Chapter Forty-ninth: The Xiao Family's Exploration
Liu Fangzhi never expected that a guest would come to visit him during the fourth watch. This was not in line with normal social etiquette, unless he had other motives. Thinking of "other motives", Liu Fangzhi immediately rode towards the mansion.
The entire city of Xiangyang was dark, including the Liu Mansion. Only the lights were on in the living room. In the living room, Xiao Yanqin was pacing back and forth with his hands behind his back. Although he also knew that it was extremely impolite to visit during the fourth watch, there were so many people around the Xiao Mansion all day.
There are soldiers patrolling at night, and only after the third watch the number of patrolling soldiers is reduced by half, can we find an opportunity.
At this time, there was a sound of footsteps outside the hall, and Liu Fangzhi appeared at the door, "Brother Xiao, do you still have the leisure and elegance to come as a guest at this late hour?" Liu Fangzhi smiled heartily, and his laughter spread far in the quiet night.
Xiao Yanqin hurriedly stepped forward and bowed, "I am so sorry to disturb your rest at this late hour. I hope you will forgive me, General!"
Liu Fangzhi's family is also a big family in Jiangling. Although it cannot be compared with the famous Xiao family in the county, it is still a wealthy family in the county, and it is a native of Jiangling. It has been living in Jiangling City for hundreds of years. This is why Chai Shao reused him.
The reason is to win over the local forces in Jiangling.[
Although the Xiao family is a famous county official, they only moved from other places a few years ago. In fact, it is more because of the full support of Xiao Mian and the favor of the Xiao family nobles. On weekdays, the two families do not have much contact with each other.
There are many, but they are all locals, they don’t look up when they look down, and they are very polite to each other.
More importantly, Liu Fangzhi knew the details of the Xiao family and knew that they moved from Dunhuang, not from Danyang County as they claimed. This kind of thing could be hidden from foreigners like Chai Shao, but not from the natives.
Liu's local snake.
Knowing that the Xiao family moved from Dunhuang, Liu Fangzhi guessed that the Dunhuang faction in the Sui Dynasty officialdom was most likely related to the Xiao family. So who was Xiao Jing from the Xiao family?
Liu Fangzhi is very deep in the city, and he will never easily let people know what his true thoughts are. He knows the details of the Xiao family, and even his confidant general Yu Shouren accepted bribes from the Xiao family and secretly let the Xiao family's children out of the city.
I know. But he never said a word.
Liu Fangzhi smiled and waved his hand, "Dignified guests come to our door. It doesn't matter whether it's morning or evening. Brother Xiao can come to our door. This is the honor of the Liu family. Please take a seat!"
The two of them sat down separately, and Xiao Yanqin sighed, "I should have come to visit at normal times, but there are always some soldiers coming and going in front of and behind Xiao's house. It is really inconvenient. Please forgive me, General Liu."
Of course Liu Fangzhi knew that those soldiers were sent by Chai Shao to monitor the Xiao Mansion and other ten famous families in Jiangling. He chuckled, "They were sent by General Chai to protect the safety of the Xiao family. In case of riots in Jiangling City, there would be stragglers from the army."
We rushed into the Xiao Mansion and robbed it, hoping that Brother Xiao would understand the great general’s painstaking efforts.”
Liu Fangzhi's explanation made Xiao Yanqinai smile bitterly, but Xiao Yanqin also knew that the relationship between the Xiao and Liu families had not reached the point of no longer talking. Xiao Yanqin came to Liu Fangzhi tonight. He was not here to bribe him. Even if he offered five thousand
Liu Fangzhi may not accept two gold coins.
Money is not everything. Especially Jiangling rich families like the Liu family are not short of money. If they come to talk about bribes without enough friendship, Liu Fangzhi will fall out on the spot. Xiao Yanqin comes here tonight, actually just to test.
At this time, a maid came in with two cups of tea and presented it to the two of them. Xiao Yanqin picked up the tea cup and took a sip of tea, and sighed slightly: "To be honest, what a large family like us is most afraid of is
In the war, whether the two armies are fighting or the Sui army is marching into the city, we are very afraid of encountering the tragic disaster of annihilation. I have also exchanged opinions with several other Jiangling aristocratic families, and everyone has the same view. We hope that General Liu can step forward and protect
Gangneung’s local interests.”
Having said this, Xiao Yanqin took out a joint letter, put it on the table, and gave it to Liu Fangzhi. Liu Fangzhi smiled and said nothing. He took the letter and read it again, then put it back, shook his head and said, "This letter should be given to
General Chai, my official position is small and I’m afraid I can’t do anything for you.”
"Why should General Liu be too modest? We have reached this critical moment of life and death. We all know that if the Sui and Tang Dynasties war burned the city, the entire city of Jiangling would be broken into pieces. I also begged General Liu to save Jiangling for the sake of the fellow villagers.
city."
Liu Fangzhi was silent for a moment, then a sarcastic smile slowly appeared on his face, and he said lightly: "Isn't it easy to save the Xiao family in Jiangling City? It's just a matter of effort, why do you need to ask me for help."
There was silence in the living room, and the atmosphere became a little awkward. To this extent, there was actually only a layer of paper separating the two parties, which could be broken with a poke.
Xiao Yanqin also understood that if he wanted to persuade Liu Fangzhi, he had to come up with real evidence and use something as trivial as a joint letter. How could Liu Fangzhi give him any explanation? It seemed that this layer of household paper had to be pierced.
"Okay! I won't hide it anymore. I received a letter from my brother a few days ago, that is, the prefect Xiao of Changsha County. General Liu should also know. He told me that the King of Chu attaches great importance to the southern aristocratic families, and will treat them wherever he goes.
It's comforting and encouraging. General Liu, you should also understand the current situation. The demise of the Tang Dynasty is inevitable. Under this situation, how should we, the Jiangling family, choose? I believe General Liu is also a sensible person. I don't need to say more.
.”
The words had gradually become clearer. Liu Fangzhi took a sip of tea and showed an expression that was half a smile but not a smile. It was like a surprise attack. He suddenly asked: "Who is Brother Xiao, the prefect of Liang County, Xiao Jing?"
Xiao Yanqin was stunned for a moment, and then he realized that their background had been known to Liu Fangzhi for a long time, but this gave him a glimmer of hope. Liu Fangzhi knew about it but did not tell Chai Shao, which meant that Liu Fangzhi had something in mind.
Xiao Yanqin smiled awkwardly, cupped his hands and said, "To be honest, it's Quanzi."[
"Oh!" Liu Fangzhi said with a long voice, "I understand."
"Okay! Thank you Brother Xiao for being honest. I promise to keep this secret for Brother Xiao and not leak it out. It's getting late. Brother Xiao, please go back to the house first! The soldiers patrolling in front of the Xiao Mansion will appear again later.
It will appear."
Speaking of this, Liu Fangzhi laughed meaningfully and said: "General Yu Shouren told me yesterday that we should protect the Jiangling family, especially a famous family like the Xiao family. He seems to have great affection for the Xiao family!"
"We are all villagers and we should take care of each other!"
Xiao Yanqin seemed to understand something in his heart, so he stood up and said with a smile: "Then I won't bother you anymore, I'll take my leave."
Xiao Yanqin said goodbye and left. Liu Fangzhi walked to the lobby with his hands behind his back and looked at the dark night sky. There was an elusive luster in his eyes. His thoughts were difficult to fathom... It is not far from Xiangyang City to Jiangling City.
, the two places are about four hundred miles apart, separated by the remaining mountains of Jingshan. After passing Jingshan, the mountains gradually slow down, and then there is the Jingnan Plain as far as the eye can see. If it is a forced march, it only takes three days.
You can drive from Xiangyang to Jiangling.
There is a spacious and flat official road among the lofty mountains of Jingshan Mountain. This road is the main road connecting the north and south of Jingxiang. However, there are usually only short-distance business trips and pedestrians in the mountainous area. Generally, long-distance businessmen will take the waterway.
More cargo can be carried by ship.
However, during this period, there were obviously more pedestrians on the official road, especially merchants, driving mules and donkeys, laden with goods. This was also affected by the Battle of Jingxiang. The Sui army confiscated the ships on the north bank of the Yangtze River, resulting in an acute shortage of cargo ships.
The merchants had no choice but to take the overland route.
At noon, several young businessmen were sitting next to the big rocks on the roadside to rest. A young young man took a water hyacinth and drank a few sips of water. He looked around and asked: "Brother Wu, do you think we can go all the way north?"
Will it be a big business?"
"Why not? From Xiangyang to Jiangling, this is the only way to do big business. You will definitely meet a big buyer."
The speaker was a man in his early thirties, with bronze skin that shone in the sunlight. He looked very strong. There were four of them, leading more than a dozen donkeys, loaded with new tea that had just been picked this year. Look.
They looked as if they were eager to make a big deal.
At this time, a small businessman riding a mule hurried from the north and shouted to them: "You should leave quickly. There is an army coming from the north. If they see your donkey, they will be surrendered to the army."
The four of them looked at each other, and the dark-skinned man made a decisive decision: "Go into the woods!"
The four of them led the donkeys and hid in a forest a hundred steps away. As soon as they entered the woods, they saw a group of cavalry running towards them, about a hundred people in total. This was the scout who was the first to explore the road. They divided into two groups and headed toward them.
There were many pedestrians and merchants hiding in the woods on both sides. When everyone saw the cavalry running toward the woods, they were so frightened that they fled deep into the woods.
However, the cavalry scouts did not care about these passers-by and merchants, and almost turned a blind eye to them. The cavalry scouts came to check that there was no enemy ambush. After searching around, there was no abnormality, so the cavalry scouts continued to gallop south.
Several young businessmen were not taken seriously. At this time, their eyes were focused on the official road. They knew very well that there must be a large group of people behind them if they were at most ten miles away. Sure enough, a quarter of an hour later, a massive army rushed along the official road.
Head south quickly.
This is a Tang army of more than 50,000 people, marching in a hurry towards Jiangling. In front of the team are banners, and a red and white flag of the Tang army is flying high. The red and white flag is trimmed with gold, which means it is the royal flag. Only Li Xiaogong
Only then can he be qualified to use the King's Flag of Phnom Penh. Even Chai Shao does not have this qualification.
There was a burst of surprise in the eyes of the four businessmen. They did not expect that it was Li Xiaogong who personally led the army south. The leading man silently watched the army. The army's armor, horses, morale, baggage and other important military information were all formed in his mind.
.
It took at least an hour for this 50,000-strong army to pass through completely. The leading merchant waved his hand, and they hurriedly left the woods and came to another open space behind the mountain.
The young businessman took an eagle cage from the donkey's back. At this time, the leading man had already finished writing the information and stuffed it into the bamboo tube tied to the eagle's leg.
They opened the eagle cage, and an eagle spread its wings and quickly flew into the sky. It circled twice in the sky, gave a long cry, and flew south quickly.
In the team, Li Xiaogong raised his head and stared at the eagle in the sky, his eyes full of doubts...rs!!![