Dong'an City, as the old capital of the Yu Kingdom during the Warring States Period, was a famous city in Dayi. Even though the Yu Kingdom had been destroyed for many years, the place was still crowded with people, and business exchanges between various places were continuous and prosperous as before.
Mr. Zhao Gang, the local official of Dong'an, was reading documents in the government office. At this time, the chief clerk came into the lobby and reported: "Mr. Zhao, the imperial court has sent an envoy in Qingyi. He said that Mr. Zhao is needed for urgent matters." You cooperate."
As soon as Dong'an ordered Zhao Gang to hear the Qingyi envoy, he quickly put down the bamboo slips in his hands. He became more energetic in an instant. The first thing that came to his mind was whether it would be related to him?
Zhao Gang thought for a long time. He seemed to have nothing to do with the court. These people probably weren't here for him. Then he felt a little relieved and asked, "Oh? Why did the Tsing Yi envoy come here on official business?"
What he meant was to ask his subordinates if they had any clues about what was going on? The chief clerk said: "Sir, do they want to borrow troops?"
"Borrowing troops? Nothing else?" Zhao Gang asked.
The chief clerk said: "To tell you what my lord is saying, I only know so much, and it is not convenient for me to ask about the rest."
Zhao Gang didn't make it difficult for him and said, "Well, get ready, get ready, and we'll meet the boss right away."
The chief clerk said: "No!"
The Tsing Yi envoy is a close relative of the emperor. Even though the general official position is not high, it is easy to pass a few words in the emperor's ear. These people have great hidden energy. Even if they are local officials, The chief of a county or the official of a feudal territory cannot afford to offend the Tsing Yi envoy.
Naturally, Zhao Gang had to go to the yamen gate in person to welcome the Qingyi envoy.
When Zhao Gang led the government officials to the government office gate, they saw only three people from the Tsing Yi envoy, and the first one turned out to be a heroic beauty.
Zhao Gang was stunned for a moment, then came back to his senses and stepped forward to politely say: "It's very hard for the three of you to come from such a distance for official business. Please be kind to me as soon as possible."
The three people who came here were the Qingyi envoy Baishou monks, and the leader was Fang Yunyi.
Fang Yunyi and others were carefully welcomed into the Yamen lobby by Zhao Gang and sat down.
Fang Yunyi directly revealed his identity and purpose of coming, and said: "Master Zhao, I am Fang Yunyi, a monk from Baishou. I am personally granted the title of Iron Eagle Swordsman by the imperial court. I am here on business today by the emperor's order. I hope that Master Zhao will cooperate with us on our errands."
When Zhao Gang saw that Fang Yunyi was being straightforward, he stopped being polite and asked, "Three superiors are here on official business. I naturally cooperate fully, but I don't know what's going on?"
Fang Yunyi took a sip of tea and said slowly: "Master Zhao, this matter is of great importance and it is not appropriate to say it openly."
Fang Yunyi took out another gold medal from his arms and handed it to the yamen servant to Lord Zhao, saying: "This is a gift from His Majesty. Lord Zhao needs to send two thousand soldiers from the county to follow us to quell the rebellion."
Zhao Gang was shocked when he heard this and said: "Counter the rebellion? Where is the rebellion? Why don't I know about it?"
Fang Yunyi said: "Counterinsurgency is a rhetoric to the outside world. In fact, as long as Mr. Zhao orders the troops and horses to obey my command, it will be fine. I can't comment on other matters."
After Zhao Gang heard this, he looked at the gold medal to confirm that it was correct, then stepped forward and handed it back to Fang Yunyi in person, cupping his hands and saying: "Well, you know, the superior officer, but relying on the gold medal to mobilize troops is against the regulations of the imperial court, so why don't I ask the superior officer to please Order, show the tiger talisman."
Fang Yunyi turned around and nodded to another envoy in green. The envoy in green took out the golden Jian and held it in his hand, saying, "Master Zhao, the golden Jian is here. Anyone who sees this golden Jian, regardless of their official position, will obey the orders."
Zhao Gang, the commander of Dong'an, changed his expression when he saw Jin Jian. He knew that the case handled by the Qingyi envoy was not trivial, so he did not dare to ask more questions. He stepped forward and said, "Master Fang, please wait a moment. I will order all the troops and horses at my disposal immediately."
Fang Yunyi nodded slightly: "Okay, thank you, Mr. Zhao. The situation is urgent. I will wait outside the east city."
After saying that, Fang Yunyi and others rode outside the city to wait for Zhao Gang to assemble his troops. At this time, the man following Fang Yunyi stepped forward and said, "Senior sister, we have greatly offended Lu Lu from the three major alchemy families this time. Family, if our Bai Shou needs rare elixirs from now on, the Lu family will not look good on us."
Fang Yunyi said: "There is no way, time waits for no one. This time we finally found some clues, we must use thunderous means. Among the three major alchemy families, besides the Lu family, aren't there two others? I don't believe Li Without Zhang Butcher, you can’t eat pigs with hair on them?”
Another young monk Baishou frowned and said: "The Lu family has deep roots in the local area. I heard that when the late emperor practiced Taoism and made alchemy in Taiji Palace, the Lu family was responsible for supervising the construction of the alchemy furnace. In addition to the alchemy furnace, the Lu family also supervised the construction of the alchemy furnace. The imperial court donated more than a dozen alchemists, and the late emperor even issued a special decree to reward the Lu family for this."
Fang Yun agreed: "Yes, so if you want to attack the Lu family, you can't alert anyone, you have to be quick and precise."
At this moment, Zhao Gang rushed to the outside of the city with two thousand well-equipped soldiers and horses to meet Fang Yunyi and others.
Zhao Gang stepped forward and said: "Master Fang, my subordinates have ordered all the troops and horses as ordered." Zhao Gang hesitated for a moment, but still asked: "Master Fang, where are we going to quell the rebellion?"
Fang Yunyi said calmly: "Master Zhao, don't ask too many questions, just follow us."
Zhao Gang kept his smile and said, "Yes, yes, this official is talking too much."
Fang Yunyi said "drive!" Ben Ben rode away first, and Zhao Gang had no choice but to wave his hand, and more than two thousand people followed Fang Yunyi to "quell the chaos."
An hour later, everyone finally arrived at Lujiabao. The Lu family was not only an alchemy family, but also a famous local wealthy family. The family had been passed down for thousands of years. In order to protect the rare elixirs and the safety of the family, the Lu family specially built the Wu Palace. The fort defends itself, and the reason why Fang Yunyi borrowed troops is to intimidate the Lu family.
Zhao Gang led his troops and followed him all the way. It wasn't until he arrived at Lujiabao that he suddenly realized that he was going to attack the Lu family?
Zhao Gang stepped forward to inspect the Lujia Fort and saw that its walls were tall and well-guarded. Although it was far smaller in scale than Dong'an City and was just a small family castle, it also had deep trenches, high forts, walls, moats, horses, turrets and other city defenses. The measures are all in place. It can be said that although the sparrow is small, it has all the internal organs, but Zhao Gang's scalp is numb.
Zhao Gang stepped forward and asked Fang Yunyi for instructions: "Master Fang, are we going to deal with the Lu family during this trip?"
Fang Yunyi said: "Well, our trip is for the Lu family. According to the tip, there may be imperial prisoners within the Lu family who are being traced by the court."
Zhao Gang glanced at the heavily guarded Lujiabao, then looked back at the two thousand men and horses behind him. After some calculations, he cautiously stepped forward and said: "I'm going to report to the superior. I heard that the Lu family is not only The family has a big business, and there are 800 Dan slaves domesticated in the castle. All of them are strong and strong in martial arts. One is as good as ten. These people have been medicine slaves cultivated by the Lu family using special elixirs since they were young. Their strength should not be underestimated. This Lu family castle It’s easy to defend but difficult to attack. I’m afraid the few soldiers and horses behind Xiaguan are not enough. Why don’t I wait until we get back to make a long-term plan?”
After hearing this, Fang Yunyi sneered and said, "Master Zhao, you actually know the Lu family so well. It seems that Master Zhao has been dealing with the Lu family a lot in private?"
Zhao Gang laughed sarcastically and said, "My superiors don't know. As the old saying goes, a strong dragon cannot overwhelm a local snake. Although I am from Jin and was appointed by the court to be the local official, but if I want to govern the local area well, I have to follow These local wealthy families have a good relationship, not to mention the world-famous Lu family. In particular, the Lu family has many nephews and nephews working as officials in the local area. Even if I act locally, I have to rely on the Lu family..."
Fang Yunyi waved her hand and said: "I know, Mr. Zhao, there is no need to say more. The main reason I am here today is to use Mr. Zhao's face to calm the Lu family so that we can investigate the case more conveniently."
Upon hearing this, Zhao Gang understood that the superiors did not mean to impose force. He felt relieved a little, and immediately sent an envoy to the fort to notify the Lu family to come out to meet the imperial envoy.
At this time, in the Lu Family Fort, the head of the family, Lu Yifang, was playing chess with his friends. At this time, the servant of the Lu family looked pale and trotted forward to explain the cause and effect to the head of the family.
Lu Yifang's face changed slightly when he heard this, but he was frightened in his heart. Why did he provoke the imperial court inexplicably? He got up and said goodbye to his friends, put on his coat and hurried to the city gate.
Fang Yunyi, Zhao Gang and others walked to the bottom of Lujiabao Castle. At this time, Lu Yifang climbed up the tower and stuck his head out to look at the thousands of imperial soldiers and horses behind Fang Yunyi and Zhao Gang. His heart trembled. But he didn't dare to rashly order the city to be opened. He still had to find out the reason before prescribing the right medicine.
Lu Yifang leaned out on the tower with a smile. He first greeted the familiar Zhao Gang and said, "But Mr. Zhao is here? Oops! Mr. Zhao, just come. You are coming with many soldiers. This time The battle really scared me to death."
Zhao Gang did not accept the Lu family's favors on weekdays, so he could only smile and say: "Mr. Lu, I came here today and brought so many soldiers and horses to the door. It is indeed a bit abrupt. The envoy also said just now that I am just cooperating. The superior came here to investigate the case with no other intentions, Taigong Lu must not misunderstand!"
After saying that, Zhao Gang turned to Lu Yifang and motioned to Fang Yunyi beside him, and introduced: "Mr. Lu, I would like to introduce you to you. This Master Fang is a monk from Baishou, and he is here today for an investigation." Regarding the case, I would also like to ask Mr. Lu to make it convenient for him to open the city to welcome the envoy."
When Lu Yifang saw Fang Yunyi, he knew that she was the real owner today. He quickly greeted him with a smile: "I have met Fang Tianshi. I remember that when the late emperor was in power, he went to Baishou to visit the three princes. Senior Duan, I wonder if Senior Duan is in good health now?"
It was obvious that these people from outside the city were coming with bad intentions, so Lu Yifang still wanted to take the opportunity to establish a relationship with Baishou and see if he could be a little merciful to the Lu family for the sake of Mr. Duan, the Third Marquis of Baishou. The people these alchemy families deal with the most are monks from various sects. They are not only customers, but also the most important connections of their Lu family.
Sure enough, when Zhang Hou Duan Gui was mentioned, Fang Yunyi's expression softened and he said: "Don't worry, Taigong Lu, our ancestors and his family are in good health. Thanks to the elixirs provided by the Lu family, our ancestors are able to live longer. I owe you this favor." Keep it in mind."
Then Fang Yunyi changed the topic and said in a cold voice: "But we Baishou monks have always been loyal to the emperor and run errands for the court. We kill first and report later. With the imperial authority, no one or anything can stop us Baishou from enforcing the law impartially. We also hope that Lu Grandpa, please forgive me."
Lu Yifang's heart tightened when he heard that, and he turned to look at Zhao Gang. The meaning in his eyes was, you have always been filial to our Lu family, so you have to show your respect, right?
Zhao Gang has been in the officialdom for a long time, and he also knows how to be short-tongued and soft-handed. Judging from the meaning behind Fang Yunyi's words, this matter for the Lu family is definitely not a big deal. He is just a small Dong'an order, and he does not dare to disobey the imperial envoy to handle the case.
Zhao Gang had no choice but to step forward and cup his hands, and said sheepishly: "Mr. Lu, Tianshi Fang is the superior, so Zhao can only talk about business today."
In just one sentence, he made it clear that the first level of officialdom is overwhelming. No matter how good the friendship was in the past, it will not work now.
