong waved his hand: "As long as I don't really sell pig iron to the Turks, there's nothing to worry about." Over the years, I have done a lot of business with Turkic horses, tea and silk, and it is good to take this opportunity to expand the volume of trade with them. ”

Wei Zheng nodded vigorously: "Then I'll arrange it, the lord has drunk too much today, so let's rest first, and tomorrow I have to save a good energy to deal with the Turks." ”

Wang Shichong smiled: "Then see you tomorrow." ”

During the day of the next day, Wang Shichong slept until three poles before getting up, and the day before when he left the banquet, he had politely refused the invitation of Dou Kang and others, only saying that he wanted to take a casual look at the customs here in the city, and he did take Wei Zheng to wander around the streets and alleys during the day, and it was not until the evening that he went out of the city from the small alley to the west gate, and the two stand-ins that had been prepared pretended to return to the pavilion. (To be continued......)