Chapter 44 Chapter Forty-Four

"Master, did you call me?" Zhou Xiang came to a ginkgo tree outside the camp gate, and Wang Jianzheng was sitting under the tree alone. "Wei Xiang has repeatedly urged me to hand over my military power. Seeing that all my previous efforts have been wasted, I feel unwilling." "My lord has been in business for ten years to get this opportunity. If Chengdu doesn't take it, Xichuan's hegemony will never come true!" "How to take it? Wei Xiangcai was ordered by the imperial court to attack Xichuan as the commander in chief, and he has an imperial edict in his hand ordering me to withdraw troops. I want to resist the edict, but I am hesitant."

"But what if Xiang Wei is not here?" Zhou Xiang asked. "Not here? Oh, how can you murder the imperial court official?" "My lord misunderstood me, we can make a plan to let Xiang Wei hand over the power to the lord!" Wang Jian was taken aback, and looked up at Zhou Xiang. In front of him was a scholar in his thirties, whose protruding forehead could not be covered by the wrapped square scarf, and his wise eyes were always full of confidence and ease. "My lord, do you remember the battle between General Zong Bi and Song Xingneng?" "Remember, if Zong Bi hadn't risked his life to seize the spear, the situation would not have gone so smoothly."

"Do you remember Wei Xianggong's deeds in that battle?" Zhou Xiang smiled contemptuously, "At the beginning, you invited his former enemy to watch the battle, but he was as cowardly as a mouse and refused to go. How can such a weak and cowardly person be worthy of being the commander of Xichuan I thought about it again and again, and came up with a plan. Let's scare Wei Xianggong and let him invite his own teacher to return to the court. At that time, you only need to let a general lead a thousand troops to seal the Jiange Road, and Sanchuan will be separated from the world. Isolation! At present, it is only a matter of time before the city of Chengdu can be taken down. If the public wins Chengdu, relying on their talents and a wealth of talents, within ten years, they will be able to settle down in three rivers!" Wang Jian was stunned by Zhou Xiang's cold words. Suffering from the lack of work on the chessboard, this Zhou Xiang has already skillfully calculated the outcome of the overall battle.Wang Jian's stiff face relaxed a little.This ease is not because he is glad that he was able to ask for advice for this move, but because he felt that he was able to invite such a genius in troubled times when he personally visited talents in Lizhou.

One day in early spring, the sun was shining brightly, and it was warm and cold.Wang Jian, who was born as a general, was dressed in a mountain-patterned armor with a silver helmet on his head and a sharp knife hanging from his waist, making him appear extremely energetic.Wei Zhaodu was invited to come to the tent of the Chinese Army, and unexpectedly saw that Wang Jian, who was usually in plainclothes and long robes, was dressed like this today, so he couldn't help asking: "General, in military uniform today, do you want to go to the battlefield or return to the town?" Thinking of these days, Wang Jian repeatedly persuaded Wei Zhaodu to go back to Beijing first, and asked him to take full power to represent Xichuan, but he was rejected, so he couldn't help laughing: "I have discussed with the Prime Minister many times these days, and the Prime Minister is worried about Wang Jian, and dare not give up the power. Decentralization. It's a pity that Chen Jingxuan and Tian Lingzi are only captured alive now, alas..." Wei Zhaodu frowned when he heard Wang Jian mentioning the matter of letting him return to Beijing to change his military power.Although he is a prime minister, he is only a scholar after all; although he is in charge of the Sanchuan War, he has almost no military power.Once he left, the imperial court would no longer be able to control Xichuan. After all, Chen Jingxuan was no match for the tiger and wolf army that Wang Jian had pulled over in the past ten years.However, Zhaodu still couldn't figure out Li Ye's thoughts. He didn't know Wang Jian and Chen Jingxuan, who the emperor trusted more, or who the emperor could tolerate more to win Chengdu, the granary of the world.Thinking of this, Zhaodu couldn't help exhaling a long breath, and the muscles of his cheeks trembled slightly with this breath: "General, it's not that the truth doesn't give you face, it's really the emperor's order!"

"Yesterday, Lord Inspector Zhang Gong gave me some advice, and I actually listened to it. No, today I specially prepared to go back to Qiongzhou." When Wei Zhaodu heard that Wang Jian planned to withdraw his troops, he was overjoyed: "The general has finally figured it out! That's great. When the general returns to town, I will return to Beijing to pay homage to your contribution to assisting the imperial court in the past three years." Wang Jian pretended to bow and salute: "Then Mr. Lao Xiang will have a few words of kindness in front of the emperor." After finishing speaking, Wang Jian sent down an order to set up a banquet with wine, wanting to thank Wei Zhaodu for his kindness to the Yongping Army these days.

The barracks, which had been fighting for a long time, were filled with wine and wine, and there was a scene of singing and dancing.The soldiers stood up one after another and toasted Wei Zhaodu. Suddenly, one of Wei Zhaodu's followers ran over in a panic: "Master, something is wrong. General Luo was killed, and his body... was placed outside the military gate for cooking..." Wei Zhaodu was shocked, and said angrily: "Bastard! Who is so bold, dare to kill the people around me, and bring me the truth!" It turned out that the person who was killed was named Luo Bao, who was Wei Zhaodu's personal official brought from Chang'an .In the past three years, this imperial envoy who had no idea had to discuss with him any big or small matters.Never thought that there would be such a bold person in Wang Jian's army, who not only killed Luo Bao, but also did such a tragic thing.

Not long after, Li Shitai brought people to escort Tang Youtong and Tian Wei.Wang Jian angrily ordered the two to kneel down, and scolded: "You two have eaten the heart of a bear and the guts of a leopard. Why don't you come to see that Mr. Luo is someone next to Mr. Wei Xiangye? Hurt people's lives for no reason! Come on, take the two Push it out and chop it off!" Tian Wei yelled: "The last general was wronged! The last general and my lord have died hundreds of times since chopping up the prison cart in Wuyang! Today, the military law kills people, why punish them?"

"You said follow the military law, which military law?" Tang Youtong on the side shouted: "There is a shortage of food in the army. Luo Bao steals polished rice privately. According to military law, it should be cooked and eaten together!" Wei Zhaodu never expected that Tang Youtong would bite out such a terrible crime, and lost his composure for a moment, cursing: "You bastard, how dare you spit blood on people." Tang Youtong was calm and composed: "Master Xiang and Situ, it wasn't me who planted and framed it. All the generals saw it with their own eyes. Stealing food and grass, killing and eating it! From the military lords to the soldiers, everyone knows this. Military regulations. If Situ is lenient because he is someone close to Xiangye, forgive me for being disrespectful, Xiangye and Situ, how can you command the three armies? How can you command the three armies?" Wang Jian and Wei Zhaodu looked at each other, and Wei Zhaodu was already flustered Limping, speechless.But he seemed to sense something in his heart: this Tang Youtong was a general under Dongchuan Gu Yanlang's command. Gu Yanlang was bedridden and his younger brother Gu Yanhui was in charge. Unlike the army under Gu Yanlang's command, Tang Youtong would not be killed rashly; Tian Wei and Wang Jian were self-made friends, so how could Wang Jian use his brother as a knife?

Then Wang Jian heard from some soldiers who were present at the time, what the soldiers said was exactly the same as Tang and Tian. Wang Jian put away his smile, and said to Wei Zhaodu: "Master, since this is the case, Wang Jian can't be selfish!" After finishing speaking, before Wei Zhaodu came back to his senses, he sent an order to share the cooked Luo Bao with everyone . Several soldiers then served several large plates of steaming bone-in meat.Li Shitai, Zhang Jie, Li Zhazha, and Wang Zongji ate the "human flesh" on their plates with relish without saying a word.

Wei Zhaodu felt terrified, the hairs all over his body stood on end, and cold sweat flowed out. Wang Jian pushed a plate of sliced ​​meat in front of Wei Zhaodu: "Master Xiang, do you want to try it too?" Wei Zhaodu only felt sick in his chest, and wanted to vomit cleanly, before he had time to say goodbye, he hurriedly fled back to his camp with the help of two other servants. After returning to the camp, the grief caused by Luo Bao's tragic death and the horror of Wang Jian's cannibalism all rushed to his heart, and Wei Zhaodu fell ill.For three consecutive days, Zhaodu was bedridden and unable to get up. On the fifth day, he was able to eat a little.

"Master Xiang, Luo Bao died unjustly! Wang Jian is so cruel that he has already taken the people around you under the knife! In the past few days, his subordinates have been terrified all the time. The delicacy on the thief's eighth plate..." Several of the entourage's cronies said, already crying.Wei Zhaodu was terrified, if everyone around him was killed and eaten by Wang Jian, it would only be a matter of time before he died in Xichuan.Thinking of this, he didn't dare to stay in Xichuan for a moment, he wanted to return to Beijing immediately and leave this terrible place. On the second day, Wei Zhaodu just had the strength to walk on the ground, so he used his poor health as an excuse to order someone to find Wang Jian, give him the seal festival, and appoint Wang Jian as Xichuan Jiedu envoy, recruiting envoy, system envoy to stay behind, and concurrently The camp recruits envoys.Then, he took his family general and a team of imperial guards with him, and immediately set off back to Chang'an. Wang Jian suppressed the joy in his heart, and personally led Zhang Lin, Li Jian, Wang Zongfan, Wang Zongbi and others to send Wei Zhaodu to the new capital. Wei Zhaodu saw that Wang Jian personally sent him so far, and felt a little inexplicably sad. He didn't know whether he was sad that he had stayed here for so long in a daze, or he was sad that he couldn't figure out the strategy that he couldn't detect in the heart of the warrior in front of him. .He took the reins, turned his head and said to Wang Jian: "General, there are many things in the army, you should go back earlier, thank you for your farewell, General." Wang Jian was always a horse's head behind Wei Zhao.To be honest, since the imperial envoy came to Xichuan, Wang Jian's career has taken a turn for the better.He feels that he has always followed the imperial court's order, and he has always respected Wei Zhaodu from the beginning.If it weren't for the current troubled times that forced him to occupy the fertile land of the Chengdu Plain, he might not have planned such a plan with Zhou Xiang to scare away the prime minister of the Tang Dynasty.Seeing that Wei Zhaodu was about to leave, Wang Jian suddenly felt sour.For some reason, he suddenly thought of the late Emperor Li Xuan, and remembered that night, the emperor fell asleep on his knees, and remembered the yellow robe that the emperor gave him that was stained with tears from both him and the emperor.In this chaotic world, true love like that night is becoming rarer and rarer... Thinking of this, the war-torn heart seems to be suddenly fragile. In front of Wei Zhaodu, Wang Jian couldn't hold back the tears rolling back and forth in his eyes. "General, you are..." Seeing that it was hard to hide his loss of composure, Wang Jian simply got off his horse, knelt and touched Zhaodu's horse, and cried: "Wang Jian remembered the kindness and kindness he had shown me and my subordinates over the past two years... Now he is about to say goodbye to his kindness... Shu The road is difficult and dangerous, I don't know when we will see each other again..." As he spoke, he broke down in tears. Wei Zhaodu just bowed his body and ordered his left and right to help Wang Jian up.Thinking back to Xichuan, Wang Jian really regarded himself as a guest of honor, and reported all the big and small things. Compared with Gu Yanlang in Dongchuan, there is really nothing to be picky about.Seeing him crying right now, Zhaodu softened his heart.But he just murmured something profound: "General, take care!" Wang Jian wiped away his tears, looking at Wei Zhaodu's disappearing figure.At this moment, he didn't know what the bitterness just now was for, but he immediately came to his senses: Wei Zhaodu is gone, and all his energy should be focused on capturing Chengdu!He wiped the corners of his eyes with his sleeve robe, then ordered Wang Zongbi to follow Wei Zhaodu north to Jiange, while Zhang Lin and Li Jian guarded Lutou Pass with heavy troops.Jiange can be described as the first line of defense separating the two rivers, and once the Lutou Gate is closed, the entire Xichuan is cut off from the world.He turned to Wang Yao and said, "Thanks to your two plates of dog meat, Wei Xiang was timid by nature, but he mistakenly thought it was human meat..." Wang Yao said: "Wei Xiangye dare not eat it, but Grand Master Chen in Chengdu has not been able to eat it for a long time..." "Well, but it's coming soon... In a few days you will be able to serve him delicious dog meat... Oh, yes, I have already sent the best doctor to Jizhou to see your old mother. Take it with you, you don't have to worry about it." "Thank you, my lord! The villain will go to Chengdu immediately according to the plan, fulfilling the mission!" Chengdu is humid and hot in summer, and Cicada moaned lazily among the bamboo forests in the backyard. Xu Geng stood in the forest, even though it was a bit shady, he couldn't feel a breath of wind.A few rolls of purple bamboo leaves were curled up, hanging motionless on the branches.These few days, Xu Geng always spent in a state of anxiety.He himself didn't know why he betrayed Chen Jingxuan and contacted the envoy sent by Wang Jian.No, this is not called betrayal. After all, Chen Jingxuan is a traitor that the imperial court has crusaded, and he did this in the meaning of honoring Long Live—every time he felt uneasy, he comforted himself like this. At least this way, he felt more at ease.But at the same time, there is a kind of fear that always accompanies him: Fearing that one day, the matter will be revealed, and the whole family will not be able to escape Chen Jingxuan's butcher's knife. "Master, someone is coming from the Grand Master's Mansion." A servant walked around to the backyard, stood ten steps away from Xu Geng with his hands down, and said softly. It was like a bolt from the blue.It's over!It must be Zhang Qianyu who was captured by Chen Jingxuan.He sighed, lamenting that he shouldn't contact Zhang Qianyu so frequently.A few months ago, when this red-faced man knocked on his house for the first time, he never expected that this person was actually the confidant of Wang Jian, the governor of the Yongping Army.If Zhang Qianyu hadn't held the letter of his old friend Zhou Xiang, he would not have dared to openly do such an affair outside the city even if he had the courage.Alas, it's too late now... He suddenly thought of two young and promising sons and two beautiful daughters... When Xu Geng came to the main hall, he saw a man in his early twenties from Taishi's residence, with a short stature and a white face and beardless.Xu Geng recognized at a glance that this was a young eunuch next to Tian Lingzi. "Eunuch, I came from a long way early in the morning, what can I do?" "Inspector Xu, are you asking the question knowingly? Don't you know what you are doing?" In one sentence, Xu Geng's heart tightened again, and beads of sweat immediately covered his forehead. "I'm ignorant, please tell my father-in-law clearly." Xu Geng tried his best to conceal his gaffe, pretending to be calm. The little eunuch snorted: "Thousands of unscrupulous people have committed crimes, and the governor has the power of life and death, but he doesn't kill a single person. What's the reason?" Thank goodness!It turned out to be this matter... A stone hanging in Xu Geng's heart finally fell to the ground. It turns out that the shortage of food in Chengdu has reached its extreme, and people continue to steal food from outside the city into the city.Although Wang Jian and Chen Jingxuan of the two warring parties had already known about this matter, the coaches of the two sides seemed to maintain a tacit understanding on purpose, and no one pursued these reckless businessmen who trafficked grain.Perhaps, being able to save a few hungry people in Luo City is considered a kind of merit.However, Chen Jingxuan was not so tolerant to the perpetrators who sneaked out of the city and looted food in the city. He ordered that once caught, the three clans should be punished immediately.However, even with such a cruel criminal law, hundreds of people and soldiers still took risks for their own livelihood.Countless people have been imprisoned for this.Xu Geng holds the life and death of these people in his forehand.How could the kind Xu Geng have the heart to kill these thousands of people who were imprisoned for one bite of food? Although he knew that Chen Jingxuan blamed himself not for his affair with Wang Jian, but if he wants to pass this test now, thousands of innocent people will die for him.Xu Geng felt uneasy again, his heart couldn't help beating... "This father-in-law, can Grand Master Chen not trust the governor of Yizhou? If you come here to criticize mere trifles, you won't be afraid of being known as a joke?" Suddenly, a clear and hard voice came from behind the little eunuch, and it seemed that there was something immature in the voice. .The little eunuch was taken aback for a moment, then turned around only to realize that it was a girl who was speaking, she looked only fifteen or sixteen years old, but she was born with an extraordinary temperament.A big red ribbon on the head lightly tied the bun on the right side, two strands of blue hair flowed elegantly behind the ears and hung in front of the body, under the two delicate eyebrows, the eyes revealed a bit of intelligence, but it was impossible to find it. A little girl of her age should be immature.On the green shawl was a flowing yellow ribbon, and the long silver-white dress with a corset was dragged all the way to the floor, reflecting her graceful figure.The little eunuch didn't know that this was the daughter of the Xu family, but felt that even the princess of the royal family didn't have such a confident temperament. "Jin'er, there are no rules. How can you talk to your father-in-law like this without apologizing!" Xu Geng was a little annoyed by his eldest daughter's abrupt words and deeds.However, Yanjin, the young lady of the Xu family, ignored her father's accusation and continued to say to the little eunuch, "Please go back and report to the grand master. My father didn't intend to disobey his old man's orders. These unscrupulous people will inevitably die sooner or later when they are in prison. Don't worry. Every minute and every second. If the grand master is in a hurry to kill these thousands of people, my father can go to supervise and kill them tomorrow." The little lady listened, she didn't think there was anything wrong, and was overwhelmed by the words and demeanor of the daughter of Xu Cishi's family, so she nodded and left. Seeing the back of the little eunuch leaving, Xu Geng was full of conflicts in his heart.A few words of understatement by Yan Jin pushed his whole family and these thousands of people to the edge of the cliff.Obviously, he didn't want his family to die in the end, but when he thought of these innocent lives, his heart ached. "Father, my daughter apologizes," Yan Jin, who was calm just now, had already knelt in front of Xu Geng, "My daughter is rude and made her own opinion on behalf of her father." But Xu Geng couldn't bear to beat his favorite, he just muttered: "Jin'er, these are thousands of lives, these are thousands of lives..."