Through this incident, the three of them basically reached a consensus, that is, today's incident must have something to do with Lou Niu.
But now that Tongniu County has fallen, Cheng Shi and Yan Zhong are both responsible for the loss of the city. The most important thing now is to quickly regain Tongniu County and make up for their mistakes.
But Cheng Shi had no troops under his command, so he could only place his hope on Li Hao. He immediately asked, "Where is your young master now? Can you ask him to come quickly and recover Tongniu County?"
Yuan Wo replied: "My young master is still on his way to Xiacai County. I will send someone back immediately to inform him. However, this time my young master is only on the front line for His Royal Highness, so he does not have many troops with him.
Now that Ma Rong has led his troops into the city to take control of the city's defenses, I'm afraid that my young master won't be able to break in even if he arrives. In the end, I'm afraid we have to wait for the reinforcements from His Highness the Crown Prince to arrive. "
Hearing this, Cheng Shi felt very heavy, because if the Bronze Bull could be recovered before the prince arrived, the sin of losing the city this time would be reduced a lot.
But the reality was that Cheng Shi had no choice. After all, the troops were there, and he did not have the ability to conjure men and horses out of thin air.
Yan Zhong's mentality is even more complicated. He is not only distressed by the loss of Tongniu County, but also reflecting on his own values.
After what happened with Lou Niu, he is now more determined. There are no good people in a wealthy family, so he must be cautious in dealing with people.
Looking at the silence between the two of them, Yuan Wo said: "You two don't have to worry so much. I'll send someone to notify the young master first and ask him to come as soon as possible. Maybe my young master will have some way to break the situation."
After saying that, Yuan Wo summoned someone and asked him to take a small road and pass the news to Li Hao as soon as possible.
But after returning from the operation, the two people still looked at each other blankly, and Yuan Wo persuaded him again: "The main reason for this matter is Nalou Niu. Who could have imagined that the children of the Lou family in Hedong would actually be like this?" Will conspire with rebellion.
When the time comes, the two of you just have to explain it in detail in front of the prince, and with my young master helping you to speak, I think the prince will not punish you severely.
Cheng Shi replied at this time: "Yes, if I hadn't seen it with my own eyes now, who would have thought that Lou Niu would conspire with Ma Rong. It is said that the prince's position is now stable and powerful.
Taifu Lou also relied on his friendship with the prince to have a prosperous official career in the court. I really can't figure out why his children want to join the bandits. "
However, Yan Zhong had contacts with Lou Niu in the past, so he knew a little about his status in the Lou family, so he said: "You may not know the inside story of the Yuan family. I only know it based on my previous correspondence with Lou Niu. .
Taifu Lou seems to be a loyal person, but in fact he is full of scheming. Because his son and son are all incompetent, he is worried that after Lou Niu becomes an official, the second family of the Lou family will rise up and suppress the first family.
Therefore, he deliberately hid him in front of His Highness the Crown Prince, and declined His Highness the Crown Prince's recommendation many times, saying that he was young and would need several more years of experience before he could become a man.
Therefore, it does make sense that Lou Niu wanted to do something in order to change the status quo and use it as a stepping stone to advance into an official career.
Of course, I haven't thought of exactly what he wants to do, but the roots should be in Tongniu County. "
After Cheng Shi heard this, he did not express emotion about Lou Niude's situation, but said disdainfully: "What does it make sense? If the situation is not going well for a moment, can you do whatever it takes? He has the status of a noble family son, and so do your majesty and the prince. We all know this person. Compared to me and other poor people, his situation is much higher.
Then should we imitate him, or even go a step further, killing innocent people and being rebellious for the sake of our so-called future? "
Yan Zhong didn't say anything after hearing this, because Cheng Shi's words also spoke to his heart. When it comes to comparison, how can Lou Niu compare with people like them.
The most he can do is not be an official, but this does not affect his daily life of fine clothes, fine food, high beds and soft pillows, nor does it affect his ability to receive the best education.
Looking back on myself, although I am not at the point where I cannot afford to eat, I think it is very difficult to study and progress. In order to find a good teacher to teach me, I often need to leave my hometown, and I have to just go with the flow.
Cheng Shi's life was even worse. In his early years in the countryside, he really suffered
After eating the last meal, they have to worry about the next meal. How can you let them empathize with Lou Niu?
Yuan Wo's verbal crusade against Lou Niu was in progress, and Li Hao was still on his way to Xiacai County.
However, the speed was controlled very slowly. After all, Li Hao just wanted to confuse the eyes staring at the dark place. He still wanted to go to Tongniu County, so naturally he couldn't stray too far.
In addition, Li Hao also sent a letter to the prince, telling them that there might be something strange in Tongniu County and asking them to stop and wait for reports.
In the dark, Li Hao also sent out all his scouts and guards and asked them to find the eyes in the dark.
After two days of searching, everyone who was roughly being followed was found, but Li Hao did not directly remove them.
After all, the situation in Tongniu County is unclear now. It would be bad if Lou Niu is frightened by taking action in advance and makes him afraid to take action.
Until the person sent by Yuan Wo to deliver the message arrived, Li Hao was sure that Tongniu County had already taken action. He immediately had people pull out all the nails nearby, and then directly changed direction and headed towards Tongniu County.
By the way, he also reported a message to the prince, asking the prince to send troops and horses to support.
After all, Li Hao didn't know how far the scene in Lou Niu could go with Yan Zhong still alive, especially if he dared to lead his troops into the city when he arrived.
If he doesn't dare then, he will have to attack the city wall, and his troops will not be enough.
After Li Hao led his troops to approach Tongniu County in three days, Yuan Wo had already taken Cheng Shi and Yan Zhong to wait.
When he saw Li Hao, Cheng Shi was really full of grievances and wanted to express them. After all, he was meeting an acquaintance.
This made Li Hao quite helpless. After a while of comforting him, he had time to ask about the recent situation in Tongniu County.
Yuan Wo replied: "Just yesterday, Lou Niu entered the city alone, and then early this morning the city gates of Tongniu County were opened, and he announced that Ma Rong had understood the justice of his family and country after Lou Niu's persuasion, so he surrendered the city.
I have sent people to the city to have a look, and now it is indeed no longer blocked in and out.
However, there is now news in the city that Ma Rong was able to take Tongniu County so smoothly because of the rebellion of County Magistrate Yan, and there was evidence from County Magistrate Li Fengzuo. "
[An app that has been running stably for many years, comparable to the old book-chasing tool, used by all old bookworms.
Does the Son have this ability?
And now that the initiative is entirely in Li Hao's hands, and with Cheng Shi's trust in Li Hao, Yan Zhong could only do what Li Hao said in the end.
But even if we have to wait, we still have to do the work that needs to be done. This large group of people is not far from Tongniu County, so we definitely cannot hide it completely, especially when we have pulled out so many nails.
But it was easy to hide Cheng Shi and Yan Zhong, just let them put on the clothes of ordinary soldiers and sneak into the private camp.
Just as Li Hao expected, the arrival of this army did attract the attention of Lou Niu and Ma Rong, and the two gathered together that night to discuss countermeasures.
Ma Rong said: "Li Hao and the others clearly went to Xia Cai before, but now they suddenly appear here. Could it be that he noticed something? Is there any news from the spies you sent to follow him?"
Lou Niu replied: "No, the spies sent out have not returned with news for several days, I am afraid that the situation is already in danger.
But don't worry, these people are all rangers I found from outside. They don't know our plan. In addition, there are always dedicated people to communicate with us on weekdays, so they won't implicate us. "
Ma Rong said angrily: "I don't care about this. I just want to know if Li Hao knows about our plan now. You must know that he can speak to Emperor Wen and the Crown Prince."
Lou Niu looked at Ma Rong, who was a little anxious, and quickly comforted him: "He can speak the truth, but my Lou family can't speak. As long as he doesn't have evidence in his hand, no matter what he thinks in his heart, he can't tell the truth." There's nothing we can do."
"But now Yan Zhong is still alive. We have been searching for so many days, but there is no trace of him. What if he falls into the hands of Li Hao." Ma Rong said.
"Don't be so worried. Yan Zhong was captured by bandits and took away so much fine copper. Now they are probably hiding in a ravine somewhere, thinking about how to convert the fine copper into money. , how could it be so easy to get caught.
And don’t we have evidence that Yan Zhong is a thief? There are so many witnesses. What can Yan Zhong’s mouth mean? "
Lou Niu tried his best to comfort Ma Rong, but in his heart he had already made a plan to get rid of Ma Rong according to the original plan.
After all, witnesses, if their minds are not firm enough, will often become a breakthrough point for the enemy.
Based on Ma Rong's performance just now, Lou Niu felt that it was safer to face Yan Zhong alone. Of course, it was best for Yan Zhong not to come back.
That night, Lou Niu held a Hongmen Banquet for Ma Rong. With the help of a deputy general assigned by Peng Kun, he sent Ma Rong to Huangquan Road. Then, with the help of Ma Rong's personal guards, he also sent the deputy general to Huangquan Road. Removed them together.
After eliminating the hidden danger here, he went to see Li Feng without stopping. He first told him the bad news and drew some big cakes to appease him.
After all, although Li Feng was also on the list he wanted to remove, the people involved in the matter died together, which ultimately aroused suspicion, so it would be better to be more natural.
After that, both sides were waiting for news. Li Hao was waiting for news from the prince, while Lou Niu, in addition to staring at Li Hao's movements, was also waiting for news from the prince.
Because he retracted the news about Shouchun, and after getting rid of Ma Rong, he also sent someone to report the news to the prince.
At this time, an accident occurred. Ling Buyi, who had been stationed around Shouchun and kept an eye on the movement, after learning that Tongniu County had fallen, arrived with Cui You and their troops.
Their appearance was somewhat unexpected by Lou Niu, but knowing that he had cleaned up his hands, Lou Niu welcomed them into the city openly.
Only then did Ling Buyi and Cui You learn about Lou Niu's deeds of retaking the city alone. Ling Buyi couldn't help but praise: "This is another Qilin son in the Lou family. Brother Lou has a bright future."
Lou Niu replied: "I am really ashamed of what General Ling said. It was only because I got acquainted with Ma Rong when I traveled to Shouchun a few years ago, so I was able to say a few words. In fact, it was the sage and virtuous man who made Ma Rong win. Take refuge in glory, and the world will return to its heart."
After praising Emperor Wen a few words, Lou Niu said: "General Ling and Cui Hou have worked hard all the way, why not go to the city for a while?"
Take a break and talk slowly again. "
Naturally, Ling Buyi and Cui You would not refuse. After all, they were tired from traveling all the way. Moreover, Ling Buyi did not have much interaction with the Cheng family this time, so naturally they would not care about Cheng Shi's movements.
Without any preconceived notions, Ling Buyi still had enough trust in this old friend who had a close relationship.
But compared to Ling Buyi's calmness, Li Hao was quite unsettled after learning about this situation.
After all, Ling Buyi's entry into the trap was a bit unexpected. If this guy had any problems in Tongniu County, it would really be a big deal.
Although Li Hao thought that Lou Niu should not do this, but in case, Li Hao could only rush to Tongniu County in advance.
Naturally, Cheng Shi and Yan Zhong were not suitable to appear. After all, many people in the county knew the two of them, and it would be troublesome if they were accidentally exposed. Therefore, Li Hao asked the two to continue to accompany the bandits.
When Li Hao arrived in Tongniu County, Lou Niu still led people out of the city to greet him, and at the same time he also started to test Li Hao.
