On the afternoon of the next day, and on February 29 of the twelfth year of Kang Mazi, when the afternoon was approaching evening, Lu Fatzi once again came to Wu Laohan's temporary line, and walked back and forth in front of the Xingyuan Gate with a bitter face behind his back for a long time, never saying a word, and turning a blind eye to the people who came in and out of the Xingyuan Gate, making the guards in front of the door inexplicable, and the leading guard captain couldn't help but step forward and asked: "Lord Lu, are you going to see the prince?" Do you want to hand you a small waist card? ”

"What? You haven't handed my waist card in yet? Fat Lu asked in surprise.

"Master Lu, don't be joking, when did you give me the waist card?" The guard was startled, and said tremblingly: "Isn't it a joke to delay the military situation, Lord Lu, you have been wandering around here for half an hour, when did you give me the waist card?" Also, your waist tag seems to be hanging on your waist, right? ”

"What?" Lu Fatzi was also a wolf, looked down and found that his waist card was indeed still hanging on his waist, and he couldn't help but pat his fat forehead, and said with annoyance: "Look at my absent-mindedness, I forgot everything when I was engrossed, and I thought I had handed you the waist card, and I was still waiting here for the prince to summon me." Brother Wang, I'm really sorry, I'm thinking about the military situation, so I misunderstood. ”

"Master Lu, your absent-minded problem is too serious, isn't it?" The guard couldn't cry or laugh, so he had to hurriedly say: "Lord Lu, then please give me the waist card quickly, and the villain will inform you." ”

"There is labor." Fat Lu hurriedly untied his waist card and handed it over, but when the guard reached out to pick it up, Fat Lu hesitated for a moment, and then said: "Forget it, I still ask to see General Jinwu, please Brother Wang to report to Zuo Jinwu for me, saying that I want to see." ”

The guard agreed, and hurriedly rushed in to report, but with Lu Fatzi's current status and favor among the Wu army, others asked to see Wu Lao Hanjian and Hu Guozhu's mood and urgency, and Lu Fatzi's so-called handing over the card to see him was just a formality. Soon, the guard rushed out again, saying that Hu Guozhu was acting in the signing room, and asked Lu Fatzi to go in directly, Lu Fatzi thanked him, and stuffed two taels of silver into the guard's hand, and then went into Wu Laohan's temporary line with his hands behind his back, and slowly walked to Hu Guozhu's signing room with a vicious trick.

When I entered the signing room, Hu Guozhu and Wang Shirong were both in the room, and they were also surrounded by mountains of all kinds of official documents, and more than 20 assistant clerks were busy, discussing official affairs and asking for instructions on whether to approve official documents, and the sound was endless, and it was as lively as a vegetable market. Lu Fatzi first secretly scolded Wu Laohan for finding such a loyal and effective son-in-law, and then stepped forward to salute.

"Yifeng, here?" Hu Guozhu put down the brush in his hand, rubbed his bloodshot eyes, and asked tiredly, "What's the matter?" ”

"Uncle Hui, I have some thoughts about yesterday's incident, and I want to talk to you and Mr. Liangchen alone." Lu Fatzi replied, "My nephew wants to listen to your opinions first, and then decide whether to report to my grandfather." ”

"Okay, I've been sitting all day, and I just want to go out for a walk." Hu Guozhu agreed, greeted Wang Shirong and explained the messenger, and led Lu Fatzi and Wang Shirong out of the signing room and took a walk in the back garden together.

The sky was already slightly dark, and the back garden was empty, which was convenient for Lu Fatzi and others to talk secretly, and just walked to the pond where there were no outsiders, Lu Fatzi introduced in a low voice, "Uncle, Mr. Liangchen, today my nephew went to see Geng Juzhong and Monk Zhixiao, and talked with them for most of the day, and from their mouths out of a lot of Jingnan Mansion and Pingnan Mansion secrets, combined with our knowledge of the southeast military situation, we figured out a rough plan. It's just that I really don't know the bottom of my heart, and I have to worry about the consequences, so I want to ask for your opinions, and then decide whether to play to my grandfather. ”

"Then you come and listen, talk carefully." Hu Guozhu nodded in agreement.

"That's the case, from Shang Zhixiao's mouth, my nephew learned about it." Lu Fatzi introduced in a low voice: "The contradiction between Shang Kexi's old thing and his eldest son Shang Zhixin may be more acute and fierce than we understand and analyze, Shang Zhixin advocates following our army, separating Guangdong and standing on its own; Shang Kexi old thief is loyal to the dog, not only has he already asked to cut the feudal domain back to Liaodong to retire, but also has always wanted to abolish Shang Zhixin's position as the son of the world, and replace the second son Shang Zhixiao to inherit the throne, and later Shang Zhixiao lost face to Shang Kexi old things several times, Shang Kexi old things plan to change the sixth son Shang Zhidian as the son, but because Shang Zhixin's wings are full, Shang Kexi old things did not dare to act rashly by the way. ”

"In addition, according to the intelligence we have carefully investigated, during the period when Shang Kexi's old things were captured by us, Shang Zhixin took the opportunity to kill more than 120 Shang Kexi's cronies led by Jin Guang and Huang Zhangsi, put Shang Zhidian brothers under house arrest, and completely controlled the entire Pingnan Palace. Judging from the fact that Emperor Mangou sent Yue Le to lead the army to protect Shang Kexi's old thief's return to Guangdong, Emperor Mangou was already worried that after Shang Kexi returned to Guangdong, Shang Zhixin might not obediently return power, so he arranged a shrewd and capable assistant and an absolutely reliable army for Shang Kexi to help Shang Kexi regain power and achieve the goal of containing our army's eastern front, Geng Jingzhong and Zheng Jing at the same time. ”

In view of these circumstances, the nephew can conclude that after Shang Kexi returned to Guangzhou, there will inevitably be a dragon fight between the old thief and his son Shang Zhixin, although Shang Zhixin may not have the courage to directly raise troops against the Qing Dynasty, but he will definitely not obediently hand over power, and there will definitely be turmoil within the Pingnan Mansion for a period of time! Shang Kexi old thief occupies the name of righteousness, Shang Zhixin controls the actual power, and in a short period of time, it will definitely be difficult to distinguish the winner from the loser! ”

"It makes sense." Hu Guozhu nodded, and sighed: "It's a pity that Shang Zhixin Xiaoer is also a person who wants to be a bitch and wants to set up a memorial arch, both wants to be independent in Guangdong, and doesn't have the courage to pull out the banner directly, just want to hide behind us and pick up cheap, and refuses to be a rafter." Otherwise, as long as he is willing to raise the banner and stand on his own feet or join our army, we can help him kill his father and stand on his own! ”

"Don't count on that." Lu Fatzi said helplessly: "My brother-in-law, I also know very well, shrewd and strong in small things, decisive in killing, but in big events, and his father Shang Kexi old thief is the same goods, selfish to the extreme, just want to live under the wings of the dog to enjoy the glory and wealth, and talk to him about national righteousness, family and country affairs, that is to play the piano to the cow." ”

"Don't talk about such uselessness, talk about the situation in Fujian." Wang Shirong interrupted rudely.

"The situation in Fujian is simpler." Lu Fatzi didn't get angry, but patiently introduced: "Geng Jingzhong's younger son is the eldest son and the eldest son, and he is in a very upright position, and the internal differences are far smaller than those of the Pingnan Palace, plus Geng Juzhong, the only one who can threaten Geng Jingzhong, has defected to our army, and the entire Jingnan Palaces are already under Geng Jingzhong's absolute control." Therefore, if Geng Jingzhong pulls the flag against the Qing Dynasty, there will be no major problems internally, which is extremely conducive to our plan to use Geng Jingzhong's national strength to consume the dog. ”

"Of course, Geng Jingzhong's internal is not without problems, according to Geng Juzhong's confession, the cohesion of the grassroots generals of the Fujian army does not seem to be high, before Geng Juzhong and Geng Jingzhong competed for the throne of the prince, the purchase of grassroots generals was very smooth, but Geng Juzhong is only the second son, the power and money in his hands are limited, and he has not been able to buy too many grassroots generals. It can be seen from this that after Geng Jingzhong pulled the flag and opposed the Qing Dynasty, if the war went well, he might still be able to do it to the armies in various places, but if the war was unfavorable, the situation might be difficult to say. ”

"It doesn't matter much." Hu Guozhu sneered and said: "We don't want Geng Jingzhong to contain the main force of Mangou for much time, as long as we can have seven or eight months, our main force can calmly raise troops." When the time comes, as long as he is alive, he will definitely be able to get reinforcements from us. ”

"My nephew thinks the same way." Lu Fatzi echoed: "The main force of Mangou is currently being pinned down by us in the Yangtze River battlefield, and the remaining troops are scattered all over the town, and the new army is inexperienced and lacks combat effectiveness. ”

"So what exactly are you going to do?" Wang Shirong asked.

"In three steps." Fat Lu raised three fingers and said in a yin voice: "The first step, our army shows weakness to the enemy, so that Mangou misjudges the time of our all-out attack, induces Mangou to divert his attention, and gives birth to the idea of getting rid of Geng Jingzhong's henchman first, and exerts more pressure on Geng Jingzhong. ”

"How can you show weakness?" Hu Guozhu asked.

"Please ask the prince to play a note to the court of full dogs." Lu Fatzi replied in a low voice: "Let's just say that the prince is preparing to relocate the Pingxi Royal Mansion to Hengzhou in order to replace the Mangou Emperor's five provinces, and ask the Mangou Emperor to approve it, and also ask the Mangou Emperor to allocate funds and food for the relocation of the palace." And also created public opinion among the people, making everyone think that my grandfather was ready to move the palace. ”

"In this way, coupled with the fact that we have indeed built a palace in Hengzhou, the Mangou Emperor and the Mangou Imperial Court will inevitably have the illusion, either that the prince's grand ambition is only to divide the five southwestern provinces, or that the prince will inevitably not have a full-scale northern expedition in a short period of time, so as to take our army lightly and put his mind on the dangerous southeast Fuguang. Even if this plan fails, Man Gou will also think that since the prince is preparing to go south to Hengzhou Dingfu, it will be difficult to make a big move in a short period of time, and there will be some relaxation in any case, which will also be very beneficial to our army's sudden attack in the future. ”

"This plan is very good, I can agree on behalf of my father-in-law." Hu Guozhu was overjoyed and said: "The matter of persuading my father-in-law to go to this trick is wrapped up in me." ”

"Thank you, uncle." Lu Fatzi thanked him, and said with a wry smile: "The first step is the easiest and safest, even if we fail, we have nothing to lose." But the second step and the third step are different, and if you are not careful, the consequences will be unimaginable. ”

"Let's talk about it first, we can discuss whether we want to go or not." Hu Guozhu commanded.

"The second step is to use our secret alliance with Geng Jingzhong." Lu Fatzi lowered his voice and said slowly: "Please ask my grandfather to send an envoy to Fujian to meet Geng Jingzhong in person, and make such a request to him............ because this request is not difficult and will be of great benefit to Geng Jingzhong, so he must agree, as long as he acts according to the law, our third step can be effective." ”

"At the same time, we can also get in touch with Zheng Jing and ask for his help, because Geng Jingzhong's anti-Qing is beneficial to Zheng Jing, and Zheng Jing will inevitably agree to cooperate with us in order to please his grandfather for himself. As for the candidate for the envoy to Geng Jingzhong, the nephew has already thought about it, so he will use the nephew's master, Uncle Wang, he will definitely be competent. ”

"Then is the most critical third step, please take care of the prince...... Sent to Guangdong, surrendered to Shang Kexi's old thief and Yue Le, and then took advantage of the father-son contradiction between Shang Kexi's letter ............. At that time, once Shang Kexi and Yue Le are in the scheme, they will inevitably have the intention of capturing the thief and capturing the king first, and the plan will be calculated to the predetermined place to arrange an ambush, and the messenger we sent to Geng Jingzhong's side will take the opportunity to ............, and Zheng Jing's ambush soldiers will also take the opportunity to act, so that Geng Jingzhong, Shang Kexi, and Yue Le will misunderstand each other, and in order to strike first, there will inevitably be a fire and merger! ”

"And after the fire, no matter what the victory or defeat is, Geng Jingzhong must immediately raise troops against the Qing Dynasty in order to survive, consume the national strength of Mangou for us, contain the main force of Mangou, and also let Mangou fall into a multi-front combat dilemma, and our army will take the opportunity to reap the benefits and take advantage of the chaos!"

By the time Fat Man Lu finished speaking, Hu Guozhu and Wang Shirong had already opened their mouths wide and stared at Fat Man Lu for a long time and couldn't say a word. After a long time, Hu Guozhu patted Lu Fatzi on the shoulder and said: "Virtuous nephew, my uncle really obeyed you, playing with the trick of the three princes in applause like this, my uncle will definitely not be able to think of it even if he wants to break his head!" ”

"My uncle is falsely praised, and my nephew is ashamed." Fat Lu was pretending to be modest, and said with a frown: "What my nephew is most worried about now is that this serial plan is too complicated and too dangerous, and if you are not careful, as long as you make a little mistake, the consequences will be unimaginable!" ”

"It's dangerous." Wang Shirong said with a gloomy face: "At the very least, the fraudulent candidate you sent in your plan is not reliable, with his surname and personality, as long as he shows a little flaw and is discovered by the two old foxes, Shang Kexi and Yue Le, he will be able to sell us all immediately!" ”

"Yes, this man is not reliable, and he will definitely betray us." Fat Lu nodded vigorously, and said with a cruel smile: "However, this is exactly what I hope - sometimes, if the dead are used well, the effect is better than that of ordinary emissaries!" ”

"You're going to use him as a dead room?" Wang Shirong's heart sank.

"Mr. Liangchen, do you still feel sorry for such a person?" Fat Lu sneered, spread his hands and said: "Instead of wasting food to raise such a person, it is better to let him serve the prince once, if he can hide from Yue Le and Shang Kexi's eyes, it will be his luck." If he can't hide the eyes of Shang Kexi and Yue Le, and sells us again, he deserves it, so why should we feel sorry for him? ”

"Dead fatty, it's really ruthless!" Wang Shirong scolded from the bottom of his heart, then turned to Hu Guozhu and said: "General Jinwu, although the plan proposed by Mr. Mao Yao, a student, has hope of success, if it fails, our losses will be too great. First of all, our relationship with Geng Jingzhong will definitely deteriorate, and maybe it will break down completely, and secondly, if this plan fails, it will not be so easy for us to recruit enemy generals. So, the students think that General Kongo should think twice! ”

"Yes, there are risks and opportunities!" Hu Guozhu sighed, stared at the moonlit lake and pondered for a long time before Hu Guozhu turned to Wang Shirong and asked, "Mr. Liangchen, in your opinion, is this plan worth trying?" ”

"Students are really afraid to take a stand." Wang Shirong smiled bitterly, "It's too risky, a little careless, the consequences are unimaginable." But there is also hope for success in this plan, and if it can be achieved, it will be very beneficial to our army, and the benefits can be said to be endless! So students don't support it, but they don't oppose it either. ”

"Yifeng, what about you?" Hu Guozhu turned to Lu Fatzi again and asked, "You proposed the plan, how sure are you?" ”

"Back to my uncle, my nephew doesn't know." Lu Fatzi smiled even more bitterly, "It's not a secret, because of weighing the pros and cons and calculating the details, the nephew stood in front of the Xingyuan Gate for half an hour before, and Leng forgot to hand over the waist card to ask for a meeting, but he couldn't decide whether to recommend his grandfather to adopt this plan." ”

"I can't make up my mind." Hu Guozhu sighed, turned around to look at the pool water under the moonlight, and said hesitantly: "With such a complicated and dangerous plan, if something goes wrong, who will bear the consequences?" ”

"You don't have to hesitate, the old man will bear the consequences! Just do so! ”

Wu Laohan's familiar voice suddenly sounded behind him, and Lu Fatzi, Hu Guozhu and Wang Shirong, who were standing side by side next to the pond, were all startled, and when they hurriedly looked back together, they saw that Wu Laohanjian had already led four guards to stand behind them. Hu Guozhu and Lu Fatzi hurriedly saluted, and Hu Guozhu asked tremblingly: "Father-in-law, when did your old man arrive?" Why didn't the sons-in-law hear the news? ”

"When Yifeng first proposed the first step plan, the old man was already standing behind you, but you were so attentive and attentive, so you didn't notice it." Wu Laohan said with a smile: "As for your personal soldiers guarding the gate of your back garden, the old man did not allow them to spread the news. ”

"I see, the sons-in-law have lost their welcome, please forgive your father-in-law." Hu Guozhu breathed a sigh of relief, and secretly congratulated that several of them were quite honest and didn't say anything bad about Wu Laohanjian behind his back, otherwise, Wu Laohan's expression would definitely not be so kind.

"Get up, what forgiveness is needed?" Wu Laohan waved his hand to let Hu Guozhu and Lu Fatzi and the others get up, and said with a smile: "The plan proposed by Yifeng just now, the old man has heard it from beginning to end, and the old man thinks that it can be worth a try!" ”

"Father-in-law, but ......." Wu Lao Han was suddenly so decisive, Hu Guozhu was suddenly taken aback.

"Needless to say, I know the consequences, the big deal is that Geng Jingzhong and the old man turned their faces, what's the big deal?" Wu Laohan waved his hand, put on an ugly face again, and said solemnly: "Taking this opportunity, the old man also tells you an experience, the experience that the old man exchanged for blood - on the battlefield, the most dangerous thing is not the enemy, but the so-called allies and companions!" The most reliable is not the so-called allies, only themselves! ”

"Back then in Songshan, the old man trusted his comrade-in-arms Wang Pu and was ready to join forces with him to break through, but he threw down the old man and took the lead in running, alarming the Jiannu army that surrounded the old man, and causing the tens of thousands of troops directly under the old man's direct command to be wiped out, and only the old man escaped back to Ningyuan by luck! Later, on the Miyun battlefield, the old man also trusted his comrade-in-arms Fan Zhiwan, and the lone army went deep and bravely took the lead, but he left the old man and led the army to run away alone, leaving the old man to fight alone and suffer the second fiasco in his life! It was also from that day that the old man swore a poisonous oath that in the future, on the battlefield, he would never pin his hopes on his comrades-in-arms, but only put all his hopes on himself! ”

"Comrades-in-arms are still like this, let alone allies?" Wu Laohan paused for a moment, and asked meaningfully: "Besides, Geng Jingzhong, an ally, you ask yourself, is it reliable?" Is it trustworthy? ”

Hu Guozhu, Lu Fatzi and Wang Shirong were dumbfounded together, all of them looked humble, and finally Hu Guozhu flattered: "Father-in-law Shengming Candlelight, if an ally like Geng Jingzhong can be trusted, when we raised troops on the side of the Qing monarch, the envoy we sent to Fujian to contact him would not have mysteriously disappeared for no reason." ”

"That's right! If he really wanted to help the old man, he would have already raised troops at that time, so why bother to play the shameless trick of making the old man's messenger disappear mysteriously? Wu Laohan applauded, and snorted coldly: "Since such an ally is unreliable, then even if there is no such an ally, what is the big deal?" took advantage of a peak to figure out such a clever plan for the old man, and used him to death, what does it matter? Why bother to let our Pingxi Wangfu throw their heads and spill their blood in front, and let a waste like him pick peaches cheaply in the back? ”

"Grandfather Shengming." Lu Fatzi hurriedly patted his ass, "There are also such examples in the West, there is a Western country called Italy is like this, if he turns his face with his allies, the allies only need 30,000 people to sweep him, if he remains neutral, the allies only need to deploy 50,000 troops to guard against him, but if he fights side by side with his allies, then things will be troublesome - the allies have to send 100,000 troops to protect him, and fill the loopholes left by his fiasco!" ”

"And such a miracle?" Wu Laohan laughed, "But it's not surprising, the old man has seen a lot of such an army before, and according to the old man's opinion, Geng Jingzhong is probably similar to this kind of person." ”

Hu Guozhu and the others echoed and laughed, and at the end, Hu Guozhu hurriedly suggested: "Father-in-law, you are determined to adopt this plan, then according to the opinion of the son-in-law, you should let Yifeng go to Guangxi again and arrange a command in the nearest place, so that you can prevent some accidents." ”

"Yifeng, over there in Ji Ji Mountain, can you go away?" Old Man Wu turned to Fat Lu and asked.

"It's not a big problem to leave for a month or two." Lu Fatzi replied: "Samples of firing needle guns and bullets have been made, how to mass produce and save costs, Mr. Xianyan is better than his grandson-in-law, with him, there will be no accidents." As for the rest, we can wait for my grandson-in-law to come back. ”

"Then you can go." Wu Laohan remembered that Lu Fatzi left Yunnan to Guangxi last time and did not delay the production of firearms, so he immediately agreed, and then ordered: "Hurry up, perfect the details of the plan, and call the general you are preparing to meet me tomorrow, and let him go to our death!" ”

Note: The 12th year of Kang Mazi is the Lunar New Year, not only February 29, but also February 30.

(To be continued)