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Although Liu Xiong is also a close confidant of He Yu, he is different from Shi Cheng. He has only arrived in Hujiazhuang for a few days. He has not been in contact with Zhao Junchen before, nor has he deeply experienced Zhao Junchen's despicable and treacherous methods. I have never witnessed the confrontation between Zhao Junchen and He Yu.
In addition, Liu Xiong himself is not as shrewd and sharp as Shi Cheng, so he does not have the preconceived "prejudice" against Zhao Junchen like Shi Cheng does, believing that all the changes that happened in Liaodong Town are due to Zhao Junchen. The person behind the scenes was actually flattered by the fact that Zhao Junchen took the initiative to comfort him as the elder of the imperial court because of Zhao Junchen's resignation.
On the contrary, since Liu Xiong arrived in Hujiazhuang, he has heard various rumors one after another, either that Shi Cheng planned a mutiny and wanted to assassinate the Central Army General Li Zehe, or that Shi Cheng and Ximen Sheng colluded with each other and intended to betray the commander-in-chief. He Yu...under the influence of these rumors, he was somewhat wary and suspicious of Shi Cheng.
In this way, coupled with Zhao Junchen's arrogance and nonsense, as well as the biased attitudes of Huang Shenming, Huang Ke and others, Shi Cheng wanted to successfully convince Liu Xiong to send troops to imprison all the Forbidden Army soldiers and investigate them one by one. Naturally, It's not that easy.
But in the end, relying on his years of comradeship and his instinct to distinguish between ourselves and the enemy, Liu Xiong's attitude gradually favored Shi Cheng and began to seriously consider Shi Cheng's proposal.
After seeing the change in Liu Xiong's attitude, Zhao Junchen frowned, and then tried another plan if his plan failed, trying to find another way to delay time.
All in all, Zhao Junchen had to wait until several generals from Liaodong Town returned to the camp.
Compared with these loyal Qianhu Liaodong cavalrymen who only want revenge for He Yu, the Liaodong town generals have more concerns in their hearts and take a longer-term view of things. Naturally, there are more flaws and the current situation Then it will be easier for Zhao Junchen to use and manipulate him.
However, Zhao Junchen was very lucky. Before he could use his next method, he saw Baihu, a Liaodong cavalryman under Liu Xiong, rushing towards him and reported with a serious expression: "Liu Qianhu, brothers discovered that our station There is a group of people lurking nearby, sneaking around to spy on our defense layout, seemingly trying to sneak into the camp...
But this group of people are all extremely sharp and capable. They are not like ordinary people or horse bandits at all. Although the brothers have discovered their traces several times, they always return without success after sending troops to hunt them down. Soon they will Lose their whereabouts!
Liu Qianhu, our Liaodong Cavalry has always been the best at attacking and chasing, but these sneaky guys can actually escape the pursuit of the Liaodong Cavalry several times. They obviously have a lot of background! "
The group of people mentioned by this Liaodong Cavalry Hundred Households were naturally the dead men sent by the Wu family in Shanhaiguan to assassinate He Yu.
In Wu Sangui's view, as long as he takes advantage of this opportunity to kill He Yu and make Liaodong Town completely leaderless, the Wu family in Shanhaiguan can successfully annex Liaodong Town.
Therefore, under the auspices of Wu family counselor Fang Guangchen, a group of Wu family dead soldiers lurked in Wu Shilin's army, and then quietly sneaked into the dense forest at night while the Liaodong Town army and the Fang-Wu coalition army were confronting each other. Near the outer camp.
When things have developed to this point, everything is going smoothly.
However, although Wu Sangui can be regarded as a hero, after all, he is not a contemporary Zhuge who can predict events, let alone a living god who can figure things out.
Therefore, Wu Sangui predicted two things wrong.
First, after the Wu family's dead men successfully sneaked near the camp, He Yu had been dead for a long time, so his arrangement of the dead men to assassinate He Yu became superfluous.
Secondly, with Zhao Junchen's constant interference, the situation near the camp here was far more complicated than he expected. Not only was the camp heavily guarded, variables could occur at any time, but there were also troops stationed outside the camp. With five thousand reinforcements from Liaodong Town, they were responsible for the blockade... As a result, the difficulty for the Wu family's dead soldiers to sneak into the dense forest was more than doubled.
These dead soldiers were all carefully trained by the Wu family in Shanhaiguan. They were the best at sneak assassination. However, when they saw that there were a large number of Liaodong Town soldiers stationed outside the camp, and they were heavily guarded on the inside and outside, they immediately I was dumbfounded.
In the end, in order to fulfill Wu Sangui's order, they had no choice but to risk exposing their whereabouts and try to spy on the defense layout of Liaodong Town.
Zhao Junchen is not a person who can predict things and make calculations, but when he heard the content of such a report, his eyes immediately lit up - he didn't know which force wanted to sneak into the camp. , but he knew very well that this group of people had absolutely nothing to do with him - so Zhao Junchen found a better way to help him divert his attention and further delay time.
Thinking of this, Zhao Junchen asked with a serious expression: "Do you think the appearance of this group of people is related to the murder of General He? Maybe they want to sneak into the camp secretly , just want to verify Mr. He’s life and death situation.”
Hearing what Zhao Junchen said, everyone present had expressions of concentration, and even Shi Cheng looked thoughtful.
At the same time, Zhao Junchen also gave Huang Ke a look.
Huang Ke is a smart man, and he immediately understood Zhao Junchen's deep meaning, and added: "Liaodong Town has already sent a large number of soldiers and horses to block the area of Hujiazhuang. Our government also has a ban on the common people, and they are not allowed to leave the place where they live easily. Land, it stands to reason that there should not be any forces of unknown origin suddenly appearing in Hujiazhuang now... This group of people not only has unknown origins, but also has a mysterious whereabouts. I am afraid they are coming with bad intentions!"
Zhao Junchen continued his efforts and said: "As this Baihu said, the Liaodong Iron Cavalry is the best at running. It is impossible for ordinary people to escape the pursuit of the Liaodong Iron Cavalry, but this group of people can do this repeatedly. One point, it must have an extraordinary origin... As far as I know, there are only two forces with this kind of ability in the world today - one is the elite Jianzhou Jurchen, and the other is the Wu family of Shanhaiguan..."
Having said this, Zhao Junchen immediately remained silent.
After all, Zhao Junchen is the elder of the court, and there are some things that are not suitable to be spoken directly.
However, Huang Ke understood it and added again: "The Jurchens of Jianzhou and the Wu family of Shanhaiguan... speaking of it, these two forces should be happy to see Mr. He die unexpectedly, and they both have the opportunity to do it because of Mr. He. Benefited from the death of the soldier..."
Hearing this, all the military attaches present in Liaodong Town were shocked.
Afterwards, Liu Xiong could no longer think about whether he should dispatch troops into the camp and imprison all the Forbidden Army soldiers to investigate one by one. He immediately issued a loud order: "Summon five hundred Liaodong cavalry immediately. I will personally go out to hunt down these people." You guys are sneaky! I don’t believe it, there are still people in Liaodong Town who can escape the pursuit of Liaodong Iron Cavalry!”
After saying that, Liu Xiong left Zhao Junchen, Shi Cheng and others behind and left here in a hurry.
Seeing this situation, Shi Cheng hesitated, but ultimately did not say anything to stop it, because he was not sure that the situation hinted by Zhao Junchen and Huang Ke would not happen.
After Shi Cheng watched Liu Xiong leave, he turned to look at Huang Shenming and said, "General Huang Shenming, I know that you will never listen to my suggestion, which is to imprison the entire imperial army and investigate and interrogate them one by one... ...However, the Imperial Guards violated the military orders of Liaodong Town and rushed into the dense forest without authorization, so they were allowed to stay here temporarily and not leave at will. You should always do this kind of thing, right? As for whether there will be further steps next How about interrogating and investigating one by one and waiting until the bandit, He Qianhu, and several generals return to the camp before making a decision?
Hearing what Shi Cheng said, Huang Shenming glanced at Zhao Junchen from the corner of his eye. After seeing that Zhao Junchen did not respond, Huang Shenming nodded and said: "This is of course! Zhao Gechen, I hope you and the soldiers of the Forbidden Army If you cooperate with me, the death of General He will be a real earthquake for Liaodong Town, and you must treat your humble position with caution!"
This time, Zhao Junchen did not refuse again, but just nodded with a cold face and said: "This pavilion will remember all your rude behaviors in Liaodong Town during this period, and will definitely make you pay the price in the future! But now, I understand your feelings and will cooperate with you for the last time!"
After saying that, Zhao Junchen snorted lightly, turned around and left, walked to a distance and found a stone to sit on.
Huang Ke seemed to want to appease Zhao Junchen's emotions, and hurriedly followed Zhao Junchen, and by the way got the opportunity to talk to Zhao Junchen alone.
Huang Ke vaguely felt that Zhao Junchen must have many things that required his cooperation.
After seeing Zhao Junchen's performance, Shi Cheng also snorted coldly, but he couldn't do anything now, so he silently walked to He Yu's body, knelt there and bowed his head in silence, no one knew. What on earth is he thinking about now.
After these people all turned around and left, Huang Shenming shook his head helplessly, but quickly turned around and left the dense forest - as the news of He Yu's death gradually spread, the morale of the soldiers in the camp became increasingly unstable. Therefore, Huang Shenming must leave here and return to the camp to stabilize the situation.
*
For the next hour, the atmosphere in the entire dense forest was extremely depressing.
The officers and soldiers of the Forbidden Army were once again restricted from freedom of movement, and they were all extremely dissatisfied and complained, needless to say.
The officers and soldiers of Liaodong Town were at a loss as they ran around in the dense forest, collecting evidence and investigating everywhere, trying to find more clues about He Yu's murder. The result was naturally... a huge harvest.
They successively found the receiver mechanism hidden in the wooden house, several remaining letters after burning, a pot of uneaten cooked food, and a few coins accidentally left behind.
These clues all point to the Jianzhou Jurchen as the mastermind behind the kidnapping and murder of He Yu.
The production method of those receiver mechanisms is very simple, that is, two porcelain jars are tied to both ends of a thin wire, but the binding method of those thin wires is very close to the usual method of Jianzhou Jurchen army.
Although the specific contents of several remaining letters that had been burned could no longer be clearly seen, it could be barely discerned that the words on the letters were all derived from Manchu...
The various condiments used in the pot of unfinished cooked food are also very similar to the cooking habits of the Jianzhou Jurchens...
As for the few "accidentally left" minted coins, they are only circulated within the control of the Jianzhou Jurchen...
In short, these clues have greatly deepened the suspicion of Jianzhou Jurchen.
After discovering these clues, the soldiers in Liaodong Town were naturally agitated. Many people had already concluded that it was the Jianzhou Jurchens who planned and led the conspiracy to kidnap and kill He Yu. They wished they could fight with the Jianzhou Jurchens on the spot and become their own commander-in-chief. Revenge.
Although Shi Cheng had been kneeling beside He Yu's body without saying a word, he also saw the reaction of the Liaodong soldiers.
Regarding these "irrefutable" clues, Shi Cheng just sneered and said nothing - these clues were too deliberate and too obvious. If it was really the Jianzhou Jurchens who planned and led the conspiracy to kidnap and kill He Yu, how could they leave such clues? Much clear evidence?
What's more, there is an extremely serious logical flaw in these clues - the kidnappers who died in the dense forest were all ordinary farmers in Hujiazhuang. If only these farmers in Hujiazhuang were directly involved in related matters from beginning to end, And why are there so many clues related to Jianzhou Jurchens?
Therefore, unlike the turbulent sentiments of the vast majority of Liaodong soldiers, after Shi Cheng saw these evidences, he became increasingly convinced that this series of events had nothing to do with the Jianzhou Jurchens, and once again deepened his suspicion of Zhao Junchen.
Moreover, Shi Cheng is also convinced that not only can he understand this, but the various generals in Liaodong Town, as well as He Bandi, He Rensheng and others are not fools, and they must also be able to understand this, so when He Bandi and others After the various generals led their troops back to the camp, he could still convince everyone to let them inspect and interrogate the Forbidden Army soldiers one by one!
At that time, if Zhao Junchen really planned and led this series of events, there will definitely be flaws!
*
Just when Shi Cheng was so convinced, Zhao Junchen and Huang Ke, who were chatting not far away, also noticed Shi Cheng's sneer and doubt.
After Huang Ke hesitated for a moment, he cautiously asked Zhao Junchen: "Zhao Gechen, although the Liaodong soldiers have found many clues, all of which indicate that Jianzhou Jurchen is the mastermind behind the kidnapping and killing of General He, but... Liaodong Town Our senior military attachés are all experienced and sharp-minded people, so I’m afraid they won’t believe these clues easily, and it might even be counterproductive.”
Zhao Junchen smiled and asked: "Master Huang, you are the inspector of Liaodong, and you are best at judging cases and convicting people. I would like to ask you, how many types of truth can be divided into in this world?"
Huang Ke was stunned and said: "The truth is the truth, that is, the fact, and there can only be one fact, so how can it be divided into several types?"
Zhao Junchen shook his head and said: "Wrong! In my opinion, the truth may not be the truth! In this world, the truth can actually be divided into two types!
First, as Mr. Huang said, the truth is the fact, that is, the real cause, process, and result of what happened. However, this truth and this fact may not conform to the ideas of most people. It may not be convinced by the vast majority of people!
The second is... the 'truth' that the vast majority of people are willing to believe, regardless of whether this 'truth' is the real cause, process, and result of what happened, but as long as the vast majority of people are willing to believe it, It too will become 'truth'!
Mr. Huang, I will ask you again, which of these two truths do you think is more important? "
Hearing Zhao Junchen's statement, Huang Ke was stunned again, then shook his head and sighed: "I'm afraid the latter is more important. When the truth is announced, if the world cannot be convinced, the truth will be meaningless. It will also lead to more serious consequences, even if it is true."
Zhao Junchen nodded and said: "So, whether these clues are true or false, it doesn't matter whether the senior military attachés in Liaodong Town believe it or not. As long as the vast majority of the lower-level officers and soldiers in Liaodong Town are willing to believe it, it will be fine. At this time, the military morale At a time of turmoil, internal and external troubles, the top military attaches in Liaodong Town could only obey the public opinion...
What's more, when the situation has developed to this point, many things are no longer up to them! As long as they still hope to maintain the relative independence of Liaodong Town, as long as they still want to preserve their status and power, then the person behind the kidnapping and killing of He Yu must be and can only be the Jianzhou Jurchen ! "
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