The three-masted ship suddenly stopped in the middle of the Wujiang River. The wind stopped suddenly, and the strong inertia almost made Li Xuan unsteady.
Fortunately, he was very strong and could stand directly on the deck with his legs.
There was no handrail in front of the boat, and many other people were thrown off their feet due to this sudden incident. Several people even fell directly off the boat and fell into the water with a "plop".
This includes Zhou Qian and Su Baotong, who are standing at the front of the deck like Li Xuan.
And at this moment, everyone knows.
Something unexpected happened!
…
Yuan Chao looked at the clear river water below. He was just a few steps away from falling directly. Fortunately, a big hand caught him in time.
The force from above came and Yuan Chao was immediately pulled up.
As soon as he stood firm, Yuan Chao quickly took a step back and saluted Li Xuan, who was standing there, with some fear: "Thank you for your help, Your Majesty. I will go check it out immediately and see what's going on?"
"Go." Li Xuan watched Yuan Chao leave, then turned to look at Li Zhu and winked: "Go and take the boat to rescue Zhou Qian and Baotong."
"Here!" Li Zhu didn't hesitate at all. He immediately turned around and got off the boat to save people.
The three-masted ship stopped in the middle of the Wujiang River. The other ships behind it were slowly catching up at this time. They seemed to be showing signs of outflanking the ship, but the other people on their ship looked confused. look.
Turning their heads, they saw Li Xuan standing there gently, and their expressions relaxed.
No one knows what exactly happened, but as long as the King of Nanchang is still there, everything will be fine.
At this time, Yuan Ying came over, raised her hands to Li Xuan and said: "Reporting to the prince, this ship was originally a patrol ship of the Muzhou Water Department, and was later transformed into a warship. This ship looks very new, but in fact It has been thirteen years since I boarded the ship..."
"Don't be nervous, I can understand."
Li Xuan's voice was very calm. He smiled gently at Yuan Ying under the attention of everyone present, and then asked casually: "Is Mr. Yuan married now? His parents..."
The Yuan family is a Taizhou family, and their ancestors are descendants of Situ Yuan An of the Han Dynasty.
Yuan An was born in the Yuan family of the fourth and third generations of the Eastern Han Dynasty. Yuan An had several great-great-grandchildren, one of whom was named Yuan Shao and the other named Yuan Shu.
Although the Yuan family in Taizhou is a descendant of Yuan An, they are not the descendants of Yuan Shao and Yuan Shu.
Li Xuan and Yuan Ying answered one-on-one, which made many people present calm down and couldn't help but think of home.
…
Yuan Chao anxiously went down to the bottom of the cabin. He would reach Sanhe Pass a few miles ahead.
As long as they arrive at Sanheguan, they will surrender to the imperial court.
By then, even if Yuan Chao could not retain the position of Sima of Wuzhou, he still believed that the imperial court would never be stingy with rewards.
Yuan Chao knew this very well, but he always wanted a bigger official position, so he kept procrastinating.
Although Li Xuan has not given a clear answer now, he has hinted it openly or secretly.
As long as Yuan Chao can help Li Xuan in the future, then Li Xuan will help him in many aspects.
This is already wooing.
Yuan Chao was able to join the army with Cao Cao, a state soldier, and he was not completely ignorant of the affairs in the court. Although the central government had tighter restrictions on the clan, the clan had a huge influence on both the government and the public.
Take Wuzhou as an example. Before Li Xuan arrived in Wuzhou, two members of the clan, Li Ai, the chief minister, and Li Yuanyi, a member of the Kucao army, had served in Wuzhou.
There are many similarities in other states. Later, in Wuzhou, Li Xuan, the current prince, came to Wuzhou.
So for the clan, you can get close, as long as you don't get too close.
Yuan Chao and Li Xuan are still in the stage of testing each other, and nothing else can be said.
But Yuan Chao wanted to get closer to the imperial court, but with his identity, family background, and status, he didn't have many choices.
…
Yuan Chao walked to the lower cabin full of displeasure, opened the door, and was about to speak out his words to scold him when dozens of eyes fell on him at the same time.
But at this moment, Yuan Chao had already firmly shut his mouth.
His eyes were fixed on the center of the crowd.
A handsome man in his thirties, wearing blue silk clothes and holding an exquisite folding fan in his hand, was looking at him coldly, with murderous intent deep in his eyes.
"General Manager!" Yuan Chao called out the other person's title in a dry voice.
The Grand Steward, the real Grand Steward of the Tianyin Sect, the only Grand Steward, Wen Fuzhi.
He appeared in the lower cabin at Li Xuan's feet, quietly.
"Yuan Sima, we haven't seen each other for a long time." Wen Fuzhi took a step forward, and several guards in white suddenly appeared behind him.
"It didn't take long, only half..." Yuan Chao's mouth was already too nervous to open.
At this time, Wen Fuzhi came to Yuan Chao's side.
He patted Yuan Chao's shoulder gently and said with a half-smile: "Sima still has merit. Although he failed to break through Sanhe Pass in time, it was also a great achievement to lure the king of Nanchang, a troublesome enemy, to our own ship. pieces."
Yuan Chao's face twitched hard and he subconsciously looked upward, but the ship's plank directly covered his eyes.
"Now, please go immediately and tell the King of Nanchang to let all the generals and team leaders return to their warships." In one sentence, Wen Fu explained the reason why the warship suddenly stopped.
"The King of Nanchang will not agree. He separated the soldiers and generals to ensure that the navy could not pose a threat to Sanhe Pass. Once the soldiers and generals were separated, he would immediately know what was going on?" Yuan Chao's voice was a little dry, and then He looked at Wen Fuzhi with a pleading look on his face.
Wen Fuzhi raised the corner of his mouth and said with a sneer: "Why, is Yuan Sima still reluctant to part with the generous salary given to high-ranking officials by the court?"
"I don't dare. I forgive you, manager. I have no choice but to contact the government and the army. The army at Meiling Pass was destroyed. The King of Nanchang even sent a separate army to enter Jiande. The support has been cut off. Even if the subordinates entered Wu It's hard to do anything even in the state!" Yuan Chao's face was full of helplessness and pain.
The Tianyin Sect only has some old, weak, sick and disabled people left to defend the city in Muzhou, and all other people who can be mobilized have been mobilized and left Muzhou.
Fang Fengjin, who was going to Meiling Pass, and Zhu Si, who was going to Sanhe Pass, should have cooperated with each other. However, Fang Fengjin's defeat immediately caused Zhu Si to become a lone army, unable to support himself.
It was precisely because of this that Yuan Chao was able to persuade Zhu Si to contact the army and surrender.
As soon as Zhu Si relented, Yuan Chao immediately started ruthlessly, killing all Zhu Si's cronies, shocking others, and then completely taking control of the ship.
Wen Fuzhi's expression turned cold, he looked at Yuan Chao, and said coldly: "Yuan Sima is wrong. It was you who tried every means to interfere with the navy's advance, which led to the failure to break through Sanhe Pass in time and the failure to fight with Meiling Pass responded, which ultimately led to Fang Fengjin's failure all the way. The cause and effect cannot be reversed so casually, Yuan Sima?"
With that said, Wen Fuzhi slapped Yuan Chao directly on the shoulder with a strong palm.
In an instant, pain completely spread from Yuan Chao's shoulders, and he was unable to move.
The corners of Yuan Chao's mouth kept twitching, and the severe pain made him hold back all his words.
Yuan Chao knew that his deepest thoughts had been seen through by Wen Fuzhi, and there was nothing he could do to refute them.
Finally, after the pain subsided, Wen Fuzhi immediately nodded and said: "I obey the order and immediately arrange for the soldiers to return to the ship."
"Yeah!" Wen Fuzhi nodded slightly, then let go of Yuan Chao.
Yuan Chao immediately breathed a sigh of relief and did not dare to neglect at all. He raised his hands to Wen Fuzhi and turned around immediately.
Wen Fuzhi stared at Yuan Chao coldly, making him feel a chill running down his back.
After walking out of the bottom cabin, Yuan Chao was immediately stunned. Only then did he realize that several other warships had surrounded the ship behind it. On the deck, Li Xuan seemed not to notice anything and was still chatting leisurely with everyone. With.
The strange thing is that almost all the team members did not look at the surrounding warships.
"My greatest expectation is to gallop across Mobei and make great achievements. Unfortunately, the East and West Turks have been destroyed, and there is no chance at all!" Yuan Ying couldn't help but sigh.
Li Xuan shook his head and said solemnly: "You are in the southeast, and some things are not clear. The Western Turks have been unstable a few months ago. Your Majesty has sent Pingyang County Duke to be appointed as the governor of Daizhou and acting governor. With Pingyang County With your temperament, I'm afraid there will be some bloodshed in Daizhou."
Pingyang County Duke Xue Li, courtesy name Rengui, Xue Rengui.
"Pingyang County Duke." Yuan Ying couldn't help but exclaimed, and then said with a wry smile: "If Pingyang County Duke moves, we will have no chance."
Xue Rengui is famous for his ruthless killings. He and Su Dingfang are the two most famous generals in the Tang Dynasty after Li Jing and Li Ji.
It is a pity that the defeat of Dafeichuan destroyed Xue Rengui's fame.
But even so, Xue Rengui is still the devil who silences countless children in Tujue and Tibet.
"Don't worry, there is a chance. It is said that Tubo has been colluding with the Turks. There are even rumors that the Tubo National Preceptor is the king of the Western Regions of the Tianyin Sect. The Tianyin Sect's uprising in the southeast is originally to echo the actions of the Tubo and the Turks. Yuan Sima, 似 said Isn't it?" Li Xuan raised her head and looked at Yuan Chao.
Yuan Chao slowed down a beat, then trembled inexplicably, and hurriedly raised his hands to Li Xuan and said: "I have never met the King of the Western Regions, so I don't know his true identity?"
"Don't be nervous." Li Xuan waved her hand directly and said: "There are many things that you don't need to see with your own eyes. Many things can be guessed almost by guessing."
"What the prince said is absolutely true." Yuan Chao subconsciously raised his hands. However, he did not listen to Li Xuan's words. He was still thinking about what Wen Fuzhi asked him to say. He stood there and cupped his hands and said: "Your Majesty. , Now that the waterway is in chaos and the ships are moving in disorder, can the generals be allowed to return to their own ships and direct the ships?"
After Yuan Chao said what he said, everyone present immediately looked at him in surprise.
After all, he was the one who gathered everyone together from the beginning, and now it's him who wants everyone to go back.
But now he is no longer the one calling the shots on the entire ship!
Everyone turned to look at Li Xuan in an instant.
Li Xuan smiled and looked at Yuan Chao: "Do you mean this, or the one below? If there is really anything, can you let the one below come up directly and tell me that you have been saying this? Is it interesting to hide down there?"
The person below, almost everyone present was in a daze. Who is the person below, commanding Yuan Chao like this.
You must know that their servant She, the chief steward of Yuezhou, is not a character to deal with. Who can make him obey orders so honestly?
The corner of Yuan Chao's mouth twitched, and just as he was about to say something, a voice suddenly sounded behind him.
"It seems that the King of Nanchang has already noticed my arrival, but I am a little curious, why doesn't the King of Nanchang leave?" Wen Fuzhi walked out of the cabin slowly with his hands behind his back.
Seeing Wen Fuzhi, all the Muzhou naval officers present stood up and shouted in unison: "General Manager!"
Wen Fuzhi waved his hand casually, but kept staring at Li Xuan.
Everyone on the ship looked at Li Xuan in an instant.
In full view of everyone, Li Xuan stood up straight and looked directly at Wen Fuzhi with a calm expression.
His eyes were surprisingly calm and unafraid.
(End of chapter)
