South of Daliang and east of Weishi County, the ancient Xu State once had a small county here. When the Wei State conquered the Xu State, this small county was once renamed "Xu Bei" and became the front line for the Wei State to attack the Xu State.
Therefore, it is also called "Tongxu".
Tongxu County is not big, with only four towns under its control, but its geographical location is quite advantageous. It borders Daliang to the north, Qixian County to the east, Weishi to the west, Fugou to the south, and more importantly, Caishui also passes through it.
County, therefore, with the help of water transportation and trade, although Tongxu County was a small county, it developed quickly.
Especially in recent years, with the gradual formation of "Sanchuan Luo City", "Shangshui Border City (Wei-Chu)", "Bolangsha Port City", and "Qixian Border City (Wei-Han)" in Wei State
As an important trading city, and connected with several rivers such as "Heshui (Yellow River)", "Caishui", and "Lianglu Canal", Tongxu County's development momentum is particularly rapid.
On December 19, Beigong Yu, the deputy captain of the Prince's Mansion, led thirty Black Crows to Tongxu County.
It has to be said that when thirty black crows wearing uniform dark cloaks swaggered into the city, they would of course be stopped by the county soldiers of Tongxu County. However, when Bei Gongyu showed the information of "Daliang Mansion" and "Criminal Department Arrest Division",
After the token was issued, the county soldiers guarding the city gate no longer dared to block it and gave way respectfully.
Some people may wonder why the Black Crows hold the tokens of the Daliang Mansion and the Criminal Department’s Prosecution Department. In fact, as the Double Crows under the command of Zhao Run, the Crown Prince of the East Palace, the Black Crows, like the Green Crows, possess the authority of anyone in the Wei Kingdom.
The official office, the identity token of any army, and the relevant appointment documents can be obtained at any time - these tokens are not forged, each token is engraved with a number, and it is recorded in the official office or the army.
The reason why Shuangya possesses these tokens is just to facilitate free movement within the territory of Wei when performing tasks. It cannot be denied that after the crown prince Zhao Run came to power, the power that Shuangya gained was greater than that of the Gongwei Division directly under Wei Emperor Zhao Si.
The imperial guard is worse than anything else.
Braving the wind and snow, Bei Gongyu led thirty Black Crows to a deep mansion in the east of Tongxu County, looking at the mansion with a complicated expression.
The owner of this mansion, whose surname is Xu, is said to be a descendant of the Xu family. However, Bei Gongyu is certain that the current head of the Xu family, "Xu Xi", is not a descendant of the Xu family, because twenty years ago, he was a descendant of the Xu family.
It was he and Xiao Luan who managed to arrange for him to go to the Xu family, marry a daughter of the Xu family, and become his son-in-law.
For this reason, Fu Weijun also acted as a gangster, and while the daughter of the Xu family was out of the city, he robbed her on the way and tied her to Songshan Mountain in the west, creating an opportunity for Xu Xi to be a hero and save the beauty.
At that time, Xu Xi was not called by this name, but was called "Hao Xi". Like Wei Shan, who had impersonated Sima Song, the Marquis of Quliang for twenty years, he was both a bodyguard selected by Xiao Luan.
After arranging for Hao Xi to marry into the Xu family, Fu Weijun spent six years getting rid of several young men of the Xu family without being noticed, causing those young men to all die in accidents, and assisted Hao Xi in stealing
Xu family.
In the end, when all the sons of the Xu family died one after another, Hao Xi finally changed his surname to Xu as his son-in-law and inherited the Xu family's business. After the old man of the Xu family also passed away, he passed on to the Xu family, a prominent family in Xu County.
Just like that, it fell into Fu Weijun's hands.
Over the years, Beigong Yu also secretly came to Tongxu County many times to ask Xu Xi to secretly raise money for Fu Weijun.
But this time, he came here as the deputy captain of the Prince's Mansion to arrest Xu Xi, the instigator of rebellion. Even Bei Gongyu couldn't help but feel a little emotional in his heart, lamenting the impermanence of things in the world.
"Is this here, Lord Beigong?"
Seeing Bei Gongyu staring at the mansion in front of him without saying a word for a long time, a thin man among the black crows asked in a low tone.
This man calls himself "Sickle". As the name suggests, like "Ghost", he is a leader-level assassin with a code name among the Black Crows. He is good at using double hooks and moves quickly, especially the "double hooks" move.
Specializing in special skills, Bei Gongyu once witnessed a headless corpse that was oozing blood like a fountain. He was so panicked that he couldn't sleep well for several nights.
But having said that, in Bei Gongyu's opinion, one thing about Sickle is better than Ghost is that the former can at least control his bloodthirsty desire. Unlike Ghost, this guy has the same virtues as Mang Ya, one of the leaders of the Black Crows.
, wherever people pass by, there will be no one left alive.
"Um."
Being interrupted by the sickle, Bei Gongyu nodded and ordered: "Five people guard the front of the house, five people guard the back of the house, ten people wander outside the wall, and the rest wait and follow me into the house... Remember
, If you don’t disturb the people, and if you don’t see them, you kill them. I think you don’t want to be laughed at by the Green Crows, right?”
Sickle and the rest of the crows secretly curled their lips, somewhat dissatisfied with Bei Gongyu using the crows to stimulate them.
But in the end, they chose to follow Bei Gongyu's order. After all, in order to rectify the Black Crows, Zhang Qigong, the captain of the Prince's Mansion, had already said that anyone who disobeyed orders would be kicked back to Yangxia.
Although for the Black Crows, they actually have more freedom in Yangxia than in Daliang, but considering that they would be laughed at by their colleagues in the Green Crows if they were kicked back to Yangxia, they can only obey orders honestly. After all, that Zhang Qigong
, that’s really what you dare to do.
"Bang bang bang."
Bei Gongyu personally stepped forward, grabbed the copper ring on the door of the mansion and knocked several times.
A moment later, a servant wrapped in cotton clothes opened the door of the mansion, looked at Bei Gongyu in confusion and asked, "What are you doing here?"
Bei Gongyu did not waste any time with the famous disciple, and said directly: "I have informed your master that I am coming to pay you a visit."
Hearing this, the disciple frowned and said, "My master has given instructions that there will be no visitors in the near future."
After saying that, without waiting for Bei Gongyu's reaction, he closed the door with a bang.
"..."
Bei Gongyu shook his head mockingly with a wry smile.
Of course he could guess that the reason why Xu Xi would not come as a visitor was simply that Fu Weijun's power in the Wei State was very low, and even the leader Xiao Luan had fled to the Wei State. In addition, the imperial court was vigorously pursuing Xiao Ni's members recently.
Therefore, Xu Xi felt frightened and uneasy, so he simply closed the door and thanked the guests to avoid being implicated.
After thinking for a while, he turned to look at Sickle, who was standing about a foot away from him, and signaled: "Thank you."
Sickle nodded and waved to the two black crows to build a ladder outside the wall. Immediately, he stepped on the knees and shoulders of the two black crows and jumped into the inside of the wall. Then, from
The door of the mansion was opened inside.
When Bei Gongyu crossed the threshold and walked into the mansion, the doorman who had just opened the door for them seemed to have heard the noise and hurried out of the concierge. Seeing Bei Gongyu and his party walking into the mansion as if there was no one around.
, and suddenly shouted: "Who are you, you broke into my Xu Mansion without permission?!... I'm warning you, the magistrate of this county belongs to our master..."
Just as he said this, his voice stopped abruptly, because one of the two iron hooks on the back of the sickle had been placed on the opponent's neck.
Judging from the sharpness of the iron hook, I believe that as long as the sickle pulls it, a big head will fall to the ground, and Beigong Yu can once again enjoy the spectacular sight of a headless corpse spurting blood like a fountain.
"Stop! Just knock him out." Not wanting to have nightmares for several days again, Bei Gongyu quickly stopped.
However, before he could finish his words, he saw Scythe using the side of the hook's blade to hit the disciple on the head, knocking him unconscious to the ground.
Secretly breathing a sigh of relief, Bei Gongyu headed straight towards Xu Xi's study in his memory.
Along the way, all the guards in the courtyard of this deep mansion were knocked unconscious by the black crows, which allowed Bei Gongyu and his party to reach the master's study in the mansion without any hindrance.
At this time, in the study room, the head of the Xu family, Xu Xi, was reading a book. Suddenly, he heard the door of the study room being opened, and mistakenly thought it was a servant of the house. However, from the corner of his eye, he caught a glimpse of Bei Gongyu walking into the house.
At that moment, he sat upright in shock and subconsciously.
"Mr. Gong, you..."
Before Xu Xi could finish what he said, six or seven black crows rushed in behind Bei Gongyu. Xu Xi subconsciously swallowed the second half of what he said, and with a bit of panic on his face, he asked urgently:
"Mr. Gong, what are you doing?"
I saw Bei Gongyu taking a few steps forward, looking at Xu Xi and saying in a deep voice: "Hao Xi, I am Bei Gongyu, the deputy captain of the Prince's Mansion. I am here to arrest you, Xiao Ni's old subordinate."
, I advise you not to resist, just surrender."
After hearing Bei Gongyu's words, Xu Xi was so shocked that his eyes almost popped out.
His ears couldn't believe it.
What did he hear?
Deputy Captain of the Prince's Mansion? Beigong Yu?
The man in front of him dressed as a scholar is clearly Gong Zheng, the "Fu Weijun Chief Secretary" who contacted him from time to time in the past and asked him to try to raise money for Fu Weijun!
Xu Xi swallowed his saliva and said with a grimace, "Mr. Gong, please don't joke..."
"I'm not joking." Bei Gongyu shook his head, and after cupping his hands in the direction of Daliang, he said in a deep voice: "Xiao Luan betrayed the Wei Dynasty and had evil intentions. I have already drawn a clear line with him and defected to His Highness the Prince of the East Palace.
Under his command..."
After hearing this, Xu Xi was even more shocked.
As far as he knew, Bei Gongyu, who had once assumed the alias Gong Zheng, was Xiao Luan's right-hand man. He really couldn't imagine that Bei Gongyu would betray Xiao Luan and defect to the court.
At this time, Bei Gongyu continued: "...if you obey His Royal Highness the Crown Prince's edict and are willing to submit to the court and the Crown Prince, the Crown Prince can forgive you for your past actions. Otherwise, even I will not be able to protect you."
Xu Xi looked at the black crows who had already revealed their weapons, and was so shocked that cold sweat broke out on his forehead.
He was really not sure whether Bei Gongyu had really surrendered to Prince Zhao Run, or whether he was deliberately testing his loyalty to Fu Weijun, so he did not dare to speak rashly.
Fortunately, Bei Gongyu could guess Xu Xi's concerns and immediately showed him several amnesty edicts given to him by Zhang Qigong.
After seeing with his own eyes that those edicts were indeed stamped with the seal of Chui Gong Palace and the private seal of Prince Zhao Run, Xu Xi was convinced that Bei Gongyu, who was once Xiao Luan's right-hand man, had indeed defected to the prince.
Zhao Run.
So he chose to surrender without hesitation.
Seeing this, Beigong Yu ordered Xu Xi to write a "confession" on the spot, which basically asked Xu Xi to tell him his real name, origin, and how he got into the Xu family and even stole the Xu family. 151
Write ten places on paper, such as
As a result, if Xu Xi dares to contact Xiao Ni privately in the future, he and the Black Crows will not even need to come forward again. The people from the Criminal Department will be able to use this confession to directly arrest Xu Xi and charge him with treason.
Behead everywhere.
Of course, in order to eliminate Xu Xi's panic, Bei Gongyu also threw him a pardon edict to cancel the previous incident.
After receiving the edict written by Prince Zhao Run, Xu Xi felt much more at ease. He honestly wrote down his confession and gave it to Bei Gongyu, who took it back to Daliang and handed it over to Zhang Qigong.
During this period, Bei Gongyu asked Xu Xi: "Besides me, has anyone from Fu Weijun contacted you during this period to seek asylum?"
Since Bei Gongyu was once a high-ranking person in Fuweijun, Xu Xi did not dare to hide anything. He said honestly: "Two months ago, there were a few people who had met several times in Fuweijun. I don't know.
How did you know that I was in Tongxu? Come here
After he came to me and asked me for money, he found another place..." At this point, he paused, maybe with some scruples, and said hesitantly: "According to them, the young master... no, Xiao Luan,
It seems that he has escaped to Weiguo."
"Hmm." Bei Gongyu nodded, and then asked lightly: "How many people went to Weiguo to defect to Xiao Luan?"
Hearing this, Xu Xi's face flashed with a flash of blue and white. After gritting his teeth, he lowered his head and said truthfully: "Those people asked me to sell the Xu family property, exchange it for currency and goods, and join him."
Xiao Luan, I didn’t want to follow, so they threatened me and threatened to reveal my true identity. That’s why…that’s why I killed them while they were drunk and smuggled their bodies out of the city after coaxing them.
Buried."
"..."
Bei Gongyu glanced at Xu Xi with a complicated expression and sighed secretly.
In fact, he had known for a long time that even the bodyguards Xiao Luan originally selected had inevitably lost their obsession with revenge after sneaking into the Wei Kingdom and living a privileged life for twenty years. These people wanted more.
, how to live the next life happily with a wife and children who don’t know what’s going on.
It cannot be denied that even after twenty years, there are still people who are loyal to Xiao Luan. For example, a few days ago, he watched with his own eyes a Fu Weijun who was unwilling to submit to the imperial court and was killed by the Black Crow Crowd.
.
But having said that, when Xiao Luan is now weak, there are only a few people who are still loyal to Xiao Luan, and more people like Xu Xi want to take the opportunity to get rid of Fu Weijun's control.
This made Bei Gongyu sigh with emotion. The 'foundation' that Xiao Luan had worked so hard for twenty years was ultimately a moon in the water and a flower in the mist. In the past, when Fu Weijun was powerful, these people did not dare to expose their inner feelings easily.
Thoughts, but wait. Now that Xiao Luan is weak, this group of people want to get rid of control. Xiao Luan used the cruelest punishment to deal with those who betrayed, and warned those who have not yet betrayed, but this method is destined not to last long.
.
"Perhaps this is the so-called "Those who gain the right will get more help, and those who lose the right will get less help"..."
Feeling secretly in his heart, Bei Gongyu put away Xu Xi's confession and warned: "If Xiao Ni comes to seek refuge again in the future, you can report it to the county government and ask him to arrest or kill him as appropriate."
After that, he simply turned and left.
After a while, after walking out of the mansion, Kaname asked Beigong Yudao calmly: "Is this enough?"
"Ah." Bei Gongyu responded and said with a complicated expression: "Now that Xiao Ni has lost power, anyone with any sense will not die for Xiao Luan again, let alone His Highness the Crown Prince has given me hope.
…”
Speaking of this, he couldn't help but think of the tragedy in his family twenty years ago, and his mood suddenly became heavy.
In his opinion, Prince Zhao Run is definitely a more outstanding hero than King Zhao Si of Wei. In comparison, King Zhao Si of Wei was too cruel back then. In order to prevent them from marrying with the Xiao family,
As well as the clans with whom they have deep friendship, the aristocratic family actually took the lead in avenging the Xiao family.
It was a pity that many members of the Nanyan clan and aristocratic families were forcibly charged with conspiracy and rebellion without knowing what happened, and they named Wei Mu and Sima An as generals.
He led his army to massacre the entire Nanyan clan and family.
What's more important is that after the Nanyan clan and aristocratic family were massacred, Wei King Zhao Si was still sending people to hunt down those who slipped through the net. This made survivors like Bei Gongyu follow Xiao Luan without hesitation.
On the road to revenge.
If there is even a little bit of hope, why do we end up here?
"...That's all."
Shaking his head, Bei Gongyu looked at the heavy snow falling outside the house and couldn't help but rub his hands.
This Xu Xi is the last person on his list. Now, he should return to Daliang.
Having said that, last month when he assisted Zhang Qigong in going to Wei to hunt down Xiao Luan, he asked the Qing Crows to bring his wife and children who were hiding in Dingtao to Daliang. So the question now is how to tell his wife about him.
Are you interested in having more than ten concubines?
With this troublesome problem in mind, Bei Gongyu embarked on the return journey to Daliang.
A few days later, Zhang Qigong, the captain of the Prince's Mansion, reported the results of Bei Gongyu's action to Prince Zhao Run. Zhao Hongrun was very satisfied.
Although thinking about it, one knows that Bei Gongyu is unlikely to be able to fully grasp all the traces of all the secret agents lurking in the Wei State, but Zhao Hongrun believes that under the suppression and investigation of both the imperial court and Bei Gongyu, the domestic Xiao Ni forces
, I believe there are not many left, and even if there are still a few fish that slip through the net, it will not be enough to cause any more trouble.
As for Xiao Luan, Zhao Hongrun also believed that after Wei Gongziyu received the handwriting record of the craftsmanship of "refractory bricks", 90% of the time he would help keep an eye on Xiao Luan's every move, waiting to drain Xiao Luan of all his money.
After finding something, try to get rid of it.
After much deliberation, Xiao Ni's demise was just a matter of time.
In contrast, Song Yun of Song County and the Bei Bo Army under his command did a series of things that made the court feel unhappy and made Zhao Hongrun feel unhappy.
For example, Song Yun restored the Song State in several counties close to the Lu State in Song County, and supported a descendant of the Song royal family who was purely a puppet in Zhao Hongrun's eyes. This finally gave the Beibo Army a so-called status and became a
The king's division who joined the Song royal family was no longer just a Song County rebel with no righteous name like before.
After that, according to relevant news, Song Yun was recently committed to visiting Qi to encourage the Qi people to restore the "Three Kingdoms Alliance of Qi, Lu, and Song."
Zhao Hongrun could roughly guess Song Yun's intentions. He just wanted to use the Qi State to resist his Wei State.
In Zhao Hongrun's view, although the Chu State was the first to openly support Song Yun in restoring the Song State, because at least half of the power of the Chu State is currently in the hands of Xiong Tuo, the king of Yangcheng, Zhao Hongrun has no worries about Chu's influence on the so-called Song State. Support would go so far as to send troops to assist the Song Dynasty in resisting his Wei army.
It's not because Yangcheng Lord Xiong Tuo has any deep friendship with him. The key lies in Yangcheng Lord Xiong Tuo's character - he is also a person who can't afford to be early unless Song Yun makes concessions to Yangcheng Lord Xiong Tuo. The latter couldn't refuse the generous reward. Otherwise, how could Xiong Tuo, Lord of Yangcheng, send troops to assist Song Yun?
In Zhao Hongrun's view, what Xiong Tuo, Lord of Yangcheng, is most likely to do is to try to encourage the people of Qi to restore the "Three Kingdoms Alliance of Qi, Lu, and Song". In this way, the relationship between Wei and Qi will inevitably deteriorate, and even in the end, Wei will The two countries Qi and Qi, which had joined hands to resist Chu during the period of Qi King Lu Xi, will turn against each other over the issue of Song County (country), and even go to war.
Once Wei and Qi engage in war, Chu can sit on the mountain and watch the tigers fight. In the eyes of Chu, Wei and Qi are both threats. If these two tigers can fight, this will be the most beneficial thing for Chu. thing.
Of course Zhao Hongrun also thought of this.
In view of the fact that neither side is fully prepared for the fateful decisive battle with South Korea that will determine the status of the two countries' Central Plains, Zhao Hongrun is more inclined to cut the knot quickly and get rid of Song County as soon as possible - to be precise, the one restored by Song Yun The problem of the Beibo Army.
Although the Qi State has Zhao Hongrun's sixth brother Zhao Hongzhao as the left prime minister, Zhao Hongrun is still worried that the proud and arrogant Qi State will restore Song's ally status.
As for the reason, it is obvious that it is nothing more than strengthening Qi's influence in the eastern part of the Central Plains and weakening Wei in disguise.
To put it simply, if the Qi State restores the ally status of the Song State, then the Qi State will have three younger brothers "Song", "Lu", and "Yue" at the same time. With these three younger brothers helping to wave the flag, in the secular world It seems that they are the party of 'the enlightened will get more help'. Although this may sound ridiculous, it does help Qi to continue to occupy the position of "Hegemon of the Central Plains" - the ancient "Hui Alliance" "Isn't it just one or two big countries playing with a few small countries, hoping to use this to enhance their voice in the entire Central Plains?
Therefore, Zhao Hongrun really can't guarantee that the Qi National Congress will agree to Song Yun's request.
Therefore, since the Qi State is still hesitating and has not publicly expressed its attitude towards the Song State, Zhao Hongrun believes that the Wei State should take the lead in attacking the "pseudo Song Dynasty" that Song Yun restored.
After all, if the "pseudo Song Dynasty" does not use troops now, if a decisive battle breaks out between the Wei State and South Korea later, the Wei State will have no time to take care of Song County and can only watch the "pseudo Song Dynasty" helplessly. Song" has become an established fact.
As for this war against the "Puppet Song Dynasty", Zhao Hongrun had already made a decision in his mind, what if Qi State intervened.
If Qi dares to intervene, then they will fight together with the former overlord of the Central Plains!