The army set off from southern Xinjiang to the north of Shu, and then headed south along the river.
The spring breeze was blowing when we arrived, and the spring scenery was already perfect. The flowers on both sides of the bank were red, and you could smell the fragrance of flowers on the boat.
Xiangyang City.
Kuai's Villa.
The head of the Kuai family, Kuai Pingfeng, the head of the Cai family, Cai Chongwen, the head of the Chi family, Chi Hanli, and the head of the Huang family, Huang Youxin, were sitting together in a very solemn atmosphere.
"The Zhu family added three inexplicable so-called textbooks to the list of imperial examinations and listed them among the Four Books and Five Classics. It is really deviant."
Cai Chongwen looked at the three owners of the surrounding families and spoke calmly.
"What about that?"
"Mu Ying and Xiao Han, in just three months, they defeated Xia, Liang, and Duan, three powerful local warlords, and their military power was at its peak, no less than the Battle of Poyang Lake."
"If we fall out with him, I'm afraid we'll be hitting a rock with an egg."
Chi Hanli sighed softly.
"But...should we just let the Zhu family bully us?"
"We are all members of a family with hundreds of thousands of years of heritage. Are we really afraid of the reckless Zhu family royal family who have been our ancestors for generations?"
"This move by the Zhu family royal family is tantamount to digging up the foundation of our family!"
"We can't fight. Let's communicate with the families in the world, overthrow them, Emperor Zhu, and replace them with a new group of royal family. No one in this world can sit down or sit down. Why should we tolerate the Zhu family?"
Huang Youxin spoke angrily, feeling extremely unhappy.
"well!"
"But we really can't defeat them. The four of us together can only provide tens of thousands of servants at most. Not to mention overthrowing Emperor Zhu, we can't even stop the 100,000 southern expedition troops."
"What's more, the royal family of the Zhu family and Xiao Han, a young gentleman from Huaixi, don't know who this kid learned the art of war from, and it turned out to be so incredible."
"Besides, do you really think that families from all over the world will be willing to take risks with us?"
"At this time, the Ming army had just won a great victory. They were all scared to death, and they were all busy expressing their loyalty to the Zhu family royal family."
"If you ask me, we'd better be more honest. We, the family of the Ming Dynasty, still have the best grasp of the political program of the Ming Dynasty. The laws of the Ming Dynasty are also divided between us and those wealthy businessmen. As for the essential agricultural science of the Ming Dynasty, as long as we can unite with those wealthy businessmen , every spring and autumn, if the travel expenses are raised, not many farmers will have the opportunity to rush to the examination room."
Chi Hanli sighed again.
If Mu Ying and Xiao Han's southern expedition armies were in a stalemate, Chi Hanli would think there was an opportunity to build momentum and communicate with aristocratic families from all over the world. However, no one expected that Xiao Han would win so easily with his clever tricks. It simply shocked the jaws of the entire Ming family.
Most of the powerful people in the aristocratic family were scared out of their wits by Xiao Han.
Now, there are even rumors in the powerful circles of the aristocratic family that even if they can raise an army of one million, Xiao Han, the British Duke of the Zhu family, surnamed prince, will not be able to match the bravery of the Ming army in one day.
"Brother Kuai, please tell me. What should we do? Are we going to let these pigs and these old farmers shit and urinate on top of our heads?"
Cai Chongwen turned his attention to the host Kuai Pingfeng who had never spoken.
"Xiao Han is indeed an unparalleled genius. I have read all three of his books. Indeed, they are masterpieces. If they had been placed in the Spring and Autumn Period when hundreds of schools of thought were contending, I am afraid there would have been a chance to claim to be a sect, competing with Confucianism, Legalism, and Mohism. Schools of thought compete.”
"But... what if he dies?"
Kuai Pingfeng narrowed his eyes slightly.
"Brother Kuai, are you kidding?"
"Xiao Han is a young man from Huaixi, an upright man in his prime. I'm afraid he has been escorting Zhu Ming for decades. How could he die?"
Chi Hanli opened his mouth, his face full of disbelief.
"Brother Chi, you are talking about the army. As everyone knows, Xiao Han has always been weak and sickly. I wouldn't be surprised if he died of a sudden illness."
Cai Chongwen laughed, obviously knowing a lot about Ying Tian.
"not only that."
"My Kuai family's informant in southern Xinjiang has received news that Xiao Han has hardly shown up in recent days. He has asked his bodyguard Tong Zhangshun to appear on his behalf several times."
"We have reason to suspect that traveling thousands of miles has cost Xiao Han a lot of life. At this time, he is almost unable to get out of bed."
A trace of killing intent flashed in Kuai Pingfeng's eyes.
"Brother Kuai, what do you mean..."
Cai Chongwen was slightly stunned.
"kill?"
"Shall we give this Xiao Han the final blow?"
Huang Youxin stood up suddenly and stared at Kuai Pingfeng.
"good."
"No matter how smart Xiao Han is, he is just a human being after all. Don't look at the Ming Dynasty's warships sailing down the river with great fanfare. It is most likely just a bluff."
"With his condition, we don't even need to send killers to kill him. As long as we create some chaos and let him continue to work and scare him, Xiao Han may die."
"You may not know, but the informants of our Kuai family in Yingtian Mansion have passed on reliable information. Before the expedition, Xiao Han even failed to resist in the court and spewed blood."
"So, from my perspective, Xiao Han's body is probably what I guessed."
"I won't beat around the bush today. On the Yangtze River, my Kuai family has raised a group of water thieves with more than a thousand people as a backup force."
"What are your family's trump cards? I wonder...can you be honest?"
Kuai Pingfeng glanced at the heads of the three families present.
"Brother Kuai, that's all right. When did you quietly get a group of thousands of water thieves? It couldn't be the Black Sail Army, right?"
"Since Brother Kuai is so generous, my Huang family will not hide them. The bandits in Jiulong Mountain are members of my Huang family. Their number is close to two thousand, and their equipment is decent."
Huang Youxin's eyes lit up.
"Jiangkou Escort Agency is a secret property of my Cai family. It has more than a thousand people. If necessary, we can use it."
Cai Chongwen nodded slightly, and then together with Kuai Pingfeng and Huang Youxin, he turned his attention to Chi Hanli.
"Cough cough cough!"
"Well...my Chi family does not have such a power, but the Lin's Villa that has risen in recent years is actually a distant kinship force cultivated by my Chi family. Most of the tenants on the village are quite loyal. If With weapons, it can pull out more than two thousand people."
Chi Hanli coughed twice, hesitated for a while, and finally spoke.
"hehe."
"The Lin family is indeed yours, but I am wondering how their family of foreigners could suddenly take over so much land and get the Beishan Mine."
"Brother Chi is really willing to give up. You have to know that the forces participating in this operation, whether successful or not, basically have to be killed by the court."
Kuai Pingfeng chuckled.
"Ha ha!"
"Brother Kuai is joking. It's just a secret affiliated family. If we can really get rid of Xiao Han, it will be gone."
Chi Hanli smiled awkwardly, but he was already cursing secretly in his heart. Who knew that he was suddenly going to do something so big, and his family didn't have any secret green forest forces, so they had to rely on loyal affiliated families to take over?
"In this way, our four families together have 6,000 people. However, this is still not enough. It will take two days for Xiao Han and others to reach us."
"It's time to make some stories about rivers and lakes, and then trick some unscrupulous people into following our people to attack the Ming army's fleet."
"Everyone is quite skilled at this matter. Remember to pick it cleanly so that you don't get implicated and give the Zhu family's royal family a handle."
"Remember, we just drank tea and played chess at the villa today, and we almost got into a fight. We didn't talk about anything else."
Kuai Pingfeng said, casually grabbing a white jade chessboard from behind and slamming it on the ground.
boom!
There was a crisp sound, and the valuable white jade chessboard shattered to the ground.
"Everyone, do you understand?"
Kuai Pingfeng spoke calmly.
"Understand!"
"Brother Chi is a scumbag at chess. I dropped this chessboard."
Huang Youxin laughed.
"Did you fall? Okay."
"Remember to make amends when the time comes."
The corners of Kuai Pingfeng's lips curled up.
"Ha ha!"
"Ha ha ha ha!"
…
The powerful heads of several aristocratic families looked at each other and couldn't help laughing.
Above the Yangtze River.
Flagship of the Ming Dynasty.
"Brother Tong, why haven't you seen Brother Fengxue come out these days?"
Lan Yu couldn't help but feel curious when she saw that Tong Zhangshun was delivering the message again.
"The Duke has recently been drafting the next administrative strategy for our Ming Dynasty. I will convey the less important matters to you."
Tong Zhangshun glanced at Lan Yu and slightly arched his hands towards Lan Yu.
"oh?"
"It's such a shame to be so busy. Come on, let's serve the wine first. Something interesting happened in Xiangyang up front recently."
As Lan Yu spoke, she opened a jar of high-strength wine produced by Duke Xiao Han's mansion.
"What's interesting?"
Mu Ying was quite interested and immediately opened a jar of wine and asked.
Although Xiao Han suggested that he just stay in southern Xinjiang and let Xiao Han go back to deal with the canonization matter, Mu Ying finally decided to go to Jinling first to return to life.
It wasn't that he didn't trust Xiao Han. He believed that Xiao Han did have this ability, but he always felt that the process should be followed to avoid being blamed.
"Hey!"
"Recently, a group of water thieves in Xiangyang hooked up with a group of human bandits, and also roped in a bodyguard and an outsider. They gathered thousands of people, attacked two county towns, robbed grain warehouses, and opened warehouses to release grain. , rebelling on the spot, saying that our Ming Dynasty is oppressing the people, and the people are living in dire straits."
Lan Jade laughed strangely.
"No, how is this so funny?"
Zhu Wenzheng frowned, what happened to this blue jade?
Someone rebelled, and he was still here to watch the joke.
"Of course it's not a good thing to happen."
"But this is just the time for us to catch up. Isn't this a great achievement?"
"You haven't even responded yet, but you have military achievements coming to your door. Shouldn't you laugh?"
Lan Yu held the wine jar, took a sip, and said matter-of-factly.
"Why!"
"Brother Tong, why are you still standing here?"
"Sit down and drink."
Lan Yu caught a glimpse of Tong Zhangshun who was still standing and seemed to be planning to leave directly. He directly pulled up a chair and then pulled Tong Zhangshun over.
"These generals are all nobles of our Ming Dynasty and have distinguished status. Tong is just a bodyguard..."
Tong Zhangshun stopped and refused to let Lan Yu pull him, and said solemnly.
"Why!"
"Old boy, don't do this. Don't we know what's going on with you?"
"Fengxue never regarded you as a guard at all. We are all brothers who fought together, so it's boring to talk about this. What? Look down on us? Do you think we brothers are not worthy of being brothers with you?"
Lan Yu looked at Tong Zhangshun.
I thought to myself, this guy is still pretending, Feng Xue has given you such an important power, but you tell us that you are just a guard, who will believe what you say?
"I didn't mean that. General Lan, please don't accuse someone of his innocence out of thin air."
Tong Zhangshun frowned slightly.
"If not, just sit down and drink."
"Fengxue didn't even come to the celebration banquet. He is always avoiding drinking. Today you are here and you drink for him."
"Let's make an agreement first. You are not allowed to drink alcohol. Feng Xue is weak and we are embarrassed to drink him too hard. You are fat and strong, so my brothers will not be polite to you."
Lan Yu chuckled.
"If that's the case, then it's better for me to be respectful than to obey."
Tong Zhangshun snorted coldly. Lan Yu made it clear that he looked down on his drinking capacity. Although he didn't drink much since he followed Xiao Han, but when he was hanging around outside, he, Tong Zhangshun, was also the god of wine. Lan Yu was When Yu did this, he suddenly became angry and wanted to have a fight with Lan Yu.
Next, Mu Ying, Lan Yu, Zhu Wenzheng, and He Wenhui began to discuss how to deal with this group of thieves while drinking.
To say it was a discussion would be more appropriate to say it was bragging while drinking.
Except for Tong Zhangshun who was busy drinking, these few were all powerful generals who led an army of over 10,000 people to fight against one side. Naturally, they looked down upon a group of thousands of people.
You said two thousand people are equal.
I would say one thousand and five.
He would pick up one thousand, eight hundred...
As for Tong Zhangshun...
"General Lan, come here, I respect you!"
"General Lan, come here, treat us as brothers, and drink this."
"General Lan, I did it, you can do whatever you want!"
…
"Report!"
"Mu Shuai, generals, a group of thieves are driving thousands of small boats to attack our fleet."
While several people were drinking, the messenger suddenly rushed in and said.
"Hi!"
"We haven't gone to strangle them yet, but they still dare to attack our Ming Dynasty's fleet. It's really a life-long death for an old man to hang himself. You're tired of living, aren't you?"
"Come on, call five hundred brothers who are good at water and come with us to defeat these pure thieves!"
"Brothers, let's drink first. We'll be back in a moment and punish ourselves!"
Under Tong Zhangshun's wave of attacks, Lan Yu, whose face was slightly red, couldn't help but slap the table in annoyance and yelled angrily.
Lan Yu's face was a little confused at this time. He just said that as long as he brought five hundred people and hung out his "blue" general flag, thousands of thieves and bandits would definitely flee. But before he could say this, the other party came knocking on the door. , isn’t this a direct slap in his Lan Yu’s face?
If he could bear this, he would no longer be Lan Yu.
While talking, Lan Yufengfenghuo ordered his troops and ships, and then led the people to kill them.
Lan Yu had just left. Before Mu Ying, Zhu Wenzheng, He Wenhui and Tong Zhangshun could take another sip, another messenger suddenly ran in.
"Report! Mu Shuai, generals, General Lan Yu drove those pirate boats away, but another boat of water thieves rushed over."
…
There were two more waves of water pirate boats, and Zhu Wenzheng and He Wenhui took their people away one after another.
"Report!..."
"Is another pirate ship coming?"
The messenger was interrupted by Mu Ying mid-sentence.
"The handsome man knows things like a god."
The messenger flattered him.
"Why do we feel something is wrong?"
"Is this... inducing the tiger to leave the mountain?"
"What are they going to do?"
"Send a warship to send them away."
Mu Ying frowned and said coldly.
Mu Ying's military level is not low, but when she is with Xiao Han, Xiao Han directly calculates everything, which makes Mu Ying seem like a mere tool responsible for execution.
boom!
Not long after the messengers ran out to deliver the orders, Mu Ying and Tong Zhangshun both felt keenly that the flagship ship was shaking slightly.
"No, the water ghost is digging the boat!"
"What a cunning bunch of thieves."
"Brother Tong, remember to watch the wind and snow, I will make arrangements."
Mu Ying said and immediately took the people down.
Tong Zhangshun also ran towards Xiao Han's room.
In Xiao Han's room, Xiao Han was awkwardly holding a military book with one hand, as if he had something on his mind. He didn't turn a page for a long time, and he didn't even notice that the military book was held backwards.
boom!
Suddenly, the door was violently kicked open, and then a man in black rushed in, stabbing Xiao Han's throat with a dagger.
boom!
Xiao Han's pupils shrank slightly, and he threw away the book of war. Then he turned over nimbly and avoided this time. He pulled out the unused sword hanging on the wall behind him and slashed at the assassin in front of him with one sword. .
Clang!
The sword was powerful and heavy, and the assassin quickly drew his sword to block, but was unable to match the force of the sword. "Thump, thump, thump!" He took several steps back.
"You...are you Xiao Han? Are you frail and sick?"
The assassin's pupils shook and he spoke in disbelief.
He felt his hands were numb from the sword strike just now.
With such great strength, you tell me this thing is weak and sick, and is it a fool?
If these guys are all weak and sick, who is he? Sickness or kidney deficiency?
"wrong!"
"This kind of information cannot be wrong, you are not Xiao Han!"
The assassin shook his head and then stared at "Xiao Han" in front of him.
"Yo!"
"Has it been discovered?"
"Sure enough, it is still difficult for a rough guy like me to play the role of a cultural person like the Duke of the State."
"Xiao Han" shook his head slightly, then pressed forward and slashed at the assassin in front with another sword.
Clang!
There was another collision, and the assassin was completely defeated by the fake Xiao Han in front of him. He retreated again, leaving several deep footprints on the wooden floor. He only felt that the tiger's mouth was numb for a while, and his whole body was about to fall apart. generally.
Bang bang bang!
Seeing that the fake Xiao Han was about to kill again, the assassin did not dare to stay at all, so he planned to run away quickly.
As a result, Tong Zhangshun was seen rushing over from outside.
Before he could react, Tong Zhangshun's palm as big as a cattail leaf thrust out like lightning, and struck his neck with a palm, causing the assassin to lose consciousness instantly.
Immediately, Tong Zhangshun reached out and opened the assassin's mouth. He reached out and took a small piece of poison from his teeth that sealed his throat with blood.
"Imprison him and bring him to Tiantian for interrogation using Jin Yiwei's torture tools."
Tong Zhangshun spoke calmly to the fake Xiao Han.
"It's the instructor!"
Fake Xiao Han responded, tore off the mask on his face, and walked out the door.
(End of chapter)
