Liu Fangzhi couldn't have imagined that there were guests who came to visit him on the fourth watch, which was not in line with normal communication etiquette, unless there was something else, thinking of 'something else', Liu Fangzhi immediately hit his horse and ran towards the mansion.

The entire Xiangyang City is dark, including Liu's Mansion is also dark and gloomy, only the lights are lit in the reception hall, and in the guest hall, Xiao Yanqin is pacing back and forth with his hands behind his back, although he also knows that it is extremely impolite to visit during the fourth watch, but there are soldiers patrolling around the Xiao Mansion all day and night, and only after the third watch can the patrol soldiers be halved to find an opportunity.

At this time, there was a sound of footsteps outside the hall, and Liu Fangzhi appeared at the door, "Brother Xiao, do you still have leisure and elegance to come as a guest so late?" Liu Fangzhi smiled very heartily, and the laughter spread far away in the quiet night.

Xiao Yanqin hurriedly stepped forward and bowed, "Come so late to disturb your mansion to rest." I really don't want to go, I hope the general will forgive me! ”

Liu Fangzhi's family is also a Jiangling family, although it cannot be compared with the Xiao family's famous county, but it is also a wealthy county, and it is a native of Jiangling, and has lived in Jiangling City for hundreds of years, which is also a reason why Chai Shao reuses him, wanting to encircle the local forces in Jiangling.

Although the Xiao family is a famous county, after all, they only moved from other places a few years ago, in fact, they have received the full support of Xiao Mo and the light of the Xiao nobles, and the two families do not have much contact on weekdays, but they are both locals, and they are very polite to each other.

What's more important is that Liu Fangzhi knows that the Xiao family has a detailed background, and knows that they moved from Dunhuang, not from Danyang County as they themselves advertised.

Knowing that the Xiao family moved from Dunhuang, Liu Fangzhi guessed that the Dunhuang faction in the officialdom of the Sui Dynasty was very likely to be related to the Xiao family, so who was Xiao Jin from the Xiao family?

Liu Fangzhi's city is very deep, and he will never let people know what his true thoughts are? He knew the details of the Xiao family, and even his henchman Yu Shouren accepted bribes from the Xiao family and privately let the children of the Xiao family out of the city. It's just that he never says a word.

Liu Fangzhi smiled and waved his hand, "Distinguished guests come to the door, not in the morning or evening, Brother Xiao can come to the door." This is the honor of Liufu, please take a seat! ”

The two sat down separately, and Xiao Yanqin sighed, "I should have come to visit at a normal time, but there are always some soldiers coming and going before and after Xiao's house, which is really inconvenient, please forgive General Liu." ”

Of course, Liu Fangzhi knew that those soldiers were sent by Chai Shao to monitor the Xiao Mansion and other ten famous families in Jiangling. He smiled, "That's because General Chai sent in order to protect the safety of the Xiao family, in case there is a riot in Jiangling City, there will be stragglers in the army who will rush into the Xiao Mansion to rob, I hope Brother Xiao can understand the general's hard work." ”

Liu Fangzhi's explanation made Xiao Yanqin smile helplessly, but Xiao Yanqin also knew that the relationship between the Xiao and Liu families had not yet reached the point of having nothing to talk about, and Xiao Yanqin came to Liu Fangzhi tonight. It's not that I'm here to buy him, even if he takes out five thousand taels of gold now, Liu Fangzhi may not accept it.

Money is not everything. Especially the Jiangling wealthy family like the Liu family, there is no shortage of money, and if there is not enough friendship, they will come to talk about bribery, Liu Fangzhi will turn his face on the spot, Xiao Yanqin came over tonight, in fact, he was just to test.

At this time, a maid came in with two cups of tea and presented them to the two, Xiao Yanqin took a sip of tea from the teacup, and sighed slightly: "To be honest." The biggest fear of a large family like ours is war, whether the two armies are fighting, or the Sui army is killing into the city, we are very afraid of encountering the tragedy of annihilation, I have also exchanged views with several other Jiangling families, and everyone agrees. It is hoped that General Liu will come forward to protect the interests of Jiangling itself. ”

Speaking of this, Xiao Yanqin took out a joint letter, put it on the table, and pushed it to Liu Fangzhi, Liu Fangzhi smiled and said nothing, took the letter and read it again, pushed the letter back, shook his head and said: "This letter should be handed over to General Chai, I am a small official, I am afraid that I am incompetent and powerless." ”

"Why should General Liu be too modest, it has come to this critical moment of life and death, we all know that if the Sui and Tang dynasties burned down the city, the whole city of Jiangling will be shattered, and I beg General Liu to save Jiangling City for the sake of the villagers."

Liu Fangzhi was silent for a moment, a mocking smile slowly appeared on his face, and he said lightly: "Isn't it easy for the Xiao family to save Jiangling City?" It's just a gesture, so why bother to ask me for help. ”

There was silence in the living room, and the atmosphere became a little awkward, to this extent, the two sides were actually only separated by a layer of window paper, which would be broken when stabbed.

Xiao Yanqin also understood that he wanted to persuade Liu Fangzhi to come up with real materials and use inconsequential things such as joint letters, how could Liu Fangzhi give him any explanation, it seems that this layer of window paper still has to be pierced.

"Alright! I don't hide it, I received a letter from my brother a few days ago, that is, Xiao Taishou of Changsha County, General Liu should also know, he told me that the King of Chu attaches great importance to the southern family, and the places he passes through will be appeased one by one, which is encouraging, General Liu, you should also understand the current general trend, the demise of the Tang Dynasty is inevitable, in this general trend, how should we Jiangling families choose? I believe that General Liu is also an understanding person, so I don't need to say more. ”

The words had gradually become clear, Liu Fangzhi took a sip of tea, and his face showed an expression that seemed to be smiling but not smiling, as if he was attacking, and he suddenly asked: "Who is Brother Xiao Jin, the Taishou of Liang County?" ”

Xiao Yanqin was stunned for a moment, and then he realized that their old background had long been known by Liu Fangzhi, but this made him have a glimmer of hope in his heart, Liu Fangzhi knew but did not tell Chai Shao, which showed that Liu Fangzhi had an idea in his heart.

Xiao Yanqin smiled awkwardly and arched his hand: "It's not a secret, it's the dog." ”

"Oh!" Liu Fangzhi let out a long sigh, "I understand." ”

"Alright! Thank you Brother Xiao for being honest, I promise to keep this secret for Brother Xiao and not leak it out, it's not too early, Brother Xiao, please go home first! After a while, the soldiers patrolling in front of the Xiao Mansion will appear again. ”

Speaking of this, Liu Fangzhi smiled meaningfully, and said: "General Yu Shouren also told me yesterday that he should protect the Jiangling clan, especially a famous family like the Xiao family, he seems to have a lot of feelings for the Xiao family!" ”

"Everyone is a township party, take care of each other, it should be!"

Xiao Yanqin seemed to understand something in his heart, so he got up and said with a smile: "Then don't bother anymore, I'll leave." ”

Xiao Yanqin said goodbye and left, Liu Fangzhi walked to the front of the lobby with his hands behind his back, looking at the dark night sky, his eyes flashed with an elusive luster, and his mind was difficult to understand......

It is not far from Xiangyang City to Jiangling City, the distance between the two places is about 400 miles, the middle is separated by the remaining veins of Jingshan, after passing Jingshan, the mountain gradually slows down, and then there is the endless Jingnan Plain, if it is a forced march, it only takes three days to rush from Xiangyang to Jiangling.

In the lofty mountains and mountains of Jingshan Mountain, there is a spacious and flat official road, this road is the main road connecting the north and south of Jingxiang, but usually only the mountainous area is a short-distance business travel and pedestrians, generally long-distance merchants will take the waterway, can carry more goods by ship.

However, during this time, there were obviously more pedestrians on the official road, especially merchants, driving mules and donkeys, and hurrying with goods, which was also affected by the Jingxiang Campaign, the Sui army confiscated the ships on the north bank of the Yangtze River, which made the cargo ships scarce, and the merchants had to switch to the land route.

At noon, several young businessmen were sitting by the big stones on the side of the road to rest, and a young junior took two sips of water with a water bottle, looked around and asked, "Brother Wu, do you think we can do a big business all the way north?" ”

"Why not, from Xiangyang to Gangneung, this is the only way to do big business, and you will definitely meet big buyers."

It was a man in his early thirties, bronzed skin, shining in the sun, and looking very robust, with four of them, leading a dozen donkeys, full of new tea that had just been picked this year, and looking at them, it seemed that they were full of ambition to do a big business.

At this time, a small merchant on a mule hurried from the north and shouted to them: "Hurry up, for an army is coming from the north, and you will be charged if you see your donkey." ”

The four of them glanced at each other, and the dark-skinned man immediately said, "Into the woods!" ”

The four led the donkey and hid in a forest a hundred steps away, just into the woods, only to see a group of cavalry rushing quickly, about a hundred people, this is the first scout to explore the way, they divided into two roads, to the woods on both sides, there are many dodging pedestrians and merchants hidden in the woods on both sides, everyone saw the cavalry running towards the woods, frightened to flee to the depths of the woods.

But the scout cavalry did not care about these passers-by and businessmen, and almost ignored them, the cavalry scouts came to check that there were no enemy ambushes, and after searching the circle and there was no abnormality, the cavalry scouts continued to gallop south.

Several young merchants were not taken seriously, and at this time their eyes were focused on the official road, they knew very well that at most ten miles away, there must be a large group of men and horses behind, and sure enough, a quarter of an hour later, a huge army rushed south along the official road.

This is a Tang army of more than 50,000 people, is hurriedly marching in the direction of Jiangling, in front of the team flags are overwhelming, a Tang army's red and white flag fluttering high, the red and white flag inlaid with gold edges, which means that this is the royal flag, only Li Xiaogong may be qualified to use the Phnom Penh royal flag, even Chai Shao does not have this qualification.

There was a burst of surprise in the eyes of the four merchants, they didn't expect that it was Li Xiaogong who personally led the troops south, and the leader of the Han silently watched this army, and the army's armor, horses, morale, baggage and other important military information were formed in his mind.

The army of 50,000 men had walked through completely, and it would take at least an hour, and with a wave of his hand from the leading merchants, they hurried out of the woods and came to another clearing behind the mountain.

The young merchant took an eagle cage from the donkey's back, and by this time, the leader had finished writing the information and stuffed it into a bamboo tube tied to the eagle's legs.

They opened the eagle cage, and an eagle spread its wings and flew up into the sky quickly, circled the sky twice, and with a long roar, it flew south.

In the procession, Li Xiaogong looked up at the eagle in the sky, his eyes full of doubts...... (To be continued.) If you like this work, you are welcome to vote for recommendation and monthly passes, and your support is my biggest motivation. )

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