Among the high mountains and ridges of Guanjuan Mountain, the terrain suddenly opens up, and the temperature is slightly humid than outside the mountain. The clear lake water is spread out in front of you, and the rippling water waves are swaying the scenery of early spring.
This is Tianchi Lake, one of the many mountain lakes in Guanchuan Mountain.
During the Sui and Tang Dynasties, the alpine meadows of Guanchuan Mountain were used to raise official horses, and Tianchi Shepherd Supervisor was set up on the north side of Tianchi Lake. Before Emperor Yang of the Sui Dynasty came to the throne, he often went to Guanluan Mountain for hunting and shelter. He also built Fenyang Palace at the source of Fenshui River, etc. Large-scale building complex.
Tianchi Pastoral Supervisor and Fenyang Palace were destroyed in the war long ago. After the establishment of the Dai Viet Dynasty, Mayinghai Temple was built on the site of Tianchi Pastoral Supervisory Office. However, with the decline and emigration of the surrounding Tibetan villages, Mayinghai Temple was destroyed. The incense gradually became sparse, and there were only a dozen old monks guarding the temple at this time.
Cao Shixiong and two brothers, Cao Shili, who served as the inspectors of the border areas of Yangkou Village, together with the state magistrate Wang Gaoxing, recorded affairs and joined the army. One day, I climbed Guanluo Mountain, stood in front of the dilapidated Mayinghai Temple, and looked at the sparkling Tianchi Lake.
"When Xianci was still alive, he would worship incense and worship the Buddha in his house every day. He would often tell my two brothers that he wanted to come to Mayinghai Temple to worship, but he could not do so. Today, I am visiting Mayinghai Temple with everyone. The person pulled out more than a thousand grains of silver from his bag and used it as a meager amount to build the temple, but at least it was a return to my last wish of mercy!"
More than a month has passed since Wang Zhen, Wang Fan and Zhu Hang left Lanzhou and returned to Beijing.
For more than a month, Cao Shixiong sent his younger brother Cao Shili, who was appointed as the patrol envoy to the edge of Yangkou Village, to station in Ningwu and the Yangkou Village area. In addition to absorbing and digesting the defeat of more than 6,000 Tianxiong troops who had fled from Datong, He also recruited Jian Rui from the Han people who went south, and based on the remnants of the Qing Shun Army, he spread out the Six Generals (Xiang) Forbidden Army.
Except for his younger brother Cao Shili and Shuozhou general Meng Ping, there were several other commanders and envoys, Du Yuhou and military generals of all sizes. Most of them were Cao's children and Shuozhou Han generals.
Although the Khitan used Han troops on a large scale in Nanjing Road and Xijing Road, they had always been extremely wary of the use of Han generals. It was precisely for this reason that Cao Shixiong knew the importance of controlling military power.
Therefore, even though he knew that some of his methods would be viewed with suspicion in Dai Viet, he still took advantage of the reconstruction of the Thien Hung Army without hesitation to transform these six generals into direct line troops under his direct control.
The Tianxiong Army can officially have ten generals (chambers) in the imperial army. Six of them are taken by direct descendants of the Cao family. Two generals, Yin Chao and Wen Hengyue, have maintained a complete establishment. Naturally, they take up two of them. In the end, the remaining two generals are ( Xiang), as well as Xie Zhong, Zhu Run, Lei Teng and other troops, as well as the three thousand Tongbai Mountain soldiers stationed in Shuozhou, Cao Shixiong is not in a hurry to make arrangements, but recently he is keen on pulling Wang Gaoxing, Xun Yannian, Yin Chao, Wen Hengyue and other generals When traveling around the mountains and rivers, sometimes we would invite a group of scribes to write poems and compose poems.
Cao Shixiong was so anxious to be elegant that he recommended a group of scholars from the local gentry to serve as officials in prefectures and counties. He even made generous donations at every turn. In just one month, he donated tens of thousands of taels of silver to the construction of the Guanshu School in Xianci Temple in prefectures and counties. This was nothing more than his eagerness to Want to win the recognition of the local gentry.
Seeing that Cao Shixiong was going to donate more than a thousand grains of silver to repair Mayinghai Temple, Wang Gaoxing, Xun Yannian and others naturally praised him verbally, but they murmured in their hearts that the Cao family had controlled Shuozhou for less than ten years. How much restraint could they withstand their influence in Lan? The state spends a lot of money to buy people's hearts?
"Pan Chenghu wrote a letter a few days ago saying that Xishan Fanhu was attacking Shuozhou very fiercely and that Shuozhou could not bear its worries. He asked Langu soldiers and horses to join him in attacking Xishan Fanhu. What do you think of this? How should I reply to Shuozhou?"
It is impossible for Cao Shixiong to drag on the issue of Tongbai Mountain Soldiers, Jie Zhong and other tribes forever.
In that case, not only would the newly appointed Hedong Economic Envoy Liu Shizhong send people to inquire and intervene, and the news would reach Bianjing, but there was also no guarantee that the court would not have any other thoughts about the two brothers.
It has been more than ten days since Pan Chenghu sent a letter from Shuozhou on behalf of Tongbaishan soldiers to request an attack on Xishan Fanhu. At this time, Cao Shixiong thought that he had initially grasped the thoughts of the Lanzhou generals, so he took the opportunity to visit Mayinghai Temple today.
, throw out these issues and ask everyone to discuss them.
Wang Gaoxing, Xun Yannian and other generals looked down at their shoes, seemingly thinking, but silently complaining in their hearts.
After getting along for more than a month, they have almost figured out Cao Shixiong's tricks.
During this period, Cao Shixiong would basically summon the generals to discuss matters, no matter how big or small.
If the result of the discussion is to his liking, he will ask everyone to submit their counter-signatures to the Secretary of State for approval.
If the result of the discussion is not to his liking, Cao Shixiong will say that the matter needs to be carefully considered and put the matter aside for the time being.
In the final analysis, if everything wants to advance, it must be carried out according to Cao Shixiong's will, but the responsibility must be borne by all generals. It is not that the Cao brothers were stubborn and insisted on their own way when they first attached to Dai Viet.
After figuring out Cao Shixiong's tricks, how could Wang Gaoxing and Xun Yannian be willing to speak easily again?
Yin Chao and Wen Hengyue were not so sophisticated in their scheming. They had long heard that Shuozhou soldiers and horses intended to attack Xishan Fanhu. Although they had various thoughts in their hearts, Cao Shixiong had been silent before, and they had no way to say anything publicly.
At this time, I was more or less unable to hold it in any longer.
"People like Pan Chenghu are either recruited thief generals or local soldiers who have gained power. They escaped from Datong by chance. They caught the old, weak and sick of the opponent and cut off some heads. Do they really think they are elites in a hundred battles?" Yin Chao disdained.
He said, "They only have a few soldiers and horses, and they don't know anything about the situation. They rashly entered Xishan to clear out the mountain beards. What should happen to Shuozhou? Can they bear the responsibility? If the Xishan mountain beards can be wiped out easily, we will leave them here."
hour?"
Incompetent people will never admit their incompetence easily.
The main force of the Tianxiong Army was defeated in Datong. Even if Ge Boyi could not be completely exempted from responsibility, he still found an excellent excuse for everyone to shirk responsibility, that is, Yue Hailou had rebelled against the enemy.
In addition to informing people, he presided over the rigorous search for Khitan spies in Lanxin and other places, and forced the Cao family to massacre Khitan and miscellaneous captives in Shuozhou. These were all treacherous tricks of the Khitan people.
In this way, it is understandable that the main force of the Tianxiong Army was defeated in Datong. It did not matter how powerful the Khitan troops were.
After all, before the main force of the Tianxiong Army was defeated, they had easily captured Shengde Gate and Datong West City, and almost wiped out tens of thousands of Datong troops with little effort.
If you tell a lie ten thousand times, how many people will not believe it?
Therefore, Zhu Hang, with the help of everyone in Tongbai Mountain and Xie Zhong, Zhu Run, Lei Teng and others, led tens of thousands of Tianxiong troops to escape from Datong City, and became insignificant. In the eyes of Yin Chao, Wen Hengyue and others
It's more of a fluke and a good fate.
When Cao Shixiong first reorganized the Tianxiong Army, he did not dare to be too strong in suppressing Xie Zhong, Zhu Run, and Lei Teng who were friends with the Wang family and Zhu Hang.
However, when seeking advice from others, Wang Gaoxing, Xun Yannian and others all preferred Jie Zhong, Zhu Run and Lei Teng, who had made great achievements and had deep roots in Lanzhou and other places. Chao and Wen Hengyue gave up after unusually strong opposition.
Although Wang Fan publicly stated that the Wang family and everyone in Tongbaishan had parted ways when he left Lanzhou, he still trusted Yujia, Xie Zhong, Zhu Run, and Lei Teng, and used these three people to lead his troops before leaving Lanzhou. Shouyangkou, Ningwu and other most important cities in the west wing.
Without Yin Chao and Wen Hengyue's extremely strong opposition, Cao Shixiong at this time did not dare to shelve Xie Zhong and others without any scruples.
At this juncture, Cao Shixiong did not want Shuozhou to flourish, so he nodded to Yin Chao to express his approval of his opinion.
Wen Hengyue's opinion was also to order Shuozhou to stay safe and not to stir up trouble, to prevent further troubles, and also asked them to send troops to take care of it.
"Wang Langjun, Xun Langjun, what do you think?" Cao Shixiong went to Wang Gaoxing, Xun Yannian looked at him and asked.
Although the imperial court did not send any more military supervisors to Lanzhou, Wang Gaoxing, as the state magistrate, had the power to inspect and punish the generals in the state who violated laws and regulations. He and Lushi, the leader of all Cao Cao, joined the army in Xun Yannian and were responsible for removing Cao Shixiong in Lanzhou. the most important official.
At the same time, they were officials who came from the imperial examination. Cao Shixiong wanted to lower his profile now, and of course he had to consult their opinions on military and political matters first.
To be honest, Wang Gaoxing and Xun Yannian couldn't understand what Shuozhou wanted to do by asking for war and attacking Xishan Fanhu, but they would not forget the scene before Wang Fan left Lanzhou.
They couldn't express their stance easily at this time. Facing Cao Shixiong's inquiry, they just said: "The court has not yet decided whether to fight or defend against Yunshuo Khitan and other Tibetan tribes, and we dare not say anything unreasonable. Cao Langjun or It would be better to send someone to ask the governor how he views this matter..."
"Why bother the envoy for such a trivial matter?" Meng Jian is the younger brother of Shuozhou general Meng Ping. He is also a descendant of the Meng family in Shuozhou. However, he has been practicing prose since he was a child. He has a literary name as a young man, and he also served as governor of Shuozhou very early. He was appointed as an official under Cao Shixiong of the mansion.
As Cao Shixiong's confidant, Meng Jian certainly knew that Cao Shixiong wanted to directly restrain the Shuozhou troops and obey them obediently, without causing any trouble for them.
However, even if Wang Fan openly expressed his dissatisfaction with the people of Tongbai Mountain when he left Lanzhou, the people of Tongbai Mountain still have a very high reputation among the remnants of the Tianxiong Army who fled from Datong.
Therefore, even if Cao Shixiong could think of suppressing Shuozhou, he still hoped to obtain the support of Wang Gaoxing, Xun Yannian and others first.
But unlike Wang Gaoxing, Xun Yannian was extremely cunning. He knew what Cao Shixiong was thinking, but he would rather bring this matter to the strategic envoy Liu Shizhong than express his position on the matter.
In fact, this was not what Cao Shixiong wanted to see. Only then did Meng Jian say anything, wanting to put things right.
Cao Shixiong pondered for a long time, and considering the Cai clan's confused attitude towards Shuozhou, he finally said: "Perhaps this matter can be settled better through careful analysis..."
