On the day of Shi Hu's birthday, Shi Min hurriedly returned to Yecheng's mansion.

At this time, Dong Qiaoqiao had already prepared a congratulatory gift, which was nothing more than some expensive items or something.

And Cui Hao, the little old man, heard the news that Shi Min had returned home, and for some reason, he ran to see Shi Min and discuss matters in the study.

"General, I heard that today is the birthday of King Zhao Tianwang, I don't know what gift you want to give him, General?" Cui Hao said curiously.

Regarding Cui Hao's inquiry, Shi Min was a little bit of a second monk and was confused. However, he replied honestly: "There is nothing hidden in my family, but the king has rewarded him with a lot of things over the years. On the gift list, there is a pair of jade Ruyi and a white jade Guanyin. That's all. ”

When Cui Hao heard this, he couldn't help but shake his head and said, "These are all vulgar things. There are a lot of savings in the palace, presumably King Zhao Tianwang doesn't even look at it! ”

Shi Min smiled dumbly and said, "I don't have to please the king, why bother with those ingenious things?" ”

"General, you don't please the king, how can you make the king feel at ease with you? Giving you more power? ”

"This ......"

Cui Hao said to the point, this Shi Min was irrefutable, so he lowered his hand to Cui Hao and said, "Please teach me, sir." ”

"General, the little old man is sure that at the birthday banquet, the ministers and the princes will definitely show many rare objects. But those birthday gifts are precious, but for the monarch, what do you want? Therefore, in order to win the trust and favor of the Great Zhao Heavenly King, and in order to dispel his doubts about you, please be sure to prepare an extraordinary birthday gift. It's best to make the Great Zhao Heavenly King feel excited! ”

"A birthday gift that can make the king's heart flutter?"

This Shi Min didn't think about it.

As Cui Hao said, Shi Hu owns the entire Great Zhao Kingdom, rich in products, and has everything!

This gold and silver treasure or something, it really doesn't matter to Shi Hu.

What will be the gift that can make Shi Hu's heart flutter? Shi Min racked his brains and couldn't guess!

In the end, it was Cui Hao who gave some pointers, and finally made Shi Min wake up like a dream!

Shi Min bowed his head and said, "Mr. is talented!" ”

"General, can you tell me about your ambitions now?" Cui Hao brushed his beard.

Shi Min pondered for a moment and said, "I can't hide it. Sir, my ambition is actually very simple, just to protect the people around me from harm. ”

"So General, do you have this ability now?"

"This ......," Shi Min shook his head and said, "With my power, isn't it enough to protect the people around me?" ”

Cui Hao smiled and said, "Hehe, general, don't forget, who gave you the power you have now?" It's the Great Zhao Heavenly King! And what kind of person is Da Zhao Tianwang, I think you know better than anyone else about the generals! ”

"I have heard that the Emperor of Great Zhao often led hundreds of cavalry to break into the house of a certain minister at night and forcibly rape his wife and concubines. Even sometimes when I saw good-looking nuns, I didn't care about the pure land of Buddhism, and forcibly had sex with them, and then killed them! ”

"General, may I ask, if one day, King Zhao Tianwang broke into your mansion with hundreds of cavalry, and the general ...... How will you be good? ”

"It can't be!" Shi Min's face was very gloomy, and he said loudly, "Although the king is lustful and has a cruel temperament, he is not the kind of faint king who does things recklessly. He knows who can and can't move! There's no need to be so dizzy! ”

"It's just a hypothesis." Cui Hao said earnestly, "General, I hope you can understand that some things are inevitable, and your fate is not in your own hands at all!" In the eyes of Xiao Lao'er, the idea that you want to protect the people around you from harm, general, is too ridiculous! ”

"It's just wishful thinking. Because you can't even control your own destiny, you can't even protect yourself! Have you forgotten General, not long ago, you were whipped by the Great Zhao Heavenly King for a hundred and fined for half a year! If you can't even protect yourself, how can you protect the people around you? Isn't that a lie? ”

“……”

When Shi Min heard this, his face was a little cloudy.

It seems that Cui Hao forced him to fight against Shi Hu, and finally rebelled!

I don't know if Ran Min in history took this Cui Hao as the mastermind, and whether he was making such a dilemma as hard as he is now!

Shi Min could clearly feel that since the last time he killed more than 30 people who were fighting for the tiger, he had been snubbed and suspicious by Shi Hu, which had actually laid the foundation for them to turn against each other in the future!

It's too dangerous to stay by Shi Hu's side! Nearest the king nearest the gallows.

As the saying goes, tiger poison does not eat children, but Shi Hu, a fierce tiger, even killed his own son!

Such a moody, cruel and tyrannical monarch, to be honest, Shi Min didn't have the slightest confidence in whether he would be able to get into his death the day!

"So what do you think I should do to take control of my own destiny?"

"Only by changing the dynasty and becoming the king of a country yourself!"

Hearing this, Shi Min's eyelids were raised, he never expected Cui Hao to say it so bluntly!

"Be careful!"

Shi Min looked left and right, fortunately, his study was very quiet, except for him on weekdays, Dong Qiaoqiao could come and go freely, and there was a subordinate who was in charge of cleaning who would come in and clean from time to time.

Seeing that there was no one around, Shi Min said, "Sir, are you here to help me or to harm me?" ”

"Why did the general say that?"

"I'm just a mere left-handed general, what can I do to replace me?"

"Hehe, Han Gaozu back then was just a small pavilion chief, and he could become the founder of the country, so why should you be arrogant, general? With the general's martial arts, you should be no less than Cao Mengde, and far surpass Liu Bangyi in the past. ”

"But I am the king's adopted grandson. Sir, if you instigate me like this, aren't you afraid that I will ask for merit and reward you in front of the king? ”

"If the general does this, it will be my Cui Hao who has lost his eyes. You're not a hero, you're just a horseman! ”

Cui Hao said with a smile: "General, you must know that those who have become great things since ancient times are not informal. Now that the Shi family is recuperating and has achieved the power that the general you are now, why don't the generals take advantage of it? ”

"Please sir!"

"Do you remember the name of the ancestor? Remember your last name? Do you remember if you are Han or Qian? ”

Having said that, Shi Min is really not open and honest, and he can't do it without revealing his heart!

Shi Min said: "I know that I am Han, I know that my surname is Ran, I know that my grandfather is Ran Long, my father is Ran Zhan, and my ancestors are tooth generals for generations!" ”

"Since the general still remembers this, then he still has to fight with the Shi family? Now if there is a big chaos today, the Jin family is in a safe corner, the royal industry is not prosperous, and the northern countries are all the countries of Hulu, and it is difficult to become a climate! If the general wants to achieve great things, Cui Hao is willing to follow the work of dogs and horses! Cui Hao said earnestly.

When Shi Min heard this, he couldn't help but take a deep breath and said, "Don't hide it from Mr. In fact, I have been dissatisfied with Hu Lu and even Shi Hu's approach for a long time, but I am soft-spoken, and it is really difficult to change anything. I don't know how to plan in my heart, so I can only go with the flow! I wonder if Mr. can give me one or two advice? ”

Shi Min said this from the heart and lungs!

After being reborn, he witnessed the actions of the Qi people, as well as Shi Hu's atrocities, Shi Min was really shocking!

But as he himself said, others are soft-spoken, powerless, and powerless, and it is really difficult to change anything. Even if Shi Min is now a general of Zuo Jiji, with more than 30,000 Han army soldiers under his command, it is impossible to raise troops against Zhao!

Not to mention whether those Han soldiers will rebel with him, just the food, grass and military supplies depend on the imperial court. There is no food and grass for military supplies, not even the most basic rations? How can the soldiers still fight?!

Therefore, Shi Min can only go with the flow, like most people in this era, taking one step at a time.

As the old saying goes, the times make heroes. But at the same time, heroes can also make the times!

But he Shi Min doesn't have this ability!

Cui Hao showed a fox-like sly smile, and he bowed to Shi Min and said, "As long as the lord wants to, he will definitely be able to do it!" ”

Wait a minute!

Shi Min was stunned for a moment and said, "Sir, you ...... What did you just call me? ”

"Lord!" Cui Hao called out again and said, "Please don't call me sir." Cui Hao's character is Yuan Liang, the lord can call me Yuan Liang! From now on, Yuan Liang is the advisor of the lord, and he is willing to drive for the lord! ”

This subdued a mastermind?

Shi Min couldn't help but say with emotion: "How can I, Ran Min, be able to get Yuanliang's assistance." ”

"The lord does not need to be too humble. Since the lord now feels confused about the road ahead, then Yuan Liang will sweep away the haze of the road ahead for you! ”

"I want to hear about it!"

Cui Hao pondered the sentence for a while, and then said: "What the lord has to do now is to hibernate and cultivate obscurity. However, we must win Shi Hu's trust and respect. ”

"How?"

"The birthday is an opportunity. The lord can use the birthday gift I just gave you to curry favor with Shi Hu, so that it can not only dispel some of Shi Hu's current suspicions about you, but also make him trust you more! ”

"There will be war in the future. If the general makes another exploit in the war, he can seek release from Shi Hu, and then take the opportunity to develop his own power and become a warlord like Pu Hong and Yao Zhongge. ”

"Good!" Shi Min has this intention.

"I don't know which place to choose if I want to be released?"

When Cui Hao heard this, he shook his head and said, "You must not ask for this lord yourself. But at the moment, there are only two most suitable places, one is Yongzhou and the other is Youzhou. ”

Shi Min bowed slightly, he naturally also had a certain strategic vision.

Yongzhou is located in the west, far away from the hinterland of the Zhao Kingdom, far away from Yecheng, where the emperor is far away, and he will not know what he is doing if Shi Hu does not attach great importance to it.

Moreover, Yongzhou belongs to most of the Chengguo, Liangguo, Xianbei, and Daiguo, and there are many nomads in the north, so he can act cheaply without Shi Hu's holy decree, and he can develop his own power unscrupulously.

As for Youzhou, Youzhou borders on Dai and Yan, which has always been a battleground for the soldiers of Zhao, Dai and Yan. I don't know how many wars have broken out in the Three Kingdoms around this Youzhou, here Shi Min wants to plot development, if Taoguang is obscure, he must defeat the Yan State, and then march into its Liaodong land!

However, Shi Min is not optimistic about this place in Youzhou, after all, it is quite desolate in a corner, and he wants to chase the Central Plains, unless it is a big chaos in the Central Plains.