Gao Heng took it and looked at it. It read, "Ming will personally seal it" in big characters. Gao Heng weighed it. The envelope was a bit heavy. It was probably more than just a letter. Sure enough, when he opened it, a piece of letter paper and a small metal key fell out.
Gao Heng raised the small key and said, "This is it?"
The envoy immediately said: "This key is a gift from the lord to the general."
Another person added: "This is a token. Since the founding of the Li family, in addition to the normal expenses of the country, the royal family also has its own private property. These properties are distributed in secret locations across the country to prevent one day, if When the royal family declines or rebellious officials and traitors appear, future generations can use the wealth to restore the country. In order to prevent the Zheng family from obtaining these wealth, the royal family took great pains to hide it. Several treasures near Shenglong Palace have been discovered by the Zheng family. , and now there is still some wealth intact in the periphery.”
The envoy said: "My lord is willing to cooperate with the general with the greatest sincerity. The wealth closest to the general is in a secret cave outside Lang Son City. The two of us have each seen half of the map. If the general agrees to cooperate, we will Draw half of the map in your mind and give it to the general. The general only needs to piece it together to get the complete map. The key is a token. Give the key to the gatekeeper and someone will naturally guide the general."
While listening to them, Gao Heng read the letter from beginning to end. This was Zhenzong's personal letter. It must be said that his calligraphy skills were very good. Perhaps he had too much depression in his heart during the days of house arrest. The words are like the face, the overall style of the calligraphy is very sharp, and the brush tip is like a sword, with an inner anger. It's no wonder that Zhenzong is just a teenager, but he has to bear the pressure of restoring the country, and his inner depression can be imagined.
The meaning expressed in the letter is very clear. If Gao Heng is willing to cooperate, please send him a reply. The envoys he sends will make arrangements for other matters. In this transaction, Gao Heng occupies a dominant position, and Zhenzong can only take a gamble. If Gao Heng does not pay attention to things, he can regret it after getting the wealth, but Zhenzong feels that Gao Heng will not, because at this stage, resistance Zheng is the common interest of both families. If Gao Heng is willing to do it, the royal family will tell him where more wealth is hidden in the future. If he wants more treasures, he has to work. This batch in Lang Son House is just a deposit.
Someone gave him a pillow when he was really sleepy. Gao Heng was still thinking about how to get money, food and materials, and then someone came to his door. Gao Heng looked at Cheng Zilong, and Cheng Zilong nodded slightly, indicating that he could accept it. Gao Heng immediately said: "Well, being respectful is worse than obeying orders. Your lord's wishes belong to the general. I will write a letter of divorce and reply to your lord. As long as you can cooperate well with us in the future, then restoring the country may not be a dream. "
The two envoys showed excitement on their faces, and one of them said: "Fortunately, we have fulfilled our mission. In this way, we will draw a picture immediately, and then we will go to Shenglong Mansion. We have property in Shenglong Mansion. If we leave for too long, It may arouse suspicion, but the lord will be very pleased if the general is willing to cooperate, and the lord also gives the general a message to save strength and avoid his sharp edges."
Gao Heng nodded, indicating that he understood.
After seeing the two of them off, Gao Heng waved the letter in his hand and said to Cheng Zilong: "Strategic Advisor, do you think you have some confidence in this matter?"
Cheng Zilong said: "Nine times out of ten, Emperor Li has no other choice. He even thought of using external forces to restore the country. He is not afraid that we will become stronger in the future and cause backlash to him. But there is no way. He is under house arrest, and his entourage is basically We are demobilized, executed, and imprisoned. We have no available people. Even if we have gold and silver, where can we recruit troops? We are a ready-made army. As long as we can expand the scale, we may not be incapable of fighting. . Now we just have to wait for the Zheng family’s people to come, and we can negotiate terms with them."
The two were chatting when suddenly Fan Yu came to report again: "General, military advisor, there is a letter from the cavalry outside the city, saying that the Zheng family's envoy will arrive tomorrow and let us be ready for negotiations."
Gao Heng and Cheng Zilong looked at each other. This really meant that Cao Cao had arrived, and Zheng's people and Li Huang's people had arrived.
Early on the next morning, there were people beating gongs and drums on the official road. It was almost the same as in the Ming Dynasty. Zheng Weigui was the prime minister and went to negotiate. The basic pomp was still there. The flags that avoided the silence cleared the way ahead, and a mighty procession of hundreds of people marched on the official road. There are Zheng Wei's entourage and accompanying guards, which look like a long dragon, which is quite spectacular.
Gao Heng received the notice yesterday and stood on the city gate tower early this morning. Now it was Zheng who begged them, not them, and he did not want to treat these people with courtesy.
The army was well prepared to prevent the enemy from cheating. A large number of cannon soldiers rushed to the top of the city and pointed the black muzzle at the team on the official road. The artillery also adjusted the shooting angle.
With a bang, a cannon fired. The team on the official road was startled, and everyone stopped. The guarding Imperial Guard cavalry tightened the reins of the war horse, and the war horse raised its front hooves and made a neighing sound.
Zheng Wei came in a carriage. He was not much younger than Master Zheng. He had limited legs and feet, and he was the prime minister, so it was appropriate for him to ride in a carriage. He opened the door curtain of the carriage and looked at the town. On ordinary days, he would never pay attention to such a small county town, and he would not come here to negotiate with any expats.
He asked his followers with some dissatisfaction: "Is that the sound of artillery coming from the top of the city?"
The attendant immediately said: "Yes, sir."
"Humph, what are these guys who don't know how to promote themselves?" Zheng Wei said dissatisfied. He really didn't take these people seriously. What tricks can a group of mud-legged people do?
But the next moment, Zheng Wei realized that his judgment might be wrong.
Rumbling, booming, the sound of horse hoofs hitting the ground came out. The Royal Forest Army cavalry following Zheng Wei suddenly changed their expressions. How could there be the sound of a large group of cavalry marching in this small place? This is not consistent with common sense. Could it be that there is an ambush?
Clang clang clang, the cavalrymen drew their swords one after another, as if facing a powerful enemy.
I saw the city gate of Tuoxian County opened with a roar, and more than a hundred armored knights rushed out from the city gate hole. The one riding the black stallion at the head was Gao Heng. After this period of training, although the soldiers could not kill on horseback, they could already move the horses to run. This was a big improvement. Today was not a battle anyway, so Gao Heng simply gave the opponent a showdown.
More than a hundred armored cavalry rushed out of the city and formed a formation. There was the sound of clicking footsteps behind them. An armored musketry company followed by two hundred musketry soldiers, also in formation. The dark fire gun pointed at Zheng Wei's team in front.
Zheng Wei and his men were stunned by this scene. He even subconsciously rubbed his eyes to confirm that he had seen it correctly. How could this be possible? Didn't the people who escaped say that these people were just mud-legged people, just a temporary army put together by some civilians? But the scene in front of him made Zheng Wei want to kill the people who said this with a thousand knives. If such armored cavalry were If the mud-legged people can organize themselves, what does Annan's regular army mean?
"This, this, how is this possible?" Zheng Wei pointed at the army in front and said tremblingly.
Click, click, click, Gao Heng rode his horse to the front of the team, only a few dozen steps away from Zheng Wei's people. He said loudly: "I am the general Gao Heng, the lord of this city. Please come forward and speak to your chief."
Everyone looked sideways at Zheng Wei, "Cough cough cough!" Zheng Wei cleared his throat and cursed secretly. These people still have to calm down the situation by themselves at the critical moment. With the help of his entourage, he slowly stepped off the carriage, came to the front of his team, and faced Gao Heng face to face. Zheng Wei tidied up his official uniform. Although he was surprised that the other party could pull out so many armored troops, on his surface Still very calm.
Zheng Wei said in a low voice: "It turns out that you are the commander-in-chief of the other party. I am Zheng Wei, the prime minister of the Annan court. Lord Zheng specially sent me to negotiate with you and welcome back the crown prince. How about we make a condition? As long as you can bring the prince back safely, we can forget about it!"
"Hahaha, hey! Let me tell you, you are also a prime minister. Why don't you seem to understand the situation yet? You are begging us now, not us begging you. If you have such an attitude when begging others, I think you really lack education." Gao Hengduan Sitting on the horse, he pointed at Zheng Wei with a riding crop.
The scene looks quite funny. Zheng Wei, who is the prime minister, is standing on the ground. He is a thin old man. Compared with the tall and strong Gao Heng who is riding on a black horse and wearing a suit of iron armor, he looks like It's the difference between a tiger and a monkey.
This was the first time Zheng Wei heard someone say that he was uneducated. He was so angry that he almost spit out blood. He pointed at Gao Heng and said, "You! You are so rude!"
Gao Heng shook his head and said: "Don't do this in front of me. Our survival brigade will not accept this trick. You must understand that your people have entered the range of the city's artillery. Now as long as I give the order, the city will be destroyed." The first dozen artillery pieces will fire at the same time, smashing the shells into your crowd. If you are sensible, it is best to lower your attitude."
A royal camp general walked up to Zheng Wei and whispered: "Sir, I used a telescope to see that there are indeed a lot of artillery at the top of the city. We are two miles away from the city wall, and Fo Langji can reach it."
Zheng Wei's face turned pale instantly. These damn guys had gone so far to conceal their losses. It turned out that the battle report uploaded below concealed a lot of loss data. If Zheng Wei knew that all Gao Heng's equipment was left behind by Annan's army, he would probably faint from anger.
The situation is stronger than the person. Talking to Gao Heng outside the city will only lose his status as prime minister. Zheng Wei stroked his beard and said: "So, what do you want?"
Gao Heng said: "You can keep your word, right?"
Zheng Wei laughed loudly: "I am the prime minister of the current dynasty, so I naturally mean what I say. Otherwise, why would the king send me to negotiate with you? I have the power to represent the king."
"Okay, you pick two followers and go to the city with me to negotiate. Don't take any more." Gao Heng pointed to the crowd behind Zheng Wei and said.
Zheng Wei was insulted repeatedly by Gao Heng today and was on the verge of a seizure. The camp general stepped forward and said: "Sir, you can't listen to him. It's too dangerous to take two people with you. If he detains you, wouldn't it be another case?" One more bargaining chip, sir, we cannot make such a mistake."
Seeing the two people muttering, Gao Heng couldn't help but said with some contempt: "Is this the courage of the Prime Minister of Annan? Do you think I will also take you hostage? Don't worry, it's useless for me to hold you as an old man. Since your king has sent The fact that you, the prime minister, have come in person shows that you have no important position in his heart. Even if you are captured, he will not exchange you for many terms. If you believe me, we will go to the city to discuss it. If you don't believe it, we will fight. Go back home, if I want to take your life, I can fire cannons right now, what do you think?"
Zheng Wei's cheek twitched. He couldn't afford to lose this person in front of so many people. Besides, Lord Zheng sent him to negotiate. If he didn't negotiate and went back home, how could he communicate with the king?
That’s all, I risked my life, “Why don’t you dare, let’s go, enter the city now.”
"My lord!" the camp general exclaimed.
"You took the people and stayed outside the city. It turned out that you only took two followers. I guess he didn't have the courage to break his promise." Zheng Wei pretended to be calm.
Then Gao Heng made an invitation gesture, and Zheng Wei nodded his two followers and followed Gao Heng into the city. The horse team and fire gun team of the Qihuo Brigade faced off with Zheng Wei's people outside the city. The two sides were a hundred steps apart and watched each other with great vigilance.
When they arrived at the county government office, Cheng Zilong and General Lu Tao had already been waiting in the main hall. Gao Heng was not polite and sat directly on the main seat. Zheng Wei and his entourage could only sit at the bottom, facing Cheng Zilong and the others. Zheng Wei is the prime minister and has always sat in the chief position. Now sitting in this position is really not used to it, but he can only pinch his nose and endure it.
Lu Tao and other generals glared at Zheng Wei, invisibly giving him a kind of coercion. Zheng Wei just wanted to finish the negotiation quickly, so he took the lead and said: "Your Majesty has shown great sincerity by sending me to negotiate. Before the negotiations begin, can I confirm Zheng Zuo's safety?"
Gao Heng clapped his hands. Several soldiers had already tied up Zheng Zuo, who was tied up with cotton cloth in his mouth. Lu Tao had used various punishments on Zheng Zuo these days. Zheng Zuo should answer and should not. , everything was explained, even the private matters within the palace were made clear. Jin Yiwei's punishment was no joke. Zheng Zuo didn't want to experience this feeling of life worse than death again.
Seeing Zheng Wei, Zheng Zuo struggled wildly and wanted to speak, but his mouth was blocked and he could only moan.
Zheng Wei slapped the table and stood up: "You! What are you doing! You are abusing the prince!"
"Sit down!" Gao Heng slammed the wooden table on the table and said.
