Lin Yaozu chuckled, "This man's name is Zhou Li. He is from Bozhou, Hebei Province. He has excellent martial arts skills. He was once Li Wujun's personal guard. He also has no family. After Li Wujun's death, he made his home all over the world.
Three years ago, I went to Hebei to buy medicine and found him lying ill in an inn, penniless and dying. I paid for his treatment and saved him from hell. He has been with me ever since.
, he is loyal to me, and he can easily kill any thieves or bandits he encounters on the road."
There was a look of envy on Cai Yong's face. There were many scholars in Quanzhou and martial arts was not strong, so it was difficult to meet people with strong martial arts. The dozen or so soldiers who escorted him to Luoyang this time were not very good at it.
He was worried.
But this was Lin Yaozu's capable bodyguard, and he couldn't open his mouth, so he had to suppress his thoughts.
Early the next morning, Cai Yong and Lin Yaozu, accompanied by officials from Honglu Temple, arrived at the Zhizheng Hall of the Imperial City. Right Prime Minister Liu Feng and Left Prime Minister Yao Lingyan went to the gate in person to welcome the Quanzhou envoy.
Everyone exchanged a few words and then entered the Zhizheng inner hall. The seats had been arranged and guests from both sides were seated. Liu Feng took out the report brought by Cai Yong and went directly to the topic, "I have truthfully reported your thoughts to the emperor. The emperor
I appreciate your wise choice. In principle, we agree to form an alliance between the two sides to jointly deal with the pressure of the Jin army."
Cai Yong was overjoyed and said quickly: "Not only the alliance, my lord hopes to be canonized by the emperor."
Liu Feng was not interested in such frivolous things as canonization. He waved his hand impatiently, "Of course there is no problem with this, but our emperor is more pragmatic, and he hopes that both parties can do something practical in cooperation."
Cai Yong and Lin Yaozu looked at each other and knew that they were about to enter into substantive talks. Of course, Cai Yong's mission to Luoyang this time also hoped that the two sides could have substantive mutual assistance, so he asked cautiously: "I don't know what Liu Xiangguo said is true.
Which aspect does it refer to?"
Liu Feng coughed heavily and said: "After next spring, we will use troops against Li Na. We hope that the Quanzhou navy can also participate in the war. Of course, you can also get huge war benefits, land, food, wealth, population, you can all
choose!"
After coming out of the imperial city, Cai Yong and Lin Yaozu took a carriage back to the Honglu Temple Posthouse in the northeast of the city. Cai Yong seemed a little worried. The other party actually asked them to send troops to participate in the attack on Laizhou and Dengzhou, or asked them to use ships to transport troops to Laizhou and Dengzhou.
State, this was something they had not thought of beforehand.
Lin Yaozu secretly admired the ability of the Jin Wei Mansion, which really affected the major decisions of the Zhu Si Dynasty. He explained with a smile: "Didn't Cai Si Ma say that the main population was insufficient? If the population of Laizhou and Dengzhou could be transported,
Wouldn't it be in line with the Lord's intention to seek help from Liuliu?"
Cai Yong sighed, "That being said, I'm afraid that after next spring, the Jin army will attack Quanzhou and the fleet cannot leave!"
"Didn't my lord tell Cai Si Ma?"
Cai Yong was stunned, "What did you say?"
"I sent an urgent letter to Quanzhou not long ago. I got clear news that the Jin army in Jiangnan and the Yangtze River navy will participate in the battle to attack Huaixi in the first half of next year. The Chang'an court has made it clear that the Jiangnan army does not care about Quanzhou, and Quanzhou is controlled by the Jin army in Guangzhou.
Responsible for capturing, but the warships in Guangzhou cannot be repaired within two years, so Quanzhou will be relatively safe next year, and the danger will mainly be in the year after."
Cai Yong said after a while: "If this is the case, it is not impossible to send troops to Dengzhou and Laizhou, but this matter must be decided by the lord, and I cannot be the master!"
The two were discussing in the carriage. At this time, the carriage passed through a busy market. Several black figures appeared on the eaves of a nearby house. They pointed their crossbows at the carriage, and several crossbow bolts were fired at the carriage.
Zhou Fei had already seen the black shadow. The moment the crossbow arrows were fired, he jumped up and blocked the car window with a large shield in his hand. His back hit the car window hard, 'Pah! Pah!' Two crossbow arrows.
At the same time, it hit the shield, but another crossbow arrow hit the coachman.
The driver screamed and the carriage shook violently. Cai Yong and Lin Yaozu fell to the ground. "What happened?" Lin Yaozu asked loudly.
"There's an assassin!"
There was a huge chaos outside, and the two of them were so frightened that they lay in the carriage, not daring to move. After a while, Zhou Fei said urgently: "The coachman has been killed, get out of the car quickly, and follow the humble transfer."
Cai Yong's face turned pale with fright, and he stepped out of the carriage tremblingly. He saw several crossbow arrows nailed to the carriage, and the coachman's face was dark and he had fallen dead.
"what happened?"
Zhou Fei pointed at the roof opposite, and the assassin fired a crossbow arrow from the opposite side. He humblely blocked the two poisonous arrows aimed at the window, but the coachman did not escape.
Cai Yong saw two blue poisonous crossbow arrows stuck on the shield. Apparently they had been shot at the car window just now, but were blocked by Zhou Li.
He was grateful in his heart and quickly raised his hands and said, "Thank you Brother Zhou Xian for your life-saving grace!"
"It's too early to say thank you. The danger has not been eliminated yet. Please come with me, both of you!"
Zhou Fei held a huge shield in his hand and led four of his men to protect Cai Yong and Lin Yaozu. They quickly moved and found a safe room to hide.
At this time, a large group of soldiers appeared on the street and quickly sealed off the scene. They did not find Cai Yong and Lin Yaozu, but took away more than a dozen of Cai Yong's men for investigation.
Cai Yong returned to the posthouse under the protection of Zhou Fei and others. He was really shocked. Instead of searching for the murderer, the other party took his men away. What does this mean?
Lin Yaozu sighed and said: "I guess the assassins have something to do with the infighting in the Luoyang court!"
Cai Yong's face changed greatly, "You mean, their military advisor Liu Sigu did it?"
"Not necessarily. It may be the work of the Jin army's scouts in Luoyang. They don't want to see us joining forces with Zhu Si. It may also be the infighting among Luoyang's senior officials."
"Then what should I do?" Cai Yong asked very worriedly.
Lin Yaozu thought for a moment and said: "Luoyang is too dangerous. I suggest Cai Sima return to Quanzhou to report first to see if the lord accepts Zhu Si's suggestion. He will stay in Luoyang as a deputy envoy to negotiate with the other party."
This is the key to Guo Song's entire layout. Let Lin Yaozu stay in Luoyang to continue negotiating details with Zhu Si, let Cai Yong return to Quanzhou, and take Zhou Fei to Quanzhou by the way. In order to force Cai Yong to return, the Jin Wei Mansion did not hesitate to set up a trap to assassinate him.
Cai Yong.
When Cai Yong was hesitating, his men were released, and Liu Feng's chief aide Yang Mi came with him. He came to appease Cai Yong on behalf of Liu Feng.
"Liu Xiangguo was shocked and angry. He ordered the Plum Blossom Guards to search and assassinate him. Please rest assured Cai Sima, there will never be a second time!"
Cai Yong nodded and said: "Thank you Liu Xiangguo for your concern. I wonder where the assassin is?"
Yang Mi looked embarrassed and said for a long time: "It's hard to say. It may be that Guo Song's men don't want the two sides to form an alliance, it may be Li Na's men, or they may even be Liu Xiangguo's enemies, but in any case, the more
If someone wants to hinder our cooperation, it means that our cooperation is correct. Liu Xiangguo hopes that our first cooperation will go smoothly and lay the foundation for our deeper cooperation in the next step."
Speaking of this, Yang Mi took out a letter and handed it to Cai Yong, "This is Liu Xiangguo's personal letter to Yao Gong. Please give it to Yao Gong as soon as possible. We hope that your army's warships can arrive in Dengzhou in February next year."
Or Laizhou!”
Cai Yong and Lin Yaozu went to the Prime Minister's Mansion again to thank Liu Feng for his kindness. Cai Yong decided to return to Quanzhou immediately to report the negotiation situation to Yao Shun. He also introduced his deputy Lin Yaozu to Liu Feng. Lin Yaozu would stay in Luoyang as a liaison for follow-up matters.
represent.
In the carriage, Cai Yong sighed and said: "The other party failed to assassinate him in Luoyang. I'm worried about whether they will attack again on the way back?"
Lin Yaozu immediately understood what Cai Yong meant and followed his words: "Cai Sima's worries are reasonable, so be it! I'll ask Zhou Li and four of his men to escort Cai Sima back to Quanzhou."
Cai Yong was overjoyed. He saw Zhou Li's power with his own eyes this morning. With him and four of his men protecting him, he would be safe on the road. Although he was absolutely convinced in his heart, he said hypocritically and politely: "They are Brother Lin's confidants."
, Brother Lin also relies on their protection, how can I take away talents from others? "
Lin Yaozu shook his head, "I have a lot of capable people, and there is no shortage of them. I will just transfer a few capable people from Chang'an to Luoyang. To be honest, this Zhou Li is very capable, and it will be a bit buried for him to follow me."
Now, Zeiss will take him away immediately. If I can give him a future in the future, I will give him an explanation."
Cai Yong originally just wanted Zhou Li to protect him when he returned to Quanzhou, but he didn't expect that Lin Yaozu actually handed him over to him. This was really beyond Cai Yong's expectations, and of course he didn't want it.
Cai Yong immediately patted his chest and promised: "His future is entrusted to me. I will go back and recommend him to the lord, and let him be a general or even a general. I think there will be no problem."