Changshan (Hengshan) connects Taihang Mountain to the east and Luliang Mountain to the west. It has high mountains and twists and turns. It is the natural chasm between Yunshuo and Xindai. Only the middle section of the mountain range is also near the Gouzhu Mountain, which has been known as the Nine Fortresses since ancient times. It is narrowed and the height is lowered, allowing people and animals to pass through.
Gouzhu Mountain is also called Xingling. Passes were built in the Spring and Autumn Period. The west of the ridge is called Xixingguan and the east of the ridge is called Dongxingguan.
Since the establishment of the Dayue dynasty, Yunshuo and other places have been returned to the Khitan, and Xingling has become the boundary mountain between the Yue and Yan countries, and its strategic position is still prominent.
In addition to building new east and west pass cities on the ruins of Jiuguan, more than a dozen docks were built in Xingling Mountains on dangerous terrain. In addition to relying on each other for defense, they were also connected with each other by stone side walls, and finally formed a The defense layout of Yanmen Pass today.
Since the founding of the Dai Viet Dynasty, the wars with the Khitan in the north have been far less than the wars with the Dangxiang people in the northwest. In most years, they have maintained a relationship of exchange and trade.
From Yanmen Pass to the south, you can go straight down to Taiyuan. In the hinterland of Jinzhong River east of the Yangtze River, the scale of the food market in Yanmen Pass is much larger than that of Ningwu at the northwest foot of Luliang Mountain.
The Quechang is located on the south side of Dongxingguan, which is easier to access. Outside the fort, large and small pavilions are built along the slopes. Commercial ports are lined up in rows. It is much more lively and prosperous than the desolate frontier fortress as imagined; there is also the Guandi Temple, Li Mu Temples and other large and small buildings are built against the mountains, like a prosperous city.
Of course, when the war started, a large number of businessmen were stranded in Yanmen. Now that the main force of the Eastern Route Army has withdrawn from Yingzhou, 70,000 to 80,000 forbidden soldiers and horses are still crowding the many passes and villages in Yanmen Pass.
As the son of Cai Zheng, Cai Yuanyou was appointed as an official by Yinbu when he was young. In the sixth year of Zhengyue, he was awarded a Jinshi status in the imperial examination. He joined forces to conquer Yan. Cai Yuanyou planned the campaign as his father Cai Zheng's main assistant. Tianxuan Si In the same year, he personally sent an envoy to the Khitan to spy on the enemy. After returning to Bianjing, he was appointed as deputy envoy of the Xuanfu. Together with Liu Shizhong, he presided over the affairs of conquering Yan. Among the courtiers who were just in their early forties, they could be said to be very successful, and they were also "young prime ministers" in both the government and the public. proportionate.
If the attack on Yan goes smoothly, Cai Yuanyou may not be able to be in power; father and son will be prime ministers of the same dynasty, which will be the only one in Dai Viet since the establishment of the dynasty.
Who could have imagined that the Tianxiong Army, which was sure to win, would suffer such a miserable and unexpected defeat when they attacked Datong City.
Cai Yuanyou certainly would not admit that they were responsible for delaying the dispatch of reinforcements.
However, several years of planning were burned down, and the bodies of tens of thousands of generals were not found. As the chief and deputy propaganda envoys, he and Liu Shizhong could not say that they had no responsibility at all.
It happened that at this juncture, Yue Hailou and his men pretended to be Khitans to assassinate Ge Boyi, but they actually failed.
Cai Yuanyou stood in front of the side hall of Li Mu Temple with a haggard look on his face, looking at the ancient ginkgo whose leaves had all withered. There was still snow on the branches, and snow particles were blown down by the wind from time to time.
He stood with his hands behind his hands and asked in a hoarse voice: "Is this really irreversible?"
Zeng Run knelt in the snow and said with unspeakable frustration and despair in his voice:
"In addition to what Marquis Yue did say when Ge Huaicong, Ge Huai and other generals abandoned the army and fled westward, I now heard that some news came out in Taiyuan that Ge Boyi also intended to kill Tibetan. It was originally Yue Marquis's plan to kill Tibet. The Hedong Tiju Prison Department has issued a sea arrest document and sent hundreds of cavalry to search the mountains - this time they really wanted to mislead the government and the public into suspecting that Yuehou was a collaborator. Now, except for Chen Tai, eleven people were caught off guard and shot. , Zhao Cheng and other seven people were captured alive and fell into the hands of Ge Boyi. Now I am not afraid of anything else but that they may not survive the physical punishment..."
"Do you think Zhao Cheng and the others will be beaten by Ge Boyi?" Cai Yuanyou asked.
"I don't know, little one!" Zeng Run said blankly.
"You haven't denied it, so it's still very possible?" Cai Yuanyou asked.
"Of the seven people, one or two are greedy for life and afraid of death. It is not impossible that they will not be able to survive the punishment." Zeng Run muttered.
"If someone cannot survive the punishment and is beaten by Ge Boyi, how do you think we should respond?" Cai Yuanyou asked.
"I don't know!" Zeng Run lowered his head in the snow, not daring to look at Cai Yuanyou's face.
A middle-aged man stood under the corridor of the wing hall. He was silent for a long time. Then he opened his mouth and asked, "What does Guo Zhongxiong say about this matter?"
"After inspecting the place where the assassination occurred, Guo Langjun returned to Lanzhou and worked day and night on government affairs and had no time to ask about this matter." Zeng Run replied.
"Yeah?"
The middle-aged man asked softly, but without thinking about Zeng Run's answer, he said to Cai Yuanyou,
"Although Yue Hailou was the one who made the right decision in this matter, Ge Boyi must have believed that Yue Hailou had been instructed by the Shao Xiang to kill the Ge family. At this time, he did not directly point the finger at the Shao Xiang and the Prime Minister.
He knew that this matter involved a lot, and the prime minister and the young prime minister were highly trusted by the officials, so not everyone could slander him. What Ge Boyi wanted to do most now was to do everything possible to shirk the blame for the collapse of the Tianxiong Army.
.The most beneficial thing for them is undoubtedly to establish the suspicion that Yue Hailou collaborated with the enemy. And the old case of that year cannot be overturned. Just the matter of Yue Hailou leading a crowd to assassinate Ge Boyi, we can say that it is impossible to argue. Now the most important thing is
What he was worried about was not only that Ge Boyi would try his best to shirk the responsibility for the defeat, but also that those in the government and the public who had been opposed to the joint attack on Yan and the Prime Minister from the beginning would make a big fuss out of this matter. Ge Boyi did not point the finger at this time.
Directly contacting the Young Minister and the Prime Minister, but it does not mean that Ge Boyi can still hold back and continue to stand still after the criticism from the government and the public becomes louder!"
"..." Cai Yuanyou looked at the middle-aged man in confusion, unable to figure out what he meant.
Although Cai Yuanyou is known as the Young Minister, he is far from comparable to his father Cai Qing. The so-called Jinshi origin and so on are too much.
"The young prime minister should make a decision at this time!" The middle-aged man looked at Cai Yuanyou with firm eyes and said in a deep voice.
Cai Yuanyou was still puzzled, but Zeng Run looked at the middle-aged man in fear.
"At that time, Wang Xiaocheng's old case could not be overturned, but Yue Hailou led a group of people pretending to be Khitans to assassinate Ge Boyi and the Tianxiong army to punish the generals. In addition, he had previously spread false news or deliberately encouraged Ge Huaicong and others to abandon the army and flee west, and also killed Ge Bo.
Yi deliberately put the killing of Tibetan people on his head. All these things added together will only make the world think that he has secretly communicated with the Khitan people. We are already unable to defend ourselves, and we should no longer try to defend ourselves. Instead, we must
Let the matter stop here and not get involved any further!" the middle-aged man further stated.
"Are we going to insist that Yue Hailou is having an affair with the Khitans?" Cai Yuanyou finally understood what the middle-aged man was suggesting and asked in shock.
"All the gentlemen have not seen the true face of Yue Hailou. The young prime minister was deceived by a traitor, so what is there to make a fuss about?" said the middle-aged man.
"That's what I said, but Yue Hailou knows too many secrets in the mansion. If we add insult to injury, I'm afraid..." Cai Yuanyou was also surprised and asked.
"No matter how many secrets a dead person knows, what's the use?" the middle-aged man said with a smile.
…………
…………
More than twenty miles east of Dongxingguan, the mountains become more and more steep. In the depths of an unnamed gorge, a hot spring gurgls from a gap in the rocks even though the weather is cold and the ground is freezing. It converges into a stream and flows out of the canyon.
White mist evaporates from the stony stream, hiding the canyon. Rarely, the shrubs beside the stream are still lush and lush, and the green leaves are luxuriant.
Zeng Run walked into the canyon one foot at a time, stood in a panic under a wild mulberry tree, and shouted into the deserted valley: "Marquis Yue, are you still here?"
"Why did you come here? What did the young minister say?" Yue Hailou walked out from behind a stone gap and asked.
At this time, they had become criminals that the Criminal Division was trying their best to arrest on Hedong Road. They could no longer see Cai Yuanyou in public. They had been running around in the mountains and hiding for seven or eight days. Anyone would have looked embarrassed and haggard.
"The young prime minister sent Marquis Yue to take his people to the Guizang Temple to the west of Yanmen and wait for orders." Zeng Run gasped and said.
"Aside from asking us to stay in Yungui Zangguan, what else can the young minister say? How can we clean up this mess?" Yue Hailou said.
"Mr. Tian was worried that Ge Boyi would do everything possible to put all the blame on Yuehou, so he suggested to the prime minister that Liu Shuai send troops from Yanmen to attack Yingzhou, but if he could annihilate thousands of enemy cavalry, everything could be said with a good excuse.
Afraid that Ge Boyi would throw dirty water over," Zeng Run said while still breathing, "The young minister asked Yuehou to go to Guizang Temple first, and when he was free, he would go to Yuehou to discuss sending troops...Ah, Yuehou, you
This is……"
Zeng Run watched in disbelief as Yue Hailou pulled out a pocket knife from his sleeve and inserted it directly into his chest like lightning.
"They say, 'When a person is about to die, his words are also good.' You can tell me the truth now!" Yue Hailou ignored the gurgling blood and held the handle of the knife to support Zeng Run's leaning body, staring at it.
His eyes said.
"Mr. Tian suggested that the young minister kill Marquis Yue to silence him..." After Zeng Run said this, his body completely collapsed.
Yue Hailou put Zeng Run's body down and said to the three tough men who came up from behind: "I have followed Cai Zheng and his son for more than ten years. How can I not know their virtues? How could I not know? Zeng
Run went to ask this question because he was afraid that you would not give up - now you all understand, right? We have worked hard for the father and son over the years, doing all kinds of dirty work, but if there is the slightest accident, we will be abandoned.
Even the things we did for their father and son in the past made them insist on killing us to silence us."
"The prime minister wants to kill us and silence us, so what should we do next?" the three strong men asked in confusion.
"There is no one in this rotten Central Plains worth our lives, but the world is so big, why are we worried that there is no place for us to settle down and live?" Yue Hailou stood tall and looked at the vast lead clouds above the northern sky and said,
"Do you still remember that I once told you that if one day someone can dominate the world, it must be the iron cavalry of the Red Hu people, right?"
