Son of Song Dynasty

Chapter 164 Two-pronged approach
Li Jianan offered two strategies:
"Your Majesty! That day, the King of Shui County... Zhao Dezhao, when he got the news that the Holy Majesty had fainted due to a sudden illness, he must have ridden lightly on a fast horse and rushed to the capital day and night. For us, it's just waiting for work."

"I think that we can set up an ambush to kill him on the only way to return to Beijing, so as to avoid future troubles!"

"The specific method: one is to lay an ambush at the place where the official road must pass by, pretending to be a bandit, and intercept and kill Zhao Dezhao; the other is to get off the boat at Dongting Lake, and when Zhao Dezhao is crossing the water, create an accident of sinking the boat and falling into the water."

"Which one does your majesty think is more certain to choose?"

Zhao Guangyi nodded slowly, his eyes sparkled, and he said in a low voice, "This king thinks that the two-pronged approach is the most secure! But there is one thing, that is, the forbidden army in the capital cannot be used. There are too many people and people, and it is difficult to keep it secret. It is necessary to protect the places along the way." Now, it will be safer for the king's generals to take action at last."

"This is easy to handle. I already have a suitable candidate. On the land route, I will use the Henan Provincial Army and Horse Commander Zhu Wencheng, and on the Dongting Lake water route, I will use the Yuezhou Regiment to train the envoy Zhang Xianze. With these two, the event will be accomplished!"

Zhao Guangyi frowned and thought, but he couldn't remember these two people.

"These two...are safe?"

"Your Majesty! I think these two are the safest! They are not officials who have just passed the imperial examinations. They have talents and virtues in their ancestors, but they themselves have no skills. Such a person who came from an official background will basically be the current position in this life, not only It is impossible to get promoted, and once you get old, you will be replaced immediately."

"As long as you give them a little bit of sweetness, they will never refuse this opportunity to be promoted."

Zhao Guangyi nodded. The temptation of power is indeed irresistible, and he himself has a deep understanding of this.

"Jian'an! I'll leave this matter to you. Be sure to keep it clean!"
-
At the same time, Zhao Dezhao, King of Tianshui County, has arrived in Yuezhou on a light horse.

None of the fifty cavalry was left behind.

As soon as Zhao Dezhao arrived in Yuezhou, he immediately sent someone to report to Yu Bai, who had been relegated to Yuezhou as the magistrate, and asked him to quickly arrange a boat to cross Dongting Lake in advance.

As soon as Yu Bai heard that the Prince of Tianshui had arrived, he didn't dare to neglect him. He immediately ordered Zhang Xianze, the envoy of the Yuezhou regiment, to lead his reliable men to protect the safety of the Prince.

They quickly arranged for boats to cross the lake.

Coincidentally, Zhang Xianze received Yu Bai's order on the front foot, and immediately received a secret letter from Li Jianan on the back foot.

Li Jianan made it clear in the letter that he promised him a high-ranking official and generous salary, and asked him to carry it out.

Zhang Xianze mobilized his staff while going home to clean up, hesitating all the time in his heart.

His wife, Mrs. Li, found something wrong and asked him why.

"Ma'am, to tell you the truth, I am facing great joy and disaster, so I am undecided."

As soon as he told Li Shi about the situation, Li Shi was immediately moved, and Zhang Xianze was even more anxious.

"King Jin is famous all over the world, so of course you have to follow King Jin in this matter! That day, King Shuijun was young, did he have any capable veterans and helpers around him, unlike King Jin, who had so many ministers of civil and military affairs around him that he couldn't count."

"You mean, dare to act according to Li Jian'an's letter?" Zhang Xianze was finally moved.

"Of course!" Li said resolutely, "You don't even think about it. Since Li Jian'an's letter has been read by you, it has already put you in a circle. If you don't do anything, can you survive afterwards?"

Zhang Xianze woke up like a dream, "That's right! Since King Jin has already shown his cards to me, if I don't follow through, there will be no life left!"

Zhang Xianze had made up his mind, and immediately summoned his confidantes, apparently following Yu Bai's order to protect Zhao Dezhao, but in fact, he had already decided to send the Tianshui County King to the Dragon King on the lake.

Zhao Dezhao hurried on his horse and arrived at the foot of Yuezhou City. Yu Bai had already greeted him by the official road.

"The king of the county is here, and the old minister is very honored!" Yu Bai respectfully saluted, and then taught his son to come to see Zhao Dezhao together.

Yu Bai's son, Yu Qiushi, is in his early twenties. He just passed the imperial examination last year. He is now a candidate at home. Once there is a vacancy, he will fill in.

So father and son are regarded as father and son officials.

Zhao Dezhao smiled commendably.

"The old man is good at teaching his children, he is really a role model for my Song Dynasty!"

"I'm just going to rest here for a while, and I have to hurry soon, so I won't go to the house."

Yu Bai was taken aback, he had already prepared food and wine in the mansion, and he was thinking of welcoming Zhao Dezhao.

"Is the county king in such a hurry? The old minister will also accompany you!"

"No need, my king is in a hurry, so I have to leave now."

But Yu Bai insisted on following, and asked Yu Qiushi to simply bring some bacon water bags, and the father and son insisted on serving Zhao Dezhao with them to Beijing.

His intention was first to thank Zhao Dezhao for his kindness, and to be optimistic about the future of the county king. He wanted his son Yu Qiushi to get acquainted with His Majesty the county king earlier, which would be of great benefit in the future.

Zhao Dezhao couldn't postpone it in every possible way. Seeing that it was not early, he had no choice but to agree.

The group took a breath and immediately rushed to the lake to board the boat.

More than fifty people sat in three boats.

Zhao Dezhao was anxious and sat on the first boat. Yu Bai and his son were on the second boat.

Zhang Xianze took dozens of his confidantes and escorted him on an official ship.

Yu Bai is an old minister, he followed the rules in everything, ordered the boat to follow behind, and dared not go parallel with the county king.

This time Zhang Xianze was in a daze, he didn't know which boat the Prince of Tianshui was on.

He guessed it should be the one in the middle, so the boat went to the middle of the lake and winked.

Immediately, a few men with good water skills, barefoot and lightly clothed, with short knives in their teeth, swam water to dig the bottom of Yu Bai's boat.

"Qiushi! Can you hear it? What is this sound? Why is the boat shaking!"

The boat was not big, and Yu Bai and his son immediately noticed the sound of digging the boat.

"Father! That's not good! It's not that the news of the county king's return to the capital was leaked, causing the thieves to want to kill the king!"

"Bold thief! How dare you kill the king!"

Yu Bai's anxious voice trembled, and he immediately ordered someone to shout, telling Zhao Dezhao on the front boat to be careful, and calling on the back boat to come forward and rescue him.

Zhang Xianze gritted his teeth and said, "This old guy! He actually wants to fight against King Jin and let you die before his eyes."

Order people to drive a boat to hit it.

However, ever since Yu Bai arrived in Yuezhou, he has lightened the burden on the people and solved difficult cases repeatedly. He has already gained great popularity here. The officers and soldiers on the official ship, seeing that the ship was actually Yu Bai Zhizhou, hesitated and did not dare to come forward to do harm. .

Jiang An, the captain of Zhao Dezhao's personal guard, was on the third boat. Seeing the critical situation, he immediately approached Zhang Xianze's official boat.

Zhao Dezhao's front boat rowed desperately to the opposite bank.

"Fire the arrow!" When Zhang Xianze saw that the matter was revealed, he could not care about anything else. He only hoped to shoot Zhao Dezhao to death so that the King of Jin would have an explanation.

Arrows rained down on the official boat, and the boatman on Yu Bai's boat died and immediately lay across the lake.

"Father!" Yu Qiushi covered Yu Bai regardless of his own life and death, and was shot with more than a dozen arrows. He died tragically on the boat like a hedgehog.

(End of this chapter)