The new decree had arrived. Cao Shixiong sent out the Xinzhou observation envoy to Zhilanzhou, and also led the troops and horses as governor, and Tianxiong army was in charge. Wang Fan also quickly handed over his power, and at the same time on the Shangyuan Festival of the seventh year of Tianxuan, he returned to the capital to listen to the order. Wang Zhen, Zhu Hang and others set out from Kelan City and embarked on the road back to Bianjing.
The streets in the city were empty, and the post roads outside the south city were crowded with people waiting to welcome him.
Two and a half months have passed since the Tianxiong army was defeated in Datong, and the people in Lanzhou counties have gradually settled down from the initial panic and fear.
The Khitan's troops on the Xijing Road were limited. Even if they were lucky enough to defeat the main force of the East Route Army in Yingzhou, it would be extremely difficult to fight into the territory of Hedong.
However, the people and soldiers at the bottom did not know this. What they knew better was that after the Tianxiong army was defeated in Datong, it was Wang Zhen, Wang Fan, and Zhu Hang who were calm and commanding. Not only did they lead tens of thousands of The remnants of the Xiong army fought through several times the enemy's encirclement, not only preserving Shuozhou City, the most important result of the northern expedition to Yan, but also re-establishing stability in Ningwu City, Yangkou Village, Guangwu Village, and Shenchi Village in the northern part of Lanzhou. The line of defense prevented the captives from peeping southward.
Whether Wang Fan would do this to build reputation for himself and his father Wang Zhen, Zhu Hang and others, under the instructions of Liu Shizhong, Cai Yuanyou, Guo Zhongxiong and other Cai officials in Lanzhou would also deliberately emphasize Ge Boyi and Tian The brave generals are cowardly and incompetent.
This undoubtedly further deepened the public's and lower-level soldiers' glorious image of Wang Fan, Zhu Hang and others who had the power to turn the tide.
The gentry and wealthy families who had fled south to avoid the war in the past have been returning to Lanzhou from Taiyuan and other places. Of course, they were filled with gratitude when they saw that their homes were safe. After asking about Wang Zhen, Wang Fan and his son, Zhu Hang, etc. On the day of his return to Beijing, people raised funds to buy Wanmin umbrellas and other gifts as gifts.
Guo Zhongxiong, the deputy envoy of Hedong Economic Strategy and also the governor of Taiyuan Prefecture, had already left Lanzhou early. The new governor Cao Shixiong led the state judge Wang Gaoxing, recorded the affairs and joined the army. Xun Yannian and others also followed suit and left the city to see Wang Zhen, Wang Fan and others seeing him off.
According to the rules, Lanzhou officials also prepared a farewell banquet in the ten-mile pavilion early. The pavilion standing next to the post road was also specially painted with tongbai new paint and tied with colorful silk to show the celebration.
Although the new edict merely ordered Wang Zhen, Wang Fan and his son, and Zhu Hang to return to the capital to listen to them, and did not specify the specific mission, well-informed people are saying that Wang Zhen will be among the prime ministers when he returns to the capital this time.
"We see each other after thousands of miles, but we must say goodbye eventually. Gentlemen, please come back. I hope that everyone will work diligently on state affairs and never betray the divine grace!" Wang Fan drank the farewell wine and joined Cao Shixiong, Cao Shili, Wang Gao and Xun Yannian in a high-spirited manner. Wait for the officials to say goodbye.
Wang Zhen was a little absent-minded, and Zhu Hang also had a hasty drink of farewell wine. He looked towards the frozen Fenshui River in the distance. The sky and the earth were white. There were pedestrians leading their horses south on the wild paths of the Fenshui River. Like ants.
"Ms. Wang Zhen, Mr. Wang Fanlang, Yan Xiaoyi, Shen Zhene are here to see you off!"
When Wang Fan helped Wang Zhen to walk out of the pavilion and board the car, Yan Xiaoyi and Shen Zhene walked out of the crowd, walked to Wang Zhen and Wang Fan, knelt on the ground and kowtowed.
Although they felt that the people in Tongbai Mountain were more sympathetic to their temper, and at the same time they wanted to stay in the army and had no intention of becoming Wang family retainers, they did not rush to defect to Shuozhou after they resigned from Wang Fan through Wang Kong.
They thought in their hearts that apart from Wang Kong's friendship for them, Wang Zhen and Wang Fan had helped them anyway.
Although they had been rejected by Wang Fan several times before, they still decided to stay with Wang Zhen. It would be more appropriate for Wang Fan and his son to see him off before going to Shuozhou. Even if they kowtow twice in public, it means that they have decided to stay this time. Following the Wang family to Bianjing is definitely not ungrateful.
Facing the smiling face of the Lanzhou official, Wang Fan suddenly became as cold as frost. He looked at Yan Xiaoyi. Shen Zhen was furious and said harshly without covering up the hatred in his heart: "The Wangjia Temple is small. There is no room for the two of you. Since you two have decided that Shuozhou is a high branch, they have nothing to do with my Wang family, so why come here to show off?"
Wang Zhi and Zhu Hang both banned the people below from discussing Lu Xiong's rejection from Shuozhou. Zhu Tong was very angry about this matter, and Zhu Zhi constantly tried to dissuade him.
Therefore, the outside world did not know that Xu Huai was dissatisfied with Wang Fan's recommendation of Cao Shixiong to take charge of the military and political power of Lanzhou in the west wing to the point of turning against him.
At this moment, seeing Wang Fan speaking so honestly and so fiercely to his two subordinates, the crowd outside the Changting Pavilion seeing off Wang Zhen, Wang Fan, and Zhu Hang could hear clearly.
Cao Shixiong, Cao Shili, Wang Gaoxing, and Xun Yannian were all stunned, and immediately looked at each other:
The remnants of Tianxiong's army gradually retreated south to Yangkou Village to rest and recuperate. As a scholar, Wang Fan initially had the intention to scold the Fang chief. He sorted out the generals himself and had no intention of using others to do so. However, he realized that there were not many soldiers from Tongbai Mountain. After retreating to the south of Yangkou Village and most of the soldiers from Tongbai Mountain stayed in Shuozhou, he did not reveal the matter directly to the outside world. Instead, he quietly transferred several experienced officials from the Lanzhou Military and Horse Supervisory Department. Responsible for reorganizing the deserted soldiers.
Several senior state officials, most of whom had sharp eyes, soon noticed something strange, and the matter soon spread to the ears of Guo Zhongxiong, Wang Gaoxing, Xun Yannian, Cao Shixiong and others.
However, even Liu Shizhong and Cai Yuanyou learned about the matter from Guo Zhongxiong, but they had no intention of making an issue about it at this juncture.
When the imperial court accepted Wang Fan's recommendation and appointed Cao Shixiong to take charge of the military and political power of Lanzhou in the west wing, it also decided that the two Cao brothers would be responsible for rebuilding the Tianxiong Army on the basis of the Qing Shun Army. In fact, they were forced by the dangerous situation. Agree with Cao Shixiong, Cao Shili has a deeper grasp of the rebuilt Tianxiong Army than the Ge family.
Since the imperial court was able to make such an exception for the two Cao brothers, the soldiers of Tongbai Mountain gathered in Shuozhou under the formation of Tianxiong Army, and suddenly they became less conspicuous.
Many people even think that this was a deliberate arrangement by the Wang family and his son, with the intention of using Tongbai Mountain soldiers to check and balance the Cao family brothers. This is also in line with the way of checks and balances since the founding of the Dai Viet Dynasty.
However, what is going on in this scene in front of me?
Could it be that everything is completely different from what everyone guessed, and that the Wang family had actually fallen out with the people in Tongbai Mountain who were guarding Shuozhou a long time ago?
Soon I thought that in Wang Fan's memorial to the court, there was no mention of the people of Tongbai Mountain at all.
Unless Wang Fan's memorials are secret, they are usually signed by Guo Zhongxiong and others. It seems that these are the intentions of everyone in Lanzhou, so most of the time Wang Fan's memorials to Bianjing are not top secret.
In the past, many people thought that Wang Fan deliberately did not mention the achievements of the people in Tongbai Mountain because he had a deeper meaning, but no one thought that the Wang family father and son actually fell out with the people in Tongbai Mountain?
How can it be?
When Wang Xun was in trouble in Tongbai Mountain, the people of Tongbai Mountain tried their best to rescue him; when Wang Xun first arrived in Lanzhou, people from Tongbai Mountain protected him from thousands of miles away. Even in Lanzhou, Wang Xun borrowed grain for the first time to fight back against Cai's oppression.
Tongbaishan charged ahead to trap.
When Wang Zhen returned from his mission to Chihu, although he was favored by the officials and appointed as the supervisor of the army that defeated Yanxi, he was still alone. Except for Zheng Shou, Zhu Hang and his son, there were no capable people around him. In the end,
He also recruited everyone from Tongbai Mountain into the Supervisory Army Envoy Court.
The remnants of the Tianxiong Army were able to withdraw from Datong. Although no one denied Zhu Hang's achievements, everyone also knew very well that without the help of everyone in Tongbai Mountain, could Zhu Hang have accomplished this step with only a few generals?
Everyone expected that Wang Zhen would return to the capital this time and would be in power, and they all had to admit the contribution and great role played by the people in Tongbai Mountain in Wang Zhen's comeback. The Wang family was now in trouble with the people in Tongbai Mountain.
flipped?
Or maybe the rumor that Chushan Yaksha Fox Xu Huai is the son of Wang Xiaocheng is not false?
Did the Wang family, father and son, see through the ulterior motives of everyone in Tongbai Mountain and part ways with them?
Wang Zhen couldn't bear to see everyone's shocked reactions. He got into the carriage in embarrassment. His forehead hit the crossbar with a bang and he couldn't help it. He stretched out his hand to open the curtain and sat alone facing the dark wall of the carriage.
Zhu Hang raised his head and glanced at the leaden sky. He knew what Wang Fan meant by scolding Yan Xiaoyi and Shen Zhenye in public. Looking at the surprised and suspicious expressions of everyone around him, he also knew that Wang Fan's goal had been achieved.
He sighed softly in his heart, walked over and pressed the shocked Yan Xiaoyi comfortingly, and put his hands on the shoulders of the two of them. Without saying anything, he lowered his head and got into the car.
Lu Xiong, Zheng Shou, Lu Wenhu and others escorted Wang Zhen, Wang Fan, Zhu Hang, Wang Xuan and others with more than a hundred cavalry, and their horses and horses were gradually moving away. Cao Shixiong, Cao Shili, Xun Yannian, Wang Gaoxing and other generals were also accompanying many of them.
Surrounded by everyone, everyone returned to Lanzhou with their own thoughts.
The crowd seeing him off also gradually dispersed. Yan Xiaoyi and Shen Zhen were still sitting in the snow in shock. They had no idea what was going on.
Before today, they just didn't want to be the retainers of the Wang family and simply wanted to stay in Shuozhou.
A black-faced passerby in shabby clothes was still standing in front of the pavilion. He looked up at the leaden sky with his hands behind his hands and remained silent for a long time. However, a young and handsome scholar stood behind him and consoled him: "Wang Fan did not hesitate to cut off his body in public."
Pao Duanyi, he returned to Beijing this time to make a difference, so why should we block his future?"
"Miss Liu?" Yan Xiaoyi asked in surprise after hearing the young scholar's soft voice.
"You have been wronged! Xu Huai said that he would personally pick you up and take you to Shuozhou!" Liu Qiong'er said, "I originally wanted to see off Mr. Wang and Zhu Can, but I didn't expect to encounter the scene just now.
