On the first day after arriving at Xuanwuguan Walled City, no special events occurred, and Zhou Xingyun rested comfortably for the day.
The next morning, there was a meeting with the Generalissimo of the Zhenbei Cavalry. Zhou Xingyun, Han Qiumiao, and Wei Suyao, under the arrangement of Huang Puzhong, met with the dignitaries of the northern towns.
There are some small dignitaries and small princes all over the towns in the north. They can form their own private armies of less than a thousand people to attack the bandits that appear in their own territories.
When there are no bandits or foreign enemies invading, they live a small life in their own fiefdom. Once a war breaks out, they can act according to the situation.
This time Huang Feng's army invaded, the small dignitaries in the towns in the north brought more or less troops to support Xuanwu Pass. The main purpose was of course to establish friendship with Yun Zihou and the Marshal of the Zhenbei Cavalry who were at the height of their power. .
Although Zhou Xingyun is also a prince, he is undoubtedly the most powerful prince in the northern territory. He is more noble than the previous northern princes who followed the emperor's sixteen sons to rebel. It is not an exaggeration to say that he is the king of the northern territory.
For the small dignitaries and small princes in the northern towns, their fiefdoms were no more than one or two small villages.
What about Zhou Xingyun? There are two big cities! Covering villages of all sizes outside the city! It can raise 30,000 soldiers and horses! Isn’t this equivalent to a northern prince who can be on an equal footing with the king of Zhennan in the south and the king of Xijun in the west?
Therefore, the next morning, Huang Puzhong arranged everything and held a small banquet in the Xuanwuguan Walled City to allow Zhou Xingyun to meet with the small dignitaries of the northern towns on the pretext of catching up with the wind and washing away the dust.
The situation in the northern region is much more complicated than Zhou Xingyun imagined. The only towns directly under his jurisdiction are Shiyuan City and Lingdu City. The other towns, like Xuanwuguan, are nominally under the control of Zhou Xingyun, but are actually managed by small local dignitaries. and governance by town magistrates.
On the whole, the relationship between Zhou Xingyun and the small dignitaries is like the head office and branches of a large enterprise. Zhou Xingyun can assign work tasks to them, recruit their troops, and increase or decrease grain taxes. Specific implementation and governance , it is carried out by small dignitaries and local magistrates.
If Zhou Xingyun makes trouble unreasonably and increases grain taxes to exploit the small powerful, they can even secretly file a complaint and read Zhou Xingyun's book behind his back.
It is true that under normal circumstances, no one dares to disturb Tai Sui...
"I am here to see Yun Shuai, Princess Yongming, and Madam Jinninghou."
Zhou Xingyun, Han Qiumiao, and Wei Suyao arrived at the venue, and everyone present stood up and saluted.
"No courtesy." Zhou Xingyun was stunned for a moment, then asked everyone to raise their heads. To be honest, he was really not used to this kind of etiquette.
Zhou Xingyun always feels strange when he sees a group of uncles and uncles who are older than him bowing their heads to him...
"This is just a small banquet to wash away the dust. Moreover, we are at the border and may face attacks from foreign enemies at any time. Since you are willing to help us guard Xuanwu Pass, there is no need to be more polite at the banquet." Han Qiumiao gestured to those present. No need to be formal.
"Yes." Everyone replied in unison.
"Although it is a banquet, alcohol is taboo in the army, so we use tea instead of wine. Please forgive me for any inconvenience in the reception. Please forgive Yun Shuai, Princess, and Madam Jin Ninghou." Huang Puzhong took the lead and poured a cup of tea, and offered a cup to Zhou Xingyun and the others first. .
"That's better. Actually, I don't like drinking very much." Zhou Xingyun raised his glass in reply to Huang Puzhong.
Zhou Xingyun doesn't like to drink. He only likes to pour wine to beautiful women. He doesn't drink if he can. After all, he can't do anything serious when he's drunk.
.
Also, Xiao Suyao should have secretly breathed a sigh of relief when he heard that he didn’t need to drink.
Zhou Xingyun personally tested and found that despite Wei Suyao's handsome appearance and her seeming ability to drink, in fact she is not strong enough to drink and can only knock down a glass of wine. Moreover, Wei Suyao will make a fool of himself after being drunk...
This is not to say that Wei Suyao is a bad drinker and will make a lot of noise when drunk. On the contrary, Wei Suyao will become very peaceful after being drunk, so peaceful that Zhou Xingyun wants to get her drunk every day.
When Wei Suyao is drunk, she is no longer Wei Suyao, she is kissing Xiao Suyao. From being frank to frank, she will be like a little girl who has tasted forbidden fruit for the first time, shyly snuggling into Zhou Xingyun's arms and taking the initiative to get intimate.
he.
Unfortunately, Wei Suyao was still conscious after being drunk. After she woke up, she clearly remembered the things she had done while drunk, so that after she made a fool of herself, she stopped drinking to avoid being teased by Zhou Xingyun...
Thinking of this, Zhou Xingyun couldn't help but look back at Wei Suyao, because the moment they walked into the house, Wei Suyao had been tense.
At first, Zhou Xingyun thought that Wei Suyao was worried about others toasting her, so she frowned as if facing a formidable enemy, but now it seems that is not the case...
"What's wrong with you, Suyao? Your eyes are a bit scary. Be kind and smile." Zhou Xingyun said in a low voice. When Qingtian Xiong rebelled, they were able to quickly regain the towns in the north, and this group of northern dignitaries played a major role.
If they hadn't organized a spontaneous fight against the Xuanyang Sect, assisted the royal family in retaking the towns in the north, and blocked Qingtian Bear's retreat, Zhou Xingyun wouldn't have brought Qingtian Bear down so easily.
"To the left, at the end of the crowd." Wei Suyao responded in a low voice, asking Zhou Xingyun to pay attention to the people over there.
"What's going on over there?" Zhou Xingyun looked in the direction Wei Suyao mentioned, and blurted out in surprise: "How could it be you!"
There were three familiar figures at the end of the crowd on the left side of the room. When Zhou Xingyun saw them, he immediately understood why Wei Suyao was so wary.
"What's wrong with them? Does the Marquis know them?" A slightly fat middle-aged man stepped forward and shouted to the three people at the end of the crowd: "You three come out to see the Marquis."
"The common people have seen Mr. Hou." The three of them responded and stepped forward to pay homage to Zhou Xingyun.
"Well, there's no need to be polite." Zhou Xingyun looked at the three people slightly awkwardly. If he remembered correctly, the three of them were all Qi Yuan's subordinates, an old man with a hooked nose, a burly man, and a shirtless man with a spiky head.
When the sixteenth son of the emperor rebelled, Qi Yuanlin rescued three lieutenants before his death. They are the three people in front of him. Wei Suyao and others also fought against them...
At that time, Zhou Xingyun felt that the three of them were so strong that any one of them could kill him. Now that time has passed, it seems that the three of them have not improved much in their martial arts realm, and they still remain in the ranks of top warriors. On the other hand, looking at himself... he is indeed a top warrior.
.
With the comparison in front of him, Zhou Xingyun truly felt that he had really become stronger.
However, Qi Yuan, who died under Xuanyuan Chongwu, was not only the master of the three, but also their savior. If the three wanted to avenge General Qi and try to harm Zhou Xingyun, it would undoubtedly be a thorn in Wei Suyao's side.
.
However, the three of them seemed to have no intention of becoming enemies of Zhou Xingyun. As soon as Zhou Xingyun finished speaking, they saw them taking the initiative to apologize.
"I have offended many people in the past, I hope you will forgive me."
"offend?"
For a time, people in the venue were whispering, and they didn’t know what the three people and Zhou Xingyun were talking about.
What's the holiday?
"It's okay, it's okay. We all had our own masters in the beginning, and collisions were inevitable. As long as the three of us put aside our past grudges and work for the benefit of the people in the north, the grudges between us can be wiped out." Zhou Xingyun replied generously. What is important in this era is Those who understand current affairs are heroes. The three of them should know clearly that if they become enemies of Zhou Xingyun, they will definitely not end well.
However, Zhou Xingyun was quite surprised. He did not expect to meet the old troops of the former Beiqi general in the walled city of Xuanwu Pass.
The fat middle-aged nobleman seemed to realize that Zhou Xingyun did not want to get entangled in old matters, so he took the initiative to change the subject: "The three of them are now my generals. When Qingtian Xiong rebelled, we fought against the evil Xuanyang Sect. The three of them They all showed their talents to punish the traitors and eliminate evil for the common people in the north. Of course, compared with your great achievements of annihilating the Xuanyang Sect and capturing Qingtian Bear, these are all trivial matters."
"That's right! I heard someone say that the Marquis used only one hand to pin that thief Qingtian Xiong to the ground."
"Nonsense, the Marquis has no need to take action. Just with his unrivaled power, he can scare Qingtian Xiong to the point of kneeling down and begging for mercy."
"Yes! That's it! We've all heard about it! The Marquis wiped out the Xuanyang Sect without even using a single soldier, pacified the Qingtian Bear, and gave me a bright future in the north! This is a true divine man!"
"Thank you, thank you." Zhou Xingyun laughed awkwardly. It was too explicit for these people to flatter him.
After the polite words, comes the troublesome social work. In the past, Zhou Xingyun inherited the skills of corrupt officials, so he was very good at dealing with such problems, but now... he is a little unable to do so.
Huang Puzhong considered that Zhou Xingyun only brought two thousand people to help defend Xuanwu Pass, and half of them were girls' families. He took advantage of the banquet to propose that Zhou Xingyun be in charge of the sixth division of the Zhenbei Cavalry Corps, which was composed of The small dignitaries and princes in the towns in the northern border formed an army composed of private soldiers.
Anyway, the powerful people in the northern towns only wanted to please Zhou Xingyun, so his suggestion was a big help to everyone.
Although the Sixth Division is a ragtag group, it may not be of any use when the two armies confront each other. However, this is actually better...
The dignitaries in the towns in the northern border were actually unwilling to go to the battlefield in person because it was too dangerous. Huang Puzhong also did not want Zhou Xingyun to take the lead in the charge. If something unexpected happened to Marshal Zhenbei Cavalry, the entire northern border would be shaken.
Therefore, Huang Puzhong asked the dignitaries to follow Zhou Xingyun and try to keep him in the rear.
It’s easy to say what you have done, but as long as the Zhenbei Cavalry Regiment can repel the foreign enemies, even if the Marshal of the Zhenbei Cavalry has done nothing, he will definitely be credited with the first credit.
So after the banquet, Zhou Xingyun's first words when he returned to the barracks were: "Qiu Miao, doesn't that Huang Puzhong also think that I am a fair-weather prince who comes to eat and drink and take credit for his work?"
"Xingyun, now you have to be a little more conscious. You are the Grand Marshal of Zhenbei Cavalry and the Dinghai Shenzhen of the entire northern border. Even if he doesn't think you are a fair-weather prince, he must give priority to your life safety. After all, the soldiers of Xuanwu Pass, They don't understand our strength." Han Qiumi said bluntly that Huang Puzhong didn't know whether Zhou Xingyun was powerful or not, so it was the safest way to let him command the Sixth Division and do some non-dangerous work.
Furthermore, the Sixth Division was made up of princes, and everyone believed in managing their own people. Each team had strong autonomy, and military discipline was relatively loose, and they would not point fingers at other people's teams.
Therefore, as long as Zhou Xingyun does not lead an attack, he can do whatever he likes, and no one will accuse him of living a lazy life.