Taiping Inn

Baidi City, Yong'an Palace.

At this time, there were only two people in Tang Zhou's study. One of them sat upright on the desk. It was the owner of this place. General Tang Zhou, the general of the Heavenly King. Sitting opposite Tang Zhou was an old man with a goatee, with a smart face. .

This person is named Yang Zhushan. Although his realm and cultivation are only ordinary, his status in Qingyang Sect is very special. He is a confidant counselor of Tang Zhou. In many major events, including Tang Zhou leaving Qingyang General Assembly to Hongyang The general hall avoids disasters, which is also based on this person's work, which shows the status of his words in the minds of Tang and Zhou.

The temples in the world have always been like this. From the officials in the border areas to ordinary gangs, there must be such a person, either called a master, aide, a white paper fan, or a military advisor, without seeking force. How about it, but you can definitely give advice to help the boss solve his problems. For example, the Buzhi Mr. Chu Yunshen, who is beside the Governor of Qizhou, is like this.

Yang Zhushan was just a down-and-out scholar in his early years and failed many exams. On his way back home, he was robbed by a strong man and rescued by Tang Zhou. Seeing that Tang Zhou had a good conversation, he also found another way out in order to repay his kindness. Decided to follow Tang Zhou, Tang Zhou also taught him some qi refining methods. Unfortunately, this person is not this material. After practicing for so many years, he still has not made any achievements. However, because of his several suggestions, Tang Zhou valued it. , whenever you ask for advice, you must call him Mr. He, and he should be respected by the superiors and subordinates of Qingyang Education, regardless of the status of the superiors and subordinates, and respect him a little.

Previously, Yang Zhushan stayed at Qingyang General Assembly. After receiving the message from Tang Zhou, he set off immediately. He arrived at Baidi City yesterday. Today, Tang Zhou immediately summoned Yang Zhushan for the sake of Song Fuchen and his group.

Tang Zhou said in a deep voice: "The current situation is known by the sir. The Holy Lord and the Earth Master are fighting in Xijing, but they both want to pull me into the water, so I can't stand on the shore and watch the boat capsize."

Yang Zhushan said, "I had previously offered advice to the general, asking the general to leave the Qingyang General Assembly, which is too close to Xijing, and open to the Hongyang General Assembly, which is far away from Xijing, and want to avoid the muddy waters of Xijing. But now it is opened But the tree wants to be quiet but the wind does not stop. The general wants neither side to offend, but the result is that both sides offend, and in the end, no matter who wins, the general will not be spared. By then, they will not I will remember that the generals did not help each other, but I will only remember that the general was not standing on their side. It would be fine if it was someone else, but the general was in the northwest. As the saying goes, how can others snore beside the bed? How can Junhe Dishi tolerate the generals being free and free? When they decide the winner, there are only two ways before the generals. They either surrender or die, and there is no other choice."

Tang Zhou sighed: "What Mr. said is very true, so I urgently summoned Mr. to discuss countermeasures. Now the Holy Lord and the Earth Master's envoy have come to Baidi City, and they have all brought considerable sincerity. It is necessary to choose one party, so according to the teacher’s opinion, which side should we choose? .”

Yang Zhushan lowered his voice and asked, "Has the general accepted the sincerity of both sides?"

Tang Zhou nodded.

Yang Zhushan immediately understood Tang Zhou's intention. If he made up his mind to choose to stand on the side, he would immediately take action against the other party, and he would make a letter of fame, so he could accept both sincerity. Anyway, one party would be destined to be Kill everything, don’t do anything left by the dead.

Yang Zhushan pondered for a moment and said, "In theory, the general has an old relationship with the Song Zongzhu and was favored by the Song Zongzhu. The sage king inherited the old subordinates of the Song Zongzhu. In terms of love, the general should stand on the The Holy Lord's side is full of old friendships."

Tang and Zhou did not comment, and knew that Yangzhushan had some more details.

As expected, Yang Zhushan continued, "However, in theory, this is not the case. The reason why the Song Sect Master was able to take up the position of the leader of Wudao Sect was not only his own skills, but also his local master made great contributions. It was precisely because of the Earth Master that the Master Song Sect learned where the old master of Wudao Sect was retreating. From then on, the Earth Master began to secretly interfere in the affairs of Wudao Sect. Later, Yuxu fought the sword and the Master Song Sect After defeating Li Daoxu, he disappeared from now on. The Earth Master took this opportunity to win over and support his confidants in Wudao Sect. The Seven Killing Kings and the Hundred Barbarian Kings are the proof. From this point of view, even Song The sect leader is still alive, and the victory or defeat between the two sides is only 50% or 50%, not to mention that the sect leader of Song is missing. Now the territorial master is powerful and has more chances of winning."

Tang Zhou still didn't say anything. If it was that simple, there was no need for him to summon Yang Zhushan to discuss.

Yang Zhushan observed his words and expressions and immediately continued, "The Holy Lord also knows that the Earth Master is powerful, but he still dares to tear his face with the Earth Master. That means one thing: The Holy Lord has strong support, and Yan Feiqing and others who are in the city at this time People are the clear evidence, which shows that the great master Zhang Jingxiu has decided to temporarily abandon the dispute between good and evil, and fully support the saint king and the earth master to seize power. His intention is also very obvious. A great Zhou with unified government orders is far more important than a great Zhou with two schools. Because it is terrible, the intention of the Great Heavenly Master is to check and balance. At this moment, Li Daoxu of the Qingwei Sect also acquiesced to the Great Heavenly Master's actions and did not initiate a provocation at this time. It can be seen that the two major factions of the righteous path are checking and balancing the five northwest sects. On the other hand, it is consistent."

Tang Zhou finally felt something interesting and looked at him with concentration: "Please continue talking, sir."

Yang Zhushan stroked his beard gently: "General, you know that the position of our Qingyang Sect is a bit awkward. From the perspective of the entire Jianghu, although we are close to the five sects in the northwest, we are not considered to be members of the ten sects. We are alienated from the righteous path, and we are not a life-and-death feud. From the perspective of the northwest situation, the general is close to the Wudao Sect, and the general is close to the Earth Master. We are like grass in the cracks of stones. The reason why we can take root and sprout is because this stone is cracked. If the stone closes, how can we survive?"

Tang Zhou obviously accepted this and said in a deep voice: "What you said is the truth. If the five sects are unified, our life and death will not be in our own hands. Whether we live or die depends on the eyes of others. There will be no such good situation as now."

Yang Zhushan said softly: "General, at this point, we can't just look at the road ahead, but also think about the people behind us. Things in the world are nothing more than The word "advance and retreat" means that there is advance and there is retreat. There is absolutely no reason to advance without retreating. That is what the pawns on the chessboard would do. "

Tang Zhou looked at him closely and nodded: "That's the truth, but how to retreat?"

Yang Zhushan lifted his sleeve with one hand and wrote a word on the desk with his finger: "Advance as retreat."

Tang Zhou fell into deep thought: "Go on."

Yang Zhushan said slowly: "Our previous idea was to stand on the shore and watch the boat capsize. Since it doesn't work, why don't we take the initiative to attack, so that this cracked stone will never close, and we must make this crack bigger and bigger, so that we will have more room to grow. One day, our roots will be strong enough to completely split this stone in half. As the saying goes, a man who can bend and stretch is a real man. Singing and dying, everything is over. Living under someone else's roof at this time is to be able to take advantage of the wind in the future. "