Linzhi

Lingzhou, North City Barracks.

This year's summer came very early, and the sun in the morning was so fierce that it was a bit overwhelming.

As soon as He Rong and Xue Tan arrived outside the school grounds, they heard the sound of shouting and shouting from inside, which was the sound of soldiers practicing.

Looking back and seeing King An coming, Lin Miao was about to step forward to salute, but He Rong waved his hand to stop him. He stopped and continued to turn around and command the soldiers to fight.

The two soldiers he named came forward. They were shirtless, muscular, and their wheat-colored skin was dripping with sweat. Compared with the scene of running five laps in the barracks a few months ago, it was difficult. The current Lingzhou government soldiers can be regarded as reborn.

But in He Rong's view, such a change may not be enough to face the Turkic people who grew up on horseback.

But the time left for them is too little.

The two soldiers quickly wrestled together. They were evenly matched, and it was hard to tell the winner. However, they both tried their best and quickly abandoned their tactics and scuffled. .

He Rong nodded secretly, regardless of his strength, this willingness to go all out is worthy of recognition.During this period of time, I don't know how Lin Miao practiced, but he really trained the soldiers' ferocity.

Lin Miao stopped them at the right time, ordered the two soldiers to be taken down to heal their injuries, and asked the generals of each team to lead the soldiers to practice freely, then walked towards He Rong.

He Rong praised: "It's hard for you to achieve such a climate in such a short period of time."

Lin Miao clasped her fists and said, "Your Highness is absurd, I only regret not being able to break out 24 hours a day."

He Rong: "Take one piece and relax, don't stretch it too tightly, these people are just beginning after all."

Lin Miao agreed.

He Rong told him not to follow him anymore, so he and Xue Tan strolled along the path beside the school field under the shade of trees while inspecting the results of the soldiers' drills.

Lin Miao only ran over suddenly when He Rong had a whim, but Xue Tan knew it wasn't.

This morning, they just received a letter from Chang'an.

Emperor Jiayou couldn't resist the prince's repeated requests, and finally agreed to the prince to lead the army to Yunzhou.

When He Rong saw the letter, he was furious, and immediately went up against the case, scolding the prince for misbehaving. Xue Tan had never seen him get so angry.

"With so many people around the prince, is there no one to persuade him?" Xue Tan frowned.

At this moment, He Rong has completely calmed down, and it is completely impossible to see that he just got angry about this matter in the Dudu Mansion.

"A son of a thousand pieces of gold can't sit down. Everyone understands the truth. The crown prince wants to make contributions and secure his position, but there is no one around him to help him, so he can only make such a bad plan, and it is estimated that others will be instigated." He Rong said coldly, " Yunzhou has just been breached, and everyone thinks that it is impossible for the Turkic people to go there again, and they will not be able to grab anything. The prince also thinks so, leading a hundred thousand forbidden troops to take a walk in Yunzhou is considered a military exploit , but also take the opportunity to pinch these [-] forbidden troops in their hands, killing two birds with one stone."

"But..." Xue Tan still felt something was wrong, "What if the Turkic people really go to attack Yunzhou again?"

He Rong smiled: "Then we can only resign ourselves to fate. Maybe His Highness the Crown Prince is very talented, and he can use it freely as the leader of the army for the first time."

It was rare for Xue Tan to see King An being so sneering at a person, let alone His Royal Highness the Crown Prince.

He doesn't think the prince is exceptionally talented. In Xue Tan's view, the prince is the one who resembles Emperor Jiayou the most among the princes. Credulity and suspicion, and the shortcomings of a weak stand are fully exposed.

Xue Tan was still thinking about the prince's question, He Rong's thoughts changed rapidly, and the topic had changed from the prince to himself.

"Fu Nian's mind is too difficult to guess. None of us know what kind of chess he wants to play. Lingzhou may also be the target of the Turks. We can't take it lightly."

Xue Tan nodded: "I understand."

These words were still in my ears, and that afternoon, Fu Nian Khan sent an envoy to ask to see He Rong.

He Rong didn't meet him in person, but asked Xue Tan to come forward.

When the envoy asked if the other party was not King An, he showed dissatisfaction on his face: "Our Khan is sincere, but I didn't expect King An to send out only an insignificant person. Doesn't this mean that Turks are not in his eyes?"

Xue Tan smiled, this Turkic really thinks highly of him.

"I used to be the Secretary of the Ministry of Rites, but now I come here with His Royal Highness King An, and I have been transferred to be a general. It is more than enough for a general to receive the Turkic Khan's envoy. Could it be that you are the son of Khan Funian? If that's the case, I will definitely let my Highness come out to meet you."

The Turkic envoy was speechless. In terms of eloquence, he would naturally not be Xue Tan's opponent.

"Khan said that among the princes of the Central Plains Emperor, he only admired King An's bravery to go to the front line and guard the border. This point has a lot in common with our Khan."

Xue Tan sneered: "You Khan sent you here just to convey this sympathy?"

"Of course not." The Turkic envoy smiled slyly and handed Khan's handwritten letter and seal.

"Our Khan has a younger sister, who is just young. Although she is not as slim and weak as your Central Plains beauties, she is also very heroic. I heard that King An has not married yet. Khan cherishes the hero and is willing to become a relative with King An. My sister betrothed Prince An as a concubine, please convey it on your behalf."

You Khan is also worthy?Even if His Royal Highness Wang An never married a Turkic woman, he would never marry a Turkic woman!

This sentence almost blurted out, Xue Tan's expression was gloomy, he stared at the messenger without saying a word.

The Turkic envoy smiled and said: "Why does General Xue look at me like this? Whether you should or should not, it all depends on your highness. Khan said that if the Central Plains court were replaced by King An sitting in the Dragon Court, the Turks may not be able to unify today. I should thank you, the emperor of the Central Plains, for not making King An the crown prince. However, if King An is willing to marry the Turks, he will have a strong backing from now on. For this relationship, even if King An wants to be the crown prince in the future, your emperor will also You have to think about it, right?"

Xue Tan said angrily: "Our Highness is loyal to His Majesty and the imperial court, please stop sowing discord!"

"Of course! Of course!" The envoy laughed and didn't take it seriously, "If your Highness hadn't been squeezed out by others, how could you have been sealed here in Lingzhou? If you have an ally like Turkic, don't talk about the prince in the future, your important court minister , and even His Majesty the Emperor, don’t dare to offend your Highness easily, right? We, Khan, know heroes with our eyes, and we have come here to propose marriage with sincerity, and I ask you to convey it on your behalf, so that Your Highness think twice.”

He opened the wooden box held by the waiter beside him, and inside was a portrait of a young woman. Turkic did not have any outstanding painters, and the portraits were relatively rough, but she could vaguely see her youthful beauty.

Does Fu Nian really want to get married?

This thought disappeared in a flash, Xue Tan said calmly: "Your Highness is busy these days, I will truthfully convey your words, but His Highness may not be free to see you."

"Are you afraid that we will attack the city and are busy training troops?" the Turkic envoy asked back.

Xue Tan looked at him coldly and remained silent.

The Turkic envoy said with a smile: "General Xue doesn't have to be so vigilant, don't worry, no matter what happens to our Khan, it is impossible for us to attack our sister-in-law and make my sister a widow before she even gets married, right?"

The intention of the other party's visit was really strange, Xue Tan really couldn't believe that the other party came to ask for marriage, not only did he not believe it, but He Rong also did not believe it, but the court had no contact with the Eastern Turks before, and he knew this Fu Nian Khan even more. However, I don't know why, and I know very little, and I can't even figure out the opponent's intentions, let alone counterattack.

The Turkic envoy was settled temporarily, and Xue Tan turned around and conveyed the other party's intention, together with the portrait, to He Rong.

The two thought it over, and they both suspected that the Turkic people wanted to sow suspicions and sow discord between He Rong and the imperial court.

Talking about conspiracies and tricks, the Central Plains people have a long history of learning, but the Turkic people who have always liked to use real swords and guns to speak with force, also played this trick of sowing discord, which really made He Rong and the others feel a little uncomfortable.

"Your Highness, do you want to report this matter to the court? I reckon that Fu Nian might send someone to tell His Majesty that when the time comes, His Majesty sees that you don't respond. If someone incites you, maybe they will think you don't want to Have a different heart."

"Is this the purpose of the Turkic people? To provoke my relationship with His Majesty? Or try to transfer me out of Lingzhou?" He Rong frowned and thought, always feeling that the answer was not that simple. "I will submit a letter to explain the reasons to His Majesty, so as not to misunderstand His Majesty."

……

Just as He Rong and the others were figuring out the intention of the Turkic envoy, the crown prince led one hundred thousand imperial troops and arrived in Yunzhou mightily.

This city, which had just been plundered by the Turks, was full of ruins, withered crops and empty rooms. If the people who came and went were in a hurry and full of vigilance, they looked sad and insensitive.All in all, there is desolation and corruption inside and out.

"Your Highness, the current plan is to repair the city wall as soon as possible and step up military training to prevent the Turks from attacking."

The person who spoke was Gao Zheng, who used to be with Qin Guogong Pei Wuyang. Although he was not as famous as Chen Wei and Zhang Tao, he was still a veteran with rich experience in the battlefield.

This time he came here with the prince to serve as the deputy commander, and he was also the candidate that the prince asked Emperor Jiayou to come here. It can be seen that the prince is not blindly arrogant, and he also understands that he is not familiar with military affairs and needs an old general to guide him.

Hearing what Gao Zheng said, the crown prince nodded and said: "What General Gao said is true, just do as you please, you just have to let go and do it, I will take care of everything."

Gao Zhengyuan was also worried that the prince would pretend to understand if he didn't understand, and he would make a mess everywhere. Hearing these words, he was just a little relieved.

"Thank you, Your Highness, I will do my best to defend Yunzhou!" The old general, who had passed his age, was still valiant and vigorous, and his blood was not diminished.

Standing on the tower, half of Yunzhou can be seen in full view. The houses are dilapidated and the land is desolate. On the way, the prince also thought of many countermeasures, such as conscription, such as hoarding food, but everything was ambitious. When he saw Yunzhou The real scene of the time all came to naught.

Where can there be soldiers here?Where can I stock up on food?

He held back his breath and didn't want people to underestimate him. Deep down, he felt that he might not lose to the other brothers, but he had no chance to show it. But now, this kind of thinking gradually settled down, and what came up was a loss of uncertainty about the future. .

It's not without regret, it's just that I can't say it.