The county guard's mansion, Qiao Mao returned here again, sighing in his heart.

He was in prison, and he was not tortured in any way, except that his face was pale and a little haggard.

Qiao Mao looked at Chen Xu and Dian Wei who were kneeling on the side, his eyes were full of complicated looks.

Both were once fugitives from the imperial court and were hidden in his home. finally waited for the amnesty of the world, and the two made contributions with their own skills. No, the court not only did not reward, but wanted to kill the two of them.

The wounds on their bodies have also been seen by Qiao Mao. Regarding the two of them going out of the court, Qiao Mao also had nothing to say. In fact, even he himself was a little disheartened by the imperial court.

Yasheng Mencius once said: The king regards the minister as a sibling, and the minister regards the king as the heart; The monarch regards the minister as a dog and a horse, and the minister regards the monarch as a countryman; The king regards the minister as a mustard, and the minister regards the king as an enemy.

At this time, the scholars were not as bound by the Confucian idea of loyalty to the monarch as in later generations. Confucianism in this era has not deteriorated as it did in later generations.

At the end of the Han Dynasty, the princes rose together, although there were many people who waved the banner of loyalty to the monarch and patriotism and the maintenance of the orthodoxy of the Han family.

However, there are many of them who are still fighting for the power in their hands.

It is true that there are some real loyal ministers among them, but in the eyes of those big clans, the interests of the Han family are far inferior to the interests of the family.

Even many local officials only know the old master, not the imperial court.

This may be a serious statement, but it is true.

In the Han Dynasty, when recruiting talents, the probation system was used. Of course, there are many commendable aspects of this system.

However, if the person being inspected has embarked on a career because of the person who has been examined, he will be grateful to the person who has been examined, regard him as a benefactor, and serve him for his life.

In this way, it is very easy to produce sectarian behavior and form a large interest group.

In the romance, it is said that the fourth generation of the Yuan family and the third duke, the protégés and former officials are all over the world, and it is precisely the influence of this system.

Therefore, although the Confucian scholars of the Han Dynasty were loyal to the Han family, they were not foolish.

Knowing the ins and outs of the matter, Qiao Mao was very conflicted. The disappointment with the Han family, he had already seen it from his patriarch Qiao Xuan. It's just that he used to have Qiao Xuan as a backer, and his career was also very smooth.

It wasn't until the world was in turmoil that he saw that Emperor Ling still refused to severely punish the eunuchs, but instead connived at them to frame Zhongliang even more, that Qiao Mao felt a heartfelt chill.

At this time, he was still unwilling to betray the Han family, but he had no way to accuse Chen Xu and the others, so he had to leave the county guard mansion alone without saying a word.

"Bridge Male! Bridge Gong! ”

Chen Xu shouted a few times, got up and followed Qiao Mao. However, Qiao Mao ignored him and walked directly towards the prison.

When he came to prison, no matter how Chen Xu and Dian Wei spoke, he didn't say a word. Just go back to the place where you were once imprisoned, walk in and sit on the ground, close your eyes and recuperate.

Chen Xu said with a dry mouth, and saw that Qiao Mao was still unmoved. In desperation, he had to order the soldiers to guard the prison and not let Qiao Mao have problems. He gave Qiao Mao a big gift, and then went out to deal with many Puyang things.

The seizure of Puyang was really smooth and unimaginable.

The officers and soldiers of the East Gate were forced to mutiny, and the weapons of the officers and soldiers of the South Gate were also seized, although there was no mutiny at that time. But after Chen Xu appeared, he raised his arms and exhaled, and the powerful private soldiers and officers and soldiers who already had gaps in their hearts naturally collapsed without a fight.

After collecting the officers and soldiers of the three city gates, Chen Xu already had more than 2,000 people. The officers and soldiers of the North Gate, when they saw their former robes, also defected one after another. In this way, Puyang City was completely controlled by Chen Xu dramatically.

After taking control of Puyang City, Chen Xu sent people to arrest those heroes who sent private soldiers to help Cao Pengshi defend the city.

As for the angel Zhang Yong and the soldier Cao Pengshi, they were arrested by Chen Xu at the first time.

After dealing with the wounds on his body, Chen Xu breathed a sigh of relief when he saw that Puyang had been completely controlled. When I relaxed, I suddenly felt dizzy.

He was already tortured a lot in prison, and after he came out, he first ran around with everyone and was tired. Then he had to give orders to deal with the affairs of the county.

When I was busy, I didn't feel it; When I was idle, I suddenly felt that my body was a little unbearable.

At this time, in addition to the generals who guarded the city gate and patrolled, most of them gathered in the county guard's mansion. When they saw Chen Xu's face, they asked one after another.

Chen Xu settled down and looked around. Only then did he have time to take a closer look at the people who had come to his rescue.

Among these people, in addition to the children of Chenjia Village and Li Guo and others, there are also some strange and familiar faces.

Searching hard for the memories in his mind, Chen Xu remembered that many of these people were friends that Chen Jing had made before.

After Chen Jing escaped from Puyang, he sent someone to report to Chenjia Village and explained some things that needed attention; On the one hand, he led people north to Wei County, looking for Wang Yan, and wanted to ask him for help.

Chen Xu had always been worried about being framed by the Ten Standing Servants, so when he was in Dong'e City, he deliberately shot a letter to Wang Yan without an arrow, hoping to leave a way back for himself.

Chen Xu had already told Chen Jing about this matter. With Wang Yan's temperament, as long as Chen Jing goes, he will definitely send troops to rescue Chen Xu.

Therefore, Chen Jingcai went north to ask for help.

It's just that everyone didn't expect Zhang Yong to be so unscrupulous. Without any evidence, he first killed more than 30 Chen Xu's personal soldiers, and then wanted to kill Chen Xu and Dian Wei.

If it weren't for Chen Qing's decision to come to the rescue, if he had added that the soldiers Cao Peng's history was full of mediocre talents and forced the officers and soldiers to defect, I am afraid that Chen Xu and Dian Wei would have already been in a different place by now.

Retracting his thoughts, Chen Xu hurriedly said, "My body is fine, you don't need to worry." ”

Raising his head and looking at Li Guo, who had grown a beard on the side, Chen Xu's eyes were slightly hot, and he said emotionally: "For my sake, my brother is willing to risk his life and come to Puyang to save me, Xu is grateful!" ”

When Li Guo heard this, he shook his head and said: "Wen Zhao killed Zhang Qi's family in anger before, but unfortunately he couldn't help, and he has always felt guilty in his heart. ”

Later, Wen Zhao recruited volunteers, and a certain Shen Jue was speechless to meet Wen Zhao, so he defected in the future. Being able to come here today to help save Wen Zhao and Guofu makes me feel relieved. ”

Hearing Li Guo's words, Chen Xu suddenly realized.

At the beginning, he gave the money from the tiger hunt to Li Guo, and Li Guo swore that when he settled down with his mother, if Chen Xu and Zhang Qi had a conflict, he would definitely come to help.

Unexpectedly, not long after he left, Chen Xu started to kill people, causing him to fail to fulfill his promise, so he often felt ashamed in his heart.

Therefore, after Chen Xu became the leader of the rebel army, he did not bring people to defect.

Although Li Guo is no wonder about this incident, he has always respected heroes and committed suicide. In any case, he failed to keep his promise.

Thinking of this, Chen Xu Zhengse said: "Why is the eldest brother guilty? I killed Zhang Qi, and even my brothers did not inform him in advance, so how could I want to continue to affect him? ”

Chen Qing also knew about this matter, grabbed Li Guo, and said: "If the eldest brother is ashamed because of this, how will I and the children of Chenjia Village have face?" This is a long time, and his brother Hugh will mention it again. ”

After everyone chatted for a while, Chen Xu suddenly asked Chen Qing, "Ah Qing, Puyang City is so tightly defended, how did you get in?" ”

It stands to reason that today's soldier Cao Pengshi's defense of Puyang can definitely be regarded as very tight. He didn't know how the hundreds of people who came to rescue him managed to get in.

If they can't blend into Puyang, rescue Chen Xu. Even if they met the officers and soldiers, without Chen Xu's persuasion, Chen Hu and others alone would never let the officers and soldiers defect.

Hearing this, Chen Qing laughed, grabbed a young man beside him and said, "We were able to sneak into Puyang thanks to the help of Brother Shuangwei." ”

Looking up, Chen Xu felt that this young man was a little embarrassed, and he couldn't help but be confused.

As if knowing the confusion in Chen Xu's heart, Chen Qing began to explain how they had infiltrated Puyang.

It turned out that Lu Gao was scolding the officers and soldiers on the street that day, and was touched by Li Guo, who had already mixed into the city.

Although Li Guo is not as famous as Chen Xu, he can be regarded as the number one person in the township. Lu Gao has always admired those who are famous, and he often likes to buy some game to drink, so he met Li Guo, a hunter.

In Lu Gao's opinion, associating with people with some fame like Li Guo is far better than those ruffians and hooligans. Therefore, he is also willing to associate with Li Guo.

Li Guo is just a commoner, and it is naturally an honor to be able to associate with a powerful child like Lu Gao. After coming and going, the relationship between the two is getting better and better.

That day, Li Guo met Lu Gao, dragged him to a remote place, and begged and intimidated him.

In addition, Lu Gao himself also admired Chen Xu, and the officers and soldiers had just arrested his fox friends and dogs, and he was angry in his heart.

So, Lu Gao agreed to Li Guo's request and placed the people who came to rescue Chen Xu in their Lu family's convoy.

The Lu family is strong in Puyang, and the generals who defend the city naturally know their convoy, and they don't check it, so they let the convoy into the city, which allows them to mix in.