It stands to reason that Lu Ji should go through the main gate if she wants to take Xi Zhicai to see Guo Tu. However, this was not the case, she led Xi Zhicai, Lu Ling, and Lu Qi brothers and sisters not to go in the direction of the main entrance, but instead went around into the backyard of the post house, and stopped in front of the manger of the backyard horse circle.

In the middle of the night, the groom in charge of raising horses was sleeping on the haystack at the edge of the circle. Hearing the sound of footsteps, he jumped up and asked, "Who is it?" ”

"A lump of dirt in the Garden of Eden!"

Then the groom relieved himself and fixed his eyes, "Who should I be?" It turned out to be Senior Lu. Then after he saw the red-clothed robe on Xi Zhicai's body, he changed his cynicism just now and said respectfully: "Meet the Cardinal." ”

"Without further ado, we were in a hurry to go to church. Hurry up and open the door. ”

"Whoa!" The groom complied with Lucies, strode into the ring, wrapped his arms around the manger where he was drinking, and moved the wooden manger away with a sharp force, revealing a deep cavern in the ground. "Your Excellency, please!"

"This is ......" Seeing that Xi Zhi was stunned, Lu Ling took the initiative to come forward to explain, and said: "The Holy Sect has set up the Mother Earth Church of the Jizhou Branch Church underground, and there is the entrance in front of you. ”

"Underground?" Xi Zhicai suddenly realized. Without hesitation, Lu Ji walked up the stone steps at the entrance of the cave and walked into the underground world in Yecheng. After seeing the underground network that extends in all directions, he finally understood why Yuan Shao had repeatedly sent people to arrest the church henchmen before this, but he had never been able to achieve anything. Those who put up leaflets everywhere at night only had to drill into this tunnel, and Yuan Shao would never be able to search them out unless he dug three feet into the ground.

Walk along the torch-lit corridor and through the guarded iron gate to the main hall of the Mother Earth Church.

At this time, Guo Tu and Feng Ji were in the lobby, chatting happily with Li Xin.

Li Xin, who was facing the door, was the first to discover the arrival of Xi Zhicai, and his face couldn't help showing excitement, and he rushed to Xi Zhicai in three steps and two steps, and it was a bear hug, "Young Master Xi, you are finally here!" ”

"Li Xin?" Xi Zhicai is very familiar with each other. When the first Qifeng Pavilion opened, Li Xin served as a chef in it and accompanied him day and night for six years. "Why are you here?"

Guo Tu smiled heartily, "Bishop Xi doesn't know, Bishop Li is the patriarch of our diocese of Jizhou, and tens of thousands of believers in Jizhou have to listen to him." ”

"Patriarch?" It is difficult for Xi Zhicai to associate the Li Xin in his memory, who was busy in front of the dryness wearing a grease twist apron, with the leader of the Jizhou Notre Dame Church. But Li Xin did it, not only did it, but also did it very well. In the past six years, the Diocese of Our Lady of Jizhou has caused a lot of trouble to Yuan Shao, and Yuan Shao's teeth are itchy but helpless. He sighed, "What Brother Yi said, 'Shibei should be impressed for three days' is really a warning to the world." Don't say 'Shibei', even a cook who hasn't seen you for a few years can dominate one side...... It was an eye-opener. ”

Secretly sighed, Xi Zhicai said to Li Xin: "In the future, I will ask Bishop Li to teach more!" ”

"Oops! Drama boy, don't stumble on me. Li Xin scratched his head honestly. Come on! Time is of the essence, so there is little gossip. Let's get down to business first! He pointed to Guo Tu and Feng Ji and said: "Childe, please allow me to reintroduce to you, these two people in front of you - Lord Guo and Master Feng are the bishops and deputy bishops of the Yecheng branch of our Holy Mother Church Jizhou Branch, and they have long been our brothers in the Lord!" Ha ha...... In the past few years, Lord Guo and Lord Feng have contributed a lot to our Holy Sect, and it is thanks to their contributions that the battle between the Holy Sect army and Yuan Shao will go so smoothly. ”

"No wonder!" Pity that Yuan Shaomo has appointed Guo Tu, the most trusted adviser, to investigate the inner ghost for many years, but he can't imagine that Guo Tu himself is the biggest inner ghost in Hebei. In addition, Guo Tu has been making waves in Hebei for many years, and has framed a large number of capable people in Hebei by a series of means such as framing and planting. Originally, Xi Zhicai thought that Guo Tu was consumed by the desire for profit, and killed Zhongliang in order to fight for power and profit. Today, Fang knew that Guo Tu was working for the church, and Yuan Shao did not distinguish between loyalty and treachery, which led to detachment from morality and finally defeated.

Thinking of this, Xi Zhi gradually understood what Guo Jia's "simple task" represented. Then he asked: "Tonight, Lord Guo asked me to come to see me, is it a plan to earn Jizhou?" ”

Guo Tu smiled smugly, "As the bishop said, Tu has already made a plan. Not afraid of playing bishop jokes. At present, there is quite a lot of power in Jizhou, and the more than 40,000 soldiers and horses stationed inside and outside Yecheng City are all under the control of Yan Liang and Wen Chou. I am kind to Yan Liang, and he and Wen Chou are now serving me, and they are absolutely trustworthy. Tomorrow, the bishop can only go to visit Yuan Shang's intention to surrender. If he Yuan Shang is willing to surrender, then it's fine, if he refuses to ......" His face suddenly showed a bit of ruthlessness, and said: "Don't blame him for being ruthless!" ”

"Lord Guo means to make a mutiny?" Xi Zhicai asked.

"Exactly!" Guo Tu smiled and nodded.

"In this way, Yecheng is at your fingertips." Xi Zhicai stroked his hands and laughed.

Guo Tu corrected: "It's not just Yecheng. Almost the whole of Jizhou was under the control of the subordinate, and at the same time they changed their flags and became part of the diocese. ”

"So...... To seize Jizhou, Lord Guo should be the first to take the lead! The drama is not talented, and the temporary acting sect leader thanked Lord Guo for everything he has done for the imperial court. ”

Guo Tu corrected again, "What you are doing is not for the court, but for the Holy Religion and the Holy Mother!" ”

"Our Lady bless!" Li Xin was deeply moved, and excitedly drew a cross on his chest.

Early the next morning, Xi Zhicai came to the gate of Yuan's mansion early according to the time agreed by Guo Tu. In the past few years, Yuan Shao has spent a lot of thought on this house. The mansion was originally built in imitation of the Luoyang Palace of the Han Dynasty, but the scale was half smaller than that of the Luoyang Palace. Later, Yuan Shao heard that Luan Yi's courtyard at the foot of Jinan Guoli Mountain was more beautiful, so he rebuilt it according to the style of Luan's outer house.

It's a pity that the originally solemn Luoyang Palace model house looks very nondescript after being placed in the pastoral style of the Luanjia architectural style. However, Yuan Shao was very proud of this, and often invited local celebrities to his house to show off the difference of his house.

The main gate of the Yuan family is called Zhengyangmen, and there is a row of class rooms on the left and right sides of the square in the door, including several important government offices.

The total length of the class room is about 200 steps, and at the end of the walk is where the main hall of the house is located. Sanyongtang adopts Luanyi's original hollow brick structure as a whole, supported by wooden columns. The large windows on the wall are also double-layered, which are tightly integrated with the wall to keep warm in winter and cool in summer, making it very pleasant to live in. On top of the tall brick walls, there is a front eaves carved with flying clouds under the eaves, and the gold tiles laid on the eaves glisten in the sun.

Stepping into the gate where three people can pass side by side, there are really 100 seats on the left and right sides of the hall, symbolizing the civil and military officials. The front of the seat of the hundred officials is a high platform, the high platform is based on bricks and stones, the masonry is hollow underneath, there is a hole in the back, and the entrance of the hole is equipped with a small iron door, which can be stored under the stone platform after being opened, and can be heated for the high platform after being lit. The smoke from the burning of the fire can be discharged outside the hall along with the chimney buried in the ground.

Speaking of which, this structure is very similar to the fire kang, Luan Yi attracted it and made it into the most primitive floor heating facility, which was later learned by Yuan Shao and used in his main hall.

At this time, Yuan Shang sat on this high platform that exuded heat, squinted at the opera Zhicai under the stage, and gave Ma Wei a slap on the head, "Bold drama Zhicai." As a courtier, why don't you pay a full salute when you see the monarch? ”

Xi Zhicai was neither humble nor arrogant: "General Yuan's words are wrong. Before this year, the envoy did serve in Hebei, but at that time, the envoy was filial piety to Yuan Gong, not the general. In addition, this envoy has returned to orthodoxy, and it is the Honglu Temple Qing who is the holy decree of the imperial seal, and he sent an envoy to Jizhou with the scepter of the Son of Heaven, which represents the Son of Heaven. On the other hand, General Yuan said that the best thing to hear is the history of Jizhou's assassination. It's hard to say, the general's assassination history is self-proclaimed, and the court does not approve of it, but it is just a cloth cloth. When I saw the envoy, it should be the general who saluted the envoy. ”

"This ......" Yuan Shang was speechless for a moment.

Xi Zhicai saw Yuan Shang sitting lazily on the chair, without the slightest intention of getting up, and turned his head and asked: "Bold Yuan Shang, don't you salute when you see this angel?" ”

"You ......" The court etiquette was there, and Yuan Shang couldn't do it, so he had to reluctantly stand up, tilt his head sideways and bow to Xi Zhicai. After worshipping, he exculpated himself and said, "It's not you who I worship, it's the Son of Heaven!" ”

Xi Zhicai sneered, "Since General Yuan still knows that there is a Son of Heaven in the world, why does he occupy Jizhou and not pay tribute to the Son of Heaven?" Could it be that you have a rebellious heart? ”

"You...... Bloody mouth! ”

Xi Zhicai said seriously: "Oh? That is to say, General Yuan did not think of any other thoughts, so please return Jizhou to the imperial court. ”

"How is that possible?"

"That's still a bit of a thought." Xi Zhicai's words made Yuan Shang choke again, staring at him with wide eyes, pointing at Xi Zhicai, "you, you", non-stop.

Yuan Shang immediately sent Guo Tu a look of help, intending to let Guo Tu argue with Xi Zhicai. found that Guo Tu was closing his eyes at this time, looking like he was wandering outside.

At this time, Xi Zhicai said again: "General Yuan privately occupies Jizhou, and he is not a minister or a tribute, which is a rebellious act. Our emperor was very angry, and sent my sect leader to lead an army of 200,000 to quell the rebellion. Now that the army has been deployed to the south of the Great River, the flames of war will spread all over Jizhou as soon as the sect leader gives an order. The compassionate man of my family leader couldn't bear to let the people of Jizhou fall into the war, and he was grateful that he had an old relationship with Yuan Gong, the father of the general, when he was young, so he sent his envoy to surrender to the general to leave a way to live. I hope that General Yuan will know the current affairs and take the initiative to surrender, so as not to bring humiliation on himself. ”

"Fart! Let me bow down to him Luan Yi and say that there is no minister! Yuan Shang slammed the table in anger.