That night in the government office, Chen Baxian entertained Xiao Fangzhi alone, and kept persuading him to drink during the banquet, and kept greeting Xiao Fangzhi with compliments and compliments, and even asked people to find the best kabuki in the city to help the fun. Xiao Fangzhi was in a happy mood and drank a lot of wine, so Chen Ba pretended to be drunk and cried when the time was ripe: "Alas, I have been waiting for the king to be the emperor, but unfortunately I am afraid that there will be no chance." ”

Who knew that Xiao Fangzhi actually sighed and said: "Alas, General Chen, you too, you have defected to your father and are loyal, but you were falsely accused of being a good match, which made your father Wang Longyan angry." Chen Baxian pretended to be drunk and said: "The minister is not strong enough to drink, and he has to hurry tomorrow." Just retire first, you are free, I have arranged for someone to prepare a clean guest room in the backyard. Xiao Fangzhi raised his wine glass and said to Chen Baxian affectionately: "General Chen, I have worked hard, to be honest, I am a firm believer in your loyalty." Let's leave it at that. ”

Chen Ba smiled at him first, didn't say anything more, and turned to leave. When he came out of the house, he did not go to rest, but rode directly to the general headquarters of the city defense battalion, asked the herald to gather all the generals, and asked people to bring Yang Tan quietly.

Yang Tan appeared in front of Chen Baxian again, he was a little surprised that it was so late, what did Chen Baxian want to do, but before he could speak, Chen Baxian asked first: "Lord Yang, I understand everything you said today." But the old man still has something unclear and wants to ask the adult. Yang Tan saw that he was suddenly very polite when he spoke, so he also asked with a pleasant face: "I don't know if there is anything that the general doesn't understand, I must know everything." ”

"Ling Zun sent you to lobby me to ask me to surrender to Gao Huan, right?" Chen Baxian didn't have time to play dumb riddles with him, and directly said what he thought. Yang Tan was shocked when he heard this, and thought that he was the most leaky and told the true situation, but he never mentioned Gao Huan's name from beginning to end, how could Chen Baxian know so clearly, so he planned to continue to conceal it, he defended: "The general misunderstood, neither my father nor Gao Huan meant this, the reason why I came to meet you is to tell you the truth about Ling Zun's matter, and I don't want you to be deceived by traitors all the time and be laughed at by the world." ”

Chen Ba said anxiously: "Xiao Duo has become suspicious of me, and has repeatedly summoned me to Xiangyang, at this time the old man has already told Lord Yang the truth, since you are sincere to come to save me, don't hide and deceive the old man, we don't say secret words, I can only come out seven or eight points for your true purpose, please be honest with each other and tell the truth." Yang Tan was also skeptical when he heard him say this, but seeing that Chen Baxian's solemn face was not like playing with himself, he simply said: "Since this is the case, then I will tell the truth." ”

Chen Ba first untied him and brought him to the desk, handed him a cup of warm tea and said, "Please sit down and speak slowly." Yang Tan nodded, took a sip of tea, the night in Jiangling is still quite cold, although this place is close to the Yangtze River, but the temperature difference between day and night is very large. Yang Tan seemed to be recalling something, and after a while, he sighed and said: "I can't hide it, I was ordered by my father to come to persuade the general to serve the imperial court, don't get me wrong, the imperial court I am talking about refers to Liang Guo, not Gao Huan." ”

Chen Ba nodded first and said, "Well, you continue." Yang Tan continued: "My father has been an official for many years, but unfortunately he has never been able to recover the lost land in Hebei, and later he was framed by Zhu Yi's traitor and almost died in the dungeon. Later, Gao Huan and Xiao Daoquan came and released him, he didn't work for Gao Huan, but the capital under Gao Huan's rule was indeed more peaceful than ever. The displaced people in the Sanwu area were also sent back to their hometowns, and Gao Huan not only helped them build houses, repair farmland, but also distribute food to each family.

How many people are in the Sanwu area, I don't say it, you know better than me, how much food do so many people eat in a day? But Gao Huan's food supply has been almost half a year. My father thought it was just a means for him to buy people's hearts, but later all kinds of good governance followed, and the lives of the people in the midst of war and disasters were indeed improved. However, when people were full, they began to feel unstable, thinking that Gao Huan's Wei army was an invader, and there was an incident of bandits attacking the Wei army's grain team in the market.

It stands to reason that Gao Huan's people are far better than Hou Jing, but they are so hostile to people, my father thinks that it is mainly because the official propaganda of the imperial court is not good, even if we are in a moral family to help us, we should be grateful instead of eating enough to take up arms to fight them, after all, the war and disasters are not brought by Gao Huan.

My father wanted the people to live a good life for a long time, and not to fall into chaos again. So he took the initiative to surrender to Gao Huan, planning to use the financial resources of the Wei army and his political influence to do more practical things for people in the Sanwu area. Xiao Duo just wanted to provoke a war, and his only purpose was to become emperor. He was the most powerful of the many sons of the first emperor to fight against Hou Jing, but he supported his troops and sat on the mountain to watch the tiger fight, wanting to profit from it. Things have now developed farther and farther away from his original plan, and he began to harbor suspicions to obstruct it and obstruct the reunification of the country. ”

Speaking of this, Chen Baxian basically understood the meaning of Yang Tan's words: surrender Gao Huan and let the Liang State be unified again. Chen Ba first lowered his head and muttered for a moment, then raised his head and said, "What kind of person does Lord Yang think Gao Huan is?" Yang Tan said truthfully: "I have only seen him once in Xia, and I still took a look at him from a long distance when I went to court." I think this person is very ordinary, not a good master who is wise and martial. ”

Chen Baxian said strangely: "Then your father still wants me to serve him, isn't this a joke?" Yang Tan said: "The general's words are wrong, Gao Huan's success does not lie in how strong his own ability is, but in the fact that he can be used by others, it is because he himself can be ordinary, so he hopes that a powerful person like the general can join him." I think that a person can only show his importance in a place where he can prove himself. ”

Chen Baxian nodded with satisfaction, these words are very reasonable, although the idea is peculiar but the fact is so, the monarch's ability is very strong, and it is often difficult for his subordinates to develop, because he is dissatisfied with you in what he does, such a strong county lord often has a lot of welcome and horses, on the contrary, those masters who are mediocre but willing to be taught are often more popular, and many talented people are willing to follow him.

This reminded him of Liu Bang, the ancestor of the Han Dynasty, said that Liu Bang destroyed Xiang Yu to dominate the world, and put down the rebellion of the princes and kings, but he wanted to govern the world, but found that few people had talent, so he recruited virtuous people to enter the court as officials, legend has it that there were eight famous people in the folk at that time, all of whom were very respected virtuous talents, Liu Bang sent people to invite several times, these people either fled to the mountains, or they did not want to come out incognito.

One day, Liu Bang held a banquet and found that several old men who were traveling with the prince (Lu Pheasant's son) looked and behaved very leisurely and had a very good demeanor, so he asked the prince: "Who are these people?" The prince, who was only eighteen years old at the time, replied honestly: "These are the eight celebrities that my father had always wanted to recruit but had been repeatedly rejected. Liu Bang was very unhappy at first, but then he thought that they could go out of the mountain to assist his son, and he originally said that his son was very popular, and he was the only one who would inherit the throne in the future. But it turned out that the crown prince was just a mediocre emperor and died young.

From this point of view, the more powerful and representative the people will be convinced, just as the powerful Eastern Wei envoy of the Southern Liang people at this time has always hated them, only a few more people like Gao Huan who are as good as the flow can probably appease the people. Chen Baxian secretly made up his mind and did this vote today.

He raised his head and said to Yang Tan: "Since even Ling Zun thinks that Gao Huan is a person who can be followed, I, Chen Baxian, have nothing to doubt, I will let you go back and report to Ling Zun, and say that I, Chen Baxian, am willing to wait for Wang Shi according to Jiangling." Yang Tan felt a little dazed and overwhelmed by his sudden surrender and betrayal, and said with his mouth wide open: "Really? Don't be kidding, General! ”

Chen Ba first swore to him and said: "The old man is full of words, will he still lie to you?" I'll write a letter to you and take it back, and then Lingzun will naturally understand my intentions. Yang Tan didn't feel like a joke. The two were discussing softly, and at this time, several generals came in one after another outside, and they were a little surprised to see Yang Tan. But Chen Ba first motioned for them to sit down first.

Waiting for these people to sit down, Chen Ba said first: "You have been with me for a while, but I have only let you suffer with me, and now Xiao Duo sent his son here, I don't say the intention, you can probably guess in your heart, that's right, someone participated in my book in front of the king of Xiangdong, saying that I colluded with Gao Huan of the Eastern Wei Dynasty, whether I colluded with Gao Huan of the Eastern Wei Dynasty, everyone here must know in their hearts, and I don't have to explain to him." But-" Chen Baxian looked at his generals and suddenly raised the tone.

All the generals raised their heads to look at him, and Chen Baxian said loudly: "I know today why Wang Seng Bian abandoned him in the first place, such a villain is indeed not worthy of others to follow." So far, he still wants to trick me into going to Xiangyang, he must not have held back any good fart. My Chen Baxian's personal life and death don't matter, but my brothers have followed me for many years from birth to death, and finally ended up with a reputation as a foreign enemy, which is not what I, Chen Baxian, want to see. Then he pointed to the sheep and said.

"This Lord Yang Tanyang, there must be someone here who knows him, that's right, he is the eldest son of Situ Yang Kan, he was ordered by the emperor to come to persuade us to surrender to the court, and most importantly, Lord Yang Kan also fully sponsors us, as long as we surrender sincerely, the emperor will not only not blame the past, but also a reward from high-ranking officials, right?" After speaking, he turned his head and asked Yang Tan, Yang Tan was a little confused by this question, he didn't say that there were high-ranking officials before. But seeing that these people here were staring at him one by one, as if they could swallow him alive at any time, he said in his heart that these people were all coarse and coarse, so I promised them first and then talked about it, and then I went back to discuss it with my father. So he nodded.

Seeing this, the generals swept away the previous tense and quiet atmosphere, and immediately began to whisper in private, with a look of joy on their faces. Chen Ba saw that the time had come, got up and said to a few of them: "Without further ado, you should hurry back and make arrangements, guard the four city gates, prepare grain and grass materials, and prepare to defend in Jiangling City, and soon Xiao Duo will know that we have rebelled." We need to prepare in advance. Then he asked people to send the sheep away, and sent someone to the government office to control Xiao Fangzhi.

Xiao Duo originally asked Xiao Fangzhi to replace Chen Baxian to guard Jiangling and take over his troops, just in case, he also sent thousands of troops to accompany him in advance, but he didn't expect Chen Baxian to play cards according to the routine at all, directly kidnapping his son, annexing the army he sent, and erecting a counter-flag to wait for Gao Huan's Liang army to respond. This made him go crazy, and this is the real loss of the lady and the loss of the army.

The people in Xiangyang City are panicked, Gao Huan's army striker Wang Seng Bian has arrived in Yingzhou, Fuzhou area, Sizhou and Nansizhou, Xiangzhou, Huazhou several county guards have surrendered, people have taken these cities without blood, now coupled with Chen Baxian's rebellion, it is simply heaven to forget him Xiao Duo, his subordinates are detached and he is naturally suspicious, at this moment Xiao Duo even feels that there is no one in the entire Xiangyang who can be trusted, and they all want his head to be taken to Gao Huan to ask for credit.

He had the guards keep the three floors inside and the three floors outside his mansion tightly guarded to prevent anyone from murdering him. For the sake of insurance, he even transferred the military strength of the town guards from all over the country to the counties around Xiangyang to defend. He was not even exempted from going to the government office, and every day he ate and drank Lazar in the three-story building of his mansion to tinker with some unknown things, and sometimes he even ran around in a delirious manner.

His wife Xu has long been accustomed to his behavior, and even happily sees that he is not sleeping in the bedroom, so that it is convenient for her to have a private meeting with her lover. (To be continued.) )