"That's right." Shen did not avoid the question of the eldest son, and said calmly: "The imperial court has given me so many missions, in fact, they are all flower heads, and there is only one real intention, that is, to let the marshal hand over the military power, and indeed insult the southeast and not chaos." "Sure enough, I want to unload the mill and kill the donkey" A look of disgust flashed on the eldest son's face, and he said, "Shameless." "Although it sounds like a pretext," Shen spread his hands and said, "But I did my best."

"Oh...... I'm not talking about you. The eldest son realized his gaffe) and hurriedly said="I mean those people. "I know." Shen nodded and smiled, and said, "I was thinking about words-ask you, what do you think about this matter?" -, "I'm one by one, one by one" The eldest son sank for a while) in a depressed whisper = "What is the use of my opinion. "Hmm......" Shen nodded. Indicates understanding. Then he asked, "You say." What will be the attitude of the Southeast Wenwu towards my arrival? "Welcome." The eldest son said: "The friendship on the battlefield is still trustworthy. "I don't mean it." Shen smiled and said, "I don't think you welcome me now." "It's not ......," the eldest son bowed his head and said, "It's just that the thought of the handsome man is painful." In the end, it ended up like this, and my heart was like a knife. "Shen and Xu Wei glanced at each other, I just hope that the eldest son is an example, otherwise Hu Zongxian is really unusual." The news that I came to you" Shen smiled and changed the subject: "It should be spread out, right?" "There are boats coming and going on the island every day," the eldest son nodded, "You should know everything you want to know." "Will they come to see me?" There was a strange smile on the corner of Shen Zuo's mouth, and he also felt that his question sounded ridiculous. This question stumped the eldest son, and he shook his head and said, "I don't know what others think." Shen turned to the desk and sat down, and said with a relaxed expression: "Let's just wait and see." "Is that appropriate?" The eldest son asked in a low voice, "I know you're here." Shen looked at Xu Wei and smiled, and the latter said: "It is precisely because I know all of them that I can sit firmly in Diaoyutai." "Mr. Buncho, please be more straightforward." The eldest son smiled bitterly: "I don't understand your sharp machine. "That's right." Shen explained to him: "The current situation in the southeast is quite delicate." "Who is the horn?" The eldest son asked.

"Xu Ge Lao and Da Shuai are the protagonists." Shen said patiently: "The former must consider whether the southeast is really in chaos, or someone is creating a false impression, if it is really chaotic, will the change of commander worsen the situation." Before these problems are clarified, Xu Kuo will never make a move. ”

"Xihu Butang's side" Shen said again: "Although I don't know what he thinks, judging from the situation a few days ago, his slow reaction is obviously very different from his previous style, and his wait-and-see attitude is very strong."

"Actually, it's not hard to guess." Xu Wei took over the conversation and said: "I know Hu Zongxian well, his strengths and weaknesses are very obvious, he does not avoid people's words, and dares to do things This is his advantage, but sometimes he seems unscrupulous and makes mistakes on major issues of right and wrong. After a pause, he said: "Therefore, he is likely to be waiting for the most favorable situation to arise before he acts." "What's the best situation?" The eldest son asked.

"First, Wang Bengu was removed from office and questioned;" Xu Weiqu calculated: "Second, the situation in the south is critical, forcing the imperial court to overturn the original decision; Third......" He looked at Shen Zuo and said with a smile: "Third, it is this Qincha who openly speaks for him. He clasped his palms together and said, "Only when these three conditions are met at the same time, will he go out." "This. Isn't this ......" The eldest son said with some difficulty: "Do you want to blackmail the imperial court:\}"

"If you change someone else, you may not dare," Xu Wei said in a deep voice: "But this Hu Dashuai can do it...... As I said, he is good at dancing with long sleeves and has no taboos, and as long as he doesn't get caught, there's nothing he can't do. "Cooperating with the Yan Party and negotiating with pirates, Hu Zongxian did not hesitate to do these things that gentlemen did not do, so it made sense for Xu Wei to say this.

Shen also believed in his judgment, and said with a worried expression: "As far as Lin Gong likes to go off the rails with swords, he is actually playing with fire." ”

The room fell into a depression for a while, but Xu Wei broke the silence and said with a smile: "Actually, you are also a positive angle, Qin Cha represents the emperor, once you express your position, even Beijing is not easy to object." "Yes, one by one, one by one," the eldest son said in surprise = "Then you are going to help the big handsome speak) Your relationship is so good, you will definitely help him, right, ba?" ”

"No, you can't." Shen shook his head and said, "If I wasn't this Qincha, I would naturally be able to help Hu Zongxian speak to my heart's content." But Shoufu (8 sent me on this errand, the whole world knows about my relationship with Hu Zongxian, and they are all staring at me with wide eyes.7 As long as they think that I have a little favoritism, the impeachment will be stuffed with the secretary of the government, and not only will I not be able to help him, but I will also suffer.

"Yes, the old puppet let Humble Yan be this Qin Errand, just like putting a hoop on Sun Monkey." Xu Wei's contempt for Xu Jie has reached the point of calling him 'Old Horseman', and he said vividly: "If you follow his wishes, Qincha's signboard is shining and not majestic; But against his will, spells

When you think of it, it is better to discipline you than to die. "Well said." Shen touched his head, as if there was really a golden thing on it, and said with a dry laugh: "But it's not so miserable, this place is thousands of miles away from Beijing, and I'm not a puppet." Saying that, he comforted the eldest son and said, "I will try my best to help Hu Dashuai, you have to believe me." "Of course I believe in your one-one-ten-rone" The eldest son nodded) and said = "What do you need me to do;!" "Get the troops ready." Shen smiled and said, "Of course, I didn't let you attack without permission, if Yu Zongrong gave the order, I hope you can set off immediately." "That's fine." The eldest son nodded again.

\

In the afternoon of the same day, Shen received a letter sent by Yu Dayou, which expressed his welcome to Lord Qincha, apologized for not being able to rush back, and asked him to recuperate with peace of mind.

And so two days later, on the fifth day of Shen's announcement of 'recuperation,' someone finally came to visit him.

The first one to come was Shen Jing, he arrived first near the water, with more than a dozen doctors, several loads of medicines and supplements, hurried over, but saw Shen eating hot pot there sweating profusely, he was so angry that he screamed, pounced, and wanted to fight hard.

Shen hurriedly blocked him with chopsticks, and said with a smile: "It's better to come early than to come by chance, the freshly cooked beef offal hot pot, I remember your favorite food, this is it." "Oh no, you remember." Shen Jing sat down angrily, took the chopsticks and said, "Aren't you deceiving?" As soon as I heard that you were sick, I put aside my work and ran over...... "Okay, okay, I can't pay you for it." Shen poured him wine and said, "For the sake of our three brothers reuniting after a long absence, you should forgive me." The eldest son over there also mentioned Shen and explained: "The current situation is too chaotic, so I made this decision with clumsy words." ”

Shen Jing's face looked better, and he complained: "Say hello in advance next time, okay?" It's a shame that I'm worried. "Good, good." Shen agreed with his mouth full of promises, and punished himself three more cups, Shen Jing finally stopped being angry, and said with a smile: "Actually, I guess you have something in it." "How so?" Shen asked with a smile.

"From the island to Shanghai, it takes only half an hour by boat." Shen Jing smiled slyly: "If you are really sick, you will definitely go to Shanghai for recuperation, why bother to take it with you on Chongming Island, where there is a shortage of doctors and medicines, and the water is salty and bitter." Shen thought about it, it is true that glycoside = what's the matter, but it doesn't matter if it's realistic or not. However, he still admired Shen Jing's goblins and goblins. Shen Jing felt very useful, and said triumphantly: "You still need me, so that you won't show your stuffing." "Oh?" Shen smiled and asked, "How did you help me?" ”

"Since the day before yesterday, people have been asking me if you are really sick and why you don't come to Shanghai or Suzhou to recuperate......," Shen Jing said: "I said that I was sick, but I had to soak in the hot springs on the island every day, so I couldn't leave Chongming County for a while." "Are there hot springs on the island?" The eldest son stared wide-eyed. "I'll just say it casually." Shen Jing rolled his eyes and said, "Such a big island, who knows what's on it." Seeing that his cup was empty, Shen poured him another glass of wine and said, "Thank you for helping me lie."

"You're welcome." Shen Jing clapped his hands, and the entourage carried a few burdens in and rested them on the hall. After they went down, Shen Jing said: "Except for one of the medicinal materials I brought, the rest are gift spoons entrusted to you by others" "Oh......" Shen said lightly: "Who are they?" ”

"See for yourself." Shen Jing took out a stack of gift slips from his sleeve and handed them to him, Shen took them, looked through them one by one, he first saw Tang Kekuan's name, and couldn't help but sigh: "Why is he?" ”

"You don't know yet?" Shen Jingdao: "He was imprisoned for a few years, but then Zhao Wenhua committed a crime, and several of his old friends in the military department managed to pardon him. He said with a smile and said: "He has made a lot of money, and half of the gifts are given by him...... It seems that after walking around the ghost gate, no matter how stubborn the idiot is, he can figure it out. ”

Shen Zuo's eyes appeared in front of the dignified-looking and arrogant-looking general, and then looked at his humble greeting letter now, he couldn't help but sigh in his heart, feeling a little regretful.

He collected his mind and looked through the next gift list, which was from Liu Xian, the chief soldier of Wolf Mountain...... Liu Xian was originally the chief military officer of Zhejiang, and later Hu Zongxian transferred him to Fujian as the chief military officer in order to support his confidant Lu Bo. But this errand is not as important as it sounds, Wolf Mountain is in Tongzhou, the capital of Yangzhou, and is the second line of defense of the Yangtze River...... It was okay when the Japanese were not pacified, but now that the Japanese plague on both sides of the Yangtze River has been extinct, and the strategic center of the southeast has been transferred to the coastal sea and the Fujian and Guangzhou areas, he, the general soldier of Wolf Mountain, has completely sat on the cold bench.

There is also Su Song's deputy commander-in-chief, and Li Xi, the deputy commander-in-chief of Wolf Mountain, and others, each with their own gifts. Shen looked through it again, and the gifts were all generals of the Nanzhi generation, and the ones in Zhejiang may be because of the long road, or because of other reasons, there is no movement yet.

At the same time, in the backyard of the Hangzhou Governor's Mansion, a man with a thin body, gray hair, and a dress dressed as an outsider, his sister was quietly distracted by a flower tree.

It was a plum tree, the branches were strong, black and full of traces of time, and yesterday it snowed a little, and the snow powder was scattered on the branches, as if it had long since died. But at the top of such a branch, there are countless tender yellow petals, crystal clear, not afraid of wind and snow, blooming without scruples.

Since the flower bloomed, he has come to see it every day, and only then can he put all distractions behind and enjoy a moment of tranquility. However, even this small enjoyment must not be guaranteed, because the flowering period will be exhausted...... Look at the petals so crystalline, it is frozen by ice and snow, and when the weather warms up in two days, it is time for the scattered to fall into mud.

Looking at it, a tear slid down from the corner of his eye, followed the deep wrinkles, and went straight to the corner of his mouth, a trace of bitterness, calling him back from his fugue state, and only then did he realize his gaffe.

As soon as he came back to his senses, he heard a low dispute under the corridor in the distance: "You can't go in, our handsome man is resting." Then there were messy footsteps.

He quickly took a deep breath, pretended to be confused, twisted away his tears, and whispered, "What's the matter?" ”

"Dong Weng." Mr. Zheng, a friend of the house, leaned forward and said respectfully: "Wang Zhongcheng is here again." Before the words fell, a middle-aged official wearing a half-worn four-grade official uniform, with puffy eye circles, blistering at the corners of his mouth, and a horsewhip in his hand, appeared in front of him, and sneered: "It turns out that the ministry is sleeping standing up. ”

"Can't sleep." That person was the Ming Prince Taibao in the eye of the storm, Hu Zongxian, the governor of the military administration of the six southeastern provinces, and the one who struck at him was Wang Bengu, the only governor of Zhejiang in the southeast who dared to do something with him. Hu Zongxian said lightly: "Come out and walk in the yard." ”

Wang Bengu was in no mood to rub his tongue with him, and said, "Your Excellency, you must send troops today, otherwise my people will be driven out of Quzhou!" ”

"I have already said it" Returning to political affairs, Hu Zongxian also regained the bearing of the head of the Ming Dynasty, his eyes were deep, his tone was firm, and he said word by word: "This soldier cannot be sent." The other party's rudeness offended his authority, and of course Hu Zongxian was not angry with him. "Why?" Wang Bengu glared at a pair of goldfish eyes and hissed and asked, "Why!" "You're a governor now, not a governor." Hu Zongxian said lightly: "This official has no obligation to explain to you.

Wang Bengu's face turned red all of a sudden, although he was only a seven-grade inspector of the imperial history, he had the title of Qincha, transcendent from the officialdom, and had the right to impeach everyone in the Zhejiang officialdom, including him Hu Zongxian, who dared to give him a bird's anger at that time? I didn't think that I was promoted to the fourth rank and became the governor now, but he was excluded from the circle of power, and he couldn't move any of the arrogant soldiers in the southeast, and he was heavily constrained and struggling to do something.

Now that he is in trouble, he Hu Zongyan stood by and watched, and he also fell into the ground, which made Wang Bengu, who was already short-tempered, unable to hold back any longer, and the goatee was so angry that he snapped, and a horse whip was whipped at Hu Zongxian...... On the plum tree next to him, it rained down one after another.

Over there, Mr. Zheng's face changed, he knew how much the handsome man liked this plum, and when he looked at it secretly, he saw Hu Zongxian's face turn blue. But Wang Bengu didn't care about those, and said angrily: "The soldiers are fighting hard in front, but the governor is demolishing the stage in the back!" Why are you so selfish, do you really want to raise self-respect! ”

"Wang Zhongcheng, be cautious!" Hu Zongxian snorted, took his eyes off the almost bald plum tree, stared at Wang Bengu's eyes like a lion, and asked word by word: "Who caused today's incident, why do you slander this seat to raise a coward?!" ”

"It was I who first decided to close up the privately opened silver mine." Under Hu Zongxian's forced gaze, Wang Bengu couldn't help but shrink his neck, but immediately realized that the loser can't lose the battle, and said hard: "But the imperial court has been going to the court several times, asking for the rectification of the local mining industry, and strictly prohibiting the tenant from opening the mine, have you forgotten?" ”

"Does the imperial court want you to force the people to rebel?" Hu Zongxian said coldly.

"This ...... I didn't expect that to be the case. Wang Bengu knew that he was at a loss, and he swallowed and foamed: "It's too late to say anything now, the number of rebels is already late, they occupy the mountain, set up camp and go down to the village, and openly rebel!" As he spoke, he raised his voice and said: "And because it is located at the junction of the three provinces, this official cannot cross the border, as the governor of the southeast, you are in charge of the military affairs of the six provinces, and you have to take care of this matter regardless of it." "That's good, you can cross the line in this seat, and you can travel through the land of the three provinces" Hu Zongxian teased: "Now you are satisfied!" "You one by one, one by one, one by one" Wang Bengu almost choked on his back) actually stomped his feet and said="How can you be like this? "I almost made Mr. Zheng laugh." Obviously a coward. Hu Zongxian said unceremoniously: "If you have to pretend to be a hero, if you are in trouble now and ask for this seat, you will take out the attitude of begging people."