The news that Zhuge Liang was beheaded by Liu Biao and died, although because Mr. Jiang Gan and General Li Lang and his entourage were also taken by Liu Biao, they could not bring the good news back to Xuchang, but such an important situation naturally did not escape the ears and eyes of Xuzhou Xizuo, so the news was finally sent to Xuchang through various channels and sent to Deputy Director Tao.

Coincidentally, on the day the news arrived in Xuchang, it was just in time for Deputy Director Tao to be officially awarded the title of Captain and Part-time Hussar General, leading Xu Yanqing to Yang Sizhou Governor! By the way, originally Liu Ye, Shi Yi, Yang Changshi and Chen Qun and other Xuzhou officials all encouraged Deputy Director Tao to take one step in place, and directly lead the prime minister to the part-time general, so as to save himself too much trouble in the future to be promoted, but Deputy Director Tao listened to the advice of Cui Yan, the official of Jizhou, and decided to learn the lesson of the father and son of the third prince of the Great Yuan who were too greedy for fame and lost the hearts of the people of the Han family.

Of course, although the official position is not high, and it symbolically divides some power to the Han civil and military forces, but the deputy director of the military power Tao is still firmly grasped in his hands, and the Xuzhou army, which has been renamed the Han official army, is still controlled by the cronies of the old general of the deputy director Tao. Yang Changshi even let out wild words in front of Deputy Director Tao, saying that as long as Deputy Director Tao nodded, he could get ironclad evidence to behead Wei Huang all over the house within three days. Deputy Director Tao hoped to put a long line to catch big fish and find out more Wei Huang's comrades, so Yang Changshi didn't do it immediately.

In any case, although he firmly grasped the power in the dark, Deputy Director Tao at least did better than the father and son of the third prince of Yuan on the surface, and the act of refusing the high-ranking officials and lords also gained a lot of good reputation, so that the civil and military forces of the Han family still felt that Deputy Director Tao was somewhat stronger than the father and son of the third prince of Yuan and the boss Cao, at least he was much more elegant in appearance, and his methods were gentle.

On the same day, Deputy Director Tao did another thing that had a huge impact - the implementation of a limited internal imperial examination! That is, to imitate the imperial examination system of later generations. Selecting bureaucratic talents to weaken the power of the gatekeepers. It was only in order to avoid being resisted too much by the family gatekeepers, and Deputy Director Tao was forced to make some concessions, stipulating that only landlord families with more than 50 acres of land could participate in the imperial examination, and at the same time stipulating that talents would be selected in this way. If the family is not at a certain level, they cannot immediately hold an official position at or above the prefectural level. It must start from the county order and county level. Then he passed the resolution by passing the examination before he could be promoted, in order to appease the clan lords, who basically held the positions of high-ranking civil officials.

By the way. Deputy Director Tao's internal imperial examination can barely pass the Han court, but also stained with the light of Cao Boss's meritocracy, employing people never look at their origins, and appointing a large number of Shu landlords as officials, although the family gate lords in the Xuchang court hate Cao Boss from the heart, but they are already accustomed to it. When Deputy Director Tao was in Xuzhou, he never looked at the door, and promoted a large number of small and medium-sized landlords like Jia Laoda Poison, Shiyi and Lu Su to serve as senior officials, and the military generals were almost all small and medium-sized landlords, and the Chen Deng family, the largest gate valve representative under his command, was more enlightened in this regard, not only never objected, but also helped Deputy Director Tao promote Shu officials like Han Hao, and was very supportive internally, so despite the difficult steps, Deputy Director Tao finally took the first step to gradually weaken the power of the gate valve.

After doing this important thing, I secretly remembered that Queen Fu, who was still in good shape, kowtowed to Emperor Han Xian and thanked him, and Deputy Director Tao also led a cadre of civil and military lackeys back to his Taiwei Mansion, at this time, the war in Yanzhou did not stop, and Yuan Tan's elite main force was still fighting with Yuan Shang in the Puyang area, so Deputy Director Tao's family members have not yet come to live in Xuchang, and only Guo Huan and Cao Qing, two concubines at home, serve Deputy Director Tao to do fitness exercises at night, but it is also convenient for Deputy Director Tao and a group of lackeys to gather for business, and the demons dance wildly.

Because he had just been awarded the title of lieutenant in the court, Deputy Director Tao of the Iron Rooster had to pluck his hair once, and set up a banquet out of his own pocket to celebrate the promotion with a group of lackeys, and it was also at the banquet, Deputy Director Tao, who had been restrained in the palace for a morning, completely relaxed, and greeted him cross-legged: "Sit casually, lie down if you want, cross your legs if you want to, and if you think the ground is hard, you can add brocade pads at will, they are all their own people, and there is no need to be detained." ”

"Thank you, Lord." The pampered Yang Changshi not only added two layers of brocade pads, but also laid a layer of fur, and then lay down on the soft fur to enjoy, and sighed: "It's still good in front of your own people, you can be comfortable as you want, and it is simply a crime to enter the palace, sitting on the terrazzo floor for a morning, my knees are almost calloused." ”

Of course, Yang Changshi's words were exaggerating, but all the civil and military forces in Xuzhou, who had just entered the Han Dynasty, nodded their heads in agreement, saying that they were still comfortable in front of their own people, and they didn't need to be so restrained. Jia Lao, who had already received the order of the Zhongshang Scholar, finally spoke, and said slowly: "What Mr. Zhongming said is very true, among the more than 200 officials who entered the pilgrimage to meet the Son of Heaven, we only have a total of twenty or thirty people, which is too restrained. ”

"Mr. Wenhe has something to say." Deputy Director Tao smiled and said, "Could it be that Mr. Wenhe wants to remind me that it's time to promote more of our own people?" ”

Jia Lao Poison smiled and nodded, and Chen Qun, the No. 2 landlord of Xuzhou next to him and the title of Dong Cao Peng, also took the opportunity to say: "Lord, the military advisor's words are too reasonable, your lord, you strongly advocate the implementation of the imperial examination, and select talented people to serve as local officials, but the court can not be taken lightly, more than 200 civil and military officials who entered the pilgrimage to see the Son of Heaven, and only about 10% of them are absolutely loyal to the lord. The group of thieves thought that it was time for the lord to vigorously promote the old department. ”

"This is a long article, which is exactly what I want, and I don't want to pay out of my own pocket to support so many disobedient officials." Deputy Director Tao nodded, and hesitated: "But these people occupy positions, how can we vigorously promote our own people?" ”

"It's simple. Seven words - Xing Da Prison, Disintegration and Division. Xun Chen said quietly: "When the Cao thief monopolized the government, whenever an official committed a crime, he was often imprisoned, and there were many people, and the purpose was not only to establish authority, but also to let those officials vacate their positions and promote the Cao thief, and the lord might as well follow suit." As for how to dismantle the division, with the power of the Lord. Presumably, there is no need to be ugly. It is nothing more than the prosperity of those who follow me, the death of those who oppose me, the exclusion of those who should be excluded, and the promotion of those who should be promoted. Within a year. More than 200 Xuchang civil and military officers. At least half of the people can be on the side of the lord. ”

"My lord, how about letting the ministers do this?" Yang Changshi hurriedly sat up straight and volunteered: "Your Majesty will not spend a year." At most half a year, the custody of more than half of Xuchang Wenwu has become the person of the lord! ”

This time, not only Deputy Director Tao rolled his eyes, but even Jia Lao Poison, Xu Huang, Xun Chen, Gao Shun, and Cao Xing, all of Yang Changshi's friends, rolled their eyes together, and said together: "Let you be in charge of the selection and promotion of officials, I'm afraid that in less than three months, our Xuzhou Army will have to be full of corrupt officials and filthy officials, right?" ”

Categorically declined Yang Changshi's kindness and loyalty, Deputy Director Tao wanted to ask about those civil and military officials in the Xuchang Dynasty who were worth buying, but the chief of the guard, Ma Zhong, hurriedly ran into the lobby from outside the door, and as soon as he entered the hall, he knelt down on one knee to Deputy Director Tao, and said with a happy face: "Congratulations to the lord, congratulations to the lord, the fine work we sent to Jingzhou to inquire about the news has returned, and has brought a great good news to the lord, Zhuge Liang is dead, or was beheaded by Liu Biao to death!" ”

"Really?!" Deputy Director Tao jumped three feet high and shouted in surprise: "Is the news accurate?" Zhuge Liang was really killed by Liu Biao?! ”

"It's true! After repeated confirmation! Ma Zhong replied respectfully: "Our fine work saw Zhuge Liang buried with his own eyes, and also saw Zhuge Xuan crying and fainting on Zhuge Liang's grave, spitting blood on the spot. In addition, our meticulous work also found some other news, and asked to report it to the lord in person! ”

"Let him in!" Deputy Director Tao yelled, and yelled even more frantically: "Hurry up and bring the wine, if the news is true, I want to have a drink today!" ”

Ma Zhong sang the promise, quickly went down to give the order, and the left and right guards also quickly brought the wine, ready to let Deputy Director Tao drink happily, Jia Lao, who had already seen Zhuge Liang's powerful poison, Liu Ye, Shiyi and other strategists were also overjoyed, and even said that he had finally removed a big trouble, but Yang Changshi was triumphant, and said in a loud voice: "It's still my trick that works, or my trick that works!" ”

After a while, the dusty Xuzhou Xizuo entered the lobby, and after kneeling down on Deputy Director Tao's knees, he immediately reported with a smile on his face: "Congratulations to the lord, congratulations to the lord, Zhuge Liang's husband, who Lord Liu ordered the villain to focus on monitoring, was beheaded to death by that Liu Biao, and was buried in Wollongong, Longzhong ten days ago!" and Zhuge Liang's uncle, Zhuge Xuan, the old thief, was also dismissed from all official positions by Liu Biao, expelled from Xiangyang City, and went to Longzhong to farm! ”

"How was the message confirmed?" Deputy Director Tao was most concerned about this, and hurriedly asked, "Is there conclusive evidence?" ”

"Yes!" Xizuo quickly took out a document from his arms and said: "This is the text of the waist beheading Zhuge Liang Bang announced by Liu Biao, and the villain quietly copied a copy and brought it back, please take a look at it." Also, because Zhuge Liang was not beheaded in public, the villain and his companions quietly bribed a guard of Liu Biao's Mansion for the sake of prudence, and got the truth from him, he saw Zhuge Liang being beheaded and executed in the front yard of the Jingzhou Prefecture Pastoral Mansion, and also saw Zhuge Liang dipped his finger in his own blood before he died, and wrote something on the ground, absolutely true! ”

With trembling hands, he took the transcripted list, and when he opened it and took a closer look, he saw that Liu Biao's crime of killing Zhuge Liang was collaborating with the enemy Xuzhou and betraying the Yexian military aircraft, which led to Liu Pan's death in battle, and nearly 10,000 Jingzhou soldiers were wiped out, Deputy Director Tao was also immediately relieved, since Liu Biao announced Zhuge Liang's crime, then he had to kill Zhuge Liang! Under the ecstasy, Deputy Director Tao picked up the wine jar next to the case, and directly came to his mouth to drink happily, and it was not a pity that the wine was sprinkled all over the luxurious clothes, and after putting down the wine jar, he laughed wildly and said: "The henchmen are in great trouble!" Big-eared thief, you're done! ”

"By the way, how is Liu Bei?" Deputy Director Tao's wild laughter reminded him, and Jia Lao Poison hurriedly asked, "And our envoys, Mr. Jiang Gan, what's wrong with them?" ”

"They were all imprisoned by Liu Biao." Xizuo replied truthfully: "I heard that when the incident happened, Mr. Jiang Gan was also held by the Jingzhou army, Zhuge Liang was imprisoned after his death, and Liu Bei was also imprisoned. There were also a dozen or so retinues of Mr. Jiang Gan and several Jingzhou officials, all of whom were imprisoned. By the way, I heard that Cai Zhong, who was in charge of the defense of Xiangyang, was also implicated and was dismissed from the official ....... ”

"Wait, wait, wait." Deputy Director Tao was not in the mood to care about Cai Zhong's life or death, so he just asked: "Zhuge Liang has been beheaded in half, why hasn't the big-eared thief died?" ”

"Why was Mr. Jiang Gan also arrested?" It was Deputy Director Yi Bitao who had a conscience, and asked in surprise: "Didn't we design a plan for him to get out?" Why are you still arrested and imprisoned? ”

"This, the villain doesn't know." He replied with embarrassment: "The villain bribed the Jingzhou guard, but he just said that Zhuge Liang seemed to have borne all the charges, so Liu Bei was not beheaded and questioned." The situation of Mr. Jiang Gan. The villain is even less aware. But don't worry, my lord. The villain's companion is still inquiring about the news in Jingzhou, and as soon as there is accurate information, he will immediately send Xuchang to the lord and the lord, but the villain is just worried about the lord. So it was confirmed that after Zhuge Liang was beheaded. I'll be back right away. ”

"It's not bad. Go down and claim your reward. Deputy Director Tao waved his hand, turned to Liu Ye and Cao Hong next to him, and ordered, "Mr. Ziyang." Cao Hong, go all out to find out the details, the more detailed the better, understand? ”

"Understood!" The two intelligence chiefs of Xuzhou, one bright and one dark, immediately agreed, and immediately went down to arrange the arrangement, and used more strength to spy on the details, leaving Deputy Director Tao in the lobby to celebrate Zhuge Liang's tragic death with a cadre of civil and military lackeys, and drank freely.

In the evening of the same day, another accurate news was sent to Deputy Director Tao who was having a good drink, and he was placed in Xuzhou, which was placed in Wancheng, and Deng Long, the commander of the Nanyang garrison of the Jingzhou Army, took advantage of the news channel to get the order to do it to Zhang Fei and Xu Shu first, and first deceived Zhang Fei into Wancheng to get drunk and captured, and then showed the warrant for Uncle Liu to put down his arms, and incorporated the 6,000 troops that Uncle Liu had abducted and deceived. At the same time, Xuzhou Xizuo confirmed one point, that is, Zhang Fei and Xu Shu were not killed after being captured, but they were escorted to Xiangyang together and handed over to Liu Biao.

"How can you not kill the big-eared thief and Zhang Fei? What exactly is this for? Deputy Director Tao, who was already drunk and hazy, was extremely regretful, and yelled: "Old man Liu, why don't you kill the big-eared thief?" If you kill him, I won't have to use this traitor again! Why? Why don't you kill him right away? ”

"Lord, it's not easy to kill the big-eared thief?" Yang Changshi, who was also drunk and blushing and thick-necked, burped and said: "Send another envoy to Jingzhou and propose to redeem the big-eared thief with money and grain, and then Liu Biao will believe that the big-eared thief has defected to our army, and then Liu Biao'er will have to kill the big-eared thief." ”

"Good idea." Deputy Director Tao now felt more and more that some of Yang Changshi's bad ideas actually worked, but even though he was quite drunk, Deputy Director Tao still maintained a certain calm, turned to Jia Lao Poison and asked, "Mr. Wenhe, is this plan feasible?" ”

Jia Lao's poison is not as indiscriminate as Deputy Director Tao and Yang Changshi, he always kept a cool head, and only replied after careful calculation: "Lord, I think I can give it a try, in addition, Mr. Ziyi's hard work this time is high, and I can't ignore his imprisonment, I suggest that the lord might as well send another messenger south to contact Liu Biao, and propose to redeem Mr. Ziyi and Liu Bei's big-eared thief and others with money, grain and jewelry, so that Mr. Ziyi may be able to be saved, but Liu Bei will definitely die!" ”

"Then let's try it." Deputy Director Tao nodded and instructed Yang Changshi: "Mr. Zhongming, this matter will be handed over to you, arrange for an envoy to go south to contact Liu Biao as soon as possible, and redeem Jiang Gan and the big-eared thief with money and grain." By the way, write a letter to your student Liu Qi, and also ask him to come forward to save Jiang Gan and the big-eared thief, so that the big-eared thief will die more miserably. ”

………………

Time back to the night eleven days ago, back to the night when Zhuge Liang was killed, on the execution ground outside the hall of the Jingzhou Prefecture Pastoral Mansion, in front of Liu Biao and the civil and military officials of Jingzhou, Uncle Liu Huang, who knelt on his knees, burst into tears, and fed a bowl of desperate wine with trembling hands to Zhuge Liang, who was already lying under the guillotine, and couldn't say a word for a long time, looking at Zhuge Liang's eyes, he was full of gratitude and guilt, but Zhuge Liang was not afraid, he drank the wine in the bowl with a calm expression, and thanked him with a smile: "Thank you, lord, Liang is cautious in this life, walking on thin ice, every time he drinks is ordered, he has never tasted the taste of a whole bowl of drinking, and today he drank a bowl of wine in one go, only to find that drinking is really happy. ”

"Kong Ming ......." Uncle Liu Huang cried bitterly and said, "I'm sorry for you." ”

"Lord, don't say it, Liang didn't blame you." Zhuge Liang hurriedly interrupted Uncle Liu's confession, and said: "Lord, although Liang died this time, the suspicion of your collusion with the pottery thief still cannot be cleared, and some people will still use this matter to make a big fuss, and they must put you to death as soon as possible." If Liang is not bad, you must also have a prison disaster, and I hope you must hold on, as long as you save your life, you can find the pottery thief to take revenge and avenge Liang. ”

Uncle Liu Huang cried and nodded, and Zhuge Liang told again: "Lord, Liang still has two explanations, I hope you must remember." First, you must fully cooperate with Jingsheng Gong to recruit those 6,000 troops, only in this way will Jingsheng Gong not kill you immediately, and the three generals and Xu Yuanzhi can also save their lives. Don't expect those 6,000 troops to save you, they've just been incorporated and can't be relied on yet. Lord, do you remember? ”

"Remembered." Uncle Liu Huang cried bitterly and agreed.

"Second." Zhuge Liang said again: "After the lord is released from prison, don't think about avenging me immediately, remember the ancient adage that a gentleman takes revenge, ten years is not too late." Go to Hanzhong, go to Zhang Lu there, remember, Yang Song loves money, Cao thief's Guanzhong withered, as long as the lord can temporarily accommodate himself in Hanzhong, he will definitely have a chance to make a comeback! Lord, do you remember? ”

Uncle Liu Huang burst into tears and nodded, but he couldn't say a word anymore. Zhuge Liang smiled, turned to Pang Tong who was standing next to him and said, "Shiyuan, it's time for you to feed me the death wine." ”

Pang Tong squatted down without saying a word, and fed the wine bowl in his hand to Zhuge Liang's mouth, until Zhuge Liang drank the wine in the bowl again, Pang Tong asked with a straight face: "Is it worth it?" ”

"Faithfulness to the Lord is certainly worth it." Zhuge Liang smiled and said, "Besides, she has already treated me like that, and I still have ......." ”

Speaking of this, Zhuge Liang finally sighed, shook his head, and said quickly: "Shiyuan, I'm sorry, it is estimated that you will also be affected by me this time, and you will probably be imprisoned for questioning, but you will definitely not die, I begged you during the day, and please remember it." In addition, I want to ask you one thing, rather be the head of the chicken, not the queen of the ox, the world's heroes such as Cao Cao, Tao Ying and others, there is already a strong team around them, no more than you, no less than you, even if you go to the icing on the cake, you will definitely not be reused. Do you understand my words? ”

Pang Tong stared at Zhuge Liang, nodded after a while, and said, "Of course I understand." ”

"With this sentence, I am relieved." Zhuge Liang laughed, and then said loudly: "Okay, Jingsheng Gong, you can do it!" Also, Jingsheng Gong, after Liang is tortured, he will leave you a sentence to help you distinguish between loyalty and treachery! Sweep away the hidden dangers! Please take a look! ”

"Kong Ming ——!"

In the howling cry, Uncle Liu Huang, who was crying incessantly, was dragged away by the guards, and Pang Tong was also escorted away without saying a word, and after obtaining the consent of Liu Biao, who personally established the punishment, the executioner holding the knife handle pressed down the guillotine hard, and between the blood splashes, Zhuge Liang's hip was also cut into two - it should have been broken at the waist, but when the executioner was executed, Zhuge Liang deliberately stepped forward and crawled a little, so that the guillotine was on the crotch that would not kill him too quickly.

"Kong Ming!"

"Liang'er!"

Uncle Liu Huang and Zhuge Xuan howled frantically together, Pang Tong finally shed two lines of tears, Zhuge Liang, who had been broken into two hips, endured the severe pain, used his last strength, struggled to dip his fingers in blood, and wrote two lines of words on the ground - My lord is in prison, Tao Ying will pretend to rescue my lord, and use your hand to get rid of the fierce enemy! In this way, it is enough to prove that our lord is innocent, and Zhang Xiufang is a pottery thief............

Writing here, the last two words of the traitor, Zhuge Liang no longer has the strength to write down, he plunged to the side of the word and fell, and when he was about to die, in the haze, Zhuge Liang finally saw the upturned shoes representing Liu Biao's identity appear beside him, and wiped the blood words with the soles of the shoes, Zhuge Liang suddenly smiled with difficulty, and muttered in his mouth, "Do your best, and then die, I at least, I have done this ......." (To be continued......)