Xu Dingguo, who was placed under house arrest like a prison, was on pins and needles in Yangzhou City, the whole city of Yangzhou was closed all day, completely isolated from the news outside the city, he could not get any news about Gao Jie, several times he secretly sent people to sneak out of the city at night to inquire about the news, but none of the people sent out came back, and he did not know that these spies were arrested by Wang Lanping as soon as they left his residence.

But on the other hand, Shi Kefa and Wang Lanping sent him a bunch of rewards every once in a while, with money, beauties, and a lot of titles, so that he really couldn't find an excuse to turn his face and do it, Xu Dingguo is not a fool, he has nothing to do with his courtesy, he is sure that Shi Wang and the others are not well-intentioned, but they can't do anything, he also knows that as long as his five thousand people have a little dissatisfaction, they will immediately suffer from the catastrophe, in the absence of Gao Jie's foreign aid, Xu Dingguo can only swallow his heart, In this passive waiting day to be beaten, he really let him live like a year, and he could only climb up to the head of Yangzhou to have a look, hoping to see Gao Jiejun's movements.

Following Song Xian, Xu Dingguo came to Wang Lanping's residence, a man in his fifties, who was originally a mighty person, but these days he has been tortured to the point of almost decadence, and his body has gradually lost weight, even his cheekbones are bulging, and his spirit is not as good as before.

Wang Lanping had already prepared wine and food in the hall, and was waiting alone in civilian clothes, when he saw Xu Dingguo coming in, he hurriedly got up and said, "General Xu, I haven't seen you for a few days, have you always been good?" ”

Xu Dingguo still didn't leave his body, walked up and clanged, stepped forward and arched his hand, laughed, raised his arms and said, "Yangzhou is a gentle and rich township, I am a rough person, I am not blessed to enjoy it, look, my waist has lost a whole circle."

Wang Lanping motioned for him to sit down, and said with a smile, "I'm really sorry, come and sit down, I'll toast you for Inspector Shi, these days have been slow to treat the old general, sit down, today it's just you and me, come to a drunken party."

Xu Dingguo wondered in his heart, could something happen today? He got off the seat, a trace of sadness flashed on his face, and sighed, "Alas, once you are drunk, you can only rest every day."

Wang Lanping knew his distress in his heart, but still pretended not to know and asked, "What, the old general seems to be preoccupied, I don't know if I can hear it."

Xu Dingguo looked sideways slightly, looked at Wang Lanping, and said secretly in his heart: What is on my mind will you not know? Ask while knowing the answer.

Wang Lanping refilled his wine glass.

Xu Dingguo said, "Why should Admiral Wang ask knowingly, I have been in the city for more than half a month, since General Gao suddenly disappeared from outside the city ten days ago, there has been no news so far, I, as his subordinate, but I can't help in Yangzhou City, I really have a disturbed conscience, Brother Wang, can you tell me the truth, what happened to General Gao's military camp ten days ago, why don't you let me go out of the city to explore?" ”

Wang Lanping picked up the chopsticks and added some dishes to Xu Dingguo, and said with a sad face, "This, this is difficult for me, this matter is a military secret, you and I are both living in Yangzhou, without the order of Inspector Shi, how can I speak lightly" Wang Lanping also put all the responsibility on Shi Kefa while selling Guanzi, no matter what happens in the future, it has nothing to do with me Wang Lanping, you have to find someone to reason with you to find Shi Kefa.

Xu Dingguo said secretly: Who doesn't know that you and Shi Kefa wear a pair of pants, and your desire to seize General Gao Jie's military power is obvious.

Xu Dingguo said, "Yes, my brother is right, but Inspector Shi is not present today, what do you say out of your mouth and into my ears, no third person will know, and I have no other ideas, after all, Gao Jie is my main general"

Wang Lanping immediately interrupted him, "No, it is said that Inspector Shi is the supervisor of the four towns in Jiangbei, and he is your direct superior."

Xu Dingguo laughed, "Yes, yes, yes, my brother made a mistake, he made a mistake, he should be punished" He smiled and drank a glass of wine.

Wang Lanping said with a smile, "There is no defense, I will say it casually, since the old general asked about this matter, it happens that Inspector Shi is not here, so I will simply talk about it to relieve the old general's worries."

Xu Dingguo's face was overjoyed, and he said busily, "Please speak!" ”

Wang Lanping added another cup to him, and said as he poured it, "Recently, there is a military report from Huguang, saying that Li Zicheng raised an army of 500,000 troops, divided into three routes, and marched to Jiangnan. ”

Xu Dingguo** tightened, "I don't know, but it's a matter of time before this thief goes south to cause trouble, does this have anything to do with General Gao Jie?" ”

Wang Lanping nodded, "It's still difficult to determine whether it has anything to do with it, but when the news reached Yangzhou, that night, there was chaos in the Gaojie military camp outside the city, which you and I all know, and then this army of more than 20,000 people disappeared from then on, and Shi Inspector sent people to inquire repeatedly, and finally inquired two days ago."

Xu Dingguo's eyes widened, "Where is it?" ”

Wang Lanping said, "Sixty miles outside the city, Gao Jie has been hiding in Jigong Mountain these days."

Xu Dingguo turned his eyes and thought to himself, "What is General Gao doing there?" ”

Wang Lanping drank a glass of wine and said, "Inspector Shi tried to send someone to contact General Gao, but at that time, on Jigong Mountain, Gao Jie cut down wood and built a big village at the foot of the mountain, and no one was allowed to approach, General, do you know the road under Jigong Mountain?" ”

Xu Dingguo nodded, "I know, it is the main road from Yangzhou City to Chuzhou City, connecting Nanjing in the south and Huai'an Mansion in the north."

Wang Lanping said, "Yes, that's right, this is the main land crossing of Yangzhou, Gao Jie is stationed here, old general, as his subordinate, can you guess what Gao Jie wants to do?" Wang Lanping wanted to lead him to the pit step by step from the heart.

Xu Dingguo shook his head, this was not agreed in advance, didn't it mean that it echoed inside and out? You run so far to echo a fart, you run so far, where am I going in the city, and I don't send someone in to deliver the letter.

Wang Lanping prompted, "Li Zicheng's large-scale use of troops, the meaning is obvious, Jiangnan is a treasure of feng shui, he must be touched, the danger of Jiangnan is in the Yangtze River, and the elite of the Ming army is gathered in the four towns of Jiangbei, so Li Zicheng can only calmly march into Jiangnan after defeating the four towns of Jiangbei, general, are you right?" ”

Xu Dingguo nodded.

Wang Lanping said again, "Li Zicheng's army of 500,000 is pressing, and the people on both sides of the Yangtze River are panicking, there must be many people who betray the Lord and seek tolerance, I heard that Gao Jie was originally Li Zicheng's subordinate, he suddenly entered Jigong Mountain at this time, and occupied the key crossing, will there be anything unspeakable in this, then it is difficult to say"

When Xu Dingguo heard this, he stood up with a sigh, and he could hear that Wang Lanping meant that Gao Jie wanted to take advantage of Li Zicheng's army to turn against him and return to Li Thief's subordinates.

Wang Lanping pressed his hand and motioned for him to sit down, "Old general, sit down, don't get excited, it's just a guess, if there is evidence, then Inspector Shi has already asked the Holy Lord to send troops to kill him, but he seized the key crossing and refused to communicate with Yangzhou, which can't help but make people suspicious."

Xu Dingguo said, "Admiral Wang must have thought too much, everyone in the world can surrender to Li Zicheng, but Gao Jie will not, presumably you have heard of why Gao Jie betrayed Li Zicheng back then."

The legend of this wind and snow is well known, Gao Jie had read a few days when he was young, and he could drag a few sentences almost if he had nothing to do, and he looked white and pure, when he was in Li Zicheng's army, he actually hooked up with a favorite concubine of Li Zicheng, after the incident, Gao Jie had to take his military horse and surrender to the official army, since ancient times, the hatred of taking his wife is a great shame, Li Zicheng hates Gao Jie so much that his teeth itch, how could Gao Jie return to him.

Wang Lanping nodded and said, "No one knows Gao Jie's style \ rhyme, but at this time and that time, there is one more thing you may not know, the Manchu army of 130,000 troops has set off from Taiyuan and marched towards Xi'an, this Li Zicheng came to Jiangnan that is actually a fugitive, he is eager to find a place in Jiangnan to regain a foothold, in this major matter, Li Zicheng will not temporarily let go of his prejudice against Gao Jie, the two are embarrassed to commit adultery again, who can be sure"

Xu Dingguo was a little stunned, but he still didn't believe it, he said, "But General Gao is a heavy general of the Ming army, a high and powerful position, just because he gathered the army on the main road, it is concluded that he has a wrong thought, this is too far-fetched, is it possible that the general wants to separate me and General Gao" Although Gao Jie's reputation is a little stinky, but he has always been Xu Dingguo's direct subordinate to the constitution, if Gao Jie has objections, then it will be difficult for Xu Dingguo to enter Yangzhou to get rid of the suspicion of conspiring to seize Yangzhou, in other words, Xu Dingguo is also in the list of surrendering Li Zicheng.

Wang Lanping smiled, waved his hand and said, "No, no, I have no intention of doing so, I know you don't believe it, and I don't want to believe it, but someone will make you believe it."

Xu Dingguo Road, "Who?" ”

Wang Lanping said, "This morning, when a team of my cavalry patrolled, I found that the Ming army was escorting a group of people to Gao Jie's military village, and those soldiers punched and kicked them along the way, and my people came forward to inquire only to know that it was Gao Jie's troops, there were not many people, more than a dozen people, the two sides were at odds with each other, and the swords and soldiers met each other, and guess what."

Xu Dingguo shook his head.

Wang Lanping said, "Gao Jie's people were defeated, they left the people who accompanied them and ran away, and when these people were taken back to the city to ask, it really surprised me, what a coincidence, these people have a deep relationship with your General Xu."

Xu Dingguo stood up again, "Who is it?" Where are the people? ”

Wang Lanping also stood up and clapped his hands, "You'll know when you see it."

In a moment, Song Xian led a group of scarred men and women to walk in.

When Xu Dingguo saw these people, he was stunned, it was none other than his wife and his two sons, as soon as they met, the woman threw herself at Xu Dingguo's feet and cried bitterly, "Master, I can't help you, I didn't take good care of my in-laws, I'm sorry for the ancestors of the Xu family."

Wang Lanping withdrew from the hall and waited for the reunion of their family.

At the time when Wang Lan was parallel to this, he had already expected that as long as Gao Jie became suspicious of Xu Dingguo, the Xu family's family in Suizhou would definitely become Gao Jie's target for control, as long as Gao Jie took the Xu family's family, then he was not afraid that Xu Dingguo would dare to betray him, so Wang Lanping had already secretly sent someone to target the Xu family, as long as Gao Jie made a move, he would immediately take the initiative and snatch the Xu family's people, and then buckle the plate on Gao Jie's head, and he was afraid that these two would not turn against him.

As for what patrol soldiers, it was all Wang Lanping's nonsense, they were simply monitoring all the way, and when they were about to arrive at Gao Jie's station, they suddenly made a mistake and robbed the entire Xu family, but because of Sergeant Gao Jie's bullying all the way, Xu Dingguo's eighty-year-old parents couldn't stand the toss, died on the way, and couldn't pick them up.

A grief and indignation to gather together, Xu Dingguo's old tears were rampant, his parents who were over eighty years old were tragically killed, the Xu family's family business was once defeated, he hated, for so many years, he followed Gao Jie even if he had no merit and hard work, why was he so unsympathetic, how could I Xu Dingguo betray you, how could you bear to do this, even if you doubt me, but what is wrong with my family, the hatred of killing my father, not sharing the sky.

When the news of the death of his parents at the hands of Gao Jie came out of his family's mouth, Xu Dingguo had already lost his rational judgment of Gao Jie from the bottom of his heart, and he suddenly completely believed that Gao Jie must have wanted to take advantage of Li Zicheng's southward journey to turn his back on the thief again.

Just when he was crying in the house, a spy came to the courtyard and loudly reported to Wang Lanping, who had been waiting outside the house, "Report, General Wang, the military situation is urgent, Inspector Shi asks you to go to the government office immediately to discuss matters."

Wang Lanping replied pretendedly, "Got it"

Turning around, he shouted to Xu Dingguo in the house, "General Xu sit down for a while, I'll go back" Before leaving, he ordered someone to send the white things to Xu Dingguo.

At sunset, Wang Lanping returned to his residence, and appeared in front of Xu Dingguo with a sad face, Xu Dingguo had already dressed in linen and filial piety, and appeased the family, he found Wang Lanping, respectfully clasped his fists and knelt down, "Thank you Admiral Wang, the thoughtful Xu family is small, and the great kindness is great, and I will never forget it in this life."

Wang Lanping hurriedly helped him up, and said apologetically, "The old general, please get up, and I hope that the general's day will be mourned by the way."

Xu Dingguo gritted his teeth and said, "I never thought that Gao Jie was such a ruthless and unintentional person, I Xu Dingguo has never been sorry for him, I want to go to Nanjing, go to the emperor, I want to join him"

Wang Lanping shook his head and said slowly, "It's late, the general can't join him."

Xu Dingguo asked, "Why?" ”

Wang Lanping said, "Fang Cai, Shi Inspector summoned me to discuss the matter, the matter discussed is about Gao Jie, according to the spies who infiltrated his military camp, Gao Jie's army has gathered all the military horses, saying that it is going to attack Yangzhou City, it is very likely that within this day or two, he will do it, Yangzhou City is broken, you and I will not be able to live, at this moment, I am already in chaos"

Xu Dingguo said angrily, "He dares!" "At this time, Xu Dingguo was completely eroded by hatred.

Wang Lanping sighed, "He didn't just dare, he was already doing it, the number of defenders in Yangzhou City was too small, it was difficult to hold on, and the main road of Jigong Mountain had been occupied by him, even if there were reinforcements, they couldn't save us."

Xu Dingguo slapped the table, "Don't worry, I swear to stand with that thief, and if he doesn't wait for him to make trouble, I will have a way to kill him."

Wang Lanping is equal to this sentence, it is difficult to defeat Gao Jie with his own 3,000 cavalry, and the discord between Xu Dingguo is to use him to deal with Gao Jie.

Xu Dingguo said, "I have followed Gao Jie for so many years, I know everything about his march and setting up a village, this person is cautious, and every time he repairs the Chinese army's big tent in the camp is very eye-catching, but in fact he never goes there, there are heavy guards, he often chooses another place to rest in secrecy outside the camp, not only that, but I also know very well about his camp arrangement, I only need 500 elite soldiers, I can capture and kill this thief"

Wang Lanping said, "It's great to be like this, after the matter is completed, I will definitely ask Inspector Shi to show your great achievements to the imperial court, Mrs. Xu and Ling Lang have suffered a lot of bumps along the way, it is better to spend the night with me tonight."

At that moment, Xu Dingguo returned to the army, personally selected five hundred strong men, and walked towards the Gaojie military camp under the leadership of the guide.