Prince of Song Dynasty

Chapter 915
Zhong Sanhe smiled and said, "This is naturally the Hongmen Banquet set by Cao Xuefei."

Duanmushu's face changed slightly, and he was about to speak out to dissuade him, but Duanmu Zhongren said: "Although I am well-known in Guazhou and even in the entire Western Region, I don't have a single soldier in my hand. My Duanmu family exterminated the family. However, now I have spent a lot of time and energy to set up a Hongmen banquet, because Cao Xuefei was worried that after killing the old man, it would arouse the dissatisfaction of the wealthy family in the inner city who was close to the old man, and even colluded with the army outside the inner city to destroy the city. So, if there is a Hongmen banquet tonight, it will not only be a Hongmen banquet for the old man alone, Cao Xuefei may even kill the old man and the patriarch of a wealthy family close to the old man."

Duanmushu couldn't bear it any longer, knelt down and said, "In this case, father must not go to the banquet. My son will send someone to notify the wealthy family close to father, and let them not attend the Cao family's dinner."

Duanmu Zhongren shook his head, looked at Zhong Sanhe and said, "Even if it's a Hongmen Banquet, you must go!"

"Father..." Duanmu Shu urged him urgently, but before he finished speaking, Duanmu Zhongren interrupted him with a wave of his hand.

Zhong Sanhe was silent for a while, then suddenly said: "At this time, there is still an hour before the dinner, stay here and discuss with Kou Minglu from the security department, and Master Yunyue."

Duanmu Zhongren nodded repeatedly, and said with a smile: "I think so too."

In a large mansion in the outer city of Guazhou, a group of warriors with guns in distinctive armor patrolled outside, and Yang Jiye's personal guard soldiers surrounded the whole mansion like stars holding the moon, standing outside the courtyard. In the living room, Yang Jiye's brigade commander and above generals expressed their opinions and were arguing endlessly.

At the beginning, the opinions of the various generals were very different, and there were all kinds of strange ideas.But gradually, some people were persuaded, and their opinions gradually became unified, forming two completely different opinions. Some people think that there is His Majesty in the country, and they don't need to worry about Lanzhou City.Another group of people think that although there are still 12 troops in the country, most of them have to be on guard against the Song and Liao countries at all times, and I am afraid that they will not be able to mobilize many troops. To be on the safe side, they should capture Guazhou as soon as possible and return to the rescue.The opinions of the two factions are tit-for-tat, each insisting on their own words, and their faces are red-faced.Yang Jiye sat in the commander-in-chief with a calm face all the time, listening to the reasons stated by the two factions, a pot of strong tea has been refilled several times, the tea has been drunk, and he still does not comment.It seemed that it was not his son who was trapped in Lanzhou City.

Tuoba Shi, commander of the first cavalry brigade of the White Wolf Legion, said loudly: "Commander, the last general thinks that the matter of Guazhou should be left behind and go back as quickly as possible. Judging from what Mr. Tang said, Hehuang Tubo There is the shadow of the Song State behind him, so the Song State may invade at any time, and it is even possible that the army is already under pressure at this time. As long as the situation in my Xiangfu State is not optimistic, the Liao State will probably not miss this opportunity, so Send troops while attacking. But if the two prefectures of Gua and Sha are not taken today, they can fight again in the future, which is nothing compared to the safety of the country."

Han Tao went on to say: "Commander, the general disagrees with Brigadier Tuoba's words. His Majesty sits in the country and there are 12 troops guarding him. Only once. Even if the Song and Liao countries come to attack, with the current defense strength of the cities in our Xiangfu Kingdom, as long as they don't leave the city, even if the Song and Liao countries come in full force, it will be difficult to break through in a short time. And now we Returning in a hurry, Guazhou and Shazhou will be abandoned halfway. The gain outweighs the loss.”

Tang Xingwu also agreed and said: "Marshal! Your Majesty also thinks that there is His Majesty in the country, so there is no need to worry too much. What's more, it is inconvenient for us to return to the army without His Majesty's order. Therefore, according to my Majesty, we will lay down the melons as soon as possible." , Sha Erzhou, at that time, the commander-in-chief will lead a victorious army and return to the country with vigor. And if the court of Lanzhou City has another army, we can even turn from Liangzhou to fight against the old lair of Hehuang Tubo. It is not impossible to take advantage of the situation to take down large areas of rivers and mountains in Hehuang and Longxi."

Tang Xingwu's words are more attractive than what Han Tao said. All generals are keen on military merits, not to mention that Xiangfu Kingdom attaches great importance to military merits. The knighted officers are envious and jealous to death, and the knighted officers are envious of those with higher titles than themselves.At this time, everyone's eyes lit up when they heard that they might directly take over the old lair of Hehuang Tubo. They had to know how many military achievements and titles this represented.Of course, their reaction in this way was also out of their trust in His Majesty the Great Emperor's ability to stabilize the domestic situation.

After Yang Jiye pondered for a while, he said: "The commander decided to compromise everyone's opinions, capture Guazhou as soon as possible, and not use troops against Shazhou for the time being. Leave some troops to garrison the four states of Gua, Su, Gan, and Liang, and then lead most of the cavalry. Return to Liangzhou, and then we will see whether to go to Lanzhou or Hehuang. Therefore, starting tomorrow, we will attack the inner city of Guazhou with all our strength. We must capture the inner city of Guazhou within one day regardless of the cost."

Everyone shouted loudly.

The heads of various aristocratic families and wealthy families in the inner city of Guazhou came to the Cao family dinner with sad faces one by one.

At the hour of Xu, everyone heard the sound of horseshoes coming from the end of the street. "Come here, come here!" People passed each other, stretching their necks one by one, looking to the other side of the street.

Duanmu Zhongren didn't take his son Duanmu Shu with him, he sat alone in a carriage, surrounded by twenty guards dressed as assassin camp masters led by Zhong Sanhe on horseback, and appeared at the end of the street.

There are nine big families in Guazhou and Shazhou. They are local big families that have been passed down from generation to generation after countless bloody storms. Among them, the family with the longest history can even be traced back to the Han Dynasty.

Therefore, since the Han Dynasty, they have been officials in Guazhou and Shazhou for generations, and they have naturally formed a powerful family force, like a camel thorn with well-developed roots, firmly controlling this desert oasis. During the years, he monopolized the political and economic lifelines of Gua and Shazhou.

These nine clans are Zhang, Cao, Yin, Yan, Li, Si, An, Duanmu, and Suo.

Today, the Cao family who is in charge of Guazhou hosted a banquet for the wealthy families. In fact, it was mainly the eight families other than the Cao family.Including Mr. Zhang Zhiwen Zhang, who is over ten years old and has been out of the world for a long time, the heads or principals of the eight major families in Guazhou were invited by the Cao family.The Cao family is now the lord of Guazhou, and in the name of defending the city and repelling the enemy, who would dare not give it this face?

However, at this time, more than half of the patriarchs of the wealthy Guazhou families who came to the dinner party greeted Duanmu Zhongren at the gate. Cao Xuefei had already heard the news and stood outside the gate to greet him in person.It's just that he secretly remembered all the patriarchs of the wealthy families who went out to meet Duanmu Zhongren in his heart.

At this time, Cao Xuefei glanced at Duanmu Zhongren's twenty or so guards, and sneered in his heart.

"Mr. Duanmu." Cao Xuefei cupped his hands and saluted, and said loudly to the crowd: "Mr. Duanmu came to discuss this strategy for defending the city, and we will definitely be able to defeat the enemy!"

Duanmu Zhongren quickly returned the gift and said with a smile: "Your Excellency is polite, I am also a member of Guazhou, I will try my best to give advice to Your Excellency."

Cao Xuefei hastily thanked him and said, "Mr. Duanmu, please take care of me." He raised his hand and said, "Please talk to the mansion."

Duanmu Zhongren was not too polite, he strode towards the mansion, the twenty or so guards who accompanied him had already dismounted and filed in one after another.When we reached the middle gate, a general came and stopped the twenty or so guards behind him, and said with a smile: "Please stop, gentlemen, and follow me to the outer chamber to have tea."

Duanmu Zhongren stopped and turned his head, pointed to Zhong Sanhe and said, "Sanhe will follow me to the dinner party."

Cao Xuefei glanced at Zhong Sanhe, but he didn't take it seriously, but continued to lead the crowd to the depths of Cao's mansion.Each head of the family brings one or two guards. This is the usual practice of similar banquets in the past, and it is not a big deal.

Most of the buildings in Guazhou and Shazhou are made of local materials, and sand is used as the material. Even the wealthy family is no exception. The Cao family’s mansion occupies a huge area. The architectural style of the house is completely different from that of the Central Plains. The surroundings are only half-person-high sand walls, and you can have a panoramic view of everything in the courtyard from a distance.

As soon as you enter the gate of the mansion, you will face a promenade. The promenade is just a wooden frame covered with grape vines. Ripe grapes hang in clusters among the branches and leaves. Even in the evening, it looks heavy and red sandalwood. Alluring.

At this time, the mansion had already prepared everything, and when Duanmu Zhongren arrived at the banquet, tea, fruits, wine and vegetables were brought up one by one like flowing water.

In the spacious living room, there are more than a dozen small tables with fine wine, meat and melons and fruits on them. The heads of the nine families and the six heads of the rising families in Guazhou in the past few years all kneel down to salute. Sitting on it, except for Zhong Sanhe who stood behind Duanmu Zhongren, not counting Cao Xuefei who was in the main seat, most of the others stood behind two guards with machetes at their waists.

However, Zhang Zhiwen, Zhang's family member, was also an exception. Zhang Zhiwen was wearing a black curly train robe, a high crown on his head, and clogs on his feet. Gu Pan Shengwei held a pair of Buddhist beads of unknown material in his hand.There were also two people behind him, but they were not guards, but two young monks with red lips and white teeth.Everyone knew that Zhang Zhiwen believed in Buddhism all his life, and it was not once or twice that he brought two young monks with him to the banquet.It's just that one of the two young novice monks today has a picturesque face, and he seems to have a special attraction to Guohe, and he is very attractive.

There are many domestic servants in green clothes and small hats of the Cao family waiting around.

Duanmu Zhongren first said to Zhang Zhiwen: "Zhang Weng has been out of the world for many years, but I didn't expect Zhang Weng to come here in person today."

Zhang Zhiwen smiled lightly, and said kindly: "It's about the safety of Guazhou, how can I not come?"

(End of this chapter)