"When the welcoming convoy arrived at the gate of Sikong Mansion, their vigilance was the weakest, and at this time, the assassination was sure to hit with one blow, and the blow to Xu Valve's prestige was also the greatest. Those snobs who followed Xu Valve saw that Xu Valve himself was difficult to protect, and they must be afraid, and under the swaying from side to side, they may change their courts. He Hao looked slightly excited, and said in an impatient tone, "However, today's assassins are very rampant, and they have made a move on Yongping Street early, so that we have fallen short. ”

He Jin frowned and said, "The assassins arranged near Sikong Mansion have all been withdrawn?" ”

Yuan Shao nodded and said, "It's all properly settled." I have already sent someone to bury the two disciples in Duan Qi's mansion in the mass grave at the foot of the mountain. He looked at He Hao, and then said: "This time we were robbed of the opportunity by others, and Xu Valve's bride was also kidnapped by that group of assassins, and the effect of this incident was far worse than we expected, very different. Depending on the place where the assassination is carried out and the method of action is different, the results produced are fundamentally two different things. ”

"If we follow our method and assassinate at the gate of Sikong Mansion, leave the bodies of the two powerful disciples on Duan Qi's Mansion in the process of escaping, and plant this stolen person on the Zhongguan, we can not only let Xu Xiang and the Zhongguan immediately tear their faces, but also take the opportunity to win over Xu Valve and a group of bureaucrats and scholars who follow Xu Fu, which will become a big help for us. Lord Zhu's daughter died innocently, and the hatred of the gate lord clan for the Zhongguan can be ignited by us almost instantly. In this case, the lieutenant is at a loss, they are alone, what else can they do but wait for death? On the contrary, as long as we launch an action to eradicate the traitorous eunuchs, we will immediately get the absolute support of the gate lord family. It's a pity......" he slapped the case table angrily and scolded stupidly, "the highway and the clumsy words are two bastards, and they have ruined our good deeds for no reason." Highway thinks he is smart, but in fact he is an idiot, he has always used his brains to do things, greedy for small profits, this time he was not only used by others, but also lost the face of my Yuan family. ”

"As long as these two bastards lack money to spend, they are willing to do anything." He Hao said angrily, "For such a big matter, I won't send someone back to say it first." ”

"I have already sent someone to ask, He Feng said, last night, Li Hong invited them to drink in Zhangyuetai, at the banquet Li Wei said a lot of provocative words, instigating them to go back to the city this afternoon to find Xu Gen's trouble, Li Wei also gave them a lot of money privately. From this, it can be concluded that Li Hong did this. Li Hong was just stabbed on Yongping Street a few days ago, and the Xu Mansion's welcoming team must have been heavily guarded when they came here, but Li Hong just did it here, this person is very courageous. ”

"He has more than courage." Yuan Shao shook his head and said, "He's a madman." He was in Xiliang, with 50,000 people to face more than 100,000 rebels, is this called courage? If you say it well, it's luck, but if you don't say it, he's crazy. Against this kind of madman, if you don't die, you have to lose your skin. But I don't think it's that simple. ”

He Jin smiled faintly and said, "At the beginning, you talk about it." ”

"What reason does Li Hong have to go out of his way to rob a woman? Was there any reason for him to make this so obvious? Since he did so, there was only one possibility: to be assigned. Yuan Shao said slowly, "General, Brother Boqiu, Li Hong grabbed it like this, how will the situation in Luoyang change?" ”

Yuan Shao glanced at the two of them, and without waiting for them to speak, he continued: "In the absence of evidence, it is far-fetched to say that Li Hong robbed people, Lord Sikong and his group of staff will definitely take this into account, so they will suspect the general, the lieutenant, and even the gate valve, in short, the prestige Xu Valve will definitely think of other strategies for his own fate, and the best way is undoubtedly to be independent of the major forces and become a force that we all want to win over." In this way, the power of all forces in Luoyang has been weakened, but who benefits the most? ”

"Your Majesty." He Hao sighed, "The original vision is unique, in one word. Li Hong's robbery is indeed of great significance. ”

He Hao thought for a moment, and then said: "Yesterday, Xu Jing was requisitioned by His Majesty as Shangshu, and Xu Shao was requisitioned as Taishi Ling by His Majesty. If they are to set up their own doors, this force should not be underestimated. ”

"Our fears kept coming up over and over again." He Jin said with a melancholy face, "At the beginning, we were worried that Your Majesty would use Li Hong's power to do whatever you want, but now it seems that whether it is to fight corruption or rob people, Your Majesty is slowly taking our lives." You see, the matter of Jizhou ......"

"The general doesn't need to worry about Jizhou." He Hao said, "Although the matter of Jizhou was provoked by us, we can't control it, and we can't control it, we can only use the matter of Jizhou flexibly, instead of getting involved in it, which is the key to ensuring that we advance and retreat freely." ”

"General, the affairs of Jizhou are very secretive, Ren Li Hong has great ability, and it is difficult to find clues, don't worry." Yuan Shao said with a smile, "If Li Hong finds out something, I'm afraid there will be more people who want to kill him than the ant thieves in Taihang Mountain." ”

"General, what we are most worried about now should be whether His Majesty will take the eldest prince to Jizhou with him." He Hao said, "After Mr. Zijiang met His Majesty, his attitude towards us changed greatly, and he didn't say anything about meeting the Son of Heaven that day, so he ......."

"Could it be that Mr. Zijiang saw something?" The general's face was shocked, and he hesitated and said, "Is there something we missed?" ”

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The Son of Heaven looked at Zhao Zhong and Zhang Rang who were kneeling at his feet, waved his hand and said, "Get up, you are all a lot old, your legs and feet are still so flexible, and you kneel faster than anyone else." ”

The two of them helped each other to get up from the ground, and after saying a few flattering words to the Son of Heaven, Zhao Zhong began to nag, saying that Li Hong only took away one Changshui battalion of the Northern Army, which was too little. The Son of Heaven smiled and said: "How do you two know my difficulties, this Changshui Battalion is still a big general who reluctantly agrees with me by pulling down my face." It's not as easy as you say. ”

Zhang Rang immediately asked about Xu Shao. "Did Lord Xu say anything to His Majesty? I heard that he is very knowledgeable about the stars, and he is much more clever than the Taishi Ling Shan Yang in the past. ”

The Son of Heaven smiled bitterly and said, "He didn't say anything, he only said that the trip to Jizhou should not be taken with him." ”

Zhang Rang and Zhao Zhong complained bitterly in their hearts, but their faces smiled even brighter.

"Your Majesty, what Taishi Lingzhi said is just the words of one family." Zhang Rang said with a smile, "With the current power of the general, Your Majesty should consider the safety of the trip to Jizhou." ”

"Your Majesty can stay in Luoyang and let the old ministers accompany the Queen Mother to Jizhou......" Before Zhao Zhong finished speaking, he was interrupted by the Son of Heaven with a smile, "Aren't the two Aiqing afraid of being killed by Dong Chong?" ”

The smiles on the faces of the two stiffened, and their expressions were extremely unnatural.

"Today's court meeting, many people wrote to impeach Li Zhonglang, do you know what's going on?"

"I heard that yesterday, the bride of Lord Sikong's family was snatched away by assassins." Zhang Rang replied cautiously, "It seems that this matter has something to do with Yuan Shu, the captain of the Changshui Battalion." ”

The Son of Heaven sneered and said, "Did you do this?" ”

"It's not." Zhao Zhong flatly denied it, "This must have been sent by the general." ”

"But the general said you did it." The Son of Heaven picked up a scroll and threw it to Zhao Zhong, and said with a strange smile, "The general said that you are lawless, and he wants to arrest you to the Tingwei Mansion for strict interrogation." ”

"He's tired of life." Zhao Zhong said angrily, "Your Majesty, He Jin has ill intentions, after you arrive in Jizhou, I am afraid that he will plot against him." ”

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The seat of Wei County in Jizhou is Yecheng.

Yecheng is an ancient city, which was originally the capital of the Shang king, and the Duke of Qi Huan rebuilt the city in the Spring and Autumn Period. During the Warring States Period, it was returned to the Wei State, and the Marquis of Wei Wen had set his capital here. The ministers of Wei, Ximen Bao and Shi Qi, successively served as the commanders of Ye County, and dug 12 canals to divert water from Zhangzhang to irrigate the fields, so that the salt and brine land was all fertile land. Shang Wang Ming once served as a water official to govern the river, and was respected as the river master after his death, and the custom of Ye Di when the Ximen Leopard was that the river uncle married a woman, and the river boy who was sacrificed was the Shang Wang Ming.

Jizhou Thorn Shi Wang Fen arrived in Yecheng last month. In order to recruit soldiers, under the pretext of going to the Black Mountain area to kill the remnants of the Yellow Turbans, he asked the Son of Heaven for a holy decree to build an army of 20,000 people. It is conceivable how difficult it is to recruit 20,000 soldiers in a short period of time. However, Wang Fen did it unexpectedly.

After Xiangkai negotiated with the king of Hefei, he quickly rushed back to Jizhou. Under his matchmaking, the leaders of the Yellow Turban Army, such as Bai Huan, Zhenggu, Kuyou, and Yu Poison, who were stationed in Montenegro, thought that there was an opportunity, and immediately raised 20,000 elites of the Yellow Turban Army, led by Ku You, disguised as homeless people, and rushed down the mountain to Yecheng overnight in the wind and snow. In a very short time, the 20,000-strong force was quickly assembled and training began.

Li Hong took 5,000 cavalry of the Changshui Battalion and 3,000 black panthers to cross the Yellow River from Puyang City, and rushed to Yecheng to meet Shi Wang Fen.

Li Hong's trip was very intense. The Son of Heaven was going to leave Luoyang in mid-February, and the inspection time given to him was only about 20 days. In these more than 20 days, Li Hong had to determine the specific distance for the Son of Heaven to return to his hometown, to understand the towns where the Son of Heaven rested every day, to check the repair of the old mansions and temples of Hejian Kingdom, to supervise and examine the construction of the temporary palace of the Son of Heaven, and of course, the most important thing was to determine safety. Li Hong didn't know how to do many of these things, and Li Hong's subordinates didn't understand either, so they could only rely entirely on Sima Li Wei to deal with them.

Li Wei didn't recommend his schoolmate to Li Hong for selfishness, he had no choice, he had no way to deal with so many complicated things alone. For example, the simplest record work is dozens of volumes of books at the end of the day, and it has to be sorted out at night, no one can do it? Li Hong was ordered to recruit Chen Hao, Xie Ming, Yin Si, Yu Peng, and Tang Yun from Taixue. These people each carried a dozen black panther servants who could write, and they had to run around everywhere, busy, they had to visit the local bureaucrats, they had to check the local population and terrain, they had to record the local customs, and so on, and so on, so busy that their feet did not stick to the ground, and sometimes they could not take care of eating. Xiao Lan disguised herself as a man in the army and followed Li Wei to help, and the two were so busy that they didn't even have time to say love words. Time is too tight.

Li Hong also had one more thing to worry about, that is, Jizhou Assassin Shi Wang Fen and his 20,000 troops.

Cao Cao deliberately ran to Zhangyuetai that day and told Li Hong that Wang Fen, the assassin of Jizhou, had conspired to kidnap the Son of Heaven, which made Li Hong very surprised. After Cao Cao left, he immediately found Li Wei and several subordinates to discuss, is what Cao Cao said true or false? Everyone said their own reasons, and most people thought that Cao Cao was talking nonsense and alarmist. Wang Fen is also a famous man in the plains, how could he do such a rebellious thing? This kind of king-killing thing is something that ordinary people don't dare to think about, let alone do. As strong as Huangfu Song, he has a heavy army, but he doesn't even have the idea of rebellion, let alone a weak celebrity who has no power to restrain a chicken. Why would he dare to do such a thing? Just those 20,000 soldiers who were recruited?

Li Wei carefully believed that no matter whether what Cao Cao said was true or not, when he arrived in Jizhou, the first thing he did was to take the military power of the 20,000 troops, and the second thing was to check Wang Fen. Wang Fen didn't have troops in his hands, what else could he do?

Li Hong asked him, "Zhong Yuan, how credible do you think what Cao Cao said?" ”

Li Wei said: "Completely credible. ”

Everyone was surprised and asked one after another, Li Wei said: "Although Cao Cao was born in a family of eunuchs, his grandfather Cao Teng and father Cao Song both had famous ministers in this dynasty, and they both had a good reputation and did a lot of good things. My teacher once told me that although eunuchs are spurned, there are also good people among them, such as Cao Teng. Cao Cao himself is very talented, whether it is martial arts knowledge, or leading troops to fight, among the children of official eunuchs, they are second to none, and no one can compare. He was an upright man, a bold character, and a vicious man, decisive and capable, and his reputation was better than that of his ancestors, and he would not lie to you. But I suspect he's not telling the truth. ”

"What do you mean by that?" Li Hong asked.

"I suspect he knows the details, but he doesn't want to betray his friends, so I only reveal a little bit." Li Wei said, "I think, after the Black Panther Yi came, it would be better for you to let Chen Ming take the scouts to Yecheng to inquire about the situation first." If we catch any clues, things will be easy. ”

Li Wei was familiar with the situation in Luoyang and the affairs of the court, so Li Hong naturally obeyed. Li Hong asked him again if he had any other countermeasures, and he couldn't be too passive when he arrived in Jizhou, and it was best to take the initiative a little. Li Wei smiled and said, "That's not easy." Didn't King Fen, the assassin of Jizhou, urge him to ask for military funds? Tell your majesty about it, and let us take it along the way. With money, don't we take the initiative? ”

Li Hong laughed and clapped his hands.

On this day, the troops reached Zhangshui. Li Hong saw Chen Ming hurriedly greet him with a few people.

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