scourge the qing dynasty

Chapter 225 Was Seen Through
"Second prince, why are you nervous?"

Yue Le's voice was as cold as a knife, as if he had pierced Geng Juzhong's chest and head straight into the bone marrow, and then he spoke suddenly, asking in a cold and biting voice: "It's almost April, is the weather in Guangdong still very cold? Prince, why are you shaking like this?"

"I..., didn't I shake?" Geng Juzhong was obviously caught off guard, he quickly stood up straight and forced himself to calm down, but there was still a little nervousness and panic in his expression - it's not really to blame Geng Juzhong, after all, doing this kind of thing depends on talent, not everyone is as perverted as Fatty Lu.

In this way, not to mention the calm and wise Yue Le, even the traitor Shang, who is already a little bit confused, saw that something was wrong, and hurriedly shouted: "Bold and Geng Juzhong boy, what is your intention to instigate this old man to attack Wuzhou? Quickly and truthfully recruit, if not, the old man will immediately order you to be sent to the execution ground for execution!"

"Uncle, I am wronged!" Geng Juzhong knelt down with a plop, and shouted with a mournful face, "My little nephew really has no intentions. My little nephew just wants to make meritorious deeds to atone for his crimes, and that's why he persuaded uncle to attack Wuzhou! Uncle, if you don't believe me Nephew, nephew just doesn't lead the way, there's no need to scare nephew like this."

"You don't have any intentions? Then what were you shaking just now?" Old Man Shang asked treacherously.

"I really..." Geng Juzhong still wanted to argue, but then he thought about telling the truth, and replied with a sad face: "Uncle, even if my nephew is really trembling, my nephew is also afraid. Please think about it, uncle, my nephew just now Anyway, when you come back, I advise you to sneak attack Wuzhou and express your willingness to lead the way. When the time comes to open the gate of the city, can my nephew not be afraid that you will not believe my uncle? Can my nephew not be afraid that you will misunderstand what kind of conspiracy my nephew is doing? What if you really I misunderstood my little nephew, but my little nephew doesn't even have a chance to complain."

"This is the truth." Yue Le nodded slightly, and asked again: "Second Prince, since that's the case, then I ask you, you suggest that we send troops to attack Wuzhou, how sure are we that we will be able to open the city gate?"

"If you are [-]% sure, then no one dares to say it." Geng Juzhong said tremblingly: "But there is still a [-]% to [-]% certainty, but there are really only three or four thousand Wugou soldiers in Wuzhou City. Uncle and Prince An only need troops. There is enough food and grass, even if the city gate cannot be opened, the chances of successfully attacking Wuzhou are very high."

Monk Yue Le and the old traitor frowned together. In fact, they already knew that they had a good chance of succeeding in storming Wuzhou, but the problem is that now that the Qing court and the Wu army have signed an armistice treaty, if the frontal storm fails to capture Lu Fatty may kill the number one scourge of the Qing Dynasty, then we have to bear all the consequences caused by it, and Kang Mazi will not let us go.So after thinking about it for a long time, Yue Le could only shake his head and said: "Second Prince, since you are not sure, then the matter of attacking Wuzhou can only be forgotten."

"Prince An, the guilty minister has already said that if the sneak attack fails, you can attack by force." Geng Juzhong urged: "Lu Yifeng's dog thief didn't bring the army from Wuchang this time, so don't talk about commanding the army like you just arrived in Wuzhou. Just settling personnel affairs is enough for him to work for ten days and a half months. Most of Wuzhou City has surrendered troops, and its combat effectiveness and morale are not high. The guilty minister can guarantee that as long as his uncle and Prince An personally lead the army to take Wuzhou City It's as easy as flipping the palm of your hand!"

"Of course it's easy to eat, but it's troublesome if you can't pull it out!" Yue Le snorted coldly, suddenly trembling in his heart, and secretly said: "No, why is this kid trying to encourage our attack on Wuzhou? What purpose does he have? He wants to lure Are we going to war on our own initiative, and we will be accused of instigating the flames of war again? Or are we trying to lure our main force to Guangxi? Wait... that's wrong!"

Thinking of this, Yue Le suddenly broke out in a cold sweat, and a terrifying thought flashed in his mind, "Could it be that Lu Yifeng's dog thief is a bait specially arranged by Wu Sangui to come to Guangxi, and he used Pingnan King to attack Lu Yifeng's dog thief. Using our Qing court's covetousness for Lu Yifeng's dog thief's new firearms, to lure us to take the initiative to attack Guangxi? If we fall for it, then the old thief Wu Sangui can not only gain the moral upper hand, but it is gratifying that the disobedient son Shangzhi will believe it. Is there a chance?"

"Uncle, Lord An, are you refusing to take the initiative to attack Wuzhou? Is it because there is something wrong with the Pingnan Palace?" Sure enough, after the plan failed, Geng Juzhong asked tentatively again: "Uncle, my nephew heard in Wuzhou that Uncle, when you return to Guangzhou this time, there seems to be some conflict with the eldest son of the Southern Palace."

"Why are you asking this?" The old man Shang asked vigilantly.

"Of course my nephew wants to make a contribution to atone for my crime." Geng Juzhong replied honestly, and then said cautiously: "Uncle, if this is the case, then my nephew has a way to help uncle solve this problem."

"What can you do, let me tell you." Yue Le sat up straight, pretending to be humbly asking for advice.

"Prince An, uncle, my nephew is bold." Geng Juzhong lowered his voice, and said very solemnly: "Actually, my nephew already knew that Shang Zhixin, the son of the world, wants to take over uncle and take control of Guangdong alone. Uncle, you have always wanted to abolish it." My son, it’s just that during my uncle’s Northern Hunting period, my son has basically controlled the Guangdong army and the Pingnan Palace. Now, although my uncle has the support of Prince An and Guangzhou Qiying, his strength is still not enough to deter his party members. My nephew has a suggestion. As long as uncle follows his plan, he will be able to cut off the big and small cliques of the son and take back the military power in the hands of the son."

The old traitor Shang made an old face. Although he wanted to cut his own son into pieces for a long time now, the old traitor Shang still refused to let outsiders get involved in such a scandal of father and son fighting against each other.On the contrary, Yue Le was very interested in this, and asked: "What is the second prince's clever plan, please tell me in detail."

"Borrow soldiers!" Geng Juzhong said surprisingly. Seeing the old man Shang's traitorous face, Geng Juzhong quickly added: "Of course, I didn't want to borrow soldiers from Wu Gou, but from Jingnan Palace. My nephew was born in Jingnan Palace. You can go to Fuzhou for my uncle, and ask my brother King Jingnan to send [-] troops to the south, under the pretext of strengthening the troops in Guangdong to resist Wu Gou, and come directly to the city of Guangzhou. At that time, Uncle, Prince An, you, and the son of the world, will definitely want to I went to meet him outside the city, and when the time comes, my brother suddenly launched an attack and captured the eldest son alive on the spot. Uncle, you can climb up and call out, lead your troops to join forces with your brother's army, and you can wipe out the eldest son's party members without any effort .”

"Are you sure you can convince your elder brother to do this?" Yue Le asked with surprise on his face.

"I'm [-]% sure." Geng Juzhong patted his chest, and added: "Of course, after the matter is completed, uncle may also bleed a little, thank you brother."

"Hahahahahaha...!" Yue Le looked up to the sky and laughed, Geng Juzhong followed suit, but at this moment, Yue Le suddenly stopped smiling, waved his hand and shouted: "Come on, take Geng Juzhong down for this king, and push him out of the palace!" Ask to cut!"

"Shoot!" The guards next to him agreed in unison, and pushed Geng Juzhong to the ground with a bang.Geng Juzhong was frightened out of his wits, and shouted like a pig, "My lord, what did the guilty minister do wrong? What did I do wrong? Why did you kill me?"

"Why do you want to kill you?" Yue Le grinned grimly, and roared, "Boldly Geng Juzhong, you dare to come here to pretend to surrender, intending to help Wu Gou annex the Pingnan Palace, are you guilty?"

"I..., I didn't." Geng Juzhong screamed, "The guilty minister really came to surrender anyway, there is no false surrender, there is no false surrender!"

"No false surrender?" Yue Le asked with a sneer: "You first wanted to use a trick for Wu Gou to lure us out of Guangzhou, and when things failed, then you planned to lure wolves into the house for Wu Gou, let Geng Jingzhong's surprise soldiers enter, and lure us out of Guangzhou. Our Pingnan Prince's Mansion has been wiped out, is it right or not?"

"No...no." Geng Juzhong argued with a pale face, "Prince An, you misunderstood, the criminal really didn't mean that! The criminal really didn't have such treacherous plans."

"If you dare to quibble again, be careful not to let your head fall!" Yue Le yelled sharply: "If you don't tell the truth again, this king will take your head and act on behalf of the heavens!"

"No..., no...." Geng Juzhong was at war with heaven and man, hesitating.

"Push it out, cut it off!" Yue Le waved his hand.

"I'm recruiting! I'm recruiting!" Geng Juzhong broke down completely, crying and confessing: "My lord, uncle, the guilty minister deserves to die, the guilty minister really came to feign surrender, really for Wu Gou! "

"Hmph, you still want to lie to me?" Yue Le snorted triumphantly, waved his hand to signal the guards to let go of Geng Juzhong, and shouted again: "Say, who sent you to feign surrender, is it Lu Yifeng's dog thief?"

"No..., it's not him." Geng Juzhong said with snot and tears: "It's the old thief Wu Sangui. He personally sent criminal officials to feign surrender. He also promised the last general that after the matter is completed, he will report to the court. Please grant me the title of prince, and in addition give me ten thousand taels of silver, three thousand acres of fertile land, and the official title of General Changde."

"Wu Sangui, dog thief!" The old traitor Shang finally couldn't bear it anymore and jumped up, rushing to beat and kick Geng Juzhong. Geng Juzhong didn't dare to dodge, let alone resist. , my nephew deserves to die, my nephew deserves to die for his crimes! I just ask my uncle to spare my nephew's life for the sake of the friendship of the previous generation."

"Old prince, please calm down." Yue Le came up to grab the old traitor Shang, pointed at Geng Juzhong and shouted: "Geng Juzhong, if you don't want to die, you can invite me for the truth, the old thief Wu Sangui sent you here to feign surrender, what is it? What kind of conspiracy is there, tell me everything you know! If there is any more lies, this king will cut you off with his own hands right now!"

"Criminal ministers dare not tell lies, criminal ministers must know everything and talk endlessly." Geng Juzhong kowtowed desperately, clutching his bleeding nose and crying: "The old thief Wu Sangui arranged a series of tricks, and there are three tricks in total. His first step was to send the thief Lu Yifeng to Wuzhou as a bait, because he knew, Uncle Shang, you hate this unfilial son-in-law to the bone, and knowing that he will come to Wuzhou, you will definitely have the idea of ​​​​attacking Wuzhou. As long as you personally raise troops Going north, Guangzhou will be empty. Lu Yifeng's dog thief gave up Wuzhou and lured you into Guangxi. Uncle, you killed."

"Prince Pingnan has joined forces with Wu Gou?" Yue Le asked sharply.

"This criminal is not very clear." Geng Juzhong replied weepingly: "Anyway, the old thief Wu Sangui seems to be very confident, and he has also prepared three subsequent moves, all of which are prepared in the event that uncle you don't fall for it. , using other means to annex Guangdong's vicious plan, each move is more insidious than the last, and each move is more vicious than the last."

"Those three come later?" Yue Le asked.

"The first one is to let the guilty minister feign surrender and take the initiative to persuade the uncle and the prince to attack Wuzhou." Geng Juzhong replied honestly: "If the uncle and the prince are afraid of bearing the consequences of starting a war and breaking the peace treaty, and dare not bear it, then let the criminal Use the second method, which is to persuade your uncle to borrow troops from my elder brother Geng Jingzhong. The old thief Wu Sangui also said that as long as your uncle is tricked into inviting the troops from the Jingnan Palace to Guangzhou, then I will not care about everything, as long as I If you save your life, you can go back and enjoy the splendor, wealth and beauties of gold and silver."

"Sure enough, it's a trick to lure wolves into the house." Yue Le snorted coldly, and asked again: "Then what about the third one?"

"The third one will take a few days to launch." Geng Juzhong replied with a sad face: "Wu Sangui, the old thief, told the guilty minister that if the first two hands, uncle and lord, are not in the trap, then the criminal will not be able to offer any more plans, lest To arouse your doubts, you must first humble yourself and gain your trust. Then after a while, my brother Geng Jingzhong will send envoys to contact you uncles, and find an excuse to invite you to meet at Fenshui Pass, which borders Chaozhou Prefecture in Guangdong and Zhangzhou Prefecture in Fujian. , when the time comes, I will take the opportunity to use the excuse of joining hands to clean up the son or deal with Wu Gou, and encourage the uncle and the prince to agree. As long as the uncle and the prince fall into the trap, then Guangdong will no longer be able to threaten Wu Gou's east road!"

"Wu Sangui is a thief, really vicious!" Yue Le snorted coldly, "If one plan fails, there are two plans, and if the second plan fails, there are three plans. They are intertwined, and they chose to meet at the junction of Chaozhou Fenshuiguan. Let us Take it lightly. If you change someone else, you must fall into his trick!"

"Son Geng Jingzhong, you really have turned to Wu Gou!" Shang Kexi kicked Geng Juzhong to the ground and roared, "It's a good thing I didn't go to Fujian when I returned to Guangdong. Otherwise, this dog thief would definitely I have already given the heads of my fathers to the old thief Wu Sangui!"

"Prince An, don't hesitate anymore!" The old traitor Shang turned to Yue Le and shouted: "Geng Jingzhong's dog thief has secretly taken refuge in Wu Gou, we have to report to the emperor immediately, and ask the master to act first and cut off this dog thief!"

"Do we have evidence?" Yue Le hesitated.

"Isn't this little bastard a witness?" The old traitor Shang kicked Geng Juzhong again, and shouted, "The old thief Wu Sangui sent him here to pretend to surrender, and he just wanted him to deceive us and send him to our door so that it would be convenient for Geng Jingzhong. That bastard did it! There are so many witnesses, how does Geng Jingzhong argue?"

"But..." Yue Le still hesitated, and said hesitantly: "But now, does the emperor dare to send troops from other places to pacify Geng Jingzhong? The old thief Wu Sangui is currently watching the north bank of the Yangtze River in Wuchang. The elite main force of the army is also mainly concentrated in that area, if we attack Geng Jingzhong again, the problem of troop mobilization alone will make Wansui embarrassing."

"We can send troops!" The old man Shang immediately regretted his treacherous words as soon as he uttered them. Now there are hidden worries about Shang Zhixin inside the Qing army in Guangdong, and direct threats from the Wu army and Taiwan Zheng Jing outside. Go to war against Fujian?So the traitor Shang had no choice but to change his words: "But we can't just ignore it. Geng Jingzhong has hooked up with the old man's unfilial son, and plans to dedicate Guangdong to Wu Gou. If we don't get rid of this hidden danger as soon as possible, there will be endless troubles in the future."

Yue Le kept silent with a gloomy face. After a long time, Yue Le's heart suddenly moved, and he picked up Geng Juzhong who was kneeling and crying on the ground, and shouted sharply: "Wu Gou is the third one you said just now. Say it again. The more detailed the better!"

"Go back to the lord, the old thief Wu Sangui told the guilty minister." At the critical moment of life and death, Geng Juzhong didn't dare to play any more tricks, and replied honestly: "He said that if you don't fall into the trap, lord, you won't attack Wuzhou and use my brother Geng Jingzhong's soldiers to quell it." For the chaos in Guangdong, I will first try to gain your trust. After a while, my brother will send an envoy to contact you and find an excuse to invite you to meet at Fenshui Pass on the border between Fujian and Guangdong. By then, I will complete the mission he gave. .”

"Are you playing tricks?" Yue Le asked worriedly: "I tell you, this is your last chance. If you dare to lie to deceive me again, even the gods will not be able to save you!"

"My lord, the guilty minister can swear to the sky." Geng Juzhong wailed, "If the guilty minister speaks even half a lie, he is willing to be struck by thunder from the sky, and die without a place to die!"

Yue Le carefully observed Geng Juzhong's expression, and found that apart from fear, pleading and helplessness in Geng Juzhong's eyes, there was no guilt at all, so he pushed Geng Juzhong to the guards, and shouted: "Gag him and take him down so that he can take care of him, remember , must not allow him to contact outsiders, and must not leak a single word about today's events!"

The traitorous guard of the old traitor agreed, and followed the order, and Geng Juzhong, whose mouth was blocked and weeping bitterly, went down first.Yue Le turned to the old traitor Shang, gritted his teeth and said, "My lord, since Geng Jingzhong is going to lure us to Fenshui Pass, then let's just use our tricks and get rid of this hidden danger for the court and us!"

"How do you follow the plan?" The old traitor Shang asked in surprise.

"Of course it's to capture the thief first." Yue Le's eyes flashed a murderous look, and he gritted his teeth and said, "As long as we pretend to be in the trap and go to Fenshui Pass to meet Geng Jingzhong, the dog thief, and set up an ambush at Fenshui Pass in advance, we will If Geng Jingzhong's thieves are captured alive or killed on the spot, then the Geng Jingzhong thieves in Fujian will not be in danger!"

"Brilliant plan!" The old man Shang jumped up and shouted: "Now we hold the witness of Geng Juzhong in our hands, we can completely kill Geng Jingzhong's gangster first and then play it! Kill him, and Fujian's thieves will have no leader. Even if there will be trouble, the scale It's definitely not too big!"

........................

In Wuzhou City at about the same time, although it was getting late, Fatty Lu was still lingering on the water gate tower in the south of Wuzhou, staring at the Pearl River below the water gate with his hands behind his back in a daze.Captain Xiao Erlang brought a coat, put it on Fatty Lu with his own hands, and persuaded: "Young master, don't worry, it's useless to worry, it's getting late, and the wind is so strong on the river at night, we'd better go back earlier room to rest."

"How can you not be worried?" Fatty Lu sighed, "I have limited knowledge of the actual situation in Guangdong, and I just rely on analysis and guesswork to arrange a series of calculations. If there is a slight mistake, the consequences will be unimaginable immediately. The opponent is still Yue Le Such a ruthless character is simply pulling teeth out of the tiger's mouth. Oh, and Wang Shaobo, if something goes wrong, he won't be the first to escape."

"Damn it, and Geng Jingzhong, I have to worry about him too—if Shang Kexi and Yue Le capture the king first, then I'm really self-defeating."

"Master, don't worry." Xiao Erlang comforted: "All the people have been sent out now, and it's too late to regret it. But I believe that with the young master's ingenuity, this trick will definitely succeed."

"I hope so." Fatty Lu smiled wryly, and said helplessly: "It's the first time I have taken such a risky plan since I debuted. Even the time in Bajiang, there is no danger this time. If it fails, I am really afraid." I don't have the face to see the prince."

"It will be successful, it will be successful!" Xiao Erlang cheered: "Now some people in our army have said that, young master, you are a Wenqu star from the sky, and you are the most intelligent person in the world. Both Geng Jingzhong and Geng Jingzhong were fooled, they are all ordinary people, they are the opponents of you, the reincarnated god, young master!"

"Heh, nonsense." Fatty Lu smiled, turned to the river again, and murmured, "In time, Geng Juzhong should see Shang Kexi and Yue Le. Can these two old foxes be fooled?"

"My lord, my lord Lu, urgent report from Wuchang!" At this moment, a messenger rushed up the tower and presented a letter with feathers on it to Fatty Lu.

"What happened to Wuchang?" Fatty Lu was taken aback. He quickly took the letter and opened it. He lit the torch and looked at the faint light. There is a dumbfounding expression.

"Master, what happened?" Xiao Erlang asked in surprise, "Why do you have such an expression?"

"My lord has received a secret report from the capital." Fatty Lu said with a wry smile, "There is accurate information. Emperor Mangou secretly ordered Shang Kexi, the old thief to come forward as his father and prepare to trap my wife, your young lady, under the pretext that Princess Pingnan is seriously ill. My son, your young master. Since we received the news a little late, it is still gratifying that the lackeys sent by the old thief to Yunnan should have already started."

"What? Man Gou is going to trap the Young Madam and the Young Master?" Xiao Erlang was taken aback, and quickly volunteered: "Master, give me some troops, and I will go back to Yunnan to protect the Young Madam and the Young Master."

"It's too late for you to go now." Fatty Lu continued to smile wryly, "And Yu Xuan has volunteered to go back to Yunnan with the prince's warrant, ready to protect my wife and son at all costs."

"That's good." Xiao Erlang breathed a sigh of relief, but after thinking about it for a second, Xiao Erlang jumped up again, and shouted nervously: "The third general is going to protect the young lady and the young master? Young master, the temper of the third general, you It's not that I don't know, she can do anything when she's jealous, so it's really okay for her to protect the young lady and the young master?"

"That's why I'm like this." Fatty Lu couldn't help crying and laughing completely, "With that tigress' temper, the so-called volunteering must be aimed at taking my son back. As for Wanyi's whereabouts, she must care It doesn't matter, maybe I wish Wanyi could go back to Guangdong to make room for her."

"Master, then I'd better take a trip to Yunnan." Xiao Erlang hurriedly volunteered again: "Or the little one goes to Lianzhou. If Man Gou wants to rob the young lady and the young master, he will definitely go back to Guangdong by sea. Go and ask General Du and the others to intercept them at sea, and they will definitely rescue the young lady and the young master."

"It's too late." Fatty Lu shook his head feebly, and then said comfortingly: "But it's okay, Yu'er knows that I am just such a son, and also knows that if I don't have that son, I will definitely be dissatisfied with her, so she just continues No matter how hard you work, you will find a way to get my son back."

"What about the Young Madam?" Xiao Erlang asked nervously: "Master, didn't you just say that the Third General Line would definitely wish that the Young Madam would leave you, and he would certainly not think of a way to intercept the Young Madam."

Fatty Lu turned his head and glanced at Xiao Erlang, his eyes were full of doubts, and asked in a low voice: "Are you stupid? You have been with me for so many years, and you don't even understand my thoughts? Wanyi left Yunnan. Is it entangled? Wouldn't it be better for her to be taken back to Guangdong by the old thief Shang Kexi, whether it is the old thief Shang Kexi or Shang Zhixin, will it be bad for her?"

(End of this chapter)