Compared to Zhang Luoning, who was so handsome back then, it can be said that he is now in a completely different shape.
Physical weakness was another factor, but the confusion and decadence in his eyes was what made Shen Zangfeng feel sad for him.
"Lately, I often feel lifeless." Zhang Luoning glanced at Shen Zangfeng and said calmly.
"There are very few Zhang family members in Gyeonggi Province now, and we need you to revitalize the family." Shen Zangfeng frowned and said, "How can you do this?"
Zhang Luoning laughed at himself and said: "You know before the fall of the imperial capital, I no longer wanted to care about the affairs of this world... I even gave up my position as head of the family to my younger brother. As a result, my younger brother died, but I survived. I had thought earlier that the Zhang family was dying, so I had to take on the role of head of the family, but... "
He shook his head and said, "What do you think I can do now? Huo Jiayao wants me to become an official, but he is afraid of your influence, so he is trying every means to win over the family. I am just a cover under him... Of course, I am not talking about him. You don't trust me, but you know that my abilities in politics and the military are just ordinary. In the past, I could at least do something to maintain success with my family. But now, with all the heroes coming together, there are so many advisers and strategists. How can I still be successful? Rather than letting people laugh at me for not being useful, I might as well just live in such a mess!"
Having said that, there was a hint of loneliness in his expression.
He was famous all over the imperial capital back then, so of course he couldn't really be worthless.
It's just that most of his talents were in the prosperous times, and were dimmed in the troubled times.
Even if there is no such thing as love, Zhang Luoning may not feel better now.
"Your talents are not as bad as you think, otherwise Huo Jiayao would not try his best to invite you out, and even use Mrs. Song as bait." Shen Zangfeng shook his head and disagreed with his statement, "It's just that you are so depressed now, no If you worry patiently, you will feel that nothing will be accomplished.”
Zhang Luoning's pupils shrank slightly when he heard Song Zaishui. After a moment, he smiled to himself and said: "I broke the hearts of all the women in the imperial capital back then, but in the end I was trapped by love. Do you think this is retribution?"
"If the Zhang family in Gyeonggi Province is still flourishing, if you say this, I will definitely persuade you and comfort you." Shen Zangfeng looked at him calmly and said, "But now, you still want to say that, but I have to ask Just say this - are you worthy of being a son of man?"
"When I was wandering around in my early years, I knew that I was not suitable to be the head of the family." Zhang Luoning sighed and turned to look outside. "What I am best at in this life is to work for the family. Even if I have the will, I am powerless - you say I It's because I'm so frustrated that I can't accomplish anything, so I'm in an awkward position now, but I'm only half right. I've always hated worldly things, and even if I force myself to do it, it won't last long. The lives of the rest of the Zhang family were resurrected..."
"Then you should at least marry a wife and have children to extend the line of heirs." Shen Zangfeng sighed and said, "You are now unable to revive the family business. Even if you are as talented as the sea, how can you revive the Zhang family, which is now withered? The blood inheritance of the Zhang family in Gyeonggi Province, you can always do this, right?"
Zhang Luoning said dumbly: "Are you inviting me here today to persuade me to get married?"
"It's natural." Shen Zangfeng looked at him and said, "How can we see you perish just after we met each other? Today's imperial capital is no longer as prosperous as it used to be, and you and I are no longer the young masters protected by our elders... Our descendants may not be able to have this luxury of feeling sad about spring and autumn. If you don’t wake up, the Zhang family in Gyeonggi is really doomed.”
"Hundreds of years of family history, how many generations of accumulation, no matter how disgusted you are with worldly things, do you really have the heart to let the Zhang family in Gyeonggi Province wipe out your name from the world's noble families?" Shen Zangfeng sighed, "How will you see Jiuquan in the future? The eldest brother below?”
"Let's not talk about this for now. My matters are trivial after all." Zhang Luoning was silent for a moment, sighed, and said, "Let's talk about you—Sun Wuding and Zhao Man have now ceased war with Qu Wen, and they seem to have accepted Wen Yaozi's suggestion. , join hands to resist the army... Now that Wen Yaozi’s reputation is growing and his power is growing, what are you going to do?”
Sun Wuding of Pingzhou and Zhao Mandu of Liyue Mountain supported the descendants of the Shen family of the Wei family as puppets, and went north under the banner of crusade against the Wei Emperor.
Pingzhou and Liyue Mountain are both in the southwest of Wei. They need to pass through Gunzhou on the way north. With the city of Gunzhou as the capital, Quwen, who established the Xiang Kingdom, naturally would not let them pass... and the fight started.
Qu Wen was at a disadvantage at first, but later he was able to resist with the help of the seven counties of Mengshan, the so-called Mongolian country.
The two sides have been fighting for a long time, and Wen Yaozi didn't know how to persuade them to stop this time.
Although the power of these four people is all in the south at the moment, even if the south does not occupy the advantage, it does take advantage of the fertile land, warm climate, and abundant products. In other words, they don’t have to worry about food and grass.
Looking back at the Xiliang army, Xiliang's products are poor. In the past, such a large army relied on the imperial court for supplies, but now it relies on the resources saved in the past. If it comes to confrontation and attrition, the Xiliang Army is definitely no match for the four southern troops.
If Wen Yaozi is also connected with the four people in the south, it will naturally be a great disadvantage to the Xiliang army.
"Even if Wen Yaozi doesn't send anyone, the south will stop fighting during this period." Shen Zangfeng shook his head and said, "Sun Wuding and others are not fools. Now that Wen Yaozi's power has surged and he has occupied the heart of the Central Plains, they will naturally The first thing is to weaken Wen Yaozi."
"I'm afraid Wen Yaozi sent people there in name to persuade them to stop fighting and fight against the enemy together, but in fact, he was trying to persuade them to fight against you unanimously!" Zhang Luoning sighed, "Even if Wen Yaozi suddenly rises up, it is recognized by the world that now The most powerful one is the Xiliang Army, isn’t it?”
Shen Zangfeng muttered: "That's okay. Firstly, it's impossible for Sun Wuding and others to send troops north to trouble me now; secondly, even if they form an alliance, they all have their own agendas."
Zhang Luoning shook his head: "Even if we all have our own thoughts, our fear of you is the same. You must know that among the heroes who are standing together now, only the Xiliang army in your hand is inherited from the Wei Dynasty. It has a complete organization and complete soldiers. It is a true hundred Master of War! From Wen Yazi to Sun Wuding, the troops in their hands are all trained from the refugees, how can they not be afraid of you? "
He mused, "You see that Emperor Wei is still alive today, it's just because they used this to test you - to be honest, I don't think you should have returned to Xiliang in the first place. If you had been sitting in the imperial capital, even if Wei Xinyong was unparalleled in intelligence, Wen Yaozi How can you sit down?"
"I couldn't have returned to Xiliang at that time. The so-called waiting for work in leisure is just a cover to tell the generals." Hearing this, Shen Zangfeng's eyes narrowed and he said calmly, "My fifth brother and nephew can't suppress the clan, and my father It was too sudden to go with my uncle... To tell you the truth, I still haven't sorted out the manpower they deployed."
Zhang Luoning was not surprised and nodded: "Sure enough... That Shen Shumo is actually the blood of the Zhongxian Marquis? Ordinarily your family shouldn't have such a mistake. Since you don't intend to recognize the heir, how can you cause them any trouble? Opportunity?"
"Qiu Di has repeatedly planted traitors in the past few decades. It's bitterly cold in Xiliang, and there are always people who can be easily bribed." Shen Zangfeng sighed, "So I can't believe the various hidden plots left by my father and uncle in the past without repeated confirmation. . What's more, only my father and uncle and their confidants knew about it. Once my uncle and his confidants left, there was no proof. In addition, the gold seal in his father's hand was lost, and many documents were ambiguous based only on the previous seal. It takes a lot of effort for me to do this, let alone others, so it is necessary to go back to Xiliang."
... In fact, compared to losing the protection of Shen Xuan and Shen Zhou, due to the sudden death of his elder and not being able to give his last words, this was the most troublesome thing for Shen Zangfeng.
Although he was cultivated by Shen Xuan as a young clan leader since he was a child, Shen Xuan never expected that he would die so early and suddenly. Therefore, of course it was impossible to give him the details of the entire Shen family just a few years after his marriage and when his grandson was still young - wouldn't Shen Xuan be ready to live in his old age immediately? How could Shen Xuan, who was in his prime, agree? He was also worried because Shen Zangfeng was still too young.
Shen Zangfeng's path to taking over the family was originally smooth. He only had to follow Shen Xuan's arrangements step by step. Of course, he didn't expect to spy in advance.
So much so that after Shen Zangfeng suddenly took over the family, he knew nothing about the family background that only the clan leader knew - because not only Shen Xuan died, but Shen Zhou also died. Among the people who broke out together, the old servant was completely gone. Shen Lianshi and others who survived knew less about the Shen family's cards than Shen Zangfeng did.
So even though Shen Zangfeng knew that his father must have many trump cards that he couldn't play, he didn't know where they were. Even if someone comes to the door on his own initiative, he will have to spend a lot of energy and time to prove it before he can believe it if he has learned from spies repeatedly before.
Many people and things cannot be confirmed and can only be arranged separately.
Coupled with the clan members causing trouble...
Just like Zhang Luoning said, if this were not the case, even if there was something wrong with the people Shen Xuan sent to assassinate Mo Ye, Shen Zangfeng could easily make up for this loophole later. It was impossible for Mo Ye to take his eldest son to defect to the Rong people without knowing anything about it.
"At the beginning, except for the three major frontier armies, the rest were nothing more than local chickens and dogs. Now they have become like this." Zhang Luoning sighed, "Are you really going to follow Wen Yaozi's plan and send troops to Yanzhou?"
Shen Zangfeng shook his head and said calmly: "Since Wen Yaozi is so enthusiastic about mediating everywhere, how can he say nothing before going to the army?"
"You have to be careful." Zhang Luoning pondered for a long time before saying, "I heard... Wen Yaozi recently took in several noble concubines, who are all maids. One of them was made a concubine by him, and she was... Jinxiu Duanmu Side Branch Zhong The confidant of a powerful person."
He looked at Shen Zangfeng with a complicated expression, "Actually, you shouldn't refuse them. You know that those maids were originally prepared for you by each family."
"Today I'll send you the maid, and tomorrow I'll send you the disciples, and you'll have to make decisions the next day, right?" Shen Zangfeng said calmly, "You have to make every effort to find every opportunity, and you and I don't know what the Yue family is thinking? But Wen Yao I need to accommodate them, but I don’t necessarily need to do this. It’s just a few maids. If you think that you can put pressure on me, you are wrong. I would rather ask Yu Wu to recommend me!” To be continued)