"Virtuous nephew, in this way, the Jingzhou army sneaked up on our Chaisang and Poyang Lake Water Division at the end of the month, it's all your speculation? Regardless of whether the Jingzhou army attacked or when, it was just speculation, and there was no accurate information and evidence? ”

Qiao Rui asked suspiciously, his tone was suspicious, his expression was even more suspicious, Jiang Qin's demeanor next to him was even more suspicious, Jiang Qinhu was suspicious because he didn't know Yang Zheng, a young man in the Xuzhou Army, and Qiao Rui was suspicious because he knew too well that Yang Zheng's father Yang Changshi was too unreliable, so Qiao Rui didn't dare to guarantee whether Yang Changshi's baby son was more unreliable than him.

"Uncle Qiao, General Jiang, the little nephew knows that it is difficult for you to believe, and it is impossible to adjust the military strategy because of the little nephew's personal inference." Yang Zheng's tone was very calm, and he was not disappointed or angry because of Qiao Rui and Jiang Qin's distrust of him, but said calmly: "But the main force of the Jingzhou Navy Division is gathering in Xiakou upstream, is this true?" Therefore, for the sake of prudence, the little nephew still has to ask Uncle Qiao and General Jiang to prepare for war immediately, and not to give the Jingzhou army the slightest chance to raid, otherwise, once the enemy suddenly kills, our army, which is already in a weak position, will be caught off guard, and it will be too late to regret it. ”

Listening to Yang Zheng's reasoning, and knowing that Chaisang and Poyang Lake are the Jiangdong gateways of the Xuzhou Army, once there is a loss, the downstream will be wide open, so Qiao Rui and Jiang Qin discussed in a low voice for a while, and Qiao Rui came forward and said: "What the virtuous nephew said is very true, uncle and General Jiang will immediately start preparing for war, in fact, even if the virtuous nephew doesn't say so, my uncle and General Jiang have already begun to do so, and our land and water soldiers have already begun to assemble." Weapons have also been issued in place and are ready for battle. ”

"Oh, yes." Jiang Qin remembered something again, and hurriedly asked, "Huai Qingxian's nephew, can you find out who is the commander of the Jingzhou Army?" ”

"Yes......." Yang Zheng wanted to say that it should be Liu Qi, but when the words came to his lips, he changed his mind and said: "It should be Liu Biao himself, because when the little nephew asked to see Liu Biao in Xiangyang to negotiate Yuan Mai, he was rejected by the Jingzhou Assassin Mansion for various reasons, and the little nephew suspected that Liu Biao was in Xiakou at the moment!" ”

"Cousin Liu is coming?!"

Qiao Rui and Jiang Qin were taken aback together. also cheered up and became more vigilant. Hurriedly discussed in a low voice how to double the embankment, Yang Zheng saw that he had deceived Qiao Rui and Jiang Qin, and hurriedly took the opportunity to say: "Uncle Qiao, General Jiang." The little nephew suggested. It is better to have enough food, grass, bows and arrows on our sailors' warships. Be prepared to abandon the sailor's camp, and if necessary, you can abandon the sailor's camp and let the sailor go east first to avoid the enemy's edge. Preserve our hard-won naval forces, use the city of Chaisang to attract the enemy's attention, and wait until the main force of our naval division meets before coming to deal with the enemy. ”

Qiao Rui turned his head and glanced at Yang Zheng, and said with some dissatisfaction: "Huai Qingxian's nephew, Hugh is talking nonsense, talking on paper, the water surface of Poyang Lake is open, it is where the water division comes in, if our army's water division withdraws from Poyang Lake to the east, and the enemy's water division takes the opportunity to fortify at the narrow place at the mouth of the lake, blocking the road for our army's water division to go west, will Chaisang not be a lonely city?" ”

Yang Zheng closed his mouth, it was not that Yang Zheng agreed with Qiao Rui's judgment on this, but Yang Zheng knew very well that his current people were soft-spoken and inexperienced, and Qiao Rui and Jiang Qin, who were ordered to guard the Jiangdong portal, would never easily accept their opinions, rather than arguing meaninglessly, it was better to save some effort and maintain friendly relations, so as not to mess up Qiao Rui and Jiang Qin's impression of themselves, and it would be difficult to even meet them in the future.

After thinking about it for a while, Yang Zheng hurriedly asked again: "Uncle Qiao, just now the little nephew asked you about Yuan Yaojun's situation, but you haven't answered yet, the little nephew may ask your uncle again, I don't know if Yuan Yaojun has had any abnormal movements recently?" ”

"Don't worry, Yuan Yao is fine over there." Qiao Rui said impatiently: "Besides, Yuan Yao is simply a puppet now, the team is divided into two, and there is not much threat to us." Okay, the virtuous nephew has come from afar to work hard, go down and rest, if there is something wrong, my uncle will send someone to summon you. Come on, arrange a good guest room for Yang Gongzi and invite him to rest. ”

"Yuan Yao has become a puppet? Team two? Yang Zheng's heart moved, and he wanted to ask, but Qiao Rui's personal soldiers had already come to ask Yang Zheng to go out to rest, Yang Zheng had no choice but to retire honestly, and led Li Lang to rest in Qiao Rui's home with Qiao Rui's personal soldiers.

Yang Zheng made concessions but did not stop there, after being led into a guest room by Qiao Rui's personal soldiers, Qiao Rui's personal soldiers wanted to say goodbye and leave, but Yang Zheng pulled his sleeve and asked with a smile: "This uncle, I have one thing I want to ask you, just now Uncle Qiao said that Yuan Yao became a puppet, and Yuan Yaojun was divided into two armies, what is going on?" ”

Qiao Rui's personal soldier wanted to refuse to answer, but Yang Zheng pleaded with a salute, and stuffed a pearl into the hand of the personal soldier, and said: "Uncle, I'm not spying on the military, Uncle may not know, Yuan Yao and I used to be friends when we were teenagers, and we can be regarded as friends of the general horn, what is his current situation, I have to know everything, right?" ”

For the sake of Pearl and Yang Zheng's sincere request, the Qiao Rui soldiers replied: "Yang Gongzi, it's not that the villain doesn't want to tell you, it's really that the villain doesn't know much, the villain only knows that after Yuan Shu died of illness, the team left by Yuan Shu was under the command of Yuan Yao's uncle Yuan Yin, but Liu Xun, a veteran of the Yuan army, was not convinced, and listened to our detailed report to General Qiao that these two people fought very hard, Yuan Yao said that it didn't matter at all, and the other villains didn't know." ”

"Yuan Yin and Liu Xun are fighting for power, and Yuan Yao is completely overheaded?" Yang Zheng's eyes lit up, and he hurriedly asked, "Uncle, then Yuan Yin and Liu Xun's team, do you know where they are stationed?" ”

"Yuan Yin is stationed in Nanchang with Yuan Yao, and Liu Xun is stationed in Haidu." Qiao Rui's own soldiers threw down this sentence, and then walked away, leaving Yang Zheng in the guest room thoughtfully.

"Young master, wash your face." Li Lang brought a face wash to Yang Zheng, and while serving Yang Zheng to freshen up, he said unfairly for Yang Zheng: "Qiao Taishou and General Jiang are simply eyes on the top of their heads, young master, you risked your life to send letters thousands of miles away, not only did they ask you like a prisoner, young master, you asked them something, they were also impatient and immediately drove you away, it was really kind and not rewarded." ”

Yang Zheng smiled and didn't take this matter to heart. Li Lang lowered his voice again and asked, "Young Master, how do you say that the commander of the Jingzhou Army may be Liu Biao himself?" And said that we didn't see Liu Biao in Xiangyang at all? In your judgment before, the commander of the Jingzhou Navy Division's Eastern Crusade is likely to be Liu Qi, the master's protégé? ”

"If I say that the commander of the Jingzhou Army may be Liu Qi, Uncle Qiao and they will not easily believe me." Yang Zheng replied in a low voice: "Because Liu Qi has always had a good relationship with us before, and this Chaisang City was taken by Liu Qi for us, Uncle Qiao and they will never believe that Liu Qi instigated and personally launched this Eastern Crusade, and it is likely that they will miss a major event because they don't believe my words." So I had no choice, so I had to lie to them and say that Cousin Liu was here. Let them be vigilant. Intensify preparations. ”

"So that's the case, the young master is so smart, much better than your father." Li Lang praised from the bottom of his heart, and hurriedly asked, "Young Master." You care so much about Yuan Yao's affairs. Could it be that Yuan Yao and you are really friends? ”

"Yuan Yao is indeed my best friend. But I didn't care about him personally, I was worried about his army. Yang Zheng replied: "Yuan Shujun is now a hundred-legged insect, dead and not stiff. There is also the power of a battle, if his team secretly forms an alliance with the Jingzhou army, and also sends troops to attack Chaisang when Liu Qi sneaks up on Chaisang, then our Chaisang team will be attacked on both sides and will be more passive, so for the sake of prudence, I must grasp the current situation of Yuan Yaojun. ”

"It's a pity that Qiao Rui and Jiang Qin don't believe in your ability, young master, otherwise, young master, you will definitely be able to analyze whether Yuan Yao has formed an alliance with Liu Qi." Li Lang sighed.

"No, I've already analyzed it." Yang Zheng smiled and said: "Uncle Qiao just said that Yuan Yao's side is fine, which proves that Yuan Yao's team has not used force so far, and based on this, I can conclude that Yuan Yao has secretly formed an alliance with Liu Qi!" ”

"Why?" Li Lang asked in surprise.

"It's very simple, Uncle Qiao and they noticed that the Jingzhou sailors were assembled in Xiakou, and it was impossible for Yuan Yao's meticulous work to be unreported." Yang Zheng smiled even more confidently, and said, "Uncle Li, think about it, how much enmity Yuan Shujun has with us?" First we robbed the two counties of Huainan and drove Jiangdong, and then we completely annihilated the Yangtze River Naval Division and seized the richest Danyang in Jiangdong, and found that the Jingzhou Military Naval Division had abnormal movements, how could Yuan Yao's team not seize this opportunity to take advantage of the fire to rob and take revenge? ”

"Even if Yuan Yaojun doesn't have the courage to join us in fire, at least we have to step up our combat preparations to prevent the Jingzhou Army from taking Chaisang and seizing Yuzhang, but Yuan Yaojun has not caused Uncle Qiao to be alert to any changes so far, which is enough to prove that Yuan Yao and they have reached a secret agreement with the Jingzhou Army and are ready to join forces to attack Chaisang, so they deliberately tightened the inside and loosened the outside, pretending to be negligent in preparing for war to paralyze our army, and then suddenly sent troops to attack Chaisang, killing us by a bigger surprise!"

"Really?" Li Lang was taken aback, and hurriedly said, "Young Master, since you have this suspicion, why don't you tell General Qiao Rui and them?" ”

"Uncle Li, you watched me grow up, even you can't believe my analysis, do you think Uncle Qiao will easily believe it?" Yang Zheng asked with a wry smile.

Li Lang thought about it carefully and found that it was also, so he could only sigh helplessly: "Young master, I really wronged you, I am full of talent, but not many people believe in you." Alas, the young master said don't be angry, it's the master who hurt you, if the master is usually less greedy and less bullying, you won't be like this, young master. ”

"The son does not say anything about the father, and I have no right to criticize what the father does." Yang Zheng shook his head, and then said, "Uncle Li, please prepare pen and ink and white silk for me, I want to write a letter." By the way, I want two copies of the white silk, and I have to write two letters. ”

Li Lang agreed, and soon took pen and ink and white silk, Yang Zhengduan sat next to the desk, first wrote a letter to Yuan Yao describing the friendship of the young man, and persuaded Yuan Yao to return to the imperial court as soon as possible, and help his father return to his hometown in Runan for burial - last time Yuan Yao's team rejected Deputy Director Tao's kindness to let the soul of the little Yuan Sangong return to his hometown. Then he picked up the brush and wrote a letter to Yuan Yin, but Yang Zheng only wrote a few words, and Li Lang, who knew a few words, immediately widened his eyes and exclaimed: "Young master, how is it the master's handwriting?" Or is it the self-proclaimed name of the lord? ”

"No way, I'm a junior, and a humble position, I was only twelve years old when I left Huainan, and I didn't know Yuan Yin at all, so I had to borrow my father's tiger skin." Yang Zheng smiled and said with a smile: "But it's okay, I stole my father's handwriting and identity, and I won't blame him if I want to come to his old man's house, at most, I will only be slapped with thirty palms like the lord." ”

A joke was made. Yang Zheng continued to write hard, and wrote a serious letter of persuasion to Yuan Yin in the honor of Yang Changshi, persuading Yuan Yin to abandon his previous suspicions and lead the remnants of Yuan Shu to return to the Xuzhou Army, stating that all kinds of relationships were powerful, and strongly persuading Yuan Yin not to resist stubbornly and seek his own death, and promised Yuan Yin an official reward for Deputy Director Tao, and at the end of the letter, Yang Zheng suddenly turned his pen and told Yuan Yin in Yang Changshi's tone, saying that Yuan Yin and the Jingzhou army colluded to attack Chaisang. In fact, Liu Xun had already secretly reported to the Xuzhou army. The Xuzhou army had already arranged for the Tianluo net to come to death in Chaisang, and Liu Xun had already been appointed by Deputy Director Tao as the general of Zhennan to build a city, and persuaded Yuan Yin to follow Liu Xun's example and take the opportunity to surrender and not kill himself. used as cannon fodder for the Jingzhou army in vain.

"Young Master. You're not kidding, are you? Li Lang's eyes widened again. exclaimed in a low voice: "Do you want to sow discord between Yuan Yin and Liu Xun?" How is this possible? ”

"How could it be?" Yang Zheng asked rhetorically: "Didn't Uncle Qiao's personal soldiers say just now that Yuan Yin and Liu Xun are fighting fiercely?" Yuan Yin saw that my father exposed the heavenly secret in the letter, can he still believe that Liu Xun has defected? And even if the separation fails. What do we have to lose, what a Messenger to lose, right? ”

"Loss of a messenger?" Li Lang was stunned at first, and then immediately turned pale and said, "Young Master, I don't dare to send this letter." ”

"Uncle Li, don't worry, how can I let you go on an adventure?" Yang Zheng said with a smile: "I wrote that letter to Yuan Yao myself, just to prevent you from sending the letter, don't worry, I have my own way to send these two letters to the enemy." ”

………………

A night passed quickly, the next morning, Yang Zheng came directly to Qiao Rui's Yuzhang Taishou Hall to ask for a meeting, but Qiao Rui was busy preparing for the Jingzhou army raid, and he didn't have time to see Yang Zheng at all, just in the hall and Chai Sangzhong civil and military affairs, Yang Zheng was not anxious to see it, and he didn't put any shelf for the eldest prince of Xuzhou's heavy minister's family, and forcibly asked Qiao Rui to meet him immediately, just waited patiently outside the hall where Qiao Rui's sight was, and waited from morning to noon without leaving, During this period, although Qiao Rui also saw Yang Zheng outside the hall several times, he was busy with business and ignored it.

It was already half past noon, Qiao Rui finally ended his official duties, and began to lead his generals to the city to check the city defense, Yang Zheng hurriedly retreated to the side to make way, Qiao Rui saw that Yang Zheng was waiting pitifully and did not dare to talk to himself, so he also moved a little compassion, stopped in front of Yang Zheng, and said: "Is there anything wrong with the virtuous nephew?" Come on, I'm busy. ”

"Uncle, please look at this." Yang Zheng hurriedly handed his letter to Yuan Yao in front of Qiao Rui, and said briefly: "The little nephew wants to borrow a messenger from his uncle to go to Nanchang to deliver the letter. ”

After a cursory look at Yang Zheng's letter of persuasion to Yuan Yao, although Qiao Rui felt that it was definitely useless, for the sake of Yang Zheng's patience, he casually called a guard and ordered: "Arrange a messenger to deliver the letter for Yang Gongzi." ”

The guard agreed, took the letter, Qiao Rui led everyone to hurry away, Yang Zheng took out the letter bag again, and while putting the letter in the letter bag, he pleaded with the guard: "This big brother, can you please take me to the messenger?" I have a few more words to explain in person. ”

The guard did not doubt him, and hurriedly led Yang Zheng to meet with the messenger, and Yang Zheng took the opportunity to exchange the letter bag in his hand with the letter bag that had been prepared during this period, and then saw the messenger arranged by the bridge guard, Yang Zheng handed him the letter and a piece of gold, and said: "This big brother, the situation is urgent, if you can send the letter to Nanchang City within two days, and bring back the letter within four and a half days, I will reward you with another piece of gold, and I will ask my father to reward you for your official position, my father Yang Zhongming is the current scholar of the imperial court, he said casually, You're still not going to get three levels higher. ”

"Don't worry, Childe." The messenger Daxi said: "There is a waterway from Chaisang to Nanchang, and the villain lets the sailors travel day and night, and the custody is delivered on time." ”

"Thank you very much." Yang Zheng nodded, and said: "Also, I heard that Nanchang is now in charge of Yuan Yin, you can say that the letter is for Yuan Yin, anyway, it's the same, Yuan Yin will give the letter to Yuan Yao." The messenger agreed, took the pass pass from the bridge guard, and hurried out of the city to board the clipper.

Another next day, that is, on November 24, Yang Zheng came to Qiao Rui again, and Qiao Rui happened to be at the end of discussing the military situation with Jiang Qin. Two days after tomorrow, something will happen on the Haidusk side. ”

After finishing speaking, Yang Zheng turned his head and left, leaving Qiao Rui and Jiang Qin stunned in the lobby, looking at each other, and said in confusion together: "Old Yang is greedy, what is crazy?" Two days after tomorrow, something will happen over there in the sea dusk? What's going on? ”

On the twenty-fifth day, the day was safe, and Yang Zheng also stayed in the guest room honestly to study, and did not harass Qiao Rui and Jiang Qin again. Li Lang helped Yang Zheng calculate the time. It is estimated that even if he succeeds, it will be difficult to have news today, so he is not too anxious. But on the twenty-sixth day, Li Lang was a little restless, and he kept looking in front of the door since the morning. But there was no news until noon. Yang Zheng still sat in front of the desk reading and practicing calligraphy. The handwriting is neat and picturesque, and there is no mess at all.

"Why haven't you heard any news yet?" Li Lang was anxious and couldn't help but come to Yang Zheng. asked in a low voice: "Young Master, there is still no news, could it be that your discord plan has failed?" ”

"If we fail, we fail, do we have a loss?" Yang Zheng asked rhetorically, and the brush in his hand was still not messy.

"That's just as well." Li Lang nodded, and said in a low voice: "Young Master, there is a question that I only remembered last night, do you think that Yuan Shujun's capable person pointed out that your false belief is just a discord?" Want Yuan Yin and Liu Xun to kill each other? ”

"Uncle Li, I'll give you an analogy, it's just an analogy." Yang Zheng continued to practice calligraphy, and said casually: "If my father suddenly died that day, and my father designated me to inherit the family property, you have followed my father for many years, holding the key to my family's treasury, and managing the money and grain expenses for me, Wang Wu and Chen Er They think you are too domineering, and you are not allowed to spend that, will you listen to Wang Wu and Chen Er?" ”

"It's ......." Li Lang hesitated a little, and then said with a wry smile: "Young Master, your analogy is too inappropriate, how dare I be the master of your house?" I am loyal to my lord and to you. ”

"Then change it to Wang Wu." Yang Zheng said casually: "If Wang Wu grasps the key to my family's treasury and sets me up as a young master, Uncle Li, you and Chen Er oppose what Wang Wu did, will Wang Wu listen?" ”

"That kid will never listen!" Li Lang hurriedly expressed his position, and said: "Young master, don't worry, if Wang Wu dares to do this, I will squeeze out his egg yolk and feed the flies!" ”

"That's it." Yang Zheng smiled and said: "If you change to Yuan Yin, you are Wang Wu, Uncle Li, you are Yan Xiang, and Chen Er is Shu Shao or Jin Shang, so Yan Xiang, Shu Shao and Jin Shang will definitely oppose Yuan Yin to empty Yuan Yao and hold the key to the treasury for Yuan Yao, and Yuan Yin will definitely not listen to their objections." ”

Li Lang scratched his hair, nodded, and then sighed: "This is the reason, but we still have to make their moves, so that we can know whether you are judging right, young master." ”

"Virtuous nephew! Huai Qingxian's nephew! Can Huai Qingxian's nephew be in the room? ”

Before Li Lang's words were finished, the shouts of Qiao Rui and Jiang Qin and a rush of footsteps had already sounded outside the door, and then, Qiao Rui and Jiang Qin almost broke into the room side by side, Yang Zheng finally put down the brush, smiled at Qiao Rui and Jiang Qin and asked: "Uncle Qiao, Uncle Jiang, if I guess correctly, it was Yuan Yin who suddenly sent troops to attack Liu Xun, right?" ”

Qiao Rui and Jiang Qin both nodded desperately, and then asked in unison with a surprised face, "Virtuous nephew, how do you know?" Or did you know about it the day before yesterday? Also, why did Yuan Yin scold Liu Xun for colluding with our army and selling the master for glory? ”

"Young Master, you succeeded!" Li Lang jumped three feet high, hugged Yang Zheng and directly lifted the thin Yang Zheng up, and shouted in ecstasy: "Young Master, your discord plan has succeeded!" Got it! ”

"Is it your arrangement?" Qiao Rui and Jiang Qin exclaimed at the same time.

"Uncle Qiao, Uncle Jiang, and the little nephew took the liberty of Yuan Yin and Liu Xunhuo, and it was indeed the little nephew's doing." Yang Zheng's expression was still extremely calm, and he smiled extremely easily and said, "Now, the little nephew is qualified to participate in the formulation of your tactics, right?" If you can trust the little nephew, the little nephew is willing to help you repel the sneak attack of the Jingzhou Navy Division, and insist on the main force of Lu Dudu to help. But before that, the little nephew must know the strength of our army and the situation of the warships, as well as all the scouts during this period of time to report in detail! ”

On November 27 the next day, Xiakou, Yang Zheng's fellow brother Liu Qi, suddenly summoned all the Jingzhou civil and military forces in Xiakou in the Jingzhou Navy Battalion, and showed his father Liu Biao's handwritten order in public, announcing the secret that Yuan Yin and Liu Xun had asked the Jingzhou army for help together, under the pretext of rescuing allies and crusading against the national thief Tao Ying, declared war on the Xuzhou army again in the name of Liu Biao, and dispatched 80,000 Jingzhou sailors led by himself to attack Chaisang and seize Yuzhang County in the east! and announced that with Gan Ning as the vanguard, the first goal was to annihilate the Poyang Lake Water Division of the Xuzhou Army and break the Xuzhou Water Division, which was already in a weak position! (To be continued......)