The Grandmaster Strategist

The cargo ship I want to board departs from Zhenze Lake and goes north along the Jiangnan Canal to Jingkou. This is a ship that transports grain and grass from Wuxi to Huaidong. The battle in Huaidong last autumn was just before the autumn harvest, because The Yong army invaded the territory, resulting in no harvest. After Huaidong was recovered by Nanchu, the two armies faced off and were in urgent need of food and grass. At least before the summer harvest, Huaidong's food and grass had to be dispatched by Jiangnan. Therefore, since the end of last year, there has been an endless stream of grain transport ships from Wuyue to Huaidong, including official grain and private grain. Among them, grain ships transporting from Wuxi accounted for more than 60%. Businesses such as grain shops are mostly under the control of aristocratic families, but this does not prevent the trading houses controlled by Tianji Pavilion from doing a side job and buying ten or eight ships of grain in Wuyue and transporting it to Huaidong for sale. This is a very common thing. Things, there are an endless stream of such ships on the canal, naturally no one will know that there are a few extra stowaways on one of the specially-made cargo ships that should not exist.

On the surface, this cargo ship is no different from an ordinary cargo ship, but it has tampered with the design and added a secret room in the cabin, which can carry some valuable private goods. Now, I am one of the stowaways. Xiao Shunzi became the boy next to the grain ship steward (Shanzi). He only had to change his appearance. Only a few people in the world could see his depth, so there was no need to worry that anyone would find out his identity. Hu Yanshou and the other four guards were all banned from 70 to 80% of their martial arts skills by Xiao Shunzi, and then were thrown on the ship to do coolies. Anyway, after putting on the boatman's coarse clothes, his eyes dimmed, and except for his taller stature, it was impossible to tell that he was a soldier with martial arts skills. As the Donghai Navy moved south, these people had already overcome the difficulty of seasickness. This time, I specially sent someone to train them how to sail for a long time. As long as they didn't talk nonsense, they could barely act as boatmen and handymen. These guards are all dedicated, shrewd and capable sergeants, otherwise they would not be selected into the Tiger Guard. If they work hard, they will be among the best boatmen by the time they get off the boat. In fact, it’s not that I didn’t care about Hu Yanshou’s face, so I asked him to become a boatman. It’s just that the secret room on the boat is a little smaller. It’s okay for one person, but it would be too crowded if there was another one.

This secret room is only two feet in diameter, with only one bed, one table and one chair. In addition, there is only a small open space for people to stretch their muscles. Although the ventilation is quite good, there is even a small connecting room. Toilet, but after all, it is not comfortable enough, especially for someone like me who is used to enjoying it. But there is nothing I can do. Huaidong is no better than Wu Yue. If I make any mistakes in public, I won’t be able to escape even if I want to, so I can only feel aggrieved and hide in the secret room. This was also the condition for Xiao Shunzi to agree to my sneaking into Nanchu. . Thinking that I need to stay here for ten days and a half, I am complaining endlessly. Although Hu Yanshou and the others are pitiful, at least they can still see the light of day. Xiao Shunzi can wander around freely. With his martial arts, he is in You can go for a walk on the shore and come back without being noticed. Such a strong contrast is really depressing.

Looking at the luminous pearls embedded in the bulkhead, I felt a sense of joy in my heart. Although the ventilation of this secret room is not bad, it would be unbearable if the lights were lit for a long time. But there is no skylight here. If you don't light the lights, you will not be able to see. Five Fingers, if someone else is hiding inside, they can only endure it for a while. But Shanzi is very smart. He temporarily added a small mechanism on the wall to embed a few luminous pearls. In this way, the pearly light in the room is bright. Although it is not as bright as the sky, the line of sight is unobstructed. Even if you want to read a book, you will not feel that the light is too bright. Dark, if this were not the case, how could I have endured these ten days?

Putting down the book, I sighed again. It was so lonely. Maybe it was a habit. I used to like silence the most, but now I feel particularly intolerable to loneliness. It’s true that Xiao Shunzi left me and went off alone. It’s strange to say that if he was by my side, even if he didn’t say a word for a day, I wouldn’t feel lonely. I tossed and turned on the bed several times, and finally couldn’t bear it anymore. Stop, jump out of bed, pace on the floor, turn around a few times,

Feeling more and more stuffy, I wanted to go out for some fresh air, but thinking that I had an appointment with Xiao Shunzi and couldn't leave the secret room on the way, I could only feel sad. Just when I was extremely troubled, the small door of the secret room slid open silently, and Xiao Shunzi ducked in, holding a food box in his hand.

I was so happy that when Xiao Shunzi put the food box on the table and was about to go out, I pulled him and said, "Eat with me. It's not too late to go out after eating." Xiao Shunzi glanced at me, but He ignored me and just took out the dishes and bowls and chopsticks from the food box. I was overjoyed when I saw that there were two sets of bowls and chopsticks. Xiao Shunzi was really loyal and knew that I was bored, so he went out to eat with me. , thinking of this, he quickly took two teacups and put them on the table, and then diligently picked up the pot and poured tea. He was ready to please him, but he didn't notice the smile flashing in Xiao Shunzi's eyes.

After finishing the meal, I saw Xiao Shunzi clearing away the dishes. Thinking that he was going to go out for a stroll again, I felt so depressed that I lay down on the couch, turned inward, and stared at the wall in a daze. . Not long after, I heard the sound of Xiao Shunzi leaving, and I cursed more and more in my heart. If he wanted to leave, he could definitely do it silently, but why did he make such a noise? You don't mean to anger me, but think about me. He was not allowed to kill Ding Ming and Ding Ming without telling him the reason. No wonder he was so angry with me. While I was thinking wildly, Xiao Shunzi's cold voice came from behind me: "How about a game of chess?"

I was overjoyed and quickly turned over and sat up. I had completely forgotten about the last time I was killed by Xiao Shunzi and I was so sweaty that I vowed not to play chess with him again. I said in a hurry: "You are not allowed to go back on your word, at least three games."

Xiao Shunzi smiled slightly, with a warm expression on her delicate face that had restored her true appearance. This was a rare expression these days.

Only halfway through the game, I frowned again and smiled bitterly as I looked at the board where Xiao Shunzi had been killed to pieces. I raised my head and saw Xiao Shunzi's friendly expression, so I bravely said: " There's no point in playing chess, let's just chat?" Xiao Shunzi's eyes flashed and he said calmly: "What are you talking about?"

I smiled and said, "You can do anything. You can ask whatever you want or say anything. It's rare to be so leisurely and there are no outsiders around."

I thought in my heart that if Xiao Shunzi asked, I could explain to him the reason for my reckless behavior these days, so as not to make him unhappy. Unexpectedly, Xiao Shunzi thought for a while and said: "Young Master proposed to the emperor to go south with the navy. The emperor asked him why. He only said that he wanted to make the Chu army misunderstand that the main direction of our army's attack was Wu Yue. Thinking about it today, the master really wanted to go south. The reason is not just that, firstly, you want to reconcile with the Jing family, and secondly, you want to share the pressure from Marquis Jiang, right?"

I picked up a chess piece, played with it in my hand and said with a smile: "It is true that I want to reconcile with the Jing family. Even if someone else comes, I can show mercy to the Jing family. Unfortunately, I know that my uncle is stubborn and tough. If I can't To resolve the knot with my uncle, the Jing family must never be used by our army, but the emperor would not trust me to return to Jiaxing, so I did not mention it. As for sharing the pressure on Haitao, what can I say? "

Xiao Shunzi said calmly: "This is the first time that the Donghai Navy has gone to war since they surrendered to Dayong. The victory or defeat is very important. Wuyue is the essence of Southern Chu. Even if it succeeds for a while, it will inevitably encounter setbacks. Moreover, as a king, If you are a master who implements the strategy of sea banditry, you may be vulnerable to criticism. Even if no one says anything now, it will be a serious crime when it happens in the future. The young master will go south together and first propose a strategy to rob Wu and Yue. In this way, if someone wants to in the future If you want to blame this, you must take into account the position of the young master. By doing this, the young master is not sharing the pressure for Jiang Hou?"

I smiled and said nothing, and Xiao Shunzi continued: "Actually, if the Donghai Navy had not been the best at landing and plundering, even if the young master had made a plan and prepared an accurate map of Wu and Yue, it would not have been possible to complete such a mission in just over ten days. If Jiang Hou was not prepared to do this, he would not have prepared so many offshore warships, and the robbery process would not be so clean and tidy. Although the young master now has the credit for offering the strategy, Jiang Hou executed the strategy so well Perfection is already an eternal achievement, but the young master takes the possible attacks upon himself, not knowing whether it will be a blessing or a disaster in the future."

After looking at me, Xiao Shunzi added: "Young Master has naturally considered the consequences of doing this. If you lose the emperor's heart in the future, some people will inevitably criticize you for this. But naturally, Young Master will not take these things to heart. On the contrary, it is Jiang Hou. He is young and energetic. If he and Dayong are separated because of this, it will be a pity for this navy that spans all over the world. And as long as Jiang Hou is fine, Haishi Shipping will not be affected, and we will have a way out. But he can retire, so the young master no longer cares about his reputation, but takes on the responsibility of providing advice."

Hearing this, I couldn't help but smile and said: "The cunning rabbit has three holes. This is also the way to protect yourself."

Xiao Shunzi smiled slightly and added: "If the young master just wants to leave a way out, he can stay in Dinghai and wait until the weather is calm before returning to the north and return to the Central Plains. But the young master is determined to cross the Chu territory alone and go to Huaidong."

My face turned red and I said, "Didn't I explain this before?"

Xiao Shunzi said: "Young Master has indeed explained to me that in March this year, the Jiangnan march will be built, and the Young Master still needs to go to his post. Once the Southern Chu army knows that the Young Master is in Dinghai, the Ninghai camp will definitely block the way to the north. In a short time, Within the time, the young master cannot go north. Even if he is escorted by the navy, he will inevitably be attacked by Ninghai. If the young master stays in Dinghai, it will inevitably delay the military aircraft and make the emperor dissatisfied with the young master’s original decision to go south. In order to rush for time and for safety reasons, it is better to It is safer to walk on land under the cover of Tianji Pavilion."

I smiled and said, "That's it. I didn't lie."

Xiao Shunzi glanced at me and said: "Of course you didn't lie, you just avoided the important. You left Dinghai not for the military affairs of Jiangnan, but for Jiang Hou. If you have the young master in Dinghai for one day, all Jiang Hou's achievements will be lost." I can't help but discount it. Jiang Hou and the young master are called masters and apprentices, but they serve the young master like a father and a brother. Naturally, the young master does not want to damage Jiang Hou's prestige, so he leaves Dinghai in a hurry. As for keeping the young master Cong, the first reason is to cause the young master to still The false appearance in Dinghai, secondly, let Mr. Cong assist Jiang Hou. Although Mr. Cong is young, he has a calm mind. Although Jiang Hou is brave and good at fighting, he is a bit energetic. If compared with Lu Can, he may not be as good as him, but with Mr. Cong With assistance, we will definitely be able to stabilize the situation in Dinghai, and even if there is a small setback, we will not suffer major damage."

I sighed softly and said, "There is another reason, but you didn't guess it."

Xiao Shunzi raised his eyebrows and said, "Master, are you saying that this time is also to test Master Cong?"

I was stunned for a moment and said with a smile, "Have you thought of this too?"

Xiao Shunzi said: "Young Master Cong's background is unknown, but he is the most beloved by him. He can't bear to press him for questioning. However, in recent years, Young Master Cong has been highly regarded by the Crown Prince and Prince Jia. He will definitely become an important minister of Great Yong in the future. With Cong With the young master's ability and talent, it is not difficult for him to dominate the government. This is nothing at all. It's just that the young master is worried about the rift between him and Dayong. This time, he deliberately left him alone in Dinghai, unlike before. Being restrained by his side, he was suddenly free, and it was inevitable that he would reveal what was in his heart. The young master must have left a secret agent in the Huben Guards to monitor Mr. Cong's behavior. If anything unusual was discovered, he could ask Jiang Hou to put him under house arrest. . Dinghai is isolated overseas. Even if Mr. Cong does something inappropriate, it will be difficult to affect the overall situation. Moreover, even if something happens, Jiang Hou can be asked to help cover up the truth and prevent it from being leaked. The reason why Mr. Cong acts like this is to test Cong. Young Master, it is also to protect Young Master Cong in case of emergency. I only hope that Young Master Cong can understand Young Master’s feelings and not do anything that would make him angry or unhappy."

I sighed after hearing this. I have been delaying Cong'er's matter for many years, but now I can't continue to ignore it. The prince has begun to get involved in military affairs. If there is something wrong with Cong'er, I will give him a high position. He had to figure it out before.

But Xiao Shunzi said something astonishing: "These things are easy to understand. It's just the relationship between the young master and Na Ding Ming and Ku Zhuzi that made me puzzled. But today I suddenly figured it out. So I also want to ask the young master if he is right?"

Hearing this, I was very interested. In the past few days, I thought Xiao Shunzi was angry because of this matter. Unexpectedly, he was thinking of reasons for me. I wanted to hear if he understood what I meant. I sat up straight. His body and face showed a look of attentive listening.

Xiao Shunzi said calmly: "At first, the young master was just happy to see Xun Xin and wanted to hang out with talented people. Who knew that after the two of them got on the boat, the young master learned their identities and wanted to take advantage of them. I was originally worried about a person like the young master. , rare in the world, if they think carefully, they will inevitably think of the true identity of the young master, so they advocate killing the two people, but the young master does not allow me to do it, and only hints that I add poison to the boiling water for the third brewing tea, and then The kiss was done to make the two of them faint, and they left a token, hinting at the identity of the master of the Tianji Pavilion. Only then did I understand the master's meaning. The master of the Tianji Pavilion was mysterious and legendary. They knew that the master was the master of the Tianji Pavilion. After that, no matter what strange flaw it is, it can be explained in their opinion, and naturally they will not think of the true identity of the young master. The purpose of the young master's marriage ceremony is to make them mistakenly think that the young master poisoned him personally, but they naturally cannot see it. If they had any clues, they would think that the young master is hiding something secretly. In this case, they would not even think that the young master is Jiang Zhe and Jiang Suiyun. Everyone in the world knows that the young master is a weak scholar. But I don't understand why the young master bothers to keep them. Could it be that his life was just because of Ding Ming’s heartfelt words?”

I smiled faintly, with a cunning look in my eyes. I was proud of the plan I came up with, and I also laughed secretly at Xiao Shunzi who only saw the surface of the article. Unexpectedly, Xiao Shunzi also smiled slightly and continued: "So I have been thinking hard these days, and finally I figured out the whole thing, because what they want to do is also what the master wants to do, and they do It's even more effective to do it with half the effort, so the young master would rather risk revealing his identity to let these two people go. However, although the means are the same, the purpose is completely different. They want to protect the people of the Southern Chu State, but the young master's purpose is In order to weaken and eradicate the Wuyue family.

The young master was born in Jiaxing, and 40% of the Tianji Pavilion property is in Wuyue. Although the young master is living abroad, he has never forgotten his hometown. This time the young master proposed a plan to rob Wu Yue. I am afraid some people criticized the young master for not thinking about his hometown, but they didn't know that the young master A lot of hard work.

In the young master's mind, the Wuyue family is really the biggest obstacle. One of the main reasons for the decline of Nanchu is the struggle between the royal family and the aristocratic families. For the young master, it is harmful and useless for the aristocratic family to be in power. Nowadays, most of the other aristocratic families in Nanchu are withered. Only in the land of Wu and Yue, because they were far away from war and ocean trade, the power of the family became stronger and stronger. Since the young master has voted for Dayong, he naturally does not want Dayong to make the same mistake again in the future, so the Wuyue family must be purged. However, after Dayong unified the world, the Wuyue family will definitely surrender. No matter whether it is true or false, if the purge is carried out at that time, I am afraid that the people of Jiangnan will be unstable. The emperor is the British master and will not condone the Wuyue family. The Wuyue family refuses to surrender. Provoking a civil uprising will turn the splendid rivers and mountains into a sea of ​​​​blood and slaughterhouses, and the dance pavilions and singing platforms will be reduced to broken tiles and ruins. I am afraid that it will be difficult for the land of Wuyue to recover within a few decades. Therefore, the young master thought hard and decided on the strategy of capturing Wu Yue.

On the surface, this strategy was only to weaken Wu Yue's resistance, and also to allow Dinghai to confront Wu Yue for a long time. In fact, there are three benefits. First, in order to worry about Yong's army landing again, the Wu Yue family will eventually organize private soldiers to fight against the Yong army, so that the Wu Yue family's force can be eliminated in the battle; second, the two sides will fight for a long time, and they will form a deep hatred. It was tragic and there were many casualties. After Dayong went south, he could use the reason that the Wuyue family resisted the king's master to clean them up. After overthrowing the nest, there were no eggs left. This was an aboveboard and aboveboard move. The Wuyue family wanted to provoke a civil uprising. They will also not get the support of civilians who are tired of the war; thirdly, the prince robs the Jiaxing family and brings it to Putuo, which can destroy the family system within a few years and make it a force that meets the needs of Dayong. After Dayong unified the world, , moved these people back to Wuyue, and they became the foundation and support for Dayong to rule Wuyue. In this way, the young master can not only achieve the purpose of cleaning up the Wuyue family, but also save the lives and fortunes of tens of thousands of soldiers and civilians in Wuyue. If he didn't care about his hometown, why would the young master go to such painstaking efforts and even bear the notoriety.

It was because the young master intended to let Hu Yanshou see the power of Tianji Pavilion that he wanted to warn the emperor through him. Although the people of Wu and Yue have a docile temperament, they are brave and dare to die. Since ancient times, they have the most assassin swordsmen. Dayongzong destroyed Nanchu, but it is impossible to stabilize Jiangnan without ten years of pacification and suppression. Yes, the young master must have been worried that the emperor would adopt a tough policy because of Wu Yue's undercurrent of resistance, so he warned the emperor intentionally or unintentionally. It's just that in this way, the young master has given himself another crime of plotting to kill a dead soldier, and revealed his hidden strength. This always makes me feel a little uneasy. If the emperor intends to hide everything, how can the young master respond? "

I just feel that my heart is very happy. Although I have thought about these thoughts thousands of times in my mind, I can't sue the king and father of heaven and earth, I can't sue my wife, relatives and friends, and I can't tell the ghosts and gods. I can only figure it out by myself. , although Xiao Shunzi is close, I don't want to mess with his mind. These days, it has been really bitter and unspeakable. Along the way north, although I didn’t see many outsiders, I could vaguely hear some people talking about Yong’s army’s robbery of Wu and Yue. Most of the people who mentioned it regarded me as a traitor and betrayed my country, and abused me. Although I didn’t realize this , and my heart is also miserable. Unexpectedly, Xiao Shunzi could know my thoughts without my explicit words. He has rarely cared about worldly affairs except for martial arts. This time, he must have noticed the depression in my heart, so he exposed my difficulties and used them to comfort me. to me.

Suppressing the turmoil in my heart, I said as calmly as possible: "It doesn't matter. After the world is unified, Tianji Pavilion will become a thing of yesterday. In fact, those properties have already been distributed to the disciples of the secret camp, but now they still have the name of Tianji Pavilion. . It doesn’t matter if these powers are known to the emperor. After Dayong rules the world, no matter how powerful I am, can I still defeat the imperial court? Rather than amassing force to protect myself, it is better to disperse these powers. It will not arouse the suspicion of the royal family. Besides, the emperor’s temperament is not that mean and ungrateful. Please don’t say it again in the future.”

I stood up, put my hands behind my back and looked up. Under the radiance of the pearls, I felt my mood gradually calming down. Thinking that there is someone in the world who understands my deepest feelings, and this person is with me day and night, as close as my flesh and blood, Xiao Shunzi, I feel even more joyful in my heart. Joy, even this small, dark secret room seems to have become a pearl palace in my eyes. I couldn't help but smile at the corner of my mouth, and I said: "Okay, you can go out. If people notice that you, the little boy, are always missing, Shanzi won't be able to cover it up for you."

Xiao Shunzi's eyes flashed, he lowered his eyes, turned around and left the secret room. Before he could close the secret door, he heard a chuckle from behind. Seeing that the master's sadness was gone, he felt happy and thought about the days to come. You won't feel uncomfortable anymore. Thinking of this, he couldn't hide the smile on his lips and walked briskly out of the cabin.