There are already new green buds in the January month in the south of the Yangtze River, but in the January month in the north, the wind and snow are at their peak. A carriage is swaying northward in the snow surrounded by a dozen riders.
"My late father was indeed Prince Xiaocheng. Seventeen years ago, the Khitans started a border provocation and invaded Lanzhou from Yangkou Village. Tianxiong's army could not control it. The imperial court sent my late father to lead the Jingsheng Army to aid Hedong, tens of thousands of people The generals fought hard for months, regained the lost land of Lanxin, and even defeated the enemy city of Shuo, Ying, and Datong. How ridiculous is that today the officials in the court said that "Yunshuo is the old county of Yanyun, and the ancestors sent it to restore it" ', but my father had already recovered Yunshuo seventeen years ago. However, the officials were afraid of war and wanted to abandon Yunshuo to stop the war with the Khitans. My father refused to accept the order because "the country is the old county and the county cannot bear to abandon it." Cai, the military envoy Ting pretended to issue an edict to kill his late father, but the officials did not say anything but the officials remained silent. Cai Ting had a ulterior motive in his heart and was afraid of revenge by the descendants of the Wang family, so he took me back to his hometown with kindness, and he ordered someone to ambush him and put the blame on his retainers, but he Thanks to my late father’s generals who fought to protect each other, I was able to grow up in Tongbai Mountain. In order to cover up the eyes and ears of Cai Qing and other thieves, my adoptive father Xu Wuxuan did not hesitate to sacrifice his own son to be killed by the enemy; and in order to escape the pursuit of five people, I The literary and martial arts skills of my uncle and others are buried in the mountains and fields, and they spend all day carrying manure and watering the fields to cover up."
Yan Xiaoyi, since Shen Zhene has been involved in this matter, and Xu Huai sent Zheng Tu to persuade them to go to Shuozhou, of course they must have an explanation for the future.
"In the public case back then, I was an orphan who had been murdered in Guanhui Mountain for my family. Cai Qing and other thieves would never admit that they sent people to murder orphans and widowed mothers. Therefore, this world is also ridiculous. No one would do it now. Stand up and identify me as Wang Xiaocheng's son, but countless people are on guard because I am Wang Xiaocheng's son, and Mr. Wang Fanlang is no exception. His actions today are not aimed at you two, but to tell the world that he has We, all the people in Tongbai Mountain, have severed all ties and have nothing to do with each other, and what we do in the future will have nothing to do with him..."
"..." Xu Huai led the crowd to set up an ambush to prevent Yue Hailou from assassinating Ge Boyi. Of course, Yan Xiaoyi and Shen Zhene also heard some rumors, but they felt that these rumors were too ridiculous, and they could not really be stupid to find Xu. Xu Huai went to ask. But he didn't expect these rumors to be true, and he didn't expect that Wang Fan's behavior today was because he was afraid of being affected by Xu Huai's life experience!
"When my father refused the order in Yunzhou, he once said that the king should protect the country and love the people. Yunshuo is the old county of the country. If the imperial court abandons it like a shoe, how can it be seen by the people of the world? My father refused to accept the order and wanted to defend it to death. However, Cai Qing and other thieves failed to achieve their goals," Xu Huai said calmly, "Wang Fanlang may have misjudged me at all. I don't have the so-called foolish loyalty in my heart that the king wants his ministers to die, but the ministers have to die. I know that it is the duty of every man to protect the country and love the people. If there is any chaos in the court in the future, I will definitely hold my scalp and not blindly follow it. Brother Yan and Shen, if you think Xu’s words are too arrogant and unethical, we will Separate here..."
"What are you talking about? The imperial court is in power and wants to chop off our heads. Do we really want to hand our heads to the guillotine?" Yan Xiaoyi heard Xu Huai talk about the stories that happened in this land for more than ten years. Said emotionally.
When Shen Zhenye heard what Xu Huai said, he felt a bad breath in his chest, and shouted: "I have been around the world since I was a child, and I don't understand the deep truth, but I must say it, I think Wang Shuai is the one who truly protects the country and loves the people. Zhongliang. Those rotten Confucian officials in the imperial court may talk nice, but they have lost the lives of 30,000 Tianxiong soldiers in vain, which is what we can see..."
Yan Xiaoyi, Shen Zhene received favor from Wang Kong in his early years. When Wang Kong was suffering, he did not hesitate to break the ban and become a prisoner. He followed Wang Kong all the way and was exiled to Lanzhou as a prisoner. Of course, he was extremely loyal, but as a low-level person As a knight-errant, the voices of rebellion and resistance stir deep in my heart.
Why do they think Xu Huai's words are arrogant and unreasonable?
They decided to stay because they felt that they couldn't get used to being the retainers of the Wang family, and they thought about the temperament of everyone in Tongbai Mountain who turned to them. But these words Xu Huai said openly made them want to nod, calling them better than anyone else. I can't wait to go to Shuozhou.
Wang Fan was acting coy today, and Xu Huai was really holding back a breath of bad breath, but seeing Yan Xiaoyi and Shen Zhenei so motivated, he finally felt relieved.
Wang Kong was unparalleled in spear skills, but he was straightforward. Xu Huai never thought that he could win him over, but Yan Xiaoyi, Shen Zhenei not only have similar temperaments with them, but more importantly, the two of them are Huanglongpoyi. A representative figure among the Xiao Nao Prisoners.
Yan and Shen can go to Shuozhou, and when the situation becomes difficult, they will be of great significance to the hearts of An Xiaonao and the prisoners.
However, this was only one of Xu Huai's reasons for hoping that Yan and Shen would stay in Shuozhou.
At the beginning of the Northern Expedition against Yan, a total of 8,000 prisoners were incorporated into the West Route Army to make up for the shortage of soldiers in the Imperial Guard Army.
The main force of the Tianxiong Army was defeated in Datong, and the prisoner casualties were extremely heavy. However, at this time, there were still about 4,000 prisoners scattered among the various divisions of the Tianxiong Army.
Among these prisoners, only a small proportion were extremely vicious - the prisoners who actually committed unpardonable crimes were basically executed locally and were not even eligible for exile.
Most of these prisoners were exiled to Lanzhou for common illegal crimes, and quite a few of them had unruly and unruly temperaments.
However, Xu Huai disagreed with how bad their character was.
In Xu Huai's view, most of them were the same as the Tongbai Mountain soldiers who were recruited. In other words, a considerable number of prisoners violated the law and could not bear oppression and bullying, or were forced to survive.
It must be said that there is any difference, that is, the vast majority of the Tongbai soldiers who were recruited were farmers forced by life before they fell into the army. They had little education and only had a lot of strength. In Tongbai, where there were many people and few fields, they were farmers. There was no way to support themselves and their families by farming in the mountains. When banditry broke out in Tongbai Mountain, they were either bewitched or coerced into weeding in large numbers.
The prisoners who were exiled to Lanzhou were mainly guilty of conspiring alone or in small groups of two or three people to commit illegal crimes.
This also determines that the prisoners exiled in Lanzhou are more flexible in mind, and a greater proportion of them are ordinary people who have some skills and are literate.
From a purely military perspective, these people were by no means good soldiers, but Xu Huai never thought of poaching more than 4,000 prisoners from all branches of the Tianxiong Army.
Even if Cao Shixiong and others did not fall out with him, he would not be able to do this.
What Xu Huai values is the small group of people among the four thousand prisoners who have a higher level of craftsmanship and a certain degree of knowledge and culture.
There may be only seventy or eighty people in this group, but this is a resource that is also in short supply in Tongbai Mountain.
If Wang Fan didn't directly reveal that they had parted ways today, even if brothers Cao Shixiong and Cao Shili secretly admired the Chihu people, they would not be able to reject the Tongbai Mountain soldiers too much in a short period of time. However, Xu Huai did not expect that Wang Fan would treat them so coldly and be so cold. Can't wait to clear up the relationship.
This also means that Cao Shixiong and Cao Shili exclude the soldiers of Tongbai Mountain and suppress Shuozhou without any need to cover up.
Even if they have no intention of surrendering to the Chihu people, even if they are afraid that their power in Hedong is bound to do everything possible to suppress the Tongbai Mountain Soldiers who are not under their control and directly form a check and balance within the Tianxiong Army.
Under such circumstances, the time left for Xu Huai to recruit useful prisoners from the Tianxiong Army was very limited.
Before Xie Zhong, Zhu Run, Lei Teng and others were ostracized and suppressed, and before they were able to reminisce about old friendships, Xu Huai only had this little time left to bypass Cao Shixiong, Cao Shili and other direct line generals of the Qing Shun Army. Go and recruit people.
Although when this matter is finally exposed, it is likely that brothers Cao Shixiong and Cao Shili will be very angry, but Xu Huai still needs to worry about this at this time?
Xu Huai thought about taking Yan Xiaoyi and Shen Zhen'e to Shuozhou, so he immediately started the matter.
Although it has been two days since Cao Shixiong officially took over the military and political power of Lanzhou in the west wing, Wang Zhen, Wang Fan, Zhu Hang and others just returned to the capital today. Cao Shixiong cannot be too eager to overturn what Wang Fan and others have done before. Many deployments.
It's too ugly to look like that.
Therefore, Cao Shixiong's direct troops are still in the Lan Valley to the west of Guanlui Mountain, from Ningwu to the north to Yangkou and other fortresses. The main troops are stationed under the leadership of Jie Zhong, Zhu Run, and Lei Teng. The three of them are currently Tianxiong. They are currently the three most powerful units in the army.
Xu Huai went all the way north. Xie Zhong, Zhu Run, and Lei Teng were not very enthusiastic towards Xu Huai, but they did not avoid him because of various rumors. They allowed him to pass all the way, and even said a few shabby words when they met.
The three of them were surprised that Zhu Hang did not stay in Lanzhou, and that Wang Fan finally recommended Cao Shixiong to take charge of the military and political power of Lanzhou in the west wing. They were even quite uneasy, not knowing their future status and fate in the Tianxiong Army. How will it be.
The three of them have achieved meritorious service, and have been promoted to five or six ranks in rank, but their general positions have only been moved one step forward, from the commander of the camp to the commander of the capital.
According to the military system of Dai Viet, in the smaller Forbidden Army, Du Yuhou could command one general (xiang) by himself. However, within the larger Forbidden Army, Du Yuhou served as the deputy general, assisting the commander in commanding the general (xiang). ) soldiers and horses.
At present, in order to show its trust in the Cao Shixiong brothers, the imperial court has let the Cao Shixiong brothers reorganize the Tianxiong Army. It is difficult for Xie Zhong, Zhu Run, and Lei Teng to imagine that they will have the opportunity to command a single general (chamber).
In comparison, although Yin Chao and Wen Hengyue had no military exploits, they were not responsible for the defeat. As the commander of the capital, their status as a single general (carriage) was still as stable as Mount Tai. At least Cao Shixiong would not attack them first.
When they met, Xie Zhong, Lei Teng, and Zhu Run all expressed such worries, but Xu Huai was powerless.
Before the Chihu people marched southward, Xu Huai did not expect to win over Jie Zhong, Lei Teng, and Zhu Run, who were already barely prominent. I feel that he still has time to win over these three people, or that Cao Shixiong will give him an opportunity to take advantage of...
