Just when Jiang Ergou and Chu Tianxiong fell silent, a heavy sound of horse hoofbeats came from the direction of Tianshan Pass.
The Dachu cavalry, who were almost ready to restrain their corpses, all got on their horses at this moment, holding sabers in their hands and preparing for battle. Although the possibility of the grassland barbarians leaving and coming back was almost zero, they could not take it lightly at this time.
When Chu Tianxiong heard the sound of horse hoofbeats, he couldn't help but clenched the saber in his hand. Although he had guessed that this was reinforcements coming from Tianshan Pass, he still had to be careful!
When Qi Jian's burly figure appeared from a distance, all the Chu cavalrymen exhaled together. He could no longer continue fighting in his current state. If the prairie barbarians came back, they would truly be without mercy.
born!
When Chu Tianxiong saw Qi Jian, the latter naturally also saw them. When he saw the corpses on the ground, he knew that he was already late.
Fortunately, they, Da Chu, won the battle. If the second prince had some shortcomings, even if Emperor Chu Zheng would not blame him, they themselves would feel it was difficult to explain.
With the arrival of the two thousand cavalry troops led by Qi Jian, Chu Tianxiong and the others were truly safe. Even if those prairie barbarians still wanted to turn around and kill a carbine, they now had the capital to fight.
The two thousand riders naturally joined the team cleaning up the battlefield, while Qi Jian rode alone to Chu Tianxiong.
"I'm late, but fortunately you won."
Qi Jian did not salute Chu Tianxiong. Although he was the second prince, that was not the case on the border. Even in terms of military rank, Qi Jian was above Chu Tianxiong. At this time, it was already equivalent to him at the same level.
It depends on the three words "Second Prince".
And Chu Tianxiong did not blame him for this. Ever since he came to the Liaodong border, he had always regarded himself as a soldier rather than the second prince in the capital.
"How many people from the prairie barbarians came this time?"
"Three thousand riders in total!"
Hearing Chu Tianxiong's answer, Qi Jian was stunned for a moment. Then he seemed to remember something and then suddenly realized that it was not impossible for a first-class master to defeat 3,000 cavalry with 1,500 cavalry on the frontal battlefield.
thing.
But Chu Tianxiong's next words really shocked Qi Jian's mind.
"There are only a thousand wolf riders within three thousand cavalry miles!"
Hearing the word "Wolf Cavalry", Qi Jian's serious face showed a trace of surprise. For him, who has been dealing with prairie barbarians for many years, he knows better than anyone present what a thousand wolf cavalry means. He is by no means a first-class master.
can bridge the gap.
"Wolf Cavalry? If there are really a thousand wolf cavalry, it is impossible to win even if Mr. Six is there?"
Regarding Qi Jian's question, Chu Tianxiong laughed. He hadn't told him that the other party also had a near-first-class master!
Chu Tianxiong took half a step back, pointed at Jiang Ergou who was standing behind him and said to Qi Jian.
"General Qi doesn't know. This Young Master Jiang is already a first-class swordsman at a young age. If he hadn't helped us today, I'm afraid General Qi would have been able to collect the corpses for us when he arrived."
After hearing Chu Tianxiong's introduction, Qi Jian turned his attention to Jiang Ergou, but his eyes were somewhat incredulous, while the latter naturally showed a hint of admiration when he looked at this sturdy and sturdy frontier general.
"Thank you, Young Master Jiang, for your help to our army. Qi thanked you here."
Jiang Ergou was a person who didn't like to be pretentious, but at this time he could only wave his hand to Qi Jian again.
"General Qi, you're welcome. If I meet him today,
If you refuse to save him, you will have no shame and go back to Dachu."
"You two want to go back to Dachu?"
Hearing what Jiang Ergou said, Qi Jian frowned, but when he saw the remaining soldiers, he hesitated and then said to Jiang Ergou.
"Why don't you two go back to Tianshan Pass with us? It's much closer to enter the pass from there than to rush to Lantian Pass."
When Jiang Ergou saw Qi Jian's embarrassed look, he knew that Tianshan Pass was not open to the public. In fact, if you think about it carefully, you can understand this matter.
Tianshan Pass, as the first pass on the border, naturally cannot allow you to come in and out at will, especially when Jiang Ergou and the two came back from the grassland. Thinking of this, Jiang Ergou said to Qi Jian.
"General Qi is not afraid that we are spies of Da Chu? Although we have just rescued your soldiers, how do you know if this is a trick of the grassland? You must know that a first-level sword cultivator after entering Tianshan Pass is no more powerful than two thousand
The effect of cavalry entering Tianshan Pass is small!"
Jiang Ergou's words made Qi Jian speechless. He did have some considerations in this regard. Although he knew that this might be trivial, he should not take the risk if he could.
But this Jiang Fuyu had obviously saved the lives of hundreds and nearly a thousand people in Dachu, not to mention the second prince among them, so he had no choice but to invite them back to Dachu from Tianshan Pass.
Seeing the embarrassed expression of Qi Jian, a big man in the army, Jiang Ergou said with a smile.
"General Qi, there is no need to be embarrassed. Although I just helped you, the rules in the army cannot be changed. What's more, the importance of Tianshan Pass cannot be lost. Our rush to Lantian Pass is just an extra day. This
There is nothing more important than the safety of Tianshan Pass."
Although Qi Jian was grateful to Jiang Ergou, he was really inconvenient to let them enter through Tianshan Pass. When he heard Jiang Ergou take the initiative to mention it, he borrowed the donkey and went downhill.
"So, thank you very much, Young Master Jiang, for your understanding. Although I know that there is absolutely no possibility for you two to do anything subtle, the rules in the military are the rules in the military. If you can, try to avoid it without touching it."
Chu Tianxiong also nodded to this. Although his original intention was to invite them to go back from Tianshan Pass together, now that they had already talked about it, he would not force it.
Afterwards, the four people present, including He Huaichun, fell silent. Half of the four of them were important members of the military, usually rangers, so it was really difficult for them to find a common topic.
It wasn't until everything was completed that Jiang Ergou said to Chu Tianxiong and Qi Jian.
"Two generals, the affairs here are about to be completed. We won't stop too much and will set off for Lantian Pass. If we hurry up, we can catch up with Lantian Pass tomorrow morning to eat.
breakfast!"
Chu Tianxiong and the two nodded together.
"Then let's say goodbye. If Jiang Shaoxia comes to the border next time, he might as well come to Tianshan Pass. Although we are not allowed to enter or leave, there is still no problem in greeting him with a meal of wine and meat."
Jiang Ergou took a step back and stood still with his fists clasped.
"I don't like anything else, but I love wine and meat the most, so just for this meal, I will definitely go to Tianshan Pass in the future. You two generals, we have a long time to come. Let's say goodbye. Farewell!"
"Farewell!"
After saying that, one man and two horses set out again, and Chu Tianxiong and Qi Jian also began to organize the team, and were about to lead the team back to Tianshan Pass. However, Jiang Ergou and Chu Tianxiong did not know that their next meeting would be
Under what circumstances.
…
In the capital, there was one this morning. I don’t know where it came from.
The carrier pigeon that flew in fell into the palace.
Subsequently, Chu Zheng waved his sleeves and recruited all the central officials of the imperial court, including the Prime Minister and the Santai chiefs, into the palace.
In the meeting hall, Chu Zheng was sitting high, and below were scattered Su Wang, Lu Xiangrui and others. The youngest among them was undoubtedly the imperial envoy Lu Lingxuan.
Compared with the gray beards in the hall, Lu Lingxuan, who is only forty and fourteen years old, can definitely be regarded as young. Although he has taken over Ma Suiliang's position since he was kicked out of the imperial emissary position.
.
But in the past few years, he has always been regarded as a dispensable person. If he wants to shine in a small court composed of all first-class officials, he must first sit in for five years.
For Lu Lingxuan, today is no different from usual. He listens more, sees more and learns more, but he does not need to talk more. This is the greatest wisdom he has cultivated in the Hanlin Academy for fifteen years.
In the past year, the country has been peaceful and the people are at peace. In fact, a small court meeting like this has not been held for nearly half a year. Therefore, everyone present was not sure what Chu Zheng was going to do today, so everyone had to wait quietly.
The following text of Chu Zheng.
After reviewing the memorial in his hand, Chu Zheng spoke slowly and leisurely.
"This morning, I received a secret letter from the Liaodong border."
Su Wang, Lu Xiangrui, Cheng Yijie and others were already there. Only the six inferior ministers and some young officials who were qualified to enter this small court could not help but secretly guess: Are the prairie barbarians uneasy?
After a while, the quarrels at the border began again.
But what Chu Zheng said next made everyone in the hall confused.
"Actually, strictly speaking, this letter does not come from the border, but from the grassland."
If they couldn't figure out the specific situation, no one would dare to speak. Chu Zheng also knew what they were thinking, so he simply opened the skylight and spoke frankly.
"This matter is related to our Da Chu's attitude towards the grassland in the next ten years, so we need everyone to discuss how our Da Chu should face the next grassland."
Chu Zheng continued after a pause.
"Grassland has recently been discussing how to establish their political power. They have already decided on the name of the country and called it Northern Zhou Dynasty. Moreover, they have also hired a group of scholars from our Da Chu to preside over the government. Not to mention many, it will only take five years.
It is enough to make the Northern Zhou regime in the grassland mature. Everyone here, next, should we prevent the establishment of this regime, add fuel to the fire and help them, or should we just watch indifferently?"
At this time, everyone except Su Wang, Lu Xiangrui, and Cheng Yijie were a little confused. Let’s not care about where our emperor heard the news. We also don’t care about the talents of the scholars who came to the grassland.
.
But what good would it do for them, Da Chu, to just establish political power in the grassland? They all know the actual situation in the grassland. The Twelve Wolf Kings and Wang Ting are divided into several forces, and they are still at odds with each other. But if
If they establish centralization of power, they will be no different from Da Chu. When they work hard in one place, won't they pose a greater threat to Da Chu?
But having said that, would our emperor, who is so smart to the core, not be able to see such a simple truth? Since he brought this matter up, there must be something else they haven't thought of.
With this thought in mind, no one in the meeting hall spoke. Anyway, even if Chu Zheng wanted to ask, he would start with the big guys like Su Wang. For a while, they would not be able to implicate small families like them, such as ministers.