As Lu Fatzi expected, when he heard the news of the Fat Army's increase in troops in Zhejiang and the attack on southern Jiangnan, Geng Jingzhong and Shang Zhixin were thieves, and they immediately began to be frightened and panicked. [Full text reading]

However, this is not surprising, the area of southern Gan in this era is sparsely populated, the mountains are high and the roads are dangerous, the economy is backward, the strategic value is not large, the fat army took this territory, unless only a small number of second-line troops are left to guard the place, otherwise the garrison army is to lose money and food, but the fat army is here, and it is 30,000 troops, killing chickens with a cattle slaughtering knife, the hinterland is closely bordered by southern Gan and there are ghosts in the new Shang Zhixin Shang Wangye, how can there be no reason not to be frightened?

Geng Wangye's side is the same, Wenzhou, Chuzhou and Quzhou in Zhejiang, which border Fujian, have already stationed more than 80,000 fat army on land and water, threatening the stability of the river crabs on Geng Wangye's northern front at all times. Could it really be as Li Tianzhi, who was expelled from the Pingnan Palace, said, just to prevent Taiwan's Zheng Jing from disturbing the coastal areas of Zhejiang? Will Geng Wangye believe such a nonsense to deceive a three-year-old child? Can you believe it?

Under the fear and anxiety, Shang Wangye and Geng Wangye had to quickly adjust the deployment of the army, transfer the elite main force that could be mobilized in their hands to the northern front, strengthen the defense of the northern front, and at the same time rarely connect in tandem privately, and repeatedly emphasized the mutual protection and mutual aid covenant of the dead lips and teeth, and agreed that as long as one side is attacked, the other side must unconditionally send troops to reinforce. Then there is to send a messenger to contact Guo Zhuangtu, inform the fat army of the movements, and ask Guo Zhuangtu to be ready to send troops to rescue at any time, but Guo Zhuangtu is relatively far away this way, and there is also Wu Laohan's cousin Zu Zeqing on the road to lead a group of teams loyal to the Wu clan to make trouble, and it is more difficult to save the fire from far water, so the biggest dependence of Geng Wangye and Shang Wangye is always the other party.

Mutual dependence is mutual dependence, if you want to say that Geng Wangye and Shang Wangye can really rest assured of each other, can really give their backs to each other, and can really work together intimately, don't say that Lu Fatzi doesn't believe it, even Geng Wangye and Shang Wangye themselves don't believe it! Shang Zhixin What kind of person is Shang Wangye, even his father and sister can be sold for the sake of profit, and he will not betray his brother-in-law Geng Wangye for his own interests again, Geng Wangye is the first to disbelieve! But Geng Wangye is not much better, Fuzhou has a fire to the side of Qijing (the name of the street in Fuzhou City), and the rumors of 'Seven Stars worship the true Son of Heaven again, and the fire starts from the ears' can be fabricated, and the ambition is so big that Geng Wangye has no interest in Guangdong, and Shang Wangye is the first to disbelieve it!

Under the mutual distrust, Geng Wangye and Shang Wangye had to send a large number of annihilators and spies to closely monitor each other's every move and always grasp all the words and deeds of the other party. At the same time, because of the close marriage between the two families of Geng Shang, there are a large number of female dependents and servants of each other in the Pingnan Royal Mansion and Jingnan Royal Mansion, and it is easier to spy on each other's movements, so basically Geng Wang Ye went to sleep in the princess's room at night.

When the wind was rumors and the grass and trees were all soldiers, an unexpected news suddenly spread into the Pingnan Palace, and the Prince of Yue of the Great Zhou Dynasty sent Shi Zongyao, the secretary of the Yue Palace, to bring the Yue Wangjun to Guangdong via Jiangxi, saying that he came to announce the decree to Shang Zhixin Wangye, and also emphasized that it was a happy event, and invited Shang Wangye's herald to say hello to Shang Wangye in advance. Hearing this news, of course, Shang Wangye was both puzzled and depressed, wondering what was the intention of Lu Fatzi's envoy, and being depressed was that time had passed, and Lu Fatzi, a seven-grade sesame official who did not hesitate to go to Huizhou to kowtow to himself in order to see himself, had now sent someone to convey Jun's decree to himself, riding on his head and pointing fingers.

There is no way to be depressed, Shang Wangye is now the honorary courtier of the Great Zhou, Lu Fatzi has the power of Wu Laohan to control the officials and civilians of the Great Zhou Dynasty in the world, from the rules of view, Shang Wangye does have to bow to his brother-in-law, plus the difference in strength is too far, Shang Wangye does not dare to offend Lu Wangye directly, so there is no way, Shang Wangye can only endure the nausea like eating flies, and send his younger brother Shang Zhizhang and his henchman Shen Shangda to Shaozhou to welcome Shi Zongyao to Guangzhou according to etiquette.

When Shi Zongyao, who had served as the commander of Yixing County, and his entourage arrived in Guangzhou, the time was already May 26 of the second year of Honghua, and at the same time, the team of Wu Yonghua, the southwest expeditionary army of the Fat Army, had also reached Yudu County in the northeast of Ganzhou, Jiangxi, which was less than 400 miles away from the border of Guangdong. Therefore, Shang Wang Ye did not dare to slack off his brother-in-law's envoy, and went out of the city to greet the Fat Army envoys for the first time, and also brought out Lu Fatzi's eldest wife, Shang Wanyan, so that his sister, who had been deceived into returning to Guangdong for five years, could meet with his brother-in-law's lackey, and strive to use this family relationship to close the relationship with the Fat Army.

Although Lu Fatzi had sent people to Guangdong several times before to deliver letters to Shang Wanyan, but when he saw the husband's handwritten letter forwarded by her husband's lackeys again, Shang Wanyan still couldn't help but cry like rain, and cried in public, Shi Zongyao hurriedly comforted: "Princess, please don't be sad, Prince Lu didn't take you back because the land roads were impassable, the sea was too stormy, and there were full dogs and Zheng Jing's sailors intercepting him, so he was afraid that you would be in danger, so he didn't take you back." But now it's different, the prince's army has reached Yudu, and in a month at most, it will be able to border with the prince's domain, and at that time, the princess, you can return to Yanjing at any time and reunite with the prince. ”

Shang Wanyan, who had lost a lot of weight, nodded with tears, but she couldn't stop saying anything in her tears, and asked in a choked voice, "What about my child?" Did my father-in-law take Bang Jing back to his side? ”

Shi Zongyao smiled bitterly and replied stubbornly: "Back to the princess, the prince is still in Kunming, I heard that he lives with General Hu Guozhu and his wife, and he has to take care of him." But the princess doesn't have to worry, the princess now has seven provinces, and his fierce generals are like clouds, strategists are like rain, and there are 500,000 people with armor. ”

Mother and son's surname, I heard that the only son was still detained in Kunming, Shang Wanzhen inevitably cried even more, but Shang Wangye on the side turned a little pale, I don't know whether Shi Zongyao's words are threatening Guo Zhuangtu or himself. But fortunately, Shi Zongyao, who was born in Jinshi, knows etiquette very well, except for comforting Shang Wanyan with these few words, he did not say a similar word to stimulate Shang Wangye's fragile nerves, so the guests and hosts got along quite happily, and Shang Wangye quickly led the fat army envoy into Guangzhou City in person, and directly placed it in the Gongbei Building of Pingnan Palace.

Immediately afterwards, when Shi Zongyao was led into the Yinluan Hall of the Pingnan Palace, the thing that had always made it difficult for the prince finally happened - Shi Zongyao took out the Yue Wang Jun Zhi of Lu Fat and stood in the center, and sang loudly: "The holy decree of the Great Zhou, the order of the king of Yue, and the letter of the king of Fude Shang knelt to receive it." ”

No one moved, everyone's eyes turned to Shang Wangye, and when Shang Wangye acted first, Shang Wangye's face was blue and white for a while, and he didn't know what to do. In the end, it was Shi Zongyao who kindly reminded: "Lord Shang, you are now the king of the county, and Prince Lu is the prince regent, only one level lower than Prince Lu, and you can kneel down to accept the order." ”

Shang Wang Ye still didn't move immediately, and hesitated for a long time, Shang Wang Ye finally knelt down on one knee, while cursing his brother-in-law's eighteenth generation ancestor madly in his heart, he hugged his fists and sang: "The letter of the minister Shang received the order, and the prince was a thousand years old." The henchmen and lackeys of Shang Wangye on both sides also knelt down on one knee together, singing the Yue Wang Chitose neatly, and even Shang Wanyan knelt down on one knee angrily and funny.

"The Holy Decree of the Great Zhou, the King of Yue holds the festival order." Shi Zongyao sang: "The letter of the king of Fude, change the title of Prince Fude, reward the prince with double money, Yongzhen Guangdong Domain, give a gold medal for avoiding death, except for rebellion, avoid death three times!" That's it! ”

After that, Shi Zongyao waved his hand back, and an entourage had already brought a wooden plate covered with flat yellow satin, and Shi Zongyao lifted the silk with his own hands, revealing a pure gold death-free card with a large silk chin, and then held it in front of Shang Wangye with both hands, and said respectfully: "Prince, please accept the reward." ”

"Why did the little fat man promote my knighthood and reward me with a gold medal for avoiding death?" Shang Wang Ye was confused, honestly took the wooden plate, and replied: "Xie Yue Wang Chitose, Wang Ye Chitose Chitose." ”

"Congratulations to the prince, congratulations to the prince." The lackeys of Shang Wangye, who knelt behind, flattered one after another, Shang Wangye smiled reluctantly, as long as he got up, Shi Zongyao said again: "Prince, wait, there is one more thing." ”

"What else?" Shang Wangye was even more puzzled in his heart, but he saw that Shi Zongyao took out a letter sealed with fire paint from his arms, presented it to Shang Wangye with both hands, and said with a smile: "Lord Shang, please take a good look, is the fire paint intact?" Lord Lu has a purpose, this thing can only be seen by you alone, what is inside, Shi Zongyao didn't dare to peek. ”

"Is that the thing?" Shang Wangye's heart jumped, and he quickly took the envelope and checked it carefully, and found that the fire paint covered with Lu Fatzi's small seal was indeed intact and had not been opened by anyone.

"Lord Wang, have you seen it clearly?" Shi Zongyao took out a candle like a trick, asked the entourage to light it, and then stretched out the lit candle in front of Shang Wangye, and asked with a smile: "Wangye, do you need this?" ”

Shang Wang Ye smiled reluctantly, first reached out and wiped the cold sweat on his forehead, and then put the deed of sale on the fire, and personally destroyed this ironclad evidence of the crime that was enough to destroy Shang Wangye's house. The lackeys of Shang Wangye and Shang Wanyan in the back were all very curious, but they could neither see the content of the letter, nor dare to ask, so they could only hide their stomachs full of questions in their hearts.

Lu Fatzi sold such a big favor to Shang Wangye, and reciprocated the peach, Shang Wangye naturally would not treat Shi Zongyao's envoy group badly, that night, Pingnan Wangfu held a banquet, Shang Wangye personally led more than 20 younger brothers to accompany, the delicacies of the mountains and seas, good wine and good food to entertain Shi Zongyao and his party, the guests and hosts enjoyed during the banquet, and congratulated Lu Shang on the longevity of the two princes. Some people even shouted the slogan that the Yue Wangfu and the Fude Wangfu joined hands to divide the world equally.

Of course, Shang Wang Ye is also a smart person, after the banquet, of course, Shang Wang Ye had to invite Shi Zongyao into his study for a secret talk, and after driving away the subordinates and the maid, Shang Wang Ye immediately asked Shi Zongyao straight to the point: "Lord Shi, what else does my brother-in-law Lu Wang Ye have to explain?" If you have something to say, please say it directly, everyone is their own person, and there is no need to be polite. ”

"What else does Prince Lu have to explain?" Shi Zongyao looked puzzled and replied confusedly: "No? In addition to letting the subordinate officials declare the decree on behalf of the prince, and handing over the letter to the prince, there is nothing else? ”

"No?" Shang Wangye's eyes widened, and he asked even more suspiciously, "How could it not be?" My brother-in-law, is he really so good to me? Give me so many benefits and don't want anything in return? ”

"Lord Wang, if you want to say that, then the lower official will have the courage to accuse you a few words." Shi Zongyao said sincerely: "Who are you from our Lord Lu?" My brother-in-law, and my uncle of the prince of Yue, as the saying goes, my mother dies and my uncle breaks the bones and tendons, what do we Lord Lu do for you, do you have to be like an outsider, you must reciprocate? ”

"Really?" Shang Wang Ye will be suspicious, it is really the first time that he has found that his brother-in-law is so good.

"Of course." Shi Zongyao whispered more sincerely: "Xiaguan will say another sentence of heart-wrenching, our Prince Lu already has soldiers and horses in seven provinces, and it is also the best place in the world, whether the big thing can be achieved is no longer a question of whether it can be done, but a question of whether our Lord Lu is willing or not." But if we want to achieve great things, we have to have henchmen to help, but you also know that Lord Lu's family is thin, there are no brothers and sisters, no cousins and cousins, only two cousins, one is also left in Nanjing, the other is located in the important land of Shanhaiguan and Gyeonggi, there are not many trustworthy people around him, and there are not many relatives and siblings who can completely communicate with each other - Lord Wang, you are Prince Lu's brother-in-law, when our Lord Lu was in the abyss before, you were so good to Prince Lu, and we Lord Lu did not repay you or reuse you, Is it possible? ”

"Bang!" Shang Wang Ye slapped the table heavily, and then realized that he had forgotten an important issue - since ancient times, rebels and usurpers have all reused their relatives and relatives and entrusted power to their relatives and brothers! Lu Fatzi's family is thin, and there are very few direct relatives who can support him, and then the first one of his cronies is a relative, as Lu Fatzi's wife and eldest brother, he has territory, strength and family affection, and he is the number one object that Lu Fatzi can trust and reuse, if he doesn't hurry up to please his brother-in-law and strive to gain his brother-in-law's trust, why do you have to take the wrong medicine to join forces with outsiders to deal with your brother-in-law? Helping outsiders take the world, can you help your own brother-in-law take the world? !

"Lord Wang, what's wrong? Could it be that the lower official is wrong? Shi Zongyao was taken aback by Shang Wangye's action of slapping the table and smashing the bench.

"No ......, nothing, something suddenly came to mind." Lord Shang hurriedly waved his hand, and hurriedly lowered his voice and asked, "Master Shi, my brother-in-law really has no explanation?" If so, please speak up. ”

"Back to the prince, there is really no more." Shi Zongyao smiled even more bitterly, hesitated again, and said in a low voice: "But our Lord Lu still has a few words, and we are ready to let the lower officials tell the prince." But these few words, unless you take the initiative to ask a question about the letter, the next official will play it to the prince. Otherwise, Prince Lu would not allow the officials to take the initiative to mention it, so as not to misunderstand the prince. ”

"What question am I asking about that letter?" This time it was Wang Shang's turn to be confused.

Shi Zongyao didn't answer in a hurry, but picked up the teacup and took a sip, and then said unhurriedly: "Don't you want to ask, why did our Lord Lu hand over that letter to you?" Please destroy it with your own hands, Lord Wang? ”

"Why?" Lord Shang finally remembered this important question.

"Prince Lu said the truth, in order to prevent the prince from doing something wrong, he was used by outsiders." Shi Zongyao said with a serious expression: "When the Mangou Emperor drove the expedition in person, in order to let a person join forces with the Mangou army and attack our prince from all sides, he gave a copy of the letter to that person, and took the opportunity to induce that person to join forces with the Mangou army. ”

"How did Lord Lu know about this?" Shang Wangye's face changed greatly, and his two fists couldn't help clenching tightly.

Shang Wangye's reaction startled Shi Zongyao again, and Shi Zongyao, who knew the inside story, inevitably wondered in his heart, "Everyone says that Shang Zhixin is coarse on the outside and cunning on the inside, how can he be so easy to deceive?" Do you believe such a suspenseful thing right away? Could it be that the rumors are wrong, and it is better to be famous than to meet? ”

"Master Shi, say it quickly!" Shang Wang Ye urged with a nervous expression: "My brother-in-law, how did you know about this secret?" ”

Shi Zongyao coughed, and said in a low and serious voice: "Of course, that person told us the prince personally, now that our prince's army has approached his border, he is afraid that our prince's new account and old account will be calculated together, and he will seize his feud and withdraw his domain, so he secretly performed this important matter to our prince, and also presented a copy of this letter, wanting to lead the trouble to the west, and also expressed his willingness to lend the road to our prince, and even directly send troops to help." We, Prince Lu, know that the stakes are very high, and we are even more worried that person will use this letter to make waves, pull you into the water, and do something that even Prince Lu can't cover up, so I asked the little envoy to send the original letter that was confiscated from Mangou Nan's study to Guangzhou, and ask the prince to destroy it yourself, so that you can ...... at ease. ”

"Geng Jingzhong! I'm fucking your mother's eighteenth generation ancestor! Shang Wang Ye jumped up violently, grabbed the teacup and slammed it on the ground, roaring wildly and scolding: "Dog mongrel! Dog thief! Fuck your mother's eighteenth generation ancestor! A two-faced and three-knife dog mongrel! Dog mongrel---! ”

"Is this a believe? This Shang Wang Ye is too useless, right? Shi Zongyao was a little dumbfounded, and a lot of rhetoric brewed on the road was useless.

"Lao Tzu just said, you dog mongrel, you will have such a good heart, you catch Lao Tzu's handle and still don't sell it for a good price?" The more Shang Wang Ye scolded, the more angry he became, and he frantically smashed the table and bench in the study and roared, "Sure enough!" And sure enough, it was! While holding Lao Tzu's handle to blackmail Lao Tzu, he sold Lao Tzu's handle, wanting to exchange Lao Tzu's life for your glory and wealth! Dog mongrel, you want to be beautiful! ”

"Won't it?" Shi Zongyao finally heard that the taste was wrong, and exclaimed in his heart: "Could it be that we are crooked?" Geng Jingzhong really has a copy of this letter in his hand, and he also took this letter to blackmail Lord Shang? There is no such coincidence in the world, right? ”

"Dog mongrel, if you are unkind, don't blame Lao Tzu for being unjust!"

At this time, Shang Wangye, who was furious to the extreme, rushed to the bookshelf and rummaged through for a while, and he didn't know what mechanism he pressed, and a small hole was immediately revealed in the wall of the study, and Shang Wangye rushed there again, took out a stack of documents from the hole in the wall, handed it to Shi Zongyao, and said with a blue face: "Master Shi, you bring these back to my brother-in-law!" Geng Jingzhong accepted the title of King of Jinghai canonized by my brother-in-law, and in private, he connected all kinds of thieves, ready to join forces to besiege you! Now Geng Jingzhong'er has temporarily stopped attacking Zhangzhou and Quanzhou, just to pull Zheng Jing into the water, and want Zheng Jing to attack your Nanjing from the sea! ”

Shi Zongyao was completely dumbfounded, and there was only one thought left in his heart, "Could it be that our prince is really the fate of the true dragon emperor, and such a coincidental good thing has also made our prince catch up?" ”

"Master Shi doesn't believe it?" Shang Wang Ye misunderstood Shi Zongyao's reaction, pointed to the stack of documents and said angrily: "Here, there is the original covenant of Geng Jingzhong and Guo Zhuangtu's alliance, and it has the autograph of Geng Jingzhong's dog mongrel!" There is also a letter from Geng Jingzhong entrusting me to contact Zheng Jing and mediate the war between him and Zheng Jing, and there is also a handwritten letter from Geng Jingzhong's children! Also, because your army is heading south, Geng Jingzhong is afraid that you will do it, so he wrote a letter urging me to send troops to Jiaying Prefecture as soon as possible, and agreed that once the war starts, I will immediately join forces to attack your enclave in Chaozhou, and my handwritten letter is also inside! With this, you can also be famous and take out Geng Jingzhong's dog mongrel with dignity! ”

Happiness came so quickly and so violently that Shi Zongyao had a feeling of wanting to faint. But Shang Wangye was still angry, and yelled again: "Tell my brother-in-law, if you do it, I will do it immediately, attack Geng Jingzhong'er from the north and south, and cut off the water and land connection between Geng Jingzhong'er and Guo Zhuangtu'er!" After the matter is completed, I will borrow a road for you to clean up Guo Zhuangtu, your team in Chaozhou, I can temporarily provide you with food and salary, and then pay me back when you take Fujian! ”

(To be continued)