Chapter 498 Returning home in rich clothes After reaching a friendly agreement with Shuangshiluo, Wu Huaiyu continued to take a boat northward and entered Dezhou via the Qinghe River. The boat stopped at Anling and went to Su Lie's hometown in Jizhou, a hundred miles away.
This time he returned home rich and well-dressed. Last year, he was forced by the Cui family to go to Beijing to seek help from his teacher Li Jing. As a result, he met his junior brother Wu Huaiyu. Not only did he settle the conflict with the Cui family, he even ended up getting married to the Cui family. The second son Na He married the daughter of the late Cui Shanfu from the Zhengzhou house of the Cui family in Qinghe, and his daughter was engaged to Cui Zhijiu, the grandson of Qinghe County Duke Cui Shishu from the Xuzhou Yanling house of the Cui family in Qinghe.
The Cui family of Qinghe had six houses, and Su Dingfang married two of them.
Of course, Su Dingfang gained more than just these things when he came to Beijing. He was recommended as an official by Li Jing, Wu Huaiyu, and then Wu Huaiyu took him to Shuofang, where he defeated Liang Shidu with Ping Luo Yi. Now he has become the Sima of the Governor's Office of Youzhou and the governor of Northern Yanzhou, and even served as the governor of Youzhou. There is a general who is the right leader of the inspection school and is promoted to the third rank of Purple Gold Minister.
It's more than a hundred miles, and it only takes half a day to get there on horseback.
Although Su Lie has not been at home for more than a year, the Su family's manor is now more prosperous. In the past, the Cui family's relatives took advantage of the opportunity and wanted to occupy the Su family's farm and house, but now the Cui family have become in-laws of the Su family. , he was even very polite to Su Lie, who was now at the peak of his career, and the Cui family relatives also came to apologize early in the morning.
“When you come to Wuyi, you must try our special donkey meat.”
Su Dingfang brought Wu Huaiyu and his entourage to the Su family manor in Wuyi, and even the governor of Jizhou came to visit in person, not to mention the officials of Wuyi County. Countless people came to greet the visitor, who was wearing a purple robe with a gold and jade belt and a goldfish bag. Su Dingfang, that is an indescribable compliment and congratulation.
This feeling is in stark contrast to the previous years when I was suppressed in various ways.
"Yes, you must try donkey meat when you arrive in Wuyi." Qi Shanxing, the governor of Jizhou, said with a smile, saying that he and Su Lie were old acquaintances in the past.
Among the people who came to compliment him today, he was one of the rare people in Su Lie who was very polite.
This man used to be Dou Jiande's Zuo Pushe. He was a strong man in Qinghe, Beizhou. Later, he attached to Dou Jiande and became Dou Jiande's left and right servants with Pei Shiju. In the battle of Hulao, the 100,000 Hebei troops led by Dou Jiande were defeated by Li Shimin, and more than 3,000 were killed in the formation. , more than 50,000 prisoners were taken, and Dou Jiande was also captured alive.
After the war, the Tang Dynasty immediately sent the crown prince Zuo Shuzi Zheng Shanguo as the Shandong Taoist Ambassador to appease Hebei.
At that time, Dou Jiande's wife, Cao, was shot by Zuo Pu, Qi Shanxing, and fled back to Mingzhou with more than a hundred horsemen to protect her. At this time, Hebei was leaderless, but the territory was basically still there.
Some people suggested that Dou Jiande should be adopted as his son and the army should be recruited to continue fighting. Others suggested that they simply divide the treasury, plunder it, and then retreat to Douzikeng, Gaojibo and other places to become thieves.
During these quarrels, Qi Shanxing persuaded the Cao family, Pei Shiju, Cao Dan and others. He believed that if he recruited troops to fight against Li Tang, it would be too late to defeat him. It was better to surrender to the Tang Dynasty. He also opposed becoming a thief, thinking that when the time came, he would not be able to defeat Li Tang. It is inevitable that they will be surrounded and suppressed and end up dead.
Under his suggestion, they finally decided to surrender to the Tang army. For those who refused to surrender, they distributed all the money in the treasury to everyone, asking everyone not to plunder and harm the people again.
At that time, Su Dingfang was one of those generals who divided the money and then dispersed.
Qi Shanxing took his right servant Pei Ju, ordered Cao Dan, and some generals who were willing to be demoted. They presented the Eight Seals of the Cao family and the Xia Kingdom, as well as Yang Guang's treasures that he had received in time from the defeat of Yu Wenhua, and presented them to Ming.
Wei, Xiangzhou, formally surrendered to the Tang Dynasty.
Qi Shanxing's contribution was so great that the Tang Dynasty made him the second guard on the left side of the Qin Palace, assigned him to Li Shimin's command, and also gave him the title of Zhending County Duke.
Later, Liu Heitao rebelled against the Tang Dynasty twice, and Qi Shanxing did not have any quarreling with the Hebei generals and actively helped to quell the rebellion. After Qiu Xingze, the governor of Jizhou, was transferred to Jiaozhou, Qi Shanxing took over the post of governor of Jizhou.
He was born into a noble family in Hebei Province and had a good reputation in his hometown. When he served as Zuopushe in Dou Jiande's Xia Kingdom, he always advised Dou Jiande to implement benevolent policies. Now as the governor of Jizhou, he is also well regarded and thinks that his policies are gentle.
Although Su Dingfang chose to divide the money and return to his hometown to farm instead of surrendering to the Tang army, and later even came out twice to respond to Liu Heitai's rebellion against the Tang Dynasty and avenge Dou Jiande, Su Dingfang did not blame Qi Shanxing for surrendering to the Tang Dynasty, and Qi Shanxing could understand Su Dingfang.
The two families were close to each other in the past, and they were both heroic figures. Even in the Sui Dynasty, when Su Dingfang and his son organized rural soldiers to encircle and suppress the bandits to protect the country and the people, Qi Shanxing was their father and son's biggest financial sponsor of the rural soldiers and armed forces.
Funding, and the Su family and his son have always protected the Qi family.
When Su Dingfang had a dispute with the Cui family, Qi Shanxing had mediated and made peace. Now seeing Su Dingfang's achievements, Qi Shanxing was happy for him.
Su Lie's wife, Mrs. Gao, was the daughter of Dou Jiande's general Gao Yaxian. When Su Lie defected to Dou Jiande, Gao Yaxian appreciated him so much that he not only made him his vanguard general, but also later adopted him as his adopted son, and finally married his daughter to him.
.
If Gao Yaxian hadn't acted quickly, it is said that Dou Jiande would have wanted to marry his daughter to Su Lie.
Mr. Gao personally made local donkey meat for everyone.
"Putting donkey meat into pancakes is our local specialty. It's quite delicious. It's a bit like the ancient buildings in Chang'an, but our filling is filled with braised donkey meat instead of mutton."
A basket of long, thin pancakes with a golden crispy outside was brought up. Wu Huaiyu liked it at the first sight and smelled a nice aroma from a distance.
I quickly picked one up, took a bite, and there was a crunch. The skin was shattered and crumbs fell down, but the inside tasted very soft.
He took another bite and bit into the donkey meat inside.
It's still hot, crumbly, and tastes great.
"Sister-in-law, this donkey meat tastes particularly good."
"This donkey meat is stewed in old soup." Gao introduced.
Qi Shanxing is also a gourmand. He is very familiar with the Su family and does not shy away from the Gao family. He even likes the Gao family's donkey meat Gulouzi very much and will definitely eat it every time he comes to visit.
"Gao Niangzi's donkey meat is stewed in a large pot with aged soup, secret seasonings, and the donkey meat selected is also particular. It has to be small donkey meat that has been raised in the wild or fatter donkey meat.
"Jia, you can't use the kind of old and thin donkeys that have been doing heavy work all year round. The kind of donkey meat will not be cooked well and will not be fragrant when stewed. The old donkeys only have a fragrant soup but not tender meat."
"Mrs. Gao, this donkey meat is well-chosen and cooked well. You see, it doesn't clog your teeth, no matter how good it is. If you eat it outside, seven or eight out of ten restaurants will make it difficult to chew and stuff."
tooth.
The donkey meat here today should be in the rib position, not fat but not lean, just right."
Gao couldn't help but praise, "The governor of Qi is really an expert."
Wu Huaiyu felt that although this thing was a donkey meat pie, it tasted a bit like burning donkey meat. The difference was that the donkey meat burning was cut into pieces and stuffed with chopped donkey meat.
"I think my sister-in-law's cake is also very good. It's crispy on the outside and soft on the inside."
There are a lot of things to consider about a donkey meat pie. It is neither steamed nor fried. After the donkey meat is rolled and wrapped in dough, the dough is pressed and shaped with a wooden mold on a pan, and then it is grilled and grilled.
There must be no shortage of steps, and they must not be rushed.
In this way, the final baked cake will be more bulging, crispier, and more fragrant, and even the edges will turn into a yellow flower color, and even have layers of crispiness.
Gao Yaxian was also a local powerful man in Hebei, General Dou Jiande, who later became Liu Heitai's Zuopushe and died in the Battle of Mingshui. The Gao family was also a young lady who had received a good education since she was a child.
When he arrived in Wuyi, Huaiyu discovered that Su Dingfang did not really go back to his hometown to farm after the defeat. He went home to become a big landowner. The Su family had a large manor in Wuyi, with a large industry, a lot of fertile land, and a large number of subordinates.
Qu, slaves, and even many dependent fugitives.
It was precisely because Su Dingfang's family fortune was so rich that someone wanted to usurp it in the first place. It was also because Su Dingfang had no official position. Who would have known that Su Dingfang was not only an elegant and virtuous adopted son and son-in-law, but also Dou Jiande's beloved general and Liu Hei.
Brother Tai, he also has a teacher named Li Jing.
After dinner, I walked with Qi Shanxing and Su Lie outside the Su family's manor. Su Lie had a good reputation here, but his family was still a neighbor, and people who saw him from afar came to greet him.
No wonder he participated in the rebellion against the Tang Dynasty twice before, but he was still able to remain a strong man in the countryside and was loved and cared for by his neighbors.
Stay at Su's house that night.
At night, Su Dingfang did not accompany his wife but came to see Huaiyu with a jug of wine.
Today's return home in fine clothes was indeed a joy to behold, but after everyone left, I felt that it was not interesting.
"Can't sleep? It's been a long time since I've been with my sister-in-law. You have to keep me company."
"I want to talk to Erlang about something."
"Brother, tell me straight."
"Next year's Northern Expedition to the Turks, you also know the imperial court's deployment plan. The teacher is the commander-in-chief, leading the six routes of the Northern Expedition, and personally leading the main force in the middle route. We are only on the eastern route, and our main task is to block Jieli's retreat to the direction of Xiqi.
We are not the main force, and we have no chance to attack Ding Xiang. Why did Erlang do this?
Wu Huaiyu smiled and said, "Senior brother, you are wrong. The teacher is the commander-in-chief of the Northern Expedition. As long as Jieli can be destroyed, no matter what kind of army takes it, the great contribution belongs to the teacher. If Jieli escapes and the success is wasted, then that is
The teacher’s dereliction of duty.”
Su Lie filled up the wine for the two of them and asked again, "Even if we go by what Erlang said, if we want to seize the main force in the middle to defeat the enemy and capture the king, we have no chance in Youzhou. The road is further than Daishuo in Hedong. The two
We only have 20,000 troops, and Erlang has to practice heavy infantry and swordsmanship, as well as heavy-armored Youzhou assault cavalry, which are not suitable for long-distance attacks!"
"Even if Erlang really has this intention, I'm afraid he won't have a chance."
Huaiyu laughed and said, "Senior brother is better at the art of war than I am, but the reason why we are fighting hard now is not for the purpose of seeking advantage."
Su Lie was stunned.
"Then why are you so mobilized?"
"Bluffing, making false claims in the east and attacking in the west."
Huaiyu did not hide it from Su Lie anymore, "Actually, what I am doing now is to strengthen the border defense of our Hebei army, and to prepare for the future recruitment of Turkic tribesmen, even Xiqi, and to deal with Goguryeo in the future.
prepare for."
When it comes to dealing with Turks and Xi, Khitan Sulie feels that it is fair to say, but is it a bit too far to deal with Goguryeo?
They all focused on moving to the peninsula and sent troops to Silla.
"I do want to conquer the Turks and capture Jieli, but I don't need 20,000 troops. All I need is 3,000 light cavalry. The rest are used to confuse the enemy and prepare for war."
"Three thousand light cavalry captured Jie Li?" Su Lie felt that Wu Huaiyu was crazy for wanting to make a contribution. Although Jie Li had some troubles in the past two years, a lean camel was bigger than a horse. How could Wu Huaiyu capture three thousand light cavalry from Youzhou?
What happened after traveling thousands of miles to Dingxiang?
"We just need to be surprised,"
"It is impossible for three thousand people to approach the Dingxiang Khan's court silently without anyone noticing."
"In fact, to destroy Jieli, we don't necessarily have to attack Dingxiang."
"?" Su Lie couldn't help but have his mind filled with questions.
Since Qimin Khan, the great Turkic Khans have made Dingxiang their Khan Court (Helinger). If they don't attack Dingxiang, how can they capture Jieli?
"Senior brother, do you believe me?"
Su Lie looked at him. Although it sounded outrageous, his instinct was that he should trust Huaiyu.
"tell me the story?"
"I'm going to ask you, senior brother, to select three thousand elite light cavalry and imitate the Turkic wolf cavalry. From their formation to their armor, flags, and even their speech, they will all imitate the Turks. In one year, senior brother will turn these three thousand cavalry into
A Turkic Wolf Rider."
"In one year, we will capture Jieli alive with these three thousand fake wolf riders!"
It sounded interesting, but Su Lie wanted to know more specific details, "Erlang is drinking, let's talk in detail!"
Two thousand Modao troops, two thousand armored cavalry, including the entire Hebei Province regiment of 20,000 troops, these are nothing but Wu Huaiyu's smoke bombs.
The real killing move is just those three thousand wolf cavalry.
Huaiyu asked Su Lie to train and command these three thousand wolf cavalry.
