In July, the sun is like fire, and the earth is like a cage, which is the most difficult season of the year. The majestic and beautiful Lushan has just entered early summer, and it is still cool and pleasant. In the south of Lushan, at the east foot of the Shuangjian Peak of the Yellow Cliff of Cuibi, there is a Huangyan Temple, the scale of the temple is not large, it is not among the five major jungles of Lushan, it is very secluded. In the evening, a group of people came to the front of the Huangyan Temple, and the soldiers were all birds of the water, attracting three or five summer tourists to stop and watch, pointing and pointing, and the elite soldiers who did not know where they came from. The person at the head was wearing a big red brocade chicken supplement, and his beard was a little gray, but his bearing was graceful and he had the style of a Confucian general. He dismounted in front of the temple gate and asked the little monk in front of the door: "Little Master, dare to ask the great monk of Kongyin?" ”

The little monk He had seen such a formation, and he didn't dare to slack off in the slightest, and replied respectfully: "How do you call the master, it's good to return to the master to know." ”

"Please tell the Venerable Master, and I will say that my old friend Xiong Wencan is visiting."

Before the words fell, a slightly older monk with a beautiful face turned out of the temple gate, walked quickly to meet him, and saluted with his palms: "Master Xiong, the family teacher received the letter from the master, and he was looking forward to it every day, and he has been waiting for many days, so please meet you in the clean room." ”

Xiong Wencan followed the monk into the temple gate, turned around the Daxiong Treasure Hall, and went to a clean room at the back, where an old monk sat upright, with white eyebrows and a ruddy complexion, and was closing his eyes to clean up, and the monk reported: "Master, Master Xiong has arrived." ”

The old monk opened his eyes suddenly, turned over and went to bed barefoot, and stepped forward to greet him: "Brother Wencan, the old monk calculated that you should have arrived two days ago. ”

"Master, there was a flash flood on the road, and the road was blocked, and it was delayed for two days."

Kong Yin pointed to the futon beside him and said: "The old man received the codex of the old brother, knowing that you went north to take up the post, so I made a special detour to Jiangxi and rushed to Lushan to meet. One death and one life is friendship; One poor and one rich is to know the state of communication; One is expensive and one is cheap, and friendship is present. What a once-in-a-lifetime good word! ”

Xiong Wencan looked around the room, sat down cross-legged, and said with a smile: "The great monk is a master outside the square, why do you have such a great sigh?" Isn't it possible to break through the chaos of red dust and make a fortune? ”

"There is no obstacle for my Buddha to enter and exit, and the deeper I enter, the more I can penetrate. If you don't work hard from hell, how can you get to the promised land of the West? "There is compassion on the empty face.

"The deeper you enter, the more you can penetrate", Xiong Wencan couldn't help but nod and said: "I haven't seen you for fifteen years, and the master's Buddhism has improved again." ”

Kong Yin smiled, clasped his palms and said: "Amitabha, it's just a layer of window paper, just pierce it." He said to the beautiful monk: "Han Ke, take the cloud tea picked by the old man himself." ”

After a while, Han Ke came in with a small tin can, and carried a teastove, teapot and other utensils, and went out of the temple gate, walking like flying, and went straight to the mountain peak in the east. Xiong Wencan quickened his pace, but fell farther and farther, chased along the winding mountain road, walked not far, only heard a rumbling sound, like a dragon roaring and tiger roaring, and seemed to be mixed with the sound of sassy pine waves, was stunned, turned into a mountain col, looked up and saw a waterfall split down the air, hanging dozens of hundreds of zhang, flying beads splashing jade, magnificent. On the edge of the cliff, Kongyin has drawn mountain spring water and lit a fire to make tea. Xiong Wencan gasped and climbed up the cliff, and saw that there was a large stone plate on the cliff, smooth as a mirror, as if it had been deliberately polished. At this time, the sun is setting in the west, and the ten thousand rays of light are reflected in the mountains and trees...... Dyed with a layer of golden light, the waterfall was like a long tapestry, shining brilliantly. Kong Yin listened to the roar of the waterfall falling into the deep pool, and said: "This waterfall was called Kaixian Waterfall in ancient times, Li Taibai traveled here in the past, leaving a famous story to pass down, flying down 3,000 feet, it is suspected that the Milky Way falls for nine days, what a spirit!" ”

The rivers and mountains are beautiful, and the celebrities are romantic, leaving a lot of good stories through the ages. Xiong Wencan has read poetry and books since he was a child, and naturally the habits of literati are indispensable, looking at it from afar, the clouds and smoke are vast, the waterfall is flying obliquely, and the vine is hanging upside down, and he sighed: "Time flies, the world is metabolized, Li Taibai would not have thought that my generation would come, and after a few years, my generation will not know who will come here." ”

Kong Yin asked: "Listening to the melancholy in your words, it really doesn't seem to come from the mouth of a military premier of the five provinces who holds the title of secretary of the military department and the right deputy imperial history. If you have something on your mind, you may as well tell me about it. ”

"It's hard to be sure of good luck, I heard that the Lushan Giant Buddha is quite effective, and I want to ask about the future in front of the Buddha."

"My brother was wrong. The Buddha is born in his heart, and he should not ask for it. What cause you planted in your previous life, what fruit you will naturally get today, it is better to ask for others than for yourself! ”

"The master said I shouldn't come?" Xiong Wencan's face changed slightly.

"What's wrong with you being your Prime Minister of Peace in Lingnan? Why bother wading through this troubled water? ”

"Hey! It's all greedy and misguided. ”

"I want to hear about it."

Xiong Wencan bowed his head and said: "I appeased the pirates Zheng Zhilong and Liu Xianglao, and were promoted to the right squire of the military department and the right servant of the imperial history, the prime minister of the two Guangxi military affairs and the governor of Guangdong, and I have achieved fame, and I also think about Lingnan for a long time." Two years ago, the emperor sent his cronies eunuch Wang Chengen to Guangxi to purchase jewelry, passing through Guangzhou, I am a feudal minister far away from the imperial court, how dare the noble envoy in the court slack, naturally it is a generous banquet, he stayed for ten days in a row, he left the day, but also drank heartily, he said that after returning to Beijing, he must be good. I don't know how to change the conversation, talking about the war in the Central Plains, I sighed that no one could contribute to the imperial court. I had too much wine at that time, and I scolded the ministers for misleading the country, if I raised troops to advance into the Central Plains, I would never let the thieves run rampant! Unexpectedly, Wang Chengen immediately confessed: In fact, in the name of going to Guangxi to purchase jewelry, he came to secretly investigate my truth. Seeing that I was so generous and heroic, I thought that the Central Plains could not be done without me. After returning to Beijing, he immediately promised the emperor. Yao Minggong, my in-law servant of the Ministry of Rites, also added to the chaos, and when he heard the news that Wang Chengen was protecting me, he actually said to Yang Sichang, the secretary of the Ministry of War, that I have internal support in the palace and can recommend it to the emperor. Yang Sichang happened to be dissatisfied with Wang Jiazhen, the prime minister of the five provinces, so I replaced him. ”

After eating a pot of tea, he said in a letter of emptiness: "You pack up the tea set and go back, and I will accompany Master Xiong for a walk in the mountains." Seeing that Han Ke had gone away, he got up and went back the way he came. As twilight falls, the mountains are exceptionally quiet, with the occasional chirping of cicadas in the forest and the chirping of frogs below. Kong Yin asked, "Brother, do you think that it is enough to exterminate the thieves by thinking about commanding the soldiers and horses?" ”

"I have 2,000 elite soldiers, even if they have firearms, but those thieves will not sit back and wait for me to kill, hiding in Tibet, moving around, it is difficult to find their shadows, how to exterminate them? It's really hard for me, I can't do it. ”

"Do you have any generals under your command who are in charge of their own affairs?"

"Most of the generals under my command are fierce and abnormal, they are all unruly and unwilling masters, how can they sincerely listen to my temperance and die for me? There are some generals, I have never met them so far, and they are not right! Xiong Wencan couldn't help but feel a little stupid.

"You can't do these two things, but the emperor has given you such a high position, and he has high hopes, so he really roasted you on the fire! If it doesn't work, I'm afraid it will cause harm to itself. ”

"What should I do?"

"It's too late. Have you forgotten that Zhuangzi said that you should be between the material and the non-material, but you are a little too talented. Full of losses, humble benefits, is the world's most reasonable, since ancient times, how many of them have a good end? ”

Xiong Wencan stopped, looked at the dark mountain shadows around, slowly walked into the temple gate, hesitated for a long time in front of the Daxiong Treasure Hall, and then said gloomily: "How about I use my plan?" ”

Kong Yin laughed silently: "Sure enough, as expected by the old man, although it is feasible to appease him, but the thief is not a pirate, he can be cared for a while, but he can't be coated for a lifetime, and he will eventually become a legacy of the Central Plains, you have to be cautious!" ”

"Placate must not be lightly appeased, but the thief will be greatly injured and cornered, so that he can be appeased." Xiong Wencan walked into the main hall, knelt in front of the Buddha, and prayed: "If you can retire safely this time, may the green lantern scriptures and decayed body be with me for a long time." Kong Yin shook his head secretly, and said secretly: "The thieves are cornered, so why give them a way!" ”

Xiong Wencan didn't dare to stay in Lushan, stayed overnight, and went north immediately after dawn. After a few days of hurrying, I arrived outside Nanyang City, Henan Province, only to see the banner waving, the golden drum making a big work, and the two teams of men and horses were fighting. Xiong Wencan divided the two thousand elite soldiers into two teams and outflanked them on the left and right. At this time, the two teams were fighting fiercely, and the general wearing a white robe and wielding a big sword and a big man in a black robe with a yellow face and a yellow beard were inseparable. When Xiong Wencan got closer, he already understood the banner and knew that it was the chief soldier Zuo Liangyu who was fighting with the eighth king Zhang Xianzhong. Zhang Xianzhong was born tall and thin, his face was scorched, and he looked like a sick man, but he roared like a tiger, and a machete danced like a wheel, extremely brave, Xiong Wencan couldn't help but be frightened for a while, and said regretfully: "It's a pity that such a fierce general will stoop to be a thief." Zuo Liangyu fought Zhang Xianzhong for a long time, turned the horse's head and retreated, Zhang Xianzhong laughed, patted the horse to chase, but Zuo Liangyu lay on the horse's back, secretly pulled out the curved bow, took the wolf's tooth arrow, Huo Di flipped up, and shot out with a whoosh. Zhang Xianzhong heard the sound of the bowstring, and hurriedly dodged, the arrow flew against his forehead, cutting the center of his eyebrows more than an inch long of blood, and blood flowed out when he landed, covering one eye. Zhang Xianzhong roared, wiped two handfuls with the sleeves of his robe, and shouted: "The surname Zuo, can you shoot arrows?" Eat your grandfather Zhang with an arrow too! Stretched out his hand to take off the bow from behind his back, but heard Zuo Liangyu shouting: "The grandson surnamed Zhang, you dare to pretend to be Grandpa Zuo's name and deceive the people everywhere." Your grandfather Zuo, a dignified court official, how could he allow you, a murderer, to be defiled? Watch me shoot your arm! ”

Zhang Xianzhong gave him the first opportunity, did not dare to be careless, hurriedly hid in a kick, and hid under the horse's belly, but the arrow hit like a meteor, and the finger holding the bow was not broken, but it hurt the bones and hurt the heart and spleen. Zhang Xianzhong threw his bow and arrow, turned over, his eyes were red with anger, brandished a machete, and rushed towards Zuo Liangyu. Zuo Liangyu was taken aback when he saw that he was fighting for his life, his hands slowed down, and he wanted to shoot him with an arrow again, but it was too late, so he had to run away from the horse. Zhang Xianzhong took the opportunity to shout, led the troops to rush and kill, forcing the officers and troops to retreat one after another, reversing the disadvantage in one fell swoop. The situation suddenly changed, the officers and soldiers were about to be defeated, Xiong Wencan waved the command flag, and two thousand elite soldiers stepped forward to stop Zhang Xianzhong, lined up, a burst of gunpowder shot out, Zhang Xianzhong was caught off guard, and there were many casualties among the soldiers and horses. Zuo Liangyu was overjoyed, turned around to chase and kill, rushed behind Zhang Xianzhong, raised his knife and slashed, Zhang Xianzhong hurriedly resisted. The two big knives collided in one place, the arrow wound on Zhang Xianzhong's forehead was shattered, and his eyes were covered with blood, so he hurriedly reached out to wipe it, and Zuo Liangyu's big knife pushed it sideways with his backhand and swept towards Zhang Xianzhong. Zhang Xianzhong heard the sound of the golden wind in his ears, and turned his body sharply to dodge, Rao is so, his cheek still cut a blood groove on the tip of the knife, Zhang Xianzhong threw the knife in pain and fell off the horse, Zuo Liangyu shouted: "Look where you are still fleeing!" Leaning over and cutting down, Zhang Xianzhong knew that it was inevitable, his heart was sad, and he struggled to roll on the spot, Zuo Liangyu didn't even hit a few knives, but he cut the sleeves of Zhang Xianzhong's shirt, the hat on his head, and a boot on his feet also rolled off, and his expression was very embarrassed. When he was in danger, a big man with a spear came to kill him and shouted: "A wall is expected to be here, and we will not be injured!" Stopping Zuo Liangyu and fighting hard, his soldiers rescued Zhang Xianzhong, broke through the siege, and went straight to Macheng.

The first battle was successful, Xiong Wencan was overjoyed, and took advantage of the victory to send four people in pursuit. Zhang Dajing, the supervisor of the army, and the eunuchs Liu Yuanbin and Lu Jiude led the Yongwei Battalion forbidden army from Shucheng, **, Gushi, and Guangshan to Macheng and Huangzhou, and Yu Yinggui, the governor of Huguang, led Zuo Liangyu and Chen Yongfu to attack from Nanyang and other places, and led Feng Ju and Miao Youcai two 5,000 border soldiers to kill together. At this time, the net was spread on all sides, surrounded by all sides, Shaanxi, Shanxi, Yansui, Huguang, Fengyang, Shandong, Yingtian, Jiangxi, Sichuan and other places all laid heavy troops, Zhang Xianzhong, Chuang Collapse Tian, Ge Liyan, Lao Huihui and others had no way out, and fled to Huguanggu City and County. Zhang Xianzhong was stationed in the suburbs of Gucheng and strictly ordered his subordinates not to enter the city to plunder and harass the people. Gucheng is located in the northwest of Huguang, south of Jingshan, west of Wudang, east of Hanshui, north and south two rivers through the east of the county into the Han River, northwest and southwest surrounded by mountains, but the road to Sichuan, Shaanxi are blocked by the official army, Xiong Wencan and led the army from Henan to chase after him, how to avoid the catastrophe in front of him, he has no idea for a while. Ruan Zhitian, the magistrate of Gucheng County, saw the thieves gathering outside the city, he was anxious and frightened, and strictly guarded the city, waiting for the rescue of the imperial army. The first to arrive was the Yansui border soldiers led by the general soldier Chen Hongfan, Zhang Xianzhong heard about it, prepared beautiful jewelry, and Sun Kewang went to the camp overnight to meet him.

Chen Hongfan heard that Zhang Xianzhong only brought one entourage, and ordered the camp gate to be opened and entered. Zhang Xianzhong entered the big tent, and saw Chen Hongfan sitting in the middle, with two pale eyebrows vaguely and the majesty of the past, his beard was gray, his spirit was undiminished, and a sense of vicissitudes arose. ”

"Yes." Chen Hongfan's eyes widened, forced him to look at him for a moment, shook his head and said: "I didn't look away, but it's a pity that you burned down the imperial mausoleum, shocked the world, and didn't take the right path, and in vain I begged to let you live." ”

Zhang Xianzhong remembered that he was a soldier in Yansui Town, because he accidentally injured people's lives, he should be beheaded according to military law, and the general Chen Hongfan saw that he was dignified and a man, and it was a pity to kill him, so he rushed to the camp to plead with the chief soldier Wang Wei, and the death penalty was spared, and he was heavily punished with a hundred military sticks and driven out of the barracks. He was lucky not to die and left his life, which was the benevolence of Lord Chen's thoughts, and he choked with tears: "The virtue of the adult's recreation, the villain is unforgettable." The villain also wants to live a peaceful life, but he has never met the master, and he is often bullied by the officials and soldiers in every way......"

Chen Hongfan intercepted his words and said: "Back then, you were trapped in the carriage gorge, and the imperial court also had an edict, why did you rebel again?" ”

"Back then, the villain went out of the carriage gorge and was placed separately and dismissed, but the officers and soldiers who escorted him repeatedly made it difficult and didn't treat us as people, and the villain couldn't swallow this breath."

"I know you won't stay under people for long, and you will do something vigorous. At present, the border troubles have not been eliminated, and the civil strife is not quiet, it is the time to employ people, if you are truly obedient to the imperial court, I can ask Lord Dutai for you. ”

Zhang Xianzhong's face was happy, and he kowtowed: "Many years ago, the villain was saved from the death penalty by a word, and the great grace of saving his life has not been repaid. The villain has great courage, and he does not dare to meet with the adult sword soldiers, and is willing to lead the people of the headquarters to surrender and serve the court in the adult army. ”

"If you really have this heart, I will never bury talents for the imperial court. Tomorrow I will give you Lord Governor. ”

Zhang Xianzhong took the brocade bag in Sun Kewang's hand and opened it, the light in the bag flickered, all of them were gold and jade jewelry, presented to Chen Hongfan's eyes, and said respectfully: "These jewels have been accumulated by villains for many years, and they are specially dedicated to adults. ”

The income in the army is very low, and Chen Hongfan's lifetime of silver can't buy a few pearls and jade, and his jewelry must have been looted from a giant businessman's family, and it is definitely not from ordinary people, and most of them are ill-gotten gains, so he didn't shirk and accepted it with a smile. Zhang Xianzhong slapped his palms lightly, and two seventeen or eighteen-year-old beauties came in outside the tent, bowing down to Yingying. Chen Hongfan was lonely in the army, and when he saw two stunners like flowers, he was half full-fledged, and stammered: "This, what is this, what does it mean?" ”

Sun Kewangdui said with a smile: "Our leader has always been grateful for the life-saving kindness of the adults, although he will follow the left and right in the future, but he will not be able to serve day and night, so he specially found these two beauties to serve the adults in their daily life." Adults can also nourish their spirits, and take the little people to contribute more to the court. ”

"Good!" The two beauties hugged left and right, Chen Hongfan's heart was full of joy, "Lord Dutai still needs ...... there"

"The gift of Lord Dutai, the villain has also prepared." Zhang Xianzhong took out a small mahogany box from his arms, put it on the table and opened it, inside was a jasper coral tree more than two feet long, green as water, the light can be seen, people can't help but feel the heart ripple, even in the inner palace may not have such a rare treasure. Chen Hongfan's eyes straightened, and he saw Zhang Xianzhong take out a small bag, which contained two one-inch round pearls, shining faintly, "Please transfer it to Lord Dutai on your behalf, and turn it around." ”

"It will be done, it will be done!" Chen Hongfan pulled his beard and slapped his back for the two beauties, serving him with a heartfelt ape, full of promises.