On the night of the 25th of the first lunar month, Zhang Xing, escorted by Li Ding, Xiong Bonan, Wu Jingfeng, Zhang Shiniang, Jia Runshi and others, arrived at Zhiyongnian, Wu'an County, and checked into the Dahei Emperor Temple next to the military camp. .
There was nothing that could be done about it, because although the moderator of the meeting, Old Master Zhang, and the guest of honor, Chief Zhang Xing of the Deposed Dragon Gang, had formally ended the debate and discussion, in fact, many people still had unfinished thoughts, and the meeting itself also had a feeling of getting better. , it may not be impossible to continue... But, isn't this a blatant move by the Grand Master? As I said before, the biggest and only problem with this kind of gathering is security, because the participants themselves come from political entities with an antagonistic or simply hostile relationship, and they are willing to come because they have the safety guarantee of a great master.
And now, since Cao Lin has openly taken action, at least the leaders of all forces can no longer take risks. In fact, this is why Master Zhang took the initiative to say those words as a summary statement. The rally he hosted must start well and end well, so he must use his own deterrence to control the situation and end the rally smoothly.
As a result, Zhang Xing, Li Ding, Xue Changxiong, Wei Wenda, and Wang Chenkuo left first, heading east, north, and west. Master Zhang said that he would stay with the other two great masters until early morning tomorrow, and then go to the east, north, and west. Leave.
Obviously, this was aimed at Cao Lin to prevent him from pursuing Zhang Xing or raiding the Deposed Dragon Gang.
It is worth mentioning that not everyone has left, or in other words, only the leaders from Hebei have left... Wei Xuanding, Xie Minghe, Cui Suchen and others of the Qianlong Gang, plus Dou Xiaoniang and her patrols, have stayed. , Wang Huaitong, Feng Wuyi, Bai Xiangui, Wang Chenxun, Su Mu, Su Jingfang, including several county guards in the southeast of Shanxi, and Lu Daobin who fled to Li Ding, all stayed.
Among them, Xie Minghe and Bai Xiangui were engaged in secret diplomacy. The Su family and Wang Chenxu were arranged by Li Ding to lead the troops to maintain order. Dou Xiaoniang and the others were the guards, while Wei, Cui, Wang, Feng, Lu and several county guards There are others who can't help but continue the debate... Due to their status, they were not able to fully participate in the previous discussion between Zhang Xing and Old Master Zhang. Even if the leaders of both parties were satisfied in the end, they themselves may not be able to argue. Comfortable, especially things like centralization, decentralization, radicalization, and conservatism are destined to be unsolvable. Therefore, they still have some ideas about laws, systems, and how and what kind of right path the world should take in the future. If I have something to say, I naturally hope to continue discussing it.
In the Black Emperor Temple outside Yongnian City, Zhang Xing, who arrived here in the middle of the night, did not rest directly. Instead, he wrote many handwritten documents one after another, asking Jia Runshi and his subordinates to convey orders to various places, mainly asking them to Prepare to be on guard against Cao Lin's attack, but there are also direct instructions to Xu Shiying and Wang Xiongdan to prepare for their response, including asking about the situation of opening the river and Henan affairs.
After writing the letter, the others had already rested, and Zhang Xing should have gone to rest, but for some reason, at night in early spring when the south wind was blowing and the temperature rose significantly, he rested for a while, but he couldn't fall asleep, and he didn't know why. Whether it was because he was too excited or because he was restless, he finally got up and woke up Li Ding, who was not necessarily asleep. Then the two of them just sat side by side, separated by a few beds, in the corridor of the Black Emperor Temple... Soon Zhang Shiniang personally took the cake. Two bowls of egg custard and some side dishes came, which was considered breakfast.
"I have long heard that the Black Emperor Temple is the largest in Hebei, and even the largest in the world, but I didn't expect it to be so big!" Zhang Xing quickly finished the egg custard, looked back at the huge hall, and then After looking at the huge area of the school grounds in front of the hall, I felt sincerely. "I didn't pay attention when I first came in. As expected, this Taoist temple was built to serve as a military camp?"
"Not quite accurate." Li Ding, who was sitting cross-legged, put down his bowl, shook his head and laughed. "I read some local chronicles and listened to some local legends... It should be said that this place was the Hebei base camp from the beginning when he fought fiercely with the Wu Clan Sin Dragon and the Red Emperor Empress in the world, including the incident with the Red Emperor Empress. This is why the last battle of Hongshan took place nearby...there was a military camp first, and later a Taoist temple was built on the basis of the military camp, and even a city was built next to it."
"Absolutely the same idea." Zhang Xing nodded perfunctorily, his heart moved slightly, and he suddenly looked at the Black Emperor's Temple behind him. "So, this can be considered one of the Black Emperor's lairs?"
"It's natural." Li Ding nodded, then suddenly woke up, then pointed behind him and laughed without looking back. "You want to say that Black Emperor has been watching us in the house?"
"Maybe, maybe I even watched today's rally in Hongshan." Zhang Xing sneered. "When I was at Jing'an Terrace that day, I checked a lot of information about the Three Glory and Four Imperial Gods, the True Dragon Manifestation, and naturally I knew that each of these four had more personality than the last, and among them, the Black Emperor was the coldest... You know how cold What is it? I'm just like you. I see a lot, think a lot, care a lot, and even do a lot behind my back. But until the end, I will pretend to be indifferent, pretending not to care. Not looking, not thinking, not caring about anything.”
Li Ding was stunned for a moment, then shook his head: "If I had the cultivation of Black Emperor, I wouldn't be able to show off. I would have raised troops from Pu Tai and fought all the way to Xidu."
"Indeed." Zhang Xing replied with a sigh. "You do have a bit of the Black Emperor's temperament, but if you think about it carefully, your abilities are more like those of the White Emperor. Especially running the army and fighting wars also start from the military system."
Li Ding was silent for a moment and answered sincerely: "Is there a possibility? It's not about who I look like, but it's about running an army and fighting a war. The military system is the first, the sources of troops and weapons and logistics are the second, the geography and weather are the third, and finally Is it possible for a general to be wise in his strategy? Moreover, even if you are in the Deposed Dragon Gang, you don’t know soldiers, you don’t understand the law, your writing is not good, your debating skills are bad, you have no strategic determination, and your cultivation is not good, so why can you persevere? Is it that you can continue to expand your business now because you know how to build the organizational system you talk about?"
It was Zhang Xing's turn to remain silent.
The two sat and blew in the wind for a while, and then Li Ding spoke, and the two began to talk over each other: "Fan Lihua is right here, do you want to meet her?"
"I came here in a hurry and didn't even say hello to Fan Bao. How about meeting me? Besides, it's the fourth day of the night, why are you calling for someone?"
"That's the same thing. In fact, she's doing fine at my place, so there's no need to worry..."
"As you said in your letter, you don't understand anything, you are stupid, but you are good at cultivation, and your soldiers are convinced. In fact, you happen to be a general here, and you are better than the others..."
"Is Fan Bao staying in Dengzhou?"
"Why do you ask?"
"Aren't you afraid that Uncle Cao will beat you all the way to Wudi without even a chance to respond?"
"You don't need to worry about it now... When the time comes, you can just follow Uncle Cao and grab the territory... But be careful, you must not invade the people, otherwise I won't be able to protect you when I come back to take over."
"You don't have to worry about this..."
"If you really do it, if you really want to kill him, so will you, and so will Fan Lihua."
"Do you want me to abandon the land of five or six counties and send you, a man who abandoned the land, into exile?"
"It's not a bad idea."
"Do you really think that after the Grand Master praised you a few words, you have mastered the rule of the world and can sweep across the world, or that the world simply surrendered? If you are so powerful, why did you escape today? Why did you need Xu Shiying to help you? Do you want Chen Bin to be on guard and Li Shu to be prepared to send troops? Why do you still tell me not to invade the people when I follow Uncle Cao to grab territory? Next time we meet, maybe who will kill whom! In my case, the soldiers on the opposite side If you dare to resist, kill Wuyi and get started."
"Don't you disdain to kill?" Zhang Xing finally looked a little surprised. "Why did you change the rules?"
"I can't do it without killing... I realized the problem the moment I captured Zhao County." Li Ding said helplessly. "My original idea was that there were too many problems with the descending soldiers. It would be best to recruit them again and train them by ourselves. It would be enough to recruit some of the descending soldiers who have good cultivation and strong bodies to supplement them. The rest would be kicked out or used as laborers. All is fine, they are really burdensome and there is no harm in slaughtering them. However, the soldiers of Xiangguo County and Zhao County are already high-quality soldiers selected by the counties. More importantly, they are locals. When locals go back and have nothing to do, it is easy to cause trouble. If there is trouble, and the local strength is limited, recruiting new soldiers will cause problems, and retaining them as laborers will also cause problems, so we have to give up recruiting new soldiers and directly retain them. If they are retained, they will have a lot of problems, so... just I can learn from you."
"Military is both political and you can't escape it." Zhang Xing nodded, and then looked blankly at the campus in front of him. As the dusk deepened, the front was getting quieter and quieter.
"Before leaving, Old Master Zhang told you that he was going to the south to find the rich leader?" Li Ding suddenly asked again.
"Yes." Zhang Xing responded casually. “Go on and speak of His ways.”
"It's true as the rumors say. Is he about to die?" Li Ding continued to ask. "Why do I think he still has something to say?"
"It's true that he's about to die, and it's true that there are rumors about it." Zhang Xing said seriously. "I feel that with this person's current state of mind, it is impossible to find a way out before death and survive..."
"That's becoming a god and transforming into a dragon." Li Ding sighed with emotion.
Zhang Xing did not answer. One of the important things he has learned over the years is that if you keep your head down and do things, there will be rewards, but they are not specific rewards, and the amount of rewards may not be equal. You need to make enough efforts...and Old Master Zhang's recent performance indeed exceeded his imagination, which made him sincerely admire him. However, there was no need to say that he would definitely outpace the passage of life, become a dragon and become a god.
To put it simply, this world is still so cruel. To put it more elegantly, this is the unkindness of nature and treats all things as stupid dogs.
In other words, who knows whether Old Master Zhang will fall headlong into the river and die of his old age?
"Then what did you say?" Li Ding continued to ask. "That's what I told Old Master Zhang before I left."
"I told Old Master Zhang that there are countless roads in the world, and all of them lead to the Eastern Capital. There is no need to worry too much." Zhang Xing calmly answered. "It's all nonsense. It's just that when someone acts like a master and gives me a hand, I will be more humble in return..."
"Actually, what you said today is not bad. Many things are refreshing." Li Ding thought about it and responded sincerely. "Although it's not complete and not systematic, I can see the sincerity... I feel much stronger when I was in Dongdu."
"After all, I've been through a lot."
"However, what I care about more is your old things." Li Ding continued to speak seriously. "When I beat Li Yang before, I felt that you still had the same old temper... This is actually quite rare. As a person, the most precious thing is to not forget your original intention, even if your original intention later seems childish and ridiculous."
Zhang Xing smiled: "Both the old and the new are important. Anyway, I don't regret it now."
Li Ding nodded, and the two finally fell silent.
At this time, the sky was still very dark. It was early spring after all, and the river had just thawed. However, because it was a military camp, many people had already gotten up on time, and there were more figures and torches coming and going on the school grounds.
And at this moment, suddenly, the originally strong but still gentle south wind suddenly became violent, blowing out and raising many torches, and by the way, it swept up a lot of sand and dust and beat it on the roofs of the buildings around the school grounds. It caused exclamations from all sides.
In the chaos, some people even fell down, and objects rolled, fell, and fell to the ground.
Not to mention this, a large group of crows that had been roosting in an unknown place also seemed to be frightened, soared into the sky from the huge Black Emperor Temple, and went in all directions with the wind.
Zhang Xing and Li Ding looked at the sky together, and they quickly realized the problem... It wasn't that the south wind suddenly took its turn, but that an intermittent strong wind suddenly arose from the west. The two winds overlapped and formed a gust. Weird wind.
"We can't just say that Cao Lin and Cao Lin will arrive. Uncle Cao will eventually take advantage of the other masters to disperse and pursue him, right?" Zhang Xingqian smiled and spoke. "But there's no obvious real energy mixed into it."
"This wind is really weird." Li Ding frowned. "I have been here for two or three years, and I have never seen such a west wind in spring. There is a north wind. And considering the time, it is time for the three great masters to set off. It is impossible to say that Emperor Cao really wanted to come to you after he left. As a result, Old Master Zhang found out that the two of them finally threw their arms around and started fighting. The distance caused the celestial phenomenon, but we couldn't notice it. There is also Taoist Chong He, he came too strangely. If you ask Wu Dalang on the way, he will also support it. Hemming and hawing... If you ask me, don't stay any longer. Even if Cao Lin is not coming, there may be other explanations. Go back to the camp as soon as possible."
Zhang Xing nodded. The level of the Grand Master is too high. Most of the time, we can only rely on guessing. However, the whirlpool yesterday afternoon still allowed Zhang Sanlang to clearly connect the Grand Master with the real dragon that caused celestial disasters. Therefore, Although Li Ding's words are absurd, they still need to be taken seriously.
In fact, Xiong Bonan, Wu Jingfeng and others were obviously awakened at this time, but after all, it was still in the category of celestial phenomena, so they were not too anxious.
However, after Zhang Sanlang nodded for a moment, he still couldn't help but ask: "King Xiongtian is here, my sister-in-law is here, Wu Jingfeng and Fan Lihua are here, don't you have any way to hide me in the Black Emperor Temple?"
"Some people in the military camp have their own ideas." Li Ding was stuck for a while and gave a helpless answer. "I can't vouch for their position."
Zhang Xing did not laugh at the other party. In his opinion, this was normal. It would be a joke if Li Silang could turn the army into an iron bucket, transcend their positions and crush the mountains.
Just when Zhang Xing decided to set off early because he was worried about a fight between Cao Lin and Old Master Zhang, there were only three people left on the platform on the main peak of Hongshan Mountain on the west side of Wu'an County, and Cao Lin, who had been sleeping all the time, suddenly opened his eyes. Eyes, and then said in the dark night: "It's the fourth watch...Old General Zhang, can I go?"
"Then please invite Uncle Cao." Zhang Bofeng also opened his eyes and greeted him with a smile. "I am just about to take a trip to the south of the Yangtze River, and I will go with you to see you back."
Cao Lin laughed at that time: "Where did General Zhang think I was going? To trouble Zhang Xing or to go back to the Hanoi military camp? I wanted to go to Fukou in the west and go deep into the Red Mountain. Li Twelve Lang led him from Yecheng that day A unit that came back was placed there. Duan Shangshu was also going there yesterday. I want to get this unit back... That's why I agreed to let you come here that day... You want to go south, I will go Fukou, where can I send it from you?"
Old Master Zhang was startled, and then nodded slowly: "It doesn't matter, then I will accompany Uncle Cao for a walk and then I will take you back to Hanoi."
Cao Lin couldn't stop laughing: "Old General Zhang, Old General Zhang, are you the real Hutu or the fake Hutu? After I capture this army, I will rely on it as a surprise force to attack Wei County from the north and the south... I promise You have already done your best to set out again today, so are you still going to openly join the Deposed Dragon Gang and participate in the war in Hebei?"
Zhang Bofeng was silent for a moment and slowly shook his head: "I said it yesterday. Although I admire Zhang Xing and the Deposed Dragon Gang, their positions and ideas are completely different. How can I easily help the Deposed Dragon Gang in the war in Hebei? Besides, I am old. I just want to learn as much truth as possible before the gods and humans decline, and I don’t want to waste time... However, Cao Zhongcheng, what you did today is really out of character. I must be vigilant. At least Zhang San can return to his skills. I still have to watch you before."
Cao Lin glanced at the silent Chong He and couldn't help but smile bitterly: "A group of rebellious officials and traitors, in front of me, openly criticized the eldest brother who raised me, saying that he was a giant thief, but they thought I had no grace. ?”
Zhang Bofeng remained silent.
At this time, Taoist priest Chong He, who was sitting next to him with his sleeves rolled up, suddenly said: "I guess Zhang Sanlang will be able to leave Wu'an at noon today. That's good. Mr. Zhang, I'll go with you and Cao Zhongcheng to Fu'an." At the mouth, Cao Zhongcheng left the whole army behind, and Old Master Zhang left on his own, either to the south of the Yangtze River or back to Hedong. I will keep guard for a while until noon to make sure that Cao Zhongcheng does not look back."
Cao Lin's expression didn't change.
Zhang Bofeng nodded, but couldn't help but ask: "Why is Taoist Chonghe visiting Hebei? Will it delay Taoist priest's affairs?"
"Lao Dao was invited by someone to go to the appointment, but the time is not urgent." Chong He sighed. "As soon as the troubled times begin, all grudges and grudges must be put to an end...Cao Zhongcheng, from this point of view, the Wei Dynasty is indeed on the verge of collapse and there is no way to save it."
Cao Lin glanced at the other party and did not answer directly. Instead, he asked an inexplicable question: "Master Chonghe, what are you visualizing?"
Chong He didn't hide it: "What I visualize is a wooden stick."
"Three Brilliance orthodox, the most authentic radiant Qi is cultivated, but he visualizes a wooden stick? And why does the stick look like a human? I can understand if the Taoist master has immortal Qi..."
Chong He smiled bitterly, but still didn't hide it: "What he was visualizing was a puppet... Back then, the Emperor of Tang Dynasty and the first head of the Trinity Orthodox Church were discussing the establishment of the religion by the Luoshui River. The first head of the Trinity casually used divination sticks to form a human shape. , saying that even clods of earth and wooden sticks can resemble human beings, how much more the three radiances? From then on, the beginning of orthodox religion was established. Throughout the ages, all those who have entered the Taoism, I am not the only one who has visualized these wooden sticks."
The other two people were stunned together.
After Cao Lin suddenly realized, he stood up and said: "So, I have asked what I should ask, let's go!"
Chong and Taoist Priest were stunned for a moment, but after thinking about it, they stood up and Old Master Zhang did not hesitate. He just wanted to settle the matter without wasting any more time.
In this way, the three great masters set off together and headed straight to the depths of Hongshan Mountain in the west. Perhaps because they had no encumbrances, the speed was beyond imagination. When they arrived at the valley in Fukou of Hongshan Mountain, it was not yet dawn.
When they arrived here, Cao Lin did not fall into the valley where the military camp was obviously located. Instead, he landed directly on the top of a nearby hillock, and the other two people also fell down.
When they arrived here, the three of them were still standing in a triangle, but Cao Lin remained silent and just came to see Zhang Bofeng. Not only that, Taoist Chong He also looked at Zhang Bofeng... Old Master Zhang is one of the few in the world. People who understand are also stunned for a moment, and then they wake up... For a time, many things in their minds, including Cao Lin's happy promise that day to yesterday's attack on Zhang Xing and his provocation to himself, also suddenly became clear... But I thought After understanding, he had no choice but to nod, and then gave him his hand:
"Take care, you two!"
Chong He and Cao Lin also bowed their hands and returned the greeting: "Old General Zhang/Master Zhang, take care."
Zhang Bofeng nodded again, sighed, turned around, raised the zhenqi cloud disk with golden edges on the white ground, and left straight away without any intention of intervening.
Watching Master Zhang leave, the two great masters were left standing opposite each other. Cao Lin had his hands behind his hands and looked sternly, while Chong and Taoist Master had their hands folded and remained motionless. His flower cloth parcel was even hanging on their arms.
After a while, Cao Lin was the first to break the silence: "Master Chonghe, I was willing to agree to participate in this Hongshan meeting at the beginning because I wanted to end it here as much as possible, but I never thought about it before I met you. But my opponent is you, and I didn’t even take you into consideration. You have indeed not left the mountain for decades... In today’s matter, we won’t mention who wins and who loses. I just say that if I am not good at studying, I will die. Regarding this, can you please make me understand why you are going against Wei?"
"What's there to say?" Chonghe couldn't help but sigh. "Of course, the saints of the Wei and Wei dynasties abandoned the Trinity Orthodox Church and intended to call themselves supreme on land. Especially now that saint in Jiangdu has everything under his control. In recent years, the Trinity Orthodox Church has not only entered the True Fire Sect, but also entered the Northern Territory. There is even a tendency to split... I have no selfish desires, I just want to rise and fall within the religion."
"I believe it, I believe it." Cao Lin nodded repeatedly. "Then it was also the Taoist priest who made the agreement with Yang Shen that day?"
"Yes." Chonghe nodded simply.
Cao Lin continued to nod: "I should have thought of it a long time ago. After the capital is moved, the children of Guanlong, especially the ambitious and down-and-out children, will naturally look for you... It's a pity, it's a pity that you stayed in the mountain all the time. When Lian Wu Jingfeng fled, They didn’t take any action, but they made us ignore you again and again.”
"How can there be so many?" Chonghe sighed even more. "I locked myself on Taibai Peak. From the beginning to the end, there was only one person looking for me, and I only made an agreement with this person. It was Yang Shen who contacted me on my behalf."
Cao Lin was stunned for a moment, thoughtful and a little confused: "You mean Li Shu? You actually agreed to depose the Dragon Gang to get rid of me? Is it also for Bai Sanniang and Wu Dalang?"
Chong He said nothing.
But at this moment, a familiar voice suddenly sounded from the hillside behind Cao Lin. Someone came step by step from below: "Is Uncle Cao confused? How can Li Shu have such concentration now?" Please come out of the mountain, Taoist priest Chonghe? And how could Taoist priest Chonghe get involved in such a secular fight for the sake of his children's personal relationship? It must be me, and it can only be me."
Uncle Cao Huang completely woke up after hearing this familiar voice, and then he didn't look back. He just couldn't help but raised his head and sighed: "So, you have been thinking carefully... Have you started preparing since Yang Shen?"
"Uncle Cao Huang looks down on me so much." The man behind him couldn't help but sneer.
"I know, it's Sisi... There have been rumors that Sisi was chosen by the Red Emperor Empress. You had thoughts and ambitions after knowing this." Cao Lin suddenly remembered something.
"Not only was Sisi chosen by the Red Emperor Empress, but I was also chosen by the Bai Emperor, but what does that mean?" The man continued to approach on foot, his words becoming clearer and more powerful. "At that time, I heard some reliable information, but I only gave Sisi to the headmaster of the Trinity Orthodox Church to teach me, just to protect her and prevent her from becoming the pawn of the Red Emperor Empress. Just as I didn't want to It's like being a chess piece of Emperor Bai. This is naturally because the Wei Dynasty is at its peak, and the late emperor is wise and courageous... Therefore, what really made me make up my mind was that the late emperor was extremely harsh in his later years, and he actually chose someone so arrogant and courageous. The hypocritical crown prince took over... At that time, I thought, this kind of father and son can usurp power and establish a career, why can't I, Bai Hengqiu? I can only do better than them! In other words, Cao Gong is basically the Wei Dynasty. If it perishes, don’t blame others! How come there are so many deliberate intentions?”
Cao Lin was speechless, and then finally turned around. Standing in front of him was indeed the British Gong Bai Hengqiu.
The sky was getting brighter, and Zhang Xing, who gradually lost his vigilance, called his yellow gelding to stop by the Zhuozhang River. At this time, the Zhuozhang River had already opened. For some reason, after several days of warm south wind, the wind suddenly began to flow. It's raining.
Moreover, the rain is more rapid and chaotic, and it does not look like spring rain.
