The sound of horse hooves "tat-tat-tat" broke through the silence of the morning, and sparrows jumped up from the bushes, like an arrow shot from the string into the blue sky.
The cavalry stopped in front of a heavily guarded village at the foot of the eastern foothills of Zhangbaling Mountain.
Before the cavalry team could send someone to negotiate with the guards outside Wuzhai, they saw the closed door of the village open with a creaking sound. A young general came from inside and helped Wei Chujun hold the horse and support him.
He came down and said:
"Hearing the sound of horse hooves, the Duke guessed that you had arrived overnight!"
"How is the Duke's health?" Wei Chujun asked anxiously.
Luo Wang sent someone to report that it was Ge Boyi who happened to feel cold after escorting the newly recruited soldiers to Qingliu County. He was weak and insisted on riding a horse to inspect the defenses in the Zhangbaling area. He didn't want to fall off his horse halfway——
At this time, the Qiandi family, Han Shiliang, and Ge Yu were besieged in Shouchun City, Yang Maoyan was imprisoned and awaiting trial, and Wang Boqian's position as privy envoy was also in jeopardy. Only Ge Boyi's position as the pacification envoy in Jingnan was still as stable as Mount Tai.
.
Hearing that Ge Boyi fell off his horse, Wei Chujun didn't dare to be careless. He hurriedly handed over the affairs of the Wuludu Branch and traveled day and night to Qingliu County in Chuzhou.
"You will know when you follow me in." The young general arranged for others to recruit the escorts accompanying Wei Chujun. He led the way along a paved alleyway.
Walk deep into Wuzhai.
Luo Wang was busy with military affairs, so it was normal for him not to show up. However, when he walked into a remote courtyard, Wei Chujun saw that the guards here were even tighter. He asked the young general calmly: "An Chao, tell me what happened.
Listen, can I bear it? Has something serious happened to the Duke?"
"I have nothing to do," Ge Boyi walked out from behind the corridor, waving his hand to the young general, "An Chao, please take Chu Jun to the yard next door to have a look first!"
Wei Chujun was even more puzzled when he saw that Ge Boyi didn't look like he had fallen. He bowed to his father-in-law Ge Boyi first, and then followed Ge An to the more heavily guarded yard next door. He saw Zheng Changling being hanged.
He was tied to the beam, and there were signs of torture all over his body, as if he had been tortured a lot in the past few days.
Wei Chujun suppressed the shock in his heart, went back to see Ge Boyi, and asked in a low voice: "Is it Changling who surrendered to the enemy, and came to Qingliu to persuade Luo Wang to surrender to the enemy too?"
Zheng Changling was Ge Boyi's wife and nephew. He, Wei Chujun, Luo Wang and others had always been regarded as brothers. He was also recommended by Ge Boyi to serve as the official secretary of Guangzhou and join the army.
Sun Yanzhou, Hu Dangzhou and others led the German troops to surrender, and Zheng Changling and other Guangzhou officials were coerced and fell into the hands of the Red Husbands. Wei Chujun had known this for a long time.
Therefore, when Wei Chujun saw Zheng Changling appearing in Qingliu County, Chuzhou and being secretly tied up and tortured by Ge Boyi, Wei Chujun's first thought was that Zheng Changling had surrendered to the enemy.
If Zheng Changling failed to withstand the torture or inducement of the Red Husbands in Guangzhou and chose to surrender, it would not have much impact on them.
When Bianliang fell, I don't know how many courtiers succumbed to the butcher's knife of the red soldiers and chose to surrender to the enemy.
In order to calm people's hearts, Emperor Jianji issued many decrees after he ascended the throne in Xiangyang, making it clear that those who were forced to surrender to the enemy or temporarily join the enemy in order to save their lives would not be implicated, and their relatives would be implicated.
Therefore, in Wei Chujun's view, if Zheng Changling failed to survive the torture, it was just because he was greedy for life and feared death that he surrendered to the enemy in Guangzhou, and even served as a minor official in Chihu, it would not have much influence on their side.
However, Zheng Changling actually appeared in Qingliu County, Chuzhou at this time. Wei Chujun couldn't help but guess whether he had been deceived by the Chihu people to surrender, and even helped Hulu to go to Qingliu County to lobby Luo Wang. This matter was serious.
Of course, if the matter were really that simple, he believed that Ge Boyi would have dealt with it directly. There was no need to pretend that he had fallen and rushed him out of Lujiang.
Called to come to Chuzhou - Therefore, Wei Chujun guessed that things were more complicated than they seemed.
"If you really want to be deceived by the Red Husband and come here to lobby Luo Wang, that would be easy."
Ge Boyi sighed and said,
"This bastard, I ordered people to hang him up and torture him, but he has been biting him to death for three days. He just escaped from the prison camp and came to Chuzhou, and did not surrender to the enemy. I must be so naive and believe his nonsense. I have been so scumbag in these years. Take it out to boil oil! Luo Wang also didn’t believe his story and detained him secretly. No one else knows about it yet.”
"Did Changling say anything stupid after meeting Luo Wang?" Wei Chujun asked.
Wei Chujun's knowledge at this time was very limited, and he could not guess what the Red Husband meant by sending him to Luo Wang's army if Zheng Changling surrendered to the enemy. Did he really think that Luo Wang would choose to join forces because of Zheng Changling's words?
How can things in the world be so simple?
As Ge Boyi's direct general, Luo Wang was able to better control the Jingnan Army stationed in the Zhangbaling area in the northwest of Chuzhou. There were also many generals and military officials brought by Luo Wang from Shouchun, but these generals and military officials I have a higher degree of recognition for Ge Boyi and Ge family.
In addition, most of the generals of the Jingnan Army are descendants of civilians from the Jingnan states, and many of them were promoted during the anti-bandit operations in the past few years. Up, the loyalty to Dai Viet is higher.
Not to mention that we are still far from reaching the end of our rope. Dai Viet has even gradually regained its disadvantage in the Huaixi War. Even if Luo Wang is confused for a while, there will be a few people in the Jingnan army who have taken the wrong medicine and will surrender to the enemy at this time. ?
"This bitch didn't say anything stupid when he saw Luo Wang," Ge Boyi said. "But in front of me, this bitch claimed to have accidentally learned that King Chihu Jingtan was dissatisfied with the new Khan's ascension to the throne and was resentful. With hatred, King Zhennan and King Pingyan are worried about this, and their suspicions have changed - don't you think this is more stupid than directly persuading Luo Wang to surrender to the enemy?"
Wei Chujun cupped his hands to Ge Boyi and said, "There is indeed something fishy. My son-in-law will ask Changling again..."
"Go ahead," Ge Boyi nodded and said. He didn't have the patience to interrogate Zheng Changling at this time, and said with some frustration, "If you still can't ask anything, just deal with it directly. Now we are here." There can be no more mistakes!"
"My son-in-law understands." Wei Chujun nodded and said, knowing that this was not a time to be soft-hearted.
…………
…………
Ge Boyi stood in front of the corridor, secretly thinking about the strange and complicated situation in the court. After a while, he saw Wei Chujun coming out of the yard next door and asked: "What did you find?"
"If it is true that Chang Ling did not surrender to the enemy, but the Chihu clan kings were at odds with each other and were wary of each other, and did not even exclude the use of troops in civil strife, etc., Hu Lu deliberately leaked it to Chang Ling, and deliberately sold the loophole to give Chang Ling a chance.
Escape, my father-in-law, what do you think is the possibility?" Wei Chujun asked.
"It's not that I haven't thought about this possibility, but leaving Chang Ling behind is too risky!" Ge Boyi said with a frown.
"Master Yuezhang, have you ever thought about why the Red Husband did this?" Wei Chujun asked.
"It's nothing more than tempting us to send troops to fight with him to the death," Ge Boyi snorted coldly, "but I have encountered so many changes in my life, how can I be deceived by such a little trick?"
"If the Chihu people have this intention, let alone my father-in-law, my son-in-law thinks that Luo Wang, Gao Juntang and the others will not be fooled easily," Wei Chujun guessed hesitantly, "Besides, even if Luo Wang, Gao Juntang and the others believe it,
You are not qualified to be deceived, or maybe Chihu people think that this simple trick can deceive Marquis Jingsheng? How is this possible?"
No matter how much they looked down on the nouveau riche in Jingxiang, at this time
No one can deny that the highest command and control of the entire Huaixi battlefield is in the hands of Xu Huai.
Liu Yan and Yang Qiye can certainly make independent decisions on small and medium-scale operations and deployment adjustments in the East Wing, but they have no right to organize large-scale battles without authorization before consulting Xu Huai and getting permission; while Luo Wang and Gao Juntang are more powerful in the East Wing.
It was controlled by Liu Yan.
In other words, if the Chihu people had any conspiracy in the Huaixi battlefield and deliberately sent Zheng Changling back to deliver false news, it would be impossible for it to play any role.
To put it bluntly, the direction of the war in Huaixi was completely beyond their control. How could people like Xu Huai and Liu Yan believe the news brought back by Zheng Changling?
"What do you think Chi Huren wants?" Ge Boyi had not thought so deeply before, and asked Wei Chujun with a frown.
Wei Chujun said: "It's impossible for the Chihu people to think that such a crude trick can be used to hide from anyone, but they deliberately let Changling come back, maybe just to let us know these things!"
"What's the use of letting us know these things?" Ge Boyi asked, "Are we easily deceived?"
"It's hard to tell whether these reports are true or false, but the intention behind the Red Husbands should indicate that they don't want to continue the fight, at least not with us," Wei Chujun frowned????????????
He frowned and said, "Thinking about it this way, it is confirmed by the fact that the Chihu people have been continuously pulling out soldiers and horses from outside Shouchun City and sending more troops to the southern front during this period!"
"Why do they do this?" Ge Boyi frowned and asked.
"The Red Husbands should have realized that Xu Huai could not control the Yue alone!" Wei Chujun said.
"Why is that Zhuzi so fearful to all the Chihu people?" Ge Boyi asked hesitantly.
"Beijing and Xiangxiang held off 300,000 soldiers in the middle for two years, but they still had enough energy to secretly build thirty armored warships. Who in the world is not afraid?" Wei Chujun said, "When the Chihu people saw them raiding Jianye, they
In the end, Jingxiang gained further power. It is not difficult to see that they really want to capture Shouchun and annihilate Han Shiliang and Yu'er's troops. Who will win in the end..."
"What do you mean, the Chihu people are actually trying to negotiate for peace by making so many moves?" Ge Boyi asked thoughtfully, "Since they intend to negotiate for peace, why do they use so many tricks?"
"Who would believe the Chihu people's initiative to negotiate peace?" Wei Chujun said. "Could it be possible that the Chihu people can say that the reason why they negotiated peace is because they don't want to see the government of Dai Viet fall into the hands of that Shuzi? The Chihu people deliberately indulged Chang.
Ling Nangui should be hoping that we can stand up and promote peace talks, so that everything seems to go smoothly..."
"Would Zhuzi allow it so easily?" Ge Boyi asked with a frown.
"If we first ask the Chihu people to retreat to the north of the Huaihe River, and then negotiate for peace, then what reason does Shuzi have to stop it?" Wei Chujun said.
"Will Chihu make such a big concession?" Ge Boyi asked uncertainly.
"Whether the Chihu people will make such a big concession requires formal contact," Wei Chujun said. "However, I don't think the problem is too big. They have obviously given up on attacking Shouchun and will not retreat to the north of the Huaihe River.
Let’s talk about peace talks again. Why should they rush to withdraw their troops from Shouchun City? Do they really want to go to the south of Li Lingshan and fight to the death with that Shuzi? They should think that simply withdrawing their troops from Huaixi can no longer restrain Beijing and Xiangzhou from controlling Dai Viet.
Bar……"
"Yes, it does make sense to think so." After a long time, Ge Boyi considered Wei Chujun's words again, and then he nodded with a solemn expression and ordered, "However, in order to make everything seem logical, call that Zhu Zi
If you can't find fault with us, Changling will still have to feel aggrieved."
"Definitely." Wei Chujun made a slashing motion towards Ge Anchao, who was standing at the entrance of the courtyard, signaling him to go and get rid of Zheng Changling...
