After Xiao Miaodong retreated to Yuzhang County, he listened to Cen Wenwen, re-armed the marshal of the water army to protect his son, and ordered him to attack Lin Shihong with all his might, and to protect the child to live up to Xiao Miao's trust, and won three battles and three victories in Jiujiang County and Poyang Lake, annihilating more than 100,000 enemies, and personally killing Lin Shihong's brother and the general of the navy Lin Shiyuan.

Lin Shihong was afraid of the momentum of coming to protect his children, and led tens of thousands of remnants of the army to evacuate to Jian'an County and Lingnan, and the Western Liang Dynasty regained its momentum and occupied five counties including Yuzhang, Jiujiang, Poyang, Luling, and Yichun, and the strength recovered to more than 100,000 people.

Xiao Mo was extremely grateful to Laihu'er, gave him 10,000 taels of gold, 300 maidservants, and added nine tin to show his honor, and was named Taishi, promoted to the king of Poyang County, and sealed 5,000 households.

Come to protect the children to get a good field and beautiful house, thousands of servants and wives in the family are Luo Qi, and hundreds of people go in and out, tall horses and carts, showing honor.

But the high merit will inevitably shock the lord, if the luxurious life of the child can be tolerated by Xiao Mill, then the sergeant of the army generally only knows the king of the county and does not know the saint, which makes Xiao Mill a little uneasy, so he appointed his nephew Xiao Lang, the king of Wuling County, as the deputy marshal of the navy.

At this moment, Tang Emperor Li Yuan secretly sent an envoy to meet with Lai Hu'er......

In the room, Xiao Miao's face was pale, pacing back and forth with his hands behind his back, and next to him, his nephew Xiao Lang reported in a low voice: "The minister's subordinates can see clearly, the Tang envoy got on his boat an hour ago, and he hasn't come down yet, Your Majesty, this person's heart can be punished!" ”

Although Xiao Miao's cultivation has always been very good, he couldn't help but scold at this time: "His servant woman and maid serve silver bowls, and the luxury is more than mine, I endured it, he cultivated power in the army, covering the sky with one hand, and the recruits in the army only knew that he came to protect his children and didn't know about me, and I also endured it, but he actually colluded with the Tang Dynasty, what did he want to do, did he want to give my foundation to the Tang Dynasty?" ”

"Your Majesty, the minister's greatest concern is that he controls the army. His five sons Kai, Hong, Quan, Heng, and Ji all have military power in the army, and they are not leaking, although the minister is a deputy general, he has never been able to get military power, if he comes to protect Erzhen and the Tang Dynasty have collusion, once he launches a mutiny, Xiliang is in danger, Your Majesty. Don't be careless. ”

Xiao Mo pondered for a long time. With a sinister killing intent flashing in his eyes, he said coldly: "Does he think that he can act recklessly if he has great merit?" There is a limit to my patience, if he wants to die. I can fulfill him. ”

After walking a few more steps, Xiao Mo said to Xiao Lang: "You can order your subordinates to secretly arrest the Tang envoy, and release him to me immediately after the arrest." ”

"Obey the order!"

Xiao Lang retreated. Xiao Mo stood in front of the window with his hands in his hands, and couldn't help but sigh lowly, "Why can't my sincerity always win the loyalty of the minister?" ”……

On the Ganshui outside Yuzhang City, hundreds of warships were quietly moored, and on one of the huge main ships, there were full of personal soldiers and guards from the first powerful minister of the Liang State who came to protect the children.

Laihu'er also has a mansion in Yuzhang City, but he likes to live on a boat many times, and today is no exception. In a brightly lit cabin, Lai Hu'er and Tang Zhou Shaode sat opposite each other.

Zhou Shaode is the nephew of Zhou Fashang, the confidant of Laihu'er, and his father Zhou Faming was also a general under Xiao Miao, and later descended to the Tang Dynasty, because the Zhou family and Laihu'er are friends and have a deep friendship, so Li Yuan sent Zhou Shaode to persuade him to surrender to Hu'er.

"Uncle Shi still doesn't know Xiao Miao? Narrow-mindedness. The suspicion was extremely heavy, Dong Jingzhen was extremely prestigious in the army back then, he couldn't tolerate it, and ordered Zhang Xiu to kill him, seeing that Zhang Xiu's merit was high. He turned his head to kill Zhang Xiu again, and today Uncle Shi has military power. With his suspicious character, can he tolerate Uncle Shi? ”

Lai Hu'er bowed his head and was silent, and sighed for a while: "My great-ancestor is Liang Chen, I inherited the ancestral business, loyal to the Liang Dynasty, is hoping to build the Liang Kingdom again, although Xiao Mo is narrow-minded, but he is also an ambitious hero, and treat me well, he should understand that I am now in the pillar of the beam, will not easily move me, now the Liang Dynasty is struggling to recover, it is the time for me to serve with all my heart, please tell the Tang Lord, I come to Hu'er to thank him for his kindness." ”

Zhou Shaode persuaded again and again, but Laihu'er just shook his head and refused, Zhou Shaode saw that he couldn't move Laihu'er, and he was helpless, so he had to get up and leave.

Escort escorted him out of the cabin, and several attendants escorted Zhou Shaode off the side of the boat, and the boat swayed away in the dark night.

Lai Hu'er has been watching the boat go away, then he walked back to the cabin with a heavy heart, at this time the eldest son Lai Kai walked in, Lai Kai was about forty years old, in the Sui Dynasty he was the Tiger Ben Lang General, followed his father to fight in the north and south, and was also a famous general in the Sui army.

"Did my father promise Zhou Shaode?"

Lai Kai was a little worried about his father's choice, in fact, he was not loyal to Xiao Mill, if he was allowed to choose, he would rather return to Sui, not long ago Yang Yuanqing sent someone to contact him secretly, he was a little tempted, but his father refused, and he was helpless.

Lai Hu'er waved his hand, "I won't surrender Li Yuan, when he surrendered to the Turks and led the Turks to Koubian Fengzhou, he took the opportunity to occupy Guanzhong, this kind of person who lays the foundation with national righteousness, I look down on him from the bottom of my bones, so I resolutely refuse." ”

"Then why doesn't my father want to return to Sui?" Lai Kai hurriedly asked.

Lai Hu'er sighed slightly and said: "Back then, I was Yang Su's general, and I was treated by Yang Gong and entrusted to me to reuse, but Yang Xuangan rebelled, but I suppressed it with all my might, Yang Xuangan once wrote to ask me, why don't I remember the kindness of my ancestors, I ignored him, and Yang Yuanqing is the son of Yang Xuangan, I am uneasy!" ”

But his father also knew that Yang Yuanqing and his father Xuangan had always been at odds, Xuangan rebelled, and he also took the initiative to cut off relations with his father, how could he hate his father for Xuangan's affairs? The child heard that he was vigorously developing the naval army in Beiping County, which was the time to employ people, and we were originally Sui generals, and it was natural to return to Sui, why didn't my father consider it? And Xiao Mian can only share weal and bene, not wealth, Dong Jingzhen and Zhang Xiu's experience, did my father forget? ”

Seeing that his son was anxious, Lai Hu'er couldn't help laughing: "Don't worry, I've been thinking for decades, how can I know who Xiao Mo is?" ”

Lai Hu'er thought of Xiao Miao's ruthlessness, he sighed and said: "So I put a few of your brothers in the army, control the military power, only by mastering the military power, Xiao Mi can take you helplessly, as for the Sui Dynasty, my father is already old, I don't want to fight for the world anymore, my father just wants to spend his old age in his homeland, and now I bring you brothers up, I will retire, as for where do you want to go in the future?" Fathers don't interfere. ”

Only then did Lai Kai understand his father's thoughts, and he bowed his head silently, thinking about his future......

Zhou Shaode's small boat docked, Zhou Shaode and several entourages went ashore, he looked around, he arranged for his entourage to lead the horse and wait here, why is there no one?

At this moment, a large group of soldiers suddenly rushed out of the woods more than a dozen paces away and surrounded Zhou Shaode and his entourage.

Xiao Lang was fully armored, rode out of the woods on horseback, pointed at Zhou Shaode with his horse lance, and sneered: "It turned out to be you a traitor!" surrendered to the Tang Dynasty, and dared to come to Yuzhang again, did you live impatiently? ”

Xiao Lang waved his hand, "Take it for me!" ”

"Wait!"

Zhou Shaode shouted, "Don't be rude, I'll just go with you." ”

If he can see Xiao Miao, even if he is killed by Xiao Miao, he will make a great contribution to the Tang Dynasty, and Ze will be ...... by his children

Several guards pushed Zhou Shaode into Xiao Miao's room, and was forced to kneel down by the guards, Xiao Mi squinted at Zhou Shaode, with a mocking smile in his eyes: "It turned out to be Zhou Changshi, don't come to harm?" ”

Zhou Shaode snorted, without saying a word, Xiao Mo stepped forward to look at him, and said with a smile: "It seems that he is mixing well in the Tang Dynasty!" It's fatter than before, and it seems to have turned whiter, is the water and soil in Guanzhong more moisturizing than Jingxiang? ”

"It's the benevolence and virtue of the Tang Dynasty, and if you live comfortably, you will naturally get fat."

Xiao Miao's face changed, and he said coldly: "Are you ridiculing me for being unvirtuous?" ”

"Whether you are virtuous or not, you know better than anyone else!"

Xiao Mo was furious, and immediately shouted: "Drag it down and torture it, and ask him what he said to Laihu'er?" ”

Several guards dragged Zhou Shaode down like a wolf, and after a while, Zhou Shaode's terrible screams were heard in the dark night.

About a quarter of an hour later, Xiao Lang hurriedly walked in, bowed and saluted, "Your Majesty, he has confessed!" ”

"What did he say?" Xiao Mo turned around and asked, he was very concerned about what Zhou Shaode and Lai Hu'er had talked about.

"He said that he repeatedly persuaded Laihu'er to surrender to the Tang Dynasty, but Laihu'er's attitude was ambiguous, and he put forward the conditions of the Guogong, if the Tang Emperor could make him the Guogong, he would surrender to the Tang Dynasty when the conditions were most suitable."

Xiao Mo was furious, 'Bang! He slammed his fist on the table, gritted his teeth and scolded: "I don't want to make him the king of the county, he actually wants to be the prince of the Tang Dynasty, he dares to humiliate me like this!" ”……

Although Xiao Mo hated Laihu'er very much in his heart, he kept quiet, Laihu'er and his sons held the power of the Liang army, and he couldn't turn his face with Laihu'er now, for a few days, he was like nothing had happened.

He was waiting for his chance to get rid of Lai'er's father and son.

On the evening of this day, Xiang Guocen Wenwen returned from the school food in Luling County, and immediately rushed to see Xiao Miao, "Your Majesty! The minister heard that Li Xiaogong led Jingxiang's army north to the Central Plains, and Jingxiang's remaining troops were less than 30,000 people, so we can't miss such a good opportunity! ”

Of course, Xiao Mo knew that Laihu'er had expressed his stance several times and asked to lead the troops to the west to attack Jingxiang, but he coldly refused, how could he agree to Laihu'er's request.

Once Laihu'er takes Jingxiang, his power will be stronger and more difficult to control, perhaps, this is the time when his so-called conditions are most suitable.

Now for Xiao Miao, it is not important to take Jingxiang, what matters is how he regains military power, if the superior does not have military power, all expansion is extremely dangerous.

"I don't think about the Western Expedition for the time being, I just ended the battle of Lin Shihong, I should stabilize the overall situation first."

"But Your Majesty ....."

Cen Wenwen was anxious, he wanted to persuade again, but was interrupted by Xiao Mo without hesitation, "I'm a little tired, let's talk about it another day!" “