Kou Ji was stunned and asked: "Are there any poor people in Bianjing who need you to pity? It can't be those women in Yanhualiu Lane, right? You should know your identity.
If you go to Fireworks Willow Lane to provoke those women before you get married, you are bringing trouble to them."
Kou Tianci said solemnly: "It's not them! I have never provoked them!"
"Who is that?"
Kou Ji questions.
Kou Tianci hesitated again and again and took out a sign from his arms.
After Kou Ji saw the sign, he was slightly startled.
"The brand given to you by the government?"
Kou Tianci nodded solemnly.
Kou Ji said suspiciously: "Didn't you say it's useless?"
Kou Tianci nodded and said: "It used to be of no use, but recently I discovered that there is a group of people in Bianjing City who will obey my orders after seeing this sign."
Kou Ji raised his eyebrows.
"So, the sign given to you by the government is not ordinary."
Kou Ji asked casually, "Who are those people?"
Kou Tianci shook his head slowly and said, "I asked, but they refused to tell."
Kou Ji was stunned and asked: "Have you seen them?"
Kou Tianci confessed: "After I found out that someone saw this sign and obeyed me, I asked him to take me to find other people. Finally, I met him in a shabby big house in Xiwazi City.
arrived at them.
They are all very old, the oldest is over eighty years old.
The youngest is over sixty years old.
Most people have no children and live a miserable life.
I asked them why they would obey my orders after seeing this sign, but they refused to tell me.
I saw how miserable they were, and many of them were sick and had no money for medical treatment, so I wanted to use the money from my house to help them."
Kou Ji thought about it: "Since the official gave you the sign, it means that he handed over those people to you. If those people are very capable, the official will not abandon them.
If the identities of those people were revealed, the officials would probably care about their birth, old age, illness and death.
Now that the officials have not only abandoned them, but also don't care about their life, old age, illness or death, it means that those people are not only invisible, but also have no value at all.
It is possible that they have existed in Bianjing for decades, but have never revealed their traces and are not known to outsiders.
When I see a sign, I can still obey it.
Then they are likely to be from the military, and they are also very loyal and brave people.
Since he is loyal and brave, he must have shed blood for us, China.
Even if you are old and useless, you should still be treated kindly."
At this point, Kou Ji stared at Kou Tianci and said, "I won't stop you from withdrawing one hundred thousand yuan from your house to help them. But you are too young, so you may not be able to handle things well even if you take the money.
When the business in the house was reduced before, there were several loyal foreign affairs managers who refused to leave, and now they all stay in the house.
I'll go back and pick two smart ones to follow you.
With their help, you should be able to get things done."
Hearing this, Kou Tianci smiled and said, "Thank you very much, Dad!"
Kou Ji said calmly: "Don't be in a hurry to thank me. If you are in a hurry to improve their lives and living conditions, you must use their thoughts later. They are all in the army, and all they can do for you is help."
You block the knife, or help you bleed.
They are so old, you should stop torturing them.
Let them live out their lives in peace."
When Kou Tianci heard this, his face drooped a little.
Kou Ji stared at Kou Tianci and continued: "As father and son, we can use many people and let many people die for us. But the reason why people are called humans is because they have humanity.
Even though we, father and son, have identities, we cannot lose our humanity, let alone treat human life as nothing.
I won't do anything that goes against common sense, morality, or human ethics, and neither can you."
Kou Tianci had a small face and whispered: "I know..."
Kou Ji nodded and said: "When you need someone, I will naturally give it to you. Before that, don't give me any wrong ideas. Just treat those people as ordinary old people and go over and chat with them occasionally."
It's enough to chat and listen to them tell stories about the past.
Otherwise, don’t do anything else.”
"oh……"
Kou Tianci quietly agreed and left the attic.
After Kou Tianci left, Kou Ji rubbed his brows with a headache.
"Lu Ming?!"
"The villain is here!"
"Follow Tianci and find out the identities of those old people."
"..."
Although Kou Ji had determined that those people were close to Kou Tianci because of the sign in Kou Tianci's hand.
But for Kou Tianci's safety, Kou Ji still had to find out who those people were.
After Lu Ming left, Kou Ji went down to the attic.
Went to the backyard to accompany Xiang Yan.
When she learned that Kou Ji was going on another expedition, Xiang Yan had a smile on her face, but her eyes were filled with deep worry.
Kou Ji went to Xixia before and was assassinated and almost died.
Xiang Yan is really afraid that Kou Ji will encounter any danger if he goes to Hexi now.
Kou Ji took Xiang Yan's hand and sat down, laughing in a low voice: "You don't have to worry about me. We are an old married couple, and you don't know me yet. There is not much danger in the Western Regions. If there is any danger, I won't."
Won’t go.”
"Although I say that, I am still worried about you."
Xiang Yan sighed.
Kou Ji laughed and said, "If you have time to worry about me, you might as well worry more about Tianci. Tianci has grown up now and is old enough to get into trouble and dare to get into trouble. When I am not in Bianjing City, you should pay more attention to him.
Don't let him get into any big trouble."
Xiang Yan couldn't laugh or cry and said: "How old is he, what kind of trouble can he cause?"
Kou Ji smiled and said: "People's hearts are complicated. Even if he doesn't want to get into trouble, someone will use his identity to plot against him and put the trouble on him."
When Xiang Yan heard this, she immediately straightened her face and said, "Whoever has eaten the heart of a bear is so brave that he dares to plot against the people of our Kou Mansion."
Kou Ji said frankly: "When I was in Bianjing City, no one dared to plot against the Kou family. But when I was away, that was not necessarily the case. After the officials turned around and left the capital, some people might jump out.
I went to Xixia before, and the official family left Beijing before, and others bullied you, have you forgotten?"
Xiang Yan's expression changed slightly and she said, "With the current power of our government, does anyone really dare to plot against our government?"
Kou Ji smiled and said: "Of course no one would dare to make big plans, but there will definitely be small plans. They may not dare to harm our Kou Mansion, but they still dare to use our Kou Mansion to seek some benefits.
"
Wherever there are people, there are rivers and lakes.
The struggle between rivers and lakes will never stop.
The Kou Mansion is now a big family, and it is possible that someone will take advantage of the Kou Mansion and take advantage of the Kou Mansion while Kou Ji is away, or take advantage of the prestige of the Kou Mansion.
Kou Ji didn't know how long he would have to stay in Hexi, so he needed to give Xiang Yan a good warning.
Let Xiang Yan keep an eye on the people inside and outside Kou's house.
To avoid being plotted by others, to avoid being taken advantage of and tarnishing the reputation of the Kou government.
Xiang Yan solemnly said: "I will keep a close eye on you."
Kou Ji nodded and said, "Yes! When you are in doubt, go ask your grandfather for advice. Even though my grandfather is old and doesn't care about anything, if he really opens his mouth, half of the people in the court will have to listen."
When Xiang Yan heard this, she smiled and said, "Grandpa is the living ancestor of our family. As long as he is here, no one dares to bare his teeth at our government."
Kou Ji also laughed when he heard this.
Kou Ji accompanied Xiang Yan and said some thoughtful words and gave Xiang Yan some advice.
Just when it's time to warm it up.
Lu Ming appeared outside the door and reported.
Kou Ji could only leave Xiang Yan temporarily and took Lu Ming to the study.
As soon as you enter the study room.
Lu Ming then said: "Master, I have seen the people that the young master went to meet. But I have found nothing about the identities and origins of those people."
Kou Ji frowned slightly, "Don't worry, send someone to keep an eye on them and check slowly. Sooner or later, they will find out their identities."
Just after Kou Ji said this, the doorman of Kou's mansion appeared outside Kou Ji's study with a letter.
"Master, someone quietly placed a letter at the door of the house. It says, please open it personally."
"Bring it over and let me take a look."
Menzi handed the letter to Kou Ji.
Kou Ji opened the letter, read it carefully, threw it into the brazier, and said to Lu Ming, "No need to check."
Lu Ming looked stunned.
Kou Ji said frankly: "People guessed that we would investigate them, so they sent me a letter to indicate their identities. However, their identities are somewhat special, and I can't tell you."
Hearing this, Lu Ming nodded and exited the study.
After Lu Ming left, Kou Ji sighed, "It turns out they are a group of poor lonely ghosts. No wonder the officials dumped them to God's gift unceremoniously."
In the past, when Emperor Taizu of the Song Dynasty, Zhao Kuangyin and Chen Qiao, rebelled, they captured Bianjing City almost without bloodshed.
Those people were the gatekeepers in Bianjing City in the past.
Although they voted when Zhao Kuangyin entered Bianjing City, they did not accept the high officials and titles promised by Zhao Kuangyin.
Instead, they chose to hide in Bianjing City and became a military force secretly guarding Bianjing City.
From the Song Dynasty to the present, there have been three officials, but no one has used them.
No one mentions them, no one cares about them, because they once had the number from the previous week.
In the Song Dynasty, they did not have official titles and titles.
Therefore, no one regarded them as soldiers and horses of the Song Dynasty.
"I can't understand their thoughts..."
Kou Ji couldn't understand what those people were thinking.
If you are thinking about last week, you can have a bloody battle with Zhao Kuangyin when Zhao Kuangyin and Chen Qiao mutinied, leaving a reputation as a loyal minister and good general.
If Zhou Zhou was not in his heart, why didn't he accept Zhao Kuangyin's high-ranking official title after the surrender?
Kou Ji couldn't figure out what those people were thinking, so he didn't bother to think about it anymore.
Anyway, they don't have the ability to harm Kou Tianci, nor do they have the ability to harm the Song Dynasty.
Kou Ji doesn't have to worry about it at all.
After figuring out the origins of those people, Kou Ji can safely let Kou Tianci contact them.
He doesn't need to think about it all the time.
After nightfall.
Kou Ji and Xiang Yan packed their bags together.
Kou Ji rushed to Hexi this time. He didn't know how long he would stay, so he had a lot of things to bring.
I was busy packing for half the night and packed up more than ten carts of things.
After finishing cleaning up, I warmed up to Xiang Yan for a while, and then the sky became bright.
Without much rest, Kou Ji got into the carriage and set foot on the road to Hexi.
It’s different from my previous trip to Hexi.
Kou Ji traveled simply this time, not bringing many people or things with him.
So there were only more than 200 people in the group.
In the bustling city of Bianjing, it is not very eye-catching.
After leaving Bianjing City, we headed westward.
We arrived at a hut five miles away.
Kou Ji ordered people to stop the carriage.
In the hayloft.
Four people, Zhao Zhen, Lu Yijian, Wang Zeng, and Zhang Zhibai, all dressed in plain clothes, were sitting among them.
Kou Ji entered the hut, saluted, and sat down.
After Kou Ji sat down, Zhao Zhen said to Kou Ji: "I know that the fourth brother likes to eat rare delicacies, so when the fourth brother was leaving, I specially ordered the imperial dining room to make a table of good delicacies to practice for the fourth brother.
.”
Zhao Zhen waved his hand.
Chen Lin appeared in the hut with six eunuchs and huge food boxes.
The food box is opened.
A burst of heat rushed out.
Chen Lin ordered the eunuchs to place dishes of delicacies in front of Kou Ji.
They were all things that Kou Ji had never eaten before.
Each one looks very extraordinary.
Zhao Zhen was extravagant for the first time.
Kou Ji was not polite, picked up his chopsticks and started eating.
Zhao Zhen, Lu Yijian, Wang Zeng and Zhang Zhibai sat beside him and frequently raised their glasses to invite Kou Ji to drink.
After three rounds of drinking.
Zhang Zhibai said with a serious face: "It's a long way to Hexi, so Privy Kou takes it very seriously."
Kou Ji nodded and smiled, raised his glass and asked Zhang Zhibai to take a swig.
After Kou Ji and Zhang Zhibai drank heavily, Wang Zeng raised his glass and said, "When Privy Kou returns home in triumph, I will personally lead your horse."
Kou Ji laughed out loud and had a drink with Wang Zeng.
Later, Lu Yijian also raised his wine glass and said solemnly: "The thieves are invading the country and their power is huge. Privy Council Kou must deal with it carefully. The safety of half of our country in the Song Dynasty is in the hands of Privy Kou. Privy Council Kou should understand the importance of it."
.”
Kou Ji nodded and drank a drink with Lu Yijian.
Zhao Zhen finally raised his wine glass and said to Kou Ji: "I will entrust everything in Western Xinjiang to my fourth brother. All military affairs in Western Xinjiang will be decided by my fourth brother and I will not interfere.
What I ask for is not high, just to keep the traitors out of our Song Dynasty.
If you don't have the energy to fight back, just wait for the opportunity and don't take any chances.
Although I miss the territory of the Western Territory, I am more concerned about the safety of my fourth brother."
Kou Ji nodded, raised his wine glass and drank a swig with Zhao Zhen.
After drinking heavily, Zhao Zhen put down his wine glass and ordered Chen Lin: "Take the emperor's sword, the king's command arrow, the king's command flag, and the python robe..."
Kou Ji, Lu Yijian, Wang Zeng, and Zhang Zhibai all looked a little moved when they heard this.
Zhao Zhen gave the emperor the sword, the king ordered the arrows, and the king ordered the flag. All four people could understand it.
But what happened to the python robe?
Zhao Zhen wants to make Kou Ji king?
Or are you implying that Kou Ji will be crowned king after defeating the Black Khan Dynasty and the Liao Allied Forces?
Kou Ji and the other four looked puzzled.
Zhao Zhen did not explain anything, but gave the same thing to Kou Ji.
After Koji thanked him.
Zhao Zhen warned: "If we go to Hexi, if you are in the second rank or below, the fourth brother can kill him first and then play."
The implication is that when Kou Ji goes to Hexi, it is the largest in Hexi.
Because among the officials in Hexi and those subsequently transferred to Hexi, there were no officials above the second rank.
"Here..."
"I personally put on the python robe for my fourth brother."
"..."
Zhao Zhen refused the dissuasion of Lu Yijian and the others, personally put on the python robe for Kou Ji, and sent Kou Ji off on his journey.
When Kou Ji's team disappeared from the eyes of Zhao Zhen and the others, flakes of snow fell.
When he was conquering Hexi, Kou Ji rushed to Hexi through the snow.
Now when we go to Hexi again, we are walking on snow again.
When it snows in Bianjing City.
It's snowing in Hexi too, the snow is much heavier than that in Bianjing, and it's accompanied by a cold wind.
Zhong Shiheng stood in the cold wind, letting the snowflakes fall on his body and remained indifferent.
He stared straight at the endless military camp outside the border of Shazhou.
"Has the envoy returned?"
Zhong Shiheng stared at the military camp of the Black Khan Dynasty and the Liao Allied Forces for a long time, then turned his head and asked the soldiers around him.
The soldier tightened his leather jacket tightly and said solemnly: "I haven't come back yet."
Zhong Shiheng frowned and whispered: "I don't know how long he can delay it."
The soldier pursed his lips and said nothing.
After the Liao soldiers appeared on the border of Shazhou, they did not hide it at all.
After Zhong Shiheng discovered this, he immediately sent envoys to hold him accountable.
After the Liao Kingdom experienced the First World War at Tongtaiguan, it became a vassal state of the Song Dynasty.
If a soldier from a subordinate country appears on the border of the Song Dynasty, the Song Dynasty can regard him as a provocation and send people to hold him accountable.
Although he knew that the Liao Kingdom was going to fall out with the Song Dynasty, Zhong Shiheng still followed the procedures and sent people to hold him accountable.
The purpose is to delay it for a little longer.
Every day of delay.
This will buy the reinforcements one day of marching time.
Every day of delay.
This can buy the people of Shazhou, Guazhou and other places time to retreat in one day.
After Zhong Shiheng handed over the news that the Black Khan Dynasty and the Liao Allied Forces had arrived at the border of Shazhou, he quickly received a reply from the court.
The order given by the imperial court to Zhong Shiheng was simple.
If you can fight, fight; if you can't, then retreat.
Preserve your strength, contain the enemy, and buy time for reinforcements to arrive on the battlefield.
Never confront the Black Khan Dynasty and the Liao Allied Forces head-on.
The imperial court can allow Zhong Shiheng to retreat to Yumen Pass and Yangguan Line, and use the pass to defend it.
But if Zhong Shiheng wants to retreat to the Yumen Pass and Yangguan lines, he must give up Shazhou, Guazhou and other places.
Zhong Shiheng knew clearly that without the help of reinforcements and without geographical advantages, the 50,000 troops and horses he led could not stop the 800,000-strong army on the opposite side.
So he was ready to retreat.
But before retreating, he had to buy enough time for Li Di to lead his men to clear out the things in Shazhou and Guazhou.
Zhong Shiheng has been in the northwest for many years and has seen the method of supporting war with war.
He is well aware of the disadvantages of feeding war with war.
Therefore, he will not leave a grain of food to feed the enemy.
Zhong Shiheng stood on a dilapidated beacon tower left over from the Han Dynasty and stared at the enemy for a long time before returning to the military camp.
In the evening.
The envoys sent by Zhong Shiheng to the enemy camp returned to Shazhou.
The first words the envoy said when he saw Zhong Shiheng were:
"The enemy is about to attack!"
The troops of the Black Khan Dynasty and the Liao Kingdom have been stationed at the border of Shazhou for many days.
The grain, grass, cattle and sheep they had robbed from the Xizhou Uighurs had been consumed to the tune of 7788%.
If they don't launch an attack, they will starve.
After Zhong Shiheng learned that the enemy was about to attack, he immediately ordered the entire army to be on alert.
At the same time, someone was sent to find Li Di.
Li Di hurried to the military camp.
Zhong Shiheng asked Li Di, "Have the people evacuated completely?"
Li Di said in a deep voice: "The people have almost evacuated. But only half of the treasury has been shipped out. There are still 5 million dans of grain and 1 million dans of dried fruits that have not been shipped out yet."
Zhong Shiheng was silent for a moment and whispered: "Burn it."
Li Di felt a pain in his heart and asked: "The enemy is about to advance?"
Zhong Shiheng nodded slowly.
Li Di gritted his teeth, stared at Zhong Shiheng and said, "I will take people to transport as much food as we can now. Once the enemy shows up, order people to burn the food and dried fruits."
After many years of accumulation, Shazhou has accumulated a large amount of grain reserves.
The people of Shazhou also accumulated a lot of grain reserves.
When the people retreated, they couldn't even transport all their own food, let alone help transport the food in the treasury.
Li Di had limited manpower. In addition to transporting the large quantities of cattle, sheep, horses and gold and silver seized by Zhong Shiheng in Yizhou City, he also had to dispatch manpower to drive the cattle, sheep and horses raised in Shazhou. The rest could transport grain and
There are very few people to carry out dried fruits, so it is impossible to transport all the grain and dried fruits in time.
The Zhenxi Army now had to guard against enemy soldiers and clear the route for subsequent retreat, so there was no way to help Li Di transport food.
Therefore, if the food cannot be transported completely, it can only be burned.
Just when Li Di gritted his teeth and was about to leave the camp.
Suddenly someone came to report.
"Li Gong, Zhong Tongzhi, and General Yuanshan led 10,000 horses to come to the rescue."
When Zhong Shiheng and Li Di heard this, they both looked happy.
"Quick! Take them to transport food and grass!"
"By the way, select 20,000 people from the captive army of the Xizhou Uighurs and follow them to transport grain and grass! With them watching, we can safely let the captive army of the Xizhou Uighurs go to the rear!"
"..."
The appearance of soldiers and horses from the Yuanshan tribe was like timely rain.
Completely solve the difficulties Li Di encountered.
Li Di took the soldiers and horses of the Yuanshan tribe and 20,000 captives from the Xizhou Uighurs, and began to transport grain and dried fruits overnight.
Zhong Shiheng was a little worried at first, worried that people from the Yuanshan tribe would take advantage of the situation and rob him, so he brought a troop of soldiers and horses to watch in secret.
But when he discovered that after receiving the task of transporting grain and grass, the soldiers and horses of the Yuanshan tribe took off their armor without hesitation and helped Li Di start transporting grain and grass, he knew that the soldiers and horses of the Yuanshan tribe were here sincerely.
Helpful.
Because for any soldier and horse, the armor on the body is the capital of life.
When a soldier can take off his armor in front of outsiders, it means that they have entrusted their lives to outsiders.
Zhong Shiheng had no reason to doubt the soldiers and horses of the Yuanshan tribe of the Song Dynasty who could entrust their lives to them.
So he decisively gave up tracking.
Not only that, he also sent someone to tell the Yuanshan tribe's leading general, and asked the Yuanshan tribe's leading general to keep an eye on the captured soldiers of the Xizhou Uighurs. If there was any change in the captured soldiers, the Yuanshan tribe's troops and horses would be at a loss.
You can cut it first and play later.
After entrusting the affairs of the rear to Li Di and the troops of the Yuanshan tribe, Zhong Shiheng devoted himself wholeheartedly to the battlefield.
The allied forces of the Black Khan Dynasty and the Liao Kingdom quickly assembled at dawn.
The loud horn sound was weakened a lot by the cold wind.
But Zhong Shiheng still heard clearly.
"Kill it!"
Facing a strong enemy, Zhong Shiheng did not choose to defend blindly.
When the enemy was reorganizing their army, Zhong Shiheng ordered a battalion of soldiers to suppress the Western Army and led a captive army of 30,000 Xizhou Uighurs to kill the enemy.
The artillery roared as the soldiers of the First Battalion of the Zhenxi Army and the 30,000 Xizhou Uighur captives attacked the enemy.
Some were facing the enemy camp, and some were facing the 30,000 Xizhou Uighur captives.
The artillery cannot shoot into the enemy camp, but the roar of the artillery can frighten the horses in the enemy camp and cause short-term confusion for the enemy.
The artillery did not kill any of the Xizhou Uighur captives. It was just a deterrent, like a knife in the hands of the war supervisor, forcing the 30,000 Xizhou Uighur captives to fight the enemy.
In the enemy camp.
The moment when the shouts of death rang out.
The Black Khan King Yu Sufu was shocked, and the Liao general Xiao Pidi was also shocked.
The eight hundred thousand soldiers of the Black Khan Dynasty and the Liao Allied Army were also shocked.
With such a huge disparity in military strength, they all felt that the enemy would not have any other reaction other than fleeing in panic under their pursuit.
But now, the war has just begun, and the enemy has taught them a lesson.