Huan Rong

Fire flows in July, and clothes are granted in September.

In the land of Huainan, the climate changes extremely rapidly in late summer and early autumn.

August is still sweltering, and there is no rain for the whole month, as if the air is burning. Standing in the sun at noon can almost steam a person.

September just arrived, a gust of wind passed through the country, and it rained three times in a row. The weather became colder every day, and the early frost fell, so it was necessary to add two layers of unlined clothing under the outer robe.

After experiencing a fire, most of Shouchun City was destroyed, the city wall was scorched black, and there were broken tiles and broken wood everywhere.Among the four cities, the remaining buildings are only the framework, which is really uninhabitable and needs to be demolished and rebuilt.

After the thick smoke dissipated, the state soldiers entered the city to check, and after confirming that there was no danger, they let the people enter the city.

Seeing the tragic scene in the city, shouting and crying quickly joined together.Those who scolded were mostly Yuan Jin and the servants, and those who cried were the houses and furniture destroyed in the fire.

"Winter is coming, the city is like this, how can I survive!"

An old man bent his waist and gently pushed the scorched wooden post, and the sound of rattling came to his ears.In the blink of an eye, the thicker thighs turned into black ash, with only a few broken pieces of wood remaining in the ash.

"Oh my god!"

Several women rushed to Beicheng and saw their former homes burnt into ruins, with almost no tiles left.The men were also squatting on the ground, holding their heads in their hands, and couldn't help sighing.

Really can't get over it.I can only drag my family and take refuge with relatives. Although I have to suffer some stares, there is always a way to survive.

The thorn made the chariot drive into the city gate, but was blocked by gravel and charred wood.

The servant turned around to report, the door of the car was pushed open immediately, Huan Rong jumped off the shaft first, and then hugged Yuan Feng who had changed into new clothes.

Hand in hand, the two walked into the city on foot.

Seeing the ruins everywhere, Huan Rong couldn't help sighing.Yuan Feng's small face was tense, and there was a moment of stiffness.

Hearing the people's scolding, the former just frowned, while the latter bit his lip, his little hands kept on squeezing Huan Rong's fingers tightly, it seemed that if he didn't use his strength, he would be thrown away the next moment.

Warm palms covered Yuan Feng's hair and pressed gently.

Huan Rong didn't say anything, neither explained nor comforted, bent down and picked up the child, letting him hug his shoulders and neck, hiding his pale face.

"Don't be afraid." Huan Rong finally couldn't bear it and said in a low voice.

"I didn't." The child's voice was muffled, trembling slightly.

Huan Rong wanted to sigh again.

No wonder the ancients said that the extreme of wisdom will be hurt, and it is even more burdensome to understand the ways of the world too early.He has lived two lives, but the four-headed body in his arms is actually five years old.

"Master, let the servant come." Wei Qi took half a step forward and said in a low voice.

"No problem." Huan Rong patted the child's back, felt the tightened arms, and shook his head at Wei Qi.

Yuan's trilogy followed the team and remained silent.Seeing this scene, his expression finally changed.

I didn't understand before why Lang mainly abandoned his old friend and insisted on entrusting Xiao Langjun to Huan Rong.Looking at it now, this is indeed a better choice than Jinshi and Xishi.

Whether it is sincerity or gaining fame, judging by his character and behavior, he will not just use Xiao Langjun as a pedal. Once he controls the power left by the Yuan family, he will kick Xiao Langjun away, or even kill him.

With private soldiers on the side, the people in the city were worried, but they didn't dare to get too close.

Huan Rong had no intention of delaying this trip due to important matters.

Therefore, everyone saw Huan Cishi with a solemn expression, posing with his feet, and striding forward all the way.

If he didn't hold a child in his arms, maybe he could call him "high cold".Now, instead of feeling that the assassin is unattainable, everyone has a bit of a human touch, and is more amiable than the gentry officials they have seen before.

Not to mention Huan Rong's age and Yuan Feng's origin, how many gentlemen are there who can "walk" with their children?

A slap counts.

"Ah Bo can lead the way." Yuan Feng hugged Huan Rong's neck and said in a low voice.

Huan Rong nodded, looked back, and immediately an unremarkable health servant stepped forward.

Jian Pu is tall and tall, with a straight back and a straight back. He looks like a [-]-year-old man, but he has white hair.

"Abo was like this when he was young." Slightly loosening his arm, Yuan Feng glanced sideways at the healthy servant, quickly withdrew his gaze, and said to Huan Rong, "My father said that Abo has no surname, and his great-grandfather was a barbarian. He was rescued by his ancestors. Abo's family became slaves to the Yuan family in order to repay their kindness."

"So, he is not a servant but a slave?"

Yuan Feng nodded.

As far as the present is concerned, the status and status of slaves and servants are very different.

Servants have certain personal freedom and can be released as civilians. After two generations, they will marry Liang.

Not so with slaves.

Whether voluntarily or compulsively, one day is a slave, and all generations will be slaves.Even if the head of the family mercifully releases him to be a citizen, he is still a "untouchable". He is not allowed to marry Liang, and he is not allowed to engage in prescribed occupations, otherwise he will be imprisoned or even exiled.

Huan Rong had five hundred land slaves, most of whom were sent by Princess Nankang and Mrs. Li.There are also sinners and refugees who voluntarily voted during their tenure in Yandu.

He didn't pay attention to these before, so he accepted them when they came.After knowing the difference between servants and servants, it is not easy to change them without authorization.

Once the world is like this, with the power of one person, it is impossible to shake the rules passed down for thousands of years;

Secondly, compared to the days of being displaced and precarious, being a farm slave can at least save the lives of the family and eat a full meal every day.In addition, Huan Rong is not a harsh person, and the appointed head of the village has a measure of behavior, which is not harsh. Being a farm slave under him is even better than ordinary powerful tenants.

The most important point is that in the Tang Dynasty, "slave" still existed, which proved that there was soil for its continuation.

Change is always a process and cannot be achieved overnight.The result of swaying without authorization is likely to outweigh the gains, or even do bad things with good intentions.

After figuring it out, Huan Rong quickly let go of it and stopped looking for trouble.

Walking all the way in the city, Huan Rong's thoughts began to drift away again. It was not until Abo stopped and signaled that the place was here that he slowly came back to his senses. Looking at the strange ruins, he couldn't help feeling a little bit sad.

"Brother, there is a secret passage down here." Yuan Feng said in a low voice, "Father asked someone to dig it up, and once asked Ah Bo to show me."

Huan Rong nodded, and ordered the state soldiers to disperse their defenses and make way for the private soldiers and healthy servants to attack together.

The tool is carried with you, and digging is not troublesome.On the contrary, it took a lot of effort to clean up the broken tiles and charred wood, and the remaining beams crashed down halfway, splashing dust all over the place, which almost caused an accident.

"This place is dangerous, please make you stand back."

The private soldiers worked together to lift away the beams and gravel, coughing repeatedly in the smoke.

Huan Rong covered his mouth and nose with his sleeve, took three steps back with Yuan Feng in his arms, and patted the child's hand again.

"There is a lot of dust, be careful to choke."

Yuan Feng nodded, covering his mouth with his small hand.I don't know what I thought of, but I suddenly smiled, my big eyes were bent, my eyelashes fluttered, and the fluffy ones became more and more lovable.

Huan Rong was surprised.

"what are you laughing at?"

Yuan Feng continued to laugh, shook his head, but didn't say anything.

The assassin Huan was silent for two seconds, and sighed silently.

Well, he doesn't understand the child's world.

However, being able to make the child let go of his guard so quickly is no small success.

Thinking about it carefully, when we first met, this kid was a little afraid of him, and he was cautious when speaking.Now that he was able to make jokes, he was obviously much closer.

From this point of view, he is also very charming.

Not to mention Huan's free thoughts, self-satisfaction, health servants and private soldiers cleaned up the soil layer, continued to dig, and soon found the entrance to the secret passage.

The entrance was pressed against the stone door, which was covered with a layer of melted and solidified metal, and the gaps were blocked.Without cleaning the metal, the stone door will never be opened.

It would be a bit far-fetched to say it was done on purpose.

After all, it was Yuan Zhen who dug the secret path, so he would not make such a mistake.The only explanation is that there was a lock in front of the door at that time, and all the chains were melted in the fire in the city.

Thinking of this, Huan Rong couldn't help frowning.

With such a high temperature, let’s forget about the hidden gold underneath, how can the silk cloth still be intact?

"My lord, it will take half a day to break through this place." The private soldier who had studied Shimen carefully said.

"Can't knock on the door?" Huan Rong asked.

"More time-consuming than digging gold."

"Okay." Huan Rong supported Yuan Feng upwards, his arms were a little numb, "Leave 20 people here, and send [-] state soldiers later, move as fast as possible."

"promise!"

The secret road cannot be opened for the time being, Huan Rong didn't want to waste time in the city, so he carried Yuan Feng back to the city gate, boarded the car, and returned to the barracks.

At this time, most of the villagers have returned home, and the rest are preparing to leave.

The captured Diren and Yuan's old tribe were detained separately and interrogated one by one.All the generals who joined the army who were blamed have already obtained confessions, and as soon as the official document from Jiankang arrives, they will be questioned and executed in front of the people all over the city.

These people are not innocent.

Following Yuan Zhenshi, he restrained himself, and when Yuan Jin was in a position of superiority, he often took the opportunity to make money and do evil things.It is reported that the idea of ​​using the villagers as shields came from a few people, and it is also inseparable from them to take refuge in the Di people.

After finding out the situation and removing their heads, Huan Rong felt no pressure.

The car drove into the camp, and happened to meet a goshawk flying back, bringing Qin Jing's handwritten letter.

The content of the letter is very long, covering almost all major events in July and August.

Since Qin's Wubao captured Yecheng, Murong Xianbei's situation is gone, Yan Kingdom has become history, and the chaos in the North has become even worse.

The territory captured by Qin's Wubao is still stable, but the prefectures and counties still controlled by Murong Xianbei are in chaos.

The Xianbei royal family headed by Murong She, Murong Wenwen and Murong Yuan occupied several counties and raised the banner of restoring the country, intending to join forces to take back Yecheng.

The idea is good, and the momentum is big enough, but the king of the country is missing, the dragons have no leader, and no one can unite the forces and command the entire army.

Murong Ping returned to his ancestral land and was arguing with Rouran; Murong Chui occupied Goguryeo and was about to send troops to Baekje.Murong She's family is indistinguishable, they all want to ascend to the top, but they still can't convince each other.In the end, the plan to join forces ended in anticlimactic conditions, and instead they were chased and beaten by Qin's servants and miscellaneous Hus.

The Badi people, who had planned for a long time, took the opportunity to stand on their own. The leader called himself the Yang family of Longyou, and named his country Qiuchi.

This blow stabbed a hornet's nest and set up a huge target, attracting firepower from Murong Xianbei and Zahu.

Murong Xianbei's offensive was the fiercest.

Can't beat Qin's servants, and can't deal with a few Badi tribes?

Seeing that the situation was not good, the Qiang and Jie people immediately drew a clear line with Badi and cut off their robes.He even turned his gun and relied on his familiarity with the "allies" to attack the camp several times at night, burning, killing, looting, and forming a death feud.

There were endless wars in the counties, and Qin Jing did not stay in Yecheng for long, but returned to Pengcheng with his troops to guard against Xianbei rebels going south to plunder.

When sending this letter, Pengcheng successively intercepted three groups of Xianbei soldiers, plus one group of miscellaneous beards.

The strange thing is that Zahu kept saying that he wanted Nantou instead of looting, and the leader even took out the contract documents of the Yandu caravan to show his identity as "passing the Ming Road".

"Qiang people?"

Putting down the silk cloth, Huan Rong frowned, this leader seemed a little familiar, as if he had heard Shi Shao mention it.

Goshawk picked up the fresh meat mouthful after mouthful, twice as fast as usual.From time to time, I looked up and looked outside the tent, as if I was wary of a bird coming to snatch it.

Yuan Feng sat aside, with a volume of The Book of Songs spread out in front of him, and he was memorizing every single word.

At this time, there is no "Thousand Characters", let alone "Hundred Surnames".If children want to recognize characters, they all start from the classics in high schools.

After a while, Xun You took the newly recorded statement into the account, and seeing the situation in front of him, he couldn't help being taken aback.

"Ming Gong?"

"Ah?" Huan Rong raised his head, and found that he was distracted with his chin propped up, and his posture was very indecent, so he hurriedly sat upright.

Ignoring the red mark on his chin, the scene just now seemed to be Xun You's hallucination.

"The assassin has already confessed, saying that it was a temporary idea and was not instructed by others."

Putting down the confession, Xun You sat across from Huan Rong, and said solemnly: "My servant thinks what he said is not true."

“How come you see?”

"Yuan's..." After the words came out, Xun You subconsciously stopped and glanced at the silent Yuan Feng.The latter raised his head, following his gaze, his expression was indifferent, not at all as soft and cute as when he was alone with Huan Rong.

"Brother, I'm a little tired and want to take a nap."

"Okay." Huan Rong nodded.

Yuan Feng rolled up the bamboo slips, wrapped them in cloth and held them in his arms.Instead of staying in the commander's tent, he returned to another military tent with the nanny.

When the curtain was lowered, Huan Rong turned to Xun You, sighed, "Zhong Ren is too careful."

"Ming Gong, this child is intelligent in nature, resolute and resolute in temperament, so he should not be regarded as an ordinary child." Xun You said seriously.

"In order to protect his life, Mr. Yuan left behind a bag of tokens and paid all the Yuan's treasury and servants, which shows that he is extraordinary. Minggong must not be too soft-hearted, and needs to make plans early."

"I see."

Huan Rong sighed and didn't want to talk more.But the other party did have good intentions, and he couldn't bite Lu Dongbin like a dog... What kind of metaphor is this?He must have not slept well last night, and his head was confused.

However, in order to avoid the other party's chilling, at least it must be explained clearly.

"Comparing my heart to my heart, I treat him with sincerity, and I can always get back one or two points." Huan Rong raised his right hand, stopped Xun You's words, and said solemnly, "Besides, I really can't do it to a five-year-old child. .”

Seeing Xun You frown the word Sichuan, with disapproval on his face, Huan Rong smiled wryly and said, "If I knew it, I would have listened to Zhong Ren's suggestion, and I have not seen this side."

Seeing now, no matter what, he will save the child's life.

Whether you are a minister or a king, this is the bottom line of being a human being.

"Duke Ming is kind." Xun You shook his head helplessly.Thinking of the letter Jia Bing sent back, his expression changed again.

Knowing that Huan Rong adopted Yuan Feng, Jia Bing somewhat agreed.However, the reason was not stated in the letter, it was only said that he would return to Xuyi in the future, and he would talk about it face to face.

After a moment of silence, the two put aside the matter and turned their attention to the assassin's statement.

"The assassin said that he was not ordered, and he did not change his words even if he killed him. However, Yuan Jin joined the army under his tent and once traveled to the north, met Fu Jian Wang Meng, and said that Wang Meng asked Ming Gong several times during his words, and he was quite afraid."

"Wang Meng?" Huan Rong was stunned.

How could this lice-catcher notice him?

"Duke Ming, don't underestimate yourself."

Seeing what Huan Rong meant, Xun You said solemnly: "Duke Ming became an official in the year of Wuxiang, and he was in charge of the government of a county. In just one year, except for the strong and powerful, he took control of the salt pavilion. The tax revenue was abundant and his achievements were outstanding. Last year, he followed the army. During the Northern Expedition, he solved the emergency of the army's rations, captured Xianbei Zhongshan King alive, and made great military exploits."

"Today is the county magistrate of Youzhou. He has eliminated the hidden dangers of Shouchun, and he has three thousand soldiers in the county. He can be called a prince."

Huan Rong blushed, his ears and neck were red.

When someone praises you so much in person, does your heart beat faster, does it feel like you're blissful?

"Nowadays, no one in the north or south knows that Duke Ming is talented and beautiful, and he is a hero among men. With Fu Jian's fierce ambition, it is inevitable to be afraid of Duke Ming."

Huan Rong finally stopped drifting.

To be honest, it is not a good thing to be missed by these two people.

"So, Zhong Ren suspects that this assassination has something to do with Wang Meng?"

"It's not doubt, but affirmation." Xun You said in a deep voice.

"Youzhou is the land of the Four Wars. Shouchun can advance to the north and retreat to the south to defend. The location is extremely important. Qin's servants can borrow from Shouchun. Wang Meng has a strategy and is a great talent in the world. How can you not see this?"

Huan Rong's heart sank slightly, he turned around and fetched a map, checked the border of Youzhou, his scalp felt numb.

The three states of Jing, Yu, and Xu on the opposite side now belong to Qin's Wubao. With the relationship between the two parties, they can maintain "friendship" in a short time.But this place is not far from the territory of the Di people. As long as Nanyang is opened up, the army of the Di people can drive straight in and catch the Eastern Jin Dynasty by surprise.

The key is whether Qin's Wubao will "give way".

Based on Qin's attitude towards the Hu people, this possibility is very small.

However, considering Wubao's current strength, it is really unknown whether Wubao can hold back tens of thousands of troops once King Fu Jian is ready to risk his life.

The more Huan Rong thought about it, the more frightened he became, unknowingly, a cold sweat broke out.

"Duke Ming doesn't need to worry too much." Xun You changed the subject, "The Di people are attacking Liang this year, and the army is heading west. They are entangled with the old tribe of Liang and the Western Regions. If they are not careful, they will attract Tuyuhun, and they will be unable to go south for a while. Duke Ming can take this opportunity to accumulate strength, and if he fights against him in the future, he may not be invincible."

Fight fiercely with King Fu Jian, and beat him to the ground with his troops?

Huan Rong suddenly felt unreal.

Historically, this was something only Xie An and Xie Xuan could do.

On second thought, he was able to capture Murong Chong alive, and almost captured Murong Chui, but it might not be impossible to replace the opponent with Di people.

There are two sides to everything.

Wang Meng sent someone to assassinate him, so he was afraid that he would be powerful and wiped out his opponents in advance.From this point of view, he seems to have left the jumping shrimp team and started to evolve into a big fish.

Should I be happy or afraid?

Huan Rong felt very complicated, and it was difficult to explain clearly at the moment.

It's just that this feeling of being regarded as an opponent by Dana is really subtle, and the excitement surging in his chest cannot be ignored.

In the face of an assassination, Huan Rong straightened his position instead, realizing that he could give up his low profile, so he took off his harmless shell, showed his mouth full of fangs, and brandished a knife and fork to grab the meat and cake.

If he knew this result, it is unknown how Wang Meng would feel.

"Since the Di people have started to move, they will definitely not stop easily."

Huan Rong closed the map, and said in a deep voice, "It's useless to keep these assassins, and they probably won't be able to ask anything, so get rid of them as soon as possible. When the news comes out, it's likely to be another trouble."

Regardless of what other people think, the scumbag father will definitely take the opportunity to make trouble.

Just like what Huan Rong did before, you can't really break someone's bones, tearing them apart for two games, it's really possible to make your opponent hurt for a while.

"Furthermore, there is news from the north that there is a group of Qiang people who want to defect to me. From Zhong Ren's point of view, how should we deal with this matter?"

"Qiang people?" Xun You rarely showed surprise.

Huan Rong nodded, originally wanted to hand out the silk cloth, but unexpectedly remembered some "hints" in it, froze for two seconds, coughed and withdrew his hand, folded it hastily and stuffed it back into his sleeve.

Xun You: "..."

What does this mean? Do you want to show it to him?

Could it be that there is something in it that should not be spoken to outsiders?

Ignoring Xun You's expression, Huan Rong coughed twice, touched his hot earlobe, and said, "Anyway, that's how it is."

What is this like?

Xun You looked at Huan Rong, feeling speechless for the first time in his life.