It was dark in the backyard of Wang's mansion in Hedong County.
If it weren't for the violent coughing sounds that came from the bedroom from time to time, one would almost think it was an empty room.
Wang Yao and Wang Ke stood in the courtyard, their bodies covered with snowflakes.
Wang Yao is Wang Chongying's biological son and the current governor of Jiangzhou.
He has a high self-esteem and has been jealous of his elder brother Wang Gong since he was a child, because his eldest brother surpasses him in temperament and martial arts. In today's world, without martial arts and not being ruthless enough, it will definitely not work.
Now the object of Wang Yao's jealousy has become Wang Ke. Because his father is in poor health, he plans to pass on the position of Hezhong Jiedushi to him.
Wang Ke is the son of his uncle Wang Chongjian. Because his third uncle Chongrong had no children, he adopted him to his third wife since he was a child and became his third uncle's adopted son.
After the third uncle was killed by Chang Xingru, his father Chijie Hezhong became Pu Shuai.
This is a good thing. After a hundred years, wouldn't the position of Pu Shuai naturally fall into the hands of his parents and children?
But that’s exactly where the problem lies!
The father did not want to pass on the command to his own son, so he promoted Wang Ke to the position of Sima of the Marching Army of the Hezhong Shogunate early on. He often said that he was just taking care of the family business for his deceased brother and supporting his nephew. Sooner or later, he would make Wang Ke the commander of the army.
handsome.
How is this possible!
Wang Yao thought that I had lost my mind and gone crazy. With such a weak temper, how could Chong'er be able to become a commander? Can he subdue those arrogant and powerful generals?
This is chaos!
Wang Yao turned around and looked at Wang Ke.
Wang Ke noticed his fierce eyes and subconsciously avoided them.
Incompetent! Cowardly!
Wang Yao curled her lips, can such a person be the commander-in-chief? I am afraid that the Wang family's foundation will be ruined in his hands.
"Come in, everyone." An old voice sounded in the room.
Wang Yao and Wang Ke, as if they had been granted amnesty, shook off the snow on their bodies and entered the warm bedroom.
"The prisoner is well guarded and will be executed tomorrow." A surprisingly calm voice came from the darkness.
Wang Yao's eyes widened, but she still couldn't see her father's face clearly.
Wang Ke was a little creepy and felt quite uneasy.
"Master, Zhu Quanzhong sent an envoy to retrieve Zhu Youneng, why not let him go? Why offend him?" Wang Yao clenched her hands slightly and said bravely.
Zhu Youneng was the "Zhu Canjun". After being caught by Shao Shude, he was so frightened that he cried bitterly at night. When he was sent to the river, his attitude suddenly changed and he was no longer afraid. He was obviously emboldened.
Shao Shude really dared to kill him, Wang Chongying may not. Maybe this was Zhu Youneng's idea.
"My son is dead, how can there be no blood sacrifice?" Wang Chongying sneered twice and said: "Since Zhu Quanzhong dared to kill my own son, I dare to kill his nephew. Back off, the third brother has been back all his life, and finally ended up...
What will happen? I'm tired and don't want to retreat. If Quan Zhong dares to come and fight with this broken body, I will have to bite off two pieces of his flesh."
Wang Yao was speechless and didn't know what to say.
Wang Ke twisted his body uneasily. Today's conversation contained a lot of information for him.
"Shao Shude is not a good guy either." Another tired voice came from the darkness: "Sit back and watch my son being killed, and rob the two states of Shaanxi and Guozhou. This man is too ambitious, and getting involved with him is not a blessing to the Wang family. In the future
You should stay away from it.”
At this time, Wang Yao was also a little scared and said: "I have offended Quanzhong and Shude one after another. Do you have any strategies?"
"Li Keyong from Jinyang is a heroic and capricious man with a good temper. My nephew, tomorrow you will go to Jinyang to meet Li Keyong and treat him as an uncle. From now on, obey his advice and you can protect the foundation of the royal family."
." Wang Chongying said.
"Niece" obviously refers to Wang Ke.
Wang Ke looked worried after hearing that. In fact, he didn't want to go anywhere because he was afraid of being detained by Li Keyong.
"My nephew is confused!" As if he had guessed Wang Ke's hesitation, Wang Chongying coughed twice, and after taking a breath, he said: "But it doesn't matter if you go, Ke will not harm you, and he will not take away the inheritance in the river."
One good thing about the Li Keyong Group is that it likes to give power to those who obey. As long as you bow to him, show your obedience, and are willing to provide money, food, equipment and even soldiers, and if you are more respectful in your attitude, he will allow you to continue to be a governor.
Yes, very generous.
Zhu Quanzhong has no chance at all. Judging from what he did, he took almost all the power in his hands, which made his subordinates slightly disappointed, especially when Li Keyong was used as a comparison.
For Shao Shude, it all depends on luck.
The Fengxiang Zhe family is a wife family of Zhengerbajing, so they have great power.
During the reign of Zhuge Zhongfang in the Xingyuan Dynasty, his father Zhuge Shuang had a close friendship with Shude, so he also gained great power.
Others have no chance.
Li Xiaochang of Yanzhou and Dongfang Kui of Yanzhou, where are they now? He moved his family to Lingzhou and became a nominal yamen general. From time to time he went to the capital of Yu to wait for the commander of the government.
You can get a salary.
Ke Yong, Shu De, and Quan Zhong. If you had to choose one to defect to, it would be natural to choose Ke Yong to protect the family legacy.
If it really doesn't work, Shude can also defect to Shude. He won't be able to keep his foundation, but he can become a rich man. He has a strong desire for power, but he is generous and not bloodthirsty. The Wang family has not offended him and even gave him a sum of food and grass.
, it won’t be a problem to live peacefully.
If you surrender to Quan Zhong, you will die without a burial place!
As for the story that Quanzhong and Chongrong were nephews and uncles in the past, they swore to the sun and the moon: "If I succeed, all the kings of the Fan family will do it." Haha, just listen to this, Quan treats it as a joke, and with Quan Zhong's character
, Breaking the oath is inevitable, Wang Chongying sees clearly.
"Everyone, please step aside, and don't forget to get up early tomorrow." Wang Chongying said tiredly.
In the darkness, Wang Yao glanced at Wang Ke jealously, and Wang Ke tightened his lips and frowned in thought.
Early the next morning, the sky was covered with leaden gray clouds, and the snow was getting heavier.
The door of Hedong County opened early.
Flags, banners, and banners appear on the streets during the festival, which is when the Jiedushi is traveling.
The news about Wang Gong in Shaanzhou has spread throughout the river, in four states and thirty-seven counties. Everyone hurriedly avoided to avoid angering an old man who had lost his son. Gu
Several prison vans followed the team.
Zhu Jian and his wife Zhang were imprisoned in the same car, their hair disheveled and silent.
Zhu Youneng looked around, wanting to cry but without tears. Now, no matter how stupid he was, he could see clearly that Wang Chongying had no intention of letting them go and was about to die!
Traveling in snowy weather was quite inconvenient. After walking for a long time, the team arrived at a place in the wild, which was the Wang Cemetery.
"Pull the person out." Wang Chongying was wrapped in fur clothes and her face was pale, but she was in good spirits.
The sergeants opened the prison car and carried Zhu Jian and his wife to a newly built grave.
Wang Chongying looked up at the sky and was speechless for a long time.
"Let's do it."
A sergeant responded to the order and held Zhu Jian firmly. Zhu Jian was too lazy to struggle, as if he had resigned himself to his fate.
One man stepped forward and cut open Zhu Jian's chest and abdomen with a knife. Zhu Jian screamed in pain and was bleeding profusely.
"Take a look and see if this person has a dark heart." Wang Chongying muttered to himself.
The north wind was howling and snowflakes were falling. Zhu Jian fell to the ground quietly, with steam rising from his chest.
After Zhu Jian died, someone brought white silk, put it around his wife Zhang's neck, and strangled her tightly. Zhang's hands and feet fluttered for a long time, and gradually became silent.
Zhu Youneng was so frightened that he peed in the prison car. Even the north wind couldn't blow away the fishy smell.
He has seen the cruelty of warriors, and the most terrifying thing is that this kind of cruelty will fall on him.
Wang Chongying coughed twice and felt weak all over.
"Let this man beheaded. All the other prisoners, men, women, old and young, will be beheaded." After saying this, he felt a little depressed and a little sad.
In the past, Chang Xingru was brought to the tomb to pay homage to his deceased brother, and today they sacrificed blood to Xi Nan. How come the Wang family is in so much trouble!
…
In the vast snowfield, Wang Ke quickly arrived in Jinyang.
Li Keyong had just returned from the Northern Expedition and defeated Youzhou. The Datong coalition forces captured and killed more than 10,000 people. Helianduo defended the city and did not dare to fight. The Youzhou army lay dead for more than ten miles, which was a big sigh of relief.
If it had not been freezing cold and the road was difficult to travel, he would have even fought all the way to Fanyang and killed Li Kuangwei's entire family.
But the weather this year was extremely cold, so we had no choice but to give up. After Banshi, he killed Kuangwei's son Renzong in Jinyang, which made the Yan people remember.
"Meet the Prince of Longxi County." Wang Ke saluted as soon as he came up.
Li Keyong sat high on the throne, and the military generals and assistants lined up on the left and right, all fixing their eyes on Wang Ke.
Sweat appeared on Wang Ke's forehead, and he could not speak clearly: "My uncle sent me to Jinyang, and I am willing to attach myself to the king of Longxi County. From now on, I will obey all orders given."
"That's what your uncle meant, what do you mean?" To be honest, Li Keyong felt that Wang Ke was weak and could not survive in this troubled world of warriors. A few years later, even if he became a marching Sima, many
He had experience, but he still looked like he couldn't help himself up, which made him look down on him.
But how to put it, you can look down on Wang Ke as a person, but you can't look down on his identity.
Seeing what King Chongying did, he sent all his two eldest biological sons to other places, leaving his nephew Wang Ke alone as a marching commander in the river. It was obvious that he was going to pass the throne to him.
Moreover, according to the information obtained through inquiring, the generals of the Hezhong Military Mansion had already known the news, and they had already acquiesced that Wang Ke would succeed the Hezhong Jiedushi after Wang Chongying's death.
This position is very stable.
"I am also willing to attach myself to the king of Longxi County. I swear by the sun and the moon that I will never rebel against you." Wang Ke said loudly.
All the generals in Hedong looked happy, and Gai Yu frequently signaled Li Keyong with his eyes.
Li Keyong suppressed the disgust in his heart and said: "Wang Sima, please sit down. What can Wang Pushe say about the Shaanxi-Guo matter?"
Li Keyong was not a fool. Of course he knew who was actually calling the shots after the Shaanzhou Rebellion. It was not Li Fan who claimed to be the queen, but his "good sworn brother" Shao Shude.
During the Northern Expedition, Li Keyong was in a very low mood. He led an army of 60,000 to the south, but was blocked by Zhu Quanzhong. However, Shao Shude led his army out of Xiashi and won consecutive battles. Why was this happening? Was he deceived by Shao?
"My uncle once said that the war in Shaanzhou was instigated by Zhu Quanzhong, and Shao Shude sat back and watched, which led to this result. Now I would like to express my gratitude to the imperial court. In recognition of the Wang family's contribution to quelling the traitors, I would like to ask him to be the envoy to protect the rebel army." Wang
Ke said.
He lowered his head, not daring to look at Li Keyong, and only answered.
"I'm afraid the court won't let Zhang Pushe get what he wants." Li Keyong sighed suddenly.
What kind of success have you achieved in these years of conquests here and there?
Shude fought every year and merged ten towns in ten years. Quanzhong also occupied seventeen states in the Central Plains, and his strength grew extremely rapidly.
Until now, the war in Hedong has only won the five prefectures of Zhaoyi and Datong Prefecture (Yuzhou), and the territory is not enough for the generals.
Why is the difference so big?
There are thirty-seven counties in four prefectures and one prefecture in the river. They have a lot of wealth and strong strength. If you can rely on them, it may be able to soothe your mood a little.
This place can also greatly restrain Shude, it is very useful.
Gai Yu winked wildly and almost spoke.
Li Keyong glanced at Wang Ke again, the expression on his face changed for a long time, and finally said: "I heard that Wang Sima's wife is seriously ill. Is this true?"
Wang Ke was stunned for a moment and raised his head, only to be greeted by Li Keyong's sharp gaze.
He was so frightened that he swallowed everything he wanted to say, and muttered: "I've been sick for a long time."
"That's good, go back and get ready." Li Keyong didn't want to talk to him anymore, turned around and nodded, and said: "My son Si Zhao, in a few days, you will lead the army to escort Wang Sima back to the river."