Mountains and Seas

Chapter 93: Force back

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Lu Yongzhi's mansion in Gaoyou was occupied by Zhu Li.

Zhu Li burned the indentures of the maids and servants who were either threatened or bought into the mansion in front of them, gave each of them a considerable amount of money and property, and let them all go.

As for those properties, of course they belonged to Lu Yongzhi.

There are only five people in the mansion now, Zhu Li, Yang Zaixing, Chen Gong, Yan Keqiu, and Yan Keqiu's daughter Yan Keshu. This timid and weak young lady has now washed her face, tied her hair into a ponytail, and changed into a clean and tidy dress. She has suddenly transformed into a sweet and pretty young lady.

At her father's suggestion, the girl shyly took care of Zhu Li's life. However, Zhu Li was not used to being taken care of and was worried about affecting the girl's reputation, so naturally there was not much she needed to do.

The next day, Lu Yongzhi sorted out all the information on the generals, personally delivered it to Gaoyou, and handed it over to Zhu Li.

In the information, several people caught Zhu Li's attention, one was Luzhou governor Yang Xingmi, one was Xuanzhou governor Qin Yan, and the other was Gaoyou town commander named Zhang Shenjian.

As for the thug Qin Yan, since he took charge of Xuanzhou, he has brought disaster to Xuanzhou to an outrageous extent. However, Zhu Li wants to get rid of him, but he is out of reach and is powerless.

Yang Xingmi, the governor of Luzhou, governed Luzhou very well. Zhu Li had always paid close attention to this person. After all, he was a hero who established a dynasty. How could he ignore him

What he didn't expect was that the commander of Gaoyou was not only Bi Shiduo, there was another one, also a veteran of Gao Pian, Zhang Shenjian. However, Bi Shiduo's green light shining brightly made this man seem unknown, which also surprised Zhu Li.

After reading the information, Zhu Li handed it to Yan Keqiu beside him and sighed, "Yesterday I went to persuade Gao Pian and tried to get him to show up and take charge of the government, but Gao Pian refused to listen. No matter how hard I tried, I still couldn't achieve my goal. So, I plan to plot to get rid of Gao Pian and support his nephew Gao to take the position. What do you think, Mr. Yan?"

Yan Keqiu's expression changed when he heard this, and then he frowned and said, "General, this plan is probably not appropriate. Even if the general's plan succeeds and Gao is supported, then what?"

"General, do you think Gao will be grateful to you for killing your uncle? I'm afraid not. In my opinion, he may not be grateful to you. Instead, he will take the opportunity to pin the blame on you and get rid of you. In the name of avenging his uncle, he will take the opportunity to win the support of the people and the army in Yangzhou."

Zhu Li's expression froze when he heard this. He had indeed not expected this. If he thought about it carefully, he was afraid that after the incident, Gao would most likely take the opportunity to pin the blame on him. After all, if Gao wanted to secure his position as the Jiedushi, he must win the hearts of the army and the people. At that time, would there be any way to directly win the hearts of the army and the people than to avenge Gao Pian? Obviously not.

Besides, is Gao really willing to bear the eternal infamy of killing his uncle to get to the top? I'm afraid even a common child can guess that he would never be willing to do that.

Thinking of this, Zhu Li frowned. Yan Keqiu glanced at him and said respectfully, "General, instead of us taking charge, it would be better for Gao Pian's subordinates to do it themselves."

"What do you mean they do it themselves?"

"As long as Yan uses a little trick to force the Yangzhou army to rebel,

If one or several generals are appointed, the general will naturally be able to achieve the desired effect. If Yan's guess is correct, the general does not care who will be the governor. The general is worried about the livelihood of the people in Yangzhou, right?" Yan Keqiu asked bluntly.

Zhu Li nodded and said calmly: "Yes, as long as someone can protect Yangzhou and ensure its stable development, I don't care who will be the governor."

Then he changed the subject and asked, "Please advise me, sir, what should I do to force the local generals to rebel, so that they can stand up and overthrow or wake up Gao Pian who is dreaming of becoming a god."

Upon hearing this, Yan Keqiu did not keep the secret and said directly: "General, to force one or more generals to rebel, we can choose a target. For example, Bi Shiduo from Gaoyou is a good candidate."

"Bi Shiduo?"

"Exactly."

Zhu Li frowned even more when he heard this, and said suspiciously, "Bi Shiduo would rather send his first wife to sleep with Lü Yongzhi and let his concubine be abused by Lü Yongzhi. He only has a thousand soldiers now. Does he really have the courage to stand up and rebel at this time?"

Zhu Li's consideration is not unreasonable. According to historical records, Bi Shiduo did rebel in the end, but that was not until four or five years later. At that time, Sun Ru of Caizhou sent troops to Dingyuan and deliberately planned to seize Huainan. Gao Pian had no one to stop him, so he had to order Bi Shiduo to lead the troops to fight, thus giving him control of the army.

In addition, Zhu Wen was attacking Qin Zongquan at the time, and Bi Shiduo was ordered to assist him. However, he failed and was worried about being framed by Lu Yongzhi, so he was forced to rebel.

But it is different now. Bi Shiduo does not have many soldiers under his command. He has almost no cavalry, which he is best at and likes to command the most. Does he dare to rebel

Facing Zhu Li's doubts, Yan Keqiu calmly said, "General, please filter it. Bi Shiduo is a surrendered general of the Cao army. He has not yet gained the trust of Gao Pian. He allowed his wife and concubine to have an affair with Lu Yongzhi because he knew that if he lost control of these more than a thousand guards, the lives of his entire family might be in danger."

Yan Keqiu stopped explaining here and glanced at Zhu Li. He found that the other party's expression had not changed at all, so he continued, "I have received news that Zhang Shenjian, another commander of Gaoyou, and Bi Shiduo are related by marriage. Zheng Hanzhang, commander of Huaikou, is close to Bi Shiduo, and Qin Yan of Xuanzhou is even his good friend. Although Bi Shiduo does not control many troops, if Lü Yongzhi endangers his life, I believe he will be desperate and will contact these people at all costs to seek justice from Gao Pian."

"Sir, do you mean that I should instigate Lu Yongzhi to put pressure on Bi Shiduo?" Hearing this, Zhu Li finally understood why Yan Keqiu said that Bi Shiduo could rebel now. It turned out that this person's influence in secret was quite large, so he asked casually.

"General, you are wise. The one that Bi Shiduo fears is Liang Zun, the former commander of the Zhaoyi Army. But where is Liang Zun now? He was dissatisfied with Gao Pian's use of Lü Yongzhi and had visited Gao Pian many times. After his repeated admonitions were in vain, he angrily gave up and stopped caring about the affairs of Yangzhou."

"With Liang Zhan away and under Gao Pian's command, Bi Shiduo has long been fearless. If it weren't for the lack of troops, do you think Lü Yongzhi would dare to bully him like this?" Yan Keqiu explained seriously, "Even at this time, if Lü Yongzhi endangers his life, Bi Shiduo will definitely rebel against Gao Pian. He has no choice."

It was Liang Zun who defeated Bi Shiduo, and Liang Zun was also Gao Pian's most capable general. Now, Liang Zun has returned to Zhaoyi Army. Gao

Under Pian's command, the only ones who could suppress Bi Shiduo were those generals who were equally matched with him and had superior military strength; and if the few people mentioned by Yan Keqiu secretly supported Bi Shiduo and he got the support of these people, who else could suppress him

"Then how should I tell Lu Yongzhi to put pressure on Bi Shiduo?" After Yan Keqiu's explanation, Zhu Li finally felt relieved.

Zhu Li said this, obviously accepting his plan. Upon hearing this, Yan Keqiu quickly leaned over and whispered in Zhu Li's ear for a while. Zhu Li's eyes lit up when he heard this, and he said happily, "Good plan, let's do it this way."

That afternoon, Zhu Li asked Yang Zaixing to pass a message to Lu Yongzhi, asking him to immediately search for evidence of Bi Shiduo's crimes. No matter whether they were true or false, the charges must be serious, and it would be best if Bi Shiduo could be completely brought down.

The next day, Zhu Li met with Lu Yongzhi in a private room of the old teahouse; at the same time, Chen Gong, a former veteran of Gao Pian, also secretly met with his old comrade Zhang Shenjian in the old teahouse.

Coincidentally, the private room where Zhang and Chen were staying was right next to the one where Zhu Li was meeting Lu Yongzhi; even more coincidental was that the middle wall had several holes in the corners, so if someone spoke loudly in one room, they could hear it clearly in the other room.

Zhu Li sat at the tea table, looking at the rather nervous Lu Yongzhi, and asked directly: "Have you collected the evidence?"

Lu Yongzhi did not dare to neglect it and said quickly: "Don't worry, my dear, everything has been done. All the charges are enough to make Bi Shiduo die more than a hundred times."

"Well, what are the charges? Tell me." Zhu Li seemed unconvinced, as if he would not be at ease unless Lu Yongzhi told him orally.

Although Lü Yongzhi didn't understand why, he still spoke up happily: "Investigate, Gaoyou Town General Bi Shiduo is still a traitor, and secretly colluded with Caizhou thief Qin Zongquan, intending to overthrow Haozhou. He should be executed; investigate Gaoyou Town General Bi Shiduo, who withheld military pay and embezzled money, causing his subordinates to become alienated and causing harm to the area, and he should be executed; investigate..."

Lu Yongzhi was eloquent. It seemed that he must have done this kind of thing of making up stories out of nothing and finding excuses to accuse others. Each of the charges was enough to make Bi Shiduo disgraced and even die without a burial place.

When Lu Yongzhi finished speaking, Zhu Li finished the cup of tea in front of him. He glanced at Lu Yongzhi and said calmly, "When are you going to present this evidence to Chief Steward Gao?"

Upon hearing this, Lu Yongzhi hurriedly said, "I sorted it out first and then came to report to you. If you have no objection, I can present it to Chief Steward Gao at any time."

"Okay, I have no objection, just present it directly."

"Yes." After getting Zhu Li's promise, Lu Yongzhi immediately became very excited. This was the first time that Zhu Li recognized his ability, and he was naturally very happy.

After bowing to Zhu Li, Lu Yongzhi went to file the complaint with full confidence.

Zhang Shenjian in the next room heard every word of the conversation here.

His face turned very ugly. When he heard Zhu Li's footsteps fade away, he threw the teacup to the ground with a "bang", smashing it to pieces. He said angrily: "Lawless, lawless, this Lu Yongzhi is simply too lawless. Not only did he harm Brother Chen, but now he wants to murder my relative. This is simply intolerable."