At the end of September of the 31st year of Hongwu, Wang arrived in Beiping with more than 20 people in the long house, and at the same time brought bad news, Ning Xue's eldest brother Mu Chun died of illness on the third day of September.

Mu Ningxue cried bitterly when she heard the news and almost fainted, choked up at night and set up an incense case in the courtyard to worship her brother, Xu Hao, who worshiped together, frowned, last year Mu Chun broke the Guangnan chieftain with 500 cavalry, and subdued 70,000 people in one fell swoop to shock Yunnan, which can be called the hero of the world.

The town guarded Yunnan for seven years, overhauled the tun government, opened up more than 300,000 acres of fertile land, chiseled the Tiechi River to irrigate tens of thousands of acres, and more than 5,000 households of the people resumed their work, impartially enforcing the law and loving the people like children.

How could a thirty-six-year-old in the prime of life suddenly fall ill and die? Poor Mu Chun has not left an heir, Xu Hao sighed. He basically ruled out the possibility of conspiracy to poison him, if Zhu Yunwen really had this kind of invisible means of killing people, then Zhu Di would have died a long time ago.

The Ministry of Rites sent officials to mourn, Zhu Yunwen gave the name Xiangwu, Mu Sheng naturally took over the title and official position of his brother, Mrs. Mu stayed in Yunnan, Mrs. Mu Chun and Mu Ang escorted the coffin back to their hometown for burial with their families.

In order to comfort his wife, Xu Hao accompanied Ning Xue out of the city and lived in the countryside with beautiful mountains and rivers, ignoring any foreign affairs, and this stay was a whole month.

November winter is coming, the temperature in the north is falling quickly, the cold wind is howling and cold and biting, Beiping City ushered in a wave of businessmen, and all the goods were bought by local traders in one breath without waiting for the landing.

The officials sent by the imperial court to summon Xu Hao into Beijing pounced on the air, and did not dare to question the Yan Wangfu, seeing that the mountains and rivers were about to be covered by heavy snow, they hurriedly returned to the capital, and as soon as the front foot left, Xu Hao immediately returned to Xu's house with his wife.

In the secret room of Yanwang's Mansion, Zhang Yu and Zhu Neng stood still like door gods, the room was as warm as spring, and Zhu Di and the other four sat together to eat tea and discuss.

Monk Daoyan said: "The imperial court sees that even Xu Gongzi can't take it back, and I'm afraid that the officials of Beiping will be removed in the near future." Take control of the military and politics, when will Your Highness raise troops according to your wishes? ”

Xu Hao didn't know that because of him, Zhu Gaochi and his brothers returned to Beiping a year ahead of schedule, which made Zhu Di have no worries, and he was still complacent looking forward to Zhu Di in the anecdote pretending to be crazy.

Moreover, Zhu Di now has his father-in-law Xu Da in charge, and Xu Hao joined, becoming more and more confident, and said with a smile: "The first emperor said in the Emperor Ming Zu that there are no ministers in the court, and there are treacherous people in it. He will raise troops to fight for it, and he will be on the side of the king, and after three days, he will spread it to the world. ”

Xu Hao glanced at Xu Da, who frowned slightly, and hurriedly said, "No." ”

Zhu Di raised his eyebrows and asked, "Why?" ”

Xu Da nodded with satisfaction at Xu Hao, and Xu Hao immediately said: "Uncle is patient, the court is implementing good governance at this time, and the people are wanting, and among the kings, only King Zhou was demoted to a commoner, which has little impact." Therefore, my Yan Wangfu will not be popular with the people when raising troops at this time, and without the support and funding of all parties, it will be difficult to compete with the whole world. ”

Zhu Di groaned: "But when the imperial court places officials to monitor you and me nearby, if the military department orders the transfer of the soldiers and horses directly under my Yanwang Mansion." Isn't it a dead end? ”

"He is strong, he is strong, and the breeze blows on the hills; He is horizontal, and the bright moon shines on the river. ”

Xu Hao said with a smile: "This time, the imperial court sent Zhang Hao, the squire of the military department, and he is going to serve as a political envoy. Zhang Yu is a well-known stubborn and stubborn person, with the habit of being a scholar without any strategy, and he is not afraid! Xie Gui, who served as the commander of the capital, was a descendant of Xie An of the Eastern Jin Dynasty. Baume & Mercier demeanor is brave and unscrupulous. Hehe, it's Zhang Xin, the new commander of Beiping with the same name and surname as my brother-in-law's cousin, and my uncle must know a lot about him, right? ”

Zhu Di was overjoyed and said: "I didn't expect you to receive the news in advance, God really help me!" Yes, Zhang Xinai is the king's former favorite general, his old mother lives in Tongzhou, and he will come to the palace to live for a period of time during the New Year's holidays, Zhang Xin should not betray the king. ”

Xu Hao said: "In addition, the imperial court sent the former Jinyi guard commander Song Zhong to enter Kaiping Mansion, this person has almost never led troops to fight, in the early years for saving his subordinates was impeached by the imperial history, the first emperor pardoned him for innocence, sent to the capital Fengyang as a commander, I have dealt with him several times, this person is good at martial arts and acts very impulsively."

He walked through Zhu Yunwen's door early, and followed Yang Wen to quell the rebellion the year before last, and Zhu Yunwen ordered him to re-become the commander of the Jinyi Guard. It is also that there is no one available in the imperial court at the moment, and he was appointed as the governor to come to the north, purely because there is no general Liao Hua in Shu. ”

Hearing that Xu Hao was like a treasure about the affairs of the capital, the three people present couldn't help but nod secretly even if they knew what was going on, among them, Zhu Di and Yao Guangxiao knew that Xu Hao was silently preparing for this moment two years ago, how could it be a joke to control Jinyiwei? The look was very emotional. And Xu Da secretly sighed that this son is really a caring person, not blindly relying on foresight, just with this shrewdness and foresight, no one in the entire Xu family can stand out.

Xu Hao got up and walked to the side and opened the military sand table with his hand that he had nothing to do in this month, there is no shortage of ingenious girls in the family, referring to the military map and simple sand table of Yanwangfu, carefully made with white glue and sand plants, etc., the mountains and rivers are clear at a glance, the rivers and forests are all clear at a glance, very exquisite, Xu Hao picked up a wooden root again.

Zhu Di and Xu Da are no strangers to this, the sand table is said to have appeared as early as the Eastern Han Dynasty, and it was used more after the Qin Dynasty, that is, it involves core secrets, and it is strictly forbidden for the people to appear like military maps.

The problem is that I have never seen such a realistic sand table that is like the real terrain, Xu Da Zhu Di suddenly strode over with his eyes lit up, leaned over and looked carefully, and couldn't help nodding frequently, for the commander, he understood what this meant too well.

Monk Daoyan sighed: "The son is erudite and talented, and the poor monk admires it. ”

"It's just a humble work." Xu Hao smiled and pointed with a wooden stick, and explained: "Song Zhong wants to occupy Kaiping, with his back to Juyong Pass, the governor Xu Kaitun soldiers in Linqing, Geng Rong guards the Shanhaiguan, and the three-legged stand is each other's horns, which seems to be a great threat, but in fact, there is no friendship between the three of them, as long as they catch Zhang Yu and Xie Gui, these three people's official positions are quite different from each other and cannot be unified in command, and the Beiping side is Miyun, who has just arrived in Ping'an, it should not be difficult to deal with, as for the rest of the guards, I don't know. ”

"It's really Liu Bowen's reincarnation!" Zhu Di looked overjoyed, "If you want to check it, just look at it, from this moment on, all the secrets of the Yan Wangfu are for you to read." ”

Yao Guangxiao said with a smile: "Congratulations to the prince for his wings." ”

Zhu Di said emotionally: "It is a blessing for this king to be able to get your help, if he can succeed in the future, he will be crowned with the title of Hou Xie and ten thousand households, and the hereditary will never break his word." ”

Xu Da stroked his long white beard and said in a deep voice: "Remember what you said today, and treat the Xu family well in the future." ”

Zhu Di said solemnly: "Yes, father-in-law, don't worry." Xiao Wang will do what he says. ”

Xu Da immediately twisted a small red flag with his hand, looked at the workmanship, and casually stuck it on a pass on the sand table, and then turned around and walked away slowly.

The three of them hurriedly looked down, and Yao Guangxiao blurted out: "Juyong Pass!" ”

That night, Xu Hao refused Zhu Di's intention to hand over the entire intelligence system of Yanwangfu to him to take care of, he didn't want to continue to be the head of the secret service, and the future commander of the Jinyi Guard was the butcher's knife in Zhu Di's hand, and the ending must be a bad death.

In the blink of an eye, it was December, and sure enough, as Xu Hao predicted, the imperial court sent Zhang Yu, Xie Gui, Zhang Xin, Song Zhong and others to Beiping. The Ministry of War ordered the transfer of 10,000 soldiers and horses from the left and right guards of Yongqing under the command of Song Zhong under the command of Song Zhong, and the left guard of Zhangde and the right guard of Shunde indirectly obeyed the orders of 10,000 soldiers and horses of Yanwangfu, and mobilized 10,000 soldiers from Shandong with a total of 30,000 people to enter Yongping Mansion.

When the news came, Beiping suddenly reported that everyone was in danger, Zhu Di fell ill again, and people were panicked and had a bad year for a long time.

The Xu family had a sumptuous Chinese New Year's Eve dinner, and Xu Wen pulled Xu Hao to the side with a lot of concern, and said, "Now my uncle is difficult to protect himself." It's better for you and my brother to take the initiative to share the worries of the court, you go to the Yanwang Mansion to find out the truth, and once you find out the evidence of your uncle's rebellion, you will immediately report to the court. Isn't that a big deal? ”

Xu Hao was shocked and said, "Big brother, are you crazy?" Aren't you afraid of endangering the lives of your whole family? This is Beiping, not the capital. ”

Xu Wen said quietly: "Wealth and danger are sought, no poison is not a husband!" My uncle now has no soldiers and no generals in his hands, and he is about to be deposed as a concubine by the imperial court, how can he have the ability to kill our family first? Don't miss the opportunity. When will you not do it now? ”

Xu Hao shook his head hesitantly, and said with a wry smile: "I can't do it, so I've come thousands of miles to run." How can you be an ungrateful villain? ”

Xu Wen said angrily: "Could it be that you have forgotten the great enmity between my father and Xu Ji? If our brothers don't seize the opportunity to get ahead, what will they do to settle accounts with Xu Hui, Zu Meiyin, and them? ”

Xu Hao said incredulously: "Even if you are rewarded with an official position for meritorious service, how can you fight against the two powerful princes?"

Xu Wen said: "That's better than living in this cold north for a lifetime, our brothers are still young, and it's not too late for a gentleman to take revenge for ten years, so I don't have to worry about having no chance to take revenge." ”

"Let me think about it." Xu Hao shook his head again and again at a loss, and his expression was uncertain.

Xu Wen suddenly asked, "Are the Zhu Gaochi brothers back?" ”

"I don't know, I haven't seen it since I came." Xu Hao shook his head and said.

Xu Wen said again: "What is the condition of my uncle?" ”

Xu Hao looked at no one on the left and right, and whispered: "Don't tell others, my uncle is actually not seriously ill." ”

Xu Wen was secretly happy in his heart, and said: "You hurry up and think about it, if you are worried about your life, you can go to your brother-in-law Zhang Fu to find out the news, his father is his uncle's confidant, and he must know a lot of secrets of Yanwangfu." ”

After speaking, Xu Wen patted Xu Hao on the shoulder and said with a smile: "I still have some things to go out of the city, and I will come back to you in a few days." ”

Xu Hao hurriedly grabbed Xu Wen's arm and said angrily, "Are you going to ventilate and report the news?" Big brother, if you trap me in injustice, then we will never be brothers again. ”

Xu Wen said speechlessly: "Okay, okay, I'll tell you the truth, I have taken a fancy to a few mothers-in-law in Zhuangzi, hehe!" ”

Just as Xu Wen was rushing to the countryside, Li Fangyuan, the prince of Seoul, the capital of Korea, led 300 private soldiers to launch a coup d'état.

The 200 Korean forbidden troops of Gyeongbokgung Palace, who had been prepared for a long time, defected, shouted to kill the heavens, hacked to death the thirty guards guarding the inner palace gate, and were caught off guard, with a loud bang, and the palace gate was pushed open from the inside by Li Fangyuan's henchmen and eunuchs.

Li Fangyuan waved his knife and said sharply: "Kill into Zishantang to arrest Li Fangshuo, and then attack Shoujinfang to kill the rebel Zheng Daochuan." ”

The rebels in front of him and behind him were immediately demoralized, and rushed forward along the alley with their blades. Suddenly, countless figures stood on the walls on both sides, holding long firearms of all kinds.

Mu Yi, who was standing on the opposite city tower, said in a low voice: "Third brother, what if a fire ignites and burns down the palace?" ”

Mu Hui laughed and said: "It's better to burn, let the brothers take advantage of the chaos to snatch more gold and silver treasures and beautiful palace maids, and Lao Tzu just kills people and doesn't fight fires." (To be continued......)