It was already the night of the third day when Hu Mao was tied up like a rice dumpling and thrown in front of Cen Zhong.

Although he was quick at seeing an opportunity and ran quite decisively, it was a pity that he still could not escape from this big net.

It was obvious that he had suffered a lot, his clothes were in tatters, many places were dripping with blood, and some places were red, swollen and purple. He was probably beaten because he resisted arrest.

At this moment, the former fifth-level commanding general had his eyes closed again, looking like a dead pig that was not afraid of boiling water.

The crime of leading troops to attack the third-rank official of the imperial court was enough to make Hu Mao die without a burial place.

His only hope now is to bear the blame alone, and then count on people like Tao Hongyuan and Fu Changrong to protect his family.

Cen Zhong held a small knife and slowly cut his nails. Such a delicate knife in his hand was produced by Tiangong Iron Art back then. Because Bianliang Tiangong Iron Art was completely burned by fire, all the craftsmen in Beijing also died.

Well, such exquisite sets of small items have now ceased production long ago.

Although most of the people at Tiangong Iron Art have been moved to Qianzhou, these craftsmen are basically experts in smelting and weapon making. There is a real shortage of people who are good at those small objects. Even if there are, Xiao

It is impossible for Cheng to let them make these things. The exquisite parts of weapons such as the God Arm Bow also require a large number of talents in this field.

"Hu Mao, I'm going to Guizhou. If I ask the envoy to ask for your family, do you think he will give it to me?" Cen Zhong raised his hand and looked at his trimming fingers under the light.

He touched his newly cut nails again and nodded with satisfaction.

Hu Mao suddenly opened his eyes.

Cen Chong looked at him with a smile. Everyone was in the officialdom. There was no need to explain many things in detail.

"I almost died in your hands!" Cen Zhong pointed at Hu Mao.

There was a look of pleading in Hu Mao's eyes, "I'll punish you with death!"

Cen Chong laughed: "Hu Tongzhi, you are very unreasonable. You know, this is not what I want. Don't you realize now that the person you protect your family from living well is not Tao Anping, but

Is Cen who is sitting in front of you asking for help? Life and death are just between my thoughts. It is your little life. What's the harm if I spare you? Of course, the premise is to satisfy me.

."

Hu Mao swallowed hard.

"Hu Tongzhi, think about it carefully. If you don't say it, some people will. A lot of your subordinates and close relatives have been arrested this time. Even if they don't know much, for me, if they do, that's fine.

Yes. If you cooperate, my affairs will go more smoothly. If you don't cooperate, I can still achieve my goal." Cen Chong's face turned cold.

Xiao Cheng on the side added lightly: "Hu Mao, if something like this happens, do you think Tao Hongyuan can still sit firmly in the position of the pacifier of Guangnan West Road? It is inevitable that he will step down. And Cen will take over as envoy.

, it is also a matter of course. When the time comes, this area of ​​Guangnan West Road will be controlled by Cen Fu. Your life and death are just a matter of words. Think clearly before you speak."

"I'm willing to recruit!" Hu Mao was finally defeated and his last line of defense was defeated.

Suddenly, loud cheers came from outside. Xiao Cheng raised his eyebrows, stood up, and said, "I'm afraid Ruan Qingzheng has been caught. I'll go take a look."

The two important figures who attacked Cen Zhong this time were Hu Mao, who had already been captured, and the other was Ruan Qingzheng, the general from Jiaozhi. This was an important figure in overthrowing Tao Hongyuan, and he colluded with the Jiaozhi generals. Just this one

, is enough to nail Tao Hongyuan to death. As for tribal leaders like Leihuodong and Xialeidong, they are really not in the eyes of Cen Zhong and Xiao Cheng.

Ruan Qingzheng looked a little miserable.

He was tied up by the hooves of four horses and carried through a pole like a pig to Xiao Cheng. His helmet was put on the top of his head by a clan soldier from Longying Cave, and the armor on his body was also

After peeling it off, he was put on by several barbarian soldiers around him. The veteran, who was only wearing a set of underwear, had his eyes closed and his gray hair hanging down, looking extremely miserable.

Perhaps it was because the noise around him suddenly quieted down. Ruan Qingzheng opened his eyes and saw Xiao Cheng standing in front of him.

The young general who launched the charge in the army and stood alone under the banner of the Chinese army actually left a deep impression on Nguyen Thanh Zheng.

"General Han?" he asked.

Xiao Cheng smiled and said: "My surname is not Han, my surname is Xiao. The General Han you mentioned is my subordinate!"

"Qianzhou Xiao?" Ruan Qingzheng suddenly asked.

"It seems like you are quite well-informed!" Xiao Cheng waved his hand, and Ruan Qingzheng was placed on the ground, and the rod was pulled away, allowing him to lie sideways on the ground, looking slightly better than before.

"I have been hiding in Tibet for the past two days, and I have been thinking about where such a powerful army came from. After thinking about it, only Qianzhou has such an army that can ignore the rules of the Song Dynasty.

, the team crossed the border wantonly and came to Guangnan West Road." Ruan Qingzheng said.

Xiao Cheng laughed heartily: "We are the army of the Song Dynasty. We came to Guangnan West Road from Qianzhou and crossed the border wantonly. What about you, General Ruan?"

"More or less, I am the commander of the Jingjiang Army." Ruan Qingzheng said calmly.

Xiao Cheng was really amused by this guy, and reached out to pat the other person's face: "You Jiaozhi people are really thick-skinned. Probably at this time, you will call yourself a subordinate of the Jingjiang Army of the Great Song Dynasty."

."

"I want to talk to you alone!" Ruan Qingzheng took a deep breath.

"Is this necessary?" Xiao Cheng spread his hands: "Whether you are dead or alive, for us, the effect is actually the same."

"It's different." Ruan Qingzheng looked at Xiao Cheng, "There is a huge difference in value between the living me and the dead me."

"Oh?" Xiao Cheng was a little surprised: "General Ruan, you have to understand that lying can only delay you for a while, but it cannot change the final outcome. You are still a decent person, so there is no need to reach this point.

And do some disgraceful things.”

Ruan Qingzheng didn't speak, just looked at Xiao Cheng and Gu Qian

Xiao Cheng stood up and said: "Okay, I am willing to give you such a chance. I hope you can really say something that surprises me."

In a wooden house, Ruan Qingzheng, who had been untied, drank tea greedily while grabbing the desserts on the table and stuffing them into his mouth to chew. Xiao Cheng, who was sitting opposite him, was not in a hurry.

, looking at each other quietly.

Intuitively, I felt that the Cochin veteran seemed to be really unfazed, as if he had some trump card in his hand to get out of his current situation.

Finally, the other party seemed to have eaten and drank enough. He wiped his face, looked at Xiao Cheng opposite, and said: "There are only you and me in this room. Aren't you afraid that I will get angry and take you hostage?"

Xiao Cheng laughed: "General Ruan, you can give it a try."

Ruan Qingzheng looked at the other party and shook his head for a while: "Since you said so, I don't have to try. I think Mr. Xiao is a man with both civil and military skills. He is not afraid of an old man like me at all. I don't feel confident."

It’s a shame.”

"You are self-aware. But why would a person like you easily intervene in the internal disputes on Guangnan West Road?" Xiao Cheng said: "In my opinion, your intervention is completely unreasonable."

"Because I have to intervene!" Ruan Qingzheng took a deep breath: "Every year, at least 10% of the strategic materials, ordnance, etc. smuggled to us on the Guangnan West Road are intercepted by me privately, and once these accounts are

If I'm exposed, I won't be able to hide it."

Xiao Cheng's eyes flickered, "You can't hide it anymore. It seems that you still have a lot of secrets that we don't know! As a general, it is normal to withhold some ordnance, but you are afraid of being exposed.

, that is to say, these things intercepted by you are not for legitimate purposes, but are not tolerated by the current Li Dynasty of Cochin."

Staring at the veteran in front of him, Xiao Cheng suddenly took a breath of cold air: "General Ruan, you won't tell me that you have any connection with the Jiaozhi Li family, right?"

"Li Zhun, the last direct descendant of the Li family, lives in Guangyuan Prefecture." Ruan Qingzheng said: "All the weapons and military supplies that I intercepted were given to him."

Xiao Cheng looked at the other party strangely: "General Ruan, you don't think the Li family has a chance to make a comeback, do you?"

"Time and momentum!" Ruan Qingzheng said sternly: "When your eldest brother Xiao Ding left for the northwest, who could have expected that he would become the king of the northwest a few years later?"

ha!

Xiao Cheng laughed.

Do you think this person in front of you was inspired by what happened to your elder brother?

"General Ruan, this is different!" Xiao Cheng still said patiently: "In the northwest, there was no force that could bring those ethnic groups together earlier. This gave my eldest brother a chance. And in Jiaozhi, Li

After the Li family overthrew the Li family, they took over an almost unified Jiaozhi, which is completely incomparable."

"Maybe there will be a chance!" Ruan Qingzheng looked at Xiao Cheng: "Because our goal now is not to restore the country. As long as we can overthrow the Li family and kill the Li family completely, we will

That’s enough. Anyone in the world can punish such rebellious ministers and traitors.”

"General Ruan, how did you hide it from the eyes of the Li Dynasty and actually let you take charge of the military power of a state in Guangyuan Prefecture?" Xiao Cheng looked at Ruan Qingzheng with admiration on his face: "It's really admirable.

Extremely awesome!"

"Xiao Ding is so powerful in the northwest. How can you, Mr. Xiao, be satisfied with Qianzhou when you come from the southwest? Guangnan West Road seems to be in your hands now. I think we, Jiaozhi, will also be one of your targets.

, yes or no?" Ruan Qingzheng asked.

"Well, that doesn't mean I can't consider it!" Xiao Cheng touched his chin and answered vaguely.

"If I die, Li Zhun will no longer have anyone to cover up, and will be exposed easily. At least he will never be able to do anything again!" Ruan Qingzheng said: "So, let me go back, for you,

What you can gain in the future is likely to exceed your imagination."

"It is indeed a very tempting proposal!" Xiao Cheng laughed: "General Ruan, at this point, I think we can have an in-depth discussion. Of course, we will also need time to verify the things you said.

It would be best if the descendant of the Li family comes to visit us."

Staring at Ruan Qingzheng's reluctant look, Xiao Cheng struck while the iron was hot: "You don't have to worry about that person's safety at all. You know my identity and the environment I'm in now. And what I want to get, you

It's almost the same, so we have a very broad space for cooperation. Even if you have evil intentions and want to use our power to realize your plan to revive the Li Dynasty in the future, haha, as long as you have the ability, that's okay.

OK. If I want to become your tool, it’s only my fault for my own lack of strength, but you eventually became my tool to win over Jiaozhi, so you don’t need to be aggrieved, right?”

"You are right!" Ruan Qingzheng said.

"So, we need to make an honest announcement, and we also need to see clearly whether your strength is qualified to sit on the table and negotiate with us!" Xiao Cheng said: "Of course, if you really master Guangyuan Prefecture, you will indeed have it.

To be honest, if we want to plot Jiaozhi, having a bridgehead like Guangyuan Prefecture can indeed help us. At least, we can save more than ten years of hard work. Once the opportunity is ripe, we can
To be continued...