Li Cunhuan marched into Chuzhou with 3,000 elite soldiers, thinking that he would be greeted by Yang Xingmi's dying counterattack. Although Li Cunhuan is sure, he will defend Chuzhou with 10,000 people. will definitely not let Yang Xingmi succeed. But in Li Cunhuan's view, it is absolutely uncomfortable to defend Chuzhou in time. What I didn't want to receive was Yang Xingmi's head, and the victory came easily, beyond Li Cunhuan's imagination.

Li Cunhuan took a sip of the Taihu tribute tea sent by Huzhou Thorn Shi Gaoyan, looked at Xu Zhihe who was kneeling down, and asked in a deep voice: "You are Xu Zhihe of Jinyi Wei Qianhu, right?" This king heard that Sun Dingshi mentioned your name, your ability is good, and you have provided a lot of Huainan news as soon as you joined Jinyiwei. Originally, after preparing for this war, I arranged for you to go to Huainan to take charge of yourself. I can't think of your ability, this king is still underestimated! ”

"If you go back to Your Highness, the next official is Xu Zhihe, and His Highness's words really make Zhihe ashamed! Zhiyu is just doing his part for His Royal Highness and for the Tang Dynasty! Xu Zhihe said respectfully.

"No, meritorious deeds are rewarded, and there is punishment, this is the principle of this king, and it is also the reason why this king can create a great foundation. This king appointed Er as the commander of the Jinyi Guard who sat in Xuanwu, and the rank was on the fourth grade! Another Yanjing City residence was given, and the money was 500 yuan! Thousands of acres of cool fields. In the future, Xuanwu's affairs will be hard for you! Li Cunhuan said with a smile.

"Thank you, Your Highness Longen! This is the official duty! When Xu Zhihe heard this, he was overjoyed. With his age, as long as there are no accidents, he will definitely be one of the envoys of Jinyi Wei Er in the future, but it is a good reward, Xu Zhihe doesn't care much.

"Well, what's the matter?" Li Cunhuan frowned and asked. According to reason, Xu Zhihe should retire, what else do you want? Can't drink tea and chat with this king?

"Your Highness, the lower officials came this time, and they also brought Huainan General Li Shenfu to come. It's just that this guy is quite loyal to Yang Xingmi, I don't know what His Highness means? Xu Zhihe lowered his head and asked.

"......" was silent for a while, Li Cunhuan sighed, and said: "Wait a minute, you will personally send some things to Li Shenfu for others in a while!" As for Li Shenfu, this king is gone. ”

"Yes, the lower official will retire!" Xu Zhihe said respectfully, stood up slowly, but his waist was still bent, and he retreated to the vicinity of the entrance of the hall, then turned around, straightened his waist, and left with a high spirit.

Looking at Xu Zhihe's back, Feng Baodu asked in a low voice: "Your Highness, this person is quite ambitious, but His Highness has given him such a high position, I am afraid that it will become difficult to control if he is unsealable!" ”

"This king has been prepared for a long time, Feng Baodu, you don't care about this matter!" Li Cunhuan said indifferently, picked up the teacup, took a sip gently, and praised: "Good tea!" ”

"Yes, Xiaguan, understand!" When Feng Baodu heard this, he showed a hint of hesitation, and only after half a sound did he answer in a low voice, his eyes looked at Xu Zhihe's back again, and his eyes were already full of a vicious look.

"The people of Jinyiwei are really not good people, fortunately, I can remove them with a word, and they are loyal enough to me, otherwise I won't worry about the existence of Jinyiwei." Although Li Cunhuan is still drinking tea, he doesn't know how many times he has been running in his heart, weighing the pros and cons.

…… Dungeon......

"My lord, please come here!" The cell boss nodded and led the way in front, the only thing that was not very respectful was that he couldn't help but press his nose with his hand from time to time, because the smell in the dungeon was too bad.

But Xu Zhihe's face did not change, as if his sense of smell had lost his proper function. With his hands behind his back, he followed slowly, and he didn't talk much. Often the cell boss said seven or eight sentences, and then it should be the last sentence, or a word, because the sentence is, 'Hmm! ’。 I don't know if it's perfunctory, or if I don't want to talk, or both.

"Your Excellency, it's here!" The cell boss said respectfully, and did not forget to quickly open the iron door as he spoke. The dungeon is no different than a normal cell, with thick walls and iron doors, but it is not the wooden fence in the movie.

"Well, you go down! Don't let people in! Xu Zhihe said indifferently with a cold face.

"Yes!" The cell boss didn't dare to say more, so he responded respectfully and withdrew.

"Give me something!" Xu Zhihe instructed his subordinates who followed behind.

"Yes!" The subordinate cautiously handed the tray to Xu Zhihe.

After Xu Zhihe took it, he said in a cold tone: "Okay, you go outside to guard, without the orders of the official, unless His Highness comes down, you can't let anyone in!" ”

"Yes!" The subordinates responded respectfully.

Xu Zhihe nodded with satisfaction, holding the tray with both hands. Pushing open the iron door with his foot, there was a tooth-aching sound between the rusty deadbolts.

Hearing the voice, Li Shenfu raised his head with empty eyes and glanced at Xu Zhihe, without a trace of expression on his face, even more indifferent than Xu Zhihe.

"General Li, the lower officer brought a gift from His Highness to see the general." Xu Zhihe didn't care about Li Shenfu's indifference at all, he came to Li Shenfu's side with a smile, and didn't care about the dust on the ground, sat down cross-legged, and put the tray between himself and Li Shenfu.

"This is for you by Your Highness!" Xu Zhihe pushed the tray slightly and said with a smile.

When Li Shenfu heard this, he raised his eyelids a little numbly, glanced at the tray, and mocked in a hoarse voice: "A volume of bright yellow holy decrees, has Li Cunhuan reached this point?" Ignoring the existence of the Son of Heaven? Did you write your own decree? ”

When Xu Zhihe heard this, the corners of his mouth lifted, revealing a touch of deep disdain. 'What did Yang Xingmi do in Huainan, which point was worse than that of King Qin? In addition to not being crowned emperor and honor guard, which point is worse than the Son of Heaven? However, he did not refute it, and he did not bother to refute it with Li Shenfu on this issue. If Li Shenfu surrenders to Li Cunhuan, he will definitely get a high-ranking official, and he will offend Li Shenfu in vain. If you are defeated, you will bring shame on yourself. This kind of thankless loss, Xu Zhihe will not do it.

Li Shenfu glanced at Xu Zhihe in some surprise, but when he saw Xu Zhihe's eyes. A flash of clarity flashed in his eyes, and his face turned into a smile that didn't care. The eyes are turned to the side of the decree. "Oh! This is a celadon made by the tribute kiln in Xinchang (Jingdezhen), right? In the past, it was a tribute from the heavenly family, but now because of the collapse of the world, it has not become a tribute! I can't imagine that Li Cunhuan is so extravagant and uses him to pretend to be poisonous wine! ”

"This is worthy of the identity of General Li!" Xu Zhihe didn't care at all, and Li Shenfu called Li Cunhuan's name. Instead, he smiled and echoed Li Shenfu.

"What is not worthy! This wine is served in the cheapest broken clay bowl, and as soon as this wine enters the stomach, people will not all turn into a pile of loess. Li Shenfu said with a smile, while picking up the wine glass and pouring the wine, but he didn't care at all, this was poisonous wine.

The green water flows slowly down the small mouth of the bottle. Seeing this, Li Shenfu smiled and said, "Heh! Scold! It seems that Li Cunhuan is also good to me, a good Hedong Fenzhou Zhuyeqing! But tribute wine, wine vessels with tribute porcelain, wine is tribute wine! ”

"Isn't General Li afraid of death?" Xu Zhihe can't help but admire Li Shenfu now, it is not uncommon for people who are not afraid of death, but many people are hot-blooded for a while. But it is not uncommon to be so calm and calm in the face of death. And there are people who care about these tiny details. is so fearless of death, Xu Zhihe has only seen Li Shenfu alone. He asked himself if he was in Li Shenfu's position, how much bearing could he have Li Shenfu? Xu Zhihe thinks that he is in Li Shenfu's position, and he has no such bearing!

"Don't you look at the Divine Decree? Although I haven't seen it, His Royal Highness will definitely not let General Li promise a town to make it a throne! However, the title may be a little smaller, and it is estimated that it is an earl. But Lu Long's title doesn't have to be anywhere else, even if it is His Royal Highness's deceased clothes Lu Longjiedu envoy Li Kuangchou, he is only posthumously named the king of the county. His Royal Highness's righteous brother, the world's first general, Li Cunxiaojie, is just a national prince! This title is a lot more expensive. Xu Zhihe seemed to be explaining, but he tempted Li Shenfu.

"No! Zhuangzi has a saying that is very right, what joy in life, and what sorrow in death! Li Shenfu raised his wine glass and brought it to his lips. I don't know why Xu Zhihe had an urge to stop Li Shenfu, but he still resisted this irrational impulse.

"Good wine! I don't know if the aroma of the wine is too strong, or Li Cunhuan is willing to spend the money, this medicine is also colorless and tasteless, right? After Li Shenfu finished drinking, he leaned against the wall with a smile and looked very calm.

"Why should you bother!" Xu Zhihe sighed and muttered.

"Mencius once said a sentence that I feel very reasonable, life is also what I want, and righteousness is also what I want! You can't have both, and so do those who sacrifice their lives to take righteousness! Li Shenfu said with a calm face, not at all welcoming the sorrow and nostalgia for Hongchen that death should have.

"What else do you want!" Xu Zhihe was silent for a while, and asked.

When Li Shenfu heard this, a trace of nostalgia flashed in his eyes, but he didn't know why, he hesitated, shook his head and said, "No!" ”

"Smack! Syllable! ......" Suddenly, there was an unfashionable clapping.

"Who?" Xu Zhihe Huo Ran stood up, held the Tang knife on his waist, and asked vigilantly looking at the door.

"Don't make such a fuss, it's this king!" Under Xu Zhihe's shocked look, Li Cunhuan wore a red brocade robe and slowly walked into the dungeon. Feng Baodu and Zhu Jilong with a straight face behind them.

However, Li Cunhuan didn't let them in, and he didn't mean to let Xu Zhihe stay, so he waved his hand and said, "Let's all retreat!" ”

"Yes!" The three of them answered, and Zhu Jilong glanced at the dungeon and found out what could make Li Shenfu use it as a weapon to commit murder, so he withdrew with peace of mind.

"You are Li Cunhuan?" Li Shenfu couldn't help but be surprised.

"Bold!" Zhu Jilong poked his head out outside and shouted, "Your Highness's name is not your rank prisoner......"

"Go! Go! Don't get involved in that. Li Cunhuan waved his hand and interrupted Zhu Jilong's words. Zhu Jilong was helpless, so he could only glare at Li Shenfu fiercely, and reluctantly withdrew.

"Am I not Li Cunhuan?" Li Cunhuan smiled and sat cross-legged where Xu Zhihe had sat down before, and asked with a smile.

"It's just that His Highness is really ...... old," Li Shenfu muttered with a strange face.

"Too small, right? Why don't you call me Li Cunhuan? The general's death is like home, and the king is also very impressed! Li Cunhuan picked up the wine jug on the tray and poured wine on another wine glass.

Only then did Li Shenfu notice that there were actually two wine glasses. Frowning, his face became even more strange and said, "No...... Poisonous? Speaking of this, Li Shenfu exhaled and said with relief: "No wonder there has been no reaction for so long!" ”

"Naturally, it's not poisoned wine! How could this king be willing to let the general go to the king of Yama as a guest? Li Cunhuan showed a smile, picked up the wine glass, tilted his head, and sighed: "It is worthy of tribute wine!" ”

"Your Highness, you don't seem to care if I call you by your name?" Li Shenfu's face became calmer and returned to the previous topic. But in my heart, I became more and more curious about Li Cunhuan, and called a person, in the world, it was simply an insult to that person, no less than Li Gou'er, Li Fool These insults, but Li Cunhuan didn't care at all.

Li Shenfu knew that Li Cunhuan was a person in the 21st century, and he was called by his full name at that time, what does it matter.

"The general seems to have forgotten the true meaning of the name!" Li Cunhuan shook his head and said with a smile. "Our parents gave us names for something, not to make people identify, words and the like, this king has always thought that it is a snake to add to the foot, but now the world is used to it, and this king does not care. For the compilation of history books, this king has always asked not to tamper with the name because of the name, which is an insult to history and misleads future generations. Now, on the contrary, the name seems to have become a bad word in the mouth of the disgusting man. Don't you feel pathetic? ”

Li Shenfu was stunned, shook his head, and sighed: "Your Highness, very human!" ”

"It's just a matter of abandoning some hypocrisy, don't you look at the Divine Decree?" Li Cunhuan asked.

Li Shenfu shook his head and said with a wry smile: "The king has a great kindness to me, don't mention this matter, Your Highness will kill it." You don't need Your Highness to do anything, just give me a sharp blade! If you have a good impression of me, you want me to leave a whole corpse, a piece of white silk, or a glass of poisoned wine! ”

Li Cunhuan didn't persuade either, but asked with a smile: "You really don't look at it?" It doesn't hurt to take a look, if you really die, I'm afraid that you won't waver in my promise to the position of the Son of Heaven! ”

When Li Shenfu heard this, his hands were clenched into fists, he was silent for a long time, looked up at Li Cunhuan, and said firmly: "It's okay!" When I thank His Highness for the wine! ”

"Don't be so nervous, there is no dagger hidden in this holy decree, I want you to learn Jing Ke to assassinate King Qin." Li Cunhuan said with a smile, picked up the wine jug and poured the wine by himself, and after pouring it, he asked Li Shenfu, "Do you want to have a drink?" There is also an altar here in this king, and it is still offered by Zhu Yanshou! ”

Li Shenfu said with a strange face: "Your Highness, occupy Hedong, haven't you tasted the contents of this cup yet?" ”

Li Cunhuan shook his head with a smile and said: "If something is good at the top, it will be very bad at the bottom." Besides, don't look at Lu Long's successes, where did the money come from these wars? After a vicious battle, the weapons of the whole army basically had to be replaced. Where did the money for the bereavement, the rewards for the meritorious, and the resettlement of displaced people and prisoners of war, all of which cost money? Naturally, it is impossible for this king to ask for this luxury, and the tribute from the east of the river is only left by this king to reward the heroes and the Son of Heaven, and the rest is sold to merchants in exchange for money! ”

"I thought Your Highness would ban alcohol." Li Shenfu was surprised.

Li Cunhuan took a sip of bamboo leaves, and said quite proudly: "Not yet, Lu Long's family background is still very thick, Bohai is afraid of this king, there is no tax on the sale of grain and horses, and every year Bohai sells four or five million stone grain to Lu Long, as well as North Korea and Liaodong, large-scale tuntian, well, it can't be said that it is tuntian, it is the resettlement of soldiers under the military system." Every year, it is just to spend some materials that are in short supply in Liaodong, such as cloth and silk to reward the generals, and also transport 3 million stone grain for Lu Long every year. So there is no shortage of food. ”

Speaking of this, Li Cunhuan tapped his fingers on the tray, and said with some dissatisfaction: "General, if you don't read the holy decree, just say it!" ”

Li Shenfu showed a rare embarrassed expression, and picked up the holy decree as if he was looking at death as if he was at home. glanced at it, but there was a look of horror on his face. Li Shenfu put down the holy decree faster than he picked up the holy decree, looked at Li Cunhuan, and asked in disbelief: "Your Highness, this is!" ”

"Yang Xingmi is dead, since you have been appreciated by him. Then this king used this grace to repay Yang Xingmi. Of course, there is a big premise here, as long as you are willing to submit to this king! Li Cunhuan put down the wine glass, supported his knees with his hands, and looked at Li Shenfu seriously, with a serious attitude.

When Li Shenfu heard this, his hands couldn't help but clench the side axis of the holy decree, and his heart was entangled.

"Yang Xingmi, what is given to the general, this king understands. It is appreciation, it is a kind of confidant. But people die like lights go out, and the general takes his surname for Yang Xingmi, and the king admires it in his heart. But wouldn't it be better if the general could make the dead Yang Xingmi have a better reputation after death? There are also orphans and widows left by Yang Xingmi, if Yang Xingmi goes, who will take care of them? You must know that they are Yang Xingmi's family! is also the enemy of this king, to put it mildly, even if this king does not embarrass them, when Yang Xingmi's family is only himself, the family property is just all on his body. But how could there be no ungrateful villain? First, you can take away his property, and second, you can self-righteously please the king and show your loyalty. This kind of thing, the general doesn't think that no one will do it, right? It is estimated that Xu Wen is the first. Li Cunhuan said solemnly.

Li Shenfu was speechless, and he didn't know what to say.

Li Cunhuan continued: "But if the general is here, this king can not harm Yang Xingmi's family, but in order to prevent someone in Huainan from kidnapping them and making trouble under the banner of Yang Xingmi's son, this king will wronged them and go to Yanjing City, which is the former Youzhou to live, and he cannot be a military general within three generations, but he can be a civil minister." And with the general's care, even if Yang Xingmi's son is incompetent, he can still get food and clothing. Also, don't the generals want to think about their own families? ”

Hearing the word family, Li Shenfu's body trembled, his teeth bit his lower lip, lowered his head, and did not speak.

Li Cunhuan sighed and said, "Doesn't the general feel too ruthless to the general's family?" The general's parents worked hard to raise General Chengren, but how much suffering they suffered and how many sins they suffered in the middle. It's rare to have some delicious food, such as an egg, which I don't want to eat myself, and give it to the general, and how does the general treat them? The general may be able to entrust his friends to take care of him, but will his friends take care of the general's family for the rest of his life? Besides, can really taking care of the general's family replace the general's wholehearted care and meaning? What about the general's sons and daughters? The king remembered that the general now had two sons, one seven years old and the other three years old. If asked, what about your father? What should he say? My dad is a traitor? ”

Li Shenfu's fists were clenched.

Li Cunhuan sighed and said, "It's not that this king is ruthless, the world is like this. Either Caesar or nothing. Even if the king disregards the feelings of the generals under his command and justifies the general's name. The general's son asked his mother, why do others have a daddy but I don't have a daddy? How should the general's wife answer? ”

Li Shenfu still didn't speak.

Li Cunhuan decided to put down the last straw that crushed him on Li Shenfu's back. "Yang Xing treats the general as a confidant and confidant, and lets the general show his talents, does the general think that this king can't? As long as the general nods here, the Xuanwu Festival envoy is the general's! In addition, the general was immediately appointed as the camp of the Central Plains to recruit envoys. Lead Huainan's army to attack Xuanwu, the general is designated by the general, the king does not send a supervising army, and the general's family members all set off with the army! ”

looked at Li Shenfu, who still hadn't spoken and lowered his head. Li Cunhuan's back is now so nervous that he can't help but sweat. If at this time, Li Shenfu refuses to agree, even if Li Cunhuan regrets Li Shenfu's talent, he can only really give a cup of poisonous wine, and it is no longer just a bottle of fake poisonous wine like before.

Li Shenfu let out a long sigh and bowed: "Your Highness treats Shenfu like this, what else can Shenfu ask for!" God blesses you! ”

Li Cunhuan feels that at this moment, it is simply like drinking a cup of chilled mung bean paste on dog days, which makes people feel as cool as their hearts from the inside out. Li Cunhuan happily helped Li Shenfu up with his own hands, and he didn't know what to say when he smiled.

Li Shenfu also felt Li Cunhuan's happiness, and he didn't know why, but he also laughed, and slowly the two looked at each other and laughed. In this smile, Li Shenfu saw Yang Xingmi's shadow from Li Cunhuan, or rather, the two of them are the same people to some extent.

Three days later, Xu Wen led 80,000 Huainan troops to the edge of the Huai River, led the generals, and under the guidance of Xu Zhihe, entered Chuzhou City with joy, full of thoughts about Li Cunhuan's reward.

However, when Li Cunhuan issued the commendation, he suddenly ordered the soldiers of Tieyingdu to kill Xu Wen and Xu Zhihe on the spot, and the entourage assassinated Yang Xingmi's people and put them under house arrest. Let Li Shenfu take over the military power. Announcing Yang Xingmi's march this time is to set things right and abandon the darkness and turn to the light. On the contrary, Xu Wen and Xu Zhihe acted against their masters, out of rebellion, and were killed on the spot. And in the name of the imperial court, Yang Xing was given the secret name 'Lie', which was meritorious to calm the people and said Lie, and to make meritorious contributions to Lie. It is in line with what Yang Xingmi did objectively. However, since ancient times, Yang Xingmi has been treated like this, and he can also be a little relieved of his grievances.

Li Shenfu is worthy of being the first general under Yang Xingmi, and his prestige in the army is second only to Yang Xingmi, because the leaders have been put into the city of Chuzhou, and the soldiers and generals still think that their families are in the hands of Li Cunhuan. Then there is the big signboard of Li Shenfu, and Li Shenfu received the military power very smoothly. It was so smooth that even Li Cunhuan was surprised.

…………

"Your Highness, why do you want to kill Xu Wen and Xu Zhihe, these two are people who have made great contributions! His Royal Highness used to say that he was not very particular, and if he had merit, he would be rewarded, and he would be punished. So peace talks about justice! Du Ling complained to Li Cunhuan dissatisfied. Of course, the environment that Du Ling chose to complain about was naturally only him and Li Cunhuan, otherwise he would not dare to say such things that would make Li Cunhuan lose face.

"Because of Li Shenfu!" Li Cunhuan looked at the beautiful snow scene outside, took a sip of bamboo leaf green, and a warm current immediately flowed through his body, making people warm up immediately. Only then did he look at Du Ling, and muttered with words like gold.

"Your Highness, it's not that the last general is said to be hostile to General Li Shenfu in the past, so he is dissatisfied with this. It is true that General Li Shenfu is talented, but if His Highness does this, I am afraid that it has already affected His Highness's prestige! And Your Highness, you should also discuss it with the last general when you do this! Du Ling said bitterly.

Li Cunhuan was still indifferent, "Li Shenfu is worthy of this king." This time the king brought 50,000 Lu Long's army, but in fact it was only more than 46,000, and except for 30,000, the rest were all naval soldiers, fighting on land, but their combat skills were not as good as any Jiangnan army. It's just that you are shocked by Lu Long's invincible record over the years, which makes their shortcomings not exposed! But in the first battle of Hangzhou, the king lost more than 1,000 soldiers and horses. Shi Jianjiao took 8,000 people south to eastern Zhejiang, leaving more than 4,000 in western Zhejiang, and more than 2,000 in Runzhou and Xuanzhou. And in the hands of this king, of these 30,000 people, 10,000 were composed of soldiers of the navy. If this king wants to stab Zhu Wen ruthlessly, he must use the Huainan army. They often clashed with Xuanwu and were familiar with Xuanwu's tactics. ”

Speaking of this, Li Cunhuan paused, glanced at Du Ling, and said: "It's not that this king is mean, when it comes to quality, compared to the soldiers and horses under your command, these 80,000 Huainan troops are only high. And if you use someone like Xu Wen who betrays the master, this king is not at ease. And he didn't have the prestige, nor did he have the ability to command the 80,000 army. Only Li Shenfu can. ”

There is another reason, Li Cunhuan didn't say it, you can also consume the strength of your old Jiangnan department, and you can mix sand into it in the future. After the world is peaceful, disarmament is much easier.

When Du Ling heard this, he shook his head and sighed: "His Royal Highness's temple is rare, and it is rare in the world. In fact, up to now, Du Ling also understands Li Cunhuan's thoughts a little, but he still has to follow Li Cunhuan's intentions.

"Hmm!" Li Cunhuan replied noncommittally, looking at the direction of Kaifeng City, his eyes suddenly became sharp, "Now it's Xuanwu's turn!" After pacifying Xuanwu, the son who dominates the world also means that it is time to wait! ”

When Du Ling heard this, he said solemnly: "Please rest assured, Your Highness, the last general will definitely go all out, besides, Your Highness's attack from the north and south this time, the army of wolves and tigers is nearly 400,000, why worry about Xuanwu!" ”

(To be continued)