Although he lives deep in the Zhang Mansion, he is fully aware of the situation outside, and he is also fully aware of the difficulties Lu Tao faces.
This is not a warning. Once he takes action, he must stand on the side of the Lu clan and eradicate the Zhu clan.
The four clans in Wuzhong, which have been a family for hundreds of years, are about to break up and kill each other. This is Zhang Zhenghe's most difficult decision since he became the clan leader.
This is not a matter of his family, but involves an entire huge family.
Moreover, his grandfather Zhang Zhi and Zhu Fenggong, the ancestor of the Zhu family, were close friends.
Standing outside the study was a general in military uniform. He was Zhang Shiyi, the captain of the Zhechong Prefecture Army in Changzhou. Zhang Shiyi was a member of the Zhang clan.
The Changzhou Zhechong Prefecture Army was also activated in some name. At this moment, it was stationed in a deserted suburb ten miles away from Suzhou City, obeying Zhang Shiyi's dispatch at any time.
In other words, he obeyed Zhang Zhenghe's instructions.
What is a clan? It is a portal system composed of countless portals with the same surname, rather than an exclusive family.
After a long time, someone finally appeared at the door of the study: "Master."
Zhang Zhenghe immediately asked: "Have the Gu family's tiger guards taken action?" It turned out that Zhang Zhenghe was waiting for Gu Xuan to take action.
The visitor responded: "There is no trouble."
Zhang Zhengyang said: "Continue to monitor and report to me immediately if there is any action."
"yes!"
"Wait! If there is any abnormality in Dongyuan Campus, you need to rush back and report to me immediately."
Another long hour passed, but no news came back.
It was really a long night. Zhang Zhenghe wanted to make the night go by more slowly, but also wanted to pass the night earlier so that he would not be so entangled in his heart.
There were light footsteps in the corridor, and it was the little girl Zhang Yizhen who appeared at the door.
Zhang Zhenghe smiled bitterly and said, "It's so late, why aren't you sleeping yet?"
Zhang Yizhen glanced at Zhang Shiyi who was standing by the door, walked into the study, and said, "Ling Xiao said that the light in your study is always on, so let me take a look."
Zhang Zhenghe said calmly: "Is nothing wrong?"
Zhang Yizhen sat down and asked, "Why don't you discuss it with Ling Xiao?"
Zhang Zhenghe responded: "No one can discuss this kind of thing."
Zhang Yizhen asked again: "What about me?"
"Don't get involved. The magnitude of the matter is beyond your imagination."
Zhang Yizhen smiled softly: "It seems you are waiting for something. In that case, why not sit down and have a drink."
Zhang Zhenghe was surprised.
Zhang Yizhen raised the small wine can in his hand and said with a smile: "Huiquan yellow wine."
Zhang Zhenghe smiled and nodded.
After Zhang Zhenghe drank a glass, he praised: "Good wine!"
Zhang Yizhen asked: "Second brother, do you still remember the night when the three of us and the eldest brother drank with grandpa?"
"Remember, I was the first to get drunk, followed by my eldest brother. You, who have never drank before, drank with grandpa until the end."
Zhang Zhenghe certainly remembered that his grandfather Zhang Zhi passed away not long after. That was the last time the three brothers and sisters stayed with his grandfather and asked: "Yizhen, do you still like drinking as always?"
Zhang Yizhen smiled: "I haven't had a drop of wine since I returned to Suzhou, and tonight is the first time."
Zhang Zhenghe was surprised and heard the girl chuckle softly: "I can't find anyone to drink from."
Zhang Zhenghe said: "You have a good drinking capacity, but you are not invincible yet."
Zhang Yizhen poured a glass for Zhang Zhenghe and said, "No! Only when people of the same mind share a drink can it be delicious."
The scene of having a drink with Master Xie and his apprentice Chu Yue in Wuxi that day is still before my eyes.
The words of mutual encouragement are still ringing in our ears - the common people are in ruins, this bowl can help drive away the plague as soon as possible and restore the health of the people. Let's encourage each other.
Like-minded people, shared ideals, and close friends are the only way to enjoy drinking wine like that.
After drinking a few glasses of water, Zhang Yizhen saw that his brother's brows were still furrowed and asked: "Second brother, I have raised my glass several times and still have a sad look on my face. Are you concerned about your family and country, or your personal interests?"
Zhang Zhenghe looked at Zhang Yizhen, knowing that his sister's words meant something, and was about to discuss business with him, so he said, "Since the consideration of family and country is also about personal gain and loss."
Zhang Yizhen smiled: "No, since you care about your family and country, you don't care about personal losses. After all, you still care about personal gains and losses."
Zhang Zhenghe said solemnly: "I don't care about personal life or death at all. This matter involves the entire Zhang Clan. The Zhang Clan, which has been prosperous and prosperous for hundreds of years, cannot be destroyed because of my personal arbitrariness."
Zhang Yizhen chuckled, his laughter a little unrestrained, as if he was drunk.
Zhang Zhenghe said coldly: "Why are you laughing?"
Zhang Yizhen said with a smile: "I laugh at you for being too short-sighted and too small-minded."
Zhang Zhenghe said displeasedly: "You are disrespectful and talk nonsense. Even if you don't take me as the leader of the Zhang Clan in your eyes, I am still your compatriot's second brother."
Zhang Yizhen asked: "Compared with family and country, who is bigger and who is smaller? Compared with ambition and Tao, which one is more important?"
Zhang Zhenghe did not answer, and only listened to Zhang Yizhen continue: "You are the head of the Zhang clan, and you represent the entire Zhang clan, and we are all children of the Zhang family. The life and death of everyone in the entire Zhang clan is based on personal gains and losses."
Zhang Zhenghe was surprised and felt a little enlightened.
Zhang Yizhen said: "Maybe I can tell you a historical allusion."
"Cui Zhu killed the king because he was afraid that the name of regicide would spread to the world, so he called Tai Shibo, who recorded historical records, and asked Tai Shibo to record in the history that the emperor died of illness. However, Tai Shibo wrote down that Cui Zhu killed him in a straight line. His lord, Cui Zhu, was furious and swung his sword to kill Tai Shibo."
"The historian is hereditary, and he called his second brother Tai Shizhong and threatened Tai Shizhong to do what he said, otherwise he would suffer the same fate as Tai Shibo. Tai Shizhong calmly spread out the bamboo slips and also wrote that Cui Zhu would kill his king. "
"After killing the two brothers, he called his third brother, Uncle Taishi. Uncle Taishi calmly said: It is the historian's bounden duty to write straightly. It is better to die than to neglect one's duty. After writing down Cui Zhu's murder of his king, he committed suicide with his sword."
"Second brother, what do you think after hearing this allusion?"
Zhang Zhenghe said nothing, and Zhang Yizhen said solemnly: "As children of the Zhang family, as members of the Zhang family, our personal honor and disgrace in life and death are of no consequence. Second brother, you have wasted your grandfather's careful teachings and let him The reputation of a loyal and righteous man is gone.”
Zhang Zhenghe was shocked in his heart and was speechless for a long time. After a while, he softly said: "What did you and grandpa talk about later that night?"
"Let's talk about you and brother."
Zhang Zhenghe was surprised: "Just talk about this?"
"Yes, grandpa said that it is difficult for a eldest brother to achieve great things if he is too affectionate and sexual. You are too indecisive and kind-hearted."
Zhang Zhenghe showed a wry smile. He thought carefully about what he did. Sometimes he thought too much and got stuck in it and couldn't extricate himself.
When an advantage is taken too far, it can also become a disadvantage.
"Grandpa told me: Yizhen, you are the most like me. It's a pity that you are born as a girl and are not a saint. When your two brothers commit crimes in Hutu, you have to give them a beating."
Zhang Zhenghe laughed at himself: "Are you knocking me now?"
"Yes! I'm banging you."
"Sister, fill it up."
After Zhang Zhenghe had a drink, he asked in a deep voice: "Sister, I want to ask you, if grandpa faced today's situation, what would he do?"
"Kill! Even the opposite is Zhu Fenggong!"
"good!"
When Zhang Zhenghe said these words, he felt his chest filled with gloom.
"Zhang Shiyi, you should lead the Changzhou Zhechong Mansion Army to get that batch of grain now and deliver it to Lu Tao."
"Master, if Zhu Shaozhi refuses, what should we do?"
"kill!"
…
It was already dark.
In the Gu Mansion, Xie Fu, Lu Tao and Gu Xuan drank and waited all night.
The three of them also seemed a bit drunk. Gu Xuan smiled and said, "Thank you, Fu, can you drink again?"
Xie Fu humbly said, "Just have fun with Third Master."
Gu Xuan laughed and said, "You didn't knock me down at Yin Chun Shui Pavilion that day, how could you possibly knock me down at the wine table?"
Lu Tao looked out at a streak of fish-white in the sky, and his drunken eyes immediately became clear.
Gu Xuan stood up: "It's dawn, Zhang Zhenghe has always been timid and won't take action, so I'll do it."
Gu Xuan called him by his first name at this moment, which also showed his contempt for Zhang Zhenghe.
Lu Tao pulled Gu Xuan to sit down, "Uncle Du, if everyone was like you, wouldn't the world be in chaos? Zhong Ji is a bit hesitant on this matter, but his careful consideration is indispensable on many things."
Xie Fu, who was a bit drunk, laughed and said: "We need both strong generals and capable ministers."
Lu Tao smiled and looked at Xie Fu, his words were on point. Uncle Du is indispensable, and Zhongji is indispensable.
"Uncle Du, please wait a little longer. I will ask the grain store to postpone the sale for an hour today."
Gu Xuan sighed and said, "You still don't want to give up."
…
early morning.
The already exhausted personnel in the convoy transporting grain were immersed in a deep sleep.
Several soldiers on guard were also fast asleep. The Suzhou Zhechong Prefecture Army had set up camp not far away, with hundreds of people.
Seeing that a convoy does not need so many soldiers, Suzhou Zhechong's army mobilized so many troops, and it seemed that they were guarding against someone.
Suddenly, the sound of horse hoofbeats was heard in the distance, and many people woke up from their sleep.
Looking towards the place where the sound came from, I saw billowing smoke and dust rising from the pipe a mile away, and the sound of horse hooves coming from far and near, like thunder.
Like thousands of troops and horses, and like a strong wind sweeping through.
The people transporting the convoy were all ordinary people. They had never seen such a battle before, and their expressions suddenly changed, and they were not sure who was coming.
Several soldiers guarding the convoy immediately shouted a warning: "The enemy is coming! The enemy is coming!"
Zhu Shaozhi, who was inside the tent, did not dare to sleep deeply. He immediately walked outside the tent and mobilized his soldiers to put on military uniforms and weapons to face the enemy.
When the soldiers from the Suzhou Zhechong Prefecture Army put on their clothes and weapons and arrived, Zhang Shiyi had already led his troops to stop and confront them.
The convoy members were relieved when they saw the clothes of the incoming army. They were not robbers, but they had no idea where this army came from.
Zhu Shaozhi looked at Zhang Shiyi coldly and asked in a deep voice: "Who is coming?"
"Zhangzhou Zhechong Captain Zhang Shiyi!"
"Oh, it turns out to be the Leopard Cavalry Guard Changzhou Zhechong Mansion." Zhu Shaozhi directly called out the other party's military number.
There are a total of sixteen guards in the ten roads of Daguan Kingdom. Except for the six guards in the East Palace who are not unified in the Zhechong Mansion, the other ten guards each lead the Zhechong Mansion ranging from twenty to thirty.
The ten guards are Xiaoqi, Xiongqu, Baoqi, Yulin, Shesheng, Cifei, the left and right prison guards, and the left and right Qianniu guards.
In order to prevent the formation of cliques and separatist regimes, the various health posts were not concentrated in one state.
Therefore, Suzhou Zhechong Mansion, which is also stationed on Jiangnan East Road, is under the jurisdiction of Sheshengwei.
Zhu Shaozhi asked: "Suzhou is where our Suzhou Zhechong Prefecture Army is stationed. What is General Zhang's intention when he leads his army to cross the border?"
"Zhang is here under orders."
"Who ordered it?"
"Observation envoy Zhang and Master Zhang."
