turmoil

Chapter 83

Zhang Jingche didn't want to pour cold water on Zhuo Jiusi at the moment of great victory, but he had to mention that this was an imminent problem, and if it was not handled properly, it would even affect the life and death of the Northwest Garrison and the Dingbian lineage.

"Since ancient times, there are nothing more than two things that a king fears the most: one is high position and weight, and the other is high meritorious deeds. Dingbian's lineage holds military power, which is already very eye-catching, but now it has set up a plan to kill Beile Khan Once the news spreads, it will definitely arouse the vigilance of everyone in the present and court," Zhang Jingche said calmly and cruelly, "At that time, this great victory report may become Yuanzhou's death talisman! "

Zhuo Jiusi frowned, feeling displeased at his sharp words, but he couldn't refute, because this was the future that everyone could foresee, but they would rather deceive themselves than break the window Paper.

In the past, Zhuo Jiusi would still be able to deceive himself and others, but at this moment - Bei Le was awarded the head, the four realms were pacified, and the bird's bow was hidden in front of him, even if Zhuo Jiusi didn't want to admit it anymore, he had to face the reality.

"Your Majesty's meaning is very clear to me," Zhuo Jiusi smiled wryly, "It's just that the king wants his ministers to die, and he has to die. Although we have military power, we are still the ministers of the emperor and the generals of the court. Thoughts, we can only bear it, and we can't turn against each other..."

Zhang Jingche only asked, "Are you willing?"

Zhuo Jiusi fell silent.

Of course he was not reconciled, it would be fine if he died in the country, but it was such a filthy reason, who would be willing to kill him?

But Zhuo Jiusi grew up listening to "loyalty to the king and service to death", no matter how much resentment there is, he can't do anything against the king.

Zhang Jingche looked at his fluctuating expression, how could he not know what Zhuo Jiusi was thinking?After pondering for a while, he said softly: "If General Zhuo wants to avoid suspicion, it's actually very simple. You just need to keep the matter of the grasslands under wraps, cover up this great achievement, and then submit the letter of resignation to the court. You can always get a piece of money." Get out of the way!"

Zhuo Jiusi was frightened and angry, and retorted without thinking: "How can this be done!"

They all knew how much credit they had made for "killing Beile Khan", the reward was second, and their reputation in history was a certainty.If he concealed the news for Gou Quan himself, even if Zhuo Jiusi agreed, Marquis Dingbian would not agree.

Furthermore, how should they explain to the soldiers who did not hesitate to kill the enemy bravely?

Zhang Jingche had expected Zhuo Jiusi's reaction in this way, so he didn't say anything, just lowered his eyes and remained silent.Zhuo Jiusi breathed a sigh of relief, and sat down slumped: "Is there no other way but to keep a low profile?"

Zhang Jingche hesitated to speak, and sighed softly: "The struggle for power has always been life and death. Even if the generals have no intention of fighting, at this point, they have to fight if they don't fight."

Zhuo Jiusi tentatively said, "My lord means..."

This time, Zhang Jingche was silent for a long time: "I want to go back to the capital with You Yunwei."

Zhuo Jiusi: "..."

General Zhuo didn't know how the topic suddenly changed here, nor did he understand how Zhang Jingche came up with this idea, anyway, he was frightened stupid on the spot.

"Back, back to the capital?" Zhuo Jiusi couldn't believe it, "My lord... why did you say that?"

Zhang Jingche stretched out three fingers calmly: "There are three reasons. First, the news of Yuanzhou's great victory must be sent back to the capital to ask for credit, but as long as the Xuanfu Mission is in Northwest Daying for one day, it is inconvenient for you to do anything... Since they It’s coming for me, so I’ll just go with them, without this reason, I guess they won’t stay in the bitter cold place in the northwest.”

Zhuo Jiu thought, "Isn't this nonsense?" But looking at Zhang Jingche's face, he swallowed back the words: "What about the second reason?"

Zhang Jingche calmly said, "General Zhuo, do you still remember that we have always suspected that someone in the court was secretly colluding with Beile?"

Of course Zhuo Jiusi remembered that from the beginning of the army ration exchange, they vaguely noticed that there was a condescending eye watching the northwest garrison, not only firmly grasping their every move, but also secretly colluding with Bei Le to lure wolves into the house and plot Sheji's deeds.

At first, Zhuo Jiusi thought he was a high-ranking official in Beijing, but there was a loophole in this guess—the honor and dignitaries of the aristocratic families in Beijing all came from the Emperor of Yin, so why is it necessary to communicate with foreigners?Even if he can gain a temporary advantage, if the incident is revealed in the future, he will bear the infamy of "national thief" and have his spine broken.

The pros and cons are so clear, no one is a fool, who would do business at a loss?

Zhuo Jiusi hesitated and said, "Didn't it mean that it was Baoji He's who partnered with Beile to resell military rations?"

Zhang Jingche said: "No matter how powerful the He family in Baoji is, their power is limited to Shaanxi. They don't have such great energy, let alone such a long-term vision. However, I have talked with the head of the He family in Baoji a few times, and there is something This is a new way of thinking... According to He Ling, he has been in the business of smuggling military supplies for more than a year or two, and the reason he was able to hide the truth is all because he opened up the Beijing-China pass."

It was the first time Zhuo Jiusi heard about this episode, and he couldn't wait to ask: "Who is it? You are so bold that you even dare to do business with foreign countries!"

Zhang Jingche dipped in the tea, and wrote two characters one stroke at a time on the table - eunuch.

Zhuo Jiusi suffocated suddenly, sweating profusely in the dead silence of the room.

"We imagined many possibilities, but we still couldn't find this person. We sifted through the suspicious people one by one, forgetting that the people closest to the emperor are not courtiers and You Yunwei, but eunuchs!" Zhang Jingche whispered Said, "I don't know how this person got on the line with the Beile people, but it is obvious that he has grasped the Achilles heel of the frontier army, and he will kill thousands of miles as soon as he goes down!"

Zhuo Jiusi was in a cold sweat, and understood Zhang Jingche's plan in a flash.

"...The young master is willing to enter the tiger's den because he intends to find out this nail lurking in the dark by himself?" He hesitated, "However, you escaped by feigning death back then, and the criminal deceived the king. If you cast yourself into a trap... how can we tolerate you now ?”

"He won't kill me," Zhang Jingche said calmly. "If he really wants my life, he can issue a decree to apprehend the criminals openly. Now that he has sent You Yunwei to make an unannounced visit, it means that he doesn't want to... at least It’s because I don’t want to shout and shout for the time being.”

Zhuo Jiusi didn't think this was something to be thankful for.

"That's too dangerous!" He said without thinking, "All this is just the young master's deduction, what if?"

In case of being angry now, he will continue to do one thing and do another; in case something goes wrong...how will he explain to Dingbianhou?

"If the commander-in-chief finds out, I must be killed!" Zhuo Jiusi shuddered, and hurriedly shook his head, "No, the commander-in-chief entrusted the young master to me. I can't say anything to put you in danger."

Zhang Jingche said as if nothing had happened: "General Zhuo, don't worry. Since I dared to throw myself into the trap, I was sure of getting out. In fact, I was at the border all these years, and I didn't relax the management of Beijing. If I was not sure, I would definitely not dare to volunteer. "

Zhuo Jiusi still felt that this matter was unreliable, so Zhang Jingche threw out his trump card at this moment.

"Yuanzhou has repeatedly fallen into a disadvantage in the battle with Jingzhong, not because he is not strong enough, but because he doesn't want to fight at all," Zhang Jingche said softly, "No matter how dandy he is, he is still a gentleman at heart. I don't want to steal the country and usurp the throne, and I don't want to make things difficult for others... But he must understand that the more he backs down on some things, the more others will push him forward!"

"If he wants to keep what he has, he has to do his best to compete with others...even if this other person is the emperor!"

Zhuo Jiusi was very reluctant to put Zhang Jingche in danger, but it was a pity that Zhang Jingche still did not change his mind despite his words.That night, the isolation camp sent a group of dead soldiers out of the camp under the pretext of "disposing of the corpses".You Yunwei followed two or three miles away, and saw the northwest garrison transporting the "dead body" to the woods, digging a hole and filling it.

There were soldiers guarding the side of the forest, and You Yunwei didn't dare to get too close, so he could only watch from a distance.Not long after, the garrison left in file, and You Yunwei sneaked nearby, dug up the grave, and found that the buried body was indeed a charred corpse, and the pungent corpse smell came over his face.

You Yunwei felt as if he was facing an enemy, fearing that he would be infected with the plague, he hurriedly re-buried the body and left in a hurry.

In their haste, they didn't notice that the "Northwest Army" that buried the corpses did not return to the camp, but a small group of people and horses left quietly from the other side of the woods.A group of people galloped on their horses and ran for more than ten miles overnight, and did not dismount for a rest until the sky was twilight.The leader who revealed his face was none other than Zhang Jingche who had lived in the isolation camp for more than half a month.

Xu Shen dismounted beside him, and handed over the water bag: "Master, rest here for a while, and after a few days of traveling, it will be fine when you enter the boundary of Shaanxi."

What Zhang Jingche was thinking about was another thing: "Have all the traces of us in the Northwest Camp been cleaned up? We won't be discovered by You Yunwei, right?"

Xu Shen said briskly: "Master, don't worry, we also came from Youyunwei. We are very familiar with these tricks of deception."

Zhang Jingche nodded, raised his neck and took a sip of cold water, but said nothing.

Zhang Jingche has been lurking among the people for many years, but he has established an unimaginable intelligence network without showing any signs of publicity.When he arrived in Baoji, someone passed the news to the Northwest camp on his back. After hearing the report from his subordinates, Xiao Heshan got up suddenly, and his expression changed in a hurry: "Really? This person really haunts Baoji?"

You Yunwei, who came to report the news, knelt on one knee: "It is absolutely true! It is the news from the head of the Baoji He family. According to him, this person is the head of the Silk Road Chamber of Commerce and is negotiating a big deal with the Baoji He family. He Ling didn't expect that he was a criminal committed by the imperial court!"

The He family in Baoji is a prominent family in Shaanxi. For the sake of the family's reputation, of course they dare not have too much involvement with the imperial convicts, and it is reasonable to choose to report to You Yunwei.

Xiao Heshan wandered around the spot twice, really couldn't wait, raised his saber and walked out of the tent: "Come on, please go to the commander's tent to inform, and say that the commander has something important to do, and he will bid farewell to General Zhuo today."

Xiao Heshan came out without warning, except for Zhuo Jiusi, who had been prepared for a long time, everyone was stunned.Until the luggage was loaded into the car, and the Xuanfu Mission set foot on the way back to Beijing, Monk Zhang Er, Hong Lu, couldn't figure it out, and kept complaining: "Commander Xiao, what is the matter with you? Since you are leaving, why not?" Don't tell me in advance? In such a hurry, I don't even have time to pack my bags!"

Xiao Heshan gave him a cold look: "Elder-in-law, do you still remember why we made this trip? You have lived in the Northwest Camp these days, and you probably forgot even the official duties assigned by the emperor?"

Honglu was scolded by him, she couldn't hold back, she was sullen for a while, and then realized belatedly: "This, Commander Xiao means..."

He covered his mouth and made a look of complete astonishment. Xiao Heshan couldn't see him putting on airs like this, and he felt very tired: "The humble official received a tip that the person surnamed Zhang is currently at He's house in Baoji. If he escapes, how about trying to arrest the second person?" It will not be so easy the second time. At that time, you and I can only plead guilty to the Holy Spirit..."

Hong Lu didn't wait for him to finish, she got into the carriage in a hurry, and urged repeatedly: "Then what are you waiting for? Let's go, let's go!"

Xiao Heshan snorted coldly, got on his horse, and lashed his whip vigorously.

You Yunwei's whereabouts were not hidden from Zhang Jingche's eyes and ears, he calculated Xiao Heshan's itinerary, and arranged everything properly before You Yunwei arrived.He Ling was by his side, listening to his detailed instructions, and finally said with a wry smile: "The young master's arrangement is to push me into a pit of fire... If Marquis Yang finds out, with his temper, he won't calm me down." Where is Baoji?"

Zhang Jingche said lightly, "He won't."

He Ling glanced at him, only to hear Zhang Jingche say calmly: "Before I left, I told Zhuo Jiusi to leave another letter for you. If General Zhuo didn't persuade Yang Hou, he would come to Men Xingshi to question him." , you hand over the letter to Yuan Zhou, and he will naturally not embarrass you."

Only then did He Ling feel at ease, and after thinking about it, he was a little puzzled: "With the young master's ability, it is easy to avoid You Yunwei's eyeliner, why do you want to reveal your whereabouts? If you are far away from the Great Wall, or hidden behind the scenes, Even today, I can't find any trouble for you."

There was something hidden in He Ling's heart, and he didn't dare to say it out - with Zhang Jingche's power, the Western Regions as a shield, and Dingbian Hou as a powerful ally, there was no shortage of wealth and military power. It's not out of the question to take today's son and replace it.He Ling took refuge in Zhang Jingche not only because he saw that the people of Beile were dying, and it was not enough to seek advice from them, but also because he wanted to make a contribution to the dragon.Unexpectedly, Zhang Jingche threw himself into the trap, and wanted to send himself back to the emperor. He Ling couldn't figure out his intentions, so he could only try tactfully.

Zhang Jingche seemed to see through his thoughts, and warned with a half-smile: "Boss He did not hesitate to destroy his family to relieve difficulties in order to support the military rations of the Northwest. , asking for trouble?"

He Ling touched his nose, not daring to show off his cleverness.

You Yunwei arrived very quickly, but within a few days, he had already entered Baoji territory.However, Xiao Heshan was cautious and did not dare to make a big show of it. Instead, he sent his elite men to find out the facts.After confirming that the person he was looking for was indeed a guest at the He family's old house, that night, You Yunwei's masters came out and kidnapped Zhang Jingche from the He family's house.

This process was not easy, because there were not many personal guards around Zhang Jingche, but all of them were elites.Xiao Heshan used the strategy of raising Huli Mountain, spared no expense to the elite generals, and managed to rob them out.When the personal guard came to his senses and rushed back to the yard in a hurry, there was no one in the room.

Xu Shen turned his head and looked into the depths of the night, his expression was serious, but his shoulders relaxed silently: "Send the letter to the Northwest Camp, the master is exactly as expected, everything is going according to the original plan."