"letter."

Liu Zhang nodded solemnly and picked up a few pieces of paper. The elegant fonts on them listed strategies one by one, but none of them were from the war. They were all internal affairs provisions. He also understood what Huang Yueying meant. The current Sichuan army is invincible, but what has happened

The place is a scorched earth, not only the people's livelihood is in decline, but there are also many hidden crises.

Repeated victory makes you arrogant, but the foundation is unstable, which is indeed the most dangerous moment.

"I don't know if the emperor is not good at internal affairs, or if he plans to conquer it and then govern it, but this is not a good thing."

Liu Zhang looked at the administrative provisions one by one and said: "Yueying, you said that your surrender is your master's wish. What do you mean? Is it a last resort?"

Huang Yueying stood up, looked out the window, and saw Huang Chengyan still sitting in the yard. She turned around and said with a smile: "It's not a last resort, but I don't like war. I actually just like to tinker with gadgets.

When I was a child, I thought that I would build a yard in the mountains, use all my own machinery, and live with a good sister. Unexpectedly, I met a master who taught me many mechanical principles and seemed to like me.

, be kind to me.

He wants me to serve you, so I will serve you. I hope that before I am fifty, if I do not die on the battlefield, I can help you to survive."

"How old are you now?"

"Seventeen."

"Thirty-three years, you gave me all thirty-three years." Liu Zhang put the paper on the stack and stood up.

Huang Yueying smiled softly, feeling a little helpless and relieved. Liu Zhang didn't know what she was feeling. They both looked out the window. Huang Chengyan had been sitting alone in the courtyard, with a desolate and rickety back.

Huang Chengyan had a daughter at an old age, so it was no wonder that he was so concerned about his ugly daughter. Liu Zhang felt a little sorry for abducting his daughter into the family like this.

Huang Yueying's face was sad, and Liu Zhang could see that she was reluctant to leave. No matter how much a daughter hates her parents, she will be sad when they really leave.

Finally, Huang Chengyan stood up and sighed heavily at the night sky, feeling infinite melancholy and helplessness. Liu Zhang looked sideways and saw Huang Yueying's eyes were reddish, holding back tears. Liu Zhang's heart was clenched and uncomfortable.

"Hey, my daughter is gone, who will take care of the water pump? Do you want me, an old man, to carry the water? Alas."

Huang Chengyan shook his head and entered the room.

......Huang Chengyan's sigh made Huang Yueying finally make up his mind to walk in. Afraid of disturbing the two elders, he screamed so loudly that he and Liu Zhang arrived at a pipe along the wall. Liu Zhang took a closer look and saw that it really looked like an exposed sewer in later generations.

pipeline.

"What is this?" Liu Zhang asked curiously.

"There are two airbags over there, and there is a handle here. As long as you shake the handle, you can press the air into one airbag. If you turn the handle in the opposite direction, the air in the airbag will be pressed into the other airbag, and the evacuated air will be able to push the air into the other airbag.

Bring up the water."

Liu Zhang looked at the complicated gear device between the handle and the two air bags, and nodded: "Oh, this is the legendary water pump."

Sanru went down to the first floor along the "sewer pipe" and jumped to the ground about two feet away. He made a "bang" sound and made a big hole. He was beaten from left to right by Liu Zhang and Huang Yueying, and they ran out of the yard together.

go.

When Liu Zhang arrived at the entrance of the village, the soldiers had already planned to camp in a nearby cave, and the group returned to Xiangyang overnight.

In the early morning, there was a knock on the door of Huang's courtyard. Huang Chengyan opened it in his pajamas and saw that it was Mr. Huang who walked in with a cane. At this time, Cai Furu hurried down from the second floor.

"The old man is not well. The old man is not well. I just went to call my daughter and son-in-law for dinner, but they both disappeared."

"What? Why don't you call us in quickly?" Huang Chengyan was anxious.

Mr. Huang hit Huang Chengyan on the head with a walking stick. Unfortunately, Huang Chengyan was fifty years old and was only beaten like a child by Mr. Huang.

"Two-legged son, there's no need to look for her. Your daughter has run away and won't come back."

"What?" Cai Furu pondered for a moment and then cursed: "This girl is so impatient. Aren't we not willing to agree to this marriage? We are going to my uncle's house without even having breakfast? Can men look down upon us after we get married?

?”

"What kind of man is this?" Mr. Huang sat down on the stone bench in the courtyard with his walking stick: "Your daughter followed Liu Zhang... Don't stare at me, you guessed it right, she is Liu Zhang, the shepherd of Yizhou."

"Is Ge Qiu (a nickname for my daughter) going to rebel? She, she, she, she, she, she, she, she, she, she, is going to join that butcher who kills without blinking an eye... She, she, makes me so angry." Huang Chengyan's face turned red with anger, and he couldn't help it.

He kept breathing heavily, and suddenly he was stunned: "Grandpa, if you knew this situation, why didn't you stop this girl from being stupid?"

"Two-legged son, I think you are stupid." Mr. Huang tapped Huang Chengyan's forehead with his walking stick: "Your daughter told me yesterday. Now, the situation is gradually becoming clear. There are only a few promising princes.

We, the Huang family, should also consider family development.

Think about it, although Liu Zhang is unjust, but it has developed so far, are you sure that Liu Zhang will never succeed? And don’t forget, Liu Zhang rules our land? Will there be any good fruits if you offend him? You see those rebels

Is the end of our family? If it weren’t for your daughter, would you and I still be standing here now?”

"But..." Mr. Huang scolded for a while, Huang Chengyan was speechless, but he just felt unconvinced.

Mr. Huang sighed: "Two-legged son of a bitch, I think you have lived in vain for these fifty years. You are not as knowledgeable as your daughter. Although Liu Zhang is harsh on the family, he is still a prince, Jiangzhou, Hanzhong, Wuling, and us.

Xiangyang, these things all show that direct confrontation with the government is not good for us.

We might as well send some of our children to serve as officials in the Sichuan Army. This will at least ensure that we can have a good life during the rule of the Sichuan Army, and then wait for the times to change. Our Huang family is a big family and is the hometown of Jingxiang.

We cannot afford to offend our family, the actual rulers of Jingzhou.

As the saying goes, eggs cannot be put in one basket. Now, in Jiangdong, the Central Plains, and the north, we all have children of the Huang family serving as officials. How can there be no officialdom in Jingzhou to take care of it? If there is such a thing, Liu Zhang will take care of other officials.

Several baskets have been overturned. What should we, the Huang family, do?

It just so happens that your daughter is a girl, and other princes will not accept her, so she just left it to Liu Zhang. Aren't we losing nothing?"

Huang Chengyan realized after listening to Ban Yao that there were two meanings. One was that the Sichuan Army must have members of the Huang family, so that the Huang family would not suffer. The second was that his daughter was a daughter, and if she did not use it, it would be in vain.

Huang Chengyan felt depressed, why did his daughter defect to the Sichuan camp and work for the Huang family? He knew clearly that the Yizhou Butcher had a bad reputation and the chance of unification was slim. Isn't this a violation of his daughter?

But for the sake of his family, Huang Chengyan had nothing to say.

At this time, the two of them still looked depressed when they saw Cai Furu. Huang Chengyan said: "Old lady, okay, don't be sad. Just join the Sichuan camp. My daughter has not betrayed the family. She is much better than the rebellious son of the Pang family.

"

"But..." Cai Furu said with a depressed face, "But even so, my daughter still hasn't gotten married."

......... At dawn, Liu Zhang and Huang Yueying entered the mansion hand in hand. Liu Zhang said as he walked: "So, Mr. Huang knows that you are here to serve?"

"I'm afraid my parents also know it now. In a while, the whole clan will know it. I don't know how much contempt I will receive." Huang Yueying said aggrievedly.

"Don't worry, I will protect your egg." Liu Zhang smiled.

Huang Yueying told the truth what she said to Mr. Huang. Originally, Mr. Huang disagreed ten thousand times at first. Huang Yueying finally convinced him with the charm she had accumulated for more than ten years. Liu Zhang could also understand that now the family,

Which family doesn't stick together as a team, and every child has to serve the family.

Whether Huang Yueying said this, it would not only appease the Huang clan, but also reduce her worries. Even if she told the truth, it would not affect her loyalty to the Sichuan Army. Nowadays, the family still advocates loyalty. Once she surrenders, she will remain loyal to her for life.

Otherwise, your reputation will be ruined.

All the generals had gathered in the hall. As soon as Liu Zhang came in, he noticed something was wrong in the atmosphere and asked coldly: "What's going on?"

The generals made a way, Liu Zhang went straight to the main seat and sat down. Huang Yueying leaned on the door frame and watched. Zhang Ren stepped forward and said: "All the descendants of the noble family and the rebel accomplices have been arrested and brought to justice. A total of 37,000 people have been arrested. The remaining

There are about 20,000 people, and they have been captured and executed. With the Lord's order, they can be taken to the execution ground and beheaded in public."

Liu Zhang took a deep breath. The Jingxiang clan was indeed different from Jingnan and Yizhou. It was much larger. Fortunately, the Sichuan army had as many as 100,000 troops, and nearly 150,000 troops including the Jingzhou army. If there were less,

I really can't catch him.

"What else is there besides this?" Liu Zhang looked at the crowd with a solemn expression. It was definitely not because of the arrest of the noble family. This should have been expected by them.

A veteran general came forward and said: "The last general, Huang Zhong, came from Jiangling with two thousand soldiers to pay homage to the lord."

"Old General, please rest aside for now." Liu Zhang looked around at the generals with cold eyes: "What is going on?"

The generals lowered their heads. At this time, Fazheng finally stood up and walked to the center of the hall to worship: "My lord, last night the general Fan Lixiang secretly mobilized his troops and horses out of the city to attack Zhang Yue's army, which had been surrendered by Pang Tong. Zhang Yue's entire army was wiped out.

, Zhang Yue was beheaded, and Pang Tong narrowly escaped death at the hands of the traitors.

General Gao Pei was ordered to intercept Pang Tong, but after Pang Tong arrived, he allowed him to escape without permission, which is an unpardonable crime."

"Please forgive me, my lord." Fan Lixiang and Gao Pei stepped out of the queue together and knelt down to Liu Zhang. Huang Yueying stood at the door and watched leisurely.

"Insolent." After hearing what Fazheng said, Liu Zhang slapped the table: "Are you going to die? Gao Pei, have you forgotten the order I gave you? You can obviously intercept Pang Tong, why did you do it privately?

Let him go? Pang Tong is too talented and will definitely be a formidable enemy of our army in the future. What crime do you deserve?"

"Gao Pei disobeyed military orders and was punished by death." Gao Pei bowed down.

"Fan Lixiang, this is the second time you have mobilized troops privately. Last time, your troops were not registered. Are they still not registered now? What crime should you do?"

"It is a capital offense for a general to mobilize his troops privately, to attack to recruit friendly troops is to be punished with an additional penalty, and to nearly force our envoy to death is an unpardonable crime." Fan Lixiang bowed.

"Well said." Liu Zhang stood up suddenly and looked at the two of them coldly: "Come on, drag Gao Pei and Fan Lixiang down and kill them."

Gao Pei raised his head and glanced at Liu Zhang, then knelt on the ground silently.

Fan Lixiang frowned. She knew very well that the consequences of her secretly deploying troops would be severely punished. She was also prepared, but she did not expect that she would be executed.

Now it seems that Liu Zhang had known or guessed that he would secretly mobilize troops, and Fan Lixiang was even more certain that he would not die. However, as soon as Liu Zhang said the word "kill" and his cold and stern face, Fan Lixiang's heart dropped to the bottom of her heart.

Could it be that I made a miscalculation again?

"My lord, I'm so kind." Fa Zheng stepped forward quickly and said, "Gao Pei has been a general for many years and is loyal to his lord. He followed him all the way from the battle in Fucheng and made countless meritorious deeds. Fan Lixiang also contributed to the surrender of three counties and destroyed Liu Qi ten years ago."

Ten thousand soldiers and horses, led 20,000 troops to surrender, stabilized the people of Xiangyang, and made outstanding achievements. The two generals were reckless for a while, and the crime will not lead to death."

"Lord, have mercy."
To be continued...