Plan to cut off the nine states

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The old servant was cleaning the courtyard, and occasionally stopped to listen to the sounds in the General's Mansion opposite. In fact, he couldn't hear anything. He could only imagine the traffic, the guests giving gifts lined up from the front yard to the street, and the money and silk piled as high as a mountain. , the guests and hosts all had big bellies and greasy smiles on their faces...

"They are both biological sons, what a big difference." The old servant was full of emotion and looked down at his coarse clothes. "I am just worrying about it. I want to go play at night and win back the money I have lost these days." serious."

Bang, the courtyard door was pushed open, startling the old servant.

"Building foundation! Floor 17!" The visitor shouted loudly.

The old servant recognized that this was Lou Shuo, the Seventh Young Master in the mansion, and hurriedly threw away the broom, bowed forward, and said with a smile, "Why is the Seventh General so free..."

It is the custom in the mansion to address the princes with higher status as "general".

Lou Shuo ignored the old servant and shouted into the room: "Lou Chu, come out, you are in trouble!"

The old servant was startled again and said hurriedly: "Seventeenth Young Master is not at home. He has gone out to meet friends."

"Who will it be?"

"Ma, Mr. Mahou."

"Which Mahou Ye?"

"Yue Fuhou, that Mahou Ye."

Lou Shuo thought for a while, "That Marquis Yuefu left behind by the Liang Dynasty? Is there anyone in his family still alive? How can Lou Chu and him... Hey, they are really a good match, a pair of remnants of the previous dynasty."

Lou Shuo came here as ordered and refused to return home empty-handed. He said to the old servant: "Go and call Lou Chu back, immediately. Wait, you two will follow. Even if you tie him up, you have to tie him back."

The old servant was so frightened that he didn't dare to ask any more questions. He immediately took the two servants in charge of the house to Ma's house. He asked carefully on the way. The two people were also confused. They only knew that the Seventeenth Young Master had caused a lot of trouble this time. It was the general himself who wanted to see him.

On the other side, Lou Chu and Ma Wei were enjoying their drinks. Ma Wei said impassionedly, "It's the women who select the scholars. The article written by hundreds of students from the three major universities with painstaking efforts has to be judged by a group of women. It will have to be judged in the future." Can they choose the ministers? Such a court..."

Lou Chu had no choice but to dissuade him, "Brother Ma, be careful what you say."

Ma Wei laughed, but kept his mouth shut. Although this was his home, there was no guarantee that no one would talk, "Don't ask, our Lure Academy is just filling up the numbers. It must be someone from Taixue who ranks first--maybe." The princess is choosing a consort, what do you think?"

"Why should I care?"

"Haha, yes, a good man has his ambitions all over the world, why should he care about these trivial matters among the piles of makeup? Come, have a drink, from now on..."

Before he finished speaking, the old servant at the base of the building, led by the Ma family's servant, ran in in a panic, "Sir, stop drinking, there's something wrong at home!"

Ma Wei was stunned. Lou Chu first waved his hand to stop the old servant from continuing, then stood up and said to the master: "It's earlier than I expected. I said I could see the general tomorrow, but now I have to go back. Farewell, no trouble. See you off."

Ma Wei didn't understand what was going on, but the old servant at the door was surprised, "Hey, Master knows... How could Master..."

Lou Chu took the old servant and left. Ma Wei poured himself a drink. After a few glasses of wine, he said to himself: "Brother Chu is young and energetic, so don't spoil my big event."

It was already dark when I got home. Lou Shuo was waiting at the entrance of the courtyard. When he saw Lou Chu, he snorted, "Fortunately, I didn't believe you. I was almost deceived by you and charged with the inhumane crime you recommended."

Lou Chi held up his hand and said, "Brother, please take me to see the general."

Lou Chu acted too calmly, so Lou Shuo looked at him twice, snorted again, and led the way back to the General's Mansion.

Recruiting his son was obviously not the most urgent thing for the general. Lou Chu was sent to an empty room with no tea and no one to care about him. It was not until midnight that he was called out again and went to the selection hall to meet the general. General.

There were more children and grandchildren of the Lou family here tonight, fifty or sixty of them lined up, all with their shoulders hunched and their hands lowered. Although there were many people, there was no sound at all.

Lou Wen sat on the chair in the middle, his belly rising and falling.

Lou Chu walked to his father, bowed his head to the ground, and suddenly saw the gift he had sent to the house. The lid had been opened, revealing half a piece of silk rolled up inside. Under the candlelight, the big words he wrote on it were still there. It was clear outside and everyone in the hall had seen it.

That is the word "dian".

The general personally led an army of 100,000 people to quell the chaos. Relatives and friends came to celebrate and see him off, but his own son sent him something to express his condolences.

The general did not immediately respond with thunder. He stared at this unfamiliar son for a long time and said, "Did you send this?"

"Yes, it was sent by the child."

"You also wrote the words?"

"Exactly."

Many people peeked at the foundation of the building and were surprised by his courage. Even though he was mourning, he dared to admit it openly without a trace of fear in his words.

Next, it depends on how the general will be punished. There are many descendants of the Lou family, and the general is never merciful to those who make mistakes. He has disabled at least five or six people over the years. The mistakes made by those people were much smaller than this time.

The general was silent for a while, his belly heaving more and more violently, and suddenly, he smiled.

This smile made everyone in the hall look at each other, confused and horrified.

Lou Chu, however, had some respect for his father. He had always looked down on the general, thinking that he was a lucky general who was related to the emperor and thus rose to prominence and became a highly respected minister. This was undoubtedly a case of "name is too real" That kind of person.

His judgment has not changed now, but he feels that the gap between "name" and "reality" is not that big.

"Do you think the bandits in Qinzhou are so powerful that I will surely fail and die at their hands?" The general even softened his tone when asking questions.

Lou Chu shook his head, "The little bandits in Qinzhou are not a big problem. I think the general has other problems."

The general did not laugh this time. He stared at his son for a while and said coldly, "When your mother committed suicide, I should have drowned you and let you and your son accompany each other."

Lou Chu bowed deeply, "My father is in trouble, and I have to speak. If I don't listen, I will have no regrets."

"Lock him up in the west corridor. If I die in Qinzhou, you will release him. If I come back alive, I will kill him to sacrifice for my mother."

The general did not get angry in public, and everyone felt lucky for Lou Chu.

Lou Chu did not make much excuses and bowed and left the general selection hall.

The west corridor is the guest room. Lou Chu was sent to the simplest room, which only had a small bed, no bedding, tables and chairs, chamber pots, etc.

Before leaving, Lou Shuo said, "Don't say I don't care about my brotherly love. The general is really angry this time. I may see you again before the expedition. Think about how to say it. If you do it again like today, even the gods can't save you."

Lou Chu bowed and said, "I will reflect on myself. Thank you for your kindness."

"Hey, you caused this trouble yourself. Find a way to clean it up. Who dares to say good things to you? You are tying yourself up, Lou Chu, you are tying yourself up."

Lou Chu lay down with his clothes on and fell into a deep sleep.

Not long after, he was woken up by someone's strong push. He sat up and saw a stranger holding a lantern.

"Follow me." The stranger said. Judging from his attire, he should be a servant in the mansion.

"Yes." Lou Chu didn't ask much. He got up and straightened his clothes. He followed the man out of the door. After turning around, he came to a room he had never entered before.

The general changed into his home clothes, rolled up his sleeves high, and sat there sharpening his knife seriously. This was one of the few military habits he kept. He had to sharpen his knife by himself.

The sharp sound of sharpening the knife went back and forth.

The servants withdrew, leaving the father and son facing each other.

The general tried the blade, sprinkled some water on the whetstone, and continued to sharpen it until he was satisfied with it. He said without turning his head: "This is called Qianniu Knife. Thirty years ago, the late emperor summoned famous craftsmen from all over the world and it took several years to make it. There are a total of 300 knives, 200 of low quality, 80 of medium quality, and 20 of high quality. Half of them are hidden in the inner court, and the other half are rewarded to generals. Mine is a top-quality knife. I killed 14 people, which is not a lot, but look at the blade. There is no flaw at all. As far as I know, of the ten Qianniu knives given to others, only this one is left. The other nine have long disappeared. Do you know why?"

"A famous knife must be matched with a famous minister. I guess the master was convicted and the knife was lost."

"Hey, tell me the origin of the Qianniu Knife again. I always forget it."

"Zhuangzi has "It is said that the butcher Ding has butchered thousands of cows, and his blade is as sharp as a new one."

"That's it. Killing thousands of cows is unlikely, but chopping off a few heads is no problem." The general stood up, holding the knife and walked to his son, "I will chop off your head now and take it to Qinzhou, so that you can see my great victory with your own eyes."

"If the general goes to Qinzhou, he will definitely win a great victory. I'm afraid he can't go to Qinzhou."

Lou Wen put the shiny knife on his son's shoulder, pressed it against his neck, and slightly increased the force. Seeing blood oozing out, he moved the knife away and laughed, "Haha, you are really brave, worthy of being a descendant of my Lou family. Well, I'll give you a chance. If you speak well, I'll spare your life. If you speak badly, it's not too late to kill you later."

Lou Chu breathed a sigh of relief, and the fist clenched in his sleeve was finally able to loosen.

"There are many rumors outside. They all say that the general deliberately indulged the rebellion in Qinzhou in order to lead the army to the west in person. It is said that he wanted to quell the rebellion, but in fact he wanted to avoid disaster. There are also rumors that the general wanted to form an alliance with Bingzhou Mu Shen Zhi to establish a separatist regime."

"Just say that I want to rebel. Hey, think about my countless battles in my life. Which time did I not have slander when I went on an expedition? What was the result? I conquered most of the territory of Tiancheng Dynasty!"

"This is a different time. The former emperor and the general were like brothers. The more slander, the more trusted the general was. But the current emperor may not be able to distinguish which are slanders and which are true."

The knife in the general's hand slowly dropped, "Don't mention the rumors, what do you think?"

"I thought the general would never will rebel, go to Qinzhou to avoid disaster, choose the opportunity to support Shen Bingzhou as the hegemon of one side, and then the general will return to the court, and work with Shen Mushou to make the emperor not want to move, dare not move Lou family. "

"Hey, you are young, but you think a lot. You are wrong, but not completely wrong. Even if everything is as you said, what danger am I in, worth your mourning?"

"The emperor has been afraid of the Lou family for a long time, I am afraid it is not so easy to deceive, and may not let the general leave the capital."

"What you mean is..."

"'If you want to take it, you must give it to it'. The emperor promised to give 100,000 troops, which is 'give it'. If the general leads the army to the west in a month, he may 'take it'."

Lou Wen was silent.

"General..." Lou Chu was about to continue, Lou Wen said: "You can call me 'father'. "