Lin Zi closed his eyes and could imagine every scene...
Lian Xixian decided to withdraw from Guanzhong, first arranged several groups of assassins in Chang'an, and then arranged a group of elites in Huashan.
"I expected that Li Xia would enter Chang'an. You guys are like this..."
"If Li Xia is not dead, he will march to Tongguan. You can set up an ambush here, I..."
Thinking of this, Lin Zi opened his eyes, shook his head, and realized that Lian Xixian was not an "old man" at all.
It was still difficult for him to associate the image he originally imagined with the young man.
It wasn't until he took another look at Li Xia that he admitted in his heart that the enemy country also had people in high positions at a young age.
In his mind, Lian Xixian looked at the bronze mirror, used a knife to shave off his beard bit by bit, turned around...it was Yuan Congzheng.
Thinking about this again, a feeling of being plotted came over him, and Lin Zi felt uncomfortable all over.
But he still cares about Li Xia first.
"Commander, what about the whereabouts of the Zhang family girl he said?"
"It's all true. We asked around along the way and found Jiufeng Academy. We continued to check after that. It can't be fake."
"How does he know so much?"
"Maybe there is indeed a Yuan Congzheng. Lian Xixian asked him so many days in advance." Li Xia said: "He looks a little different from the Central Plains people, and the ancestors of the Yuan family have Xianbei blood, so they chose the identity of Yuan Congzheng."
, there happens to be an explanation.”
Lin Zi thought about it carefully and realized that when Li Xia saw those scholars, they were still wearing casual armor and there were guards around them, and those scholars had already been searched.
"No matter how hard he calculated, he never expected the assassination to succeed."
After saying it so seriously, the uncomfortable feeling in my body disappeared a lot.
"The commander-in-chief is right, Lian Xixian has been completely defeated."
Li Xia waved his hand and said: "I said it at the beginning, I am not sure that Yuan Congzheng is Lian Xixian, but... I am very, very doubtful."
"How did the commander find out?"
"If you want to get close to me, you have to show off your talent. If you show off too much, it will be easy to reveal your secrets. It's hard to pick the right balance. There were a few doubts on the first day... I saw Yuan Congzheng's strategy and was surprised by his talent and knowledge. I observed him.
His handwriting is different from Lian Xixian's. But he writes with his left hand, and he usually writes with his right hand. For another example, if he can make such a policy, he must want to stay. But I deliberately tested him, but he said he wanted to leave.
, Either you are being arrogant, or you have something in your heart..."
Lin Zidao: "Let me check it out, or ask Liu Yuanli to take a look?"
"That is to expose him suddenly. Once exposed, he can only fight on the spot, but I want to recruit him. So I keep testing, and he must suspect that I have seen through him. But there is no use in doubting it. If I don't speak clearly, it's like
There was a hazy piece of window paper, allowing him to hide behind his back, slowly listen to my persuasion to surrender, and slowly think about it."
"Understood. I think he is not in his right mind today. He should be loyal to the commander-in-chief immediately."
"How can it be that easy?" Li Xia said, "How long have you been with me?"
"It's been four years and five months since I followed the Marshal to the north." Lin Zi smiled and said, "My life and everything I have today are all given by the Marshal. Even the good wife I married was the one who helped me."
"Lian Xixian has followed Kublai Khan for ten years, from being a fledgling to becoming the prime minister. Even if he understands other principles, people like him will not forget Kublai Khan's kindness to him so quickly. Famous civil servants,
It is different from those princes..."
Lin Zi said directly: "What should the commander do?"
"Breaking off the ten years of kindness between Kublai Khan and him."
Li Xia waved.
Lin Zi leaned over and stretched his neck to listen carefully. At the end, he cupped his fists and said, "I understand."
"Don't forget to digest the methods used by the other party. Only then will you become the most powerful spy in the world. Go ahead..."
~~
At night, Yuan Cong was sitting under the candlelight, processing paperwork.
Most of these documents are related to the people's livelihood and economy in Guanzhong, including registers of various states and counties, estimates of commercial taxes and autumn grain quantities, as well as large and small files from nearby states and counties such as Weinan, Huazhou and other places.
But from beginning to end there is no content related to Tongguan and the Yellow River defense.
It was not difficult for him to do this, and he could often come up with a solution with just a glance.
In the middle of the night, a scholar from Jiufeng Academy came in and placed a stack of account books on the eucalyptus.
"Heyi, these are done...it's not easy. Take a closer look."
"Thank you." Yuan Congzheng did not look back, but raised his hand to show that he did not want to be disturbed.
When the footsteps were far away and the door was closed, he opened the book and put the object underneath into his sleeve.
~~
The next day, these official documents were placed on Li Xiayu.
Another pile of files was pushed to the edge.
Li Xia said: "How about handing over these official duties to He Yi temporarily? I plan to go to the north of the Yellow River tomorrow."
Yuan Congzheng said in surprise: "The commander-in-chief is going to Shanxi?"
"I'll cross the river and be back in a few days." Li Xia seemed to be chatting casually, and said: "By the way, General Liu will return to Tongguan tomorrow and tomorrow. I have a few documents for him here. Please ask him when he does.
Handed over to He Yi on his behalf."
Yuan Congzheng thought for a while and responded: "Students are familiar with the situation on the North Bank. How about the marshal goes to the North Bank and the students lead the way?"
"Aren't you afraid of being recognized?"
Yuan Conzheng paused for a moment and said: "The student has no close relatives. Even if he is recognized, no one will be implicated."
"That's fine."
On this day, soldiers and horses came from the west and entered Tongguan, and many sentries came back from the other side of the Yellow River to report the news to Li Xia.
Li Xia was obviously busy and did not summon Yuan Congzheng.
And after this busy day passed, the next day, they set off for a trip to the north shore...
~~
The Yellow River has entered the flood season, which is when the waves are most turbulent.
On the bank of the river, a team of more than thirty people were dressed as herdsmen, but they were all tall and brave.
Li Xia finally took off his armor.
He has a tall and straight figure. Although he is wearing cloth clothes, he still has the air of a handsome young man, but he is by no means weak. His shoulders are broad, his chest is thick, and the muscles in his back hold up his clothes.
A long sword was not hung on the waist, but was wrapped in a cloth bag and held in hand. It was obviously not a decoration.
Many people in the world already know that this young Shu Commander is very skilled.
Ahead, one by one brave people boarded the boat and rowed slowly towards the other shore.
Considering that they had to pick up twenty or thirty people, they brought many boats. At this time, they were crossing the river north. Each boat was very spacious, and there were only three or four people in each boat.
…
"How about Heyi and I get on the same boat?"
"Listen to the commander's orders." Yuan Congzheng bowed his head and followed Li Xia on board the ship.
Apart from the four boatmen, he and Li Xia were the only ones on the boat.
The Yellow River is choppy and the boats are swaying.
The two of them sat opposite each other in the cabin, and the atmosphere was very different from before.
Yuan Congzheng looked at Li Xia, and saw that the twenty-year-old young man's eyes had the calmness of an old monk in trance.
The long sword was placed on his lap.
After that, Li Xia suddenly said something.
"This is the best opportunity I can give you to assassinate me. There is still a glimmer of hope for you to do it now. But you won't have a chance in Shanxi."
"What is the commander talking about? It seems that he misunderstood the student as an assassin?"
"After this trip, I have to return to Chang'an, and you can't hide it anymore." Li Xia said, "You have a dagger in your sleeve. Can you kill me?"
"Dagger?" Yuan Conzheng was stunned again, and quickly raised his body, exposing his arms.
No dagger.
Li Xia was not too surprised and asked: "We mentioned Lian Xixian a few days ago. I said a lot. Do you have anything to refute?"
Yuan Congzheng put down his arms, was silent for a while, and suddenly said: "I see. No wonder the commander-in-chief has been testing me these days. Does he think that I am Lian Xixian? The commander-in-chief wants to recruit him?"
"Um."
Yuan Congzheng seemed to find it funny, shook his head, and said frankly: "The student is not Lian Xixian."
Li Xia was stunned.
Afterwards, he shook his head and smiled.
"Okay, how about you refute me with Lian Xixian's position? Just help me practice persuasion."
"Since the commander-in-chief has given orders, it is better to obey them than to respect them."
Yuan Congzheng first turned his head and looked at the water of the Yellow River outside the boat canopy.
It seems that because I am closer to my hometown, my temperament is much more free and easy than usual.
"To be fair, the commander-in-chief used sophistry. The reason why he was able to capture Guanzhong was just to take advantage of the opportunity when the Central Plains troops had no time to look west. Of course, this is common sense in the art of war, and it should be taken for granted. If the commander-in-chief has such an opportunity, he should
Take. And act decisively, seizing the opportunity step by step, which is admirable.
But...there is no need to say it in a high-sounding way.
For the court that Lian Xixian is loyal to, Ali is not his brother, and Li Fen is a greater threat, and there is no need to fight with the commander for a long time in Guanlong. It is not that the people's hearts are unavailable. At least before the war, the people's hearts in Guanlong
Not yet at Dashuai.
Rather than saying that he fought with a "little family spirit", it is better to say that his perspective is different from that of the commander-in-chief. Presumably, if it were to happen again, Lian Xixian would not intend to conquer all the strong people in Guanzhong. Even if Guanzhong was defeated, he would fight the commander-in-chief to the death.
He doesn’t want to, and there is no need. For him, things have priorities, it’s that simple.”
Li Xia was not angry after hearing this, and raised his hand to indicate for him to continue.
"The commander-in-chief said that he could do better than the king of the north, but he just said that, and he has not seen it yet. At least this time, the king of the north personally conquered Mobei and established the Han system to compete with the old Mongolian system. He can be called upright. Commander-in-Chief
Although he has great ambitions, he... took advantage of the situation and used the name of the Song Dynasty to carry out the acts of Song thieves. It cannot be said to be dishonorable, but it is true that he did not defeat Beijun."
At this point, Yuan Congzheng said again: "However, the commander-in-chief's courage is far superior to that of Lian Xixian. He must be willing to accept the defeat and be convinced."
"Victory against Integrity and Xixian, but Kublai Khan has not yet been defeated, what does this mean?" Li Xia asked: "But what about the future?"
"The commander-in-chief has great ambitions. In the future, he may actually build great achievements as the commander-in-chief said."
"Is it possible to defeat Kublai Khan in the future?"
"It's possible." Yuan Congzheng said: "But the premise is that in the next ten or twenty years, the commander-in-chief can still have everything go smoothly. He will not be sick, he will not die, his ambition will not change, his luck will not change, and he can still cope with the north and the south.
The country’s endless attacks.”
"Does Lian Xixian believe that I can do it?"
"I guess you don't believe it."
"How can I believe it?"
Yuan Conzheng glanced outside the canopy again and said, "I don't know, the student just followed the commander's instructions and argued from Lian Xixian's point of view."
"It's a pity that you are too restrained. If it were really him, he would be able to speak more eloquently and freely."
After Li Xia finished speaking, he also looked outside the boat canopy and asked no more questions.
After a long time, when the boat was approaching the north shore, Yuan Congzheng was the first to speak.
"Shall students talk about their views on the commander-in-chief from Lian Xixian's perspective?"
"That's fine."
"He has no personal grudge against the commander-in-chief. He is an enemy of the commander-in-chief and is just doing something."
"It's also about taking responsibility." Li Xia said: "He was good at appointing Wang Liangchen as commander, but he lost Guan Long. He wants to take responsibility and save it."
"I see." Yuan Congzheng said: "Then if he is accused of a crime, he cannot blame the monarch for being ruthless, and there is no need to blame the commander. The mistake he made should indeed be borne by him. It is called 'Xixian', but he did not abide by the rules.
,Should."
Li Xia smiled and said nothing.
Yuan Congzhengdao: "It can be imagined that he and the Marshal share the same goals, and even appreciate, admire and admire the Marshal."
"But you won't submit to me?"
"I just said that, in his opinion, the commander-in-chief is not better than Beijun at the moment. How can he live up to the kindness of the king for ten years? And then hang his life on the unknown?"
"Don't be in a hurry, take your time and watch."
"Yes." Yuan Congzheng continued what he wanted to say, and said: "The commander-in-chief has a poem that fits the scenery in front of him."
He raised his hand, pointed at the water of the Yellow River, and chanted in a deep voice.
"The peaks and ridges are like clusters, and the waves are like angry waves..."
The ship has already docked on the shoal.
Yuan Congzheng seemed unaware and was still reading the words slowly.
After saying the last word "bitter", he turned around and looked at Li Xia, his temperament changed again.
Instead of being humble and childish, he became more calm and melancholy.
"This word was not written by me, but by Zhang Yanghao." Li Xia said slowly, "It's a pity that if you read this word today, decades later, someone passing by Tongguan will still see the people's severe disaster."
A very solemn statement.
But Yuan Congzheng didn't understand.
No one in this world can understand...
"Zhang Yanghao." Yuan Congzheng thought of the name and said, "When it comes to disguises, His Excellency Li Jieshuai is better at it."
"No more pretending?"
"It's too rough to pretend, so I won't pretend anymore."
"Rough means your plan. As for your acting skills, I can only describe it as 'poor'."
The two looked at each other and each smiled. There was understanding, relief, and wariness in the smile...
~~
"His Excellency Li Jieshuai, in person. If you are not talented, you are Lian Xixian."
Li Xia waved his hand and said: "There is no need to be so solemn. How about I call you 'Brother Shanfu'? I heard that Li Shimin called Li Jing his brother."
"I can't afford it." Lian Xixian waved his hand and said, "I'm afraid you want to harm me."
"I am not afraid of being in the Song Dynasty, but Kublai Khan is even less generous?"
"That being the case, Feiyu shouldn't blame me for being rude."
As soon as Lian Xixianfu announced his name, his temperament changed again, and his demeanor became more dignified.
He calmly picked up a trumpet and blew it.
The sharp sound of dysprosium resounded.
Li Xia didn't stop him and smiled.
"Brother Shanfu expected that I would come to Shanxi and have a navy?"
"It's not unexpected. I just made a few extra preparations and told my subordinates that it might be possible to lure Feiyu across the river. Those people can't be called navy, but there are ships that can transport people and materials. Encirclement and suppression of Feiyu's people
It’s not difficult.”
Li Xia said: "But I said that being on the boat just now was your best chance."
Lian Xixian laughed at himself and said: "Although I am very skilled with bows and horses, it is really difficult to kill you with one against five."
"Blame me for not giving you a better chance?"
"You are willing to sit alone with me in the canopy of the boat and give me a chance to kill you, which is enough courage. After all, if you want to persuade me to surrender, how can you really let me kill you?"
In the distance, you can already see dust and smoke rising, it should be Lian Xixian's people.
Li Xia was not in a hurry to escape.
And his thirty warriors had come over and surrounded the canopy of the boat.
Lian Xixian asked: "I didn't expect you to really dare to come to Shanxi and be so calm?"
"If you want to do great things, how can you cherish your own life?" Li Xia asked, "Where is Brother Shanfu? You are trapped between thirty warriors like me, and you are not afraid that I will kill you?"
"Take responsibility and not be afraid of death."
"It seems that you have already made arrangements, and I have also made arrangements. It just depends on who wins."
Lian Xixian waved his hand and said: "That's all, it's useless to think about it now. Let's see the result."
"That's good. It seems that you won't pounce on me and kill me. You can still chat for a few more words." Li Xia said, "Actually, you have a better way to kill me."
"Take the initiative to reveal your identity, express your allegiance as 'Lian Xixian', and then kill you while you relax your vigilance?"
"Well, this is much safer."
"At the beginning, I just thought that you were a cunning and insidious person every time you used assassination methods. I treated others the same way, and I felt no shame in my heart." Lian Xixian laughed at himself and said: "But since you are sincere
I won't use such shameless tactics to treat you."
"Then continue to kill me?"
"You know my identity well, and when you said, 'I will give you many opportunities,' you didn't mean to compete again?"
"Yes, he is dignified and upright. He is indeed the 'Incorruptible Mencius' who sent envoys to warn him before the war."
The dust and smoke raised by the horses' hooves were approaching, and ships appeared upstream, surrounding Li Xia and others.
"Let me say something more from my heart."
Lian Xixian sighed and spoke slowly.
"The Mongolian princes and nobles occupy a large number of acres of land, and the lustful merchants tax and manage the wealth of the common people... These are also the stubborn diseases that I have been trying to eliminate all my life. What I said to Feiyu, 'It is very satisfying', came from the bottom of my heart. At that time, I said,
I just feel that my blood is flowing smoothly. However, it is only right to wait for His Majesty to bring peace to the world and then change the system."
"Maybe."
Li Xia turned around and left the boat tent, looking towards the approaching cavalry.
Lian Xixian also came out, took a look at the majestic scenery along the Yellow River, and once again felt that the poem "Li Xia" was written in his heart.
…
"The peaks and mountains are like clusters, the waves are like angry waves, the mountains and rivers are like Tongguan Road inside and outside. Looking at the Western Capital, I feel hesitant."
"It's sad that wherever the Qin and Han Dynasties traveled, thousands of palaces and palaces were turned into dirt. When it prospers, the people suffer; when it dies, the people suffer!"