Chapter 30: The Dagger (Part 3)

"What, Butcher Zhu is coming to Jiangning?!" The old Confucian Zheng Yu's hands trembled, and he forcibly ripped off a big lock of the beard that was combing!

This news came at an inopportune time. At the beginning of this month, with the heart of bloodshed, he gathered a large group of like-minded people to prepare to fight to the death with the Zhu butcher on the day of the completion of the stargazing platform. As a result, the stargazing platform, which was originally scheduled to be completed on May 15, was completed seven or eight days ahead of schedule, and the Zhu butcher, who was originally rumored to be on stage to worship the sky, did not show up at all. All his preparations were smashed in the air, and he lay on the bed for three days before he could barely recover his vitality.

Immediately after, the appearance of the star map gave him another blow. finally mustered up his enthusiasm again, and was ready to die again when Zhu Tuhu used the star map to make a fuss and suppress Confucianism. However, Zhu Tuhu just gave up the great opportunity to push Confucianism into a desperate situation, and directly let his father-in-law Lu Kun go out of the horse, and came to the past and abandon the present. This made his second effort, and he lost his goal again, and his old waist still hurts badly.

Now, Zheng Yu has already made plans to give up in his heart, but Zhu Butcher has moved to Jiangnan again at this moment? Isn't this a blatant scourge of evil? As the saying goes, once you are strong, then you will decline, and then you will be exhausted. Right now, even if you climb to a high place and desperately tear your throat to call for friends, how many people still have the strength to respond?!

"What, Zhu, Zhu Eighty-one is coming to Jiangnan?" At the same time, he was also taken aback, as well as Zhang Shicheng, the king of Wu. Since he was instigated by the Pu family in Quanzhou a few months ago and swore to cut off diplomatic relations with the Huaiyang Governor's Mansion, he has not slept peacefully for a day. As long as you close your eyes, you will dream that the Huai'an army has hit the door of the house, but on your side, you have no soldiers, no weapons, you can only stretch your neck and lead the neck to kill.

In order to appease Zhu Chongjiu's anger, Zhang Shicheng even sent a fleet of ships and sent 100,000 stone of grain to Yangzhou for nothing after learning the news that the Mengyuan court did not want to send troops south. and let his younger brother Zhang Jiuliu be the envoy and hostage, and took the initiative to admit his mistake to Zhu Chongjiu. Please forgive yourself this time for the sake of his previous meritorious work in raising grain and grass. If the two sides can reconcile, he is willing to give up the honorific title of King Wu, continue to serve Zhu Chongjiu as the master, and send 200,000 stone of grain to Huaiyang every year.

However, what made Zhang Shicheng depressed was that Zhu Chongjiu accepted his grain, but did not see his younger brother Zhang Jiuliu. Just sent someone to say "do it yourself" and ordered the latter to return with the empty ship. As a result, until now, Zhang Shicheng has not figured out what "good for himself" means. They did not dare to close the borders and forbade the people and caravans on both sides to travel back and forth. I am afraid that if I am not careful, Manager Zhu will suddenly kill Suzhou City, just like the surprise attack on Huai'an back then!

"Brother, if you want me to say, you should go to Jiangning in person. Before Zhu Eighty-one had time to do it! "Zhang Jiuliu is one of the few people in the entire Wu Wangfu who can persuade Zhang Shicheng and is quite courageous. After hesitating for a moment, he whispered, "Although I didn't see him last time, I can feel that he is very angry. But he is a bit too kind of a woman, as long as we do a good job, even if he is not happy in his stomach, before the fall of the Mengyuan court, he may not be ruthless to his fellow people in the rivers and lakes! ”

"Lord, what Duke Qi said is very true. Back then, Han Gaozu once bowed his knees to serve Chu, and Tang Gaozu once worshipped Li Mi as his brother. These are all those who can endure the humiliation for a while, but they will eventually settle in Kyushu. "Yang Lian, who participated in politics, was appointed by Zhang Shicheng, and he also stepped forward and persuaded in a low voice." If the lord doesn't want to let the lives be ruined, why not follow the example of Henkel Tang Zu for the time being, and endure it for the time being, in order to plan for the future?! ”

"Can you two be sure, Zhu Eighty-one, didn't really go to see his stargazing platform and star map, but came for me?" Although Zhang Shicheng became more and more rigid after becoming the king, he listened to the words of his younger brother and Yang Lian, but he was also a little hesitant. Frowning, he asked in a low voice.

"This" was named by him as Zhang Jiuliu, the Duke of Qi State, and Yang Lian, who participated in politics, and he didn't know how to answer. After thinking about it for a long time, he muttered one after another: "Brother, be careful to sail the ship of ten thousand years." I heard that he left Wang Kerou in Yangzhou this time. brought Liu Ziyun and Hu Dahai with them. Coupled with Xu Da, who was originally stationed in Jiangnan, the original Fifth Army of Huai'an has already come to three. ”

"Zhu Chongjiu has never respected the gods and Buddhas, and even the temple fields in Huaiyang have been confiscated and distributed to the people for farming. harmed the Buddha, the Tao, the Cross, the Heavenly Sects and the Ming Sect, and they all gritted their teeth when they mentioned him. How, how could he suddenly change his personality and go to Jiangnan to watch the stars in the sky?! ”

"Shhhh When Zhang Shicheng heard this, he was even more hesitant in his heart. With his understanding of Zhu Chongjiu's character, perhaps taking the first step to personally come to the door to take the blame is indeed the best choice to solve the crisis. But people's hearts are the most unreliable, what if Zhu Chongjiu changes his personality and turns his face to detain himself? Isn't it equivalent to taking the initiative to send Wu Yue, a place of ointment, to his mouth? This is a good place with more than one million stones of grain and one million dollars of gold, and if you don't count the salt tax, even Gaoyou and Yangzhou may not be comparable to that year.

But if you don't drag it out, if the two families really fight, although there are more than dozens of thousands of soldiers and horses under your command, they may not be able to withstand the blows of the three legions in Huai'an. Unless, unless he can get the full support of the Fuzhang Pu family and the Mengyuan Jiangxi Province.

Thinking of this, Zhang Shicheng's heart suddenly became hot. Gritted his teeth, and discussed with his subordinates in a low voice: "I have heard that under the command of the Pu family in Quanzhou, there is a Yisi Ba Xi soldier, which is quite good at fighting. If I pay a lot of money and ask him to help."

"Big brother!"

"Lord!"

"Think twice!"

Everyone was taken aback and hurriedly spoke up to dissuade them. "As the saying goes, if you are not of my race, your heart will be different. At the beginning, the Zhao family treated the Pu family very well, but when the Yuan soldiers went south, Pu Shougeng immediately killed all those who supported Zhao and Song in Quanzhou City. Now the strength of the Huai'an army is far stronger than mine, in case the Pu family comes to the battlefield again, we will die and have no place to be buried! ”

"Not really!" Zhang Shicheng frowned when he heard this, and looked at everyone like him, with a little disappointment in his voice. "That Xu Da, didn't you just end the lair of the Huangshan thieves a few days ago? As far as Gu knows, the Yellow Mountain thieves are a group of Great Food Cultists! Yisi Ba Xi Bing is also a big cannibal, and he is bound to be inseparable from Huai'an! ”

"But from beginning to end, the Pu family did not send a single soldier north to rescue the Huangshan thieves!" Yang Lian didn't want to participate in politics, and worked hard according to the actual situation.

"Isn't there a Jiangxi province in the middle, and the road is too far?" Zhang Shicheng was frustrated when he heard this, glanced at Yang Lian, and added unhappily.

Yang Lian didn't see his face clearly, and continued to argue in a low voice, "At that time, the lord had already made a secret agreement with the Pu family, if the Pu family wanted to support the Huangshan bandits, they could borrow the road from the lord!" ”

"Yes, big brother. Even if the Pu family didn't have time to send troops at the beginning, they should at least give Huangshan a support in terms of food and salary. But from beginning to end, the Pu family is a dime! Zhang Jiuliu was afraid that his brother would blame Yang Lian, so he took over the conversation and took the initiative to shield the latter from the wind and rain.

"Shhhh Zhang Shicheng glanced at his younger brother and frowned again in contemplation. If the Huangshan thieves are taken as a precedent, the Pu family is indeed unreliable. And if the Huai'an army really fights, the Yuan soldiers of Jiangxi Province will probably choose to watch the fire from the other side. In that case, he remembered that with the 300,000 soldiers and horses under his command, he went to fight against the three legions of the Huai'an Army

"Impossible!" Suddenly, he shook his head with a smile again, "Zhu Eighty-one has always been cautious, and it is impossible to send all three legions over. If it's just Hu Dahai and Liu Ziyun, or Xu Da and Hu Dahai, we may not be able to compete with them! ”

"No!"

"Think twice!"

When all the civil and military officers heard this, they opened their mouths to dissuade them one after another, "The time for my Great Wu to establish the country is too short, and the soldiers are not trained, so they can't afford to fight viciously!" ”

"My lord, most of my firearms were purchased from Huaiyang, and although we have spared no effort to imitate them in the past two years, the income has always been not as good as that of Huaiyang. Really together, soon artillery and shells will not be available! ”

"Hangzhou is close to the sea, Pingjiang is near the lake, in case Zhu Butcher's fleet comes to the nest, my Great Wu Sailor may not be able to resist it!"

"Lord, that Zhu butcher has always been trustworthy. The covenant of Gaoyou has not yet expired, and the lord only verbally fought with him before, but he has not sent a single soldier to the north. Now, as long as he is willing to endure humiliation, he has no reason to be too harsh on his lord! ”

"Yes, even Zhu Chongba sent someone to steal his cannon-making technique, but he didn't turn his face. How can one favor one over the other! ”

In and out of the words, there is no optimistic about themselves. Zhang Shicheng was so angry that his eyes were black, his scalp was hairy, and he suddenly saw his younger brother Zhang Jiuliu whispering to Yang Lian, and his heart suddenly "snowed"! slapped the table case hard, and stood up: "Smack!" Shut up! Since you don't want to fight, Zhang will take a trip. It's just that when Zhang is away, who presides over the government? ”

In an instant, Zhong Wenwu was so frightened that he closed his mouth, and he didn't dare to say any more. Only Yang Lian, who participated in politics, hesitated for a moment, bowed and saluted, "My lord, Weichen thinks that Qi Gongxian can supervise the country." In this way, in case the Zhu butcher is unfavorable to the lord, as long as the Duke of Qi does not surrender, the lord will not have to worry about his life! ”

"Hahaha!" When Zhang Shicheng heard this, he couldn't help but raise his head and laugh at the sky, "I said that you will wait for today's public words to persuade the orphan to take the blame!" It turns out that you have already discussed it, and you want to establish another meritocracy! Anyway, ninety-six, my brother will fulfill you today. This land of Wuyue is all yours! ”

With that, he raised his hand and wiped a handful of tears. took off the crown and stuffed it into Zhang Jiuliu's arms. Frightened, Qi Gong Zhang Jiuliu's face turned pale and his lips turned black. Hurriedly took a few steps back and fell to his knees: "Big brother, what am I like, don't you know yet?" I, I'd rather die now than have our brothers suspicious of each other. Big brother, if you say war, war is. As long as you give an order, I will go to the school to order troops, and first go to defend the country for my eldest brother! ”

As he spoke, he lay down and kowtowed vigorously. "Knock knock, knock knock!" After three or two strokes, blood came out of the corner of his forehead.

When Zhang Shicheng saw this, he suddenly regretted it in his heart. Hurriedly put on the crown of King Wu, and hugged his own brother's shoulders with both hands, "Ninety-six, ninety-six, don't knock." Brother believes you, brother believes in you, can't you still be? Brother just said an angry word, don't go to your heart, don't go to your heart! ”

"Woo-" Zhang Jiuliu finally relieved himself, covered his face with his hands, and cried loudly.

Zhang Shicheng listened, embarrassed and noisy. Turning his head, he shouted at the crowd, "What are you doing in a daze, don't go to collect grain and grass, and prepare to meet the Zhu thief." Zhang waited for three years, but in the end, no one dared to say anything. Knowing this, what is the use of Zhang raising children? It's better to stay obediently under Zhu Butcher at the beginning, so that you can be a founding hero! ”