scourge the qing dynasty

Chapter 166 Fatty Combination Fist

Fatty Lu agreed to meet with him in secret, which was far beyond Prince An Yue Le's expectations - in Yue Le's calculation, if he wanted to recruit Fatty Lu, a pillar of the country with both civil and military skills, he would have to pay ten times as much. Because of the patience and perseverance of others, it took countless twists and turns, painstaking efforts, and persuasive persuasion to have a little hope to pull this rare talent who was once neglected by himself and Oboi away from Wu Sangui.Even if he wanted to have an open and honest face-to-face conversation with Fatty Lu, he would have to spend countless hours and tongues to express his sincerity. Only by gaining Fatty Lu's trust would he have a chance to achieve his goal. However, Fatty Lu agreed now, which made Yue Le feel extremely uncomfortable Unexpected and born a little worried.

If it were another general, the process of recruiting Fatty Lu was so smooth and easy, he would definitely be suspicious, but he would not dare to agree to a private meeting with Fatty Lu easily—if Fatty Lu cheated, it would be a matter of life and death big problem.But it's a pity that Fatty Lu expected that Yue Le, who was most admired by Fatty Lu among the kings of the Qing Dynasty, didn't think so. He felt that since Fatty Lu agreed so readily, if he refused again, he would definitely Being ridiculed by Fatty Lu, Fatty Lu's heart of surrender and sincerity was almost chilled, and the last hope of recruiting Fatty Lu was completely cut off.

Moreover, Fatty Lu's meeting place and method are also very fair. Both sides will bring [-] guards each, and are not allowed to carry long-range weapons such as bows, arrows and muskets. They will meet at Tiger Rock, five miles northwest of Jiaoxi Pass. Relatively speaking, Yue Le On the contrary, he took advantage of it, which indirectly proved that Fatty Lu really wanted to meet Yue Le, rather than trying to play tricks.So Yue Lesi thought about it, but in the end, he still didn't listen to the kind dissuasion from Aobai and others, he gritted his teeth and agreed to Fatty Lu's request!

Once a strong-willed person like Yue Le made up his mind, even Obai would not be able to persuade him to stop him. At the same time, in view of the fact that Obai also urgently needed to grasp the true strength of the Wu Sangui Army's firearms troops, and he was extremely envious of the great power of Wu Sangui's new firearms, so After repeated dissuasion by Aobai to no avail, he finally agreed to Yue Le's request to meet with Fatty Lu. In addition, he selected ten best soldiers from his personal team to give to Yue Le, and they helped Yue Le His personal soldiers escorted Yue Le to Tiger Rock to meet with Fatty Lu, and finally sent an elite cavalry to ambush at Jiaoxi Pass, just in case.

After everything was ready, on the evening of April 23, Yue Le led twenty guards to the tiger-shaped Tiger Rock Mountain. Put a carpet on top and a low table, and light an oil lamp on the low table, waiting patiently for Fatty Lu's arrival.And about half an hour later, when the sky was about to be completely dark, the sentinel flew to report to Yue Le, saying that four knights were found in the southwest, also carrying three red lanterns, and they were rushing here.

"Only four people?" Yue Le was taken aback, wondering what the hell Fatty Lu was doing, he agreed to bring twenty guards each, why did he bring three followers? Got the three red lanterns representing the contact code?

What surprised Yue Le was still behind. Taking advantage of the rising bright moon and the open terrain, Yue Le quickly saw clearly that among the four knights who came, one of them was really Fatty Lu—no way , Fatty Lu's figure is too recognizable.Surprised, Yue Le hurriedly sent guards to check whether Fatty Lu and the others were carrying illegal weapons as agreed, and Fatty Lu also sent a young man with sly eyebrows to check whether the guards of Yue Le were carrying bows and arrows and Long-range weapons such as muskets, it wasn't until both sides found out that the other party kept the promise that Fatty Lu got off his horse and came to Yue Le with the three followers.

Fatty Lu's three attendants are all very distinctive. The young man who inspected the weapon is pretty, but his face has a wretched look that makes people feel like a mouse-eye. The other one is dark, fat and short. The little fat man still had a silly smile on his face all the time, and the last one was simply cross-eyed, which made Yue Le secretly admire Fatty Lu—where on earth did he find so many top-quality followers?Under admiration, Yue Le couldn't help but asked with a smile: "Master Lu, didn't you agree to bring twenty entourages each? Why are you so entrusted with bringing only three entourages, so you won't be afraid that Xiao Wang will make a sudden move to attract the crowd?" Ling widow?"

"Using the crowd to bully the widowed? Just you few useless followers, isn't it enough to put Fang Shiyu and Hong Xi official in the teeth?" Fatty Lu sneered in his heart, but said with great respect on his mouth: "Prince An is joking, if the prince People who bully widows and treacherous people dare not come here because of their humble positions. It is also because the prince is a humble gentleman who keeps his promises, and he is a man who is humble and trustworthy. In order to show respect to the prince, the subordinate officials decided to bring only three Followers, to show the sincerity of humble duty."

"Okay, Lu Yifeng is very sincere." Although he didn't fully believe Fatty Lu's words, Yue Le was still very satisfied with Fatty Lu's flattery and modesty, and took the initiative to turn around and tell the twenty guards accompanying him: " There are only three of you left, and the rest are a hundred paces away."

"Cover." The guards agreed, leaving only three of the most skilled guards to protect Yue Le, and the remaining 17 people dispersed and watched from a distance of a hundred steps away.Fatty Lu said hypocritically and modestly: "Prince An doesn't have to be like this, I have already said it, I can trust the character of the prince."

"You don't need to be polite, I have said that I have a fair talk, and I can't take advantage of you." Yue Le waved his hand generously, and then greeted: "Master Lu, come, let the barren mountains and wild mountains be wronged, and just sit on the carpet let's go."

"Thank you, my lord, but I haven't paid my respects to my lord yet." Fatty Lu thanked him respectfully, and gave Yue Le a thousand, and said even more respectfully: "Lu Yifeng, the prefect of Qujing, from my humble clerk, pays my respects to Prince An, my lord is auspicious."

"Lord Lu, please stand up. You don't need to be polite, please sit down." Yue Le smiled and bowed his hands to return the salute. After calling Fatty Lu to sit down, he smiled at Fatty Lu: "Master Lu, this is the second time this king has met you Unexpectedly, in just a few years, Mr. Lu has not only been promoted by several ranks, he has become a magistrate, but he is also famous all over the world. On the territory of the Qing Dynasty, everyone knows, no one knows, he is really the third scholar. Day, it has to be impressive."

"My lord has won the award. It is all thanks to the blessings of the emperor and lord. I was lucky enough to do such a small job in a humble position." Fatty Lu seemed to be very modest and said: "As for the promotion, it is the emperor's love. , Whenever I think of my lack of talent and incompetence to occupy a high position, I often feel ashamed and feel ashamed to receive the favor of the Holy One."

"Master Lu is too modest. If you are stealing high positions, then among the thousands of officials in the Qing Dynasty, there is hardly a single person who can be regarded as competent." Yue Le smiled and said casually: "Mr. Among the civil and military officials of the Qing court, who doesn't know that Mr. Lu, you served as the county magistrate in Qujing for three years, and you turned the remote Qujing county into a small Yangzhou in Yunnan and Guizhou, where the officials and gentry are rich in the southwest? And you didn't go to Nanning? In a few months, Nanning Mansion, which is not a bird that lays eggs, has been turned into a sweet pastry that everyone is looking for. If you are still incompetent, then there are really few officials in the Qing Dynasty who are not shamed to death. .”

"My lord, I'm so honored, I'm so honored." Fatty Lu pretended to be humble.

"Lord Lu, you don't have to be modest, these are the facts." Yue Le suddenly changed his tone of voice and changed a serious face, "But what I can't understand is that, Lord Lu, you are already well-known in the government and the public, and you are also well-known. Favored by the Holy One, entrusted with a heavy responsibility by the Holy One, the future is bright, the future is extremely promising, why should he destroy his reputation, help the evil, and join forces with the traitor Wu Sangui to start a rebellion? He even captured the governor of Yunnan and Guizhou, Mr. Gan, and offered him to the traitor Wu Sangui to execute Ling Chi, If you make mistakes again and again, Master Lu is not afraid that when Wu Sangui is defeated and killed by the rebels, he will suffer from the disaster of fish in the pond and die without a place to die?"

"Prince An, I have always admired you, so I dare not lie in front of you." Fatty Lu also changed his serious face, and said righteously: "Why did you follow Prince Pingxi to join the army?" On the side of Lord Qing, Lord An seems to be asking the wrong person this question about killing the traitor Oboi, right? Lord An, it seems you should ask that traitor Oboi this question, right?"

"What's the matter with Grand Master Guan Ao?" Yue Le asked back in surprise, not only in a bad manner.

"What's none of his business?" Fatty Lu sneered, and asked loudly: "People in Qujing plant Eight Banners Fushou Gao. Even in a good harvest year when there are no natural or man-made disasters, one or two Baqi Fushou Gao can only be sold for three or four renminbi. How can the people of Qujing afford the tax of the old thief Oboi?"

"This matter." Yue Le suddenly realized, and quickly explained: "Master Lu misunderstood, although Grand Master Ao was ill-considered in this matter, he definitely did not intentionally target the people of Qujing. This king will not hide it from you, Grand Master Ao This move is actually aimed at Wu Sangui's rebels and their arrogance to evade taxes from the Qing Dynasty. I believe that after the grand master sends his troops to suppress Wu Ni, he will definitely make adjustments on this matter, and will never Drive the people of Qujing to a dead end."

"Oboi and Prince Pingxi are vying for power and profit, and I don't care if I don't want to." Fatty Lu said eloquently: "But as the prefect of Qujing, the official of the parents of the people in Qujing, I should cherish the people and serve as the shepherd for the emperor. The old thief Aobai disregarded the life and death of the people of Qujing, extorted violently, and forced the people of Qujing to a dead end. The lower officials should stand up and help the prince of Pingxi to kill the traitors, and the emperor of Qing side punished the traitors. Otherwise, how could the lower officials be worthy of the people of Qujing? Trust?"

Fatty Lu's words were of course irrational, insisting that Oboi forced him to rebel, but Yue Le couldn't find a word to refute, and was silent for a while.Fatty Lu became more excited as he talked, and said shamelessly: "As for the lower officials to trap Gan Wenkun and his son, Prince Pingxi raised troops to calm the situation, and the Qing emperor punished power traitors. Leading the army to resist, and shamelessly murdered seven innocent Yunnan and Guizhou women who were occupied and defiled by him! What crime is there for the lower officials to arrest them to rectify the law of the country?"

"This guy was so thick-skinned yesterday? He captured Gan Wenkun and gave it to the old thief Wu Sangui as a reward, how can he speak so grandly?" Yue Le wondered.After quick calculations, Yue Le had no choice but to turn the conversation to the main topic, and said seriously: "Master Lu, the reason why you follow Wu Sangui's rebels to rebel and trap Gan Wenkun, let's not talk about him for the time being. , or you can leave it alone—right now, Taishi Ao personally proposes an army of 30 to march south, and it is only a matter of time to wipe out Wu Sangui's rebels, Master Lu, don't you want to think about your future?"

"So this guy really wants to surrender me." Obedient and listening, Fatty Lu immediately understood his real intention after Yue Le said this, and he was greatly relieved—since Yue Le just wanted to surrender himself, then he should There are no other tricks.

"Lord Lu, please think about it carefully." Yue Le went on to say: "Once the old thief Wu Sangui is defeated, even if you didn't die on the battlefield, you are doomed to be captured alive by the Qing army. My lord, old accounts and new accounts will be settled together, what will happen to you, Lord Lu, do you dare to imagine, Lord Lu?"

"I really can't imagine a humble job." Fatty Lu was honest and said frankly: "Once Prince Pingxi's rebellion fails and the humble job falls into the hands of Oboi, it is still light for the humble job to be executed by Ling Chi and the extermination of the nine clans. It's lucky to be shattered."

"It's good that Mr. Lu understands this." Yue Le was overjoyed, and hurriedly said: "Master Lu, since you understand this, why don't you think about returning from the wrong way and atone for your sins?"

"Of course I do." Fatty Lu replied very straightforwardly.

"Then what are you going to do, Master Lu?" Yue Le asked in surprise.

"Regarding this point, I can only listen to Prince An's orders." Fatty Lu said very straightforwardly: "In the future, Prince An, if you need my help, I will do my best to do my best. As long as I can help Prince An punished Oboi, eradicated powerful traitors, even if he was a lowly position, he would not hesitate to go through fire and water, and be smashed to pieces. I just hope that you will say a few good words for the lowly position in front of the emperor on the day when you are done, and ask the emperor to help you in the lowly position. The lord pardoned the crimes of humble office due to his humble contribution to eradicating the old thief Oboi..."

"Wait, wait." Yue Le hurriedly interrupted Fatty Lu, and asked confusedly: "Lord Lu, what do you mean by this? Why does this king get more and more uncomfortable the more you listen to it? When did this king say, I recruited you to help me deal with Taishi Ao?"

"Prince An, you will understand soon." Fatty Lu didn't answer the question, but asked in a deep voice: "My lord, I dare to ask you a heart-breaking sentence, if the emperor gives you a secret decree to you, Prince An, let you kill me!" Power traitor Oboi, will you follow the order?"

"What are you kidding? How could the emperor issue such an imperial edict?" Yue Le asked angrily.

"The lowly position is to ask, what if?" Fatty Lu said unhurriedly: "Oboi bullies the sky and the earth, roars at the court, kills living beings, is ruthless, and the crime is obvious! If the emperor issued such a secret decree, let the prince Taking advantage of the opportunity of serving as Oboi's deputy, captured and killed the old thief Oboi, took over the military power of the 30 Qing army, and made peace with Prince Pingxi, will you obey the order?"

"What do you mean by that?" Seeing the serious expression on Fatty Lu's fat face by the bright moonlight and the oil lamp on the low table, Yue Le suddenly had a bad premonition.

"Prince An, I would like to ask again, I don't know if the prince knows Tong Guowei?" Fatty Lu asked again seriously.

"Of course I know." Yue Le nodded, and replied: "He is the youngest brother of Empress Xiaozhang Kang, the younger brother of Tong Guogang, the Minister of Internal Guards, and the current emperor's biological uncle."

"Master Tong Guowei." Fatty Lu said word by word: "Now, in Guiyang City!"

"What?" Yue Le turned pale with shock, jumped up and shouted: "How is it possible? Tong Guowei is in Guiyang City? When did he arrive in Guiyang?"

"When did Master Tong Guowei arrive in Guiyang? I don't know about the humble officials." Fatty Lu shook his head and said seriously: "However, the humble officials dare not lie to the lord. In fact, the humble officials who came to meet the lord tonight are not only those in Zhenyuan City. General Gao Dejie Gao knows, even Master Tong Guowei knows."

"Tong Guowei also knows?" Yue Le was even more shocked, and quickly asked: "Then what did he say?"

"My lord Tong Guowei, ask the humble official to bring this to the prince." Fatty Lu took out a scroll wrapped in yellow silk from his arms, "The prince will understand everything after reading it."

"Bring it to me quickly." Yue Le stretched out his hand quickly.

"My lord." Fatty Lu didn't hand the scroll to Yue Le, but said very seriously: "My lord, before I read this thing, I want to say something to my lord."

"Lord Lu, please say something, I am all ears." Yue Le urged impatiently.

"My lord, I don't know if you still remember that in the Tiren Pavilion, the emperor gave a banquet." Fatty Lu said very sincerely: "At that time, the emperor was wrongly loved, and he was rewarded with a humble position and sat at the head of the third table. I had the honor to drink with the lord. The people at the same table, either the prince or Baylor, no one took the humble position seriously. Even if the humble position took the initiative to toast, they all ignored the humble position's words and turned a blind eye to the humble position. , but also earnestly teach and patiently teach the humble job."

"At that time, although I didn't say anything, in my heart, I was already moved and weeping." Fatty Lu's voice suddenly choked up a little, "I swore in my heart at that time, as long as I still have a breath, I must To repay the great kindness and virtue of the prince..."

"It's all in the past, why mention him?" Yue Le said casually: "Besides, you did a good job in Qujing. Based on this, the king is already very pleased, and it can be considered that you have repaid the king."

"No, I must repay you." Fatty Lu shook his head resolutely, and said in a slow tone: "So taking this opportunity today, I would like to remind the lord that it is best for the lord not to look at the things that Mr. Tong Guowei asked me to bring. You just don’t know, and those who don’t know are not guilty, go back and report to Master Tong Guowei, and say that you don’t want to believe the words of the humble official, and you don’t want to accept his things, and the prince will have a way to explain to the court and the emperor in the future.”

"What's in it?" Yue Le took a breath, and asked tentatively, "Could it be that this is the emperor's secret decree?"

Fatty Lu nodded, and said in a low voice: "The humble official is bold. I have already peeked at the contents. It is the emperor's secret decree to the prince. Therefore, the humble official advises the prince not to read this emperor's secret edict, so as not to be in a dilemma and fall into danger. Master Tong Guowei If you don't have the guts to sneak into Obai's army to deliver the decree, your lord, you can just refuse to accept the decree under the excuse of not believing in the lowly position."

Yue Le's face changed even more, and he recalled the news about Xiao Mazi's release of Wu Yingxiong and his return to his post in the mansion newspaper, and immediately guessed the content of the imperial decree, tremblingly asked: "Could it be that the emperor's secret edict , Do you want this king to attack the Grand Master?"

Fatty Lu was silent, and after a long time he slowly said: "My lord, this matter is too dangerous. If you are a little careless, if you leak a little bit of information, you will lose your life, lord. So, my lord, I feel that you'd better not read this secret edict. , and then think of a way to leave the Oboi camp and let others take the risk."

Yue Le was silent, and it took a long time before he whispered: "Since it is the emperor's secret edict, and Yue Le is a subject, how can he refuse to accept the edict because he is afraid of danger? Lord Lu, I appreciate your kindness, but I really cannot listen to it. Your kind suggestion, Mi Zhao, you should leave it to me."

"My lord, have you made up your mind?" Fatty Lu said without giving up: "My lord, if you accept this secret edict, it will be extremely dangerous to obey the order, and it will be a crime of disobedience if you do not obey the order, and it will also be a crime of beheading." what."

Yue Le didn't answer, but Fatty Lu stretched out his right hand, his wrist didn't tremble at all, he looked extremely calm and determined.Fatty Lu sighed, and finally put the edict into Yue Le's hands, patted Yue Le's wrist again, and said in a low voice: "My lord, I have done my best, take care, I should say goodbye. After killing Oboi, if the humble officer is lucky enough to survive, then go to the prince to pay his respects and take care."

After finishing speaking, Fatty Lu got up and left the table, and after bowing solemnly to Yue Le, he led the three dog legs onto the horse and set off to leave. The twenty guards brought by Yue Le did not dare to stop him because they did not see Yue Le's order.But Fatty Lu couldn't walk a few steps, so he turned around suddenly and kindly reminded Yue Le: "My lord, if you feel really embarrassed after reading it, you can say that this secret decree is a transfer of a humble job. I can't believe it is true or not. Or you can say that the humble official looked nervous, put down the secret edict and left, you really can’t believe it, just push everything on the humble official. The humble official is not worried about having too many bills, and does not itch when there are too many lice. .”

"Remember, the humble job is gone." Fatty Lu warned again, and led the three dog legs to trot away.Leaving Yue Le hesitating on the spot, wondering if he should immediately open the small pockmarked secret decree in his hand to watch.

Fearing that Yue Le would send people to hunt him down because he was afraid of being exposed suddenly, Fatty Lu and the others ran for more than ten miles, and when they almost reached the town of Zhenyuan, Xiao Erlang and Officer Hong Xi curiously asked Fatty Lu together: " Young Master, is this the end? The little ones saw that you didn't talk much to Yue Le?"

"For a smart person like Yue Le, the more he talks, the harder it is for him to believe." Fatty Lu sneered and replied: "Instead, it's so concise and vague that he can suspect and analyze by himself, but it's easier for him to believe it."

"Master, will Yue Le listen to the secret decree and kill Oboi?" Xiao Erlang asked.

"Of course not." Fatty Lu said categorically, "Who is Yue Le? He would launch a mutiny to kill the commander of the entire army because of a secret edict of unknown origin? Besides, can the false secret edict be hidden from him? Eyes are probably a problem."

"No?!" Xiao Erlang screamed like killing a pig, "Then why are you bothering so much, young master? You still take such a big risk and run to Tiger Rock in the middle of the night to meet Lord Mangou? What's the use?"

"What's the use? It's very useful!" Fatty Lu laughed wickedly, and said with a ferocious expression: "I bet, as long as that false imperial decree can be hidden from Yue Le's eyes, with his character and the overall situation, not only will he not Take the decree to kill Oboi! On the contrary - I will hand over this secret edict to Oboi!"

(End of this chapter)