Tens of thousands of black shadows rushed toward the woods from all directions. Seeing that the situation was critical, Cheng Zhi had no time to notify his men. He ran dozens of steps and jumped into the Han River. There happened to be a big rock on the bank, half on the bank and half in the water.
He hid under the big rock and slowly took off his armor.
There were screams, cries, wailings, and begging for mercy in the woods, which finally turned into desperate screams.
About half an hour passed after the massacre, and then the battlefield began to be cleared. Cheng Zhi faintly heard someone reporting, "General, we have not found the other party's general."
"I'll search thoroughly, but I can't find the general. How can we explain to the Xuanfu envoy?"
Cheng Zhi's heart skipped a beat. He couldn't believe his ears. The other party was not the Western Army. It was called Xuan Fuzhi. It was Zhang Jun's army.
At this time, several spears poked him, and he quickly held his nose and sank into the water.
After a while, the searching soldiers found nothing and left the shore.
"General, it's too late. We really can't tell the faces. We really don't know which corpse is their commander?"
"Then forget it, burn the body, dig a hole and bury it deep!"
More than a thousand corpses were doused with kerosene and lit on a fire. Cheng Zhi quietly dived along the river, dived five or six miles away and landed on the shore. Looking back, he saw blazing fire, thick smoke and billowing smoke from a distance.
While burning the corpse, he did not dare to stop and ran towards the north.
There is a house covering an area of five acres in the northwest of Xiangyang City. It is very close to the government office, only two hundred steps away. This area is called Zhuangyuan Bridge. It is lined with trees, has wide roads, and the ground is paved with stone slabs. The environment is very elegant. It has always been
The place where high-ranking officials and famous families in Xiangyang City live.
This house covering an area of three acres is the house of Wang Gui's confidant Cai Li. The Cai family has been a famous and powerful family in Xiangyang since the Three Kingdoms period. However, by the Tang and Song Dynasties, the surname Cai has become a common surname in Xiangyang. Many people in the city have the surname Cai, but Cai
However, Li was a child of a truly wealthy family. He was the second son of Cai Quan, the former general magistrate of Xiangzhou. He was from a royal family. He had been serving as a member of the army in Wang Gui's army and won Wang Gui's trust.
Late at night, two guests from afar knocked on the door of Cai Li's house. The door creaked open, and it was the housekeeper who opened the door. He looked at the two people outside the door, and when they saw each other, he asked: "You guys
Who to look for?"
"We are coming from Jiangling. This is my greeting card. Please let me know and tell him that you have something important to do to see him."
The housekeeper was a little confused: "It's very late at night now. My master has already rested. Can't he come back tomorrow?"
The leader said coldly: "The Cai family has only one chance in a hundred years. It's best for the housekeeper to report it. Don't let the Cai family completely fall because of your arrogance."
The housekeeper was startled and said quickly: "You two, wait a moment, I'll report it!"
The butler hurried away, and not long after, he came running like a gust of wind, opened the door and gave himself two hard slaps, "You guys have neglected your distinguished guest, please come in quickly. My master is getting dressed, he will be here soon!"
The two of them were not angry at all. They followed the housekeeper to the distinguished guest hall. A maid came in and served tea. Not long after, a man in his mid-thirties hurriedly walked in, clasped his fists and said, "You are neglecting your distinguished guest!"
The first guest is named Xu Mu, who is a military officer under Chen Qing. In terms of position, he is similar to Cai Li, but he is now Chen Qing's envoy, so of course it is different.
Xu Mu introduced him to the deputy next to him and explained with a smile: "Actually, we arrived at Xiangyang City in the afternoon. There were many people during the day, so we came here to visit at night to disturb Cai Shenjun's rest."
"It's okay! It's okay! Please sit down, both of you."
The two parties sat down separately, and Xu Mu said with a smile: "Let's keep the story short! This time we came to visit Cai Canjun on the order of His Highness King Yong. We hope that Cai Canjun will do something for us. If the thing can succeed, King Yong promised to let
Cai Shenjun was appointed general magistrate of Xiangzhou."
Cai Li's heart felt hot and he quickly said: "I wonder what I can do for King Yong?"
Xu Mu took out a letter from his arms and put it on the table, "This is a personal letter from His Highness to you. Everything he wants to say is in the letter. The message I want to bring has been spoken just now, so I won't bother you anymore."
Xu Mu and his men stood up to say goodbye. Cai Li kept sending them out of the gate. Xu Mu smiled and said, "We live in the Pingan Inn in the south of the city. Cai Canjun can find us at any time."
Cai Li was no longer sleepy. He carefully read the letter written by King Yong in the study, took a few steps with his hands behind his hands, and decided to discuss it with his old father."
Cai Li's brother died of illness the year before last, so his father Cai Quan lived with Cai Li. Cai Quan lived in a small courtyard in the back house and lived an ascetic life. He did not touch meat or fish, did not have sex with women, and only ate food every day.
He grows vegetables and grinds tofu himself, which is his way of maintaining health, but he still has a hobby, that is, he is addicted to tea. Every day before dawn, his servants go to get a clear spring outside the city to make tea.
Cai Quan was already asleep, but Cai Li woke his father up.
"Why are you still up so late?" Cai Quan complained a little.
"A big event has happened, which is related to the fate of our family. The child can't make up his mind, so he came to ask his father for advice!"
When Cai Quan heard that it was about the fate of his family, he steeled himself to get up, lit the oil lamp, and asked his son to come in and sit down. "Tell me what's going on?"
"Just now, Chen Qing sent his men to look for the child."
Cai Quan was startled, "Yong Wang Chen Qing?"
"Exactly!"
"Why did he send people to find you?"
"He wanted to recruit Wang Gui and asked me to persuade Wang Gui to surrender at the right time."
"It's that simple?"
Cai Li took out the letter written by King Yong and handed it to his father. Cai Quan smiled and said, "I'm just telling you! Things won't be that simple."
He read the letter roughly by the oil lamp, pondered for a moment and said: "If my guess is correct, he is not actually trying to recruit Wang Gui, he is trying to get Xiangyang. If he can't rob it openly, he can only rob it secretly. If Wang Gui
If you surrender to him, Xiangyang will also belong to him, that's what I'm saying! Xiangyang's strategic location is so important, how could he only want Dengzhou and not Xiangyang last year?"
After hesitating for a moment, Cai Li said again: "Father, His Highness King Yong said that after the matter is completed, the child will be named the general magistrate of Xiangzhou."
Cai Quan pointed to the letter, "I read it carefully, and you didn't say what you said in the letter!"
Cai Li quickly said: "It's a message from the messenger, saying that His Highness King Yong personally promised it."
There was excitement in Cai Quan's eyes. He had been the general magistrate of Xiangzhou twenty years ago. If his son could serve as the general magistrate of Xiangzhou again, their family would really be revitalized.
But the key is to achieve the goal for King Yong and convince Wang Gui to surrender.
"How confident do you think you are in convincing Wang Gui?"
"Father, Wang Gui has always trusted the imperial court. When Yue Yun and Zhang Xian defected to Chen Qing, he also advised him. He just said that people have their own ambitions, so he did not lead his army northward. The imperial court also appointed him as the envoy of Xiangzhou.
He was even more moved and vowed to be loyal to the imperial court, so he thought it was impossible for him to surrender to Chen Qing."
Cai Quan pondered for a moment and said: "But the letter said that when Wang Gui is desperate, you should persuade him. I guess His Highness King Yong still has means, and something big will definitely happen in the next few days."
"Either there is only Zhang Jun. The person Wang Gui fears most is Zhang Jun. It is an open secret that Zhang Jun wants to devour his army. If King Yong wants to force Wang Gui, then Zhang Jun can only help, but they
But there is a war and confrontation in Gangneung Mansion!"
Cai Quan said disdainfully: "What kind of war confrontation? Even if Zhang Jun has ten courages, he would not dare to provoke Chen Qing. He is just pretending to show it to the court. I would not be surprised at all if Zhang Jun agrees to assist Chen Qing in taking Xiangyang."
.”
Cai Li pondered for a moment and said: "Father, if King Yong is just for Xiangyang, will he have any back-up moves? If Wang Gui refuses to surrender, will he bribe Wang Gui's generals to get rid of him?"
"Totally possible!"
Cai Quan nodded, "So you can't be impatient, you have to look at the situation carefully before proceeding!"