In the middle of the night, Zhu Gaochi rushed to the Yan army camp in Baoding Prefecture.

The guard sergeant of Yuanmen immediately rushed into the camp and reported to Zhu Di.

Zhu Di was so troubled by the poisoning of the soldiers in the battalion that he couldn't sleep at night, and when he heard that the sergeant reported that his eldest son Zhu Gaochi had returned, he was immediately overjoyed, and he couldn't wear his clothes and ran out of the tent quickly.

Zhu Gaochi was obese and had inconvenient legs and feet, seeing Zhu Di come out, Zhu Gaochi burst into tears, knelt down towards Zhu Di with difficulty, and choked up: "The child visits his father." ”

"Chi'er, you...... You're back, good, good! Zhu Di's eyes were also red, and he even said a few good words, bending down to help Zhu Gaochi up.

Zhu Di has never treated this eldest son very well, in addition to Zhu Gaochi's obesity and disability, there is also a very important reason, that is, Zhu Gaochi is too weak, full of knowledge and economy, but his surname is too benevolent, and he often puts the gentleman's benevolence and generosity on his lips, full of nerdy temperament, and Zhu Di's eldest brother Yiwen Prince Zhu Biao is quite similar, this is also Zhu Di's most unpleasant place, try to ask a man who often fights on the battlefield, is accustomed to swords and swords, and advocates the survival of the strong. How can he like a son who is completely opposite to his surname, who only knows how to endure and retreat in everything, and complains with virtue? The tiger father gave birth to a dog, which is Zhu Di's biggest regret, if it weren't for the ancestral rules of establishing the long and not the young, the son of King Yan would not have been able to take the turn of Zhu Gaochi, the eldest son who was not favored by Zhu Di.

However, I don't like it, after all, Zhu Gaochi is his own flesh and blood, especially Zhu Di's three sons were all detained by Xiao Fan as hostages in Beijing, and now seeing the eldest son suddenly come back, Zhu Di still felt very surprised, and at the same time felt a little guilty, the haste of the rebellion was not only due to his own lack of preparation, but also Zhu Di couldn't care about the three sons still being hostages in Beijing at that time, although he was sure that the court would not kill them, but pushed his own flesh and blood to the knife of the court, which is an indisputable fact.

Zhu Gaochi's tears never stopped, crying miserably, these people were always worried about their lives, and it was not until now that they entered the Yan army camp that their tense nerves were completely relaxed.

The father and son reunited, and the two hugged their heads and cried, separated for more than a year, but they were like a world apart.

"Gao Chi, how did you get back?" After calming down, Zhu Di finally thought of this very important question.

"Father, it was Xiao Fan who let the child come back...... Zhu Gaochi sobbed.

Zhu Di raised his eyebrows and said in a deep voice: "Xiao Fan took the initiative to let you come back?" Why? ”

Zhu Gaochi said honestly: "The second and third brothers are still in Xiao Fan's camp, and Xiao Fan let the child come back alone, so that the child can lobby his father...... Surrender to the Imperial Court! ”

Zhu Di's eyes widened angrily, and he laughed violently: "Surrender to the imperial court? Ha ha! Do you want this king to stick his head under the knife of the court and let them cut it down to ask Zhu Yunwen for credit? ”

The infinite laughter of killing intent made Zhu Gaochi swallow his saliva unconsciously, and said astringently: "Xiao Fan said, the overall situation has been decided, father, you ...... Can't win. ”

Zhu Di laughed, thinking that the situation of the Yan army was defeated again and again, and there were hundreds of thousands of troops in the imperial court outside, pounced on them at any time, and there were soldiers inside who were deeply poisoned, unable to lift their swords, and unable to ride war horses...... Xiao Fan's words are very clear, it is impossible for Zhu Di to be the emperor, the imperial court is in front of him to exterminate the Yan army, the time and place are favorable, the Yan army does not occupy any of them, and the vigorous Fengtian Jingjing is just his wishful thinking, and it can only be regarded as an inconspicuous small wave in the history of the Ming Dynasty...... Zhu Di closed his eyes, looked up to the sky and sighed, if it was found out that Wang Guizhen of Beiping had anything to do with Xiao Fan, it would mean that when the first emperor was still alive, Xiao Fan began to lay out to deal with him.

The art of war: "The husband is the victor without a fight, and he has to count a lot."

Xiao Fan was one step ahead of him, and Yan Jun's defeat was not accidental, but inevitable. - Who would have imagined that a young man in his early twenties would secretly attack the hundreds of thousands of soldiers of the Yan army before the war began? Zhu Di always thought that he had taken the lead, but he didn't know that as early as a year or even two years ago, Xiao Fan had already made a move, terrifying! This young man is terrible! With such an opponent as an enemy, what chance does he Zhu Di have of winning?

Now Xiao Fan has no scruples about putting Zhu Gaochi back, and asks him to persuade him to surrender, what does this mean?

The general trend is set, and he has already decided that Zhu Di has no chance of turning the tables!

Zhu Gaochi's words made Zhu Di think a lot, he stood in front of the tent blankly, feeling a burst of fear emanating from the bottom of his heart, and the whole person seemed to have fallen off the cliff, sinking all the way down, sinking down, sinking down...... Zhu Gaochi licked his dry lips and said in a low voice: "Father, the battle situation is like this, we can't win, why should my father burn the jade of the imperial court?" The emperor of the hegemony is not available, and the child's bad opinion is not as good as it...... Let's go down! Xiao Fan said, if his father descends, he promises to save the lives of his father and my Yan King......"

Zhu Di opened his eyes and smiled bitterly: "Surrender? Hehe, can this king still descend? ”

"Xiao Fan said that as long as my father is willing to surrender his military power and order the soldiers of the Yan army to put down their weapons, he can save our lives......"

"It's as simple as that?"

Xiao Fan also said...... He also said......"

"What other conditions does he have?"

"Xiao Fan said, in addition, the demon monk Dao Yan will kill him, this is the last condition."

Zhu Di sneered: "He is not very old, but his methods are so ruthless, does he really think that he has the chance to win?" ”

Zhu Gaochi exclaimed: "Does my father still want to ......?"

Zhu Di looked at Zhu Gaochi coldly, his eyebrows lifted and he was ready to be angry and reprimanded, this son persuaded his father to surrender as soon as he came back, and his typical elbow was outward, didn't he know what would happen to the Yan Wang Yimai after surrendering?

Thinking about it, this eldest son has been a hostage for more than a year, and I don't know how much suffering he has suffered and how much he has been frightened, Zhu Di really can't bear to reprimand him.

Sighing gloomily, Zhu Di said slowly: "Gao Chi, you don't understand, this king can't descend, can't descend...... You have suffered these things, go down and rest, and come back to me when you wake up. ”

Zhu Gaochi saw Zhu Di's firm expression, and knew that the persuasion failed, and it was impossible for him to change his father's will, so he had to bow his head and retreat.

It wasn't until Zhu Gaochi's lonely figure disappeared into the tent of the camp that Zhu Di exhaled lightly, and his expression became cold.

A deep voice came from behind: "It seems that the prince doesn't want to surrender to the court......"

Zhu Di didn't look back, and said lightly: "Sir, do you think this king should be surrendered?" ”

"Rebellion and seizure is a taboo for the emperor, if the prince surrenders, not only the 100,000 soldiers of the Yan army will have no luck, but the prince's net worth and surname are even more difficult to protect, no emperor can tolerate the rebels who want to take the throne to live well, Zhu Yunwen will not allow you even if his surname is kind, Xiao Fan said anything to save the prince's life, it is purely an empty promise, not enough to believe."

Zhu Di smiled lightly: "Mr. can see clearly, this king has dominated the north for more than 20 years, and he thinks that he is a master of the world, and the princes are on the side, is he the kind of coward who is out of control and forbearance?" Xiao Fan'er underestimated me too much. ”

Dao Yan said with a smile: "The prince did not disappoint the poor monk, since ancient times, he has become a king and lost a king, rather than living in humiliation, it is better to die with dignity, not to mention, we may not necessarily lose ......"

Zhu Di said lonely: "We have reached such a desperate situation, haven't we lost yet?" ”

"It's a bad situation, but we still have a chance, or rather, we lost, but we can't lose too completely......"

Zhu Di turned around, stared at Dao Yan and said, "What do you mean by what Mr. said?" ”

Dao Yan said in a deep voice: "In the past few decades, has the prince hated the most person? ”

Zhu Di paused, gritted his teeth and said, "Xiao Fan! ”

Dao Yan nodded: "Then we will kill Xiao Fan!" ”

Zhu Di was stunned: "What do you mean? ”

"Kill Xiao Fan, the imperial army is leaderless, morale is lost, we try our best to catch them off guard, and then discuss the surrender with the imperial court with the power of victory, at that time we have a bargaining chip in our hands, we are not afraid that the imperial court will not agree, we will retreat to the north, and defend Beiping, the prince is still a strong vassal of one party, preserve strength, recruit troops, and buy horses, in order to make a comeback......"

"Isn't that joking? How could it be so easy to kill Xiao Fan. ”

"It may not have been easy before, but now Xiao Fan wants to surrender the prince, our opportunity has come......"

"How to kill him?"

Dao Yan smiled gloomily and said, "Didn't the prince hear that Chu and Han were fighting, and Xiang Yu invited Liu Bang to the banquet?" ”

Zhu Di exclaimed: "Hongmen Banquet? ”

Dao Yan smiled: "Yes, isn't he Xiao Fan going to recruit the prince?" The prince might as well agree to come down, and then find a place between Zhending and Baoding to feast Xiao Fan, if he doesn't dare to come, it means that the court is not sincere, if he dares to come, the prince is the overlord of Western Chu, Xiao Fan, it is the ruffian Liu Bang, the overlord does not kill Liu Bang because he is soft-hearted, the prince should not be soft-hearted to Xiao Fan, right? We laid down swords and axes outside the banquet, the prince took the cup as the number, killed Xiao Fan, and at the same time ordered Zhang Yu and Qiu Fu to lead the army to attack the southern army camp, although our soldiers were poisoned and weak, they could still run and jump, the commander of the southern army was dead, and the morale was greatly lost, and we still had a lot of chances to win this battle......"

"Good! That's it! I don't care if I can defeat the king of the southern army, as long as Xiao Fan dares to come to the banquet, the king will bite him to death! ”

"Amitabha, the poor monk also wants to bite him a few times......"

Zhending prefect's yamen.

"If Zhu Di agrees to surrender, will you really save his life?" Cao Yi asked curiously.

Xiao Fan snorted: "If he sincerely surrenders, of course I will protect him, but I know that Zhu Di is not the kind of person who is willing to surrender, so let's be careful......

"How careful?"

Xiao Fan smiled evilly: "We can't passively wait for him to surrender, we have to turn passive into active, have you heard of the Hongmen Banquet?" We might as well send a letter and invite him to a banquet somewhere between Zhending and Baoding, and discuss the matter of surrendering, and we will lay down a hundred swords and axes outside the banquet, and during the banquet, I will drop the cup, and then ......"

Cao Yi's eyes widened: "And then chop Zhu Di?" ”

"No, chop Dao Yan up, Zhu Di keep, I said I would spare his life, if Zhu Di is captured alive by us, the Yan army will naturally surrender without a fight."

Cao Yi paused for a while and praised: "You are really despicable...... There is probably no one in this world who is more despicable than you. ”

Xiao Fan said modestly: "You can't say that, there are mountains outside the mountains, there are people outside the people, there are always ...... who are as despicable as me."

Cao Yi said with a straight face: "Marquis Xiao, you have to figure it out, I'm not praising you." ”

"I know, but I'll just take it as if you're praising me."

........................ "The Jingshi is getting more and more peaceful......" Xiao Fan sighed.

Cao Yi snorted coldly: "It's Ji Gang again?" ”

Xiao Fan nodded: "Today, the Ministry of War Shangshu Ru Yu sent someone to send me a letter, Ji Gang is getting more and more excessive, ten days ago, the Ministry of War played to Chen Kui Jindian in the matter, and impeached Ji Gang to frame Zhongliang, instructed Jinyi Wei to indiscriminately arrest and kill ministers, and confiscated the minister's property to enrich himself, what is even more excessive is that Ji Gang's newly built house is the residence of the people, and its decoration is very luxurious, comparable to the princes and relatives, it has greatly exceeded the system, and the crime should be be......headed."

Cao Yi's eyes widened and he said in surprise: "Ji Gang is so arrogant? ”

"Chen Kui reported this matter to the Golden Palace, thinking that the Son of Heaven would be furious and punish Ji Gang heavily, who knew that the Son of Heaven's reaction was very flat, and he didn't take it to heart at all, the matter was over, and Ji Gang held a grudge after the dispersal of the dynasty, Chen Kui had not yet gone out of the noon gate, and had been arrested by Jinyiwei in front of the Manchu Dynasty civil and military and taken into prison, Qi Tai, the left attendant of the military department, couldn't look past it, and came forward to reprimand a few words, Ji Gang did not have a seizure at that time, but in the evening, Jinyiwei rushed into Qi Tai's house again, to' The crime of being bribed by the vassal king will be taken by Qi Tai, and the military department Shangshu Ru Yu pleaded with Ji Gang several times, Ji Gang avoided it, and took Qi Tai's second day, Ji Gang asked the Son of Heaven to remove Qi Tai from the post of left attendant of the military department, and replaced his henchman Mu Su as the ......"

Cao Yi's eyes widened wider and wider, and his face was full of anger: "I call him his mother!" This dog is so arrogant! ”

Xiao Fan's expression became more and more depressed, Chen Kui was taken down and nothing, it was generally a clear stream of the party in the matter, one was more annoying than the other, usually nothing to catch a trivial matter and participate in the impeachment endlessly, more wordy than Tang Seng, there are a few fewer such people, everyone is quiet, but Ji Gang has been too forgetful recently, and he actually took down Qi Tai, the left attendant of the military department, as we all know, Qi Tai is a member of the annihilation party, and the annihilation party is headed by Xiao Fan, in other words, Qi Tai is covered by him Xiao Fan, Ji Gang is bold, and he dares to catch Qi Tai, what does this mean? It shows that Ji Gang has begun to attack the annihilation of the party, and it shows that Ji Gang feels that he is full of wings and is qualified to openly provoke Xiao Fan.

And Ji Gang's so-called wings are nothing more than saving Zhu Yunwen's life, the Son of Heaven favors him, and he has mastered the Jinyi Guard and the Inspectorate, thinking that he can cover the sky with one hand in the court.

The so-called villain's ambition is probably like this, his behavior is arrogant and rude, his power-grabbing and forming a party are unscrupulous, the standard nouveau riche style, his pursuit of power is not disguised at all, and his appearance is very ugly.

Xiao Fan sighed, his expression was full of envy, and said faintly: "When I was the commander of the Jinyi Guard in the Beijing Division, I didn't dare to be so arrogant, right?" You can catch whoever you want, and kill whoever you want, it's just a living Tai Sui...... Seeing what this deputy commander of the Jinyi Guard did, I suddenly realized that I had been an official in vain in the past few years, and look at the domineering strength of others, which is more horizontal than a crab, why did you say I went earlier? …… I really should exchange my experience with Master Ji about framing Zhongliang, and compare with him, I'm really too gentle......"

Cao Yi said coldly: "Compared with him, you are simply a polite and gentle gentleman, and your son as an official in Beijing is simply living in heaven for the civil and military forces of the Manchu Dynasty, and those pedantic nerds should miss you very much now......"

Xiao Fan nodded very approvingly: "Yes, those pedantic ministers used to scold me if I wanted to, and I wanted to participate in the impeachment, I have a good character and a good temper, and I don't care about them, now they should know what it means to cry without tears, right?" I'm in Jingshi, and happiness is knocking on their door......"

Cao Yi couldn't help but say angrily: "It's all this time, do you still have the leisure to boast?" Ji Gang, this son of a bitch, is riding on our necks! ”

"So what?"

"Find a way to kill him!"

Xiao Fan shook his head: "Yan Shun has not yet calmed down, I can't go back to Beijing, besides, he has saved the Son of Heaven, the Son of Heaven has a kind of gratitude to him, it is not so easy to kill him......"

"What then? Let him harm the court? Let him do anything to us? ”

Xiao Fan sighed and said: "Ru Yu is an old minister of Hongwu, who has experienced the bloody cleansing of the first emperor Hu Lan prison case but has not been scathed, it can be said that he is an old fritter in the officialdom, and now even he is forced by Ji Gang to sit still, and he has to send a letter to me for help, which shows how rampant Ji Gang is,...... However, the matter of the capital is beyond the reach of the whip, what can I do? Let's just clean up Zhu Di with one mind......"

Cao Yi thought about it for a while, and said with a hideous face: "Send a few henchmen back to Beijing secretly, sneak into Ji Gang's house, give him half a catty of arsenic and crane top red or something, and help him ascend to Bliss early, how about it?" ”

Xiao Fan was surprised: "Half a catty of arsenic? It's enough to make dumplings, you are more generous than Ji Gang......"

"Then a little less, enough to poison him......"

Xiao Fan shook his head categorically and said: "Your method is too shady and not feasible, you have to remember that we are now ministers of the imperial court, even if it is harmful, the method used must also be decent, let's not use the undignified method, it is too embarrassing to say it......"

Cao Yi said angrily: "Then you want a decent way!" ”

Xiao Fan pondered: "Ji Gang is so arrogant in Beijing, he dares to attack our party, this can't be endured, otherwise who will obey me when I return to Beijing in the future?" We must find a way to cure him, and even if we can't kill him, we have to give him a warning that I will never forget......"

"Have you figured out a solution?"

"Remember the new bomb I worked on?"

"That thing made the Yan army camp a lot, of course I remember."

"Ji Gang must have never seen that round black egg, Brother Cao, you sent someone back to Beijing in the starry night and sent a bomb to Ji Gang, just say that it was a northern specialty that I brought to him from the front line, and tell him that that thing is suitable for admiring under the candlelight at night, and if you get closer to the candlelight, you can find that there is a naked girl dancing in the black egg......"

Cao Yi gasped: "This is what you came up with...... A decent way? ”

Xiao Fan smiled kindly: "You also think it's very decent, right?" After the war, I did not forget to exchange courtesies with my colleagues, and Ji Gang will definitely be influenced by me, and I feel that this world is full of sunshine, peace, and smiles......"

Cao Yi continued: "...... There are also mushroom clouds. ”

Late at night, the Kyoto Chronicle Mansion.

The new Zuodu Yushi Jingqing sat in the guest seat of the inner hall, holding the tea cup and tasting it slowly, with a faint sarcastic smile on the corner of his mouth.

"Master Ji, that old guy from Ru Yu pleaded with you again yesterday, begging you to let Qi Tai go?"

Ji Gang said lazily: "That old thing who is as fat as a pig, Lao Tzu is too lazy to pay attention to him, whoever offends me will die!" The war ahead is getting smoother and smoother, seeing that Xiao Fan is about to quell the rebellion, before he returns to Beijing, I want to kill all the people who should be killed, and control all the power that should be held, and when Xiao Fan returns to Beijing, I have gained power at that time, hum, what will he do to fight with me? ”

"My lord, that Qi Tai ......"

Ji Gang waved his hand, as easy as a mosquito: "Ming said that he sent someone to the edict prison and got a rope to hang Qi Tai, saying that Qi Tai committed suicide in fear of crime." ”

Jing Qing was frightened by the murderous intent that flashed on Ji Gang's face, and hurriedly replied: "Yes." The lower officials will handle this matter properly, leaving no trace. ”

At this time, the housekeeper of the Ji Mansion hurriedly walked in, bowed down and said, "Master, there is a sergeant outside who brought something to the adult on the order of Lord Xiao, and the man left after handing it over to the villain......"

Ji Gang said: "Lord Xiao? Xiao Fan? ”

"Exactly."

Ji Gang's face suddenly showed an uncomfortable look, he was not afraid of the Manchu Dynasty's civil and military affairs, but he was afraid of Xiao Fan, because he knew very well what Xiao Fan's friendship with the Son of Heaven was, which he couldn't compare, and he had worshiped under Xiao Fan's door, this was a memory he had always wanted to forget, sometimes he felt that Xiao Fan was like a mountain, horizontal in front of him, and he couldn't cross it, the more so, the more jealous he became, and the more afraid he became, because he hated this fear, he kept cultivating power, framing Zhongliang, and wanted to prove his ability in this way, Very mixed emotions.

"Xiao Fan brought me something?" The expression on Ji Gang's face was very strange.

"Yes, a black thing, the sergeant who brought it said that it was a native of the north, and it was very precious, and if you gathered together in the candlelight to admire it, you would find the wonder of it......"

Jing Qing frowned and said: "My lord has recently arrested a lot of ministers, it is said that Qi Tai has a good personal relationship with Xiao Fan, and they are called the annihilation party by Qingliu, Xiao Fan sent things to the adult, is it to express dissatisfaction?" ”

Ji Gang was very confused, and mentioning Xiao Fan's name made him feel very powerless, as if a dark cloud was suddenly pressed overhead, which made him very uncomfortable.

"Xiao Fan brought me something, take it out and take a look."

The butler held a black, round thing in both hands and respectfully handed it to Ji Gang.

Ji Gang took it and muttered to himself: "What's so wonderful about this thing, you have to look at it in the candlelight?" ”

After looking at it, Ji Gang couldn't help but be curious, and finally put the things under the candlelight to observe them carefully, he wanted to know too much about the meaning of the things that Xiao Fan gave him, whether it was anger or resentment, whether it was a declaration of war or a compromise, Xiao Fan's attitude directly affected Ji Gang's next move.

After a long time, Jing Qing exclaimed in surprise as if he had discovered a new world: "Huh? My lord, there's a short line underneath this thing, what is it for? ”

As he spoke, Jing Qingyi stretched out his hand, picked up the thread, learned Ji Gang's movements, and gathered under the candlelight to observe it carefully.

When he was still half an inch away from the candlelight, the thread suddenly snapped and burned, and the thread hissed and hissed with dazzling sparks.

Ji Gang's eyes widened and he was stunned.

Then he suddenly realized that something was wrong, and without thinking, he shoved the black egg with green smoke into Jing Qing's arms, and then flew up and kicked Jing Qing out of the door.

"I've got it for you!"

Outside the door, Jing Qing also reacted, and suddenly turned pale with fright, and threw the black egg into the flower hall on the left side of the inner hall without thinking about it...... Rumble!

The loud noise was accompanied by a shaking of the mountains, and the flower hall was reduced to a pile of ashes in the firelight.

The house was blown down, and a beautiful mushroom cloud rose over Kifu, dazzling in the night...... Ji Gang's ears were so shocked by the loud noise that he temporarily lost his hearing, and the tiles above the inner hall also swished down, and he stood in the middle of the inner hall with blank eyes, looking at the flower hall outside the door that had become a sea of fire, and gradually felt that his hands and feet were cold, as if he had fallen into an ice cellar.

This is a warning! A warning that is more terrifying than the terrorists!

"Jing ...... Jing Qing, go to the edict immediately, release Qi Tai, and don't touch him with a finger! Fast! Go now! ”

(To be continued)