Under Wu Laoliu's "invitation", the three Taoist priests reluctantly followed him to the high ground.
However, when the middle-aged Taoist leader among them saw Zhu Yuanzhang, who was dressed as a merchant, a look of surprise flashed across his face, and then he bowed his hands and said, "Heavenly Lord of Infinite Blessings".
Seeing this, Zhu Yuanzhang hesitated slightly and returned the gesture.
When the middle-aged Taoist priest saw Zhu Yuanzhang returning the gift, he was stunned. He looked at Zhu Yuanzhang with some doubts and said, "I wonder what kind of advice a good person can give when he invites a poor Taoist to come?"
Zhu Yuanzhang smiled slightly and said calmly: "We are entrusted by Taoist Priest Huang Liang to find an old friend for him!"
When the middle-aged Taoist priest heard this, his body couldn't help but trembled, and then he said to the two Taoist boys behind him: "Qingfeng, Mingyue, go and check the situation in front!"
The two Taoist boys were stunned for a moment, then bowed their heads and left.
Song Laoliu wanted to stop them, but when Zhu Yuanzhang shook his head slightly, he let them move forward.
Then, at Zhu Yuanzhang's signal, he and Zhang Erhu and others slowly walked down the high ground and stood guard around them.
When the middle-aged Taoist priest saw this, he bowed his head respectfully and said, "This poor Taoist Zhang Hongren has met your Majesty!"
It turns out that Huang Liang's real name is Zhang Yingdao, and he is Zhang Yingjing's younger brother. Because he did not want to be bound by etiquette, he changed his surname to remain anonymous and play in the world.
Zhang Yingjing made a special trip to see Huang Liang before going to Beijing. He originally wanted Huang Liang to return to the Zhengyi Sect. If he unfortunately became immortal, he would let Huang Liang take charge of the Zhengyi Sect.
Unexpectedly, Huang Liang refused to obey, and suggested that Zhang Hongren, Zhang Yingjing's son, should be appointed as the next head coach.
Upon seeing this, Zhang Yingjing stopped forcing him and told him that if God's will changed, he must act in accordance with nature and not bring disaster to Zhengyi Sect.
Huang Liang knew that Zhang Yingjing's divination skills were unparalleled in the world. When he saw what he said so solemnly, he immediately agreed.
Later, he accidentally met Zuo Liangyu and knew that Zuo Liangyu had a lot of troops and could influence the situation of the world, so he took advantage of Zuo Xianmei's invitation and entered Zuo Mansion.
Later, he was shocked when he heard that a five-clawed golden dragon appeared in the capital.
Because this method is an undisclosed secret of Zhengyi Sect, it has always been known only by the true master, and it is strictly forbidden to be used unless it is absolutely necessary to avoid death.
Sure enough, not long after, he received the news of Zhang Yingjing's emergence. At the same time, he also heard that Chongzhen restored the title of Zhengyi Sect's headmaster, the title of Celestial Master, and decreed that Zhengyi Sect be made the state religion.
After Huang Liang heard these rumors, he knew that Zhang Yingjing had become a disciple to protect the status of the Zhengyi Sect, and he felt extremely sad.
However, he was also an accomplished monk. After his grief, he immediately strengthened his spirits. While passing the news back to the Zhengyi Sect, he took the opportunity to persuade Zuo Liangyu to go north, hoping to use this to strengthen the political bargaining chip of the Zhengyi Sect and fulfill Zhang Yingjing's wish. .
After he met Zhu Yuanzhang in Quyang County, he knew that Zhu Yuanzhang was a great leader and would surely rule the world.
However, he had the same feeling as Zhang Yingjing. He felt that Zhu Yuanzhang was too murderous. If he was not handled properly, not only would Zhang Yingjing's hard work be in vain, but he might also bring disaster to the Zhengyi Sect.
Therefore, he wrote another letter to Zhang Hongren, advising him to take the opportunity to go north, first secure his position as the official state religion, and then wait for an opportunity to assist Zhu Yuanzhang in countering the rebellion. At the same time, he secretly collected intelligence and prepared to help Zhu Yuanzhang at the critical moment.
Huang Liang received a reply from Zhang Hongren shortly afterwards. Zhang Hongren said in the letter that Chongzhen had not yet issued an edict, and he might have hesitated about the matter, so he was going to Shanhaiguan to subdue Wu Sangui for Chongzhen and stabilize the Ming Dynasty before entering Beijing.
Huang Liang did not expect Zhang Hongren to have such a mind and courage. After being surprised, he sent someone to send the intelligence he had collected these days to Zhu Yuanzhang, and in the letter he pretended to mention Zhang Hongren's northward journey.
After Zhu Yuanzhang received Huang Liang's letter, he knew that Zuo Liangyu's strength had greatly increased after receiving the support of Fan Beidou and others.
In addition to the incident between Hao Zhongzhong and Mr. Zou Da last time, Zuo Liangyu has cut off contact with the people he had previously formed an alliance with.
In addition, Huang Liang also told Zhu Yuanzhang that Zuo Liangyu originally wanted Jin Shenghuan to take over Mianchi's troops.
However, because Du Yinxi and Shen Yunying were unwilling to let go, and because they led the troops well, the soldiers admired them quite a lot.
Zuo Liangyu is worried
Excessive measures would lead to mutiny, so the troops were divided into two, with Du, Shen and Jin Shenghuan each commanding 50,000 people.
Unexpectedly, after Song Xiance came to Mianchi, he gave Yuan Zongdi many strategies and defeated Jin Shenghuan steadily.
Zuo Liangyu originally wanted to send Prime Minister Hui Deng to assist, but he did not expect that Li Zicheng of Shaanxi sent troops from Yulin and Yan'an to attack Taiyuan.
In desperation, Zuo Liangyu had to hand over his troops to commanders Du and Shen, and asked Jin Shenghuan and Hui Dengxiang to stop Li Zicheng's army.
As for Li Zicheng's sudden dispatch of troops, Huang Liang also explained it in his letter, saying that after Hao Yaoqi and others returned, they were questioned by Gao Yigong and his party.
Hao Yaoqi and others were rough people. After being unfairly wronged, they immediately started fighting with Gao Yigong.
Despite Li Yan's many attempts to dissuade them, the two sides became more and more violent.
In the end, it was Li Zicheng who came forward to suppress the matter.
However, in order to prove their innocence, Hao Yaoqi and others asked to lead troops on the expedition.
Gao Yigong refused at first, and after Li Zicheng agreed, he secretly tripped up the enemy, causing Hao Yaoqi and others to work in vain, and they were evenly matched with Jin Shenghuan and Hui Deng.
After Zhu Yuanzhang received Huang Liang's letter, although he did not believe it completely, he saw that except for blocking Yinxi, other things were roughly the same as he had imagined. In addition, there was no news from Li Ruolian yet. .z.br>
So he sent a message to Wu Mengming to investigate the details, issued another imperial edict urging Zuo Liangyu to capture Wang Yuncheng, and then turned his horse's head north.
In fact, he did not go north to Shanhaiguan, but wanted to take the opportunity to meet Zhang Hongren and deal with the traitors in the Tianjin Port Navy to avoid being exploited by the Jurchens.
Although he had already told Shen Zhanran about the Tianjin Port Navy matter, he was not too reassured given Shen Zhanran's previous performance.
So while chasing Zhang Hongren, he also asked Zhang Erhu and others to come to escort him, just to prepare to personally solve the Tianjin Port matter.
At this moment, when Zhu Yuanzhang saw that Zhang Hong was appointed as the chief inspector and refused to bow, a flash of anger flashed on his face, and then he said calmly: "We are leaving the capital incognito this time, so Zhang Tianshi doesn't need to be more polite!"
Zhang Hongren became more vigilant when he saw that Zhu Yuanzhang was so approachable, completely different from the rumors.
Upon seeing this, Zhu Yuanzhang deliberately mentioned Zhang Yingjing's incident and praised Zhang Yingjing's high moral integrity. After arousing Zhang Hongren's resonance, he brought the topic to the elixirs of the Zhengyi Sect.
Zhang Hongren has been fond of Taoism since he was a child, and is proficient in various Taoist classics and secrets. He also has deep research on the path of alchemy.
At this moment, seeing that Zhu Yuanzhang was interested in elixirs, he also started talking flatteringly.
After Zhu Yuanzhang chatted with him for a while, he pretended to be helpless and said: "Tianshi, we really have a merciless request here, and we hope that Tianshi will fulfill it."
Zhang Hongren was shocked when he heard this, and then he tried to calm down and said: "Although Pindao is an outsider, he is also one of His Majesty's subjects. If His Majesty sends you something, even if it means mountains of swords and seas of fire, Pindao will obey your orders!"
Zhu Yuanzhang smiled and said: "The Heavenly Master is serious. How dare we send the Heavenly Master? It's just because we had a hidden disease before, but fortunately, the Heavenly Master Zhang gave us medicine, and we got better."
"At that time, your father said that our disease could be eradicated by taking three Dragon and Tiger Pills. However, because your father only brought one pill, our disease was not cured!"
"Because I have been busy with state affairs recently, my old illness has recurred. Although we have tried our best to support it, we are still very uncomfortable. After hearing about the celestial master, we took the liberty to come here to ask for medicine. I hope it will be fulfilled!"
After Zhu Yuanzhang finished speaking, he stared at Zhang Hongren closely, fearing that he might miss the change in his expression.
When Zhang Hongren heard this, he couldn't help but show surprise on his face.
