night.

Yang Mansion.

Every step of the way in the back house, there are thousands of exotic flowers and plants in the garden, which is majestic and beautiful.

The middle-aged Yang Xian was wearing a purple official uniform and walking among the gardens. He felt that he was not forgetting about me and he was in a trance.

He thought of his mentor's instructions before he left.

"Those who hold high positions must not be impatient in order to go further. They must not be too quick.

I told myself another allusion, "The so-called person who kills the king and the horse is on the roadside"!

This sentence comes from "Customs and Customs" written by Ying Shao of the Eastern Han Dynasty.

The article reads: "The long official's horse will be fat, and the observer will ride it quickly. The rider will be delighted with his words, and he will gallop endlessly until he dies."

The general idea of ​​the story is that there was a man who was good at raising horses. He rode a horse and galloped down the road. People on the roadside kept praising his horse for running so fast.

The more people praised him, the prouder he became, and the faster he whipped his horse, until the horse died of exhaustion.

If you want to put someone to death, you can "kill" with a stick, that is, beat the opponent to death, or you can "kill with praise", that is, use constant flattery to make the opponent intoxicated with himself and step by step towards the death trap.

The latter means "the one who kills the king and the horse is on the roadside."

However, I started as a small official and finally climbed up step by step. I had an opportunity to pay homage to Feng Ma. How could I be willing to miss it?

I have been waiting for this opportunity for twenty years and there is absolutely no way I will give up.

The other side.

The reason why Liu Bowen spoke out and drove away his beloved disciple was because he discovered the ever-expanding ambition in Yang Xian's heart.

He understood that Yang Xian didn't listen to his words at all.

Everyone knows the principle of "praising and killing", but what is the reason for this repeated success?"

"The reason is that it contains both bragging and flattery, as well as compliments and praises, all at once, dazzling people, and they find the way without even realizing it.

The most classic case of being "praised and killed" in history is when Guan Yu left Maicheng and lost Jingzhou.

In the twenty-fourth year of Jian'an (AD 219), Guan Yu launched the Battle of Xiangfan.

The battle went smoothly. Guan Yu defeated seven armies led by Yu Jin. Yu Jin surrendered and Pang De was killed.

For a while, Cao Cao even had the idea of ​​moving the capital to avoid being exposed.

However, under the advice of Chen Qun, Sima Yi and others, Cao Cao wrote to Sun Quan on the one hand and asked him to send troops to seize Guan Yu's retreat.

On the other hand, they continued to increase their troops to Fancheng.

Before launching the attack on Cao Jun, Guan Yu was worried about Soochow's actions, so he left defensive forces on the edge of Jingzhou, such as Jiangling, Yidu and other places::

Lu Xun, who was only in his twenties and not yet famous, wrote an extremely flattering letter to Guan Yu.

As soon as they came up, they gave Guan Yu a tall hat and dug a hole for him.

The letter said: "Hello, my idol, I am your fan. I admire your style very much and hope to receive your teaching and help."

"Your charisma in cutting off the ugly, having a good appearance, and arresting people makes me admire and admire you as much as the water of the Yangtze River."

"I believe that your meritorious deeds will last forever, for thousands of years, tens of thousands of years, and will be remembered forever."

"Because you are the number one general of this era, the God of War with a lone moon hanging in the sky and making the stars dim."

Later in this letter, Lu Xun also said that he was a scholar and felt that he was unable to serve as a commander on the front line.

But I am very happy to be next to Guan Yu. After all, I can meet my idol.

Look at "The number one military commander of this era, the God of War with a lone moon hanging in the sky and making the stars dim", this statement is very accurate.

This flattery went straight to Guan Yu's heart.

In terms of flattery alone, Lu Xun is unrivaled, the best in the world.

No wonder Guan Yu read Lu Xun's letter and felt that Lu Xun was humble, fanatical and loyal to him.

put

After making up his mind, Guan Yu no longer doubted that there would be any changes in Soochow, and gradually withdrew the troops defending Jingzhou's border city and attacked Fancheng with all his strength.

And the terrifying degree of this kind of black powder is, to some extent, more terrifying than the enemy.

Lu Xun cut off Guan Yu's retreat, and Cao Cao led his army to fight. Attacked from both sides, Guan Yu was defeated and killed.

From Guan Yu's point of view, if he had not been careless and realized that Soochow had intentions, how could he have been defeated and died.

If we look at the problem from this perspective, Guan Yu was really praised by the fledgling Lu Xun.

Guan Yu's death made Lu Xun famous and a celebrity in history.

Even the Martial Saint Guan Yu back then couldn't resist the power of "praise and killing". So now, can his beloved disciple, who has unprecedented ambitions, be able to withstand it?

Thinking of this, Liu Bowen sighed silently.

If it was just a trap set up by Li Shanchang, I would still have some confidence in helping my beloved disciple get out of this trap.

However, the person who put his beloved disciple Yang Xian in this position was not Li Shanchang, but the current emperor, Zhu Yuanzhang.

Yang Xian was promoted several times without any obstacles!

In reality, in the officialdom, there are actually very few people who are lucky enough to be promoted. Most of them are people who have merit but cannot be promoted!

Yang Xian did not receive special care, but he was promoted after he had made contributions and achieved results. It was already a treatment that 99% of officials could only dream of.

It is precisely because of this that Yang Xian was able to take charge of Zhongshu Province at such a young age and at the same time defeated his biggest competitor - Hu Weiyong!

"Teacher, my disciple is going to let you down again. If you don't succeed, you will be benevolent."

"I'm already 42 this year, I can't wait any longer!"

Sitting on the stone pier, Yang Xian thought for a long time, and finally made up his mind and decided to take a gamble.

If you succeed, you will be above one person and below ten thousand people. If you fail, you will die at most.

Three days later.

Yang Xian came to the imperial garden and saw a white-haired military general striding out outside a small stone pavilion.

Yang Xian immediately gave in, stepped to the side of the road, and said respectfully: "Hello, Mr. Xu!"

The person who came was none other than Xu Da, the number one military commander. After seeing Yang Xian, he just said politely: "Xiao Xianggong Yang is here too..."

Immediately, he strode away, obviously not taking Yang Xian seriously.

Although they were all posted in Zhongshu Province, Xu Da was the right prime minister, and his disciples and old friends were all over the army. Even the emperor could not easily touch him. This was his confidence.

Yang Xian was well aware of the gap between himself and such big men, and he smiled with a non-threatening look on his face.

Watching Xu Da leave, he stood up straight, his eyes slightly dark.

At the same time, a purple-robed eunuch came over and announced: "The Holy Spirit has sent an audience to Yang Zuocheng!"

Yang Xian immediately arranged his manners and entered the small pavilion. He found that besides Zhu Yuanzhang, there was a third person in the pavilion!

This man has the eyes of a tiger and an eagle's eye, he is full of heroic spirit, he walks like a dragon and moves like a tiger, and you can tell at a glance that he is a rare military commander in the world.

And his name is Lan Yu.

"Your Majesty, our 100,000-strong army has been fully trained and has sufficient food and grass. It will not be a problem to deal with the Mongols..."

Lan Yu bowed, saluted and said.

"Yes, I will issue a decree to praise you!"

Zhu Yuanzhang nodded with satisfaction..

At this time, he saw Yang Xian's arrival, smiled slightly, and waved his hand, asking Lan Yu to step back.

"Your Majesty!"

"The rain is about to come, and the wind is blowing everywhere..."

Xu Da, the eldest brother of the Huaixi line, looked at the drizzle outside the window and his heart sank in the grain.

He was aware of everything from the tens of thousands of scholars who submitted blood letters to ask for their names, to the transfer and arrangement of personnel from the Jinyi Guards, Dongchang, Forbidden Army, etc.

He really couldn't believe it. That person and

Their current Holy Father, who is as close as a brother, will take action against these old brothers.

But the fact was before him, and he had to believe it.

other side

"I didn't expect that I still underestimated the greed of these people..."

"Originally I just wanted to investigate whether any of my old brothers wanted to rebel."

"But I didn't expect that Liu Chengyin would find out so many dirty and unsightly things..."

Zhu Yuanzhang was sitting on the dragon chair, looking at the information in his hands, with disbelief on his face, and murmured to himself.

After Zhu Yuanzhang decided to take action against his group of old brothers, it didn't take long for him to send Jin Yiwei and Dongchang to collect dirty information on the Huaixi officials.
To be continued...