Zhang Xing and Xiao Zhou took the Lu brothers and more than ten cavalry guards and guides provided by Guo Jingke along the river. The further downstream they went, the further away from the Eastern Capital, the more they became aware of the chaos of the situation.
In the Puyang area, the defeated soldiers and the fleeing civilians were just reduced to bandits who robbed homes and houses. They formed groups and had no stronghold at all. Although the local tycoons hated the Wei Dynasty to their bones, no one dared to actually take action. Xu Dalang even
After joining a secret society like the Deposed Dragon Gang, which is absolutely anti-Wei, he still hopes to clean up the place under the banner of cooperating with the imperial court. The mentality behind it is really worth pondering.
After crossing the river, the painting style here in Hebei is obviously different.
Just across a river, the scale of the bandits is obviously different. In the mountains and grass, there are countless people occupying the mountains, forests, lakes and hills, raising flags and flags, so that in broad daylight, the road is a paradise for bandits, almost all towns,
The villages and Zhuangwei have all chosen to stay behind closed doors. Only a few cities with troops stationed around them still have some order and vitality... Obviously, these bandits have not changed their mentality. After they became bandits because of the force of the imperial court,
They also regarded themselves as bandits and began to enter the role of unscrupulous destroyers, and those villages and villages also automatically began to arm themselves due to the need for defense.
In other words, it was no longer the Wei court that controlled order outside the city.
Then we continue to go downstream and reach the Qinghe River, the plains, and the Bohai Sea area, which is the typical lower reaches of the river. It is even more exciting... At least four to five groups of large-scale bandits and rebels have appeared here, ranging from tens of thousands to more
He was said to have more than 100,000 soldiers, and he had already begun to attack cities and plunder villages, and even proclaimed himself a general and a king.
Only Zhang Xing and others along the way found that the saboteur mentality of these people was still very obvious. The so-called generals and kings were more for the expansion of selfish desires rather than for any cause.
It sounds absurd, or at least it seems absurd on the surface... It is already the third year since Zhang Xing came to this world. He was defeated and merged with each other as soon as he appeared. Then he became a civil servant and was basically a criminal investigation officer. It's really ridiculous.
He rarely kills people and sets fires, and this time he has witnessed the collapse of the Three Conquests of Dongyi, so he has long been able to be iron-clad about some things, but this journey... still feels ridiculous.
Because, at this point, something is already clear, that is, the Wei Dynasty will inevitably collapse, and it is the ruling class of the Wei Dynasty that caused the collapse. In this case, those who have double historical experience
Zhang Sanlang knew very well that only rebellion was the real way out...but as a well-known rebel, the thugs he easily eliminated along the way were all rebels, that is, theoretical comrades.
It can be seen that Xiao Zhou, who has always been curious, has become more and more confused, but because of his family hatred and his usual respect for Zhang Xing, he doesn't say much for the time being.
"Xu..."
To the north of the river, Putai County, Bohai County, is still more than 20 miles away from the destination of this trip, Putai. When we arrived at an intersection, we encountered a checkpoint. The location of this checkpoint was really tricky, as we turned at the intersection.
A few dozen steps later, there was a small hill-shaped earth platform at the intersection for cover, so people were caught off guard. By the time they reined in their horses, they had already been thrown into the intersection and were semi-surrounded.
"If you come, please tell me your name, place of origin, and purpose of your trip. If you want to go to Po Tai, you must hand in your sword!"
Behind the checkpoint, someone seemed to have expected this scene, and someone started shouting.
Zhang Xing stood still for a moment and glanced at the group of people.
I saw that the leader of the shout turned out to be a civil servant wearing a small crown, sitting majestically on a chair behind the antlers and the fence. There was a low desk in front of him and a few paperwork forms in his hands.
thing.
At the same time, dozens of strong men were wearing leather armor and holding swords and shields. They were majestic and had their own formation.
Not counting that, Zhang Xing looked up and saw that there were seven or eight steel crossbows lurking in the fortification that he thought was a natural platform but now seemed to be man-made.
It was during this stunned moment that the back of the checkpoint became tense, and seven or eight strong men armed with spears, fences, and steel forks stood up from behind to join them.
If he had just marveled in admiration before, Zhang Xing's eyelids jumped when he saw this scene. He didn't know why. Even if he was a master of Qijing with both Ren and Du, if he forced his way through, he might not be able to heal his whole body.
If he retreats, his subordinates, including Xiao Zhou, will probably have to pay the price.
"Is Li Ding's boss in Po Tai now?" At this thought, Zhang Xing quickly became arrogant as if nothing had happened. "I am from Jing'antai and also his old friend. I was ordered to come from Dongdu to find him."
The clerk behind him was stunned for a moment, raised his hand slightly to stop the strong man behind him, then looked at Zhang Xing and his party, and then asked seriously: "Is there any official document?"
"No." Zhang Xing responded without any shame. "I am doing this on my own behalf. His wife Zhang Shiniang is the sworn sister of my family Bai Changjian. After the defeat of the Three Expeditions, his family in Dongdu was very worried, fearing that he would not be here."
To put it another way, let me explore the road first, and I didn’t find out about him until I reached Qinghe..."
Unexpectedly, the clerk was silent for a moment, and then he said with a serious face: "If it comes to this, you guys have no paperwork? I'm sorry I can't let you go!"
This is to admit that Li Ding is here, but he has to deal with official matters.
But this is ridiculous, okay? With this kind of world and this kind of environment, why are you just doing business? And with this kind of military configuration, it seems that Li Ding is not doing it well? In other words, this person is obviously taking orders from Li Ding.
Determined.
In fact, several low-level bosses in Dingzhuang were obviously surprised.
But Zhang Xing just thought about it immediately, hesitated for a moment, but then moved slightly in his heart, and took the initiative to ask: "If we hand over the sword, state our name and place of origin, and just walk in, your Excellency will allow us to go to Po Tai to see Li Silang."
?"
Sure enough, the literary official became inexplicably panicked and just grabbed the pen and hesitated. The young men around him were also inexplicably surprised.
Zhang Xing was completely awakened, sighed, and took the initiative to tell him: "Your Excellency, I am a master of both Ren and Du, otherwise I would not be ordered to do this kind of work by my Bai Changjian and Mrs. Li... Just you
Don't be entangled anymore, let alone do stupid things... Li Silang is just the messenger of the water, and he is destined not to stay for a long time."
"It's not that I have bad intentions." After hearing this, the civil servant finally sighed helplessly. "It's just that the outside is in such chaos, and there is no city on the Pu Tai side of Hebei. It all depends on Li Shuijun's proper division of labor to maintain stability within a radius of dozens of miles.
If he leaves now, I'm afraid the situation will be ruined immediately."
"How come I don't understand your difficulties?" Zhang Xing nodded immediately. "But forceful melons are not sweet. Whether Li Ding stays or not, we can only see your sincerity and his true intentions. If you think that you can let us go if you stop us.
If he doesn’t leave, it would be a bit of a stretch…”
The civil servant simply stood up and avoided his seat, handing over his arms.
Zhang Xing immediately returned the courtesy: "Don't worry, I will never mention this matter when we meet. I will only tell him some family matters."
The civil servant then nodded in relief.
Only then did everyone realize that this civil servant was actually worried that Li Ding would leave Po Tai after someone came to his family, and the place would be insecure. Fortunately, this person from Jing'an Tai came to find someone with a clear conscience, so he immediately pointed it out.
However, the official was relieved for a moment, but the other young leaders became uneasy, as if they were worried that Li Shuijun would leave.
Let’s not talk about the excitement here at the checkpoint. It’s just that Zhang Xing passed the intersection and continued to move forward. In the middle, he passed several open and hidden checkpoints, as well as fortifications and polders, and even a patrol team, which was amazing.
Then, before the evening of that day, Zhang Xing finally met Li Shuijun, who seemed to be very popular with the locals, on the bare platform of Pu Tai... The latter heard something about an old friend of Jing'an Taiwan in the village next to Pu Tai, and even Li Shuijun
The Third Master was led to this place, which was the best place to avoid people's conversation, without even telling him his name... This was a man-made rammed earth platform with bare surroundings. It was said to be the miracle of the Black Emperor, and he was always there.
The ones without grass are really interesting.
And to be honest, this Suicune was in good spirits, with a rosy and shiny complexion, and he didn't look like he was downright unlucky.
"I wasn't unlucky to begin with." When Li Shuijun saw the person coming, he clasped his hands and smiled bitterly. "But I should have known it when I saw you. It seems that I am going to be unlucky again."
Zhang Xing didn't care at all and just bowed seriously: "Li Shuijun has done a great job... He has gathered strong men, is good at ordnance, and controls the vital points north and south of the river to win over people's hearts. Is this a rebellion?"
Li Ding was silent for a moment, but he didn't bother to refute. He just asked seriously: "What do you want from me?"
"When I went to follow the Holy Master on the Eastern Expedition, I heard that Li Shuijun was here. When the Eastern Expedition was defeated, the Holy Master went to Jiangdu, but unexpectedly, Li Shuijun was still here. After walking around, he reached the upper reaches of Jishui River.
I heard someone said that Li Shuijun is still here... I was curious, so I came to see him." Zhang Xingyi said.
"Then what?" Li Ding continued to ask.
"I have formed a deposed dragon gang, which specializes in hunting real dragons and returning the vitality of heaven and earth to the people. I have always known that Li Shuijun is a man of great ability and has a personal relationship with Huyunjun, so I want to invite Li Shuijun to join the gang and attract him to the list.
, he established his authority." Zhang Xing said sincerely. "Li Shuijun, don't worry, I am now one of the two big leaders in the gang. As long as you nod, I will work hard to find a big leader for you, Li Shuijun."
Li Ding was silent again, then he just folded his hands under the setting sun and shook his head firmly: "If you don't do it, you won't join the Dragon Slayer Gang, and I can't find Mr. Hu Yun."
"Then please ask Li Silang to help with another small thing." Zhang Xing continued to hand over his hand sincerely.
"What?" Li Ding became a little serious.
"Help me kill Zhang Jinscale of Qinghe and annex his troops." Zhang Xing said seriously. "He has already started massacring the city... It's very bad. I also need a rebel army to do something. By the way, I can depose the dragon."
Help me earn some prestige... After all, you are a serious court official with both manpower and material resources at your disposal, so it is justifiable to kill him."
Li Ding hesitated for a moment. Next to the two of them, Xiao Zhou, who was responsible for warning others from eavesdropping more than ten steps away, also turned around in surprise, as if he wanted to say something.
"After the annexation, it will also be good for you." Zhang Xing seemed to have already prepared the plan, so he said it seriously. "First, do something. Uncle Cao in Dongdu will see it and make arrangements with you. This is your
Secondly, although you have established yourself here in Po Tai, you have a shady reputation and will have to leave sooner or later. As soon as you leave, given the current situation in Hebei, they will either disperse and become thieves, or they will
Waiting to be defeated and annexed by Chishiro on the other side of the river or Gao Shitong and Sun Xunzhi from the Bohai Sea... Instead of doing this, whether you are a thief or continuing to protect your family, you have to punch away and establish a prestige to save hundreds of punches...
…You say yes or no?”
Li Ding took a deep breath, sat on the podium under the setting sun, and then shook his head vigorously towards the eastern horizon: "You, if you talk about your words, even Hu Yunjun will stay away when he sees you.
.”
"Do you just say it makes sense?" Zhang Xing didn't panic at all.
"I want to ask you something first." Li Ding shook his head repeatedly. "You, Zhang Sanlang, are determined to pacify the world in one rage...how can you both slay and eliminate dragons? Why don't you protect the country and the people? And you want to do both.
To eliminate the dragon is to rebel, so why do you need to unite me, the army, to eliminate the rebels?"
"You are actually asking about one thing...but I have to answer it in detail, but I divided it into three parts and said it slowly." Zhang Xing walked over, still standing upright with his hands behind his back, but just looking at the person behind him on the stage.
sunset.
"It doesn't matter if you divide it into eight parts." Li Ding sat there and sneered.
"The first question is too simple." Zhang Xing opened his hands and answered. "If I had your family background and your ability to lead troops, and I happened to be like you after the chaos, I would probably be the farthest from Dongdu and Jiangdu.
The place was guarded by a pile of ordnance supplies and civilians... I immediately protected the country and the people! When thieves came to attack me, I might be promoted to an official position. When the court called me, I stayed put. When officers and soldiers came to attack me, I took advantage of the situation and counterattacked.
But unfortunately, I don’t have your family background, nor your luck, nor your military skills... Of course, it’s mainly the last one.”
Li Ding held it in his heart, but in the end he just shook his head.
"The second question is self-explanatory. Since you don't have the ability to face all the waves on your own, you have to follow the trend." Zhang Xing asked seriously. "Master Li, based on your talent and vision, tell me that Dongdu is relatively empty now.
I will not mention that we will not be able to send out troops for a while, but I will only talk about whether this wave of bandit troops will be able to withstand the counterattack of the four major battalions of Hejian, Youzhou, Xuzhou and Jiangdu if they cause trouble in a while."
"This is what I want to ask you." Li Ding finally gritted his teeth. "You know clearly that this wave will be swept away by the imperial army, why are you so anxious to 'An Tianxia'... You can't go there with your documents."
Wu'an?!"
Xiao Zhou looked back again, but still didn't say a word.
"No." Zhang Xing answered proudly. "If you go to Wu'an with a document, you will be destined to control the world in this life. How can you control the world?"
Li Ding was about to speak for a moment, but unexpectedly, Zhang Xingfu continued to sneer and retort: "You still have the nerve to ask me? I just ask you, is the Northern Route Army going back to live well? Before you can sort out your thoughts at the Hejian Camp in Youzhou,
Do you think your broken platform without even a city wall can stop the more than 100,000 troops of the Gao and Sun families? Those people have weapons donated by our saint. And these local people have no hope, so you are better off.
First you gave them hope, and then you asked them to be swallowed up by bandits... What do you think this is?"
As the sun set, Li Ding sat on the podium, looked at the eastern horizon, shuddered on the ground, and then said with difficulty: "According to my original shape, I should have just abandoned this place like Yang Shen did, put on makeup and ran away.
, I did think so at the beginning... But for some reason, I knew this, but I still couldn't bear it, and I was a little unwilling, which led to such an embarrassing situation... It can be seen that I was taught a lot by you.
"
Zhang Xing turned his back to the other party, looking at the setting sun in the west and sighing: "If you have known me for so long and still just put on makeup and run away, not only will you not be willing to accept it, I will not be willing to accept it either."
Xiao Zhou turned around to look and just shut up.
The three of them were silent for a while, watching the setting sun gradually disappear into the waves of the river, the horizon no longer visible from the east, countless bonfires lit in the camps around Po Tai, and then they spoke again, but they actually stopped talking.
Half the words.
"This platform was originally the first time that the Black Emperor left the north to march south. He stood up here to peek at the East China Sea and watch the Qing Emperor's dragon spirit. Unexpectedly, after only a few thousand years, he could no longer see the sea.
Already..."
"Thousands of years, even if there are no gods to move mountains and seas, it is enough for the sea to turn into mulberry fields. Speaking of which, when I was on the edge of the Sea of Bitterness, I once observed the Sea of Bitterness with the King of Qi, and then copied two sentences. I thought it was very interesting at the time, but this time
It seems more appropriate to use it here..."
"I won't ask you what it is."
"The ancients have never been seen before, and the newcomers have never been seen after. Thinking about the long journey of heaven and earth, I shed tears with sadness... It is a rare good sentence to copy, it would be a pity not to let outsiders know..."
"..."
"..."
"Third brother." After a while, under the dusk, Xiao Zhou finally couldn't bear it anymore.
"What?" Zhang Xing looked back.
"Brother Li has another question. You haven't said it yet... I'm actually very curious." Xiao Zhou came to ask seriously. "Since we want to rebel against the Wei Dynasty, we should contact the rebel army to strengthen our strength... Why should we use the power of officers and soldiers to
Destroy them in the name?"
"Because they have poor discipline and kill excessively." Zhang Xing's words were plain.
"But since you are a thief, who doesn't kill excessively?" Xiao Zhou didn't have time to ask.
"This is a bit like Qin Er." Zhang Xing stood down behind Li Ding with his hands behind his hands and smiled. "Why are thieves called thieves?"
"It's because... it's because the Wei Dynasty refused to let them live!" Xiao Zhou gritted his teeth and gave the reply. "Xiu Mingtang, the big golden pillar contains the wealth of the middle class; conquered Dongyi three times, and killed four or five out of ten troops stationed in the Central Plains; the people of Hebei in the Central Plains
If you make two or three mistakes out of ten, everyone is afraid, so why not become a thief?"
"Yes, there is no problem at all here." Zhang Xing blurted out, as if he was used to the theory of rebellion. "After becoming a thief, why don't we avoid killing and looting? It's because there is no control, reason and restriction.
...and were the disciplines, principles and restrictions thrown away by themselves? No. They also listened to disciplines, principles, laws, and restrictions...but they listened honestly, but ended up making the most mistakes.
Third, in the future there will be four or five deaths out of ten, which shows that the principles, laws, restrictions, and rules of the Wei Dynasty are all bad."
"I understand." Hearing this, Xiao Zhou suddenly realized. "So they have to find new principles, new controls, and new rules? This is the real rebellion against An Tianxia. And when we take over them now, we want to give them
They have new principles and new rules... and then use our rules to replace those of the violent Wei. This is the real way to eradicate the violent Wei and stabilize the world! Those ordinary thieves do not have their own rules. Although there is nothing wrong with being a thief, after becoming a thief, there is also
Deserve to be exterminated!"
"Absolutely." Zhang Xing nodded. "Xiao Zhou can be taught."
In the dusk, Li Ding remained silent.
"But..." Xiao Zhou hesitated. "There is another point, which is what Fourth Brother Li asked just now... Since Third Brother is so clear about the situation, why can't he do some opportunism... I mean, it's so troublesome now, rebellion.
But we have to kill those who go too far among the rebels first... Why can't we be a little more bold, throw away a few things, let it go, and pick up the principles and rules in the next journey anyway, it doesn't seem to make a big difference, right?"
"Perhaps, but I don't dare." Zhang Xing sighed with his hands behind his hands. "Because the road to troubled times has already come to an end, and everyone is lined up in front of the thoroughfare, ready to set off. If there is a slight deviation at this time, it will be a mistake in the future.
After traveling a thousand miles, I went astray...Everyone is responsible for the path he takes...I don't dare."
"I'll get rid of Zhang Jinscale for you." Li Ding, who was sitting at Zhang Xing's feet in the dark night, finally spoke. "But we have to discuss it in the long term... You have to give me a thorough strategy so that I can feel at ease when I return to the Eastern Capital...
…If you want to pacify the world, pacify me first!”
"First contact Cheng Dalang on the other side of the river." Zhang Xing seemed to have expected that the other party would agree. "Let's see what kind of person he is. If he is really smart, let's use his shell to do this business."
ps:
Thank you to Mr. Bachelor A for your double alliance, thank you to the lazy, fat and late-stage cancer man, Mr. Mountain Viewer who has no money, Mr. Qingshan Master, Mr. Fusheng Master, Master Yanyuan, and the leaders of the five masters... Thank you for your love... Wuwu
Ugh... Especially Mr. Kanshan, who has no money and is alone in Shanghai. It is said that he is eating grass when he is hungry. He actually thinks of joining the alliance for me and treating me to a barbecue... wuwuwu.
