On the same night that Nanjing was in distress, that is, on the night of March 18 in the 14th year of the Great Tuesday and the 14th year of Kang Mazi, the capital of Shaanxi Province, Xi'an City. [No pop-up novel network]

After more than half a year of the city offensive and defensive war, the majestic Xi'an city in the past has been a little dilapidated, the ninety-eight towers that are proud of the world are even more gone, either burned by the war, or the cannonballs are smashed to pieces, leaving piles of ruins on the city wall and piles of bricks, stones, beams and trees of the reconstruction site, silently telling the cruelty and fierceness of the previous Xi'an war, but also revealing a kind of sadness that makes people lonely and melancholy.

The situation on the streets of the city is no better, the streets and houses in the outer city have been destroyed by artillery fire, and then looted by the rebels in street fighting, and most of the houses and shops have been reduced to ruins, and many people can only build shacks on top of the ruins to take shelter for the time being. After Wu Gou broke through the outer city of Xi'an, the general of Xi'an did not entrench in the mite city to wait for help, but chose to lead the army to flee to Tongguan, so that Wu Junchang drove straight into the mite city and slaughtered the mite city with the people of Shaanxi, and also saved most of the houses and streets. Therefore, after the Wu army entered the city, Wu Lao Han naturally arranged his temporary trip in this mite city and lived in the luxurious Xi'an General's Mansion left by Varka.

After reading this letter, Wu Laohan Jian, despite the fact that it was too late and he was seriously ill, ordered to summon five confidant civilian officials, including Wang Shirong, Fang Xueshi, Qiu Kesun, Che Wenlong, and Yang Shanzi, and let them go to his ward overnight to meet them.

After Lu Shrimp arranged for the guards to convey Wu Laohan's order separately, after a while, Wang Shirong and the other five people entered Wu Laohan's bedroom together, knelt down on one knee and saluted, Wu Laohanjan wanted to wave his hand to let a few henchmen get up, but as soon as his hand was raised halfway, his arms and shoulders were numb and stiff, and he fell back to the bed weakly, Wu Laohanjian was helpless, so he had to gasp and say with difficulty: "Get up, Hu Guozhu just sent someone to send a letter, you all take a look, and then talk about your opinions after reading it." Lu Shrimp, give the letter to Mr. Liangchen. ”

Wang Shirong and the others thanked him and got up, and Lu Shrimp over there also picked up the letter that Wu Laohan put on the bedside and handed it to Wang Shirong, Wang Shirong opened the letter and looked at it with Fang Xueshi and others under the lamp, and saw that the content was Hu Guozhu's report on the various situations on the battlefield in Jiangnan recently. The second is that Wu Yingqi thinks that Xia Guoxiang is partial to Geng Jingzhong and joins forces with outsiders to bully Lu Fatzi, so he refuses to provide Xia Guoxiang with food and grass for the army; the third is that Xia Guoxiang suffered a fiasco in Chizhou, lost two airships and countless ammunition, and fell out with Wu Yingqi after returning to Wuchang; The fourth is that Wu Yingqi once again asked to be the coach of the Eastern Expedition, but Hu Guozhu was worried that Wu Yingqi was not Lu Fatzi's opponent, so he used the excuse that he needed to ask Wu Lao Han to temporarily hold Wu Yingqi down.

At the end of the letter, Hu Guozhu once again expressed his concern that Lu Fatzi was gradually growing up in Jiangnan, and suggested that Wu Laohan take countermeasures as soon as possible to bring Lu Fatzi's fat loach back into the cage and lock him up, or secretly order the old man Wu Jun in the Jiangnan Fat Man's army to take action, collect Lu Fatzi's military power, and escort him back to the rear to control and imprison him, so as to prevent Lu Fatzi's further tail.

"How? What do you think of this letter from Guozhu? Wu Laohan estimated that after everyone finished reading it, he asked in a hoarse voice: "Do you think that Yifeng is indeed so dangerous that it must be eliminated?" ”

Wang Shirong and the others were silent, and after a while, Fang Xueshi said cautiously: "Lord Wang, I still insist that Lu Yifeng should still be loyal to the prince, and we should not do such a thing that hurts relatives and makes enemies happy." Otherwise, with Lu Yifeng's current military strength and financial resources, he would have raised his flag a long time ago. ”

"You're just too honest." Wu Lao Hanjian didn't get angry, he just snorted breathlessly and said: "The reason why Lu Yifeng's little slippery head hasn't raised the flag until now and openly betrayed this king is not because he doesn't want to, it's because he knows that he raised the flag and rebelled at this time, and the core backbone of his army won't follow him, so he didn't make a move." He is now waiting, waiting for the dog to consume the king to death, and then there will be no second person in the world who can restrain him. ”

"The prince thinks too highly of Lu Yifeng." Wu military official Cao Zhangyin Che Wenlong nodded and said: "Lord Wang, please don't forget, Lu Yifeng, Gao Dejie, Han Daren, Wang Xu's wives and children are still in the hands of the prince's Yunnan left-behind general Guo Zhuangtu, even if they borrow a hundred guts, they don't dare to be disrespectful to the prince." ”

"If you have a wife, you can remarry, and if you don't have a son, you can have another child." Wu Laohan said lightly: "There have been many beautiful women in Jiangnan since ancient times, those little bastards have guns, food and silver in their hands, and they are afraid that they will not have three wives and four concubines?" With three wives and four concubines, are you still afraid that you will not have a son? The old man can be sure that those little cubs must already be a lot of beautiful wives and concubines, and maybe they have already begun to marry each other's in-laws. ”

Che Wenlong was speechless and retreated, and Wu Lao Hanjian glanced at the silent Wang Shirong from the corner of his eye, and asked, "Mr. Liangchen, why don't you speak?" What are you thinking? ”

"Students are regretting two things." Wang Shirong lowered his head and replied: "The first thing I regret is that the student did not go all out to dissuade the prince from appointing Mr. Mao Yao's student as the commander of the expedition. The second regret is that the students did not make every effort to dissuade the prince from conquering Shaanxi and Gansu at that time, which not only aggravated the prince's illness, but also kept the prince away from the command center of the national battlefield, so that Mr. Mao Yao's students had time to drill. ”

"This king is also regretting these two things." Wu Laohan sighed with deep sympathy, and muttered with a wry smile: "Originally, this king didn't want to give that fat loach a chance to fly to the sky, and wanted to bring him to Shaanxi and Gansu, but considering the pressure of the battlefield on the eastern front at that time, and feeling that only that fat loach could pick up this burden, he made the decision to let him be the commander of the expedition to the east." Looking back now, the king's decision was both extremely correct and extremely confused. ”

"As for the pro-conquest of Shaanxi and Gansu." Wu Laohan's smile was even more bitter, "Originally, this king was a sure victory, and planned to use two months to annihilate the main force of Shaanxi and Gansu, capture Xi'an within four months, break through Tongguan within five months, and then leave Wang Ping to defend Shaanxi and Gansu, and then this king led Wang Fuchen to wave his army south from Tongguan and return to Huguang to conquer Jiangnan, so that the little fat man has no chance to escape from the mastery of this king, and he can let him try to consume some of the strength of the eastern front full dog, so that the king can conquer Jiangnan." It's a pity that people are not as good as heaven, and heaven doesn't help the old man! Who would have thought that on the day when the main force of Shaanxi and Gansu surrounded Mangou, this king suddenly fell ill, and he was still sick for more than a year. ”

Wang Shirong, Che Wenlong, Fang Xueshi and others listened quietly, no one dared to interject to interrupt Wu Lao Han Jian's reminiscences of the past, and also deeply felt sorry for Wu Lao Han Jian, if it wasn't for Wu Lao Han Jian's sudden serious illness, the main force of the mite Qing Shaanxi and Gansu, which was surrounded by Wu Army's heavy troops, would not have had a chance to hold on until Tong Guogang's reinforcements arrived! If it were not for the fact that Wu Lao Han's serious illness had been delayed for a long time, sometimes good and sometimes bad, then the Shaanxi battlefield, which had a large number of friendly troops to support it, would never have dragged on until now and not completely finished, and the two Han annihilation armies of Daniel Zhang and Zhao Liangdong would not have thought that they were still in Gansu to survive! But unfortunately, sometimes luck is really too important.

Of course, if Wang Shirong and the others knew that the original Ji Ji Mountain battalion did not supply firearms to the Fat Army under the pretext of insufficient production, it was actually the secret instruction of Wu Laohan when he was about to leave Shaanxi and Gansu, then Wang Shirong and others would inevitably lament even more - why did Wu Laohan's idea be so recited? has already calculated and planned to this point, why do you still let that dangerous little fat man sit big?!

"Okay, it's useless to regret the past, don't mention it again, let's get down to business." Wu Lao Han sighed and broke the silence and asked, "How is the situation with the team of messengers sent by the Empress Dowager Mangou?" ”

"Go back to the prince, and according to your orders, temporarily detain those messengers in the city." Fang Xueshi replied respectfully: "They have not made trouble, nor have they resolutely asked to meet the prince, but just begged the prince to give them an answer as soon as possible, so that they can return to Beijing to resume their lives." ”

"Then give them an answer." Wu Lao Hanjian nodded slightly, and ordered: "Zhongzhou (Yang Shanzi), you make a book for this king, and reply a letter to the Empress Dowager Mangou, telling her that her plea, this king agreed, let her send an envoy to formally negotiate, in order to express the sincerity of this king's peace talks, this king will order in advance, let Wang Pingfan and Wu Zhen, who attacked Tongguan, collect their troops." ”

"Lord Wang, did you really agree?" Yang Shanzi exclaimed in a low voice, "Now the situation of our army is very good, as long as we break through Tongguan, Mangou will have no danger to defend in the Central Plains and Shanxi!" ”

"There is no threat to our big week." Wu Lao Han said lightly: "Now the biggest threat to our Great Zhou is Lu Yifeng. If we don't solve this hidden danger quickly, this king kicked his legs that day, and so much effort and sacrifice we made before would become a wedding dress for Lu Yifeng, and our old Wu family would have to carry a long job for the old Lu family in vain. ”

"Then how does the prince plan to eliminate this hidden danger?" Wang Shirong asked tentatively.

"In three steps." Wu Lao Hanjian said the plan that had been brewing in his heart for a long time, "First, first make a truce with Mangou and get all the land south of the Yangtze River through negotiations. Second, this king is the emperor, and he is righteous and righteous to seal hundreds of officials and establish a successor. Third, the king returned to Huguang and personally led the army to conquer Jiangnan, if Lu Yifeng is smart, the king will naturally make him rich and noble for life, if he is not smart, the king will go to Jiangnan in person, and he can be pinched into powder in an instant. As long as he completes these three steps, the king will no longer have to worry about anything. ”

"Lord Wang, the student doesn't object to your decision, it's just your physical ......?" Wang Shirong reminded worriedly.

"It's okay, this king can still hold on." Wu Lao Hanjian replied confidently: "Lang Zhong has also said that this king's illness is mainly caused by the severe cold in Sichuan the year before last, as long as he goes to a warm place, the condition can be alleviated, and the climate in the south of the Yangtze River is much warmer than Xi'an." ”

"But Lord Wang, Lang Zhong also said that your illness must be recuperated in peace and mind, and you can't work too hard." Wang Shirong was neither humble nor arrogant, and persuaded: "Lord, let's let Hu Jinwu go, change General Xia Guoxiang to sit in Yuezhou, and Hu Jinwu will lead the army eastward to open up the contact with Jiangnan....... ”

"It's a pity that there is a lack of courage." Wu Lao Hanjian interrupted Wang Shirong with a sneer, and snorted coldly: "If he has a bit of courage, in this case, he shouldn't ask this king for countermeasures at all, the most important thing is to make a decision immediately, or give Gao Dejie, Wang Xu and Han Daren an order, let them launch a mutiny to detain Lu Yifeng, or decisively lead the army to fight in person and personally open up contact with Jiangnan!" This king left him 30,000 elite soldiers who had been tempered on the Huguang battlefield, just to prevent other changes, but unfortunately he couldn't pay attention to the king's painstaking efforts, and he didn't dare to make this determination! ”

Wang Shirong and Fang Xueshi, Che Wenlong and others were silent again, they all knew that Hu Guozhu was good at everything, he could lead troops with wisdom and strategic and tactical vision, and the only drawback was the lack of courage to make decisions on the spot, otherwise, with Hu Guozhu's prestige as Wu Laohan's deputy for many years, he would have fought all the way into Jiangnan, and Lu Fatzi, who was a junior, would not dare to meet him even if he had a hundred courages! Even if he really does it, the old man Wu Jun, the core backbone of the Fat Army, will only listen to Hu Guozhu, not Lu Fatty!

"Speaking of which." When this topic was mentioned, a long-hidden regret couldn't help but come to Wu Laohan's heart, which made Wu Laohan can't help but sigh: "It would be nice if the old man's eldest son was still there, or Yifeng was the old man's closest relative, it would be even better!" The world must be our Da Zhou's. ”

"The prince is right." Wang Shirong lowered his head and sighed heartily in his heart: "If Mr. Mao Yao's student is really the prince's closest flesh and blood, who can be our opponent in Da Zhou?" ”

Thinking of the unfortunate early strength of the eldest son, Wu Laohan was inevitably even more sad in his heart, his limbs were numb, his breathing was difficult, his chest was surging, he couldn't calm down for a long time, his face gradually began to turn pale, and cold sweat was oozing from his forehead. Do you want to call Lang Zhong? ”

"No need to ......." Wu Laohan wanted to shake his head and refuse, but as soon as his head moved, he felt dizzy again, the world was spinning, the figure was blurry, and there was thick phlegm in his throat, he couldn't even speak, his face became more and more pale, and his consciousness gradually blurred.

"It's not good, the prince's illness has worsened again! Go and call Langzhong, the sooner the better! Wang Shirong, who was familiar with medical skills, hurriedly shouted. The guards next to him rushed out, and in a short time, he led a Lang Zhong who was resting in the next room and was ready to rescue Wu Lao Han Jian. Seeing that there were so many Wu military officials in Wu Laohan's room, Na Langzhong couldn't help but scream: "Lord Wang, it's the second watch, why haven't you rested yet?" Still busy? The grass people have said countless times, your illness is absolutely tiring. ”

"Lang Zhong, don't be verbose, hurry up and ask the prince for a pulse!" Wang Shirong shouted.

Na Langzhong didn't dare to slack off, and hurriedly came over to check Wu Laohan's annihilation, and found that Wu Laohan's old disease was a recurrence of wind dizziness, and there was thick phlegm blocking the trachea in his throat, so he quickly called the maid to suck phlegm for Wu Laohan, and quickly took out a few silver needles, took off the socks on Wu Laohan's feet, and administered acupuncture on the Zusanyang acupoints on Wu Laohan's feet. After tossing for half an hour, Wu Laohan's face finally improved, and his consciousness gradually recovered.

"Lang Zhong, does it matter if the prince is sick? Can it be completely cured? Fang Xueshi asked worriedly.

Lang Zhong didn't dare to answer, until Fang Xueshi, Wang Shirong and others asked again and again, that Lang Zhong replied in a hesitant manner: "The prince's dizziness is not only serious, but also the symptoms of phlegm and fire and failure of the clear body. The grass people are incompetent, they are really powerless, I just hope that the prince can rest well and raise the jade body, so it may be ....... ”

"Maybe what?" Wang Shirong asked.

Lang Zhong didn't dare to answer, but Wu Laohan opened his mouth and said with difficulty: "Maybe you can support some more, right?" The body of this king, this king himself knows. ”

Lang Zhong still didn't dare to answer, but lowered his head, but Wang Shirong slammed his fist on the medicine box, and said hatefully: "It would be good if Doctor Zhu was still here, with his medical skills, he will definitely be able to cure the prince's illness." ”

"Lord Wang, why don't we draw up an order for you and ask Lu Yifeng to send Zhu Fangdan?" Fang Xueshi suggested: "No matter what, Lu Yifeng is your grandson-in-law, if you want him to send Doctor Zhu to treat you, he doesn't dare to listen even if he has a hundred guts." ”

"There's no need for it, now I can't wait for this king to lose his breath, it's not Kangxi Xiao'er, but the grandson-in-law of this king." Wu Laohan groaned and said a big truth that couldn't be more true, and groaned again: "Also, at this time, let him send Zhu Fangdan to treat this king, and he will immediately understand that this king is already sick and dying, and he is in Jiangnan, so he has no fear." ”

"Lord, you have to rest, you can't talk anymore." Lang Zhong protested.

Wu Lao Han Jian waved his hand with difficulty, and after trying to take two breaths to cheer up, Wu Lao Han Jian said weakly: "You all go back to rest, and make every effort to prepare for the king's enthronement ceremony, this king ascended the throne in Xi'an City on the first day of the fourth month, changed the Yuan Zhaowu, the country name is Zhou, the capital is Wuchang, and the eldest grandson Wu Shifan is the emperor's eldest grandson, no matter how hasty, you must prepare to improve, don't ......, lose the face of this king." ”

"Yes." Wang Shirong, Fang Xueshi and others replied with tears in their eyes.

"Wang Shirong, put your ears up." Wu Lao Han Jian commanded again, Wang Shirong hurriedly put his ear to Wu Lao Han Jian's mouth, Fang Xueshi and others over there hurriedly retreated into the distance, Wu Lao Han Jian said in a weak voice: "Prepare an order for me, give Han Daren, tell him that the time has come, let him act according to the plan, and after the matter is completed, Da Zhou will crown him king." ”

"Let Han Daren act according to the plan?" Wang Shirong was stunned, and when he saw the cunning light in Wu Laohan's muddy old eyes, Wang Shirong came to his senses - when Wu Laohanjian arranged Han Daren to Lu Fatzi to rub sand, he must have agreed with Han Daren to get rid of Lu Fatzi at the necessary moment! Maybe Han Daren has been getting closer and closer to Lu Fatzi for more than a year, and it is also from Wu Laohan's arrangement!

Thinking of this, Wang Shirong nodded, and then stood up straight, but Wu Lao Hanjian muttered in a low voice, "He, why isn't he the flesh and blood of this king?" Otherwise, what else can this king rest assured...... Not down? ”

(To be continued)