A meal was enjoyed by the host and the guest. Of course, it might not be so harmonious at first, because both Zhe De and Chai Rong were a little frightened by Zhang Zhao.
Especially Chai Rong. Although the Chai family was also a wealthy family in Xingzhou, it had already been defeated. After his father Chai Shouli wasted money on the family property, he became a complete libertine with no morals. His uncle and adoptive father Guo Wei had just started their careers.
Not to mention wealth.
Chai Rong traveled all over the country and saw the suffering of the people at a young age. He knew very well how high the status of a great warlord like Zhang Zhao, who had territory of dozens of states, governed two million people, and supported tens of thousands of people, was high.
Therefore, when the two of them saw Zhang Zhao cooking in person, one of them thought that King Zhang was crazy, and the other thought that King Zhang might have a hobby of liking beautiful boys, and they were very nervous.
But as soon as the food was served, especially after drinking wine, the feeling of unfamiliarity between Zhe De and Chai Rong gradually disappeared.
The two of them were similar in age to Murong Nobunaga and Li Cunhui, and even the age difference between them and King Zhang was not that big, so they quickly became close.
After eating and drinking for a while, they went to compete with the bow, horse, spear and stick. Chai Rong could barely be considered a poor and wealthy man, but his riding skills were actually very good.
Compared with Murong Nobunaga, the descendants of standard generals like Li Cunhui and Zhe Deku, they are no less generous.
This is remarkable. You must know that the three people in front of them all have wealthy families with hundreds or even thousands of horses. To them, horses are like raising a dog or a cat.
But Chai Rong is definitely not good enough. A horse in Xingzhou is still not cheap, not to mention that his father has lost all his property. To be able to practice such excellent riding skills can only be said to be a gift.
Among the four, Murong Nobunaga has the best archery skills. This is a natural talent. He has repeatedly demonstrated that he can accurately hit the arm at a hundred paces. His archery skills on the head can only be said to be natural talent, which cannot be achieved through practice.
The most proficient in the art of fighting is Li Cunhui. His family has been a general for generations, and the fifth and sixth generation ancestors are even more famous brave generals. The art of fighting is a family tradition of the Li family. Even Murong Nobunaga cannot beat him in the art of fighting alone.
Although Zhe Deqing had a great time, he was also secretly frightened. The little bit of pride he had when he first came here was gone in an instant.
Murong Nobunaga, Li Cunhui, and Chai Rong were all younger than him, and his riding skills, archery skills, and spear and stick skills were all incomparable to him.
Seven or eight days later, some cotton-padded clothes and quilts sent by Liangzhou arrived.
It was already mid-November, and the weather was already quite cold. It snowed almost every day, no matter how big or small. It would be strange if it didn't snow on any day.
Zhang Zhao gave Zhe Deku and Chai Rong a cotton-padded jacket each.
At this time, the cotton craftsmanship in Hexi has become more and more complete, which is probably close to the Huang Daopo period. This kind of very warm and beautiful thermal clothing amazed the two of them.
Zhang Zhao was really kind to the two of them. He treated them the same as Murong Nobunaga and Li Cunhui. Chai Rong, in particular, was by Zhang Zhao's side every day.
However, while Chai Rong was grateful, he also secretly had a headache. His main task in coming to Xiazhou was to get a few fold-ear horse stallions!
He originally thought that after meeting King Han, he could 'do some activities' on his own, but he ended up being favored by Zhang Zhao, who accompanied him every day, so where did he find the time?
Moreover, Zhang Zhao was so kind to him, so he really didn't have the face to do this.
But when they left, uncle Guo Wei's words were still in their ears. It was hard for them to get close to Liu Zhiyuan now. If they could succeed, they still had to try their best.
Later that day, Zhang Zhao personally led Murong Nobunaga, Li Cunhui, Zhe Deku, and Chai Rong to ambush outside Xiazhou City.
In fact, they had been lying in wait for many days, because when the Guiyi Army was attacking the city, a small number of elite troops in Xiazhou City would go out to harass them from time to time.
These distress troops took advantage of the cold weather and the Guiyi Army could not monitor day and night. They repeatedly went out of the city to harass the camps of the Guiyi Army civilians who were digging river channels to divert water from the Hongliu River.
A few days ago, the cotton-padded clothes had not arrived, so there was nothing the Guiyi army could do. Once the cotton-padded clothes arrived, Zhang Zhao rashly laid an ambush with his elite cavalry for two days, and finally caught the group of Dingnan troops who kept leaving the city.
At this time, there was an urn city at the north gate of the inner west city of Xiazhou. The gate of the urn city did not need to be blocked by huge rocks, because the urn city itself was a fortification.
The remaining elite cavalry of the Dingnan Army hid their horses in the Wengcheng, and then took advantage of the bright moonlight to fight out at night.
But this time they were in trouble. Zhang Zhaoneng, who had a cotton-padded jacket, set up an ambush outside the city on a snowy night. Not far from the city, they were stopped by more than a thousand elite cavalry of the rebel army.
Each of the four brave generals led a cavalry charge and killed more than 600 Dingnan Army cavalry, who were almost completely wiped out.
The next morning, Zhang Zhao led them to ambush in the north of the city. This was information obtained by Zhe Deqin's fifty bodyguards who were proficient in Party matters and Chinese.
The Dangxiang people near Youzhou and Dijinze dispatched a cavalry group to rush into Xiazhou City. They originally had someone to support them, but they were wasted the first night.
So in the early morning, this group of Youzhou cavalry fell into the encirclement of the Guiyi Army. Of the more than a thousand cavalry, more than 300 were killed on the spot, and the rest were all captured or died in the pursuit.
Since then, the Dingnan Army has completely lost the ability to move out of the city, and can only be trapped in Xiazhou, waiting for the Tokyo court's actions in a few months.
After ambushing the surviving troops, the troops received support from cotton-padded jackets and quilts, and the pace of the rebel army's siege suddenly accelerated.
The project to divert water from the Hongliu River is halfway through, and the large trebuchet is also undergoing final calibration.
Zhang Zhao also ordered people to pile up several mountains of earth more than ten meters high outside Xiazhou City, specifically to increase the destructive power of the trebuchet.
At the same time, Zhang Zhao arranged for a thousand men from his headquarters, plus 600 cavalry from Ganshandu led by Barbarian Xiong, to attack Suizhou.
Gao Yunquan, who had finished reorganizing Zhangwu's army in Yanzhou, would lead two thousand men northward to respond.
The leader of the Gao family knew very well that if Zhang Zhao swallowed up the territory of the Nanyang Army, the imperial court would no longer be able to check and balance the northwest.
They, Yanzhou, are the first to bear the brunt. If they want to be stable, they must please Zhang Zhao.
Zhe Deku had repeatedly mentioned that he would recruit Luo Li, Guiren and other troops from the northwest of Xiazhou for Zhang Zhao. Zhang Zhao had never expressed his position, but at this moment he finally agreed to recruit Zhe Deku.
But Zhe Deyi still felt a little uncomfortable in his heart. He guessed that Zhang Zhao might not want the Dangxiang tribe who had defected to the Zhe family to enter Xiazhou.
However, Zhang Zhao took out a map and summoned Murong Nobunaga, Li Cunhui, Chai Rong and Zhe Deku to his side. Zhang Zhao stretched out his hand and drew lightly from Fuzhou to Yunzhou.
Murong Nobunaga immediately noticed Zhang Zhao's gesture, and he rushed over excitedly.
"Sir, are you going to save Yunzhou? I have heard that the Khitan cavalry are extremely brave, and I have long wanted to see them."
When the other three people heard Murong Nobunaga's question, they all looked at Zhang Zhao with wide eyes, especially Zhe Deku, who suddenly felt that Zhang Zhao's thoughts were beyond his ability to guess.
Zhang Zhao shook his head lightly, "We can't save Yunzhou. Since Yelu Deguang has personally arrived with an army of 50,000, the fall of Yunzhou is a foregone conclusion, unless I can also have 50,000 cavalry in the rebel army."
"Yes! We can still gather 50,000 troops and horses, but 50,000 cavalry will take at least three to five years." Li Cunhui also shook his head.
"Yunzhou has always been a fortress in northern Xinjiang. If the Khitans captured it, Fuzhou, Xiazhou, and Lingzhou would not be able to live in peace.
Besides, the people of Yunzhou are also Chinese people. If we just watch them fall to the barbarians, we will definitely feel resentful.
I know this kind of hardship most clearly among all the members of the Guiyi Army, so I decided to draw two thousand elite cavalry and select the best folded-eared horses, wearing cloth-covered iron armor, and select those who are skilled in bow and horse in the army, which will not make it easy for the Khitans.
Take Yunzhou."
Zhang Zhao hit the table hard with a rather angry expression. Murong Nobunaga and Li Cunhui nodded in agreement.
However, Zhe Deqin knelt down directly and paid homage to Zhang Zhao.
"Your Majesty is such a great man! My family has lived in Yunzhou for a long time, and I know the pain of being betrayed. Besides, if the Khitan easily captures Yunzhou, they will definitely come to Fuzhou.
If we can have the help of two thousand of the most elite cavalry from the Guiyi Army, I can also recruit two thousand of the elite cavalry from my family.
It's only six hundred miles from Fuzhou to the east of Zhenwu Army's surrender city and then to Yunzhou. Four thousand cavalry can advance, attack, retreat, or defend. Yelv De's light will be like a bullet in his throat, making him unable to advance or retreat!"
Among the four of them, Zhe De, Xie De, Qiang Qiang and Qiang are not the best, but their political sense is definitely the best.
He felt that Zhang Zhao wanted to use this incident to gain his reputation, and probably wanted to win over the people in order to win the support of the people of the state.
This trip is definitely not to defeat the Khitans, but to show determination and strength to the people of the world.
Ever since Zhe Deqin saw the Lingwu Army in the Guiyi Army, he also figured out things he hadn't figured out before.
After the Dingnan Army is gone, King Zhang's next step must be to swallow up Lingzhou, and the biggest threat is the Khitan people who may come from outside the Helan Mountains at any time.
This time I sent troops to warn the Khitans not to go to Lingzhou.
Chai Rong did not expect so much. He is still young and does not hold a high position, so he cannot yet consider such comprehensive and popular matters.
He only felt that Zhang Zhao was sincerely serving the country and the people, and at such a critical moment, he still wanted to support Yunzhou.
"I have entrusted two thousand of the most elite knights to you. We must work together to complete the entrustment of our adoptive father!"
Zhang Zhao took the hands of Murong Nobunaga and Li Cunhui and used the word "entrust".
Moreover, after being alone, he must explain in detail the true purpose of sending troops.
That is to show the people of the world their determination to fight against the Khitans, and at the same time, it is also a warning to the Khitans, warning them not to stretch their hands too long.
This is too long, and it does not refer to Lingzhou, because swallowing Lingzhou is just an appetizer, and the main course is the Gaochang Uighur, and there have always been contacts between the Gaochang Uighur and the Khitan.
When the Khitan Empress Dowager announced the birthdays of Luping and Lord Yelv Deguang, the Gaochang Uighurs would send envoys to congratulate them.
Therefore, Zhang Zhao wanted to warn the Khitans not to act rashly when he destroyed the Gaochang Uighurs.
Murong Nobunaga and Li Cunhui, who had always been secretly competing, looked at each other. Although they were not very clear about Zhang Zhao's purpose, they still understood the importance. They both knelt down on one knee and nodded heavily.
"Please rest assured, Sir, these two people will definitely work together."
"Brother Zhejia, these two thousand cavalrymen, Nobunaga'er and Cunhui'er, all obey your command. You must take them with you to let the Khitans know how powerful they are!"
Zhe Deyi's military talents are quite reliable, and he is probably even better than his father Zhe Congyuan.
However, he did not expect that Zhang Zhao would give him command. Although this command was very limited, it also showed Zhang Zhao's extreme trust in him.
"Servant, I appreciate the great trust of your Majesty, and I also know that your Majesty is trying to help our prefecture to overcome the disaster. Please rest assured, Your Majesty!" Zhe De was very moved and respected Zhang Zhao very much.
"Chai Dalang, are you willing to go to Yunzhou with us?" Finally, Zhang Zhao asked Chai Rong.
After all, he is from Liu Zhiyuan, but this time he followed him to Yunzhou. I am afraid it will not be easy to remove the mark of Gui Yijun in the future.
But at this moment, Chai Rong didn't think so much. He was still moved by the righteousness of rescuing the people of Yunzhou and helping to protect Fuzhou, so he immediately handed over his hand.
"You can bow to a grand event, but dare not obey orders!"
This chapter has been completed!