Elegy of Tang Dynasty

Chapter 657: A brilliant plan
The cell was clean, with no handcuffs or leg irons. There were three meals a day, the food was average, but filling.

This treatment is obviously not available to ordinary prisoners.

Gao Shang sat on the dry thatched mat with unfocused eyes, seemingly just staring at the wall in a daze.

Suddenly, a soft sound of footsteps came from far away, approaching this side. The footsteps seemed to be hesitant, and the owner of the footsteps seemed to not move at all, just standing there waiting. Then they continued to move forward.

It’s not the jailer, not Yan Zhuang, not Fang Qing, and not Li Lin... Then who is this person?
Gao Shang, who was extremely careful, was secretly alert.

When the man appeared in front of the cell door, Gao Shang saw him clearly.

It turned out to be Wei Zichun!

"I didn't expect you to be so shameless as to come here to meet me. You are really shameless."

Gao Shang snorted sarcastically. Before, he just had some suspicions and was not completely sure, but now it was obvious.

The person who tipped off Yan Zhuang was Wei Zichun. Otherwise, the assassin might have succeeded.

It is hard to say who will win.

"If the emperor wants the other commander to take action, I will not say a word. But the emperor wants to deal with the Prince of Chenliu, who is his relative!
How could he do that?"

Wei Zichun sighed with deep sorrow.

Gao Shang actually misunderstood. Wei Zichun was not a person who sold out his master for fame. Besides, even if he betrayed Gao Shang and Li Lin, Fang Zhongyong would not use Wei Zichun with his intelligence and temper.

"Anyway, it has already happened. You can still hug the thigh of Prince Chenliu in the future."

Gao Shang speaks in a sarcastic and sarcastic manner.

Although he was castrated, he still carried the arrogance and unruly nature unique to literati!

Intellectuals look down on each other, so how could Gao Shang have a good face towards Wei Zichun?

"Whatever you say."

Wei Zichun sighed and continued:

"Marshal Fang supports the emperor and also controls him, just like Cao Cao in the past, or Huo Guang in the past. If the emperor sends an assassin to kill Fang Qing, it is just human nature. Even if Wei sacrifices his life and dies for the emperor, what does it matter?
You are also a scholar. Don’t you understand the principle of being friendly to your brothers and respectful to your parents?
How can the emperor kill his brother? "

It can be heard that Wei Zichun has betrayed Li Lin, or it can be said that he is completely disappointed in him and has completely given up on him.

In Wei Zichun's opinion, if Li Lin dared to resist Fang Qing, he would be full of lofty ambitions and would rather die than surrender, just like the last emperor of Cao Wei.

But what is this guy doing now?
For no reason, he sent someone to assassinate his half brother.

Just looking at this point, Wei Zichun knew that the Tang Dynasty was absolutely hopeless, at least Li Lin was unable to clean up this mess.

What else could he do? Should he just watch Li Qi being killed?

"Go away. We have different ideals and cannot work together. I have nothing to say to you."

Gao Shang said lazily, with an attitude of superiority, clearly looking down on Wei Zichun.

"Actually, you..."

Wei Zichun opened his mouth, but in the end he held back what he wanted to say and didn't say it out loud.

Gao Shang turned his back to him and said nothing.

Wei Zichun came this time because it was his betrayal that caused Gao Shang to be executed. He couldn't bear it and wanted to ask Gao Shang if there was anything else he wanted to do after his death, so he could do it for him.

Unexpectedly, Gao Shang was ready to die.

Wei Zichun got up and left.

After he left, Gao Shang actually smiled.

"Death? How could I die?

If I wanted to die, I would have died when I broke my arm."

Slowly, the smile on his face turned into a sneer, and that handsome yet gloomy face suddenly flashed with a hint of ferocity and cruelty.

And disappeared quietly again.

Gao Shang is waiting for someone who can help him escape from the cage.

I slept soundly all night, and none of the disgusting and sinister things that happened in prison happened.

Gao Shang waited calmly, and then at nightfall the next day, the person he was waiting for finally came.

……

"Don't you feel tired now?"

In front of a cell door in Dali Temple Prison, Fang Zhongyong looked at Gao Shang, whose face was barely visible in the darkness, and asked helplessly.

It was really hard for Gao Shang to work as a dog for a guy like Li Lin.

Some teammates are simply impossible to lead, but Gao Shang insisted on leading them, and in the end he was still dragged to death. He is really stubborn.

Fang Chongyong had understood this truth a long time ago.

"Marshal, some people are just stubborn and mean, and you can't do without a knock."

Yan Zhuang whispered a suggestion in Fang Zhongyong's ear. He had long disliked Gao Shang.

"Forget it. When a man is about to die, his words are good. Let him come out for a drink and tell his last words."

Fang Zhongyong sighed and had little interest in humiliating Gao Shang.

When you fight with a tiger and win, you will feel very fortunate and proud.

But to him, Gao Shang is now like an ant that can be crushed to death with ease.

What's the point of bullying such people?

Fang Zhongyong had just arrived in Kaifeng City today, and he still had a lot of things to do. He was busy running back and forth like a dog, and Fang Zhongyong felt that Gao Shang's life was much more comfortable than his own hard life of frequent business trips.

In addition to being in prison and having your personal freedom restricted.

I am so tired, why can a eunuch like Gao Shang, who has no arms or chickens, live such a comfortable life?

Could it be that Gao Shang has taken Muxutan?
While Fang Zhongyong was mumbling in his heart, Gao Shang had already been taken out of the cage. He looked at Yan Zhuang provocatively, his eyes full of malicious hints.

"Marshal, I will step aside for a moment."

Yan Zhuang bowed to Fang Zhongyong and glanced at Gao Shang casually. In his opinion, this man was already dead.

Why are you acting so arrogant now? You will die tomorrow anyway!
Yan Zhuang cursed inwardly.

After he left, Fang Zhongyong made a gesture to Gao Shang to invite him in. The table was filled with home-cooked dishes and fine wine, which looked very sumptuous.

"If you have nothing to say, this will be your last meal."

Fang Zhongyong pointed to the stone bench opposite and said.

He wasn't worried at all. He was noble and intelligent, so he must have something to say.

"Marshal Fang, you are a busy man, and I am just a useless person. Do you think it's fun to kill me now?"

Gao Shang asked back calmly, picking up a piece of meat and putting it in his mouth to chew.

"It's really not interesting, but this is the meat scraped from the prisoners. Don't you realize that I don't even eat it?"

Fang Zhongyong suddenly pointed at the plate of meat with an expressionless face and said with a little pride.

Gao Shang was stunned when he heard this. He was so scared that he quickly spat out the meat in his mouth onto the ground and retched for a long time before he recovered.

"General Fang, a soldier can be killed but not humiliated. I am not afraid of death."

Gao Shang's chest heaved with anger as he spoke word by word.

In fact, this was just a psychological suggestion. Gao Shang now understood that what happened just now was just a bad joke.

No matter how cruel Fang Qing was, he would never do such a thing as cannibalism, not to mention that the other party was a very rational and self-controlled politician.

Using human flesh to cook is truly ridiculous.

"But you don't want to die, do you? I don't want to beat around the bush. If you have something to say, just say it now."

Fang Zhongyong waved his hand, not wanting to get entangled in boring topics with Gao Shang.

Gao Shang gulped down a glass of wine to calm himself down, then looked Fang Zhongyong in the eye and asked, "I believe you know what kind of person Li Lin is. But you are not worried about Li Lin, but the banner of the Tang Dynasty."

Gao Shang regained his composure and spoke in a serious tone.

"good."

Fang Zhongyong nodded slightly and admitted it directly.

Li Lin, if you add his good-for-nothing sons into the mix, what's so scary about that?

Even if they were given 100,000 elite soldiers, Fang Chongyong would not be at all inferior.

Because Li Lin had no ability to command troops or handle government affairs.

No matter what is given to him, it is an external thing that cannot be transformed into his own strength. What is difficult to shake is the "orthodoxy" formed by the Li Tang over the past 100 years, and the collective memory of the "glorious years" that have been imprinted in the hearts of this generation.

"The Marshal let me go, so I will give him a great gift."

Gao Shang said seriously.

"What kind of gift?"

Fang Zhongyong also put away his smile and asked seriously.

“Words are not enough, Gao wrote it on paper.

If it is nonsense, you can hand it over to Li Lin, and he will take my head.”

Gao Shang looked very calm and had already put life and death aside.

"I will grind the ink for you myself."

Fang Chongyong asked the jailer outside the door to go to the signing room in the prison to get the four treasures of the study. Then he ground the ink himself and handed the pen to Gao Shang.

"I only grind ink for one kind of people, and that's people who can be of great use to me."

Gao Shang wrote two words, and then he heard Fang Chongyong speaking slowly beside him.

“What happens if that person is useless?”

Gao Shang suddenly felt a little curious.

He didn't know why, but he felt that Fang Chongyong's ideas were always different from those of ordinary people.

"Only living people are called people, and dead people are called corpses."

Fang Zhongyong said lightly.

These words almost made Gao Shang curse, but he still held back.

Fortunately, Fang Zhongyong did not provoke the other party with words afterwards. Gao Shang wrote the letter quickly and put the pen on the inkstone after finishing it.

In fact, Fang Chongyong doesn't care much about the so-called noble "great gift".

He now controls the military and political power of the Bianzhou court, and everyone inside and outside the court is his own people. Li Lin has almost no trusted team of his own.

It can be said that as long as he wants to usurp the throne, he can do it now, although there are many hidden dangers.

What other surprises can Gao Shang bring to himself now?

Fang Chongyong didn't have much expectations for this.

However, when he saw Gao Shang's "strange plan", he immediately sat up straight and read it word by word.

Then I watched it over and over again.

"How did Li Lin get to where he is today with your assistance?"

Fang Zhongyong looked at Gao Shang with some confusion and asked.

There are so many ministers in the court, and no one knows clearly what he wants to do.

But an eunuch close to Li Lin saw it clearly.

"Can you just say it directly, Marshal?"

Gao Shang sat there without moving and spoke very calmly.

Although Fang Zhongyong did not show his emotions, Gao Shang thought that no matter what tricks the other party played, it was meaningless. If he did not cooperate, the plan could not be implemented.

"Okay, I'll let you go now."

Fang Zhongyong put the letter close to his body and nodded slightly.

"Thank you, Marshal Fang."

Gao Shang took a sip of wine, stood up and returned to the prison, as if Fang Zhongyong did not exist.

Obviously, he didn't want to leave yet.

"You feel so comfortable living in prison that you don't want to leave?"

Fang Chongyong looked at Gao Shang and asked.

"Wei Zichun will be sent to the Dali Temple prison."

Gao Shang said word by word.

"understood."

Fang Chongyong nodded.

"If Wei Zichun doesn't come, I can't leave. I believe Marshal Fang understands this."

Gao Shang emphasized.

In fact, Fang Chongyong did understand.

"Then let's arrange it for tomorrow."

Fang Chongyong nodded slightly and then walked out of the Dali Temple Prison.

When he arrived at the gate of Dali Temple, he found Yan Zhuang had been waiting there, as if he had something to say.

"You have to figure it out yourself."

Fang Zhongyong handed Gao Shang's letter to Yan Zhuang. Yan Zhuang read it quickly and said with emotion: "After all, they are master and servant. Why did they do it so ruthlessly? Gao Shang is really cruel!"

"Save his life in the future."

Fang Chongyong instructed Yan Zhuang.

"Please rest assured, Marshal. I understand."

Yan Zhuang saluted Fang Zhongyong with his hands crossed.

"I'm a little tired today, so I won't accompany you for a drink. We can discuss the affairs of Bianzhou another day."

Fang Chongyong said goodbye to Yan Zhuang with a tired look on his face and returned to the Bianzhou government office under the escort of Zhang Guangsheng.

He looked a little disinterested.

……

Late at night, Fang Chongyong lay on his bed in the bedroom, feeling tired and unable to sleep.

Gao Shang asked Fang Zhongyong a question in the letter:
Now, is the kingdom you have conquered yours or the Tang Dynasty's?
Li Lin is a waste. Are all the members of the royal family with the surname Li wastes?
If you force the emperor to abdicate to you in the future, the world will still be in chaos.

It is easy to kill Li Lin, and it can even be done very cleverly so that no one will suspect anything.

But how do you solve the problem of changing the flag?
It has to be said that Gao Shang saw through Fang Zhongyong's thoughts.

The more the territory of the Bianzhou court expanded, the more the seriousness of this problem could not be ignored.

As the political power continues to grow stronger, the imperial power will also grow stronger.

How can we expand the territory and weaken the imperial power without causing unrest in the country?

Fang Chongyong has no answer to this question.

But Gao Shang gave Fang Chongyong a prescription: Zheng Bo defeated Duan.

You can't wait until the world is unified before you think about weakening the Li Tang royal family. At that time, if you act rashly, there will be new rebellions.

You have to "take it step by step".

This is the value of Gao Shang. Without Gao Shang as an insider, it would be difficult for Fang Zhongyong to complete this action.

"No wonder Gao Shang was so sure that I wouldn't kill him."

He got up from the bed and muttered to himself. He sat down at the table and lit the oil lamp.

In fact, political fluctuations in Bianzhou were normal, because many people saw that this regime had the potential to unify the world.

As long as Fang Zhongyong can manage Huainan and western Zhejiang well, he will be able to gather sufficient troops and food in three to five years at most and start a war to unify the world.

Therefore, at this time, it is very important to fight for power and take sides in advance.

"As expected, dust won't fall off by itself if you don't sweep it with a broom. We still have to do what needs to be done."

Fang Chongyong has made up his mind.

Early the next morning, Wei Zichun was arrested by officials from the Dali Temple and imprisoned on the charge of "deceiving the emperor." As for the specific reason, there was no news at all.

Gao Shang was released at the same time as Wei Zichun was imprisoned and returned to the imperial palace in Bianzhou.

A big drama begins.

(End of this chapter)