After reading Shang Yi's letter, Huang Degong and Liu Liangzuo suddenly realized. They were not fools, and they knew Zuo Liangyu's character very well. Of course, they could tell clearly that Shang Yi's trustworthiness was far more reliable than Zuo Liangyu's.
The letter was much bigger. This must be another trick Zuo Liangyu wanted to play to make the bandits self-respecting, but this time the trick didn't go well and Shang Yi did it instead.
With Zuo Liangyu's personality, it is entirely possible for him to become angry from shame and want to fight with Shang Yi. But Zuo Liangyu did not expect that Shang Yi is not a fuel-efficient lamp, and Zuo Liangyu has been trying to chase him away.
Zi Xing, who knew that although he had caught a big tiger this time, he suffered a big loss. Therefore, he thought of pulling Long himself to deal with Shang Yi together. It was nonsense to share Shang Yi's money and food equally. Zuo Liangyu was clearly
He couldn't defeat Shang Yi, so he wanted to drag himself into the water.
And now the two of them also remembered that Shang Yi was not easy to mess with. The Qing army was defeated by him. Li Zicheng and Zhang Xianzhong were even beaten to a pulp. They had no grievances with Shang Yi and Zuo Liangyu.
He has no relatives or friends, so why bother to come to this muddy water? At the same time, he felt a little gloating in his heart. Isn't Zuo Liangyu crazy at ordinary times? Doesn't he look down upon everyone? Today, he will suffer a big loss and learn a lesson.
Therefore, after figuring this out, the two people immediately decided to let Zuo Liangyu and Shang Yi continue to fight. Before they could decide the winner, no one would help and they would remain neutral. However, Shang Yi's request was very strict.
It was easy to handle, so the two of them also replied to Zuo Liangyu and Shang Yi each with a letter, to the general effect of advising them to put state affairs first and make peace the most important thing.
Shang Yi naturally welcomed the attitude of Huang Degong and Liu Liangzuo. Now it depends on what Zuo Liangyu will do.
The next day, Shang Yi received a message from the guards in the Chinese army's tent. Zuo Liangyu sent his clerk Lu Guangzu to rescue Shang Yi.
It turned out that after Zuo Liangyu received Huang Degong and Liu Liangzuo, he was furious and went to Xianning County to greet all the women from the eighth generation of Huang Degong and Liu Liangzuo. But after losing his temper, Zuo Liangyu also knew that it would not help, and
Huang Degong and Liu Liangzuo refused to help them, so Zuo Liangyu naturally did not dare to send troops to attack the merchant army. For the sake of his son's wealth and life, Zuo Liangyu had no choice but to surrender and send his clerical officer Lu Guangzhu to meet with Shang Yi to discuss
Now, how can I let Zuo Mengeng go?
Lu Guangzu was originally a talented scholar. He had a friendship with Zuo Liangyu and lived with Zuo Liangyu for a long time. Because Zuo Liangyu was illiterate, all his official documents were drafted by Lu Guangzu for him, so Lu Guangzu could be considered a
Zuo Liangyu's confidant, and Lu Guangzu was also Zuo Mengeng's teacher. Naturally, he was very dedicated to rescuing Zuo Menggen. After receiving Zuo Liangyu's dispatch, Lu Guangzu also hurriedly left Xianning City and came to Shang Yi's house.
Daying, informed the origin of his name.
After a while, someone came to report that Lu Guangzu was allowed to enter. After hearing this, Lu Guangzu raised his head and chest, and followed the soldiers who sent the order with an arrogant expression, and walked towards Shang Yi's camp. Two soldiers guarding the camp gate
When he saw him, he couldn't help but said: "We defeated him twice, and we even asked him to arrest his son. How can he be so proud?"
The two guards did not deliberately lower their voices when they heard this. Lu Guangzu turned around and looked at the two of them, snorted and said: "What do you know? Victory or defeat is a common thing for military strategists. You just won by luck.
What's the point?"
The soldier immediately retorted: "We won by luck. If you have the ability, let Zuo Liangyu fight again and see if he can also win by luck."
It turned out that Zuo Liangyu had ordered Lu Guangzu when he came. Although he was defeated by Shang Yi, he should not lose his prestige in front of Shang Yi, but still pretend to be more energetic. That's why Lu Guangzu put on such a show.
Although Lu Guangzu couldn't answer the soldier's words, he had to pretend not to hear. Instead, he pretended to look around with a disdainful expression on his face.
After walking a few steps, Lu Guangzu's expression suddenly changed, and he saw a group of prisoners in ragged clothes, each carrying a large bag, walking toward Lu Guangzu under the supervision of several soldiers.
There was also a soldier waving a whip, making a "pop, pop" sound. And Lu Guangzu discovered that one of the prisoners was Zuo Menggeng.
Seeing Zuo Mengeng, Lu Guangzu hurriedly took a few steps forward, grabbed him, and said, "Young Marshal, what's wrong with you?"
And Zuo Mengeng also saw clearly that it was Lu Guangzu, and couldn't help but burst into tears, saying: "Mr. Lu, please save me, I..." Before he could finish speaking, the soldier escorting him "popped"
The whip struck Zuo Mengeng on the back, causing Zuo Mengeng to scream in agony.
The soldier said sternly: "Work hard. If you have anything to say, leave quickly."
Zuo Mengeng was fine, but Lu Guangzu became angry. He pointed at the soldier and said, "You are very courageous. Do you know who he is?"
The soldier said lazily: "I don't care who he is, he is our prisoner now, and working is his task. If he doesn't do well, he will be beaten and starved." Then he whipped him again and said: "
Work quickly, or I'll beat you to death."
Zuo Mengeng was so frightened that he quickly picked up the bag and followed the others, but he did not forget to turn around and said: "Mr. Lu, hurry up and save me."
Lu Guangzu said to the messenger who was leading him: "This is unreasonable. This is our Zuo Commander's son-in-law. Do you dare to treat him like this? Send someone to let him go quickly."
The messenger said: "I'm sorry, I don't have the power to let him go unless it is our general who speaks."
Lu Guangzu said bitterly: "Quick, take me to see your general."
The messenger brought Lu Guangzu to Shang Yi's Chinese military tent. Lu Guangzu rushed into the tent in a few steps and said to Shang Yi who was sitting in the seat: "Master Shang, you have gone too far."
Before Shang Yi could speak, Zhou Shaohuan on the other side said: "Who are you? How dare you roar in the Chinese army's tent. Come here, drag him down and beat him with fifty army sticks."
Lu Guangzi was also startled, and then he realized that he had not announced his identity, so he quickly stopped him and said: "Wait a minute, I am still Lu Guangzu, Zuo Liangyu's clerk to Marshal Zuo, and I came here specifically to see General Shang.
"
Shang Yi then smiled and said: "It turns out to be Mr. Lu. Well, it seems that Mr. Lu is new here and doesn't understand the rules. I'll just forget it this time and won't do it next time. I wonder why Mr. Lu came to see me?"
"
When Lu Guangzu heard that he stopped beating himself, he breathed a sigh of relief and said: "Sir Shang, you have arrested my young master Zuo, and you still ask me what I am doing here? Release my young master quickly, otherwise it will be too late to regret."
."
Shang Yi was startled and said, "Have we captured your young master?" He looked left and right again and said, "Have we captured your young master Zuo?"
Cheng Jin said: "Sir, if this is the case, Mr. Zuo is not our enemy, and he did not come to attack our camp. How could we capture Mr. Zuo for no reason? There is absolutely no such thing!"
"You..." Lu Guangzu was so angry that he was speechless. He couldn't say that he was caught because Zuo Mengeng came to attack the merchant army, so he had to say: "Stop pretending to be confused. It was clearly you who captured Mr. Zuo. I just said I saw him outside. He is being treated as a prisoner by you and is doing hard labor. Let him go quickly, otherwise our Commander-in-Chief Zuo will never let go of you."
At this time, Zhou Shaohuan pretended to be suddenly enlightened and said to Shang Yi: "Sir, didn't Zhang Xianzhong come to attack our camp two days ago? We were severely defeated and captured many prisoners, including There was a man who claimed to be Marshal Zuo's son, but I think this is impossible! He must be talking nonsense, so I gave him a lesson and didn't report it to the adults."
Lu Guangzu hurriedly said: "What he said is right, that is our Mr. Zuo."
Shang Yi glanced at Lu Guangzu and said, "Is it true? Is he really Mr. Zuo?"
Lu Guangzu said without thinking: "Yes, he is Mr. Zuo."
Shang Yi smiled slightly and said: "Mr. Lu, how come you, the dignified Master Zuo, have become a thief? Or you have become Zhang Xianzhong's subordinate."
Lu Guangzu was stunned for a while, and then he realized that he had been bypassed by Shang Yi. The problem was that he couldn't say that it was Zuo Menggeng who came to attack the merchant army, otherwise Shang Yi would catch him again, so he could only be speechless. I can't even answer the question.
Shang Yi continued: "I originally wanted to kill these prisoners and take credit for their heads, but now it seems that I can't do this. I should immediately submit a letter to the court. Marshal Zuo's son actually defected to the rebels. Zhang Xianzhong, and then sent someone to escort him to the capital, where he would be punished by the imperial court."
Lu Guangzu couldn't help being shocked. Although Zuo Liangyu didn't take the court seriously now, he was still a minister of the Ming Dynasty. At the same time, Zuo Liangyu did not have the intention to rebel. The court was also afraid of Zuo Liangyu. Yu was forced to rebel, so there was a low line in dealing with Zuo Liangyu, and the two sides maintained a delicate balance. But once Shang Yi really brought Zuo Mengeng to the court as a thief, it would be tantamount to It completely broke this balance. Instead, it forced the court to choose one between Shang Yi and Zuo Liangyu.
Judging from the current situation, it is almost impossible for the imperial court to choose Zuo Liangyu. This is not only because Zuo Liangyu's consistent performance has dissatisfied the emperor and the ministers of the court, but this time Zuo Liangyu also suffered a disastrous defeat. In the hands of Shang Yi, the court's scruples about Zuo Liangyu would be much less. Even if Zuo Liangyu rebelled, at least someone would be able to control him.
In fact, Zuo Liangyu didn't want to fall out with the court. After all, he didn't want to be a rebel, because Zuo Liangyu was also very clear-minded. After more than ten years of suppressing bandits, he had formed many friendships with all the peasant soldiers. Due to their deep hatred, Li Zicheng and Zhang Xianzhong may still cooperate, but neither of them will accept Zuo Liangyu. In that case, Zuo Liangyu will be a complete traitor, so it is far better to be a rebel than to be a general of the emperor. , Zuo Liangyu would not take that path unless absolutely necessary.
Therefore, Lu Guangzu said: "Shang Yi, you dare to confuse right and wrong and falsely accuse the court of loyalty. Do you think the court will believe it?"
Shang Yi narrowed his eyes and said, "Whether you believe it or not, we won't know until we send the person away. Do you think I dare not do this?"