Hanhou

Bianjun found traces of the Huns, even if it was only a corpse, it must not be ignored.When the news was reported to Yunzhong City, Wei Taishou personally ordered Wei Yue to lead the search, so as not to let go of any clues.

The frontier army carried out a carpet search. Within a radius of five miles, the knee-deep snow was turned over, and more than 40 corpses were found one after another.Most have been bitten by wild animals and become mutilated.

The movement was so loud that all the small animals in the snow were alarmed. More than a dozen hares and wild mice flew out, attracting wild wolves and foxes wandering nearby. Several frontier soldiers walked too scattered and were almost attacked by wolves Swarm attack.

"Young master, that's all."

After all the snow had been turned over, it was certain that there would be no more discoveries. Wei Wu led his men to pile up the corpses, asked Wei Yue for instructions, and recalled the troops who had gone away.

"According to the leather robes on his body, they should all be Huns." Wei Wu said.The corpse was too broken, except for the leather robe, there was nothing that could prove its identity, let alone the weapons that were carried with it.

"This department or another department?" Wei Yuece immediately stepped forward, scanning the corpses piled up on the ground, and asked in a deep voice.

"More than [-]% are from the headquarters." Wei Wu didn't hesitate, grabbed a leather robe covered with stains, turned it over, and grabbed a broken belt, and said to Wei Yue, "The one who did it was also a Hun."

Some soldiers found broken arrowheads on the corpses, probably because they were pierced too deep and could not be pulled out, and they were still stuck in the bone seam.The arrows are made of animal bones, not to mention the Han army, even the frontier residents can't use them, only the neighbors in the north can equip them.

"The one who died was the Huns, and the one who made the move was also the Huns?" Wei Yue frowned slightly, got off the horse, picked up the leather robe on the ground with the scabbard, and looked at the arrow handed by the army.

Wei Wu and others also felt strange.

Since the beginning of winter, Yunzhong County has dispatched multiple groups of cavalry to drive out all the nearby Hu tribes.Logically, there should be no traces of the Huns in the county.Even if there is, it should be another department, not the headquarters.

Could it be left behind?

The snow falls early in Bian County, and the weather is freezing, so it is not uncommon for the corpse to not rot for two or three months.If this is the case, then... a thought flashed through everyone's mind at the same time, and they were all stunned.

The only Huns who have been to the border area recently are Lanji and his party who have returned from the north!

Wei Yue obviously also realized that something was wrong, and there might be something wrong within the Xiongnu Mission.If everyone died in Yunzhong County, the problem would be solved easily.But judging by the number of corpses, this possibility is extremely slim.

When the murderer returns to the grassland, he will inevitably blame the Han army.If he hadn't returned to the grassland, he would just hide in the border county, which would also be a big disaster.To make matters worse, without confirming the identity of the body, it is impossible to determine whether Lan Ji also died here.If it is, things get more troublesome.

"Transport the corpse into the city and hand it over to the envoy for inspection. Send people to gather in nearby villages to ask if anyone has noticed anything unusual. Tell the chiefs of the tour pavilions to strengthen their vigilance and strengthen patrols day and night."

Wei Yue made a decisive decision and quickly issued an order.Wei Wu and others took the order with their fists clasped, and galloped out one after another.

After galloping out, Wei Yue called Qing Zhuang who was leading the way.

"After you go back, tell Mr. Zhao what happened here. He said that the person who died was probably an envoy of the Huns. Ask him to strengthen his guard and bring enough people when he goes out. Don't go too far away from the livestock farm."

"promise!"

Qing Zhuang turned his horse's head and left, and soon disappeared into the white snow.

The north wind rolled over, bringing up large pieces of snow.The black horse neighed and exhaled white gas from its mouth and nose.Wei Yue leaned over and patted the horse's neck, looked up at Beidi with cold eyes.He is looking forward to a battle with the Huns, but the time and place of the war must be determined by the Han family!

In Zhao's livestock farm, Zhao Jia is helping Mrs. Sun tie sheepskins.Hearing Qing Zhuang's report, he immediately tied up the hemp rope, called Wei Qing who was handing the tools, and told him to go find Uncle Xiong.

"If Uncle Xiong is not at the livestock farm, go find Ji Xiong and let him find it. Remember not to step out of the fence."

After Wei Qing left, Zhao Jia summoned two young men and asked them to go to the village together.

"Let Hu Bo and Ji Bao come to the livestock farm, be careful on the way."

After the matter was properly arranged, Zhao Jia put the bundled sheepskins together, wiped his hands with a cloth towel, and turned to leave the warehouse.

As soon as he walked out of the wooden door, he saw a fast horse galloping through the snow.It turned out that Wei Qing hadn't traveled very far when he met Uncle Xiong who was returning from inspection.Knowing that Zhao Jia was looking for him, Uncle Xiong gave orders and rushed towards the warehouse.

"Your Majesty calling for your servant?" Xiong Bo grabbed the reins and got off his horse.

"Yes, go to the wooden house first, and discuss together after Hu Bo comes."

Zhao Jia walked forward while talking, bent down and picked up Wei Qing halfway.The child turned around to express his discomfort, Zhao Jiaquan pretended not to see it, and continued to hold the future general as a hand stove.

There is a hearth in the wooden house, and there is a clay pot on the stove, and hot soup is rolling in it.

Animal skins were spread around the hearth, Zhao Jia dusted off the snow at the door, walked into the room, and sat directly on the animal skins.

Uncle Xiong sat down to Zhao Jia's head, scooped up a bowl of hot soup, and drank it down.Seeing that the fire in the furnace was not strong, Wei Qing brought split wooden sticks from the corner and stuffed them into the fire one by one.

"Lang Jun, is there any news in the city?" Uncle Xiong put down the wooden bowl and asked.

"No, it's about the Huns discovered earlier." Zhao Jia said.

"Huns?"

"Third Young Master asked Ji Xiong to take the lead. The dead may be the envoys of the Huns. The matter is a bit complicated, and it is difficult to guarantee the reaction of the Huns. The livestock farms and villages must strengthen their defenses. It should be sooner rather than later."

Uncle Xiong nodded, and was about to ask another question when the door of the wooden house was opened, and Uncle Xiong walked in from the door covered in snow.Probably because he was in a hurry, even with a fur hat to cover his face, his face was still flushed by the cold wind, his eyebrows were covered with frost, and his mouth was constantly exhaling white air.

Ji Bao followed behind Hu Bo, not looking much better.It's just that the young man was full of firepower. When he entered the room, he was blown by the warm wind. When he took off his fur cap, a layer of oily sweat emerged from his hair.

They greeted Zhao Jia and sat down around the stove.

Hu Bo drank the hot soup, put down the wooden bowl, asked Zhao Jia if he was in a hurry, and then called him and Ji Bao.

"Indeed." Zhao Jia nodded, recounted the discovery of the corpse of the Huns in detail, and mentioned that Wei Yue asked Ji Xiong to pass on the message, and finally expressed his worries.

"Will the Xiongnu send troops south?" Uncle Xiong and Uncle Hu frowned.

The prefect of Yunzhong was so famous that the Xiongnu headquarters had to make a detour.

Last year, when the other tribes of the Huns and the barbarians attacked the border counties, it was mainly because of the main tribe of the Xiongnu that they were forced to die in order to reduce the population.Switching to the headquarters of the Huns, they may not come to Wei Taishou regardless of their desperation.

"Things are unpredictable, so we can't take chances." Zhao Jia shook his head.

There are signs of chaos in the grassland, after all, there is no real chaos.

The cohesion of the Xiongnu is not as good as in the early years, and the fighting power is still there.Especially the cavalry subordinate to the headquarters, all of them are brave and good at fighting, and they should not be underestimated.According to historical records, just a few years later, Emperor Jing was dying of illness, and the cavalry from the Xiongnu headquarters even attacked the hinterland of the Han Dynasty and burned Ganquan Palace.

Although history has changed, Wei Shang has not died, and he still sits on the frontier, blocking the path of his evil neighbors going south from the cloud. The frontier army has also been equipped with saddles and stirrups in advance, and its combat effectiveness has been greatly improved, but everything cannot be viewed from an optimistic perspective.

After Zhao Jia explained, Uncle Xiong and Uncle Hu fell silent.

They all went to the battlefield and fought the Xiongnu with swords and guns. They knew that Zhao Jia's worries were not groundless.If the Huns do not hesitate to lose and are determined to confront Wei Taishou head-on, it is always right to take precautions in advance.

"Be prepared for everything." Zhao Jia said, "Leave the livestock farm to Uncle Xiong. Temporarily reduce the scope of inspection, and lay traps outside the fence."

When it comes to the Huns, one cannot be too cautious.

Even if the Huns don't come, the trap can still guard against wild animals, which is not a waste of effort.

"Leave the village to Uncle Hu, and contact He Lao as soon as possible to strengthen the defense. Qing Zhuang is too busy, so call the whole village to fight together, no matter what happens, there will be no mistakes."

If there is a huge disparity in strength, it is really unstoppable, Zhao Jia has nothing to say.But the facts have proved that the Huns also have two shoulders and one head. As long as they are well prepared, they will not come.

Of course, things may also develop in another direction. The Huns themselves fought first, causing a mess and having no time to look south.

If such a result occurs, it will definitely be a good thing for the Han Dynasty.

However, as he said before, things cannot all be viewed from an optimistic perspective, but only from the worst perspective, in order to truly prevent problems before they happen.

"Uncle Xiong, ask someone to open the warehouse, take out the stored wood, and prepare more throwing spears and wooden arrows." Zhao Jia changed the subject, "I asked the third son to help me, and I got some herbs and snake venom, and smeared them on the arrows. Those hit by the arrow will be poisoned after a few breaths."

"Your Majesty, don't worry, there is enough wood in the warehouse. If there is not enough wood, there are damaged boards that have been dismantled, and they can be reused." Xiong Bo laughed.

Zhao Jia nodded, turned his gaze to Uncle Hu, and said: "I will stay in the livestock farm for a while, and I will ask Uncle Hu to take care of it in the village. Inform Elder He, strengthen our defenses as much as possible, and build another watchtower as soon as possible."

"Don't worry, sir." Uncle Hu nodded.

"Ji Bao," Zhao Jia turned to the healthy servant who had been silent all this time, "You will take someone to Wei's village later, and tell my sister about the matter. I will just follow my sister's instructions on how to arrange it afterwards."

"promise!"

Ji Bao clasped his fists to accept the orders, seeing that Zhao Jia had no other orders, he immediately got up and left the wooden house, pointed out three young men, rode out of the livestock farm, and rushed to Wei's village.

"Your Majesty, do you want to stay in the livestock farm?" Hu Bo asked.

"Yes." Zhao Jia nodded, his gaze firm.

A year ago, when the Xiongnu went south, he would choose to take people away and stick to the village.Now that the situation has changed, not to mention the large number of cattle, sheep and camels in the livestock farm, it may not be able to hold them in the earthen wall. With his ambition, he is bound to confront the Xiongnu.

"Quickly strengthen the fence, dig deep traps, and prepare more spears and arrows. I will go to the city tomorrow and ask Wei Shijun to see if I can make a batch of poisonous smoke pipes in the livestock farm." After Zhao Jia counted each item, Xiong Bo and Together, Huber checks for deficiencies and makes up for omissions, continuously improving the defense factor of the livestock farm.

"When I was born in Border County, I always had to fight with the Xiongnu." Zhao Jia broke a wooden stick and threw it into the hearth. The elders of the earth get rid of this disaster!"

The flames rose instantly, and the young man's dark eyes were red.

"Please help me, elder."

Uncle Xiong and Uncle Hu stood up, just as they followed Zhao Gongcao back then, saluted and clasped their fists to promise.

"The servants will follow your lord as long as they are alive. If you break this oath, heaven and earth will not tolerate it!"

The two old servants left the wooden house one after another and went down to make arrangements.

Zhao Jia picked up the tongs, moved the sticks of wood that had turned into charcoal, looked at Wei Qing with a smile, and said, "The Huns are coming, is Ah Qing afraid?"

"Don't be afraid." Wei Qing straightened his back, with a determined expression, he didn't look like a five or six-year-old child at all, "I can open a bow, shoot an eagle, and kill the Huns!"

"Okay, have ambition." Zhao Jia smiled and rubbed Wei Qing's head, "Go and tell Ashin and the others to practice calligraphy with me every afternoon, and the time for riding and archery will be increased by half an hour. Let Uncle Xiong open the corral for you Pick some strong horses with Ah Zhi."

"Thank you sir!"

"Go."

"promise!"

Wei Qing's face was full of excitement, and he finally looked like a child.

Watching him leave the wooden house, Zhao Jia shook his head and laughed, picked up the tongs again, stirred the charcoal twice, his eyes fell on the jumping flames, and fell into deep thought for a long time.

The snow is getting bigger and bigger, and the wind is getting colder and colder.

Feather-like snowflakes fell, forming a white snow curtain. The distance was less than ten meters, and the figure on the opposite side could not be seen clearly.

A snow disaster is unavoidable, so it is the case in Border County, and so is the grassland.

In Shan Yu's big tent, the leaders of various ministries sat around, with different expressions.The military official Shan Yu stood on his head, staring at Pi Xiaowang who was lying on the ground, his face sinking like water.

Hearing the news of Lan Ji's death, King You Xian clamored on the spot to lead his troops south; King Zuo Xian didn't say anything, but his expression was full of gloating.

Pi Xiaowang suffered arrow wounds on his arms and legs, and was stabbed in the back, which has not yet healed.Except for him, all the Xiongnu nobles who accompanied him died, but many of the other entourages returned.

According to what he said, the Han people had no intention of resuming the kinship, and just kept procrastinating and procrastinating.Lan Ji saw through the plot of the Han people and decided to return north, not wanting to be intercepted and killed by the Han people.

"There are other departments colluding with the Han people and stalking them in the back!" Pi Xiaowang gritted his teeth.

It is true that other ministries sneered, and collusion with the Han people is pure nonsense.

Pi Xiaowang and several Xiongnu officials conspired to assassinate Lanji, but they didn't want the mantis to catch the cicada and the oriole to follow him.Pi Xiaowang was quick to wit, and yelled that all the nobles in the department died, and they would not be able to explain when they returned to the grassland, and there was no way out.If he is spared his life, he is willing to help cover up in front of Shan Yu, and put all the blame on the Han people.

Pi Xiaowang spoke with certainty, and even swore on the spot, so he managed to keep his head.Unexpectedly, as soon as he saw the military minister Shan Yu, he immediately turned back and bit the other part out.

"You said that other ministries colluded with the Han people, so why did everyone else die but you were spared?" Bank of China said suddenly.

"I, I pretended to convince them that I would help Shan Yu cover it up in front of Shan Yu." Pi Xiaowang's palms were sweating.

The Bank of China said that they were about to ask again, when there was a sudden commotion outside the tent, and then, Shanyu's guards came in to report that several entourages from other troops who had returned from the south killed the Hun warriors guarding them, snatched the horses and rushed out of the camp.

"Chan Yu, they are colluding with the Han Dynasty!" Pi Xiaowang said loudly.

The military minister Shan Yu was furious and ordered on the spot that King You Xian and King Zuo Xian each sent troops to slaughter these other tribes who dared to rebel against the royal court.

As everyone knows, when the cavalry of the headquarters arrived, the camps of other departments were already empty.

Pi Xiaowang harbored ulterior motives and thought of turning back after the fact, as did other officials.They argued fiercely on the surface, but they already had plans behind their backs. They secretly sent people to contact the tribe to take advantage of Xiao Wang's delay, and moved south collectively before the headquarters noticed.

"The Huns treat us as slaves, and if we continue to stay on the grasslands, we will definitely not be able to survive. It is better to surrender to the Han Dynasty!"

The three other tribes met with the leader at the appointed place. The warriors, the old man and the woman all took up their bows and arrows, mounted their horses, and marched against the wind and snow to the border counties of the Han Dynasty while guarding against the pursuit of the Xiongnu headquarters.

When the news spread to Wang Ting, Xiao Wang's words were confirmed.

Bank of China said that every time he mentioned the loopholes in Pi Xiaowang's words and said that something was wrong, he would be interrupted by King Youxian and King Zuoxian.Even the military minister Shan Yu ignored his doubts and decided to mobilize troops and horses, and when the snow melted in February, he immediately went south to conquer.

"The Han people don't want to marry, so we'll go grab it!" The military official Shanyu put one hand on his leg, and slammed his fist on the ground with the other hand, "Let out the cavalry from the headquarters, take the waste from other departments, and tell the warriors that we are going to grab the cattle. Sheep, grab food, grab silk, grab women! No matter how much you grab, you can keep it in your tent!"

Speaking of this, the military minister Shan Yu deliberately paused, glanced at the leaders of the various departments in the tent, and said with a ferocious smile: "I want to slaughter the Han people on the border, until the emperor of the Han family bows his head, obediently send the princess, food, ironware and craftsmen! "

The military minister Shan Yu knew that something was wrong, so it might not be what Bi Xiaowang said.But he can also use it to consolidate his authority and deter the Han Dynasty at the same time.

He even felt that Lan Ji's death was at the right time.

As usual, he may not be able to easily mobilize the cavalry of the headquarters, especially the army in the hands of the four corners of the royal court.

"Heaven established the Great Chanyu, you have the bravery and wisdom endowed by heaven!" Zuo Xianwang Yudan spoke first, and the leaders of all ministries echoed.

King Youxian lost his confidant, was in a rage, and had a high fighting spirit. In addition, the conditions offered by the military minister Shanyu were very attractive, so he had no objection to this decision.King Yougu Li coveted ironware, cattle and sheep, and people, and he also supported Shan Yu's decision.

Zuoguli King Yizhi looked sideways at Shan Yu, the military official who was at the head with high prestige, and the next moment his expression was slightly concentrated, he clenched his fist with one hand and beat his chest, shouting together with everyone.