This Merchant Navy hundred-man team was led by the hundred-man general "Dong Guo'an".
At first when he heard this name, Zhao Hongrun thought that this Hundred-Man General of the Shang Shui Army was a descendant of the nobles of the Chu Kingdom. Unexpectedly, after asking, he found out that the other person was once just an unnamed untouchable from the Chu Kingdom. This surname and first name belonged to him.
He took it blindly because he was given a farmhouse in Dongcheng, Shangshui County as a reward for his meritorious service, so he took the name Dong Guo'an.
Regarding this, Zhao Hongrun was also speechless.
"Note: This is not a naming custom unique to a certain island country. This custom has been formed in ancient my country as early as BC. It is mainly for civilians to choose a surname after gaining sufficient social status to facilitate the calling of people of the same status. However, I feel that the names are also very random, such as Dongguo, Dongmen, etc. The strange thing is that the naming methods are almost random. Why didn't our country have such weird surnames as Jingxia, Jingshang, and Jingkou in ancient times? Could it be? Don’t you think it’s classy?』
At first, Dong Guoan didn't know that Prince Zhao Run was among the 500 Wei Wu soldiers. He just felt that it would be too embarrassing to pass by friendly troops without even saying hello. After all, Wei Wujun
In any case, they are the number one elite in the Wei State - this means that in terms of reputation, no matter how powerful the Shang Shui Army and the Yanling Army are, they cannot replace the status of the Wei Wu Army in the minds of the Wei people.
Of course, this "friendly army" does not include the anti-rebel army. If they encountered the anti-rebel army this time, I believe Dong Guoan and his soldiers of the Shangshui Army would ignore each other and pass each other by.
Unexpectedly, when Dong Guo An was about to come over to say hello, he saw Prince Zhao Run riding out of the team and standing not far away to watch the men and women Dong Guo An was escorting.
The Shangshui Army is the army with which Zhao Hongrun has the closest relationship. Even if Zhao Hongrun does not recognize all the soldiers in this army, as long as he is a member of the Shangshui Army, there is no one who does not recognize His Royal Highness Yuan Su. After all, Zhao Hongrun has gone before and after
Later, he led the merchant navy to conquer the north and south for eight years.
As a result, Dong Guoan rushed to Zhao Hongrun and saluted His Highness with clasped fists: "His Royal Highness King Su... No no, His Highness the Crown Prince."
Zhao Hongrun nodded, casually chatting with Dong Guoan for a few words, and then turned the topic to the men and women Dong Guoan was escorting this time: "Are they...all from my Wei Dynasty?"
"Yes, Your Highness, these people are all my subjects of the Wei Dynasty." Dong Guoan said with a solemn expression.
In fact, to be precise, the Shang Shui Army was all from the Chu State, but because they had lived in the Wei State for eight or nine years, they had already regarded themselves as Wei people, and the Wei government and the public gradually regarded this army as their own.
compatriots.
Because of this, when he heard the serious tone of Zhao Hongrun's words, Dong Guoan restrained his excitement to see His Royal Highness King Su again, and seemed to relive the anger in his heart when he first met these men and women.
"...After our army assisted Lord Wei Ji to break through "Chi Zhai", we discovered them in the city..."
As if aware of the anger simmering in the heart of the Crown Prince in front of him, Dong Guoan carefully explained.
The "Chi Di" in his mouth is actually "Chi Di". Many years ago, he lived in Shangdang County. Later, he was attacked and defeated by South Korea, so he moved west to Shang County, followed the example of South Korea to establish a city-state, and changed his name to "Shangdang County".
Chi Zhai".
This is also the reason why there are so many foreign races in the Hetao area in Shangjun and Linzhong - many Rong and Di who once lived in the Central Plains were driven out one after another, so that the area in the Hetao area is a mixed bag of Qiang, Hu and Rong.
, Di and other foreign races coexisted and annexed and cannibalized each other.
But having said that, the blood of these foreign races today is no longer pure, such as the Xiongnu. In fact, the Xiongnu is not a nation that has been passed down and multiplied since ancient times. The original Xiongnu were just some Xianbei, Yuezhi, Hu people, and Qiang people.
Individual tribesmen gathered together to form a new tribe in order to survive.
To put it harshly, now that Lin Hu and Dong Hu are still strong, the Xiongnu are at best an addendum in the battle between Wei and Lin Hu, and can only serve as a source of help for the powerful Lin Hu.
Let's talk about the "Chi Zhai". After this Rong Di army moved westward, they also went to war with Lin Hu in Shangjun. The two sides cannibalized each other, so that even today, although the "Chi Zhai" still retains the clan name, they have also established the so-called
"Zhai State", but in terms of bloodline, "Zhai people" are no longer pure.
It is worth mentioning that "Chidi" is one of the few "clan states" in the Hetao area. To put it simply, this race has gradually developed from a tribe to the clan state stage, and has already taken the initial shape of a country.
As for the next step, "Chizhai" will enter a new development model.
The development methods of clan states can be roughly divided into two types. One is to gradually annex other clan states like the countries in the Central Plains, and to allow other clans to become nobles as a condition to make them surrender, and gradually develop their own clan states.
Countries with many surnames are becoming more and more powerful; there is another way, like the Wei family in Longxi, which only respects the Wei family and suppresses any other family with other surnames.
But no matter what, it is almost impossible for "Chizhai" to continue to develop in the future, because its changes came too late. The living environment of this era is very unfriendly to the clan country, because the countries in the Central Plains have already passed the
In the stage of developing from a single clan state to a large multi-clan country, there is no soil for "Chi Zhai" to continue to develop - unless "Chi Zhai" has the ability to annex powerful Central Plains countries like Wei and Korea.
And this is almost impossible.
This not only refers to the strength gap between the two sides, but also the level of civilization. How can it be possible for the "Chi Zhai" in the early stage of the clan to make the subjects of the late civilization stage of big countries like Wei and Han surrender and recognize it? "Note: Although I am here
The article says so, but unfortunately, civilizational regression has indeed happened, and it is not stated clearly to prevent certain regulations from being violated. I just feel that it is regrettable and sad that the suzerain country that has been visited by thousands of countries has become a mere commander in the end, and was accepted by a surrender.
Gong has been invaded by vassal states (vassal nations) for at least a thousand years.』
What's more important is that after the founding of the People's Republic of China, "Chi Zhai" still did not learn and accept the culture and customs of the Central Plains countries, and still retained the Rong Di style. This was destined that the Central Plains people would never tolerate this race.
No matter how powerful "Chi Zhai" is, in the Central Plains, it is just a step up to the "alien threat theory".
Of course, it is unnecessary to talk about this now, because the so-called "Chizhai" has been defeated by the Hedong Army and the Shangshui Army led by Lintao Lord Wei Ji. It is precisely because of this that the Wei Army knew that "
"Chi Zhai" has robbed so many people of Wei and Han over the years.
"...There are about 2,000 men who have become slaves, and more than 4,000 women..."
When Dong Guoan told Zhao Hongrun the approximate statistics, Zhao Hongrun clenched his fists subconsciously.
Chi Zhai alone is, at best, a foreign clan state within the scope of Wei State and Shangshui County. There are more than 2,000 men from Wei State and more than 4,000 women from Wei State who have become slaves. This does not include those who died in the hands of Chi Zhai.
Wei people, otherwise, this number would be even more shocking.
Therefore, looking at those numb men and women, Zhao Hongrun couldn't contain the anger in his heart.
Because he realized that his people were being bullied and persecuted.
It doesn't matter whether he is selfish or protective - after all, he turned a blind eye when he discovered that the Jiejiao cavalry were robbing the Xiongnu's property and plundering the Xiongnu's women. But when he learned that the people of his Wei state were being robbed and persecuted by Chi Zhai, he felt sad in his heart.
An unknown fire broke out.
The reason is very simple, because he is the prince of Wei and the future king of the Wei people. He only needs to be responsible for the Wei people under his rule.
But in fact, these men and women kidnapped by Chi Zhai are not necessarily all Wei people. In fact, there are also Koreans - but no matter what, whether they are Wei people or Koreans, between the Central Plains and the foreign races,
Zhao Hongrun must be on the side of the Central Plains.
"They...where are you going to go?"
Zhao Hongrun asked while holding back his anger.
Dong Guoan heard this and replied: "Master Wei Ji decided to move these suffering compatriots back to Hedong one by one and let them settle in Hedong..."
Zhao Hongrun nodded when he heard this. Then, he got off his horse and came to those Wei people who had been reduced to slaves. He cupped his hands and apologized and said: "I am Zhao Run, the prince of the East Palace. My compatriots, the country has failed to observe and have made you suffer...
I, Zhao Run, am here to promise that the country will be responsible for settling you down."
After hearing Zhao Hongrun's words, the eyes of the numb-looking Wei people gradually gained a bit of life.
But even so, from their expressions, it can still be seen that they are very scared and fearful at this moment.
Perhaps they were impressed by Zhao Hongrun's affinity. Gradually, these people lowered their guard, and the women among them began to cry desperately.
Even the men among them began to cry silently.
No one made a request for revenge. Almost everyone unanimously hoped that there would be a place where they could settle down so that they could live in peace. This request made Zhao Hongrun even more worried.
After repeated assurances that the court would be responsible for settling them, these people finally stopped crying.
After a while, Dong Guoan said goodbye to Zhao Hongrun and continued to lead his team of 100 people to escort the Wei people, which consisted of about two to three hundred people, to "Diaoyin".
Looking at the departing figures of this group of people, Zongwei Chief Lu Mu sighed: "Unexpectedly, there are still so many people in our Wei Dynasty who are being persecuted by foreign races..."
"Because I, the Wei Dynasty, are not strong enough." Zhao Hongrun said with a sullen face, "When will the Wei Dynasty be so powerful that the people of our country will be able to make foreign races fear and shun them just by reporting their identity as "Wei people"?"
If you don’t dare to do harm, then you can call it... powerful!"
Hearing this, Lu Mu, Mu Qing, Zhou Pu and other clan guards were moved, and they couldn't help but fantasize in their hearts, wondering what kind of power it was.
At this time, Zhao Que couldn't help but ask: "What does Your Highness think of those children?"
Zhao Hongrun's face froze when he heard this. He knew that the "children" Zhao Que mentioned were the mixed-race children that those women were forced to give birth to with Chi Zhai.
He could see clearly just now that even though the women were clearly giving birth to children who were ten months pregnant, the eyes of those women looking at their children were mixed with hatred and shame.
There are even a few women who refuse to carry or hold their children, and even if those children are with them, they are unwilling to hold their hands.
Only a very small group of women would treat the children of other races they were forced to give birth to without any prejudice.
"As long as they think they are Wei people, no one can persecute them." Zhao Hongrun replied seriously: "If any of them are abandoned, the imperial court will take them in."
Zhao Que nodded.
She just felt that those children were very pitiful, that's why she asked this question.
This may be because she has made preparations for pregnancy, so her heart is much softer than before.
"Diaoyin" went north and west, and after riding for about a day and a half, we arrived at the original sphere of influence of "Chizhai". However, now, this place has also been occupied by the Wei army, and those who guard this place are members of the Hedong Army.
A line of generals, "Pu Banwei" Wen Xu.
Wen Xu was also one of the outstanding young generals of the Wei State. He was the former general of the Dangshan Army and now the deputy general of Sima An, the governor of Hexi. He was later transferred to Puban County as the captain, and now he is the governor of Hedong and the Lord of Lintao.
Wei Ji's deployment was entrusted with important tasks by Wei Ji because of his ability in both civil and military affairs and his stable character.
Some people may say that being left behind is not an important task. However, this view is wrong. You must know that "Diaoyin-Chizhai" is the only food route for the Wei State to send troops to Hetao this time. It can stand out.
Those who stayed behind were all generals recognized by the generals of the Wei army.
For example, the other Wei generals would never allow the generals of this army to guard the grain roads when suppressing the rebel army. The main reason was that they did not trust Zhao Yuanzuo, the Marquis of Nanliang, and were worried about being cheated.
Chidi, or the State of Zhai, is as big as Shangshui County in the State of Wei. There are about four to five communities in the territory that are like county towns. The reason why it is called "like a county town" is because these towns in the State of Zhai are tentatively called
It is a community of county towns. It does not have high city walls like those in the Central Plains countries. It is just a few earthen cities at best. The height of the earthen wall is less than one foot, and no one can stand on the earthen wall. It is not so much a city wall defense.
Rather, it is simply used to prevent wild beasts.
It is no exaggeration to say that not to mention the Green Crows who are good at flying over eaves and walls, even the heavy infantry of the Wei State can climb over these earthen walls, but it is just a little more difficult to move with dozens of kilograms of armor on their backs.
It is not difficult to see from here that Chi Zhai does not pay attention to defense. The reason is very simple, because Chi Zhai is the most powerful Rongdi army in Shangjun. Its only strong enemies are the Xiongnu in the north of Shangjun and the Linzhong people further north.
Lin Hu of (county), other than Xianbei and Tiele, are no match for Chi Zhai.
But this time when they encountered the elites of the Wei State, Chi Zhai was unlucky. The city wall defense of that level could not stop the Wei army at all. According to Zhao Hongrun, the Hedong Army led by Lintao Lord Wei Ji
Together with the Shang Shui Army, they easily defeated Zhai State at a speed of almost half a day to conquer a city.
It's no wonder, after all, the Wei army dispatched 400,000 troops this time. This number alone was enough to scare Zhai State to death, and no one dared to resist.
Some nobles in Chizhai packed up their things and fled north before the Wei army arrived.
With the cooperation of Wen Xu, Zhao Hongrun came to the so-called royal capital of Zhai State - let's call it "Zhai City".
Compared with other earthen cities in the Zhai Kingdom, this Zhai City looks much more decent. At least the city wall is one and a half feet high, and people can stand on the wall.
It's just that, if placed in the Wei State, this kind of county town would be a medium-sized county town at best.
This is because only the nobles and warriors of the Chizhai clan live in the city and live in houses built after the countries in the Central Plains, so the city does not need to be too big.
The ordinary Chidi people were only allowed to live outside the city, while the low-status slaves did not even have their own houses or tents, and could only sleep with the cattle, sheep and livestock.
Before entering the city, Zhao Hongrun asked Wen Xu: "I have heard that the Rong Di here have robbed many of our Wei people?"
Wen Xu nodded and said, "It is true."
After a pause, he whispered: "For the time being, our army will place him in the city and prepare to move to Hedong County in batches..."
Zhao Hongrun nodded and was about to enter the city. Then he saw that in the city of Zhai City, there were wooden piles with a height of one foot. There was a noose on each wooden pile, hanging a red man with his hands behind his hands.
Zhai people - At this time, these Chi Zhai's eyes had already turned white and they had lost their lives.
Taking a look at the clothes of these Chi Zhai, Zhao Hongrun guessed that these people should be the nobles among Chi Zhai.
"Wei Ji gave the order?" Zhao Hongrun asked casually.
Wen Xu hesitated for a moment, lowered his head slightly, and replied cautiously: "No, this is the decision of all the soldiers of our Hedong Army."
Zhao Hongrun was stunned for a moment, and then he guessed Wen Xu's thoughts, nodded and said: "Very good, very relieved! ... In the future, all nobles who catch Chi Zhai will be hanged!"
"Yes!" Wen Xu responded with clasped fists, and then he seemed to have thought of something, and said: "Your Highness, regarding ordinary Chi Zhai... Lord Wei Ji means to leave his life alive and serve as a hard labor. You see..."
Zhao Hongrun glanced at Wen Xu and said with emotion: "Wei Ji is still soft-hearted. If it were General Sima An, I'm afraid there would be no Chi Zhai in the city..."
As Sima An's former lieutenant, Wen Xu certainly knew Sima An's character. He smiled relieved after hearing this - after all, he had grasped the attitude of the Crown Prince in front of him towards Chi Zhai, and naturally he no longer needed to hide his true feelings.
idea.
"...Originally the general thought so too, but considering that killing those guys would be too cheap for them, it would be better to just stay and work as hard labor. This city will be renovated and used to garrison troops in the future." Wen Xu said seriously.
.
"It's a very prudent consideration, more prudent than Bai Fangming." Zhao Hongrun made a small joke.
Because he knew that both of them were Sima An's lieutenants, but Bai Fangming and Wen Xu had completely opposite personalities - it was undeniable that Bai Fangming was also an outstanding young general, but he was too frivolous and willful, so Wen Xu once admired him very much.
Not used to the former.
Wen Xu smiled knowingly after hearing this, and felt a little nostalgic for that colleague in his heart.
Suddenly, Zhao Hongrun heard a noise. He raised his head and vaguely saw that the Wei soldiers in the city seemed to be arguing with someone.
"What's going on there?"
Zhao Hongrun raised his hand and pointed into the distance, frowning and asked.
Wen Xu raised his head and glanced, with a hint of helplessness on his otherwise bright face, and whispered: "Your Highness, these are those...well..."
Seeing him hesitating, Zhao Hongrun frowned, feeling a little unhappy, so he simply rode his horse in that direction.
Because he was riding on horseback, Zhao Hongrun could see about a dozen young people confronting a group of Hedong soldiers before he got close.
Seeing this, Zhao Hongrun thought that the Hedong soldiers were bullying others, so he shouted: "Stop!"
Hearing the sound, the people nearby, including the Wei soldiers from the Hedong Army, all turned their heads and saw Zhao Hongrun dressed in bright clothes and riding a war horse. They knew he must be a noble person, so they subconsciously moved out of the way.
Seeing this, Zhao Hongrun rode his horse forward, but just when he was about to speak, he suddenly discovered that the dozen or so young people had straight beams, slightly sunken eye sockets, and slightly curly hair. Their appearance was different from that of ordinary Central Plains people. Look again
The other party's clothes don't look like something a slave could wear.
Just when Zhao Hongrun was in a daze, one of the dozen young people asked: "Who are you?"
Seeing that the other party's tone was slightly domineering, Zhao Hongrun suddenly felt that he had made something wrong.
At this time, for fear of Zhao Hongrun misunderstanding, Wen Xu quickly rode up and explained to Zhao Hongrun in a low voice: "Your Highness, these people are the children of Wei women and Chi Zhai nobles. They do not obey the constraints of our Hedong Army and refuse to move.
To Hedong County..."
When he said this, Wen Xu also felt helpless. It was really a headache for these guys who considered thieves as their fathers and it was not easy to kill them.
At this moment, one of the young men recognized Wen Xu and shouted, "I recognize you. You are the enemy general who led troops to attack our Zhai people that day!"
Hearing the words "I am from Zhai" spoken by this man, Zhao Hongrun frowned immediately.
At this time, the young man said without hesitation: "I tell you, if I, the State of Zhai, had not sent many warriors to fight against Lin Hu, how could you have captured this city? If you are wise, let me go quickly.
Wait, get out of the city quickly, otherwise, when our army returns, you despicable Wei people will all die!"
Hearing these words, the soldiers of the Hedong Army were filled with anger. If they hadn't thought that the blood of half the Wei people was bleeding on the other side, they would have taken action long ago.
"Despicable Wei people...?"
Zhao Hongrun muttered something when he heard this, and then asked seemingly calmly: "Don't you think you are from Wei?"
"I am a descendant of the noble Jia family!"
The young man said calmly.
After hearing this, Wen Xu explained in a low voice in Zhao Hongrun's ear.
It turned out that the Jia family name in this young man's mouth was a tribal clan name in Chizhai, which later gradually evolved into a noble family name.
"..."
Zhao Hongrun took a deep look at these young people and suddenly said: "I'll ask you one last time, do you think you are from Wei... think about it before you answer."
Perhaps sensing something from Zhao Hongrun's tone, four or five of the dozen young people's expressions changed slightly and they quietly took two steps back.
But the young man from the Jia family and eight or nine other people still called themselves Zhai people regardless of life or death.
Seeing this, Zhao Hongrun nodded and said expressionlessly: "Okay, since you have made your choice, I, Zhao Run, will recognize you as the "Chizhai Noble" in the name of the Crown Prince of Wei.
And give you corresponding treatment..."
After saying that, he pulled the reins and turned the horse's head.