"Prince, the man has been settled."

Prince Zhongyong's Mansion, Gao Jin came to the study room of the back house. After entering the door, he closed the door first. After he approached Yuan Qi, he whispered.

"Didn't you leave and reveal the news?" Yuan Qi asked.

"Please rest assured, I settled the person in the side courtyard of East Lane and sent reliable brothers to guard it. No outsiders would know about it." Gao Jin replied softly, Yuan Qi nodded slightly. Gao Jin was still very steadily doing things. Since he guaranteed Yuan Qi so much, he would feel at ease.

"But..." After Gao Jin finished speaking, hesitated and said, "I don't know if I should say it."

"You and my brother, just say whatever you want."

Gao Jin then said, "Qinggou is here to recruit the prince. Beizhi thinks it is better to make a long-term plan for this matter. Please think more about it."

"Don't worry." Yuan Qi smiled: "Qinggou's plan cannot be hidden from me. I am not a fool. I really think that I am Song Jiang is not successful? Now Nanjing has been taken away by the regent, and half of the Jiangnan area has almost fallen into the hands of my Ming Dynasty. In addition, I and Zhu Jiancai echo each other. Qinggou can't do anything to us for a moment, so he used this plan. If I guessed well, wait until Qinggou recovers, don't say anything about recruiting me, I'm afraid I'm eager to raise troops to take my head of the king's neck."

Hearing Yuan Qi say this, Gao Jin was relieved, but he is still a little confused. Since Yuan Qi has no idea of ​​attracting peace, why should he keep the envoy from the Qing court? Wouldn't it be better to just pull the visitor out and chop it?

"I have my own concerns about this matter. Just remember this king's instructions and give me a firm look at the person coming. Do not let anyone contact anyone. You will understand after a few days."

Since Yuan Qi gave such instructions and said so thoroughly, Gao Jin was relieved. After the two of them said a few more words, Gao Jin said goodbye and left. After Gao Jin left, Yuan Qi sat there and thought silently.

At this time, the Qing court suddenly sent someone to contact him and also used relatively large bargaining chips to attract him. This surprised Yuan Qi at the beginning, but after thinking about it carefully, he realized the intention of the Qing court. Just as he and Gao Jin said, now half of the Jiangnan area was lost due to Zhu Yicheng, and the power of Nanjing was suddenly sharp and huge. In addition, Zhejiang and Jiangsu's Qing army were basically defeated by the Ming army, and they lost more than 100,000 troops at once, which was a huge blow to the Qing court.

Not to mention anything else, it can be seen from the sudden reduction of pressure on Yuan Qi's side that before Nanjing was captured, the Qing army had mobilized a lot of troops to try to recapture Jiujiang to Wuchang and other places. However, when news of Nanjing's loss came, in order to protect the defense line in the north of the Yangtze River, the Qing army attacking Yuan Qi's troops quickly retreated, thus turning to defense from attack, and the two sides formed the current stalemate.

From this point of view, the fall of Jiangnan has caused the Qing army to lose sight of one thing and not be able to carry out large-scale military operations for the time being. Moreover, from the perspective of various forces in the world, the Qing court is still the first in the world, but the second is the Ming army in Nanjing. As for Yuan Qi and Zhu Jiancai, although the two units have a lot of troops, their elite level and influence cannot be compared with the previous two at all.

At this time, the Qing court suddenly sent people to recruit him to do so, but it was just a matter of two-handedness. One was to delay time and stabilize himself so that the Qing court could concentrate its efforts against Zhu Yicheng in Nanjing. The second was to have a date but no date. If Yuan Qi was really recruited, it would not only solve the current forces in the Jiujiang area of ​​Yuan Qi's army, but also drive Yuan Qi's army to turn the gun to deal with Zhu Jiancai and even Zhu Yicheng.

Although Yuan Qi didn't read much, he was not a fool. He had heard of the story of Water Margin. He thought about how powerful the 108 heroes in Liangshan were in the water, but it was ultimately ruined by Song Jiang's visit to the amnesty. After being recruited, the heroes of Liangshan first fought against the Liao Kingdom in the north and then fought against Fang La in the south. After two battles, they went to the ten pavilions and eight. In the end, even Song Jiang himself was killed by a pot of poisoned wine in the court. Since Yuan Qi knew the story, how could he repeat the same mistakes?

The reason why he kept people temporarily and sent Gao Jin to guard carefully and did not let the wind be revealed was that Yuan Qi was thinking about making some plans through this matter. Although his territory is not small now, he is in the four battles. To develop, he not only needs to open a road to Sichuan, but also requires a large amount of money and food. As for Sichuan, Yuan Qi has contacted the White Lotus lineage, but because the road from the Yangtze River to the entry of Sichuan is really difficult to walk, and the important places entering and leaving Sichuan are controlled by the Qing army, Yuan Qi is temporarily unable to plan the next step. In addition, after a few battles a few times, the food, grass and military pay in the controlled area was also slightly insufficient, which made Yuan Qi unable to further expand his troops, which restricted him.

For these reasons, Yuan Qi planned to use a general plan to seek some benefits from the Qing court's amnesty, and then use the other party to open up Sichuan in one fell swoop. When the two places are connected, Yuan Qi will no longer be afraid. He can attack and defend when the Qing court recruits him. He can also use the benefits of the Tianfu Kingdom to support his millions of troops, and then use the plan to seek the world.

It is impossible not to say that Yuan Qi's plan is still good. If it is really used properly, it may really achieve the goal he wants. Moreover, Yuan Qi has also carefully calculated that even if he beats and disperses, he will not lose any loss to him. Why not do it?

But Yuan Qi never expected that man's plan was not as good as God's plan. The secret he had contacted with the Qing envoy in private was no longer a secret to Zhou Zhongliang. Peng Rong, who came with a special mission, had told Zhou Zhongliang all the secret. Or while Yuan Qi was using the Qing court's plan, the other party was also using him, but Yuan Qi himself didn't know it.

"Did you see clearly?" Zhou Zhongliang's Grand Secretary's Mansion, Zhou Zhongliang's face was gloomy, and there was a person standing next to him. This person was his confidant subordinate. He had just come to tell him something. On the side courtyard in East Lane, Gao Jin sent a few people to guard it. There seemed to be some important person living in the side courtyard.

"Sir, I swear to see clearly about the sky. It was indeed the person arranged by General Gao himself. Before I came, General Gao went there specially, but he came out soon." The confidant replied firmly.

"You didn't let someone see you?" Zhou Zhongliang asked.

"Absolutely not! The villain followed you as you told me, and General Gao did not notice it. Otherwise, the villain would not stand in front of the adults now."

"Okay, you go down first, pay attention to me, and report any situation immediately!" Zhou Zhongliang sent the person away. He frowned for a long time before getting up, and then walked towards the backyard.

After a while, Zhou Zhongliang arrived at a remote place in the backyard, where his old friend Peng Rong lived. Peng Rong had previously revealed his intentions to him. When Zhou Zhongliang found out, he was shocked first, and then hesitated, but finally decided to temporarily put Peng Rong under house arrest here.

Peng Rong, who was under house arrest, was not panicked. He lived here leisurely as if nothing had happened afterwards. He drank tea, drink wine, and read books every day, which seemed extremely calm.

When Zhou Zhongliang's footsteps came, Peng Rong, who was looking through the book under the flower stand in the yard with a book excitedly, heard the footsteps and looked up, and immediately greeted with a smile: "Why are Brother Junchen interested in seeing me? Come on, I just made a pot of good tea. I was originally a guest. Today I will borrow Brother Junchen's place and this pot of tea to invite Brother Junchen to taste it."

Zhou Zhongliang said nothing and looked down on the lower left opposite Peng Rong, watching Peng Rong brewing a cup of tea for him with a tea set, then stretched out his fingers and twisted the teacup, put it under his nose and sniffed it, but he never tasted it.

"What? It seems that Brother Junchen is thinking? Has he confirmed what he said?" Seeing Zhou Zhongliang like this, Peng Rong asked with a smile.

"Peng Xiwen, tell me the truth, did you come here by using a knife to kill people or take advantage of the situation again?" Zhou Zhongliang put down his teacup and stared at Peng Rong in front of him with a sharp look.

Peng Rong calmly drank the tea in his hand first, and then said with a smile: "Brother Junchen is indeed meticulous and talented. I can't hide these tricks from Brother Junchen! But what if Brother Junchen knows? Is it wrong for what I said? I think now Brother Junchen knows what Prince Yuan has done in private. Once Prince Yuan joins my Qing Dynasty first, what will you do then? Brother Junchen?"

"Hmph!" Zhou Zhongliang snorted coldly and said, "So what if that is the case? Will Prince Yuan lose his life if he is recruited? It's ridiculous! As a subordinate of Prince Yuan, at worst, what if Prince Yuan has his own thoughts? No one can explain clearly before the matter is done. At that time, it's probably because you, Peng Xiwen, will find it difficult to protect yourself, so you should care about yourself first."

"Hahaha!" Hearing this, Peng Rong burst into laughter and said, "Brother Junchen's words are reasonable, but I would like to ask Brother Junchen, if Prince Yuan really trusts Brother Junchen, why are you different from his status and status as a brother? Instead, you should conceal the meeting in private? Can you really guarantee that Prince Yuan can protect you at that time? If that's the case, I, Peng Rong, will have nothing to say."

"This..." After hearing this, Zhou Zhongliang's face suddenly became unstable. He didn't know what to say for a moment. Yuan Qi is a cruel and decisive person, who can guarantee what Yuan Qi would plan? If Zhou Zhongliang was asked to bet on Yuan Qi, hoping to protect himself by relying on Yuan Qi's attention to him, I'm afraid Zhou Zhongliang would not even believe this.

However, he privately betrayed Yuan Qi and directly surrendered to the Qing court to win wealth and glory. Zhou Zhongliang could not afford such a big risk. The main reason was that although Zhou Zhongliang was not in the position of Yuan Qi's army, he did not have much strength.

Now Yuan Qi has nearly 100,000 troops, but except for most of the soldiers he has directly controlled, the rest of the troops are led by several confidants. As a civil servant, Zhou Zhongliang can mobilize only a thousand people. Although these thousand people seem to be quite a lot, compared with the 100,000 Yuan army, it is simply a striking stone with eggs.
Chapter completed!