In Pengcheng City, on a high building, the tall Sima Zheng, dressed in white, stood under the eaves with his hands behind his hands, looking quietly at the sky. In the attic behind him, a pair of ancient armor could be faintly seen.
Downstairs, because it had just fallen into the night and the city was full of soldiers and horses, it was still brightly lit and noisy.
During the day today, the leader of Xuzhou Fangzhen, the youngest grandmaster of the Wei Dynasty, the unquestionable leader of the next generation of the famous Sima family in the empire, and the actually second-ranked figure in the imperial army system, met his seventh uncle Sima Jinda.
The latter brought a handwritten letter from Sima Zheng's biological father, Sima Huada.
In the letter, everything was explained very clearly.
Sima Huada wanted Sima Zheng to cease the war with Zhang Xing and return Linyi, the capital of Langya County, and then agree not to fight in exchange for the withdrawal of the captured Sima Shida and the troops that had already reached Jiangdu County.
In addition, Sima Huada also described in the letter the embarrassing situation of the Sima family in Jiangdu, the difficulties he had to support the situation, and the moodiness of the saint.
In and out of words, Sima Zheng was asked to consider the survival of the entire Sima clan and help him solve this problem.
At this time, despite having expected it before, Sima Zheng still fell into some extreme depression after verifying all of Zhang Xing's strategies.
After all, there are some things that he can refute or ignore. For example, his third uncle really had murderous intentions when he returned to Pengcheng that day... This guy is so deceptive.
Yes, if it weren't for this third uncle, Zhang Xing's long arm would circle back and stop the matter from the outside. Here in Xuzhou, he might be able to stand up and say a word without missing a word.
So he really didn't care about this person's life and death.
But there were some things that he could not and was unable to refute.
For example, the issue of family survival - if his father deceived his superiors and concealed his military intelligence, and the loss of generals was really exposed, depending on the temper of that saint, he might really have to execute his father, and if this happened, it would be terrible
Something will happen, either his family will be destroyed, or the saint will be overthrown by the already unstable Forbidden Army group led by his family.
No matter which outcome it is, it means that the Sima family is doomed.
It also means that due to some of Sima Zheng's persistence and his grandfather's life experience, his achievements have become ridiculous.
For example, after Li Wenbai and the other two local Langya tycoons who surrendered were definitely executed, his actions in Linyi and the frictional battle with the gang became meaningless.
How can you make those people in Linyi believe in you again? Who dares to surrender?!
Of course, there is also a real military threat before us - it turns out that Zhang Xingzhen was not exaggerating. The person who captured Zhao Guang in one day, regardless of whether it was a strange formation composed of people from the North, was equivalent to the standard master's cultivation level.
With the addition of Xiong Bonan, Bai Yousi, Wu Jingfeng, Wu Changzai, and Zhang Xing in front of them, the gang's combat power has indeed expanded to a certain extent.
Under such circumstances, insisting on a military confrontation is likely to be a self-inflicted insult, inflicting at most 800 losses on the enemy and 1,000 losses on oneself.
"General, are you looking for me?" Under the dusk, Wang Tong came in a hurry.
"I have something to do for you." Sima Zheng, who had already come downstairs, looked at the other party and said calmly. "I want you to go to Langya, take over the garrison in Linyi, and then go find those Langya nobles who have surrendered.
Tell them that we are about to withdraw our troops and ask them if they are willing to go south with us and settle in Xuzhou?"
Wang Tong was stunned for a moment, thinking of Sima Jinda who came during the day, and immediately realized: "General, are you planning to negotiate a peace?"
"Yes." Sima Zheng did not cover up or complain, or blame the matter on anyone. "Zhang Sanlang did not lie to us. He is a two-pronged division, and there is a grandmaster on the southern route. I just want to be there with Langya, who was transferred away from the mountain.
It’s really shameful to win.”
"What does the general have to be ashamed of? Only half of the soldiers and horses at Sishui Port belong directly to Jiangdu, let alone Jiangdu. Our side has not suffered at all." At this point, Wang Tong sighed. "But it is still a pity. If we had known this earlier,
"In the past, it was good to make more profits here, but now that we are negotiating for peace like this, the morale of the military and the people are uneasy."
Sima Zheng nodded: "You are right, I will try my best to give everyone an explanation."
Wang Tong originally wanted to explain that he did not mean this, but as a trusted general of the other party, he knew the other party's temper to some extent, but he hesitated to speak, and then just handed over his hand: "In this case, I will go to Langya to clean up the situation and wait for the general's order."
After saying that, he also left and set out overnight.
After Wang Tong left, Sima Zheng, who had made up his mind, also went to bed. Early the next morning, he sent a messenger inviting Zhang Xingcheng to go to the small island in the north river for a while.
Zhang Xing received the invitation and immediately responded and agreed.
At noon, we set off from the outpost camp, which was only ten miles away, and arrived at Hezhongzhou with Bai Yousi.
Let us say that the Bian River and the He River meet in the north of Pengcheng, and then continue southward from the east side of Pengcheng, and then they are called Surabaya River. Therefore, no one knows which river the small stone islet in the river at this confluence point belongs to.
The locals just call it Shitouzhou.
Leaping onto the stone island, Zhang Xing and Bai Yousi saw each other standing there from a distance. They didn't treat each other with a banquet. Instead, their armors were clearly visible, shining only in the noon sun. They looked at each other in silence, and then left.
Be careful and walk over.
They still trust each other's character.
"Is it this armor?" Zhang Xing, who was dressed in white, walked up to him and pointed at the opponent's body with his finger.
Of course Sima Zheng knew what the other party meant, but he shook his head directly: "No, that armor is an old armor passed down from home. How could it be so new?"
"Just wear it and maintain it." Bai Yousi said. "Sanlang's flag has been used for two or three years and has gradually become damaged, but this time after King Xiongtian used it, it became inexplicably bright.
They got organized, which made Saburo particularly surprised..."
"I have been studying this for the past few days." Zhang Xing also laughed. "To be honest, it was only then that I realized that I still underestimated the vitality of heaven and earth... Without this thing, this world is more or less materialistic... There are
Of course it can be considered materialistic, but its laws obviously override other laws."
Sima Zheng was confused when he heard this. Of course he didn't understand what mighty materialism meant, but he guessed the meaning of the second half of the sentence and nodded immediately: "So it is called the vitality of heaven and earth. It is the fundamental essence of heaven and earth. It breaks rivers and splits mountains, rises deserts and divides seas.
It was definitely not caused by brute force.”
"But where did this stuff come from?" Zhang Xing looked around. "From the river? From the ground? From the sky? From the sun, or from the red moon?"
Is the stock fixed or uncertain? Is it generated by human activities, or is it a special gift from a powerful person? "
Sima Zheng shook his head slightly: "There is no end to talking about this kind of thing, and it is a difficult question to ask... Zhang Sanlang, you should know what I am looking for you, right?"
"Of course, I also received a letter from Shanyang." Zhang Xing answered frankly, without any of the arrogance he had when he was in Liu County.
In other words, this also exposed some truths - when there was no definite news about the southern route that day, Zhang Laosan's attitude was as arrogant and arrogant as it could be, but in essence it was a guilty conscience after the defeat of the northern route; now
After the success of the southern route, he was happy and generous.
"I generally agree with the deal between you and my father." Sima Zheng said simply. "I lost this game and you won."
Zhang Xing was about to speak but stopped.
"What is the victory or defeat between the two of you?" Bai Yousi smiled slightly when he saw this. "If you have to say you lost, it's because you thought this battle was between you and him.
"
"That's right." Sima Zheng sighed. "There is some truth to this. This battle is essentially a decisive battle between my father and Zhang Sanlang... But as a part of it, I still lost."
"Actually..." Zhang Xing finally had no choice but to correct him. "I think you are still mistaken... This battle is essentially a battle between your father and I and the emperor of Jiangdu. You insist on claiming defeat.
, it’s not a matter of fighting, you didn’t lose at all in Xuzhou, it’s just that you didn’t understand which side you were on and who you were fighting for.”
Sima Zheng was slightly stunned, but he did not refute this ridiculous statement.
"Anyway, that's what happened." Zhang Xing continued. "You just said that you generally agree, but that means there are still some points where you disagree, right?"
"Yes." Sima Zheng responded calmly. "I have only one request. I want you to hand over my third uncle Sima Shida directly to me."
Zhang Xing was stunned for a moment, then smiled: "It can be done! I will inform your seventh uncle that Sima Shida will hand it back at the end, and hand it back when we finally evacuate Xiao County... That's it?"
Sima Zheng nodded: "That's enough."
Zhang Xing turned around and left. Bai Yousi nodded and turned around too. This battle was too difficult for the people on the Xuzhou battlefield.
When he walked to the side of Hezhou and was about to leap into the sky, Chief Zhang Da turned back again: "Sima Erlang, your armor is indeed good!"
Sima Zheng just stood on the island in the water, watching the two men leaping up without saying a word.
In late June, the war in Xuzhou suddenly relaxed.
In Xiao County, everyone was a little confused about the smelly deformed corpse at first, because his mother was so beaten that she couldn't even recognize him, let alone help everyone?
But the murder weapon was brought, and Xie Minghe seemed quite embarrassed about the incident. How could he say no, and use this to question Chief Zhang and Xie's sharing of responsibility? He could only watch as his head, which was full of worms in the brain, was hung up and handed down.
Showed to the public.
Of course, soon, as the news came that Xuzhou soldiers and horses were evacuating Linyi, and Zhao Guang and Sima Shida were personally escorted by Wu Jingfeng and Bai Yousi, everyone had to believe it.
After all, under Chief Zhang's overall plan, this person is not missing.
At this time, except for the Wu brothers and Zhou Xingfan, who were a little frustrated, most of them couldn't help stamping their feet. They all felt that Xie Fenguan was too harsh and it would be better to give him a formal punishment.
But this stomping soon stopped, and was replaced by new shock and joy - a batch of silk, coral, jade, and several whale ribs were delivered.
This most obvious statement from the enemy is more reliable than anything else.
Zhang Xing also began to order the return of Peixian, marched to Linyi, and steadily withdrew his troops. But at the same time, his face turned bad.
Without him, Chief Zhang Da was not prepared to speak loudly at the beginning, especially since the military affairs were difficult, so he wanted to speed things up. However, Xie Minghe asked for a lot of extra food, ordnance, and goods.
It was a kind of unexpected surprise. However, the food and weapons were accepted directly by Du Po Zhen in Shanyang, and only silk and whale bones were sent... It's hard for you to say anything!
Not to mention, in the next few days, high-end furniture, sculptures, goldware, ritual vessels, and whale bones were sent here for free, especially whale bones, which piled up directly in Xiaoxian County.
The hill made him feel even more heartbroken, because these useless things that took up space reminded him all the time that the batch of food and ordnance had been fished out by Du Po Zhen.
Moreover, he cannot curse like others, but must appease others and let them talk about the overall situation.
As the saying goes: "Both of us are fighting against Wei. We are all one family, so how can we distinguish each other?"
He said it so much that he even believed it himself.
"Actually, it can't be said to be useless." Xu Shiying reminded seriously. "I said before that I would reward the entire army, but it turned out that I didn't have time. I just used these good items as rewards, especially the rewards for this army expedition, or the first-level leaders.
Rewards allow leaders to exchange military merit for these items."
"Indeed." Zhang Xing certainly agreed. "Indeed, these silks are from Xiayi. I didn't expect that the silks would be returned to their original owners. The internal servants went back first, so they first divided a part of them to the internal servants in return, and the rest were distributed according to the rules.
Let’s do this, it’s just...” However, at this point, Chief Zhang looked at the pile of whale bones that could be seen in the distance through the courtyard wall, and finally couldn’t bear it anymore. “But what are these bones used for?”
Xu Shiying also became confused.
"For engraving, and for making furniture." Bai Yousi, standing by, blurted out. "Whales have been called half-dragons since ancient times. Dragons are hard to find, but whales are easy to find, so whale bones are often used to carve beds and seats.
The throne and bed in the capital are said to be real dragon bones."
Zhang Xing immediately thought of an old friend from Huaishang and suddenly realized: "So, this is for the exclusive use of the royal family?"
He had only traveled through time four or five years ago, and some of the things were a bit fake. He might have thought they were jade after seeing similar objects in person. As for Xu Shiying and several other leaders who were watching the fun, they were even more shocked on the spot.
"It's not just the royal family, it's more like the royal family, such as the Duke and the Princess. They usually have specific whale bone ritual vessels." Bai Yousi continued to explain. "And when the king is crowned, a whale bone is often set aside.
, specially made to correspond to the ritual seals, so giving whale bones has a specific meaning."
Chief Zhang was completely stunned: "Sima Gong wants to put me on the fire!"
"He's not that smart." Bai Sanniang answered seriously. "I'm afraid he really thinks this thing is to your liking."
"So... let's stay!" Zhang Xing thought for a moment and nodded, which attracted many leaders to look at him or exchange glances.
But the next moment, these people were stunned.
"First make the seal ribbon, and the team generals will use this thing for all the above." Chief Zhang continued. "Then each of the big leaders will get a stool, and the leader will each have a whale bone horse. Li Longtou, Wei Longtou, and Du Longtou will each make another
I will give half of one individually... If there are any left, I will give some to Liangjun, Huaiyang, Jijun, and Wuyangjun. I will also give some to Li Ding of Wu'an County, Taiyuan Baigong, and Hejian General Xue...
If Wang Jiulang is there, aren't you going to Huainan? Give him half a stick too... We all have a share in meeting each other, and everyone has a little bit of the king's spirit."
Shang Xia was completely speechless, but soon, he couldn't help but become impatient. Can he really be separated?
Facts have proved that it is indeed possible to divide the maza!
In the next few days, both sides naturally continued to slowly retreat their troops in an orderly manner. However, Chief Zhang, who was too panicked to leave the battlefield early, actually helped the craftsmen cut and polish them. As expected, he quickly made several whale bone ingredients.
Ma Zha, the leaders of the retreating troops took them one by one, only hanging on their horses.
It is said that it was so hot along the way that many people even had to dismount their horses and rest seven or eight times along the way.
Finally, as the agreement between Zhang Xing and Sima Zheng was quickly fulfilled, in late June, 10,000 Taibao troops boarded the waiting fleet in Zhongli County and successfully returned to the Huaixi area.
But Zhang Xing didn't waste any time. He released Zhao Guang first, then broke off Sima Huada's legs, tied them into rice dumplings, stuffed his mouth and hung them on the city gate. Then he and Xiong Bonan, Bai Yousi and Wu Jingfeng
, Wu Chang was waiting for the top combat forces in the gang to withdraw together.
Although Chief Zhang was not willing to fight this battle at the beginning, and the process was actually not perfect, at this point, it finally achieved a nominal solution - the gang recaptured Linyi, killed the traitors, and advanced the attack along the way.
When they arrived at the base of Xuzhou and held Pengcheng City, they forced the opponent to complete the alliance under the city walls before turning back.
In fact, the gang also promoted this to all parties within and around the territory.
As for the effect, it's hard to say, because so far, except for Liangjun and Huaiyang, which are close by, most of the surrounding forces are still helping to complete the reorganization of the internal power order. Zhang Xing became the chief and took advantage of the situation to send troops to Xuzhou to punish
Traitor on this shocking message.
As for Liangjun and Huaiyang, although they heard the news, they were more shocked by the two whale bones... The two prefects are not unlearned like Zhang Xing, nor are they country bumpkins like Xu Dalang.
Of course they knew what this meant, but they were all panicking and instinctively wanted to refuse.
However, the messages that accompanied the arrival of the whale bones came into play - Xuzhou was a "big victory" in the First World War, and the bones came from Jiangdu. The newly appointed Chief Zhang distributed the whale bones to the gang leaders and surrounding friends indiscriminately.
After repeated attacks, he finally dared not refuse and only accepted the whale bones and carefully hid them in the warehouse.
Not to mention these, just say that Zhang Xing left Xiao County with the last army, and the Xuzhou army rushed in immediately. Sima Zheng, who was leading the way, also saw Sima Shida hanging on the city gate, but finally breathed a sigh of relief.
"It's good that he's not dead." Sima Jinda also breathed a sigh of relief, then turned to look at his nephew and spoke sincerely. "Erlang, please put your uncle down, I will take him back to Jiangdu to recover... A little humiliation is nothing.
"
Sima looked expressionlessly at the only one among his uncles, Ning Dan, without saying a word.
Sima Jinda was still a little confused at first, but soon, as his nephew looked closely at him, he suddenly remembered the relevant rumors in Xuzhou City, and then he was sweating like rain, and his voice trembled: "Two...
Erlang, don’t do anything stupid!”
The surrounding generals also woke up and fell into a trance for a while. Someone with status like Chen Yonglue even reined up his horse and stepped forward, ready to persuade.
Unexpectedly, Sima Zheng withdrew his gaze from his seventh uncle's face, and just turned his head to sweep away. An invisible force of Qi suddenly surged, and there was actually a storm on the ground. All the generals from Chen Yong on down were silent and did not dare to speak.
.
"Everyone." Sima Zheng, a tall man with dazzling armor, was sitting on a horse, looking at the generals as if he were condescending. However, his face was as usual, but his tone was sinister. "The two armies are fighting, each has its victory or defeat, and each has its own differences.
The young boy was killed. Zhang Sanlang beat Li Wenbo to death in Jiangdu and took Linyi back. Naturally, he could give an explanation to his brothers in the gang, but what about me? What about us in Xuzhou? If we can't kill one person, how can we fight on the south bank of Bian River?
How can one give an explanation for the death of so many brothers? How can one give an explanation to General Zhao who is seriously injured in bed? How can one give an explanation to so many heroes who have defected to Langya?
"Besides, I heard someone say that if the trickle is not blocked, it will become a river." What he means is that if the trickle at the source is not blocked, it will flow into a river sooner or later. Sima Shida escaped from the battle
, which caused the camp on the south bank of the Bian River to collapse instantly that day, was actually the main contributor to our loss of troops and generals this time, and it was also the trickle of the three counties of Xuzhou!
"And this trickle happens to be my uncle, so of course I have to block it with my own hands!"
With that said, Sima Zheng took out a pair of bows and arrows from the horseback of his stunned Seventh Uncle, then turned the horse's head, bent the bow and set the arrows, with great luck, but it turned out to be the sharpest Duanjiang Zhenqi, and then just
The bow string was loosened amidst the silence of countless soldiers below the city and the struggling whimpering of the man at the top of the city.
The long arrow flew like lightning, directly piercing a large hole in Sima Shida's chest. The flesh and blood exploded and spread two or three feet away, and then the entire arrow body was nailed into the city wall.
At this time, Sima Zheng just handed the bow back to his seventh uncle, and then rode forward alone, passing under the city gate that was still dripping with blood. The blood fell on the shining armor, like oil dripping.
On the hot pot, it suddenly sizzled and then disappeared.
The Xuzhou generals were silent for a moment, and then they scrambled to catch up with their horses from the blood stains. Sima Jinda was left alone at the gate of the city, still looking at the body of his third brother in shock.
Three days later, Sima Jinda reported that the prince-in-law Sima Shida was chasing the Huankou bandits, was ambushed, and died gloriously for his country.
This memorial was a collaboration with Wang Daiji. The former sent it back one day earlier. After hard work with the generals of the Xuzhou camp, he had successfully driven the Huankou thieves out of their base. The thieves hurriedly walked west, and he
I also temporarily left the Xuzhou generals and led a thousand people to continue westward to Huainan County.
Of course, the actual situation is that Wang Daiji simply watched the other party get on the boat in Zhongli County, watched the other party prepare for several days on the other side, and moved out of Huankou Town. After the other party went up the river, he also led the other party.
A thousand men have been on the south bank watching the westbound journey.
It wasn't until the other party headed north at Ru River, the largest tributary of the Huai River, that I felt relieved. Then I turned back for dozens of miles downstream, crossed Bagong Mountain, headed south, and entered the Shouchun City of Huainan County.
When I arrived here, before I could sit down, I saw Zhang Xing's gift sealed by Cao Fan, the governor of Huainan County, which was half a whale bone.
Along with it, there was a note hidden in a small box without any seal.
Wang Jiulang carefully opened the note, but his eyelids twitched.
It turned out that there was only one sentence on the note - Shouchun is the first city in Huainan and has always been a king. I hope Ninth Brother will encourage it.
How many people in the Wang Dynasty did not know that Zhang Xing was sowing discord? How did he not know that he only led a thousand people here and had to rely on Jiangdu and Xuzhou to establish his own foundation by pretending to be powerful? How could he not know that such things were all false?
?
You know, that day in Jiangdu, he heard that Sima Huada was going to send whale bones to Zhang Xing, and he felt ridiculed on the spot.
"Ambassador Wang?" Cao Fan, the governor of Huainan County, asked cautiously. "This bone..."
"Lock it in the warehouse!" Wang Daiji glanced at the county guard who had kept the note for him for several days, and smiled very happily. "After a while, I will send it to Lord Sima of Jiangdu."
Cao Fan immediately nodded and regained his composure.
Summer was still here, and on the last day of June, Du Pozhen also arrived at Runan County, where he was loyal, and then saw a city under Xie Minghe's guidance.
"That's Xuanpao City." Xie Minghe stood on the bow of the boat and sighed, twirling his beard. "The location of the first military town in Huaixi! With this city in hand, you can control the overall situation in Huaixi!"
Du Pozhen picked up the whale bones on the boat and came to look greedily... In this world, masters with a concentration of pills and above can have a drastic impact on city sieges, but this does not mean that cities and passes are useless. Ordinary people are still controlled by the city, and the army is still
Restricted by the pass, not to mention the role of commercial exchanges and public security, the impact of the city and the pass is reduced, which is only the difference between ten points and eight points... Then, a famous city, a big city, and a key city will undoubtedly give people a strong feeling.
psychological implications.
Xuanpao City is a typical example of this kind of city. When Ru River passed by this place, because of the solid foundation under the city, it made a direct turn, as if a melon was drawn on the side out of thin air.
As the Tang Dynasty moved south, the north and south fought for hundreds of years, and the Jianghuai River became more and more important. No matter who controlled the situation, both sides expanded the city here, and finally built a city with a huge moat on three sides that encompassed the entire Dagua.
A giant military fortress that can garrison over 10,000 troops and house thousands of horses.
From then on, there is no need to say much about Xuzhou to the north of the Huaihe River, but the Huaixi territory to the west of Xuzhou was headed by this city, and it has experienced countless wars over the hundreds of years.
It is even mentioned many times in historical novels that the small Hejian Island in the river west of this city is rich in chestnuts.
Of course Du Pozhen, who had not studied for a long time, did not know these details, but with his back to Banlizhou, touching the whale bones and looking at the city in front of him, he felt that he had spent half his life working hard, whether it was herding sheep or stealing sheep, in front of Zhang Xing
Staying humble and being cautious in front of Sima Zheng was all worth it.
He now has soldiers, food, ordnance and territory, and is about to use this as a foundation to clean up the six counties in Huaixi, recruit heroes, work hard, and build a foundation!
"Who? Where? What do you want?"
On the same day, Chief Zhang, who had just taken advantage of his last chance to arrange the drought relief work in Dong County, was about to cross the river and head north when he encountered unexpected news at Sikou Pass.
There is information that Xue Changxiong in Hejian learned that Zhang Xing seemed to be unstable after sending troops to Xuzhou and was mobilizing troops, so he left Henan alone and hurriedly turned back. At this time, Zhou Xingfan Fu, who had already crossed the river as the vanguard,
Turning back and hastily reporting the military situation, everyone naturally thought that Xue Changxiong had moved.
However, everyone was stunned when they heard the result. Xiong Bonan, Chen Bin, Wei Xuanding, Xu Shiying, Ma Wei... no matter who it was, they were all stunned.
"It's my second uncle Zhou Xiaoshang..." Zhou Xingfan also looked a little confused. "Just now, my cousin, whom I haven't seen for a long time, suddenly greeted me on the north bank and told me that my second uncle heard that third brother, you have become the leader of the gang. No.
After waiting and hesitating, he directly raised troops in Yong'an County and instantly conquered the nearby Yiyang County and Anlu County. Then he sent my cousin over to ask for his name... When he arrived here, we just happened to return to the army. He chased for a long time.
I just caught up here."
Ma Wei counted with his fingers: "If you include Bai Hengyuan of Xiangyang...then north of the river, south of the river, from the Han River to Jiangdu, there are only two areas around Jiangdu and Dongdu that have not been separated."
No one around him said a word.
Zhang Xing thought for a moment, then suddenly turned around and asked earnestly: "Who knows if there are any whale bones left?"
As the saying goes: If the trickle is not blocked, it will become a river. If the Yingying cannot be saved, what will the Yanyan do?
PS: A rare boring science time. In historical names, people habitually call the area in the western part of Huaibei Huaixi, rather than the entire upper reaches of the Huaihe River. Huainan also generally refers to the central and western areas of Huainan, mainly because Xuzhou and
Yangzhou's particularity and status are too detached, and are generally discussed separately.