"I find that you are a bit fond of the new and dislike the old."
The voice of the old father-in-law came from outside the hall.
Did my old father-in-law know about my fish farming?
No, in this day and age, having three wives and four concubines is completely normal.
"You have always said that many of the shady things around you are left to Zuo Rong. Now that Guo Tu is here, you have abandoned Zuo Rong like a pair of worn shoes?"
Lin Mo breathed a sigh of relief and thought it was something. He stood up and poured a cup of tea for his old father-in-law before slowly saying: "It is precisely because we want to protect Zuo Rong that we sent Guo Tu to Youzhou."
"How do you say this?" After the old father-in-law sat down, sipping the new tea from the North Country, he pursed his lips and motioned for Lin Mo to sit down and talk.
"Everyone with a keen eye on Xu You knows that it has something to do with us, but the cause was Zuo Rong Guo Tu's verbal abuse on the street, so in the end, the two of them took the blame for this matter.
The more important we show to Guo Tu now, the more the sages of the Northern Kingdom will believe that Xu You's death was the result of Guo Tu's leadership and that it was him who gave us the certificate of submission. "
Lu Bu blew slowly into the hot cup with a thoughtful look on his face. After a while, he put down the cup again and asked with speculation: "Let Guo Tu be the target of Xu You's sudden death. Anyway, he is in the Northern Kingdom." He already has considerable influence and can withstand it; on the contrary, if Zuo Rong is too sharp at this time, he may not be able to withstand the pressure from the powerful families in the North?"
After Lin Mo nodded, Lu Bu smiled in relief, "I didn't expect you to bother so much about this kind of thing. Now that I think about it, it does make sense."
At this time, the old heroes of the Northern Kingdom, especially those who followed Yuan Shao in his early years, must not die in his own hands, otherwise everyone in the Northern Kingdom will be in danger.
From this perspective, Lin Mo hopes more that Guo Tu can persuade Yuan Xi to come back.
Only when he comes back safely will the northern scholars believe that the old father-in-law is in charge, and the place will be more harmonious than before.
Of course, if you really can't persuade him to reply, then you still have to kill him.
The situation is now very clear. Lin Mo is sending a message to the wealthy family in the North Country. The old father-in-law is threatening Yuan Shang. People in the North Country who are so loyal to the Yuan family will definitely find a solution from Yuan Xi.
Although he is a mediocre person, but his life is threatened, he may not rise up to resist.
If possible, we should always try our best to avoid war.
"With you in charge, I can rest assured."
Lu Bu took a sip of tea and said thoughtfully: "There is one more thing. Did you forget it or did it intentionally."
"Li Yang, Jiang Yiqu." Lin Mo himself completed the supplement for his old father-in-law.
"It seems you haven't forgotten that he has 50,000 troops on hand, and he is occupying Liyang, a strategic town in the north. If he has any evil intentions, Yecheng will bear the brunt. What are you thinking?"
Lin Mo sighed and said in a deep voice: "I haven't thought about how to deal with this matter. My father-in-law should know that Jiang Yiqu is a military commander promoted by Yuan Shao himself. In the past, he was not very conspicuous, but now, the Four Court Pillars of Hebei are not After a while, Zhao Rui, Han Ju, Ma Yan, He Mao and others were all killed in battle, and his prestige in the army became stronger than before.
The death of Xu You has already caused quite a stir. If Jiang Yiqu dies again, there may be a mutiny in the army unless the Northern family is powerful. "
Lu Bu rolled his eyes, reacted, and blurted out: "So, you did not rescue the senior official because of his prestige in the army, and because he is Yuan Shao's nephew, and you are worried that if he returns to the North safely, he will have control over us. Yuan Shang is not good?"
Lin Mo didn't speak but the affirmative answer was written on his face.
Thinking about it carefully, this matter is indeed quite tricky. At first, Guo Tu proposed to let Jiang Yiqu rescue Bingzhou, but his son-in-law rejected it. Now he understands that these people are going to die after all. How can he kill someone with a borrowed knife? It is very important that Cao Cao is not cheap.
To deal with Gao Gan, Lin Mo chose to give him a false hope and let him kill as many Cao Cao troops as possible. Of course, it turned out that he underestimated Cao Cao's ability in the end, and Gao Gan was easily dealt with by him.
But this also means that it was wise not to send Jiang Yiqu to rescue. If there were no military advisors to take charge, the 50,000-strong army would probably become 50,000 prisoners in the end. On the contrary, it would help Cao Cao grow bigger.
"Just like how we dealt with Yuan Xi, how about secretly ordering him to return to Yecheng in the name of Yuan Shang. If he doesn't come back, how about cutting off his food and grass?"
Lin Mo shook his head and rejected the old father-in-law's suggestion, "Now everyone knows that our father-in-law is in charge of the Northern Kingdom. It would be best if he could obey our orders and come back. But if he decides not to obey our orders, he will be in a hurry." Those who may surrender to Cao should not rashly test him."
After all, Jiang Yiqu's position is different from that of Yuan Xi. To deal with Yuan Xi, he can use courtesy first and then attack with force. In addition, he still has useless trump cards. Lin Mo is confident that he can defeat Yuan Xi in one fell swoop.
But Lin Mo didn't have any trump cards next to Jiang Yiqu, and with Liyang as the strategic frontier, if he wanted to surrender to Cao Cao, he could change hands in one day. Then the door to the north would be opened, and the situation would become passive in an instant. The risk was too great.
"I think Liyang is no less important than Youzhou at this time. Only with Liyang in our hands can we directly deter Xuchang. Xiahou Dun's troops stationed in Anfeng will give up the siege and return immediately, or even If Cao Cao makes any changes in the future, he must also weigh the risk of a fire in this backyard."
"I see."
Lin Mo took a deep breath, "The reuse of Guo Tu and others is mostly to appease Jiang Yiqu and let him understand that even if our son-in-law makes the decision, he can still be reused, but the effect does not seem to be big."
In fact, Lin Mo did a lot of homework. In addition to Guo Tu, the Xin brothers also received awards, and they were all promoted to two ranks. One became the chief of the general's office, Shi and Sima.
These two positions are officials with eight hundred stones, which are higher than those of county magistrate and county lieutenant.
However, the integration of hundreds of thousands of troops has replaced too many old honors, and almost all of them have been wiped out at the military level. It is impossible to hide this from Jiang Yiqu, and his uneasiness probably comes from this.
Because of this, Jiang Yiqu was in a very awkward situation as he could not be frightened but could not be used.
"Sending the Xin brothers as envoys?" Lu Bu asked tentatively.
"Forget it, there is no point in alarming the enemy. Jiang Yiqu himself is in a lot of trouble now. We will provide him with food and grass. We will stabilize him first and send out multiple scouts at the same time to ensure that he will not collude with Cao Cao. We will wait a few more months to see his attitude.
If it really doesn't work, I still have a backup plan. "
Lu Bu didn't say anything else. He was not good at this kind of thing. If you ask him to lead the troops to attack Liyang, he can kill him with Fang Tian's painted halberd. It's obviously a bit embarrassing for him to play with his brain.
The only unhappy thing was that he did not expect that after taking control of the Northern Kingdom, the unknown Jiang Yiqu would become the most difficult problem, and he could not be beaten or scolded.
Some headache.
"Brother Wei, I didn't expect you to come to the stronghold in person. It's really brilliant and makes me extremely honored. Come on, I'll toast you with this cup on behalf of the Montenegrin Army!"
Taihang Mountain is more than 3,000 meters high and more than a thousand miles long. It runs almost through the entire northern country from north to south. The mountains are high and dangerous, and there are countless strategic points.
It is also because of such a natural chasm that Zhang Yan has been able to live here like a fish in water for more than ten years. Even Yuan Shao, who was at the height of his power, could not do anything to him.
Ever since Lu Bu started to kidnap Yuan Shang to order the Northern Kingdom when he was in Qingzhou, he already knew the fact that the Northern Kingdom was changing. Naturally, it was expected that Lu Bu would send an envoy to the door.
But he didn't expect that Wei Yue, a fierce man under Lu Bu's command, would come. What he didn't expect was that he would dare to place all the cavalry at the foot of the mountain and go up the Taihang Mountains alone. This courage was as bold as that of dozens of cavalry. It's the same as when tens of thousands of people are chasing you.
"General Zhang, you understand what Marquis Wen means. What do you think? Can we talk about it?" As a Zhonglang General appointed by the imperial court, Wei Yue did not mind calling him "General" even though he was notorious as the leader of the Black Mountain bandits. of.
Zhang Yan, who was sitting on the tiger-skin handsome chair, looked at each other and the second leader, Du Chang, smiled and said: "Brother Wei, you also know that I am used to taking these brothers to idle in the mountains. If I go down the mountain, I am afraid that I will not be able to adapt to the army. The regulations, on the contrary, conflicted with Marquis Wen."
Wei Yue put down the wine bowl and waved his hand directly, "We are all men, don't play around with me, just be direct, no matter what the conditions."
If possible, Zhang Yan actually really doesn't want to go down the mountain, but the situation in the Northern Kingdom is no longer what it used to be. Bingzhou is in the hands of Cao Cao, and Jizhou is under the control of Lu Bu. How can Zhang Yan, who is caught between the two places, stay out of the matter? , he must choose a place to bet.
Of course, most of the Taihang Mountains are still in Jizhou. Coupled with the fear of being dominated by Lu Bu in those years, and analyzing Lu Bu's current strength, Zhang Yan must choose one of the two, and Lu Bu is better.
"Brothers are not accustomed to military regulations, so even if we go down the mountain, our people cannot disperse. I will assign all the duties in the army."
After saying that, Zhang Yan stared at Wei Yue carefully, trying to gauge his reaction.
Fortunately, he was still drinking to himself, apparently acquiescing to this, so Zhang Yan continued: "After I take office as the prefect, I will decide everything from the county magistrate to the county magistrates in the area under my jurisdiction. Of course, Regarding taxes, I will also pay them quarterly according to Marquis Wen’s requirements.”
Wei Yue still didn't react at all, which made Zhang Yan's heart drop more than half.
After all, in this situation, even if they go down the mountain, the Montenegro Army is still the Montenegro Army. They don't need to live in the village all the time. The brothers can wash their hands and the family members can also farm well.
Given the choice, who wants to be a bandit?
"Finally. Finally."
Zhang Yan hesitated to speak, but finally said firmly, "I want Changshan County."
Hearing this, Wei Yue sneered, "Are you stupid for being a bandit? You don't know where you are from?"
The household registration avoidance system clearly stipulates that local people must not serve as local officials. For example, people from Wen County cannot serve as magistrates of Wen County; people from Pengcheng cannot serve as prefects of Pengcheng; and people from Jizhou cannot serve as prefecture shepherds of Jizhou. These are all clearly stipulated.
Zhang Yan himself was from Changshan, so it was obviously against the law, but he seemed to have been prepared for it. He said with a smile: "Chief Du is from Hanoi. Letting him be the prefect does not violate the laws of the court."
Wei Yue glanced at Du Chang, who had a scar on his forehead extending to his cheek and looked fierce, and he probably understood what they wanted to play, and they should imitate Wen Hou and make a puppet, right?
After all, they just don't want to leave Taihang Mountain. Here in Changshan, if there is any emergency, they can still escape to Taihang Mountain immediately.
"I can agree to all other requests, but not this one." Wei Yue refused firmly.
Changshan is the gateway to Bingzhou, and it is absolutely impossible to hand over such a strategically important place to Zhang Yan.
What's more, all the people he brings are his own. If Cao Cao offers a sky-high price, he can sell the big guys at any time. He knows this without going back and asking, and he will definitely not agree.
"Of course, of course, this is just my humble opinion. If Marquis Wen is not correct, everything will have to go according to Marquis Wen's wishes."
Wei Yue looked at Zhang Yan in confusion, no, why don't you fight for it?
He even thought about how Zhang Yan could be so obedient because he believed that the Black Mountain Army was strong and had the right time and place, so he would definitely put on airs.
Are you really afraid of being beaten?
For a moment, Wei Yue didn't know how to respond.
"Then if you have no objection, go to Pingyuan and become the prefect." Wei Yue was slow for a while before speaking.
"Good, then it will be plain." Zhang Yan obeyed the teacher's instructions like a good student.
"When can we set off?"
"Brother Wei, the Black Mountain Army on the Taihang Mountains has nearly 30,000 troops, and the Jian family has only a little over 100,000 people. We have been operating here for more than ten years. Even if we have to leave, we still have to give me some time to prepare. How about half a year?" Zhang Yan He asked with a smile.
"Three months."
"Fight for it. I will try to leave within three months."
Wei Yue felt as if he had been punched on cotton, completely unable to bear the force.
You say Zhang Yan is not good, you say whatever you say, but Wei Yue is not a fool, of course he knows that Zhang Yan can be chatting and laughing with Yuan Shao for so many years, how can he be an easy person.
Really unable to reach an agreement, he hoped that Zhang Yan would be angry. The problem was that he still cooperated closely. In desperation, Wei Yue could only put down the wine bowl and said in a low voice: "Today is the first day! Take my leave."
"I'll see Brother Wei off." Zhang Yan, like a person who always smiled, kindly sent Wei Yue two miles away from Dazhai before stopping.
When Wei Yue's figure disappeared into the dense forest, his smile suddenly froze. He stared at the foot of the mountain with sadness and coldly sneered: "Who do you think I am?"
"The boss, I see he has brought a lot of cavalry. They are all good horses. Otherwise, why don't we let the brothers hunt rabbits?" Du Chang's voice almost broke out.
The Black Mountain Army also had cavalry, but compared with the horses brought by Wei Yue, they were simply like heavy-duty horses, which made Du Chang feel itchy.
"You're so drunk! Why are you provoking them?"
Zhang Yan rolled her eyes at him and said coldly: "Think about it with your toes, do you think Lu Bu is still the bereaved dog who was running around in the past?"
Du Chang, who was scolded, did not dare to say a word and listened honestly.
Zhang Yan walked to the edge of the cliff at the hill, crossed her arms, and murmured to herself, "Yuan Shao was so high-spirited back then. Even if he couldn't do anything to me, a prefect wanted to send me away. If you had this ability, you could have given up the Taihang Mountains." If it's all over, it's your fault."
"What's the answer from the court?" Du Chang dared to ask after hearing these sworn remarks.
"What can I answer? It's the same. Anyway, we can't offend anyone. But whoever wants to eat me, Zhang Yan, has to ask if he has such good teeth." After that, Zhang Yan turned around and returned to Dazhai.
There are more than 20 villages like this in the entire Taihang Mountains, focusing on a cunning rabbit's three caves.
He was not worried at all that Wei Yue would figure out the terrain clearly when he came today.
Until the price reaches her bottom line, Zhang Yan has no intention of being inferior to anyone.
In fact, Zhang Yan has the capital to be arrogant. If nothing else, the Taihang Mountains, which are thousands of miles deep, can't defeat you, but can't you hide from them?
Not to mention Lu Bu's current army, Yuan Shao's hundreds of thousands of troops were unable to encircle and suppress them.
Spend it.
I have been here for so many years, and I don’t care if it takes more time. Anyway, others are in a hurry, but he is not in a hurry.
(End of chapter)
