Youzhou, which is later Beijing, has had an extremely important strategic position since ancient times. It is backed by Yanshan Mountain and facing the Hebei Plain in the south. It has the "moment of lifting a fur collar" like lifting a fur coat collar, and it can sweep the world to the south.

Youzhou also had an extremely important defensive role in the Great Sui Dynasty, defending against the Turks to the north and defending against the Khitan and Goguryeo to the northeast. It was an important northern military center of the Great Sui Dynasty. It belonged to the Shangzong Administration and had more than 40,000 standing troops under its jurisdiction.

Dou Kang, the chief magistrate of Youzhou, is the son of Duke Chen Guo, Dou Rongding. The Dou family belongs to the Guanlong military aristocratic group and is a famous family in the Sui Dynasty. Dou Kang's mother is Princess An Chengchang, and he has a cousin, Li Yuan's wife Dou.

Dou Kang was 40 years old this year and was appointed as the governor of Dingzhou. After Yan Rong, the general manager of Youzhou, was sentenced to death in August last year, he also served as the general manager of Youzhou.

Dou Kang was a powerful child of the court. In the battle between King Jin and Prince Yang Yong, he originally favored Prince Yang Yong. After Yang Yong was deposed, he was once in a state of confusion and his position was not so firm.

On the one hand, Dou Kang supported the new crown prince Yang Guang, and on the other hand, he secretly had a secret conversation with King Yang Liang of Han and had close contacts. This was also determined by the geographical location of Youzhou. The Youzhou under his jurisdiction was basically surrounded by Yang Liang's jurisdiction. Yang Liang also intends to win him over and send people to send ceremonial gifts every holiday.

Although King Yang Liang of Han deliberately attracted Dou Kang, Dou Kang was not stupid. In the past few years, he discovered that Yang Liang had the intention of rebellion and recruited troops to build weapons under the sī. This made him feel a little alert and did not dare to get too close to Yang Liang. However, he did not dare to reject Yang Liang's favor and implicitly expressed his support to Yang Liang, which made the relationship between them a little ambiguous.

In the General Administration, Dou Kang was walking back and forth in the room with his hands behind his back. His eyes were worried and nervous. A few days ago, he received news from Yang Liang. Yang Guang, who had just ascended the throne, had sent someone to arrest him. This made him extremely scared. He actually sent 15,000 troops to block the passages entering Youzhou and conduct strict inspections. Any pedestrians and merchants entering Youzhou were searching and did not let go of any suspicious persons. As long as they were carrying long weapons, they would be arrested immediately.

But ten days had passed at this time, and the troops he sent did not find anything, which made Dou Kang feel a little suspicious. Is there anyone who came to arrest him? Could this be a rumor that Yang Liang deliberately released, with the purpose of forcing him to raise the flag to support him.

Dou Kang stopped and looked at the staff member Shao Ziwen standing next to him, and asked, "Sir, do you think this is true or not?" Shao Ziwen is only in his early thirties and is extremely thin. He was born into the Shao family of Daizhou. However, because his mother was a dowry maid, he was humble. He was poor since childhood and was discriminated against by his clan members. At the age of thirteen, his mother died of poverty and illness, which made him deeply assassinated. He vowed to make his debut and never be poor anymore. He began to study hard, and achieved success in his studies ten years later. He was recommended to be a junior in Yanmen County, Daizhou.

Official.

But he felt that the minor official Dai salary was meager and had no future. Three years later, he abandoned his post and came to Dingzhou to join his mentor Lu Huan. Lu Huan was the magistrate of Suichang County at that time. Knowing that the student had outstanding talent and knowledge, he recommended him to Dou Kang, the governor of Dingzhou at that time.

After a conversation, Dou Kang felt that he was talented, and from then on, Shao Ziwen became Dou Kang's aide, and he followed him, and his status and life gradually improved.

Shao Ziwen knew very well that Dou Kang was in conflict, so he stroked his beard and smiled: "If the emperor really sent someone to capture the envoy, it would be very secretive. How could the King of Han get this news? He said nothing, which means that the news was fake and might be too large. The purpose was to make the envoy despair of the court and thus help him rebel. Of course, it might also be true, but the humble official thought that whether it was true or false, the envoy should be cautious and would rather kill a hundred people by mistake than let one person go."

Dou Kang nodded, "It would rather kill a hundred people by mistake than let one person go." This sentence was right, and he asked again: "How should I stand in the capture of the throne by the King of Han and the court?"

Shao Ziwen had already thought about it for him, and just waited for him to ask himself. Shao Ziwen narrowed his eyes slightly and whispered: "In fact, this war is a battle between brothers to seize the throne. From the comparison of strength, I thought that the court and the King of Han each had their own advantages, but if they were favored by the people, the King of Han had no advantage. After all, he was a prince rebelled. The King of Han had no chance of winning in this war, but for the envoy, he could not support the court. If the envoy supports the court, the King of Han would first deal with the envoy. In the end, although the King of Han was defeated, the envoy was

But he destroyed first, and the envoy would not deserve the loss. Therefore, according to his subordinates' opinions, choosing neutrality is the most reliable. He did not help the court or the King of Han. In the end, if the court was defeated, he would raise troops to support the Han. If the King of Han was defeated, he would raise troops to attack Hedong. Although there would not be great achievements, there would not be any major mistakes. What do you think? "Dou Kang suddenly realized, and he suddenly opened his mind. He hurriedly bowed to Shao Ziwen deeply. "Sir, it is a golden and jade word, and I should remember it in my heart." At this moment, a report came from the door, "Master, report important things!"

"Come in!"

The door opened, and a personal guard walked into the room. He knelt down on one knee to salute. "Report to the general, an army of 300 people came from the west city. It was an envoy sent by the King of Han. If there is an important matter, he would like to see the general." Dou Kang frowned. He was afraid that Yang Liang would send someone to see him. This was obviously to force him to express his opinion. Dou Kang had just decided not to support both sides, and now he was a little shaken. He looked at Shao Ziwen, and Shao Ziwen smiled and said, "As long as you stick to the bottom line, it doesn't matter if you meet."

"Yes!" Dou Kang snorted and asked, "Who is the person who came?" It is Ma Shenjun, the official in the Han Palace, who is guarded by the side general Sun Yaowu."

"Ma Shenjun?, this name Dou Kang has heard of. It seems that he is the deputy general of the inner administration of the Han Palace. He has followed the Han Palace for many years. However, Dou Kang has never seen this person before, but Sun Yaowu knew that he was the general who commanded the King of Jin.

"Maintain..."

The guard stuttered: "There is something strange. Just now I was about to report it, and another news came. A team of Han King's envoys came outside the southern city, about a hundred people. The envoys were Han Zhiguo, the warehousekeeper of the General Administration of the Han King. They came from the well." Dou Kang was stunned and actually two teams of envoys came. What's going on?

He looked at Shao Ziwen as if he wanted help.

Shao Ziwen was also a little confused. He couldn't figure out how two teams of envoys would appear. They were just one general administration and the other was the Hanwang Mansion. It seemed that they were not the same system. After a while, Shao Ziwen said: "It's okay to meet him. However, if the envoy wants to be more cautious, he can first place them outside the city and then quickly send someone to ask the Hanwang for verification. The truth will naturally be revealed."

Dou Kang thought of Yang Guang's arrest, and he became cautious and cautious. "Okay! According to the words of the gentleman, they will be placed in the outskirts of the city first, and then they will be asked by Yang Liang." He immediately ordered: "It's too late, so they will be placed in the outskirts of the city first, and I will say that I am not feeling well and will meet them again the next day."

Two teams of envoys, one of which was placed at the Sanggan River Station to the west, and the other was placed at the Langhuocheng Station to the south. Neither side was able to enter the city. At this moment, they did not know each other's existence.

The envoys placed at the Sanggan River Station were naturally Yang Yuanqing and his group. With the help of Li Jing, they forged Yang Liang's letters, selected a soldier who looked like Sun Yaowu from the army, and found a Northern Zhou eunuch in Lingqiu, and the group disguised as Yang Liang's special envoy.

It should be said that Yang Yuanqing's plan is not excellent. When Yang Guang's arrest strategy has been leaked, it is really difficult to arrest Dou Kang again. It is not only difficult, but also extremely risky. Once Dou Kang sees it through, they will have life worries.

But Yang Yuanqing had no choice. Hua could not return to the capital because of fear of failure. They could only take the risk and act according to the opportunity. Their plan was to enter Youzhou City first and capture Dou Kang at night.

But risks often go a long way. Just when they are about to go to the city to take risks, unexpected things happen. The real messenger of Yang Liang comes, causing their plan to enter the city to be set.

The Sanggan River is about ten miles west of Youzhou City. It is the largest river in Youzhou. It flows directly into the Bohai Sea and is also the most important irrigation river in Youzhou. On both sides of the river are endless fertile fields, and three stone bridges span the river surface about five meters wide.

The Sanggan River Inn is located next to the largest stone bridge. More than 300 people filled the entire inn. The postmaster has received an order to entertain the envoys of the King of Han. They exhausted all the ingredients and took up a twelve-point spirit to serve these arrogant envoys.

In the room, Yang Yuanqing was chatting with Yicheng slowly. Yicheng's surname was Wang, who was a native of Youzhou. He was about fifty years old and had his family with his family. He relied on his little bit of Dai's wealth to support his family. Yang Yuanqing directly gave him two hundred yuan to hang money, which immediately made Wang Yicheng's enthusiasm so much that he wanted to tell Yang Yuanqing everything he knew.

"So that is, most of the Youzhou army is stationed in the city, and the camps outside the city are basically empty. Is that true?"

Yang Yuanqing asked while smiling, while putting dozens of hangs of money on the table. Wang Yicheng was knowledgeable and his busy work every day was to deal with various people. Of course, he knew that some things could not be said, especially confidential information such as military deployment. How could he tell the people of the King of Han casually? But he knew this information, and even more so, he could not refuse the money that Fang had just put on the table. Judging from the size of the pile of money, it was at least fifty hangs.

"This is mainly because there was a heavy rain a month ago. The military camp outside the city has been disrepaired for a long time and has destroyed a lot. Half a month ago, General Dou decided to rebuild the large camp outside the city, so most of the troops moved into the city temporarily. As far as I know, there are only about 3,000 troops outside the city, but the military camp is probably about to be repaired."

"So that's it! I get it."

Yang Yuanqing asked again with a smile: "I heard that General Manager Dou has a confidant aide with the surname Shao. What kind of person is this person?"

This time, Yang Yuanqing took out a piece of gold, weighing about two taels and put it on the table. The yellow luster flashed Wang Yicheng's eyes into a crack. He couldn't help but swallow. He was about to answer, but Yang Yuanqing suddenly saw his subordinate Jia San wave to him at the door, so he stood up and smiled and said, "Yi Cheng, wait for a moment, I will come soon." He quickly walked out of the room and asked in a low voice: "What's the matter?" Jia San said to him with his ears: "Li Zixiong has arrived." Li Zixiong is the new general manager of Youzhou appointed by Yang Guang, and Yang Su's old subordinate, responsible for collecting the soldiers from Youzhou, and Yang Yuanqing is responsible for arresting Dou Kang. The two cooperated with each other.

Yang Yuanqing nodded, "Please wait for him to come to my room, I'll arrive soon."
Chapter completed!