Seeing Zhu Hang coming from the mountain ridge behind, he was worried that the eight or nine thousand defeated troops in the valley behind the mountain would not be able to escape safely back to Lanzhou. Xu Huai sat down on the ridge tiredly and said lazily:
"Even if I expected this defeat, and deployed Zhufengtang's maximum capabilities, I could only take two to three thousand troops away! Currently, more than three thousand Tongbai Mountain soldiers have fled into the valley, and they are quite obedient. We
We can try to take them through Wuzhou Mountain into Fengzhou where there are not many strong enemies for the time being. Maybe there is some hope of going back to Lanzhou from the middle foot of Yinshan Mountain - as for the other troops, with my thin shoulders,
But they really don’t have too much to worry about. If their lives are good enough, probably 23 out of 10 of them can escape the numerous interceptions and return to Lanzhou! Mr. Zhu Hang, if we can do this, what will happen to us?
It’s enough to explain everything from top to bottom. As for you personally, Mr. Zhu Han, you only have merit and no fault at all. The court cannot blame you for this defeat, so we shouldn’t expect too much."
"Father, Xu Huai is right, manpower is always limited, and the way of heaven is determined. There are too many scattered and defeated soldiers trapped in the enemy's territory, and generals such as Liu Shizhong, Cai Yuanyou, Ge Boyi, etc. are all weak and timid, and there are no reinforcements from outside.
, how could we possibly save them all? Father, Xu Huai has tried his best, we can't force him any more!" Zhu Zhi was afraid that his father would lose his temper and try to bring back all the scattered troops, which would lead to disaster.
, at this time, I couldn’t help but persuade him.
Zhu Hang did not answer his eldest son Zhu Zhi, who was more concerned about whether he could escape alive. He stared at Xu Huai with burning eyes and said, "Is this really the case?"
"..." Xu Huai spread his hands and said, "Mr. Zhu Hang, do you see that I have three heads and six arms?"
Zhu Hang thought about it and said: "When we were in the city, you told me that behind all this was the secret plan set up by Xiao Linshi, the defense envoy in front of Xijing Road. You also told me that if we could make Xiao Linshi believe in us,
Unlike Cai Ting and other officials from the main war faction, who are actually more worried that the rising Red Hu people will become a huge disaster for Dai Viet, and have no intention of becoming enemies of the Khitan, Xiao Linshi may not be willing to give in. But I don't understand, what are we going to do?
To convince Xiao Linshi of this, do I have to go to Datong to meet Xiao Linshi in person?"
"Father, you must not do it!" Zhu Zhi exclaimed in panic, "It will be a great achievement for us to lead three to five thousand soldiers and reorganize and return. Father, you can go to Datong City to see Xiao Linshi at this time. Xiao Linshi has a chance to win."
, since we can force the imperial court to cease the war, why should we be lenient to us? We may even seize your father as a prisoner of war to blackmail the imperial court..."
"I'm just asking, why are you so scared?" Zhu Hang glared at Zhu Zhi dissatisfied and told him to shut up.
Xu Huai looked at Zhu Zhi, Lu Wenhu and others and said, "I have a few words of personal experience that I would like to say to Mr. Zhu Hang. I would like to ask the young master for the time being. Mr. Lu, please stay out of the way!"
Seeing Xu Wukun, Zheng Tu, and the taciturn middle-aged man with a protruding mouth standing next to Xu Huai, all standing there unmoved, Zhu Zhi was dissatisfied and thought about what secrets these people could know, but he wanted to avoid them?
"Zhi'er, you and Mr. Lu go to the camp behind to take care of you. I'll go there in a while." Zhu Hang called Zhu Zhi, and Lu Wenhu took his family to retreat first...
After Zhu Hang, Lu Wenhu and others left reluctantly, Xu Huai patted his butt and stood up, asking Zheng Tu: "Where are Chen Zixiao and the others?"
Xu Huai detained Chen Zixiao and Xiao Yanhan in his hands, using this as a threat. Maybe he could get Xiao Lin's stone net to open up and let three to five hundred of them escape.
The generals under Xiao Linshi will also think that they should do this. They will think that the value of Chen Zixiao and Xiao Yanhan is higher than the corpses of three to five hundred prisoners of war or Yue soldiers, and they will not feel that the three to five hundred soldiers escaped back to Lan.
If you go to the state, how much threat will it pose to them in the future?
However, if Xu Huai only relied on Chen Zixiao and Xiao Yanhan to have the two chips, and wanted Xiao Linshi to open up and let eight or nine thousand of them go, it would undoubtedly be a fool's dream.
If Xiao Linshi really did this, his generals would blow up their nests and blame him for neglecting public affairs for personal reasons.
The most important core interest for Xiao Linshi and his core generals at this time was to cease the war with Dai Viet, so that the Khitan could preserve the last bit of vitality on the Xijing Road to withstand the torrent of iron hooves from the Red Husbands.
Even if Xu Huai could gather two or three thousand Tongbai Mountain soldiers this time, he would still be an insignificant and humble role in the entire Dai Yue court.
At this time, those who could really influence the political affairs of the court and prompt the court to change its course and cease the war with the Khitan were Zhu Hang, Wang Fan and Wang Zhen.
Therefore, the most important thing for Xu Huai at this time is to make Xiao Linshi believe that he can convince Wang Zhen, Wang Fan and Zhu Hang to promote the truce, and under their joint promotion, the matter will definitely have substantive results.
progress.
It was now time for Zhu Hang to meet Chen Zixiao and Xiao Yanhan.
"In that tent out front!"
When they abandoned the city and fled north, Xu Huai and the others were unable to escape. Chen Zixiao and Xiao Yanhan were escorted to the temporary camp here by Zheng Tu himself. Zheng Tu now led everyone to the camp where Chen Zixiao was imprisoned.
go.
…………
…………
Su Laochang led his men and horses to lurk in the Wuzhou Mountains, but he still paid attention to imitating the Tibetan people in every aspect. The tents were the most common felt tents among the nomadic tribes.
Everyone opened the heavy felt curtain and walked in. The light inside was dim, and Liu Qiong'er brightened the candle.
"They all told you to stay in Kelan, why did you disobey and come here?" Xu Huai knew that Liu Qiong'er also came to Datong with Su Laochang and the others, but Liu Qiong'er stayed in the temporary camp.
I have a chance to blame you.
"If things are not harmonious, what's wrong with being buried together in a sea of grass in the desert?" Liu Qiong'er said.
Zhu Hang was not in the mood to see Xu Huai and Liu Qiong'er flirting with each other. At this time, he saw Chen Zixiao and Xiao Yanhan tied to the pillar in the middle of the felt tent by the light of the fire. He was startled and asked Xu Huai in surprise:
"These two people are..."
Zhu Hang had heard Wang Zhen and Lu Xiong talk about the grievances between Xu Huai and Chen Zixiao before, but he had never seen Chen Zixiao. He had just heard Xu Huai ask Chen Zixiao in which camp he was outside.
He thought that Chen Zixiao would bring some confidential information that could help everyone get out of trouble, but he didn't want Xu Huai to bring him to see the two people tied up by Wu Huada.
"I have been wronged by General Han these days. Now we can finally sit down and have a good chat!" Xu Huai took out the bag knife, untied the rope that bound Chen Zixiao, and then pinched his shoulder joints to remove his dislocated legs.
Push the arm back to its original position.
"Is this Mr. Zhu Hang?" Chen Zixiao took off the cloth from his mouth and asked.
He had never met Zhu Hang, but after seeing the words, deeds, and expressions of Xu Huai, Zhu Hang, and others entering the felt tent, he couldn't think of anyone other than Zhu Hang who could be the person in front of him.
"Zhu Hang is here!" Zhu Hang was completely confused. Xu Huai brought him to see Chen Zixiao. Why did the tied man in front of him have the surname Han again? And the one who was still tied up screamed,
She is obviously a young woman, but who is she? "I have wronged the princess these days!"
Xu Huai untied Xiao Yanhan again, asked everyone to sit around the long table, and said to Zhu Hang,
"This is Chen Zixiao, a great bandit from Tongbai Mountain. After he was recruited, he served as the inspector of Caocheng Village and the supervisor of the Lanzhou Military and Horse Command. He also has another identity, that is, Han Lun, the former commander of the Han Army in Fengzhou.
Xiao Linshi's general. And this is Xiao Yanhan, the princess of Hucheng. Xiao Linshi's younger sister, Nuanxianglou, was involved in the Duke of Lu. The county general reported the matter to the Supervisory Military Academy for disposal, and the next day to suppress the gold.
When Lou Fan civilians assassinated patrolmen in the street, I suspected that someone was secretly plotting to invade Han Dynasty. So I hurriedly used a trick to capture General Han and the princess before the army set off. Although I had generally guessed at that time that the enemy was stirring up trouble.
What is the reason for the conflict between Han and Tibet? However, we predict that even if General Han and the princess are handed over, they will not be able to make Ge Huaicong and other arrogant generals restrain themselves, let alone Ge Boyi, Liu Shizhong, and Cai Yuanyou to give up forcing Cao Shixiong to kill Tibet.
The captives used a strategy of taking advantage of the situation, so they were secretly kept in the army without letting Lord Zhu Hang know about it. However, Wang reported to the Prime Minister that Lord Zhu Hang had no intention of being an enemy of the Khitan, and only wanted to fight against the Khitan.
At this time, we can only ask General Han and the princess to tell Xiao Linshi about the sincerity of the Khitans to cease the war and jointly defend the Red Guards cavalry..."
"You can turn your hands into clouds and turn your hands into rain. It's really amazing!" Chen Zixiao said with emotion.
"Why, General Han doesn't believe Zhu Hang's sincerity?" Xu Huai asked, staring at Chen Zixiao.
"What's the use of my belief? Master Lin Shi must believe everything." Chen Zixiao said.
"Even if it is for the Khitan's own interests, General Han and the princess must do everything possible to convince Xiao Linshi that we are definitely not short-sighted people like Cai Ting." Xu Huai said.
"How many of your defeated troops fled into this valley?" Chen Zixiao sighed and asked.
"Less than ten thousand people." Xu Huai said.
"So many?" Chen Zixiao and Xiao Yanhan were escorted here. They could see some things along the way, but they never expected that Xu Huai could bring so many people into Wuzhou Mountain when the army collapsed.
"Is it much?"
Xu Huai hit him and said,
"If Mr. Zhu Hang goes out to Lanzhou to reorganize the defenses in the direction of Shuozhou, he doesn't have 10,000 troops, how can it be enough? But as long as Mr. Zhu Kang can go out to Lanzhou and control the Khitan's defense in the west as he wishes,
By the time, even if Mr. Wang’s push for a truce in the court is blocked, you don’t need to worry about threats from the west wing..."
"Is Mr. Zhu Hang sure that he will be able to leave Lanzhou?" Chen Zixiao asked, staring at Xu Huai's face.
"So many defeated troops were brought back by Langjun Zhu Hang. Who else, except Langjun Zhu Hang, can purge these defeated troops in Lanzhou?" Xu Huai asked, "Besides, with Zhu Langjun's achievements, he was appointed as Lanzhou
Isn’t it logical to be the supervisor of the military and horse capital at the same time? Why does General Han ask this?”
"If I go to see Mr. Lin Shi alone, even if Mr. Lin Shi can believe me, Shi Hai, Saruhe and others will definitely suspect me of betraying the Khitan. I don't know how long the dispute will last until a conclusion is reached," Chen Zixiao
He said, "Perhaps you can send the princess back first, and I will stay as a hostage."
"You all go back. Zhu Hang and I sincerely broke off the war with the Khitan, so how can we still hold you hostage? We are not villains," Xu Huairan said with a smile, "even if Xiao Linshi doesn't want to believe our sincerity
, it doesn’t matter, you can just unleash your horses and attack the mountain, I want to see how many hot-blooded men there are in Khitan that I can kill!”
