The lights in the room were brightly lit. Liu Taiping put down the accounts in his hands and said, "So, that Zhang Junbao was crafted by people from the Song Dynasty?"
Liu Zhong said straightly: "Yu Dechen went south to kill the Song official named Li Xia, but he was deceived by the other party. Whether Zhang Junbao came here or not, he must be the one who killed two of my subordinates in the street."
"Yu Dechen didn't know?"
Liu Zhongzhi said: "This Taoist Yu is just an idiot. He was saved by someone and heard that he wanted to go north to find his relatives, so he stupidly brought him here."
"What is the purpose of this person going north?"
"Currently, there is only one most reasonable inference...contact Shi Tianze."
Liu Taiping looked very solemn and said slowly: "Are you sure?"
"When Zhang Junbao arrived in Kaifeng, he immediately met Shi Zhang." Liu Zhong said straightly: "Shi Zhang, a boy, usually only knows how to recite poems and write poems, but as a son of a general, he is young and frivolous, arrogant, and prefers the learning of Lao and Zhuang.
Wearing linen clothes and straw shoes? It’s a bit too deliberate to act like this.”
"Shi Tianze." Liu Taiping knocked on the table, recited the name, and said, "Do you know why Shi Tianze is trusted by two generations of great Khans? This man is good at observing the current situation."
"A good observer of the current situation?"
"Shi Tianze's elder brother Shi Tianni once served as the marshal of the capital, leading 240,000 households. After Shi Tianni died in the battle, Shi Tianze took his brother's place and held great power. He made great achievements by destroying money, but he faced a huge situation.
Khan, please remove yourself from the post of marshal of the capital and transfer it to Shi Tianni's son Shi Ji."
Liu Zhongzhi nodded and said: "I have also heard about this matter. Shi Tianze also requested that Shi Ji's military power be divided between his nephew Shi Quan."
"This is to imitate the 'Tianfa Order' of the Han Dynasty." Liu Taiping said: "The historians are among the best among the princes in the Central Plains. How can the Great Khan not be afraid? But Shi Tianze dispersed the military power of the historians among his nephews.
The Khan's court is loyal and does not have too much power."
"You are so loyal, why not give up all your military power."
"Then what do other people think of the Great Khan? The rabbit is dead and the dog is cooked? Shi Tianze grasped the situation just right."
"It's just right. It avoids suspicion and preserves the historian's military power."
Liu Taiping sneered slightly and said: "Alanda'er threatened to kill all Kublai Khan's subordinates, and he would be killed by civilian officials, but there were some people in the Central Plains that he did not dare to touch. Li Fen, Liu Heima, Zhang Rou,
Shi Tianze... Once these princes are forced to rebel, Alan Da'er cannot afford it."
"When the Great Khan destroys Zhao and Song, let's see how long Li Fen can keep dancing." Liu Zhong said straightly: "From what my nephew has seen, Shi Tianze may not be as loyal as he appears."
"Don't make false claims. For such a general, you must provide evidence in everything."
"But my nephew heard that Li Xia's deeds today are all related to Shi Tianze. What did Li Xia get in Kaifeng that would allow the Song Dynasty to make an exception for a young man who did not come from the imperial examination to be the county magistrate? And this magistrate did not hesitate to risk his own life and return to Kaifeng.
, and for what purpose?”
Liu Taiping said slowly: "I said that when dealing with a general, you must provide evidence."
Liu Zhongzhi was stunned. He recalled the word "deal with" and realized that his uncle was already beating him.
"Yes, it was my nephew who made the decision."
Liu Taiping stopped looking at Liu Zhongzhi and said calmly: "Two of your men died. We must find out. Do you understand?"
"My nephew understands."
Liu Zhong exited the study room, walked around the corridor, and saw a subordinate running quickly.
"We found out. Yesterday, someone saw the Taoist priest near Shifu."
"Sure?"
"You can't be wrong. That Taoist priest is so eye-catching that no one will look at him while walking on the road."
Liu Zhongzhi changed his steps and wanted to go see Liu Taiping immediately.
However, when he thought of the words "there must be evidence", he stopped abruptly and ordered in a low voice: "Look for him, I have to search through Kaifeng City to find him."
"yes……"
Liu Zhongzhi stared at the background of his subordinates and said to himself: "Shi Tianze, since you have exposed your flaws, don't blame me for stepping on you to climb up..."
Shi Tianze sneered and murmured: "Killed two people... I thought he would complain to Alan Da'er, but he only killed two people..."
"Father, what does this mean?"
"Li Xia only needs to kill people in the street, and the Gouexamination Bureau will investigate the matter. Then it will not be difficult to find out that you have met Li Xia... If they find out these things personally, they will be more convincing than an informant letter."
"Then what do we do?"
"Why are you panicking?" Shi Tianze said, "You've lost your sense of proportion, you know? Calm down and think about it carefully, don't act like you're in a state of confusion."
Only then did Shi Zhang reflect on himself, took a few deep breaths, and pondered for a long time.
"There are two ways, either continue to contact Li Xia, satisfy his request and let him leave; or find a way to kill him and calm the matter as soon as possible."
"go on."
"To kill Li Xia, the first step is to find him. But under the current situation, we will never dare to go to war. Finding someone in the huge city of Kaifeng is like finding a needle in a haystack... In this way, we can only agree to him, which is ridiculous..."
"That's enough." Shi Tianze shook his head and said, "I have ordered people to control Yang Guo's family."
Shi Zhang was stunned.
"Why... no, think about it, kid... is your father testing Li Xia?"
Shi Tianze was silent.
He attaches great importance to cultivating the children of the family, and his nephews can now stand alone. Because the nephews lost their fathers when they were young, they are not easily jealous of the Khan's court.
On the contrary, his own son failed to hold office and lacked too much experience. However, no matter how smart a person is, if his character is not polished, he will easily get confused when encountering major events.
Sometimes calmness is more important than intelligence.
This is also the reason why Shi Tianze is willing to spend time discussing with Shi Zhang. He is not asking for advice, but to secretly sharpen his son.
There was a thin layer of sweat on Shi Zhang's forehead, and he murmured: "Does father think that Li Xia went north for Yang Guo? Why is there such a conjecture...because..."
"Because Jia Sidao can do anything better than Li Xia, so there is no need for Li Xia to come in person." Shi Tianze said: "Kaifeng City has no 'profits' that are worth letting Li Xia take risks alone, so he
It's probably not for profit, but to save Yang Guo."
"But this still doesn't make sense..."
Shi Tianze said: "You don't think it makes sense, because you only ask about the pros and cons in everything, not about friendship. Think about it for yourself, when did a young man lose his passion? Go on."
Shi Zhang was stunned again, surprised that Shi Tianze only said this when he called him here tonight.
He lowered his head and turned out of the study, suddenly thinking of the fact that he had betrayed Yan Fu to Wang Xun as a scapegoat.
That had been one of his best friends.
"But father, aren't you the same?" Shi Zhang murmured, "You were the one who asked Yang Guo to contact Song Ting. As soon as Yang Guo was caught, weren't you eager to silence him, father?"
At the same night, Li Xia was walking through the alley near Yang Guo's mansion. He turned his head inadvertently and saw that the soldiers of the Shi family had surrounded the mansion.
Li Xia did not continue to get closer, but hid in the dark and waited patiently.
Finally, he saw a soldier walking towards the bushes, untying his belt and planning to relieve himself.
Li Xia took out a porcelain bottle from his arms, sprinkled some medicinal powder on the handkerchief, stepped forward, covered the soldier's mouth and nose, and dragged him into the woods.
He had a lot of strength in his hands, and no matter how hard the opponent struggled, he still couldn't get away.
"Shut up, listen. Go back and tell Shi Tianze that he guessed right. Before noon tomorrow, I want to see that man get out of Alandar's hands safely. Otherwise, things will only get more and more difficult for him.
.”
"Woo...Woo..."
"Nod if you understand."
The soldier shook his head.
Li Xia said: "You just need to relay this sentence to Shi Tianze, do you understand?"
"Woo..."
The soldier just nodded.
"Tell him that if he doesn't do it by noon, he will see the consequences."
Li Xia still covered his mouth and nose until his eyes slowly closed, then he let go and disappeared into the darkness again.
The night is darker.
The candle in Shi Tianze's study had been extinguished, but it lit up again.
"I understand, there is no need to tell others about this."
"Yes, a villain would never dare to say that."
"Go down..."
Shi Tianze was wearing a nightgown and sitting alone in his study, his eyes wide and deep in thought.
Today, I took control of Yang Guo's family and found out the kid's purpose.
As for that threat... He, Shi Tianze, had never been through a bloody storm, how could he be afraid of the threat of an arrogant child?
It is true that he has the ambition to rebel and establish himself, but first he must ensure the safety of the Shi family. If Yang Guo and Li Xia are at risk of being exposed, he will get rid of them without hesitation.
The reason why Yang Guo was asked to pass on information last year was that Yang Guo only thought that he wanted to contact Li Fen.
Li Xia came alone, thinking that he was still hesitating whether to take action.
But these people never understood his true intentions.
"Idiot, the key point is not between Zhao Song and Li Fen. Zhao Song is cowardly and Li Fen is rebellious. They are not enough to conspire for big things. No matter how many small victories they win, they cannot buck the trend... The key lies in Kublai Khan and Meng
elder brother."
Shi Tianze murmured to himself, looking at the empty study room, as if Li Xia was right in front of him.
"Why did I give information to Zhao and Song last year? It was because I was worried that Brother Meng would capture Sichuan and Shu. If Kublai Khan's crime of "lazy in attacking Song" would be confirmed, he would surely lose power. What I'm waiting for is for these two brothers to fight until both sides suffer.
Now that Gou Kao is in full swing, Kublai Khan has been forced into a desperate situation. Whether he will rebel or surrender is only a matter of thought. We only have to wait and see for a few years, and the situation may change drastically. At this time, Yang Guo persuaded me to contact Li Fen.
Idiot, he landed himself in jail.
Apart from a strong man breaking his wrist, what can I do? You idiot can't even see through this point, yet you dare to force me? You have underestimated Brother Meng's trust in me, and you have also underestimated Mr. Shi's wrist..."
No one answered Shi Tianze.
In the end, Shi Tianze just waved his hand and extinguished the candle on the case.
To him, Li Xia was just a small candle.
Meng Ge Khan is the brilliance of the bright moon, only the clouds like Kublai Khan can block it a little. He, Shi Tianze, will not let Meng Ge know his ambition in advance for the sake of that flickering candle.
If you have to make a choice, you naturally have to choose the path that is less dangerous and has the greatest benefits.