Yuezhou, known as Baling in ancient times and Yueyang in later generations, has been an important town in the Chu region since the Spring and Autumn Period.
When talking about Yueyang City, we have to mention Yueyang Tower, as Fan Zhongyan said in Yueyang Tower's Notes: "Be worried when nature worries you, and be happy when the world is happy later." ' and 'if you live high in a temple, you worry about its people; if you live far away from the rivers and lakes, you worry about your king'.
Yueyang Tower is even more famous all over the world because of the Yueyang Tower story, and it has become a cultural sign of the Chu region of Huxiang.
After that, Yueyang Tower was burned down many times and rebuilt many times, and it even became a symbol of Chinese culture.
At this time, Wang Yun, who served as the governor of Yuezhou and the commander of Yuezhou Navy Yisheng Capital, was waiting for the guests.
This guest is none other than Zhang Shaodi, the military envoy of Chu Tiance's capital, who has already sent a letter to him. He is coming today.
Wang Yun was indeed waiting for a price, because Yuezhou's geographical location was so important, and the soldiers and generals in Yisheng City also expected Wang Yun to take advantage of this and sell them at a good price.
Moreover, Wang Yun did not limit their future to the Zhou family in the Central Plains, otherwise he would not have let Gao Baoxu and others leave, because when Gao Baoxu waited for Ezhou, he had to pass through Yuezhou first.
This was also the reason why He Jingzhu was eager to report to Li Jing. Wang Yun's attitude made He Jingzhu feel that it was very possible to recruit this Ma Chu general, and then capture Jiangling with the help of Gao Baoxu and others.
After constant persuasion, Li Jing finally agreed to recruit Wang Yun, and promoted Yuezhou as a festival town, calling him the Jiedushi of Yisheng Town in Yuezhou.
Wang Yun was appointed General of the Longxiang Guard and the Military Envoy of the Yuezhou Yisheng Army. He was granted the title Duke Xu, and was given super-standard rewards of 1,000 brocades, 10 gold and jade belts, 10 sets of robes, and 500 silver collars.
The Southern Tang court also planned to add a 2,000-strong forbidden army to Yuezhou, which would be under the command of Wang Yun, but the military pay would be borne by the Southern Tang court.
In addition to the money given to Wang Yun, Li Jing also gave away silk pieces worth 80,000 guan, which were used to reward all the soldiers in Yishengdu.
As soon as this condition was met, Wang Yun immediately beamed with joy, as if he was floating in the sky. If he hadn't wanted to wait and see the price of Prince Zhongyuan Shaoming, Wang Yun would have agreed immediately.
However, he finally discussed it with his generals and found out that with the current general situation in the world, the situation of Zhou Kingdom in the Central Plains was much better than that of Tang Kingdom, and even the Lord of Tang had to surrender to Emperor Shao Ming.
Of course, this thigh should be hugged by the thickest one. Wang Yun decided that as long as the reward from the emperor Shaoming could be 70% of that of the Tang Lord, and he could also be given the position of a vassal town, allowing him to control Yuezhou forever, then he would definitely Still have to choose the Central Plains imperial court.
Wang Yun was waiting patiently on the Yueyang Tower. Zhang Shaodi, Yang Jiye and more than ten elite soldiers had already sneaked into Yuezhou City.
The Jinyi guards had long planned to lure Gao Baoxu to Ezhou, just to seize the Southern Tang's hands and scare the Southern Tang from sending naval troops upstream. Naturally, they also had to infiltrate Yuezhou along the way.
Being able to reach into Yuezhou across thousands of mountains and rivers is not all due to the extraordinary powers of the Jinyi guards, nor is it all due to the outstanding abilities of Zhang Liecheng, Zhang Lieming and Li Xiaojie.
The biggest reason is that Zhang Yan integrated the Jinyi Guards and the Hexi Chamber of Commerce to a certain extent.
Since holding the four hard currencies of spices, rock sugar, white sugar, and cotton, the Hexi Chamber of Commerce has become famous.
Because no matter who in the world, as long as they want to live a good life, they cannot lack these four things.
If you don’t have bay leaves, nutmeg, anise and other spices to eat meat, you don’t have rock sugar and white sugar from Hexi to make drinks, and you don’t have cotton-padded jackets to wear or quilts to cover in winter, are you still considered a wealthy family?
But these things are basically monopolized by the Hexi Chamber of Commerce. All merchants, big and small, need to register with the Hexi Chamber of Commerce. Even many merchants who travel north and south are merchants from Hexi themselves.
At the same time, silk, porcelain, tea, iron products, etc. from various places want to make money through the Silk Road, which also requires the Hexi Chamber of Commerce.
Therefore, it is easy for the Jinyi Guards to rely on this line and use their power to wholesale some of Hexi's in-demand commodities at low prices and help merchants from various countries to quickly clear customs in Hexi to develop agents and spies.
Moreover, the people in power in various countries are not easy to guard against. You can’t just kill all the businessmen in one go, right? In that case, it would be chaos.
Following Yang Jiye, there was a Jinyi Colonel, but he was not here to take Yang Jiye to contact the spies of the Jinyiwei in Yuezhou City, because the key spies of the Jinyiwei were all in single-line contact, recognizing objects but not people.
This Jin Yiwei was carrying a token of identity, and Yang Jiye only knew how and where to contact him.
All three are indispensable. Only when all three parties are present, will the Jin Yiwei spies in Yuezhou City listen to Yang Jiye.
Yuezhou actually doesn't look like a fortress town along the Yangtze River. In other words, starting from Jiangling, all the important towns along the Yangtze River have this problem.
Since the economic center of gravity began to shift southward, there have been fewer wars in the south. The two lakes areas along the river have gradually become densely populated. With convenient water transportation, they are very suitable for the development of a commodity economy.
As a result, a large number of people gathered outside the cities of Jiangling, Yuezhou, Ezhou (Wuchang), Jiangzhou (Jiujiang) and other large cities.
They built shacks outside these fortresses, and even lived in similar houses to those in the city. For example, in Yuezhou, in many places even the city walls were invisible.
Moreover, in order to make it easier to leave the city and evade taxes, residents outside the city have dug small tunnels in many places and even opened small doors openly.
Yang Jiye and the others walked through such a small door, and the people who met Yang Jiye opened his eyes. They were not the merchants he had imagined or the city foxes and rats of the three religions, but the soldiers under the Yuezhou field envoy.
The leaders all bowed their heads and led them into the Yamen of the Yuezhou Tuntian Envoy in a grand manner. After both parties verified the tokens on the Jinyi Captain who had followed Yang Jiye, the real boss behind the scenes appeared.
Xu Songzhi, the farming envoy of Ma Chuyue Prefecture, had been dragged into the water by Jinyi's personal guards. When Zhang Shaodi saw this, he couldn't help but grinning from behind.
According to Ma Chu's national policy, due to the situation of many barbarians in Hunan, in order to ensure that Tiance Mansion could control various places, Ma Chu set up field envoys in each state.
The field envoys were responsible for recruiting refugees, athletes from prefectures and counties, and even criminals to cultivate and defend themselves in the sacred places of each state.
It can be said that, in addition to Ma Chu's imperial army and various suppressing troops, the field envoys and field soldiers are the most important forces in the local area and are the key to Ma Chu's Tiance Mansion's ability to control the place.
As a result, the field envoy from a large state like Yuezhou was captured so easily.
Xu Songzhi didn't know Zhang Shaodi yet. After everyone exchanged a few words, Xu Songzhi began to introduce the situation in Yuezhou.
Zhang Shaodi didn't know what to say and listened quietly. After a while, he understood why this happened.
There's no special reason, it's just about profit.
Wang Huan was the absolute confidant of Ma Yin, the founding king of Ma Chu. He guarded Yuezhou for twenty years, defeated Wu and Tang six times, and defeated Jingnan twice. He had great prestige in Yuezhou, and the power of Yuezhou's land and water army was far greater than that of other places. powerful.
Therefore, at the beginning, the Yuezhou field camp sent by the Tiance Mansion was a little difficult to carry out. It was okay when Wang Huan was there. He was a loyal minister, had prestige, and could suppress his soldiers.
By the time of Wang Yun's period, he did not have the same prestige as his father Wang Huan. In order to maintain the power of the Wang family in Yuezhou, he could only gradually change from the commander in charge of Yishengdu to the general of Yishengdu. He became the spokesperson of this interest group and was constantly pushed by them to transfer all the benefits that originally belonged to the imperial court into the hands of Yishengdu soldiers.
Among them, those who suffered the most were of course the field envoys and soldiers in Yuezhou. Most of the fields they cultivated with hard work were occupied by the soldiers and generals of Yishengdu.
Many field soldiers even became serfs of the generals of Yisheng City. Correspondingly, Xu Songzhi, a field envoy, was not as good as one of the ten generals of Yisheng City, so of course he would be won over by the Jinyi guards.
Zhang Shaodi sighed, this is the tiger father and dog son!
The founding king of Wu Mu, Ma Yin, was so heroic. When he turned seventy, even the Khitan in the far north sent envoys to congratulate him on his birthday.
After arriving at Ma Xifan, in just a dozen years, Ma Chu's Tiance Mansion, Six Army System and Farming System were completely destroyed.
Of course, Yang Jiye couldn't express the same emotion as Zhang Shaodi. Sixteen-year-old Yang Wudi still couldn't understand the sorrow of a man in his forties like Zhang Shaodi. He thought of another question.
The navy of Ma Chuyi Shengdu has taken advantage of all the benefits of one state and six counties in Yuezhou. Seeing that they are the dominant force in Yuezhou, does the imperial court still need to recruit them?
This Wang Yun dominated the sky in Yuezhou and had more power than ordinary Jiedushi. He was no different from an independent country. If he was to be recruited and surrendered, not to mention how many rewards would be given, at least it would not be able to reduce his power.
Thinking of this, Yang Jiye remembered the policy implemented by his adoptive father Shaoming and his son. Even people like Yin Zhengqi, Ma Zhaoyuan, and Zhang Zhao were sent abroad. They no longer had the full power of Jiedushi. A small Wang Yun , is it worth delegating power so much?
However, although he thought about this, he did not show it, because Zhang Shaodi was also an unknown variable to him now.
The trust of the foster father and the emperor belongs to those at the top, and he, Yang Jiye, is the specific executor. Zhang Shaodi, who has only come to seek refuge in this way, cannot be casually cited as a confidant who talks about everything.
"Captain Xu, has there been any news from Ezhou?"
So after listening to Xu Songzhi talk about the situation in Yuezhou for a while, Yang Jiye stood up and asked softly.
"Yes! Yes!" Xu Songzhi replied repeatedly, then took out a writing brush from his body, first let Yang Jiye see the mark of the Jinyi Guards on it clearly, and then broke the writing brush in front of him to show that he did not I took it apart privately.
Yang Jiye took out a small piece of silk from the brush holder, which was filled with small characters, and then started to translate with a frown.
This thing is written in Chinese pinyin. Yang Jiye not only had to spell it out first, but also converted it into Mandarin, which has a very different pronunciation.
Due to pronunciation habits, this was far more difficult than learning the Turkic or Khitan dialects at this time. Even people like Yang Jiye who were suddenly asked to speak in Mandarin as long as they were around Zhang Yan found it a bit obscure and difficult to understand.
It took about two-quarters of an hour before Yang Jiye completely translated it. Then he retreated to the inner room and said to Zhang Shaodi and the Jinyi Colonel who followed.
"The trouble is serious. Li Jing, the lord of the Southern Tang Dynasty, not only rewarded him with nearly 100,000 guan of goods, but also promised to ennoble Wang Yun as the Yuezhou Yisheng Army's Military Envoy and the title of Xu Guogong."
"Hiss!" Zhang Shao's enemy not only took a breath of cold air, but then said with admiration: "It seems that the last time the saint mentioned the army in person, he broke the courage of the Southern Tang Dynasty Lord!
You must know that Wang Huan and Wang Yun, father and son, defeated the Southern Tang Army several times. Li Jing, who was petty and petty, was willing to offer such a reward. It seemed that he must be extremely afraid of the imperial court. "
A proud look appeared on Yang Jiye's face. He was a young man after all. He had been with Zhang Yan since he was nine years old and was raised in the palace. When someone praised Zhang Yan, it was more effective than praising him. .
But it was Mr. Yang Lainggong who was proud for a moment and then calmed down. He looked at Zhang Shaodi and asked: "Mr. Zhang, do you think we can still recruit Wang Yun here now?"
Zhang Shaodi pondered for a moment, then shook his head, "The price given by the imperial court is far inferior to what the Lord of the Southern Tang Dynasty gave, and besides."
He looked at Yang Jiye and smiled lightly, "Does Marquis Du Yu think it is necessary for the court to recruit Wang Yun?"
"Hahaha!" Yang Jiye chuckled a few times, "It is true that Mr. Zhang is the great talent from the south of the world that his father likes. Indeed, there is no need to recruit Wang Yun and Yishengdu.
But this is a matter that still needs to be decided by the saints. We only need to consider what we should do now. "
Zhang Shaodi saw that Yang Jiye was confident and a little eager to try. He immediately raised his hands and asked, "I think Marquis Du Yu already has a good plan in mind. I, an old pawn, am willing to listen to him."
Although he knew that Zhang Shaodi was trying to please him, Yang Jiye still felt very comfortable and said with a smile.
"Why should Mr. Zhang be so humble? Everyone employs people based on their talents. As long as they have talent and learning, they will be put to great use.
The boy is not yet weak, so he is not as well-informed as Zhang Gong. Now I have a small idea, please help Zhang Gong to review it in detail. "
"Marquis Du Yu, please speak."
Yang Jiye's posture also made Zhang Shaodi feel very comfortable. He was not afraid of anything else. He was just afraid that Yang Jiye, the adopted son of the emperor, would be too proud and put his eyes above his head, and it would be too uncomfortable for him to cooperate.
Yang Jiye coughed, then looked at Zhang Shaodi and Captain Jinyi and said.
"The current plan is that we will come to the door, but the conditions will definitely not impress Wang Yun, so I thought it would be better to break into the temporary residence of the Southern Tang envoys in the north of the city before going to see Wang Yun, and kill them all! "
"Hiss!" This was the second time Zhang Shaodi took a breath of cold air, and it was different from the first time. The first time was pretending, but this time it was real.
He looked at Yang Jiye in shock and thought carefully for a while, but had to admit that this was a bold but extremely effective strategy.
Originally, Ma Chu and Southern Tang had been at odds with each other since the days of Ma Yin and Yang Xingmi. Wang Huan and Wang Yun were the father and son of Southern Tang. The two sides did not trust each other very much.
Now as long as the secret envoy of the Southern Tang Dynasty dies in Yuezhou, Wang Yun will have a hundred mouths, which is unclear.
Moreover, the envoy from the Southern Tang Dynasty came in secret. Only Wang Yun knew where he was staying. Now that he was killed, in the Southern Tang Dynasty's view, it was 100% that Wang Yun wanted to defect to the Zhou Kingdom, so he accepted the surrender certificate.
Who would have known that Gao Baoxu and the Wuchang Army in Ezhou were surrounded by spies of Jinyi personal guards.
Zhang Shaodi agreed immediately, and he further stated, "If we want to kill him, we must find a way to deal with Wang Yun.
In the past, his father Wang Huan was a brave general under my father's command. When the time came, Marquis Du Yu might as well exaggerate the imperial reward and work with a certain person to suppress Wang Yun first and wait for the imperial army to arrive. "
After hearing what they said, Jinyi's captain also raised his hand, "Jinyi's personal guards found a man named Pan Shusi in Yishengdu, a Yuhou of Zuoyiyadu. He had some suspicions about Wang Yun and was ostracized in the army. .
Du Yuhou and Zhang Gong wanted to assassinate the Southern Tang envoy, so they went to find Pan Shusi in preparation for killing Wang Yun in the future. "
The three of them had made a decision and immediately split up. Yang Jiye went to gather men, Zhang Shaodi went to survey the route, and Captain Jinyi went to instigate Pan Shusi.
. . . .
In the north of the city, this is a small courtyard with two entrances. It is the outer residence of Wang Yun's younger brother, Wang En, Yisheng Dutou. The surrounding area is relatively quiet and there are less people.
The person who originally lived here was a migrant woman raised by Wang Enyang. The migrant woman broke her leg half a month ago and went back to her parents' home to recuperate, so it was used to house the envoys of the Southern Tang Dynasty.
The envoy of the Southern Tang Dynasty was a chamberlain named Sun, and six soldiers led by a ten general of the Wuchang Army were protecting him. Outside, there were six or seven tooth soldiers from Yishengdu, a total of less than fifteen people. force.
Yang Jiye gently bit into a small snack made from hawthorn and sugar, which looked a bit like fruit bark. It was sweet and sour and had a high sugar content. A few pieces before the war could increase energy reserves.
While listening to the garrison soldiers sent by garrison envoy Xu Songzhi describe the situation inside the house, he quickly made arrangements. This time, there were fifty cavalry following Yang Jiye, but thirty of them were outside the city.
Because Yang Jiye originally wanted to understand the situation first before going to Wang Yun, but unexpectedly, he found out such a big situation at once.
He looked at the Hanshandu soldiers behind him who were starting to put on their ring armor and said: "There are few people in the room. Although they are also soldiers, they cannot wear armor at all times. Even if they wear armor, the thieves of the Southern Tang Dynasty are not me." The rival of Shandu heroes.
So after rushing in, no chickens or dogs were left behind, and all men and women were killed to prevent the main target from slipping away.
Zhao Jingangnu, you are responsible for leading five people to guard every window and secret passage in the house. You must check carefully. "
Zhao Jinggangnu is a Tibetan with a few plateau reds on his face, but now he does not admit that he is a Tubo, insisting that his father was the ten generals of the Longyou Jiedushi in the past, and was Tang'er who was trapped in Tubo.
Zhao Jingangnu nodded, inserted a bone into the belt, and said angrily: "Don't worry, Marquis Du Yu, no one can escape these tricks of Lao Zhao."
Of course Yang Jiye knew how reliable Zhao Jinggang was. He was a good hunter who could catch Tibetan foxes even in snowy nights. His nose was sharper than that of a dog. He could even smell people hiding around him from the air.
. . . .
Sun's servant was a little uneasy, because Wang Yun had offered such a generous offer, but Wang Yun had not responded, which meant that he was still waiting, waiting for Zhou's surrender conditions.
In today's general trend of the world, the Zhou Kingdom, as the imperial court of the Central Plains, is naturally more attractive than the Southern Tang Dynasty, which is watching its decline. Therefore, even if such a generous offer was offered, Sun Neishi was still afraid that Wang Yun would defect to Zhou.
If Zhou was voted in, I am afraid that people like them from the Southern Tang Dynasty would be used as a vote for the title of surrender immediately.
While I was worried, I suddenly heard a noise outside, and in the quiet street, there were suddenly a lot of footsteps coming and going.
Sun's servant immediately jumped up and took two soldiers from the Southern Tang Dynasty to go out to take a look.
But before they went out, the ten generals of Yishengdu who were responsible for protecting them walked in.
"Sun She people, don't panic. The firewood pile diagonally across the street is on fire. We are putting out the fire."
When Sun's servant heard this, he breathed a sigh of relief. Several soldiers in the room who were looking for armor to put on quickly put their armor away again, for fear that the Chu army outside would see them and think they were timid.
Yang Jiye took the lead, and twenty-two people wearing long robes and chainmails appeared together, with their hands in their arms. They were still very conspicuous.
Fortunately, the raging fire provided them with a good cover. At the entrance of the house, the two Yisheng Duya soldiers who were responsible for observing the situation did not look in their direction at all.
Because the house that caught fire turned out to be not a fire, but a vendor who was engaged in the Hexi rock sugar business. The wife of the wife discovered the outhouse he kept.
The fire was lit by the brothers of the main wife, and soon a delicate young lady and her maid were frightened out.
At this moment, the wife of the main wife was roaring angrily and trying her best to take off the clothes of the young lady of the outer room. The white thighs and the swaying small breasts made the two tooth soldiers happy.
If something hadn't happened today, the two of them would have wanted to go up and help the wife of the wife in catching the two young charlatans.
After the tenth general comforted the servant Sun, he saw this scene as soon as he went out, and he was happy at the same time. The two tooth soldiers at the door did not dare to leave, but he did not dare to do so.
Tsk tsk! The little lady's clothes were torn off her chest. In the open area, the bright red bellyband undulated like waves, and her two thin white arms were flying up and down. How tempting it was!
The ten generals laughed loudly and said, "Young lady, come to a certain house and make sure your eldest lady doesn't dare to scratch you!"
After hearing what General Ten said, the little lady from the outer room actually ran towards General Ten. He was so happy that he opened his hands from a distance and his eyes narrowed into slits.
Suddenly, just when General Ten was about to embrace the beauty, someone tapped him on the shoulder.
The tenth general thought it was the fang soldiers behind him who were trying to cause trouble. His expression changed and he waved his hand, trying to knock the hand off his shoulder.
Unexpectedly, a strong force came and he was pulled to one side. Before he could start shouting, his mouth was suddenly covered by a piece of sour and smelly cloth, and then his neck was clamped under a strong arm.
General Ten, who had been in the army for a long time, immediately knew that something was wrong. Just as he was about to struggle, he suddenly felt a sharp pain in his waist.
One, two, three blows, each one struck the waist of Time, or to be precise, his kidney, and it not only stabbed, but also stirred.
At the critical moment of life and death, the rushing adrenaline suppressed the severe pain. General Ten opened his mouth to shout, but unexpectedly, this piece of cloth took the opportunity to shove into his mouth, preventing him from shouting.
After three or four attempts of violent struggle, the tenth general suddenly lost all his strength. No matter how his head directed his hands and feet, his hands and feet just couldn't move at all.
Within a few seconds at most, the effect of adrenaline faded, and severe pain immediately spread throughout his body. General Ten felt as if he was drowning. He couldn't breathe air, and the things in front of him were quickly blurring.
Soon, all he could see was the red bellyband that seemed to be flying. A sound of leaking sounded in his ears, and then General Ten fell heavily to the ground.
His last consciousness flashed like a flashback, and he was miraculously able to wave his right hand. Ten General stretched out three fingers with all his strength.
There must have been three people hurting him just now. A very strong man clamped him down, and two knife masters smashed his waist.
At the moment when the ten generals fell, Yang Jiye rushed forward, and with the bone in his hand, he opened a gourd of a Yisheng Duya soldier at the door.
Zhang Shaodi held a long bow and shot another fang soldier to the ground early, vomiting blood.
The main wife and the young lady at the door stopped fighting. They quickly dragged the bodies of the ten generals and the two tooth soldiers to the side of the road so as not to attract the attention of others.
At the same time, the soldiers of Hanshandu rushed in silently, holding small bucklers, bone buds and long daggers in hand.
Whether it was the tooth soldiers from Yishengdu or the soldiers from the Wuchang Army of the Southern Tang Dynasty in the room, they were all brutally thrown to the ground and stabbed to death one by one before they could even take out their weapons.
Sun's servant screamed in terror, and he quickly climbed through the window of the house and escaped, but he didn't expect Zhao Jinnu to be ambushing him behind the window.
The servant Sun yelled and stabbed him with a short dagger. Zhao Jinnu smiled cruelly and moved forward instead of retreating. He twisted the hand holding the dagger with one hand and moved back and forth with his other hand.
Even if Zhao Jingangnu, a super killer who weighs 1,780 pounds and has at least hundreds of lives under his command, does not use weapons, just use his big hands as big as cattail leaf fans, with calluses harder than copper and iron, he is not just someone who can do it. Can withstand it.
The four big bastards slapped Sun's servant immediately until he passed out.
Zhao Jingangnu then carefully inspected his body until he found the seal, letter, and waistband, etc., and then cut off his entire head as the servant Sun suddenly woke up and screamed in pain.
(End of chapter)
