Just when Emperor Xiao and his wife were worried about Liu Ling's personal affairs, Pei Hao, Minister of the Ministry of Punishment, took Emperor Xiao's imperial edict and led five hundred carefully selected cavalrymen out of Taiyuan City and headed west for forty miles.
That night, we stayed in a small village called Yuemadian. We got up at about five o'clock in the morning and continued on our way.
These five hundred cavalrymen were borrowed by Pei Hao and the loyal king Liu Ling. Emperor Xiao asked him to select a hundred officials from the Ministry of Punishment and send them to Zhou Yangong as followers. But Pei Hao had to resist the order. It was not that he did not want to send people from the Ministry of Punishment.
It's just that he really can't find a hundred confidants in today's Ministry of Justice. He still needs capable and fair yamen.
He has his own faction in the Ministry of Justice. When he was fighting to the death with Sima Lu, the former Minister of the Ministry of Justice, he still had some followers around him. The affairs of the Ministry of Justice are not too deep a secret, as long as he stays in the Ministry of Justice for two years
The old people all know that Sima Lu is not as clean as he seems on the surface. And in the land of Hedong under the Taihang Mountains, there has always been no shortage of stubborn people who dare to fight against evil forces.
But Pei Hao has been suppressed by Sima Lu for so many years in the Ministry of Punishment, and he has not even ten cronies around him. If he is asked to select people from the current Ministry of Punishment, he is really afraid that he has not yet found Duke Zhou Yan.
He died on the way without any reason.
There are many people in the Criminal Department who have been benefited by Sima Lu. The iron rooster who seems to have nothing to lose is actually fair when dividing the spoils. What Sima Law Firm cannot bear is that the money in his hands has to be plundered. For example, once
If the income is divided into five parts, he will put away his own share without any complaint or jealousy, and will not give a single copper less to others. But if the money has already gone into his pocket, it will be difficult for him to take it out.
Ascend to heaven.
Therefore, there are many people in the Ministry of Punishment who plan to avenge Sima Lu, and there are also many people who insist that Sima Lu's death is inseparable from Pei Hao. When Sima Lu dies and Pei Hao takes over, this is equivalent to cutting off the secrets of those people.
The source of wealth in the earth. So it is not unusual for someone to want to kill Pei Hao to avenge Sima Lu.
Pei Hao also knew that he could not straighten out the affairs of the Punishment Department in a day and a half, and subdue the people in the Punishment Department who had their own evil intentions. Although His Majesty and the loyal king supported him, those old fritters knew that
There are also endless ways to kill people secretly and make them trip up.
For example, when Pei Hao wanted to read the files of Sima Lu during his tenure, the officials below brought in enough information to fit three large carriages without saying a word. The affairs of the Ministry of Punishments over the years, no matter how big or small, were recorded in the books.
However, there is very little useful information.
The officials below knew clearly what Pei Hao wanted, but they just moved all the files from the Ministry of Justice over the years and messed up the order of categories, just like a big cart of disorganized weeds. Their idea was actually very simple.
Pei Hao, don’t you want to see it? Then I’ll show it to you. Even if it doesn’t tire you to death, it will make you angry to death.
Fortunately, Pei Hao has gradually matured mentally in the past few months since he followed Liu Ling south. Although he is still not able to remain calm in the face of danger, at least he will not be able to express his emotions and anger without any problem.
He wouldn't really get angry because of these gangsters in the Criminal Department. It would be irrational and not worth it.
Even though he knew these people were useless, he still used them. Pei Hao just didn't want the Han's Criminal Department to fall apart. But if he was asked to find a few people from the Criminal Department who could be entrusted with important tasks, he could only smile bitterly.
After coming out of the palace, Pei Hao did not return to the Ministry of Justice or go home, but went directly to Prince Zhong's Mansion. While looking at the three memorials sent by Xiao Liuzi sent by Emperor Xiao, Liu Ling smiled when he saw Pei Hao coming. Emperor Xiao planned
The matter of asking Pei Hao to go to the west to meet Zhou Yangong had been told to Liu Ling through Xiao Liuzi, so Liu Ling immediately guessed that Pei Hao was here to bring reinforcements.
Without saying a word, Liu Ling allocated fifty men from his own soldiers. Then he divided one hundred and fifty men from the six hundred soldiers sent by the emperor to Prince Zhong's Mansion. He also sent people to take out the soldiers from the eight inspection departments.
Admiral Yue Qilin called and borrowed 200 officers from the Eight-door Inspection Department through fraud, deceit and threats. In addition, Pei Hao himself selected 100 people from the low-level officers under the Ministry of Justice, and a team of 500 people was enough.
Stronger.
However, not all of these five hundred people were sent to Zhou Yangong. Liu Ling's fifty personal guards and one hundred and fifty forbidden army soldiers must be left to Zhou Yangong to strengthen his courage, and the other three hundred people
His mission was to drive those thousands of beasts back from the west under the leadership of Pei Hao.
When Zhou Yan Highway passed through Anyuan County, Chu King Liu Yan sent 300 soldiers to escort Zhou Yan Gong along the way. This was the maximum number of people he could mobilize. Although the King of Chu still held the position of military attache from the fourth rank of General Mingwei
, but how could there be too many garrison troops in a remote and inhospitable place like Anyuan County? Originally, He Kun, the commander of the Jianxiong Army, allocated 3,000 troops to King Liu Yan of Chu, but this man was labeled as a big man.
In order not to be suspected by the court, the prince who was guarding the border decided not to leave any soldiers behind.
Counting minyong and county government officials, King Chu Liu Yan could only mobilize no more than 500 people. Excluding those who must be left behind to maintain local security, it can be said that King Chu has done his best to help Duke Zhou Yanxiong. Jianxiong
The military commander, He Kun, was a prudent person, and naturally he would not send troops to protect Zhou Yangong without the court's will. The greatest feat of He Kun's life was that he dared to take the initiative to rob two small counties in Zhou Dynasty a while ago.
What's more, the main force of the Jianxiong Army is at least more than 200 miles away from Anyuan. By the time the people of the Jianxiong Army arrived, Zhou Yangong would soon reach Taiyuan Prefecture.
When Zhou Yangong was sent as an envoy to Xixia, he only brought a few dozen followers with him. If the lord of Xixia, Wei Mingxiao, had not sent 80 herdsmen to help Zhou Yangong drive cattle and sheep, I am afraid that Zhou Yangong would have been killed once he entered the territory of the Northern Han Dynasty.
It is difficult to move even an inch. But fortunately, the Northern Han Dynasty is so poor now that even mountain bandits and horse bandits cannot afford to feed them.
The Taihang Mountains have always had big thieves, but there are only a handful of thieves in groups of dozens of people in the Northern Han Dynasty. This cannot but be said to be the tragedy of the Northern Han Dynasty. A place where even horse thieves and robbers are unwilling to appear is not a place with outstanding political achievements.
People's hearts are stable and poor birds don't build their nests here.
Obviously, most areas in the Northern Han Dynasty fell into the latter category. There were bandits in the Taihang Mountains, but they would rather go out hundreds of miles to rob a few villages in the Zhou Dynasty and then head into the mountains than commit crimes locally.
Mountain bandits and horse bandits are also human beings, and they all know what kind of life the people of the Northern Han Dynasty live. Although Zhou Yangong is considered a big fat sheep when he comes back this time, no one is willing to steal his things.
Zhou Yangong sent an envoy to Xixia in exchange for a strong reinforcement to help King Zhong drive away Zhou's 200,000 troops. The people knew what was going on. If they robbed Zhou Yangong's things, they would choke to death if they ate the mutton. Besides,
, with the current national strength of the Northern Han Dynasty, sending this large number of livestock is simply a timely help. If any bandits dare to snatch this batch of livestock, I am afraid that the Northern Han Dynasty will explode immediately.
The life-saving cattle and sheep were robbed by bandits. I am afraid that without the court mobilization, the officers and soldiers of the Northern Han Dynasty would have been eaten by a group of hungry wolves bitten by rabbits. This section of the Taihang Mountains will definitely not be finished until it is plowed three times.
The largest group of bandits in the Northern Han Dynasty was Shi Fudang, who called himself An Le Gong. He had only five to six hundred people under his command, so he really didn't dare to swallow this fat sheep.
Therefore, Zhou Yangong’s journey was not even close to accidental. Apart from the exhaustion of driving thousands of cattle and sheep, Zhou Yangong did not encounter any danger at all. Even when passing by Shi Dong’s territory, Zhou Yan
Gong Mingming felt that someone was staring at him eagerly on the mountainside, and his spine was chilled by the stares, but in the end he got through it safely.
Shi Fudang calls himself Duke An Le. He will not let his peace and happiness go unnoticed and cause trouble for hundreds of thousands of people who have just defeated the Zhou army's morale-boosting Han army. If he really did that, he would have no choice but to drive the cattle, sheep and horses to the
Dazhou went to show his loyalty, of course, as long as he could get through the southern gate of Northern Han Dynasty guarded by 60,000 Fuyuan troops.
So when Pei Hao led five hundred cavalry to follow Zhou Yangong, he saw nothing but dust and fatigue on Zhou Yangong's face. The frightened Pei Hao finally breathed a sigh of relief, knowing that he
The mission was more than half completed the moment I saw Zhou Yangong.
The remaining task is to convey the emperor's imperial edict, and then drive thousands of cattle, sheep and horses back to Taiyuan Mansion to resume their duties. The Minister of the Ministry of Justice, who has been a shepherd since ancient times, estimates that he is an unprecedented one, and he might also be able to do it.
I am honored that no one will come after me. Counting the 300 infantry of Chu King Liu Yan, Pei Hao led a team of 600 people plus 80 experienced old herdsmen, it will not be too difficult to go back, at least it will be better than Zhou Yangong
It's more than twice as easy.
Zhou Yangong insisted on leaving only Liu Ling's fifty soldiers, and the others helped Pei Hao escort the livestock. The two were in a stalemate, and in the end they had to compromise. Zhou Yangong took a hundred people away, and another hundred followed.
Pei Hao returned to Taiyuan Mansion first, and after delivering the cattle, sheep and horses safely, he returned to look for Duke Yan of Zhou.
The two men only got together briefly for two hours, and then parted ways. Duke Zhou Yan took the seal and imperial edict from the Imperial Envoy's six-state patrol envoy, changed his official uniform, and rode the tall horse brought by Pei Hao all the way to the southeast.
In fact, the livestock sent by Wei Mingxiao included many fine horses from the Western Regions, but Zhou Yangong knew the significance of these things, so he did not take advantage of a single horse hair.
The several prefectures he passed through were all suffering from long-term droughts, and there was almost no grain harvest in the fields. Zhou Yangong wanted to share the cattle and sheep to appease the victims, but after much hesitation, he still did not dare to do so.
Pei Hao's luck was even worse than Zhou Yangong. He led a team to drive cattle and sheep out, and within sixty miles, he encountered a group of thousands of victims. These people had already turned green-eyed from hunger.
, when they saw the fat, oily cattle, sheep and horses, they immediately drooled. A group of people rushed towards them to rob them. Fortunately, Pei Hao had enough people, and the eighty old herdsmen were all experienced, and they dispersed the crowd.
After counting, only a dozen sheep were lost.
With the lessons learned from his past mistakes, Pei Hao did not dare to make too much mistakes. He stationed in Fengning County for two days, waiting for the arrival of a thousand soldiers sent by the imperial court before continuing on his way. When he arrived outside the gate of Taiyuan Prefecture, Duke Zhou Yan was already there.
Ping'an County, the first stop on the way south, showed off its official power.
The first person to stroke Zhou Yangong's beard was Su Hui, the magistrate of Ping'an County. This man was incompetent and yet extremely daring. He only relied on the Su family, an aristocratic family in Taiyuan, and Su Xiu, a bachelor who served in the Military Aircraft Department and had a status comparable to that of the prime minister.
