Chapter 24 Chapter 5 Pei Xu

"Governor Xu, it's been really hard for you to ask these few days." Pei Xu's tone was very relaxed, and his face was clearly defined under the moonlight. Xu Yong's face tightened, and he asked cautiously: "...Uh, my lord found me so late, what's the matter?" "Hehe, it's time to be loyal to His Majesty the Emperor." "Which Emperor is His Majesty?" Xu Yong asked.Hearing this rhetorical question, Pei Xu's eyes flashed a little secretively. He didn't speak, but just pointed to the north.Xu Yong put his hands in his sleeves and shrank his neck, as if he couldn't bear the cold in the mountain night.

Pei Xu continued: "Although they haven't pursued it for the time being, Xun Xu will never give up on the investigation of Zhulong's identity. He doesn't trust you at all. Sooner or later they will set up a trap to lure you to tell the truth—in fact, After today's inquiry, I have heard that he and Du Bi are planning related matters..." "Master Pei..." Xu Yong said slowly, "I only agree with one of your words." "Well?" "Master Xun Xu doesn't trust me at all." Xu Yong raised his head, his words filled with pain and anger.

Pei Xu took a step closer to him and said, "Yes, you are just a wooden box full of treasures to him. When he takes all the treasures in the box, he will throw the box away. I have worked with him for so many years, Know it very well." Hearing this, Xu Yong actually smiled, the smile was fleeting, and then he said coldly to Pei Xu: "You are not a candle dragon at all." He shouted: "Lord Xun, Lord Du, how long are you going to play this trick?" His voice was so sudden that it startled a few crows on the old locust tree by the wall, flapped their wings and flew hoarsely into the night sky.

After a while, people began to come out from all directions, and the two most eye-catching people were Xun Xu and Du Bi, who had been lurking here for a long time. "Xun Xu, I respect your sense of humor, but this joke is really bad." Xu Yong stared at Xun Xu and said coldly, the latter's expression was hard to tell whether it was embarrassment or frustration. "Actually... well... this is not a joke." "Then it's worse." Du Bi walked over, wanting to say something.Xu Yong shook his head sadly, and stretched out his palm to stop him: "Fuguo, don't say anything, you don't need to say anything."

At this time Xun Xu stood in front of Xu Yong slowly with a lantern in his hand. He shook Xu Yong's face with the lantern and said, "Of course we don't need to say anything. You are the one who needs to say something, Governor Xu." Xu Yong's face became more and more gloomy under the light of the lantern: "You treat the exiles like this, won't everyone in the world be chilled." "We believe in your sincerity, Governor Xu, and appreciate the information you provided us, but you obviously concealed something from us. And honesty is a virtue that both of us should have, right?" Xun Xu said.

"What am I hiding?" "Candle Dragon, it's obvious." "I don't know how many times I've repeated it." Xu Yong pointed at Pei Xu angrily, "Even if you use such clumsy means to test..." In the middle of speaking, his anger suddenly stopped in mid-air, and he froze there.There was a tricky smile on Xun Xu's lips: "And then, Governor Xu?" Xu Yong's anger turned into embarrassment, his face flushed, his lips were murmured and he couldn't speak.Xun Xu handed the lantern to the person beside him, and said kindly: "I admit that our scheme is very clumsy, but since you claim that you have never heard about Zhulong, why do you judge that Pei Xu is not Zhulong? "

"That's because he's only in his twenties, and Zhulong holds a high position in the Shu Han, so it's impossible for him to be so young!" Xu Yong was still trying to defend himself. Xun Xu reminded him politely: "It's a big Han, not a Shu Han." Realizing his gaffe, Xu Yong's face turned red, and he hurriedly changed his words: "Yes, yes, it's a big man." "Hehe, let's continue, how do you know that Zhulong holds a high position in my big man?" "I heard it during your inquiry." Xu Yong felt that he had finally caught a straw.

"This is strange." Xun Xu took out a thick stack of paper from the cloth bag beside him, and waved it in his hand, "here is the complete record of inquiries in the past few days, you can look for it, we don't have any The word mentioned whether 'Zhulong' held a high position in Nanzheng. If you don't know anything about Zhulong, you can only know that there is such a spy from the inquiry record, and it is impossible to know the details—unless you have already I know Candle Dragon." "Yes, but if I knew who Zhulong was, I would have seen through your trap from the moment I received the note..." Xu Yong glanced at Pei Xu, and stammered in a low voice.Du Bi noticed that his hands outside the wide sleeves were trembling slightly, like dead leaves shivering in late autumn.

So he walked up to Xu Yong, put on a robe for him, and said kindly: "We believe that you do not work on the line of Zhulong; but we are also sure that you must know something about him You don't want to say, what are your concerns?" Xu Yong finally came to a dead end, he lowered his head, let out a long sigh with difficulty, and intertwined his hands in confusion: "Yes, I do know something about Zhulong, but I don't know his true face. I'm afraid that if If you say it easily, you will be silenced by him... Who knows if he is one of you." After speaking, he glanced at the people present vigilantly.

"Don't worry, all the people on Qinglong Mountain have been strictly checked, and we will strictly protect you." Xun Xu looked up at the sky, "Okay, it's almost time, everyone go back early to rest. Let's discuss this matter after dawn." He glanced at Xu Yong, and added: "Pei Xu, you and Asher go to Governor Xu's house to protect his safety, and instruct the kitchen that from today onwards, all The food and beverage inspection level should be raised by one level.” So the short-term hustle and bustle under the south wall returned to silence again, until the sun rose from the east again, and the time entered March 15th, the ninth year of Jianxing.

Because of last night's tossing, today's inquiry work was postponed for an hour.And what is different from the past is that all the singers and bands behind the tulle have been removed; the wine and meat on the table have also been removed and replaced with a glass of water; the original colorful decorations can be dismantled. When it was dismantled, all that remained were gray and white walls, window edges and pillars. This was specially arranged to increase Xu Yong's sense of crisis, and the purpose was to let him know that Jing'an Division had begun to distrust him, and if he continued to fail to cooperate, there would be serious consequences.In Yin Ji's words, Zhang Yichi is the way of civil and military affairs, and now it's time for Zhang. In addition to Xun Xu, Du Bi, and Pei Xu, the people in charge of the inquiry today.Yesterday's plan was written by him, and Xun Xu felt that if he could continue to participate in the interrogation, the effect would be better. When Xu Yong came in, his relaxed expression was quite different from before; he trembled every step he took, and from time to time he cautiously raised his eyes to look at the three people sitting in a row, and kept licking his lips with his tongue. "Sit down." Xun Xu said solemnly, deliberately omitting the word "please".This time, Xu Yong was not provided with a blanket, only a mustache bed, the same style as when Xun Xu attended the council.Xu Yong hurriedly sat down, adjusted his uncomfortable sitting posture, and then picked up the glass of water in front of him and drank it down in one gulp.Asher, who escorted him, closed the door from the outside. "Did Governor Xu sleep well yesterday?" This was a question that was asked knowingly. Xu Yong, who was caught lying last night, could only reply timidly: "It's okay, it's okay." "Very good, then let's start." Xun Xu moistened the condensed brush tip with his mouth, "How much do you know about Candle Dragon?" Xu Yong picked up the empty glass and said pleadingly, "Can you add some water to me first?" Pei Xu pointed to the case with his fingers, and refused politely: "After we finish talking about this issue, we will give you some water." You added water." Xu Yong could only put the cup back resentfully, and rubbed his dry lips back and forth with his fingers unwillingly. "How much do you know about Zhulong?" Du Bi repeated Xun Xu's question again. After Xu Yong hesitated for two or three times, he finally began to confess slowly: the first time he came into contact with the name "Zhulong" was in the first year of Taihe (Pei Xu immediately corrected him and said it was the fifth year of Han Jianxing). Yecheng.At that time, he was asked to participate in an interview with Jianjun Sima Yang Wei. The content of the interview was to assess another official who was expected to be promoted to Jianjun Sima. Cao Wei's intelligence agencies are different from those of Shu Han and Wu.Compared with Si Wencao of the Shu Han and the Secret Mansion of Wu State, Cao Wei did not have a unified structure dedicated to intelligence work, and its intelligence functions were in charge of several military Sima directly under the Central Secretariat.Every interim army Sima has his own staff group and a specific area in charge, independent of each other and not subordinate to each other.It can be said that every interim army Sima is a small mobile intelligence agency.For example, Yang Wei is the military commander of the intelligence work in Yecheng and surrounding areas. He has more than 20 staff members including Xu Yong. The official being assessed this time was a young man named Guo Gang, the nephew of General Guo Huai.Guo Gang applied for the post of Sima of the interim army in the Yongliang area.Although the rank of Jianjun Sima is not very high, he has a lot of power. Such a young man has never been appointed before, so both Yang Wei and Xu Yong are suspicious.During the interview, Yang Wei asked Guo Gang what he thought about the intelligence work in Longxi. Guo Gang criticized the imperial court's carelessness in the defense of the northwest region with a blunt and sharp attitude, saying that this region would become the coveted target of the Shu Han sooner or later. There must be a rainy day, and he has done some preparatory work for this. Then Guo Gang submitted a top-secret job list to Yang Wei.Due to his authority, Xu Yong only saw the title of this list. He noticed that among the long list of items, there was a line marked with vermilion called "Shuhan Zhulong Project Progress and Estimated Value".This was the first time he came into contact with the name Candle Dragon.Xu Yong guessed that this might be a spy, and at the same time was surprised by Guo Gang's boldness.He actually developed spies without the approval of Zhongshu Province, and he didn't even name the code according to Cao Wei's practice.There may be Guo Huai's support behind this. Out of stinging self-esteem, Yang Wei denied Guo Gang's application after the interview.He believes that more attention and resources should be devoted to the southeast area. As for the Shu Han, the northwest area has not been threatened since Liu Bei's death.Most officials of the imperial court agreed with this view, so the establishment of interim army Sima in Yongliang area was shelved. Xu Yong and a colleague were briefly transferred to Chang'an in April of the first year of Taihe, with the purpose of assisting General Xia Houmao in establishing an internal affairs control network in Chang'an.While working in Chang'an, Xu Yong noticed that there was an intelligence channel inside the Shu Han that continuously sent intelligence to Wei. The relay station was set up in Chang'an, and the officer in charge was Xia Houmao.Out of discipline, he did not conduct an in-depth investigation. Later, in a chat, Xia Houmao revealed that the other end of this pipeline was Zhulong. (Xun Xu couldn't help but nodded slightly when he heard this, and made a striking tick on the record. Xu Yong's words can be confirmed by what happened to Xue Ying, an intelligence officer from the State of Wu. Xue Ying was in the first year of Wei Taihe When I was sent to Yecheng, I also learned about the existence of Zhulong from Xia Houmao, which was exactly the same as what Xu Yong said.) However, Zhulong has been ignored at this stage and only belongs to the second-tier insider. Cao Wei's attitude towards it can be described as "talking is better than nothing".Xu Yong recalled that this situation lasted until Zhuge Liang’s first Northern Expedition in the sixth year of Jianxing in the Shu Han Dynasty; Immediately, he was promoted to be the commander of the interim army, responsible for the intelligence work of the entire Yongliang area, and Zhulong became the number one important source of intelligence. However, the person in charge of Zhulong's line has always been Guo Gang, and Guo Gang's immediate supervisor is Liu Fang, the Supervisor of the Central Book Council, so the degree of secrecy is extremely high.Not to mention Xu Yong, even his boss Yang Wei has no way of knowing Zhulong's true identity. "What about other things? What else can you recall?" Xun Xu asked eagerly. Although the current information about Zhulong is slightly richer, there is nothing substantial. Xu Yong pondered for a while, then hesitated again and said: "Four months before I came to Dahan, Guo Gang once sent a letter to Yang Wei, requesting to second Deng Xian's relationship to him." Xun Xu quickly exchanged glances with Du Bi and Pei Xu, and Pei Xu asked, "Can you talk about this matter in detail?" "Okay, okay, but this is all my speculation. As you know, Deng Xian was an insider who developed in Jiangzhou a few years ago with the Sima of the Jiangling District Army. Later, Deng Xian came to Hanzhong with Li Yan, and Jiangling began to contact him. It becomes difficult. Therefore, Guo Gang hopes to incorporate this line into his scope of work, after all, the connection between Longxi and Hanzhong is relatively close.” Pei Xu leaned over his head and whispered to Xun Xu and Du Bi, "He's telling the truth. According to the files provided by Li Duhu, the Military Adviser judged that Deng Xian was suspected of leaking secrets when he was serving in Jiangzhou." Xun Xu pointed Nodding, he got up to serve Xu Yongxu a glass of water, and motioned for him to continue. "I saw the letter Guo Gang sent to Yang Wei. It mentioned that Deng Xian could get local assistance in Hanzhong, which would play a greater role in dredging Ziqing. I think this 'local assistance' refers to Zhulong .” "Dredging Ziqing?" Xun Xu didn't quite understand the meaning of this sentence. "Dredging is Cao Wei's intelligence term, which means to win over high-ranking officials of the enemy." Du Bi said with a sullen face, he was thoughtful.Pei Xu then added: "I remembered, 'Ziqing' should be Meng Da's word." "Meng Da died as early as the sixth year of Jianxing... The dredging here obviously does not refer to him." Xun Xu also sensed a trace of strange smell in it, and he asked Xu Yong, "What else was said in that letter?" "Well... I remember Guo Gang also mentioned that after Li Yan arrived in Hanzhong, the entire Shu Han bureaucracy was adjusted, and the result was to develop in favor of the dredging project, which would make local assistance more efficient." Xu Yong said After finishing, he drank the water in the glass again, seemed to remember something, widened his eyes and said: "You should have caught Mr. Deng, you can ask him directly." Xun Xu put down his brush helplessly: "Deng Xian committed suicide not long after he was arrested." "Oh, so that's the case, that's a pity." Xu Yong's expression darkened immediately, "But what I said is indeed true, and I really don't know anything else." The questioning ended here, and Asheer walked in the door and took Xu Yong back to his bedroom. After Xu Yong left, none of the three people who stayed in the room spoke, their faces livid.They are all proficient in intelligence work, and they all smell a hint of danger from Xu Yong's vague testimony. Meng Da Meng Ziqing was a general in the early Shu Han Dynasty, and he was widely known for his capriciousness; he once turned his back on Shu and surrendered to Wei, and then intended to turn his back on Wei to Shu Han, but was killed by Sima Yi on the eve of his rebellion.Guo Gang named the "dredging" project after his name, obviously alluding to it.As we all know, Meng Da has one of the closest friends in the upper echelons of Shuhan, Li Ping. The report of the Military Advisory Department also pointed out—although it may be mixed with Feng Ying’s prejudice—it is hard to believe that Deng Xian would leak so much information without being detected without the acquiescence or negligence of those with higher authority.Deng Xian's immediate superior is Li Ping. The time when Li Ping arrived in Hanzhong coincided with the time when Guo Gang took over Deng Xian and the "dredging" project, which is almost impossible to be a coincidence.As for Li Ping himself, his dissatisfaction with Zhuge Liang has long been on the surface, and officials big and small are well aware of it, and their motives are full. All kinds of signs point to Li Ping, and he is very likely to be the senior general who is undergoing "dredging".Xun Xu knew it well, and Prime Minister Zhuge had already reminded him of this—in fact, the main purpose of Xun Xu's transfer back to Hanzhong was to guard against Li Ping. "Then, it's still an old question, who is Candle Dragon?" Du Bi spoke first: "Judging from Xu Yong's last confession, Zhulong was adjusted to a position more conducive to 'dredging' after Li Yan arrived in Hanzhong. I think Zhulong's current position must be in contact with Li Ping Closely, this is a clue, we should start to investigate from this aspect... What's wrong with you two?" Du Bi was only focused on expounding his own views, and didn't notice that Pei Xu and Xun Xu's expressions became more and more ugly.In fact, his opinion was also what Xun Xu and Pei Xu were thinking at this time, but Du Bi didn't understand Xun Xu's interpersonal relationship, and he didn't know that this speculation would push two of Xun Xu's friends to the top of the suspect list . Hu Zhong and Cheng Fan. The two of them served as Li Ping's enlisted army and his army supervisor after arriving in Hanzhong, which fully met this requirement. Xun Xu rubbed her fingers agitatedly, as if she wanted to crush these things between her fingers.He has been working in the internal affairs for several years, during which time he has arrested countless people, but this is the first time that his friend has become a suspect.He suddenly remembered a sentence from his predecessor: "In the eyes of Jing Ansi, there are only enemies and enemies pretending to be his own", and he couldn't help feeling flustered. He had the highest rank in this room, and both Pei Xu and Du Bi looked at him without saying a word, waiting for him to express their opinions.Xun Xu hesitated again and again, and finally came to a difficult conclusion: "This matter involves senior officials, so we can't just listen to Xu Yong's side. Whether it's Li Ping or Zhulong, we must treat it with caution." Du Bi was a little surprised by Xun Xu's reaction. This kind of argument was not in line with his usual action style.Du Bi reminded the somewhat absent-minded director of the Jingan Department: "...But, if you don't act as soon as possible, I'm afraid it will delay the opportunity. Mr. Deng's death may further stimulate Li Duhu to accept Zhulong's 'dredging' , by then..." Du Bi did not continue with the next words, the defection of the deputy of the prime minister of Shu Han did not need him to remind him of the seriousness of the defection. "I will ask Prime Minister Zhuge to see how they deal with it; Li Duhu's status is too high, no matter whether the 'dredging' this time is true or not, it will definitely cause big trouble..." Xun Xu dismissed Du Bi's request dryly, and he didn't know why.Seeing this, Pei Xu pulled Du Bi aside and whispered a few words. Du Bi was taken aback for a moment, then nodded understandingly; he walked slowly to Xun Xu, put his arms on the desk, and Looking at him with mixed eyes of sternness and trust, he said word by word: "I can understand your feelings, Xun Zheng, but I also believe that you can deal with it fairly." "I know." This was the only answer Xun Xu could think of at this time. While the three members of the Jing'an Department were in a panic, there was a solemn scene outside Nanzheng City, which was more than ten miles away from them. About 2,000 soldiers from the Zhonghu Infantry Battalion and 300 Qingqiang cavalry were neatly lined up on both sides of the road in front of the North Gate of Nanzheng, with bright armor.The soldiers in the first row put the cowhide wooden shield on the right side of the abdomen, with the bottom touching the ground, and connecting with the edges of the left and right shields, forming two continuous walls of gray and yellow shields; behind them, the crossbowmen will remove the arrowheads The empty-bore "Yuanrong" crossbow stands upright, with arms around; behind it are sword soldiers and halberd soldiers, and a gold-rimmed banner with "Han" written on one side flutters in the wind at the front of the team. There are so many soldiers standing here, but there is no sound, only the whirring of the banners can be heard outside the whole city, the atmosphere is dignified, and it seems that murderous intentions and fighting intentions are brewing.Careful people can find that this looks like a situation that is about to set off, but there are no necessary utensils for the expedition ceremony such as Yifan, Sige Ding and sacrificial table, and even incense candles are not prepared. Suddenly, a loud drum sound came from the top of the city, and the teams on both sides raised their horns at the same time as if inspired, and the two heavy city gates rumbled slowly open.Prime Minister Zhuge, Central Governor Li Ping and several other important officials from the Prime Minister's Mansion walked out of the city.Except for Zhuge Liang, the court uniforms of the other officials were not neatly dressed, and many of them had surprised expressions, as if they were completely unprepared for this expedition. A nearly undecorated double-wheeled carriage drove up to the officials. The driver pulled the reins, and the two horses stopped obediently without any fuss.Zhuge Liang came to the side of the carriage, patted the jujube wood handrail beside the carriage, pressed his lips tightly, with a solemn expression.Several unconcealable strands of silver draped from under the scarf above his head, adding to the old man's gauntness. "Prime Minister..." Li Ping took a step forward, straightened his crown first, and then asked on behalf of the officials behind him, "Why did you suddenly decide to send troops ahead of schedule? According to the schedule, didn't you officially start in early April? " Zhuge Liang took the crane cloak handed over by the guard next to him, and while putting it on his body, he calmly replied: "Cao Zhen, the great general of Cao Wei, just died of illness a few days ago. There will inevitably be a period of chaos in the military of Wei State, and this opportunity must not be missed." "The prime minister should wait a few more days. The transportation and allocation plan for grain and grass has not been completed yet, and the supply stations along the way from Hanzhong to Qishan are not ready yet." "Hehe, this time the wooden cows and horses have been deployed to the army, and the difference will be made up soon; besides, with your overall planning ability, I believe that there will be no problem with the supply." Zhuge Liang smiled lightly. Li Ping quickly lowered his head, repeatedly saying "much praise and praise", and then raised his head unwillingly: "Even so, Prime Minister, you really made the decision too hastily. We logistics officials were notified only this morning. Even the sacrificial utensils for the expedition ceremony are not ready..." His tone contained thin but very clear dissatisfaction; after all, he is also a dignified protector of the central government, the second person under one man under ten thousand in Hanzhong, Now, they only received the news on the morning of the army's expedition.Li Ping felt that he was neglected again, Fang Fangzheng's face flushed a little. Zhuge Liang didn't seem to notice the change in Li Ping's expression. He just patted him on the shoulder affectionately and said, "Military situation is important. Let's go early to seize the opportunity and save the ceremony if you can." "Prime Minister, but you should follow me..." Li Ping couldn't help raising his voice. At this time Zhuge Liang interrupted his complaint: "Zhengfang, anyway, please worry about the supply. After I leave, Nanzheng and Hanzhong will be handed over to you." With a half body, the officials outside the car clasped their fists and said loudly: "Everyone, with the army at the front, I will entrust all matters to the rear to you and Li Duhu." "I will live up to the entrustment of the Prime Minister and His Majesty the Emperor!" All the officials present bowed and said in unison.Li Ping, who was the leader, bowed first, but didn't say anything, just moved his lips perfunctorily; no one saw his expression when he bent down, but his big hands were tightly grasping the hem of the robe on both sides, as if It's like crushing them. Zhuge Liang fanned the goose feather fan that never left his hand with satisfaction, turned around and sat in the car.Two soldiers quickly ran to the front of the city, pulled out the big banner, inserted it into the back of the carriage, and fixed it with iron rods.When all the preparations were finished, another drum sounded from the top of the city, and the carriage carrying Zhuge Liang slowly turned its direction, and then the coachman gave a crisp whip sound in the air, the two horses let go, and the carriage headed towards the road. The north of the car was galloping away, and more than a dozen horse guards followed closely behind the car. After Zhuge Liang left, the middle-level officers in the ranks on both sides got on their horses one after another, galloped to the phalanx of their subordinates and gave orders to set off.The horn sounded one after another, and the Zhonghu Infantry Battalion in front of Nanzheng City followed this unique rhythm and began to step up the road in an orderly manner, driving in the direction where the prime minister's car disappeared. Farther away, the main force of the Han army stationed in Nanshan, Seoul and other places was also marching towards the scheduled assembly area under the leadership of Wei Yan, Gao Xiang, Wu Ban and others.Nearly 100,000 Shu Han legions quickly and efficiently gathered together, gradually forming a sharp sword head, pointing straight to the western section of the Qinling Mountains, the core fortress of the Cao Wei Longxi defense line-Qishan. The fourth Northern Expedition of the Shu Han officially kicked off with such a sudden prelude, on March 15th in the ninth year of Jianxing.