The military operation launched by the Deposed Dragon Gang on the night of the 23rd lunar month and the execution-style killing on the morning of the 24th lunar month actually had far greater impact and effect than imagined. At the very least, Zhang Xing was caught off guard.
It can only be said that when it comes to the issue of imperial power and the so-called legitimacy of the Wei Dynasty, even within the Guanlong clan, I am afraid that no one is as unscrupulous and magnanimous as Zhang Laosan, let alone others.
The officials of Liang County were like monkeys who fell into an ice cave and climbed back out in winter. They wanted to be more lively, more lively, more hurried, and more urgent. Messengers came one after another, going back and forth between the camp and Gushuo. The negotiations were going frighteningly smoothly, and the bottom line was also Open it up more than anyone else. At the same time, the remaining defeated generals in Jing'antai fell into complete silence and completely lost their ability to act. There was even news that they were gathering the wounded and uninvolved concubines and princesses, and were preparing to retreat to a building in the west. In the city, I practiced a little.
The officials of Liang County must return to the northern county to govern Songcheng.
This is the parting of ways.
However, the most emotional thing for Zhang Xing was the reaction from the gang members.
I don’t know if it’s an illusion, but Zhang Xing just feels that his prestige in the gang has been greatly improved after this incident. Xiong Bonan and Xu Shiying are all vaguely strict and respectful towards him. Many of the leaders below, regardless of their origins and strength. , age, and even a little respectful attitude. It seems that leading them to rob a queen was worth the effort to establish the rear system of the Deposed Dragon Gang, release grain, burn debts, save the treasury, mobilize the reserve army, and drive away the Jijun army. generally.
Taoist Wei, the only one who had managed to remain calm, was no better. He wrote letters from Yucheng and was much more polite. So much so that Zhang Xing once wondered whether the other party was taking the opportunity to cause trouble from the beginning, encouraging him to do this, promoting himself, attracting the attention of the court and the gang, and becoming this world's version of Zheng Bo and Duan Yuyan.
However, as the envoys came and went, Zhang Xing still realized that he was overthinking it, because Taoist Wei was in Yucheng and was advocating this matter to the Meng brothers who had abandoned their official duties and came back to rebel. He said that he was the one who initiated this matter. Keeping silent was the plan he and Mr. Zhang made together... and it worked extremely well. After the Meng brothers quickly verified the news ahead, they began to panic, so much so that Meng Shanggong came to the valley in person on the morning of the next day. Familiar, humble words, directly expressed his attitude of wanting to join the gang.
This is completely different from their previous attitude of relying on their own strength, not wanting to be inferior to others, and caring about everything.
But to be honest, the more these people cooperated and the more they succumbed to the influence of this operation, the more Zhang Xing felt a sense of panic... because he felt deep down that the two sides were asymmetrical. The side is too weak.
Of course, this may also be a kind of prejudice, but he just can't detect it himself.
In short, under uneasiness and panic, although he had fully thought about and made proper arrangements for the follow-up of the whole matter, he still decided to make a quick decision.
In a wing in the backyard of the Gushu County government office, Zhang Xing did not hold a meeting, but instead convened seven or eight people in his private capacity to hold an impromptu small meeting.
Among the participants, in addition to the indispensable powerful leaders such as Xiong Bonan, Xu Shiying, and Niu Da, there are also some of his confidants such as Zhou Xingfan, Yan Qing, and Jia Yue, as well as those who died just a day ago and are now Zhang Shizhao and Zhang Xianggong, who had not yet decided on a new name, were still lying on the couch.
All I can say is that things happened too fast, and it felt like I was chasing someone.
"Be quick, don't be blinded by the smoothness of this matter." As soon as he sat down, before others could take their eyes away from Zhang Shizhao on the couch, Zhang Xing got straight to the point and put forward his own opinion. "Next we have to do these things with these companies...
First of all, we need to get money, grain, and ordnance from Liang County officials, and at the same time ask them to distribute grain throughout the county, at a ratio of half of the autumn grain... If there are really difficulties, we can not ask for grain, but we must distribute it in the name of the Deposed Dragon Gang. Grain, let the people of Liang County know that we captured the prefect and forced them to release grain... It must be done before the year, or even distribute grain first... Niuda, you and Xiao Zhou will take the lead in this matter, along with some leaders Talk about it, do it, and bring people to me when you need a guarantee. "
Niu Da and Zhou Xingfan immediately stood up and agreed, the former even a little impatient.
"Secondly, we need to monitor those people from Jing'antai in Luo Fang." Zhang Xingfu looked at Xiong Bonan again. "Although those people are few, they stand firm, and there is still a Chengdan master. They are the only group of people in the current situation who can make the situation reverse. King Xiongtian, go and clamp them in person. As long as they dare to move, you will Kill, now that things have happened, killing Luo Fang and Xue Liang will only bring benefits and no harm."
"Of course it's my turn to do it." Xiong Bonan responded immediately and made a request. "But I want twenty brothers with good skills to support me."
"King Xiongtian only takes care of the practitioners below the leader." Zhang Xing immediately agreed and looked at Xu Shiying again. "I estimate that the traveling team will begin to collapse in the next two days. Whether it is the surveillance of the troops around Tuen Garden or the collapse of the internal servants, you, Xu Dalang, must be in charge of the overall situation and pay attention to support. Once they are dispersed, you will send troops to general Those vehicles are brought in...and the chamberlains and palace servants who are willing to come along will also be taken in."
Xu Dalang nodded and took notes with his pen.
However, Xiong Bonan frowned and asked seriously: "Zhang Longtou, I'm not saying no, but do you really want to accept those servants? How can these people do business with heroes like us?"
"Collect them first, so as not to freeze them to death in the snow... The Dragon Gang raised their troops for the common people. Now our treasury is sufficient and we have done such a large amount of business, so we won't turn to death without saving them." No. When Zhang Xing opened his mouth, Xu Dalang blurted out without raising his head. "Then bring them back. Those who have the ability can work as writers and officials. Those with good character can also be sweepers in the government offices. Those who have no ability or have a bad character will be settled with the queen at the worst when she redeems her. .”
Xiong Bonan thought for a moment, nodded slowly, and said no more words.
Zhang Xing also nodded with satisfaction, but reminded him again: "Be sure to contact Wang Zhen properly. When dividing the money, don't be too discriminatory with Dangshan."
"It's natural."
"That's how it should be."
In addition to Xu Shiying, there was also Xiong Bonan who responded.
"We also need to contact the Huaiyou Alliance." Zhang Xingfu turned to look at the silent Yan Qing. "Yan Qing went to do the paperwork... I emphasize that unless the two leaders of the alliance, Du and Fu, come in person or the Ma family and his daughter come, we will not talk to the Huaiyou Alliance... This is like no matter which government we talk to, we must Emphasize that if the Huaiyou League is not responsible for the handover, it will be the same as not releasing the person."
Yan Qing responded immediately, and Niu Da also nodded.
"Finally." Zhang Xing thought for a moment and looked around. "There is one more thing. I want to hear what you think. How do you think the Meng brothers should be dealt with? Meng Shanggong just came over and said that he is willing to join our Deposed Dragon Gang, obey my orders, and ask for the position of the big leader..."
Everyone was silent for a moment.
Zhang Xing also quickly added: "The big boss should have discussed this matter with those on the front line, but this matter involves our strategy in the west, and they had a gentleman's agreement with us before the Eastern Expedition. It's nothing. It can’t be said…”
"I think it's feasible." Xiong Bonan finally became impatient. "Brothers Meng are willing to bend down, and Cao Wang is in our hands, so what if we take down Liangjun directly? We can also join forces with Dangshan and Huaiyou Alliance."
"That way the power would be too scattered." As soon as Xiong Bonan spoke, Xu Shiying also raised his head and responded. "In my opinion, after this incident, we here will start to prepare for war after spring plowing... Now we will expand the territory in the heart of the imperial court, especially Liangjun and Dongdu are only separated by Xingyang and Qiaojun. Even Xuzhou is bound to suffer misfortunes... It is better to concentrate our efforts and hold on to the Jishui River."
Xiong Bonan wanted to speak for a moment... He instinctively felt that there was a loophole in it, but for some reason, facing Xu Shiying, he always felt that whatever he said would be controlled by others, so he simply hesitated and looked at what others said first. .
This is obviously a learned lesson, but there is no doubt about his attitude.
"Now that we have even robbed the queen, the officers and soldiers will not let us go no matter what, right?" Sure enough, someone actually spoke to refute, and Niuda raised his head and asked seriously. "Then instead of being conservative, how about taking advantage of the opportunity to attack and take down Liang County?"
"From a military perspective, of course we can do this." Zhang Xing finally spoke. "But I'm worried that if we advance towards Liangjun, we will, firstly, fall into a battle early; secondly, it's raining and snowing now, and spring plowing will be next year. I'm afraid we won't have time to carry out various measures against Liangjun similar to those in Jiyin and Dongjun; thirdly, That's what Xu Dalang said, power will be dispersed, because in order to control the situation, trustworthy leaders must be dispersed, and this may not be beneficial to the war; fourth, it also affects the transactions we want to make now; finally, Meng's family can actually be Brother, be a buffer... hand over Gushu and Xiayi, and leave Yucheng to the Meng brothers to see how much territory they can occupy, and it is none of our business."
Niu Da also said nothing because Zhang Xing had already expressed his personal attitude.
Zhang Xing looked around and responded seriously: "This is my personal idea. The basic idea is actually the second one... that is to take down Liangjun at this time. We don't have time to establish our own system to effectively control Liangjun. Instead of doing this, it is better to let Liang County go to the Meng brothers, and let them rely on the local people's favor to quickly expand and act as a buffer for us... If there is anything inappropriate, please speak up."
"Even so, this doesn't delay whether we can accept their brothers into the gang, right?" Xiong Bonan came back to his senses and asked immediately.
But almost at the same time, everyone else present, including Mr. Zhang who had remained silent, all looked over, which made King Xiongtian couldn't help but feel angry.
"Since I want to use him as a buffer, it's hard to join the gang." After a while, Zhang Xing explained word for word. "Otherwise, it will be difficult whether we save him or not when necessary, or whether we care about him or not if he does bad things... On the contrary, once you join a gang, you must follow the rules and prohibitions, share life and death, and share joys and sorrows..."
Xiong Bonan quickly understood and felt embarrassed.
"Actually, I plan to do two more things after I go back before the army comes." Zhang Xing said in a relaxed tone. "One is to expand the branch downwards and sort out the pros and cons of the officials and officers below. Those who are capable and of good conduct can be added to the gang; the other is to go to the local areas and look for those places with good cultivation. , those who are virtuous, let them be guardians, and those who are willing to do things, let them be deacons, and obey my orders directly."
With that said, Zhang Xing pointed to Yan Qing again: "I am going to leave it to Yan Qing to do the latter... Of course, the former requires everyone to cooperate and let each branch and the leader hand over the list as soon as possible, but I am going to let Xiao Zhou At that time, we will lead people to conduct inspections, focusing on spring plowing, and conduct inspections on the list... What do you think?"
"I think it's good." Xiong Bonan felt a little relieved. "Invite all the good people in to be brothers, drive out all the bad people, and gather all the people together to do loyalty, do justice, and do great things. This is what should be done."
The other people were obviously a few steps slower, especially Xu Shiying and Niu Da. This time it was their turn to be stared at by everyone else, especially Mr. Zhang. After he came back to his senses, there was no joking look in his eyes. Too obvious.
However, Xu and Niu did not keep others waiting.
Soon Niuda raised his voice and responded: "This is a good thing, it should have been like this a long time ago."
"I think it's pretty good, too." Xu Dalang laughed dryly, held the pen and paper in his hand, and looked at Yan Qing with a smile. "It's just that...it goes without saying that Leader Zhou's qualifications, abilities, and achievements go without saying. Do you want to add a leader to this little brother Yan Qing so that he can do things more conveniently?"
Zhang Xinggang was about to reply.
Yan Qing laughed on his own: "What did Leader Xu say? How can I get the position without merit? When I finish this matter properly and have merit, if I am not given the leader, I will be told that the Dragon Gang cannot be rewarded and punished properly." ...The only thing I want to be grateful for is that Third Brother is willing to find something for me to do."
Xu Shiying looked at the other party again, nodded slowly, and said no more.
"There is one last thing." Seeing that no one spoke, Zhang Xing gave a final serious reminder. "Although I didn't say it, spring plowing after the new year is actually the most important... Otherwise, why would we involve some things with spring plowing? So, don't put the cart before the horse."
"Yes." Xu Dalang did his job.
Niu Da, Zhou Xingfan, and Yan Qing also responded...Xiong Bonan also nodded.
Seeing this, Zhang Xing stopped delaying and immediately raised his hand to see the guest off.
"Third brother." After standing up, Xu Dalang grabbed the pen and paper with his hands behind his back and suddenly spoke proactively. "Now that I'm here, there are two things I want to ask you..."
"Say." Zhang Xing was inevitably surprised.
"This..." Xu Dalang pointed at Zhang Shizhao. “You don’t know your name yet, and you don’t know how you will be called in the future?”
"This is the first protector of our gang." Zhang Xing pointed at it, smiled slightly, and then looked at himself. "I don't know what to call you?"
Zhang Shizhao was stunned, feeling a little emotional, but also a little frustrated: "Whatever, just a code name, and I don't want to be noticed... On the other hand, if someone calls Zhang San, doesn't he have a pretty big name?"
"What's it called?" Zhang Xing couldn't ask further. "Can't we also call him Zhang San?"
"Call……"
"How about calling me Chang Wei?"
"Just call Zhang Daxuan." Although he didn't know what was going on, Zhang Shizhao immediately blocked the other party's obviously malicious suggestion. "My son's name has Xuan in it, so no one will think that I am his father."
"That's alright." Zhang Xing nodded, then turned to look at Xu Dalang who was taking notes again. "what else?"
"What should I do with the princess and the concubines?" Xu Dalang finished writing and became serious again. "There is no problem with the relationship between the queen and the chamberlain, but the status of the princess and the concubine are not high. What if they are sent to Jiangdu and the saint gets angry and kills him directly? He is a person who has been killed by his brothers and sisters... I heard that He said that the princess is quite destined to be the third brother, do you want to stay and raise her?"
As soon as he said this, the people around him looked strange.
"What's the use of staying?" Zhang Xing was honest. "We are also living on the edge of a knife... What do you think of Protector Zhang Daxuan?"
Zhang Shizhao, who was also Zhang Daxuan, was lying on the couch. He was startled for a moment, and then he realized that he was asking himself. But the matter involved the princess and concubines, so he couldn't stay out of it, so he gave the answer after just a moment's thought: "If you really care about fate and want to protect Ichigo, just hand it over to the Governor Wang of Ji County and ask him to wait for a while and send him back to the Eastern Capital... Although Ziwei Palace is empty, that old boy Cao Lin is there , we can finally be stable for a while.”
This is appropriate. Zhang Xing nodded and said no more.
Xu Dalang also put away his small notebook and formally stood up to say goodbye. As soon as he moved, everyone around him also stood up, and even Jia Yue, who didn't fart during the whole process, slowly strolled out.
For a time, only Zhang Xing and Zhang Shizhao were left.
The two sat together for a while, and Zhang Shizhao, who was on the couch, finally said, "Why don't you leave? Don't you have to deal with Meng Shanggong?"
"Actually, I still lack confidence. I still want to ask Protector Zhang to give me a safe explanation." Zhang Xing turned around and sat on the edge of the couch. He wanted to touch the other person's hand, but was directly put under the quilt by the other person, but his expression remained unchanged. . "How about the arrangement I just made?"
"I want to surrender your privacy, but you don't want to." Zhang Shizhao responded with a sneer. "Why are you asking this kind of thing now?"
"But since you are a protector, you should be somewhat conscious of the overall situation of the Dragon Gang." Zhang Xing was still sincere. "If the Deposed Dragon Gang is gone and your pretending to die is exposed, neither the saint nor Emperor Cao will be able to spare you... then what will happen if everyone in your family is executed?"
"You can't copy it." Zhang Shizhao sneered even more. "The Zhang family in Hedong has a great master. At this time, he dare not copy..."
"At most, I will kill your son, daughter-in-law and grandson..." Zhang Xing added. "Plus yourself...right? You've already surrendered, so why bother?"
"Yeah, the capital has been surrendered, I didn't know?" Zhang Shizhao also laughed. "But Zhang Sanlang, if I strongly praise your statement or say something inappropriate, will you feel at ease?"
Zhang Xing finally felt embarrassed and wanted to stand up and say goodbye.
"However, if you don't say anything, you will feel a little uneasy." Zhang Shizhao thought for a while, but he still commented, but did not mention the specific matter. "If you ask me, you can summon your confidants and key people and propose future plans in advance. It is already very good. You can even be regarded as a talent in Nanya... But you should also consider some things in advance, such as discussing this matter privately. , there are few people now, so there is no problem, but in fact, if it is not to brainstorm ideas or follow legal procedures, then you should not put me together with a few big bosses, nor should you put your confidants and Several big leaders are put together, you should separate them..."
Zhang Xing suddenly realized: "You mean to put aside the conference and ask for advice in private, the advisor is the advisor, the confidant is the confidant, and the powerful leader is the powerful leader? And if you really need to rely on trusted confidant talents, you only need to let him be at least three or four of them By showing up at the meeting, his power will be properly guaranteed. On the other hand, as the convener of the meeting, my authority will be even more stable..."
"Yes." Zhang Shizhao nodded. "Especially if it gets bigger in the future, the civil and military forces will inevitably have to be separated. Moreover, it will be difficult to hold a conference at that time to brainstorm ideas. We will have to create four or five different teams to brainstorm ideas and avoid conflicts at the same time...for example, that Uncle Xiong Nan is very capable and needs to be respected and trusted, but why did you ask him to do this kind of thing? Just ask him to monitor Luo Fangbang directly; and like me, I can only tell you these old-fashioned words at the moment, but it is not easy to be What does it matter if you ask me to attend such a meeting if others hear it?”
Zhang Xing nodded slowly, but then shook his head with a wry smile: "What Protector Zhang said is very reasonable, but it is still too early, and the premise is that my position is stable. Now in the conference, I feel that there are too few people talking..."
Zhang Shizhao just shook his head and said nothing.
Zhang Sanlang didn't care, he just stood up and bowed seriously, then turned around and went out to deal with Meng Shanggong.
However, as soon as he walked to the corridor outside, Jia Yue immediately met him from the courtyard gate with a leader. The latter even leaned down in the courtyard to report: "Longtou, the prince and the father-in-law of that day are here, saying want to see you."
Under the ice skates on the eaves, Zhang Xing was stunned for a moment, unable to react for a moment: "Who?"
"The prince who was pushing the cart that day was beaten." The leader responded simply. "I was guarding the south gate of the city, and he came directly to ask for an audience. Since he was someone I had met before, he was the only one who brought me in."
Zhang Xing pondered for a moment and made a decision effortlessly: "Then meet him first."
The leader nodded, turned around, and brought someone over in a moment. Surprisingly, it was the prince whose clothes had not been washed yet, and whose eyes were full of bloodshot eyes.
When the prince came to the courtyard and saw Zhang Xing standing in the corridor, he walked forward and knelt down on the still damp ground thirteen or four steps away from him. He kowtowed solemnly on the spot and then raised his head. Lai handed over his hands and said: "Master Zhang, the people in Jing'antai and the local government have abandoned us like worn-out shoes. And Master Zhang robbed the queen and killed the governor. We can't go to Jiangdu, and we will have no food tonight." ...At the end of my rope, I accidentally thought of something. Since Mr. Zhang talks so frequently with the officials of Liang County, I am afraid that he has no intention of leading the Dragon Gang to openly march into Liang County, right?"
Zhang Xing nodded.
"That's it." The prince kowtowed heavily on the wetland again, then raised his head and continued to speak solemnly. "Can you borrow three thousand swords and shields, eight hundred armors, and several thousand stones of food from the Deposed Dragon Gang? Then you can evacuate Xiayi faster when you leave, so you can lend us Xiayi City again?"
Zhang Xing stood with his hands behind his back and was silent for a moment. After a while, he asked, "Since it's a loan, how can I pay it back?"
"Of course, the palace's treasures can be properly transferred to pay debts..." The prince blurted out. "Otherwise, if there is no food tonight, the ice and snow will hit the palace, and the palace servants will be scattered, even if the Dragon Gang sends out a large army to transport them, I am afraid that many of them will escape, and they may even be pushed into the water to be salvaged in the future. "
"To tell you the truth, this is far from enough." Zhang Xing looked at the other party for a while, seeing that the other party was unafraid, but still slowly shook his head. "In troubled times, gold, silver, wealth and silk are just the icing on the cake, far inferior to weapons, food and grass. Moreover, opportunities must not be missed and never come back. The night before yesterday, I didn't give you a chance. If you say this now, aren't you bringing shame on yourself? ?”
"It's just that, of course it's not enough, so I thought about it. In addition, when the Xuzhou army comes south, if they still think that we are the father-in-law of Beiya and dare not invade, we will deliver the news for the Deposed Dragon Gang and repay our lives today. The grace, and if they also want to kill us..." Wang Gonggong knelt on the ground, without any pause or excuse in front of him, but when he said this, he paused obviously, but he still mustered up his energy to speak seriously. "We are in Xiayi. We just need to be human shields for the Deposed Dragon Gang! Even if we kill thousands of servants, it will take three to five days, right?"
Zhang Xing was finally moved, but he continued to stand under the eaves for a long time without saying a word. The prince just looked at him with his neck stretched out.
After an unknown amount of time, Zhang Xing finally spoke again: "What should the palace lord do?"
"If you are willing to follow us, just follow us. If you are not willing, you can follow them, whether you go with the Deposed Dragon Gang or return to Dongdu." Wang Gonggong said simply. "The more dispersed the better, it won't save a few people."
When Zhang Xing heard this, his body shape and expression did not change. He just stretched out his hand from behind and raised it slightly forward: "Get up and speak."
The prince stood up immediately.
Zhang Xing, however, kept the posture of one hand unchanged and continued to speak seriously: "A gentleman's words..."
The prince froze on the spot, and after a few breaths, he got up in embarrassment, threw forward, and then grabbed the opponent's hand through the railing like a treasure, and responded with difficulty: "Si Ma~ It's hard to chase!"
After saying that, he couldn't help but lower his head and almost collapsed to the ground, only to be held back by the entire hand of his former colleague from Xiyuan.
PS: I would like to sacrifice a new book "The Legend of the Heroes of the Three Kingdoms" as a routine sacrifice. The author is an old author, and the previous "Three Kingdoms Aspects and Liangzhou Ci".
Also, is it an illusion recently? I feel like this chapter talks a bit too much. It used to be like a thousand words/hundred articles, or less. Recently, the ratio has increased significantly. Who bought me a package for this chapter?
