Chapter 89 - lobbyists
Zhao Chen looked in front of him and saw a person walking through the rain!
This person did not look that tall, but his body was abnormally robust! His face was plain and simple, he was Yue Fei's sworn brother, Wang Gui!
"Big Brother Wang, why are you here? What's the matter? " Zhao Chen said.
"Crown Prince, Your Highness, Lord Li Li Gang has just arrived. He is waiting for Your Highness in the Dry Clear Palace!" Wang Gui said.
"Alright, I will return to Dry Clear Palace now!" Zhao Chen nodded and said.
Immediately, Zhao Chen headed towards the front, and the guards in the distance saw him walking, and anxiously ran over. They held up umbrellas, and escorted Zhao Chen towards the Dry Clear Palace!
When Zhao Chen arrived at the Dry Clear Palace, he first ordered those guards to retreat, leaving Wang Gui by his side. Then, he brought Wang Gui into the house!
Li Gang was waiting for him inside the house. Seeing Zhao Chen coming in, Li Gang stood up quickly and bowed!
"Teacher, please sit down!" Didn't you count the population and taxes of Middle Han Area, Sichuan Province? Why are you here to see me now? " Zhao Chen laughed.
"Your Highness, the Curved End is here!" Li Gang said.
"Curved End..." Zhao Chen was startled!
He had naturally heard of the name Curved End! Whether it was in this era or in the later history books, the Curved End was a famous person! The Curved End was both civil and martial, and was the first ranked general in the Southern Song Dynasty! Curved End had defeated General Jin Wanyan Loushi many times, and his achievements were outstanding! It was a pity that the Curved End had been killed by others long ago, so even though he had made a great contribution, he could not compare to Yue Fei, Wu Jie, Han Shizhong and the others!
Currently, a hundred thousand heavy soldiers in the hands of the Curved End s was an enormous power that was second only to Zhe Keqiu in the Northwest! If he could control this power, it would be beneficial for him in fighting Zhe Keqiu!
"Your Highness, we must recruit the Curved End! Let the Curved End be of use to His Highness! " Li Gang said.
"For the past few days, I have been acting weak in front of Zhe Keqiu and have shown no ambition. If I were to recruit the Curved End now, wouldn't that make him suspicious?" Zhao Chen said.
"Your Highness naturally doesn't need to personally step in, I am the one who recruited the Curved End! At that time, when he acts in this old official's name, even if Zhe Keqiu discovers him, he would at most think that this old official is going to oppose him! At most, he will only harm this old official! Your highness, as the monarch, you have to be decisive in killing. You can't let go of any opportunity! Now that the Curved End has come to the Middle Han Area, this is an opportunity for us! " Li Gang said.
"You're right!" Zhao Chen nodded.
"I was just about to go to the inn to see Curved End, but Zhe Keqiu's subordinates were guarding the entrance to the inn, so I was blocked the moment I arrived! So, this old official and His Highness have discussed to have the experts under His Highness go meet the Curved End! " Li Gang said.
Zhao Chen pondered for a moment, he looked at Wang Gui and said: Big brother Wang, I will have to trouble you with this matter!
Zhao Chen had three experts under his command, the most powerful one was undoubtedly Yue Fei, but Yue Fei's personality was wooden, and was not suitable to be a lobbyist at all. Zhang Xian's character, on the other hand, was lively and lively, and he spoke very casually, so it was not good to be a lobbyist even if he was a lobbyist.
"Your majesty, feel free to tell me!" What trouble? " Wang Gui laughed.
Immediately after, Zhao Chen and Li Gang discussed for a while, before Li Gang decided to tell Wang Gui everything he had said.
Curved End and Wang Shu had rested in the inn for an entire afternoon, and at that moment, the two of them were still awake!
Curved End called Wang Shu over to his room. The two of them were playing chess!
Curved End's chess skills were brilliant, Wang Shu was not even a match for his in these three rounds!
"The general's chess skills are too high, Wang Shu is not your opponent!" After the third round ended, Wang Shu stopped and said.
"Playing chess is like fighting, you only know how to play chess when you know how to fight! My fighting skills are high, so naturally my chess skills aren't low either! Come, come, let's continue! " The Curved End laughed.
"I think we should forget about it!" If we keep losing like this, I don't want to continue playing! " Wang Shu laughed.
Just as Curved End was about to speak, he suddenly raised his head and looked out the window. How dare you spy on me! "
Wang Shu was shocked, he also looked out of the window!
The window was slowly pushed open and a robust middle-aged man jumped in! It was none other than Wang Gui!
So it turned out that Wang Gui was following orders, and it just so happened to be the right time to use the darkness to leave the Han palace, and come here!
"Who are you?" Curved End said coldly.
"I am a close relative of Master Li Li Gang, I have come under Master Li's orders!" Wang Gui cupped his hands and said.
"Li Gang?" Curved End was stunned, so was Wang Shu!
In this era, there were many famous officials and generals! and the others were still considered "juniors", while Zhe Keqiu, Curved End and the others were all veteran martial generals. However, in front of the Nvzhen, they did not have any battle achievements, so it was still a bit difficult to say who was the number one general in the world! However, if one were to say that he was the world's number one scholar, then it could be said that Li Gang was unwilling to let him go! The first time Jin Army went south, he stood up and used a plan to force Song Huizong to abdicate his position, allowing him to succeed the position of Song Chin Zong. After that, the Song Chin Zong followed Li Gang's plan and blocked his attack! Unfortunately, very quickly, Li Gang was demoted to Jiangxi Province, and when the Jin Army went south for the second time, although Li Gang was called back to the imperial government, there were many traitors in the imperial court. Zhang Bangchang, Li Bangyan and the others were powerful, but Li Gang did not have any use of them!
But even so, Li Gang's reputation in the government and the public was still extremely high. Right now, no one under the heavens could compare to Li Gang! Even Zong Ze was one head lower than Li Gang!
Hearing that it was someone sent by Li Gang, Curved End and Wang Shu became cautious!
"Lord Li, why didn't you come yourself? "What evidence do you have to prove your identity?" The Curved End thought for a while and said.
Master Li wants to come over, but the surrounding houses are all Zhe Keqiu's subordinates, they won't allow Master Li to come over! As for my identity, here is a letter personally written by Lord Li! Back in the day, Sir Li was the Prime Minister, and he also wrote letters to officials from all over the country. The officials all had Sir Li's Mo Bao legacy in their hands. You can compare them, and there will be no mistake! " Wang Gui said.
Immediately, Wang Gui took out a letter from his bosom and handed it over to Curved End!
Curved End tore open the letter and read it carefully! After a while, Curved End's face revealed a surprised expression!
Wang Shu pushed Curved End and passed the letter to him. Wang Shu then began to read it carefully!
After a while, Wang Shu's face also revealed a surprised expression!
"Good move!" Good move! As expected of Li Gang, the number one official in the world! The letter did not include any attempt to win over the general, but it did mention that it wanted to recommend him as a secret envoy! As a secret envoy, he was an important official in the imperial court. Naturally, he would come to Middle Han Area! Once the General arrived in Middle Han Area, he would be strong and powerful. No matter how hard Zhe Keqiu tried to win him over, he would still have scruples! This was the principle of not allowing two tigers to live in the same mountain! At that time, Li Gang could think of a way to rope in the General and make him be of use by the crown prince! This Li Gang truly lived up to his name! Looks like I have underestimated the heroes of this world! Previously, Zhe Keqiu used his daughter to rope in the general, and now that Li Gang used this move, they are not simple! " Wang Shu secretly thought.
"General Qu, what Lord Li has written in his letter, do you agree?" Wang Gui said.
"This... I am training in Jingyuan Army, very comfortable, do not want to enter the court official! Speaking of which, this secret envoy is considered a country's executioner, but unfortunately, I, Qu am not qualified! " Curved End shook her head.
In the Song Dynasty, the Privy Council governed the world's military, the Privy Envoys was the head of the Privy Council, and the position of a secret envoy was only second to the Privy Envoys! To the people of Song, the Prime Minister, the Deputy Prime Minister, the Privy Envoys, and the secret envoy were all important officials of the country. As the executioner, everyone held a high position of authority, far beyond the rank of the envoy! But Curved End did not want to involve Zhao Chen and Zhe Keqiu's fight, so he did not agree!
"General Qu, please think twice! With the talent of the General Qu, you are qualified to be an official in a country! " Wang Gui said.
"I understand Master Li Gang Li's thoughts! "Only, I just want to train in the Plains!" The Curved End said indifferently.
He only wanted to preserve his own strength. He had no interest in how others fought with him!
"The Crown Prince is too young, I'm afraid his abilities are limited!" If the crown prince is older, my family's general might take over this position as the secret envoy! " Wang Shu smiled from the side.
He was testing Wang Gui! Look at Wang Gui's answers, to understand Zhao Chen!
Wang Gui was silent for a moment, and said: "Even though the crown prince is young, his Highness is intelligent, and has a tenacious temperament! The future Song Dynasty will always belong to the crown prince! "
Wang Shu laughed: "The crown prince is so young, he's only eleven years old right now. You're saying that he's smart and intelligent, I'll believe that for now! But it is absurd of you to say that he is tenacious! For a young man to be so young, how could he be tenacious? "
Wang Gui said: "I am saying that His Highness is unyielding and tenacious, and that is definitely not nonsense! Last winter, when the Kaifeng City was broken, the Crown Prince escaped from the Kaifeng City! After that, he and Li Gang walked in the snow and ice for over a month and then arrived outside the Xiangzhou City! They had originally wanted to rely on Emperor Kang, Zong Ze and the others to take back the mountains and rivers. Who would have thought that Emperor Kang, Zong Ze and the others would go against the rules and actually try to assassinate his highness! His Highness the blessed man, Tian Xiang, left Xiangzhou City, escaping all the way to Tongguan! In the Tongguan, his Highness the Crown Prince was first imprisoned by Zhe Keqiu for a few days, then he saw Li Ruoshui, Wang De and the others! After that, soldiers of the Nvzhen arrived at the Tongguan and chased after the Crown Prince! When his Highness the Crown Prince arrived at the Dazhang Pass, Wu Jie and the others suffered a huge defeat! After arriving at the Middle Han Area, His Highness received two more assassination attempts. The first time, His Highness was severely injured, but the second time, His Highness was about to die! But in the end, His Highness had still persisted on, and now he was sitting in the palace! If His Highness was not tenacious, how could he have endured so many hardships? In this world, I cannot imagine anyone else who could be as tenacious as the Crown Prince! "
After Wang Gui finished speaking, the Curved End and Wang Shu were stunned!
Previously, in the hearts of the Curved End and Wang Shu, Zhao Chen was only an ordinary youth. The only difference was his identity as "Crown Prince"! They had never thought that the crown prince would go through so many trials and tribulations and never fall. What was so strange about that? After thinking about it carefully, the two of them fully approved of Wang Gui's "tenacious" comment!
In fact, after experiencing so much suffering, there would only be two results. The first result was being defeated and then being beaten to death, and the second result was being trained and becoming tenacious! Zhao Chen was undoubtedly the latter!
"The Crown Prince is such a person!" I, Wang Shu, have miscalculated! I thought that I was a prodigy of the world, but in the end, I was unable to grasp General Qu's temperament, and could not understand his ambitions, nor could I predict Zhe Keqiu's and Li Gang's methods. I could not even see through the merits of his highness the Crown Prince! It seems that I thought too highly of myself before! However, this meant that the Crown Prince was an option! Right now, the Crown Prince is being oppressed by Zhe Keqiu, he has no soldiers or generals by his side, and the Wen Chen only has Li Gang, Li Ruoshui and a few others. Unfortunately, General Qu did not want to rely on anyone. He only wanted to preserve his strength and was not willing to make any speculations! I still can't leave General Qu for the time being! This was going to be difficult... Let's wait until tomorrow when we meet the crown prince before making our decision! This is something that I have to be extremely careful of. In the future, it might even be a matter of glory or wealth, or perhaps it might even be a disaster that will kill me. Wang Shu secretly thought.
Wang Gui tried to advise again, but Curved End did not agree, so Wang Gui had no choice but to leave!