Chen Sangliang, who has a noble character, is so loyal and gracious. No matter how thick-skinned the Wagang army is, they will be embarrassed to fight Qiao Peng and the Sui army again. The Sui army and the Wagang army also tacitly avoided making trouble for each other, and adopted confrontation tactics together.
After spending several days in this way, Wang Shichong, who was almost forgotten by Chen Yingliang, suddenly sent someone to send a message, saying that he had already broken the main force of Yan Xuanzheng's bandit army in the East China Sea, but he could not completely wipe it out. After leaving Xiapi County, because Xiapi County is the one with the best money and food situation among the four counties under Chen Yingliang's supervision, it is very important to Chen Yingliang, so Wang Shichong decided to help his son-in-law to the end, and personally led troops to chase Xiapi County—just Because Wang Shichong's army was far away from the rear of Jiangdu, it was difficult to supply food and grass, so Wang Shichong asked his son-in-law Zhu Yong, the prefect of Xiapi County, to provide 30,000 stones of food and grass for the Sui army in Jiangdu to suppress bandits.
"Old man! You really know how to cheat!" Seeing Wang Shichong's letter here, Chen Yingliang, the unscrupulous son-in-law, immediately yelled, "It took only ten days to defeat Yan Xuanzheng, and he dared to ask me for 30,000 shi for food, 20,000 The army eats three hundred and thirty-three shi a day in food, including your consumption of food and grass on the way back and forth. This time, the bandits used 10,000 shi for me, which is already as high as the sky! How dare you ask me for 30,000 shi, old man, you really think me like this Is the son-in-law being taken advantage of?"
"Wang Juncheng is indeed a bit of a hacker. It is too cruel to pay three times the amount of food and grass for helping his son-in-law." Wei Zheng, who is also in charge of military supplies, nodded in agreement. He also felt that Wang Shichong was rip-off too hard, and suggested: " The deputy envoy absolutely cannot give so much. One is that the burden on the people is too heavy, and the other is that he opened the door. If we want to ask him for anything in the future, he will only push his nose and face, ask for more, and hit harder. "
"Of course you can't give so much, at most you can only give half!" Chen Yingliang said angrily, "Mr. Xuan Cheng, send an official document to Zhu Yongzhu, asking him to get rid of this old man with 15,000 shi of grain! This If the shameless old man still feels dissatisfied, tell him to come to me and I will deal with it!"
Wei Zheng agreed, and immediately drafted an essay for Chen Yingliang, but a voice of dissatisfaction came from outside the big tent of the Chinese army. It was the voice of another old immortal Zhang Xutuo, who asked loudly in displeasure: "Chen Fushi , who are you scolding for being old? Shameless old, are you scolding me behind my back?"
"Bad, why did old man Zhang hear that?" Chen Yingliang groaned in his heart, so he hurriedly got up and left the table, went outside the tent to meet Zhang Xutuo, then led Zhang Xutuo into the tent of the Chinese army, and presented Wang Shichong's blackmail letter , explaining that he was scolding the shameless old father-in-law Wang Shichong, not the old immortal Zhang Xutuo who came to pick up cheap this time.
After listening to Chen Yingliang's explanation, Zhang Xutuo was a little satisfied, but he still hummed: "You boy, can you accumulate some morals? Anyway, Wang Shichong has helped you a lot this time. Last time you put He took so many credits, and quietly made his daughter's belly bigger, this time he came to help you again despite the past, and you still have the face to scold him for being old? Is it too much?"
"Ambassador Zhang, this junior didn't mean to be disrespectful to him, it's because he bludgeoned too much." Chen Yingliang quickly explained, "Ambassador, it's not like you don't know how much food Wang Shichong's 20,000 troops crossed the Huai River in a month. , he actually has the face to ask me for 30,000 stone grains, this junior can't help but scold him for the people of Xiapi."
"You two sons-in-law, you are really top-notch." Zhang Xutuo sighed, not knowing whether to accuse Chen Yingliang of being unworthy or to scold Wang Shichong for his insatiable greed, so he could only wave his hands and say, "Forget it, anyway. It’s between you and your father-in-law, I’m too lazy to take care of it. Speaking of business, if you really care about the people and want to lighten the burden for the people, tell me quickly, how are you going to fight this time? How long will it take to win the tiles? Gang bandit stronghold?"
"Ambassador, didn't you agree to stand against the wall? Why are you forcing me again?" Chen Yingliang was a little confused, and then he immediately came to his senses, and quickly asked, "Is there another accident in our rear?"
"You guessed it." Zhang Xutuo sighed, and replied: "In order to help you destroy the Wagang Village, the old man stationed troops in Jibei for a period of time, and gave the rebels in the east of Qi County a respite. Wang Bo, the insurmountable rebel, took the opportunity to rise up again, gathered more than 20,000 people from Penglai to return to Gaomi County, and continued to go north to contact Hao Xiaode and Zhang Jincheng. Gao Jianpi was restrained by Song Shimo's rebel army I can't spare my hands to destroy them, so I can only ask the old man for help."
"Ambassador, then hurry back to help!" Chen Yingliang was amused, and hurriedly said: "Wang Bo's rebellion was the earliest rebellion, and he has a lot of prestige in the rebellion army. If he sits idly by, he will Maybe it will be a big one again soon!"
"It's a good idea. The old man came here hundreds of miles to suppress the Wagang bandits. He retreated before taking down their bandit stronghold. What kind of words do you say?" Zhang Xutuo scolded angrily, "Retreat now, old man How do you explain to the lieutenant? Why don’t you know the purpose of their coming here this time? Don’t try to steal the Wagang bandit’s savings for many years!”
After the scolding, Zhang Xutuo changed his tone again, and said: "This old man is also for your own good. You have also seen how powerful the Wagang bandits are. If you don't stay here to help you, this old man is really worried that you won't be able to kill them." .”
"I never thought of destroying them." Chen Yingliang muttered in his heart, but respectfully thanked him, and asked cautiously: "Ambassador, what about Wang Bo's bandits?"
"The old man and Jia Wuben have calculated carefully and think there is still some time." Zhang Xutuo replied: "Seven days, the old man can still stay here to help you for seven days. Within seven days, you must find a way for the old man." Break through this Wagang bandit stronghold."
"Seven days?" Chen Yingliang was crying, and said distressedly: "Ambassador, it's not that I want to monopolize the oil and water of the Wagang bandit camp, it's that I really can't do anything about it. If the tactic of besieging the camp and fighting for aid that I prepared before can be successful , then in the decisive battle in the wild, you and I hope to join hands to wipe out the Wagang thieves, but now that the main force of the Wagang thieves has retreated to the cottage in advance, they can attack when they advance, and they can defend when they retreat. Annihilation?"
Looking carefully at Chen Yingliang's mourning expression, Zhang Xutuo frowned and said, "Then what should we do? Why don't we attack directly and see if we can directly take down the Wagang bandit stronghold?"
Chen Yingliang, who was desperately trying to maintain his strength, had no choice but to declare that he was not sure about breaking through Wagangzhai head-on when he heard his complaints. Go to rescue the rear, let yourself stay and continue to confront the Wagang Army, exhaust the Wagang Army's food and grass, and force the Wagang Army to leave the village for a decisive battle. Zhang Xutuo, on the other hand, was hesitant. He was not sure about taking Wagang Village by storm, and he didn't want the army to work hard in vain.
Seeing Zhang Xutuo's hesitation, Chen Yingliang gritted his teeth and said, "Ambassador, I really advise you to return to Beihai and Gaomi for your own good. Savings, then this junior can promise you now, after this junior defeats the Wagang bandits with confrontational tactics, half of the savings in the bandits will still belong to you! Is this the head office?"
"Don't say it so badly, it's as if the old man is a greedy person! The old man is worried about you, worried that you won't be able to defeat these powerful Wagang thieves, so he doesn't want to withdraw." Zhang Xutuo was angry He yelled loudly, hesitated for a moment, and then Zhang Xutuo said: "Then let the old man think about it, and discuss with Jia Wuben again, and then decide whether to retreat."
Chen Yingliang was eager to delay time, so he quickly agreed, and finally sent Zhang Xutuo away. On the same day, the Wagang Army sent envoys to inquire about Shan Luoli, in order to continue to stabilize Wagang. The army didn't let them act impulsively, Chen Yingliang could only continue to hold Shan Luoli tightly, and only promised to give the Wagang army an answer within three days, and then sent the Wagang army's envoy away.
The danger-ridden rear suddenly changed, Zhang Xutuo knew the danger of continuing to delay, so after hesitating for more than a day, Zhang Xutuo still sent someone to order Chen Yingliang to negotiate with the camp to discuss the matter of withdrawing troops. Chen Yingliang did not dare to neglect and was very obedient Immediately ran to Zhang Xutuo camp to listen to enlightenment. After the meeting, Zhang Xutuo also told Chen Yingliang straightforwardly, saying: "Yingliang, I decided to accept your suggestion. I will go back to my teacher to save the rear. I will entrust everything to you in Wagang Bandit Village."
Chen Yingliang was overjoyed when he heard that, he hurriedly patted his chest to promise that he would bear this heavy burden, not afraid that Wagangzhai would never withdraw his troops - of course, if he had to move his troops to rescue him, there would be no other way. But Zhang Xutuo was not as happy as Chen Yingliang, and his face was still extremely solemn, and he said seriously: "Ying Liang, you have to be ready, once the old man withdraws, the Wagang bandits must understand that there is a change in the old man's rear. Bullying your lonely mind, once the Wagang bandits leave the stronghold for a decisive battle, you will face a very dangerous decisive battle."
"Ambassador Xie pointed out, this junior understands." Chen Yingliang also understood that Zhang Xutuo was warning with good intentions, so he hurriedly bowed his hands and saluted, and said solemnly: "Please don't worry, ambassador, I have enough energy and strength for the younger generation, even if the Wagang bandits go out to fight decisively , the juniors are not afraid of them."
"That's good." Zhang Xutuo nodded, and said suddenly: "The old man left Qin Qiong and five regiments of elite cavalry for you to help you resist the Wagang bandit's counterattack, and also make your mobile force more sufficient, so you can deal with it calmly." A surprise attack by Wagang bandits."
"What?" Chen Yingliang's joy was extraordinary, and he blurted out, "Really?"
"Of course it's true." Zhang Xutuo nodded, and said with a smile: "The old man knows that you have been coveting Qin Qiong and his cavalry for a long time. After you defeat the Wagang bandits, they are so good that they will be returned to the old man."
After that, Zhang Xutuo added with a serious expression, "Be careful, the Wagang thief is not easy to deal with, you have to take care of yourself, I can't live without you as my assistant."
Hearing Zhang Xutuo's caring and considerate words from the bottom of his heart, Chen Yingliang, who had played a lot of tricks this time, blushed a little. Feeling ashamed, Chen Yingliang hurriedly saluted and thanked him sincerely, but Zhang Xutuo waved his hand , Said: "Then it's settled. This time, I'm sorry for you. I said that I came to help you break the Wagang stronghold, but I suddenly retreated to make your battle even more difficult. When I have a chance, I will greet you again." apologize."
"Ambassador, I'm actually sorry for you this time. I never thought of breaking through Wagang Village."
It's simply that he did not work hard and was perfunctory, but Zhang Xutuo was still thinking about himself. The disparity in character was so huge that Chen Yingliang would feel extremely ashamed no matter how devastated he was. When he took a closer look at Zhang Xutuo's appearance, Chen Yingliang suddenly discovered that compared with the first time he saw Zhang Xutuo, Zhang Xutuo seemed to have aged ten years in just over a year. His gray hair and beard could hardly be seen black anymore. There are many more wrinkles, and the whole person is obviously thinner. A person in his early fifties already looks like an old man in his sixties. Thinking that he broke up with Zhang Xutuo this time, and that he might never have the chance to meet again, Chen Yingliang's nose couldn't help but Some sour feeling.
After hesitating for a while, Chen Yingliang suddenly said: "Ambassador, I heard that you have sore shoulders and often need to massage your shoulders. Today, I am a little free. Let me rub your shoulders and back."
"What's the matter with you? Why do you suddenly think of rubbing the old man's shoulders and back?"
Zhang Xutuo's head was full of mist, but Chen Yingliang stopped talking, just got up and walked behind Zhang Xutuo, rubbed Zhang Xutuo's shoulders and back, massaged and massaged very carefully, and at the same time, tears flickered in Chen Yingliang's eyes Because Chen Yingliang knew very well that this was the first time he rubbed his shoulders and beat his back for Zhang Xutuo, and it was also the last time he rubbed his shoulders and beat his back for Zhang Xutuo, who he respected from the bottom of his heart. Zhang Xutuo gradually understood, turned around and saw the tears on Chen Yingliang's face, and said with a smile: "What kind of childish gesture? It's not life and death, why are you crying?"
Hearing this, Chen Yingliang's tears flowed even more disappointingly, and he said in a choked voice: "Ambassador, you must take care, the court cannot live without you, and the world cannot live without you."
"Understood, understood, thank you for your concern, but don't praise the old man so highly." Zhang Xutuo nodded with a smile, and said that Chen Yingliang was worried about his safety during the battle with Wang Bo, so he comforted him in turn: "It's okay. Although the thief Wang Bo is cunning and can't be defeated repeatedly, he is not the old man's opponent. I am still very sure that I will meet him."
Chen Yingliang nodded with tears in his eyes, and then said in a hoarse voice: "Ambassador, Wang Bo is indeed nothing to be afraid of, but you have to be careful of one person, this person is Li Mi, who is the remnant of Yang Xuangan's traitor, and the only one who has deceived the younger generation on the battlefield. People are extremely cunning, if you meet him, be careful. Please remember,... If, if the army of the younger generation is by your side, you must call the younger generation for reinforcements, and the younger generation will definitely do their best."
Zhang Xutuo nodded, indicating that he had remembered it, and then reminded Chen Yingliang that Chen Yingliang must also be careful of the Wagang Army whose combat power cannot be underestimated, and must not underestimate the enemy, lest the ship capsize in the gutter and ruin his fame. I agreed, but I couldn't help crying because of Zhang Xutuo who was really capsized in the gutter, and my thoughts were extremely complicated...
…
Since Zhang Xutuo decided to withdraw from the Wagangzhai battlefield the next day, in order not to let his lies be exposed, after returning to the self-army camp, Chen Yingliang personally sent Shan Luoli out of the camp that evening and let her return to Wagang Village. Gangzhai reunites with Shan Xiongxin. After a few days of getting along with each other, Shan Luoli's attitude towards Chen Yingliang has also changed significantly. Even after Chen Yingliang untied the rope on her body, she did not immediately cheer and leave. Instead, she looked at Chen Yingliang with a complicated expression, and suddenly asked Said: "You... really let me go?"
"I can't help it. Chen Yingliang found out about my arrest of you. He is my boss and forced me to release you. I have no choice but to let you go." Chen Yingliang continued to use Mulan's sign to deceive, and smiled again: "Besides, What's the use of keeping you? Besides feeding you every day, and taking care of your daily life, and getting up at night to cover you with a quilt, what's the use other than asking for trouble?"
Thinking of the day and night with Chen Yingliang and the various things that happened during the past few days, Shan Luoli blushed a little and said in a low voice: "Thank you, you are a good person. I thought... that you were a prostitute. Thief, now I understand that I blamed you wrong. Thank you, thank you for treating me with courtesy."
"Just say thank you?" Chen Yingliang squatted down with a smile, put his face in front of Shan Luoli, and said with a smile: "At least one must be fragrant, is this considered sincerity?"
She was already prepared to be slapped in the face, but after she hesitated for a long time with a blushing face, Shan Luoli actually pursed her rosy mouth and kissed Chen Yingliang's not-so-ugly face, then lowered her head again. Said softly: "Brother Mulan, my name is Shan Yingying, and I will never forget you."
After all, Shan Luoli kissed Chen Yingliang's face again, then turned around, covered her already hot face and ran towards Wagang Village, leaving Chen Yingliang in a daze, thinking to herself: "Could it be Stockholm syndrome, right? If that girl Mulan knew that I did such a thing under her name, how would she deal with me?"
Thinking of this, Chen Yingliang couldn't help feeling a little regretful, and thought to himself: "Why doesn't Zhang Xutuo leave Mulan to me? How cool is it to take that girl to the north to serve the king? It's already the eighth month of the lunar calendar, and the area around Yanmen Pass must be very cold. There is a What a good captain who can warm the bed."
When Chen Yingliang was masturbating, he didn't know that Mulan, the object of his masturbation, was moaning in pain in the dormitory. While changing the gauze for her wound, she cursed in a low voice, "That bastard Shan Xiongxin took the wrong medicine? I'm desperate? You hurt me so badly, if I don't get hurt, the ambassador will definitely let me go with Qin Qiong... Forget it, I don't know how to come and see me, why should I stay for him?"
…
Shan Yingying's safe return certainly caused a huge commotion in the Wagang village. While Shan Xiongxin wept with joy and hugged his sister to ask questions, Li Mi finally established his first strong prestige in the Wagang village. Not only did the soldiers of the Wagang army start to respect and admire For him, even some Zhai Rang who ignored him began to face up to Li Mi's existence and began to allow Li Mi to participate in military discussions. At the same time, the great news of Zhang Xutuo's sudden withdrawal of troops also reached Wagang Village through scouts. A performance opportunity.
"Your Majesty Zhai, don't miss this opportunity, never again! You should send out troops immediately to fight to the death with that little thief Chen Yingliang!" Li Mi said decisively: "Zhang Xutuo's sudden retreat must be due to changes in his rear, and he had to withdraw his troops to leave. After he left , the morale of Chen Yingliang's troops is bound to suffer a huge blow, sending troops to a decisive battle at this time is the most certain time to win!"
It's a pity that although Zhai Rang finally let Li Mi participate in the discussion of military affairs, Li Mi's words and suggestions were far from what he promised, so after listening to Li Mi's suggestion, not only did Zhai Rang not immediately adopt it, which was correct enough to make Chen Yingliang vomit blood He also turned suspicious and said: "Old man Zhang Xutuo suddenly withdrew his troops? Could it be to lure us to attack? We sent troops to fight Chen Yingliang, and he suddenly turned around and killed him, or we sent troops to chase him, and Chen Yingliang took the opportunity to attack Our cottage, wouldn't we be in a predicament of being attacked from both sides?"
"Brother Zhai is right." Xu Shiji also said: "The little thief Chen Yingliang is really too cunning. Before we can confirm whether Zhang Xutuo's retreat is true or not, we'd better be cautious and not send troops to take risks. Then it’s too late for us to regret.”
"Whether it's treacherous or not, we can't send troops now." Shan Xiongxin said the same: "For Yingying's matter, we just owed Chen Yingliang a big favor. Sending troops at this time and fighting him decisively is taking advantage of others' danger. Even if we win, we will only win Let our Wagang hero lose his reputation in the green forest. I propose to wait another three days, and then send troops to fight him in a decisive battle after three days, so as not to be infamous for taking advantage of others, but also to confirm whether Zhang Xutuo really retreated!"
Hearing Shan Xiongxin's suggestion, Zhai Rang, who was extremely afraid of being attacked by Chen Yingliang and Zhang Xutuo, nodded his head, praised him repeatedly, and immediately adopted it. However, Li Mi could only smile wryly, and secretly said: "Speaking of benevolence, righteousness and morality with the little thief Chen Yingliang, you really don't know how to write dead words? That traitor will only talk about benevolence, righteousness and morality when it is beneficial to him , Pretend to be an upright gentleman more than anyone else, no matter how despicable and shameless things are when it is against him, this little thief who is both an archway and a bitch can do it!"
The bitter smile turned into a bitter smile, Li Mi was still extremely excited, and couldn't help but said in his heart: "Little thief Chen, there are many hidden dangers in Zhang Xutuo's rear, and the rear suddenly changed and was forced to withdraw, there must be no fake! Three days later It's not bad to send troops, we, friends and mortal enemies, finally have a chance to fight to the death!"
Li Mi's long-awaited hope finally came to nothing, because on the afternoon of the third day after Zhang Xutuo withdrew, a long-awaited imperial edict was suddenly sent to Qiao Peng's camp of the Sui army. Chen Yingliang was so excited that his hands were trembling with the imperial edict sent by the prefect of Dongjun. He immediately ordered to summon all the civil and military generals of Qiao Peng's Sui army and Qin Qiong left behind by Zhang Xutuo, and then confidently ordered to immediately pull out the camp and send troops to the north Rush to Baimadu!
Hearing Chen Yingliang's astonishing order, Qiao Peng Wenwu was of course all taken aback, scrambling to ask: "Why? Why did you go north? What about the Wagang Bandit Village?"
"What kind of thing is the Wagang bandit village?" Chen Yingliang became more confident, slammed the table heavily, and yelled out a sentence that had been in his heart for a long time, "Our emperor was surrounded by Turkic cavalry at Yanmen Pass, unable to escape, and was in danger. Forced to order the world's soldiers and horses to go north to serve the king! Is His Majesty the emperor important, or this small Wagang bandit village?!"
Hearing Chen Yingliang's roar, Qiao Peng and the generals of the Sui Army were all as white as paper at first, and then all of them immediately showed ecstasy, because Qiao Peng Wenwu knew very well that there probably was no second army in the world that could As lucky as the Zijun, since it is in a wartime state, its physical strength, food and supplies are very sufficient, and it happens to be near Baimadu. Becoming the first army to rush to Yanmen Guanqin King, how can the credit reward be less
"It's finally the day." Chen Yingliang sighed in his heart, then raised his head and said secretly: "Farewell, Zhang Xutuo, it's not that I don't want to continue to be your assistant, it's that this mess is hopeless, I can only hurry You escaped, take care. Don't worry, if I can do it during the battle of Datong Temple, I will try my best to save you."
On the evening of that day, the Qiaopeng Sui army abandoned all unnecessary things and suddenly abandoned the strong camp. The whole army went northward and went straight to Baimadu. Because of this, and because he was afraid of Chen Yingliang, who was always good at tricks, he didn't dare to go out to pursue him immediately, wasting the most precious attack time. It was not until it was repeatedly confirmed that Chen Yingliang had not set up an ambush that the Wagang Army launched a counterattack under Li Mi's repeated suggestion. The team's gunpowder bottle attack caused the Wagang Army's team to encounter gunpowder weapons for the first time, and they were frightened into chaos. Generals Cheng Yaojin and Qin Qiong led the powerful cavalry of the Sui Army to attack from the left and right wings. The Wagang Army was forced to flee and hurried on their way. The Sui army did not pursue, and quickly withdrew from the battlefield. The massive Wagangzhai conquest also ended in anticlimax because Zhang Xutuo and Chen Yingliang retreated on their own initiative.
It wasn't until Qiao Peng and the Sui army crossed the Yellow River across the board, crossed Linqing Pass and entered Hanoi County that Li Mi learned the news that Sui Yang Emperor Yang Guang was surrounded by Turkic cavalry at Yanmen Pass through the channel of his brother-in-law Qiu Junming. He was pleasantly surprised by the good news , a huge doubt also enveloped Li Mi's heart, "How do I feel, the little thief Chen Yingliang, didn't come to fight Wagang Village this time? Instead, he came to the battlefield of Wagang Village and waited patiently for this huge change? If this is the case, does Chen Xiaozei have a secret collusion with the Turks, or does he have the ability to predict the future?"
In addition, on the night when Chen Yingliang withdrew from the siege and went north, a small event that changed history happened. In order to blackmail his unscrupulous son-in-law more efficiently, Jiangdu County Prime Minister Shichong once again sent his beloved nephew Wang Renze west to the Wagangzhai battlefield to fight with him. The son-in-law contacted him to extort more money and rations for the battle. As a result, after learning from the generals of the Sui Army why Chen Yingliang withdrew his troops and went north, Wang Renze, who was very responsible, made a decisive decision. He didn't even see Chen Yingliang, and immediately returned to Xiapi County on horseback, changing people along the way. Without changing horses, traveling day and night, it took just over two days to bring the news to Wang Shichong. Wang Shichong, who had already crossed Surabaya, was ecstatic at first when he heard the news, and then burst into tears. Finally, he ordered the whole army to go straight to Yanmen Pass without hesitation and march all the way. Come to grab the merits of the son-in-law Qin Wang.
Just like in history, Wang Shichong led Jiangdu troops to Yanmen to rescue the country. He was unkempt in the team, crying so hard that he lost his normal state, never took off his armor day and night, lay on the grass to sleep, and showed his loyalty to Emperor Sui Yang to the fullest. It is also slightly different from the history. While weeping bitterly in front of people, Wang Shichong inevitably laughed secretly in his heart...
"It seems that it's good to do a good deed once in a while, at least it's rewarding. Unexpectedly, helping this unscrupulous son-in-law, Chen Boy, save me at least 20 days of preparation, dispatching troops and marching troops! This time, even if the old man can't do it When he is the first king to lead the army, he can at least participate in the Yanmen Pass battle, so that the emperor can see with his own eyes how loyal and loyal this old man is to him!"