In October, people were walking slowly on the uneven mountain road. The mountain road was quiet and the footsteps were crisp. Looking at these, Shen Zhentu felt a distant and unfamiliar feeling, as if he was in another world.
Thinking of the day when he led the Seventeenth Rider over, he was full of energy, but now he was only deeply frightened. Thinking of many of his brothers who could no longer eat, drink, talk and laugh, Shen Zhen couldn't help but shed tears. He quickly wiped them away and suddenly asked: "Just now How can you speak out underwater? If Brother Pei hadn't spoken out, I would have died."
"It's the sound that travels deep into the secret. The depths of the water are the most terrifying. As soon as I transmitted the sound, the fear was dispelled."
"Oh, so it's this. I heard that the inner master has reached the top of his cultivation and has a method of transmitting sounds into secrets, but I have never really heard of it, but now I have seen it." Shen Zhen realized.
Pei Ziyun smiled, this is not a secret voice transmission. This is a skill learned when he was promoted to the second level of Earth Immortal. He can speak telepathically within three feet, and it can also affect the mind to a certain extent.
However, the effect is greatly reduced for people with a strong spirit, but it is just right in that kind of closed, dark, and desperate space.
"Let's leave immediately." Pei Ziyun looked at the sky, then took a deep look at the mountains and the military camp and said. After hearing this, a group of people quickly responded, climbed along the mountains, and quickly left.
Qi Yuan Guan
"boom"
There was a sound of thunder and heavy rain poured down. At this time, there was a knock on the door. A Taoist official came to check, pulled the door bolt, swept around the outside, and closed the door again.
"The true king has arrived!" the Taoist official said, inviting Pei Ziyun in.
I had used the talisman to contact me not long ago, and everything was prepared in advance. This was a Taoist temple controlled by the imperial court, and Taoist officials were stationed there. Following the Taoist's words, seven or eight Taoists came out of the Taoist temple and bowed down together.
"That's it, get up!" After saluting, Pei Ziyun waved his hand and said.
"Please, Zhenjun and everyone, please take a shower and change clothes. We are all ready." The Taoist said, holding out one hand: "Please, please, please come inside!"
After leading everyone inside, they saw two Taoists busy serving dishes for a banquet in the hall. There were ten private rooms, all with lights on. When they invited Pei Ziyun in, they saw a large bucket full of hot water.
"Zhenjun, the hot water is ready."
There were also high-quality Taoist robes around. Pei Ziyun smiled and went in. He washed and changed into new clothes. He came out and arrived at the hall, where he saw that the banquet had been served.
Pei Ziyun, Shen Zhen, and six Jianghu guests were all sitting at the banquet. The Taoist was serving and pouring wine and explaining: "Tao Guan has not treated me well. Please forgive me."
"But this is the ginseng wine specially made by this temple. It can replenish vitality..."
When Pei Ziyun looked at it, he saw that the poured ginseng wine was golden and fragrant, and there was a grilled pork chop in the middle of the table. The browned skin was full of marinated oil. In addition, there were seven or eight vegetables. He smiled and said: "Brother Shen, everyone , this time you have traveled thousands of miles to come to help, I would like to toast you."
Pei Ziyun filled the cup and drank it in one gulp. These Jianghu people did not refuse and took a cup to drink.
After three glasses of wine, the eight of them were all a little warm. Pei Ziyun smiled and said, "I have clearly sorted out the number of enemies you killed in this battle."
After saying that, he took out a fold of money from his arms and placed it on the table, pushing it towards Shen Zhen.
Looking at this book, Shen Zhen's face suddenly lit up with joy. A charlatan, who was eating meat, stretched out his chopsticks and picked up the meat. He was stunned and stared at it with blazing eyes. This book recorded exactly this. Fighting all the way, thinking like this, several people were silent, and some of them had red eyes.
Shen Zhen took it and put the fold in the palm of his hand. He suddenly felt heavy. The brothers had sacrificed their lives for this. His eyes were a little red for a while and he didn't speak.
"If it weren't for our dead brothers, we wouldn't be able to stand here today. Let's toast them." Shen Zhen raised the cup in his hand and poured the wine on the ground. These Jianghu people all raised their glasses: "To brothers."
After a long while, Shen Zhen wiped the corners of his eyes and said to Pei Ziyun: "Brother Pei, I made you laugh. I can't help but think of my brothers."
Shen Zhen's voice was hoarse. After drinking a glass of wine, he took the folder and read it. It described the process in detail, including the fifty-six people he killed and the number of beheadings of his brothers.
"Huh!" Shen Zhen took a long breath and handed the fold to his brothers, asking them to pass it around to each other.
Pei Ziyun said: "You and I are brothers. Let me tell you straight. Rewards from the court are very troublesome. If you don't want them, people might think you have evil intentions. If you want them, they might hate you. But in general, it's still Go ahead, it’s better to be fair and aboveboard.”
"But even if you want it, there is still a charter option."
When Pei Ziyun said these words, he breathed a sigh of relief and glanced around Shen Zhen and the six Jianghu guests. He saw that several Jianghu guests were also listening attentively at this time.
"If you want to officially become an official and transfer to the army, the level will be lower. Based on your military exploits, you can be recommended as a captain or deputy captain. However, you are Jianghu people, and your status is a bit sensitive. I am afraid that the court may not approve it."
"It would be relatively easy to become a casual rank without any actual job, between the ninth rank and the ninth rank."
"It's up to you to choose."
"As for the brothers who died in battle, there must be compensation to comfort their spirits in heaven."
After hearing this, Shen Zhen smiled bitterly and sighed: "The rules in the army are very strict. I can't do it, so I want to be a casual rank so that I can be at ease and not be burdened by dirty things."
"I'll just follow the eldest brother and choose the casual rank." There were three others who chose the casual rank. At this time, two of them hesitated for a moment, raised their heads and said, "Zhenjun, I want to join the army and make a fortune! "
Pei Ziyun smiled: "But, brothers are motivated, so why not?"
After saying that, he filled in all the items with a pen and called the Taoist official: "Submit the documents according to the regular channels, and the news can be sent directly to the capital."
The Taoist official took it and responded: "Yes, True Lord."
Temporary Lu Palace
This was originally the prefect's yamen, and the regulations were okay. Although King Lu was not an extravagant person, he also carried out certain repairs and expansions. He built a palace to meet with the ministers, plus the armored soldiers who stood with their swords like nails, it looked like there were many armors. , solemn and majestic.
Eunuch Liao, who was in a state of embarrassment and covered with sweat, hurried to the front of the palace and met the chamberlain. When he saw Eunuch Liao, he did not even bother to greet him and said, "The prince is about to ask you to come in. There has been discussion in the palace for half an hour."
Eunuch Liao nodded and walked in quickly. He only nodded to the guard standing at the door and signed up. After a short pause, he heard King Lu's voice: "Come in."
As soon as Eunuch Liao entered the door, he felt that the atmosphere was different. King Lu's eyes were gloomy. Eunuch Liao did not dare to look more. He only took a glance and knelt down.
"Get up, you ran all night and came back after traveling three hundred miles. It's been hard work." King Lu said lightly.
Eunuch Liao did not get up, but kowtowed repeatedly and said, "I have done something wrong in my errand. I am guilty of this. Please punish me."
"That's all, I've also got a detailed report on your matter. You should be careful every step of the way. You just don't expect the Earth Immortal to be so powerful. However, since you failed in your job, you should indeed be punished."
"This will eliminate your position as the transporter. Please be careful in the future." King Lu said.
Eunuch Liao secretly breathed a sigh of relief and said, "Thank you, Your Majesty!"
Then he stood up and stood carefully and lowered his head.
Silence returned to the palace, and after a long time, King Lu sighed and said: "Thanks to Mr. Xie Zhenjun for being alive, I have repeatedly suffered from his tricks, and he has contributed a lot to where we are today..."
"Gu Ji ordered people to sacrifice. I originally wanted to kill Pei Ziyun and sacrifice his head." When King Lu said this, he suddenly lowered his voice: "I didn't expect this result."
"Earth Immortal, a person from the Immortal Chronicles, I am still doubtful, but I don't want to see it now."
Everyone bowed their heads and said nothing. King Lu glanced at him, breathed a sigh of relief, and said, "Let's not talk about it anymore. We defeated Uncle Zhongqin and our army was in great momentum. Pei Ziyun repeatedly blocked the assassination. I was very suspicious that the imperial court wanted to kill him." To gain time to adjust, what should we do now for the present?"
A civil servant stood up and said: "Your Majesty, not only the court has to fight for time, but we also have to fight for time. Our army has only gained two new states in two or three months. Even the county magistrates and governors have not been cleared. Many of them are still appointed by old ministers to guard them. If we increase the military pay, it will cost a lot of money. In my opinion, we have to wait a little longer before we can use the troops again."
"This is wrong!" Another person said: "The generals don't understand those principles, but I understand that although our army has won two states, it is just a corner of the world to the imperial court. If it drags on, It will be extremely difficult for the imperial court to deal with the newly victorious army from the south."
This will make his face turn red and he will scream.
King Lu was silent as he listened, suddenly feeling a little discouraged. Originally, Xie Chengdong was here and he could solve all difficulties with one word, but now he was arguing over and over again. Thinking of this, King Lu squinted and looked at the sunset outside, silent for a long time.
At this moment, a voice appeared: "Wei Chen has something to say."
"Li Cheng? Do you have room to speak here?" Someone scolded him. King Lu came to his senses, waved his hand and said, "Just tell me!"
"Yes!" The blind Taoist responded, his eyes flashing: "Just now, Mr. Xu said that Xinde State must have time to govern, and General Zhang said that the court cannot be given time to arrange things calmly. In fact, both of them are reasonable, but Wei Chen thinks, The king said that momentum is the most important thing."
"It's just like a snowball. Once it stops, the snowball is not far away from collapsing."
"In my humble opinion, the two can go hand in hand, using war to gain stability and governance time in the rear."
The civil servant named Xu sneered: "When the army moves and there are mountains of food and grass, they have to plunder civilian food and even pull out strong men to maintain logistics and recruits. How can we manage the fields when they are all barren?"
"Master Xu, the way to use troops depends on timing and sharpness. If Uncle Zhongqin is here, even though our blade is sharp, it can't hurt the iron barrel."
"Now that Uncle Zhongqin has been defeated, the surroundings are not iron barrels, but wooden barrels."
"Your Majesty, we don't have many good soldiers. We must gather the most brilliant generals from our army and command them personally. They will be able to attack the city and plunder the territory like a hot blade driven into butter."
"This can buy time for the rear, and it won't cost much food and salary."
"Besides, our army has a lot of new recruits. Rather than having ten times as many soldiers, wasting food and wages with little effect, it is better to train them rigorously. This is something that can achieve multiple results with one stone." The blind Taoist spoke clearly and did not give in a step.
King Lu was silent as he listened, then glanced with some surprise, turned to someone and said, "How is the situation around you?"
"Your Majesty, since your great victory over Uncle Zhongqin and your great righteousness of peace, the people of Chenzhou have been panicked. Many officials have been in private contact, hoping that Master Wang will capture Chenzhou as soon as possible."
One person was responsible for the rebellion and was quite effective. He proudly reported it to King Lu.
"Okay, Gu Gu has made up his mind. Immediately mobilize the best troops to attack Chenzhou, led by Gu himself. You are either responsible for administration or training troops, so don't slack off."
"Yes!" Everyone responded.
(End of chapter)