After having a simple breakfast with Zhang Weixin, Zhong Youpeng said goodbye to the other party, on the one hand, he was ready to continue to discuss some details of being a lobbyist with Wang Kunjun and others early this morning, and on the other hand, he also planned to go back to the guest room to see how his son, who was drunk the night before, was doing.

Zhang Weixin naturally would not hinder Zhong Youpeng's jihua and sent him all the way to the gate of the hospital, and then said goodbye to the other party. Before going out, Zhang Weixin took advantage of the fact that the subordinates and guards were far away, and whispered to Zhong Youpeng: "What I talked about with the staff last night and some of the requirements made by the staff should not be known to others before the Zhou Army's Northern Expedition, and I hope that the staff can keep this tight-lipped." ”

Zhong Youpeng also replied in a low voice when he heard this: "Please don't worry." Since the old man proposed this matter to Chao Yulang, he naturally understood the importance of this matter, and would never leak it to others. However, the old man still felt that this matter should be reported to the court in advance, so that the court could cooperate with us at that time. ”

Zhang Weixin just nodded when he heard this, and did not answer Zhong Youpeng directly, but said: "Whether this matter is told to the fifth brother in advance, we still need to think about it carefully." But it's only the beginning of the year, and there's still plenty of time, so there's no need to rush it. ”

Speaking of this, Zhang Weixin paused slightly, and saw that Zhong Youpeng did not show any objection to his decision, so he continued: "However, there is a little bit of rest assured. Regardless of whether he will tell the fifth brother about this in advance, after the matter is completed, he will show the fifth brother all the efforts made by the outside to promote this matter. The fifth brother is a person who knows how to repay his kindness, if he knows that the staff has done so much for him, he will definitely not treat the staff and his family members badly. As long as this matter can be successful, the fifth brother's reward to the outside is not limited to the requirements made by the outside last night. ”

Zhong Youpeng naturally believed in Zhang Weixin's promise, and he hugged his fist to Zhang Weixin and said, "In this way, the old man will thank the court for inviting Lang." ”

Seeing this, Zhang Weixin hurriedly returned the salute and said: "The staff is too polite." ”

After speaking, the two exchanged a few more polite words, and then said goodbye in front of the door of the small courtyard where Zhang Weixin lived.

Zhong Youpeng returned to the guest room and saw that his son who woke up from a hangover was only a little dizzy, but there was no other major problem, so he was relieved. While instructing his subordinates to serve carefully, he washed up again, changed his clothes, and then went to the council hall under the guidance of his subordinates, and discussed the details of being a lobbyist with Wang Kunjun and others who were already waiting there.

With the basis for the agreement on cooperation the day before, and the covert support of Zhang Weixin, who had already formed an alliance with him, the negotiations on the details went very smoothly. The two sides agreed on a list of officials and squires to be contacted, the order of visits, the promises that could be made, and how Zhong Youpeng would ensure the safety of him and his family during his work as a lobbyist.

Among them, the matter of contacting and persuading officials and squires was naturally based on Zhong Youpeng's proposal, and the proposal on safety and security issues was put forward by Wang Feng - according to the division of labor of the crossing team, the head of the security department should have been responsible for proposing solutions to security problems. However, Xu Shao'an, the director of the Ministry of Security, was still in the "Kaifeng Detention Center" at this time, and it was impossible for him to come back to preside over this matter, and Yang Xin, who was the acting director of the Second Section of the Ministry of Security, focused on the affairs of the committee, so the proposal for Zhong Youpeng's security plan naturally fell on the shoulders of Wang Feng, the head of the First Section of the Ministry of Security.

However, there is also a benefit. As Zhong Youpeng's son-in-law, Wang Feng will definitely do his best to protect his father-in-law, and will never let his father-in-law have any problems. Therefore, in the plan written by Wang Feng overnight, it was not only proposed that the first section of the Ministry of Security should send two experienced and highly skilled guards to be responsible for the close protection of Zhong Youpeng, but also suggested that a squad or so of soldiers should be selected from the special forces of the "Flying Dragon Army" of the "Rangers" or "Wolf Teeth", disguised as Zhong Youpeng's family servants, and run around with Zhong Youpeng, so as to build two layers of protection around Zhong Youpeng together with the two personal guards to ensure Zhong Youpeng's safety. In addition, Wang Feng also suggested that when Zhong Youpeng went out to contact, the rest of the Zhong family lived in the "Qingyuan" in the name of visiting Zhong Ziqi, in case there were people with bad intentions against them. ,

For Wang Feng's plan to consider his father-in-law everywhere, although Zhong Youpeng felt very gratified, he also felt that it was a little too ostentatious. After all, it is a very confidential matter for liaison officials and squires to oppose Liao, and naturally the less they attract the attention of others, the better. But according to Wang Feng's plan, Zhong Youpeng is accompanied by more than a dozen people every time he goes out, and he is also a dozen or so young men who are strong and powerful, and it is difficult not to attract the attention of others. In this way, it may not only prematurely arouse the vigilance of the Khitan government, but also cause the worries of those officials and squires, and thus affect Zhong Youpeng's persuasion of them - who would be willing to conspire with him to rebel against the Liao Dynasty if he is so flamboyant?

Therefore, under Zhong Youpeng's repeated requests, the plan canceled the special forces on the periphery after increasing the number of personal guards from two to four. However, for the sake of safety, while canceling the protection of the peripheral special forces, according to Zhang Weixin's suggestion, the various departments of "Dark Feather", which were originally only responsible for providing relevant information to persuade the target, changed from assistance to direct participation -- out of the need for secrecy, when introducing Zhong Youpeng, the name "Dark Feather" did not appear, and was replaced by popular terms such as "secret agent" and "hidden pile".

According to Zhang Weixin's suggestion, the state and county branches of "Dark Feather" are also responsible for providing all-weather security for Zhong Youpeng while providing relevant information. Of course, in order not to attract attention, "Dark Feather" to Zhong Youpeng's security was carried out in secret.

First of all, when Zhong Youpeng visits the persuasion target, the "Dark Feather" will send spies to disguise themselves as various people, etc., secretly lurk around the persuasion target's residence, observe the surrounding dynamics, and prevent people with bad intentions from following and monitoring Zhong Youpeng or the persuasion target, and notify Zhong Youpeng in time when the situation changes.

Secondly, while lurking on the periphery, the "Dark Feather" lurking on the periphery not only provides Zhong Youpeng with an extra layer of protection, but also is responsible for assisting the personal guards when the situation is critical, moving Zhong Youpeng to a safe place, and reporting to the "Qingyuan" in time, so that this side can send someone to answer in the shortest possible time.

Although the new security plan is still relatively large, at the insistence of the crossing team, especially Wang Feng, Zhong Youpeng finally accepted this arrangement. However, while accepting the plan, Zhong Youpeng also repeatedly emphasized that before he sends a clear signal, whether it is a personal guard or a peripheral "dark pile", he must not act rashly, so as not to cause misunderstanding and unnecessary trouble.

In this regard, the crossing team immediately said that there was no objection. Of course, this "no objection" is only a certain degree of "no objection", not a complete "no objection". While the crossing team accepted Zhong Youpeng's request, they also issued instructions to the personal guards and "Dark Feather" - "Everything is premised on Zhong Youpeng's safety, and in case of emergency, you can take any necessary measures to ensure Zhong Youpeng's safety."

Zhong Youpeng naturally didn't know that his partner had issued such an instruction, and after he ended the second negotiation with the crossing team and reached an agreement on various details, he left the "Liangyuan" with his son, still accompanied by Wang Feng, and began to devote himself to the promising work of "lobbyist".

Thus, in the months from the beginning of the second month of the lunar calendar in the eighth year of the Ying calendar, Zhong Youpeng, Zhong Shiwen and his son, under the protection of six personal guards and with the assistance of thousands of "dark feather" spies, rode in one of their own carriages -- the characteristics of the four-wheeled carriage that crossed the team were too obvious, and Zhong Youpeng, who emphasized that he was low-key, did not continue to use it -- shuttled back and forth between various states and counties in Nanjing Road in Liao, and rushed out into the homes of Han officials and squires one after another, fulfilling a "lobbyist" for the future of himself and his family".

Almost at the same time, Zhong Youpeng's wife, daughter-in-law, grandson, and several of the most loyal and trustworthy old family members all lived in the "Qingyuan" in the name of visiting Zhong Ziqi. It's just that, to the surprise of the surrounding neighbors, unlike the ordinary mother's family who only see their daughter once and stay for a day or two at most, Mrs. Zhong's family has lived in "Qingyuan" for several months, and there is no sign of leaving.

However, although these neighbors felt strange, they were at best confused with their own family for a while, and used it as a conversation point when drinking with friends, and after a long time, they were not surprised to take the situation seriously.