C62

Creak * The door of the cell slowly opened. A large amount of dust poured out.

Gongsun Yi frowned in disgust, he waved his hand in front of his nose a few times and slowly walked into the prison. This was not Ji County County Yamen's prison, but the underground dungeon located in the southwest corner of the Hou Mansion.

Gongsun Yi nodded his head and greeted him. Then, he beckoned to Hei Yihanzi: "Tao Dayong, Young Noble wants to see you."

This Hei Yihanzi was Tao Sheng's nephew, Tao Dayong. At that time, Gongsun Xu had coerced him to submit himself to his and had even promised to do so for a field officer. However, Gongsun Xu didn't want to make a move against the equipment that Tao Sheng was hiding in the Great Qing Mountain, and couldn't allow Tao Dayong to appear in front of everyone yet, so he gave Tao Dayong two choices: first, to be placed under house arrest as a rich man; second, to become the prison head of the Hou Mansion's dungeon due to illness or death, to become the prison head. Tao Dayong chose the latter without hesitation. These days, when there was nothing to do, he just drank alcohol, scolded the prisoners, and occasionally played with the girls in the brothels.

"I'm going, I'm going!" Tao Dayong tidied up his clothes in a hurry, his eyes filled with fear. Ever since he pledged allegiance to Gongsun Xu, he had been worried that he would end up like a roasted rabbit.

Gongsun Yi's eyes flashed with a look of contempt, and he laughed: "Tao Dayong, Young Noble has something to say to you."

"Please advise me, Guard Gongsun." Tao Dayong was startled and quickly bowed to listen.

"The Young Master said, 'Tao Dayong, I truly do not like people like you, but the previous promise is still valid, so you don't have to worry about me hiding everything'."

"Thank you, young duke!" This little one is grateful to you so much that I shall do my best in the future! " Tao Dayong was startled, he immediately knelt down and kowtowed to express his thanks. Since Gongsun Xu said that he did not like him, then the promise he made must not be a lie.

"Alright, get up." Gongsun Xu told Tao Dayong to get up, then pointed at the whip hanging on the wall, "There will be someone who wants to see you later, so you'll have to suffer a little grievance."

"Someone from the Army of Heishan has arrived?" Tao Dayong immediately reacted.

"Hehe, you are really clever!" That's right, your uncle has personally come, "Gongsun Yi purposely paused here, and realized that Tao Dayong's eyes had indeed lit up for a moment, and laughed coldly:" General Yang Feng is also here. Tao Dayong, it's best if you don't think too much about it, since your subordinates are still alive and well, if they were to speak of what happened that day, Tao Sheng would probably not even let you off, right?

There were many generals in Army of Heishan, but Zhang Yan only trusted three people the most: Yang Feng, Yu Du and Du Chang. After being poisoned to death by Yuan Shao earlier this summer, Yang Feng had become the strongest general under Zhang Yan's command in one fell swoop. In terms of strength, he was second only to Tao Sheng.

Tao Dayong's heart trembled, he hurriedly shook his head: "This little one doesn't dare, this little one will definitely listen to the young duke's orders, I definitely don't have any other intentions!"

"Hehe, I hope that's the case!" Gongsun Yi sneered and stared at Tao Dayong, then waved: "Come, serve Brother Tao well!"

Tao Dayong knew that this attack was unavoidable, without saying a word, he picked up a bone and bit down on it, face down on the ground.

Although the three guards had become friends with Tao Dayong, they did not dare to disobey Gongsun Yi's orders. Two of them picked up their whips and started to whip him. After hitting him on the back and in front of his chest, Tao Dayong was beaten until his whole body was dripping with blood, the bones in his mouth had been bitten so hard that deep teeth marks were left.

Seeing that it was about time, Gongsun Yi waved his hands and said, "Enough! Help him up and rest while we wait for the summons. " After which, he turned around and left.

At this time, Gongsun Zanfuzi and Guan Jing had just invited a guest who had travelled from far away to take a seat in the Marquis of Ji's Mansion's guest hall.

Seated on the left was a lean man with three short whiskers. He had a narrow and long face and his eyes flickered with uncertainty. It was Tao Sheng.

The person on the right had a thick beard, a flat face, and thick and messy eyebrows. This was Yang Feng.

Just as Gongsun Zan had expected, the two of them were here to collect food. Originally, there was no need for the two Army of Heishan Generals to come out together, but the two of them did not trust each other, and Zhang Yan wanted to play Balanced Arts, so he allowed them to come out to Ji County together.

"Master Hou!" Yang Feng cupped his fists and said: "Now that there is a lack of food in the mountain, and our sons are starving and we don't know how many are dead, I hope Master Hou can quickly allocate some food. Otherwise, before Yuan Shao attacks, we would have our hearts in chaos!"

"Is the situation that critical now?" Gongsun Zan frowned and asked.

"Indeed, it is even more serious than what General Yang said! Every day, there are no less than three to four hundred people who die from cold starvation! " Although Tao Sheng and Yang Feng were like fire and water, when facing mutual interests, they would still do their best to support each other.

"Marshal Zhang Yan is my most trustworthy ally, I should do my best to help." Gongsun Zan said but before Tao Sheng and Yang Feng could react, he said again, "But …"

"Please speak clearly, Master Hou!" Yang Feng and Tao Sheng cupped their hands at the same time.

Gongsun Zan sighed: "But my Youzhou also lacks food. Even if we tighten our belt, we can only give Marshal Zhang Yan eight thousand stones.

Although it sounded like a lot, with hundreds of thousands of people under Zhang Yan's command, it would only be able to maintain for at most two months.

"Master Hou!" Tao Sheng probed: "Can you add a little more to that?"

"Sigh, this old man has the heart but not the strength!" Gongsun Zan shook his head and sighed, pointing at Gongsun Xu and spoke while feigning anger: "The two generals may have heard about it already, but my son and old man Liu Yu have made a bet, and now that the citizens of Youzhou are all in Liu Yu's hands, it is extremely difficult for me to allocate the rations to him, I have so many complaints about it!"

Guan Jing sighed, "Master Hou is indeed speaking the truth. Master Prefecture Overseer has always valued the commoners most, more than seventy percent of the treasury in Youzhou has been taken by him to provide assistance to the commoners.

Yang Feng and Tao Sheng helplessly nodded their heads in agreement with his words. They had long heard of Liu Yu's reputation of loving the people like a son.

Guan Jing continued, "I am indebted to the duke's trust that I am in charge of the house of the Marquis. I won't hide anything from the two generals. Once the situation changed, the household's money could only maintain itself for a month at most! "Please understand the marquis' difficulties!"

Yang Feng cupped his hands and said, "Of course I believe in what Guardian Guan has said, but I am truly at my wit's end, I hope Master Hou and Guardian Guan can think of a way!"

At this time, Gongsun Xu, who had been quietly listening, suddenly spoke out. "Father, the two generals, this child has something to say.

Yang Feng extended his hand and invited him, "Please speak, Young Marquis. I am all ears."

Gongsun Xu said solemnly, "The reason why General Zhang Yan is in such a difficult situation is because he is locked up in the Yanshan and does not have a stable territory to support him!"

Yang Feng nodded in agreement, "This is the truth, I wonder what kind of brilliant plan the young duke has?"

Tao Sheng laughed coldly in his heart, if not for the fact that Gongsun Zan and Yuan Shao had firmly sealed all the exits of Yanshan, how could the hundreds of thousands of elites of Army of Heishan have landed themselves in such a state? If Zhang Yan wanted to occupy his territory, besides fighting with Gongsun Zan or Yuan Shao, what other way was there?

"Jizhou!" Gongsun Xu walked to the left wall and punched the position of the Jizhou, "The two generals both know that my father still occupies less than half of the Jizhou, and that Yuan Shao's wolfish ambition never ceases to think of attacking the entire Jizhou before heading north! If our Youzhou fully supports Marshal Zhang Yan taking over the Jizhou, what do you think, generals? "

"Heh heh." Tao Sheng laughed coldly, "Isn't the young duke's plan to force the tiger to devour the wolf a little too obvious?"

Yang Feng did not say anything, but frowned.

"That's right!" My Youzhou does need my Army of Heishan to stop Yuan Shao from advancing northwards! " Gongsun Xu frankly admitted it, and then asked: "Could you two generals please witness the matter of losing a copper coin in vain? Without paying, where would the reward come from? Furthermore, my father and Master Guan have already said it clearly, even if our Youzhou supports General Zhang Yan, he will not be able to hold on for more than three months! Since that was the case, why not give it a try? If I win, Army of Heishan will have a large stable territory, and even if I lose, will the situation get worse? "

Tao Sheng laughed coldly and stroked his beard, obviously not at all bothered by his words.

Yang Feng pondered for a moment, shook his head, and said, "Since the Young Marquis is honest with me, I will tell you the truth! That's right, the Great Marshal does have the intention to take over Jizhou, but first, he is worried about offending the Marquis, and secondly, he is worried that the citizens of Jizhou will not buy it! "

"Haha." Gongsun Zan laughed, "General Zhang Yan is overthinking things. As long as General Zhang Yan wishes to take over the Jizhou, I will immediately withdraw all of the remaining troops from the Jizhou. I can swear to the heavens that as long as the Army of Heishan does not betray the alliance, I will absolutely not become enemies with General Zhang Yan! As for the reason of "teacher to name", General Zhang Yan did not need to worry about it, because this old man had already declared General Zhang Yan as Magistrate of Ji! If nothing unexpected happens, the imperial government will soon issue a decree of appointment. "

"What?!"

Yang Feng and Tao Sheng were greatly shocked. The former had a joyous expression, but although the latter had no expression, a trace of greed flashed past their eyes. This was the personal Magistrate of Ji of the imperial government, a legitimate duke of a region! If they had the imperial edict, Army of Heishan wouldn't worry about being attacked by Gongsun Zan or the other marquis after taking down the Jizhou, using their 'righteous' name to live a stable life for a period of time. They had rebelled against the sect for so many years, just to live a life of luxury and luxury. For the sake of all the people in this world, we have rebelled against the imperial court. Other than the virtuous and virtuous teacher (Zhang Jiao) of that day who truly took this sentence to heart, how many generals of the yellow-robed army would care about the lives of all the people in this world?

"Master Hou!" Yang Feng quickly regained his senses and asked: "Master Hou, if you want the imperial government to confer the title of Great Marshal as Magistrate of Ji, I'm afraid it won't be easy, right?"

"Haha" Gongsun Zan waved his hand boldly. "General Zhang and I are real friends, and we also have a common enemy, Yuan Shao.

"Sigh." Guan Jing sighed, "Master Hou is indeed generous, three hundred thousand gold coins! and he gave it to Li Que without blinking! "

Three hundred thousand slashes! Yang Feng and Tao Sheng calculated in their hearts, and felt that if they could use three hundred thousand slots to buy a legitimate Magistrate of Ji, the great marshal wouldn't refuse them! Army of Heishan did not need money after looting for many years, but they did lack food. Youzhou was originally a bitter land, even if they took the money, they would not be able to buy enough food.

, however, lowered his head and endured his laughter. Back then, Gongsun Zan had clearly stated that he would give and Zhang Ji a total of one hundred thousand points.

"Rise!" Gongsun Zan bellowed with a gloomy face.

Guan Jing quickly stood up and bowed: "This subordinate spoke too much, please forgive me, Master Hou!"

"Forget it!" Gongsun Zan waved his hands, and sternly warned: "Scholar, you must remember, Marshal Zhang Yan and I are like brothers, in the future, do not bring up such small matters again!"

"On behalf of the marshal, I thank the marquis for his deep friendship!" Tao Sheng and Yang Feng cupped their hands in thanks at the same time.

"You and I are as close as two families. Don't speak any more words of gratitude!"

"Master Hou is straightforward and righteous, I'm extremely impressed!" Yang Feng still expressed his thanks and promised, "The Marquis treats us with sincerity, so how can the marshal let the marquis suffer a loss? If the imperial government were to truly appoint the marshal as Magistrate of Ji, the marshal would definitely pay you back double! "

"Haha" Gongsun Zan laughed: "General Yang, don't ever bring up this matter again! Am I a scumbag? The two generals have come far to toil, and I have already prepared a banquet. How about we have a meal first? "

Yang Feng laughed: "I have long heard of the exquisite and delicious Hou Mansion's dishes, I can't wait!"

Tao Sheng cupped his hands: "Since that's the case, then I'll have to trouble the Marquis!"

"Please!" Gongsun Zan stood up and extended his hand out.

"Master Hou, please!"

As he walked out of the reception hall door, Tao Sheng seemed to ask casually, "Master Hou, I have something to ask of you."

"General Tao, please speak frankly. If I can do it, I will not decline."

"My nephew's name is Tao Dayong. He brought some people down the mountain a month ago to gather grain, but who would've thought that he would have a misunderstanding with the warriors under the Marquis' command. It is rumored that the brat was captured and taken to Ji County, has Master Hou heard of this matter? "

Gongsun Zan muttered to himself for a while, then looked at Gongsun Xu and asked: "Son, do you know about this matter?"

"That's true, but I didn't know that person was actually General Tao's nephew. I had always thought that he was just an ordinary chief robber!" Gongsun Xu nodded in acknowledgement before continuing with a look of admiration on his face, "That Tao Dayong has a firm and unwavering personality. Although he suffered a lot, he did not reveal his identity! This is my fault, I apologize to General Tao! "

"I don't dare! I don't dare to accept it! " Tao Sheng hurriedly helped Gongsun Xu up, and said with a smile, "The Young Marquis does not know of Da Yong's identity, so what's wrong with it? Young duke, I wonder where that kid is now? "

"This …" Gongsun Xu's face showed some hesitation.

"What's wrong?" Tao Sheng was startled, could it be that Da Yong was killed by them?

"General Tao, your nephew has suffered a lot. How about you invite him over later?" Gongsun Xu's words were tactful, but the meaning behind them was clear.

"I appreciate the young duke's good intentions, but my nephew has always been filial and filial. I quite love him, and since I know that his life is not in danger, how about I ask the young duke to bring him here now?"

"Since that's the case, we shall listen to General Tao. Someone, invite Tao Dayong over. "

"Here!" Gongsun Yi appeared at the door and asked suspiciously: "Young Noble, who is Tao Da?"

Gongsun Xu slapped his forehead: "Tao Dayong is the loyal man who calls himself Tao Da. Go and invite him over."

"Here!" Gongsun Yi turned and left.

A few people entered the kitchen and took their seats, while the maidservants carried the dishes and wine, Gongsun Yi supported Tao Dayong who was covered in wounds to walk in.

"Brave one!" Tao Sheng suddenly stood up and walked over in large strides.

"Uncle!" I've been looking forward to seeing you here! " Tao Dayong was startled, as though he could not believe his eyes, when he regained his senses, he rushed forward, hugged Tao Sheng and started to wail.

Tao Sheng consoled Tao Dayong as he scrutinized his miserable condition. He thought to himself, 'Even after going through so much torture, he did not say his real name, it seems like this brat did not betray me! 'I must heavily reward them when I return! '