Huan Rong

Ningkang three years, December

Count nine cold days, the sky is cold and freezing.

The cold wind whizzed past, the dripping water turned into ice, and the sky and the earth were covered with silver.

After the beginning of winter, several heavy snowfalls fell in the Northland, and the roads were blocked. The team to move the capital was forced to stop halfway, sleep by the forest for the night, and then set off after the snowstorm passed.

The fire ignited blazingly, disturbing the beasts in the forest.

As night fell, dark clouds layered over.In the darkness, a faint green light hovered around the camp, flickering on and off.The shrill howl resounded through the dense forest, tearing apart the howling north wind, which lasted the whole night.

At dawn, the heavy snow stopped for the first time.

The snow reflects the sun, which makes people unable to open their eyes.

Several tents near the edge of the camp were crushed by the snow, but fortunately there were no casualties, only a few horses pulling the carts were missing.After following the traces for several miles, they found the remains of the dead horse.

"Not only wolves, but also leopards." Ran Hu squatted down, inspected the remains of the dead horse, looked at the woodland, and said to Xia Houyan, "Last night, the strong wind and heavy snow probably overwhelmed the sound. This is not our patrol , was touched by the wolves, thanks to these people's lives."

The subtext is that the private soldiers guarding these tents are either inexperienced or lazy.Otherwise, the wolves would not have touched the edge of the camp and dragged away a poor horse.

"I need to report to the general." Ranhu grabbed a handful of snow, rubbed his palms vigorously, stood up and said, "Hurry up as soon as possible today and leave this forest."

There is no need to look for the remaining horses, and they will probably not survive.

There is a lack of prey in winter. Unlike black bears, wolves and tigers and leopards must go out to look for food.They cannot catch enough prey in the forest, so in order to survive, even if it is an adventure, they will follow behind the team.

"According to common sense, with so many people camping, the wolves will not approach easily." Xia Houyan stared at the wreck of the dead horse with a puzzled expression on his face.There was a bonfire burning in the camp, and the herd of beasts should stay far away.

"It's not surprising." Ran Hu jumped on his horse and shook his head, "It's cold this year, and I haven't seen half a herd of deer along the way. There are no deer in the forest, and the wolves have no way out. Attacking people counts Not surprising."

Beasts are not humans. Once they are hungry and crazy, they are dominated by nature and instinct, and they will not weigh the pros and cons at all.

"Winter cold?" Xia Houyan sneered, "In the past few years, which year was not winter cold, and which year was there no snow disaster? It's not that King Qin didn't reward land reclamation, but even today, he is still selling grain to the south."

Ran Hu didn't answer, kicked his heel lightly, beat his horse back to camp.

Not long after Ran Hu and the others left, a few gray-black wolves came out of their hiding place, looked at the direction the cavalry was leaving, raised their heads and let out a mournful howl.

When Qin Jing heard the report, she immediately went to the big tent, told Qin Ce the truth, and said that the team had better leave as soon as possible, one is to avoid the heavy snow that may come at any time, so as not to be stopped on the road again; the other is to get rid of and follow behind wolves to ensure the safety of casual people.

Knowing how powerful it was, Qin Ce didn't think much about it, and quickly ordered the camp to be pulled out.Strictly order everyone to enter Bingzhou before dark, and then find an open place to camp.

"Bingzhou City is newly built." Qin Jing rode his horse and walked beside the driver. Because of the cold weather, white mist gathered between his mouth and nose when he spoke, and a layer of crystal white frost hung on his long eyebrows. "Father, you can go to the city to rest."

Qin Ce shook his head and said, "Heavy snow has delayed the journey, and the journey has already been delayed. It is better to hurry to Chang'an as soon as possible."

Qin Ce made up his mind not to enter the city, so he drove at full speed.

Qin Jing didn't continue to dissuade, and after receiving the order, he rode to the front of the team and sent more than ten scouts to explore the way forward.

The north wind rolled the snow and came in waves.

The horse spread its hooves, and the figures of the scouts turned into black spots, which quickly disappeared into the silvery white.

There was a loud eagle cry in the sky, Qin Jing pulled the reins and looked up.A goshawk flew from the south and hovered over the team. His vigorous figure became the only dark color in the sky.

噍——

The goshawk croaked again, and swooped down from mid-air. Instead of landing in front of Qin Jing's horse, it spread its wings and flew into the snow, grabbing a fat hare for a moment.

The sharp claws firmly penetrated into the back of the hare's neck, and the blood soaked the fur and solidified in the wind.

Hey!

The hawk chirped again, shorter than before.

After a while, a gray-black pigeon flew down from mid-air, fluttering its wings and making a cooing sound.

Without any warning, the arrows came through the wind.Without turning her head, Qin Jing drew out her saber and cut off the arrow in the air.

Such speed and strength are almost beyond imagination.

"Bold!" Ranhu turned his horse's head sharply, and rushed straight to the private soldier who opened his bow. Without saying a word, he swung his long knife and smashed it.

Not chopping, but smashing.

The private soldier instinctively blocked it, but was defeated by Ranhu's strength, the weapon in his hand was knocked down, and he rolled over and fell off his horse.

Ran Hu didn't give up, with a look of anger on his face, he pulled the reins violently.The horseman stood up and neighed.

Under the horrified eyes of the private soldier, the horse's front hooves slammed down.

With a click, the private soldier's arms and ribs were trampled off one after another, and the wailing sounded immediately.

"Bold!" Witnessing the whole process, the owner of the private soldier was furious and shouted, "Hu Nu'an dares to hurt people?!"

Ran Hu didn't get angry, instead he smiled, took out an arrow with his backhand, threw it out without drawing the bow, pierced the private soldier's neck on the spot, blood spattered, and the wailing stopped abruptly.

The private soldier's body was paralyzed on the ground, his eyes were round, and he died on the spot.

"you you……"

"how do I?"

Ranhu grinned, showing his sharp teeth, and said in a vicious voice: "My master is General Qin. What are you, you dare to tell me what to do? What's wrong with killing him? You dare to shoot behind the general, and you want to keep it?" head?"

While speaking, he waved his hands behind him, "Drag and feed the wolves!"

"promise!"

As soon as the order was issued, two cavalry rode forward immediately, tied the corpse of the private soldier with a rope, and dragged it away like cattle and sheep.

The horse galloped past, leaving dazzling red marks on the snow, which instantly condensed into a winding road of blood.

"To tell you the truth, it's not the general's order, so I should be more polite to you, believe it or not..."

"Dye the tiger!"

Before he could finish speaking, he was interrupted by Zhang Lian who rushed over.

Ran Hu turned his head, clicked his tongue unwillingly, and swept the carriage with malicious intentions, finally said nothing more, snorted coldly, and then beat his horse and left.

Zhang Lian turned to the furious and powerful Patriarch, smiled slightly, and said, "Master Ranzhu is straightforward by nature, always speaks directly, and doesn't like to go around around the corner. Don't blame Mr. Xu."

When the words fell, before the other party could say anything, they turned around and left without saying a word about Ranhu's murder.The attitude seems to be polite, but in fact it is more arrogant than Ranhu, even with a bit of threat, obviously telling the Patriarch of the Xu family that if you kill him, you will kill him, what can you do to me?

The reason why I talk so much nonsense is that I have to give you some face because of the general's order.

If you are shameless and ignorant of current affairs, what will happen to you, you'd better think about it in advance.

In another time and occasion, let alone killing a private soldier, even if Ranhu led someone to kill Xu's family, Zhang Lian would not even frown.He will even help to chop a few times, and set a fire by the way to completely cut the weeds and roots.

Who made the Patriarch of the Xu family not open his eyes and dared to let the private soldiers draw their bows at will.Whether it is a goshawk or a dove, how can he easily get involved?What's more, it's hard to say whether he wants to hunt birds or whether he wants to hunt Qin Jing.

A conflict can come and go quickly.

In fact, it is not accurate to say that there was a conflict. To be precise, it was the Patriarch of the Xu family who didn't know how deep he was, and offended Qin Jing's cavalry.

It was Mrs. Xu who started the incident. Qin Ce would not reprimand Qin Jing for this trivial matter, but would just treat it as ignorance.If it is really necessary to investigate, the Xu family will get into big trouble.

In view of Qin Jing's power and the ferocity of the cavalry, the old friends and colleagues in the past had no sympathy and comfort, and they all kept alienating the Xu family without a trace.After all, the situation is stronger than others, and no one wants to be regarded as the Xu family's accomplice, just like the Yu family and Yang family before, they will end up being wiped out.

Qin Jing didn't care about what happened behind him, as if he didn't care at all.

He untied the bamboo tube from the goshawk's leg, and took off a text message from the pigeon's neck. After simply scanning the content, Qin Jing's mood suddenly improved, and a faint smile appeared in his eyes.

"Brother." Qin Zhen and Qin Jue rode forward, seeing Qin Jing like this, unavoidably a little curious.

"What's the matter?" Qin Jing turned her head and had already received the text message.

"Is it a letter from my mother?" Qin Zhen asked,

"Yes." Qin Jing handed over the bamboo tube and said, "Grandma has recovered from her illness and is waiting for us in Chang'an."

"really?"

Qin Zhen and Qin Jue glanced at each other, took the bamboo tube carefully, and found that there were two text messages.One is from Qin Yu, and the other is written by Mrs. Liu herself.After reading the letter, the two were excited, and the joy in their hearts could not be restrained at all.

"Great!"

"Brother, there seems to be another letter?"

Qin Jing raised her long eyebrows, her dark eyes were bottomless.Qin Jue who spoke subconsciously shrank his neck, and under pressure, he dared not continue to ask.

Seeing that the brother dispelled his curiosity, Qin Jing nodded in satisfaction, and said, "Put away the letter from my mother, and the second brother's letter to my father. How should I say it, but you all know it?"

"Brother, don't worry!" Qin Zhen blinked, put away Mrs. Liu's handwriting, and hid it deep in her sleeve.Qin Jun's letter was re-stuffed into the bamboo tube, presumably to be submitted to Qin Ce together.

Seeing this move, Qin Jing frowned.

Zhang Lian and Xia Houyan stood aside, turning a blind eye.Regarding the fact that the three brothers "deceived" King Qin together, they didn't even realize it.

The team to move the capital continued on without stopping, and finally arrived at the border of Bingzhou before sunset.After the team set up camp, a heavy snowfall arrived as expected, and all the rutted and hoofprints along the way were buried without leaving any traces.

At the same time, Huan Rong had already left Jiankang to patrol the border as planned.

Xi Yin stayed in Jiankang to take care of all the affairs of the court.In case of unresolved major issues, you can report quickly.Princess Nankang sits in Taicheng, and Jia Bing and Zhong Lin are in the three provinces. Huan Rong can leave without worrying about troubles behind him.

Xie An and Wang Biaozhi accompanied them, and there were more than [-] carts in the team, all of them were high-ranking gentlemen who accompanied them.

When the team left Jiankang, the people lined up to see them off.

In the cold winter season, there are no flowers and willow branches, and the falling silk flowers and hairpin rings are still intertwined into rain, which almost drowns the big body.

Regardless of the cold rain falling in the sky, the girls joined hands and sang ancient tunes on the side of the road.The tune is long, not only praising the king, but also yearning for the prince.

Huan Rong sat in the car, at least he was escorted by Xu Chao, the leader of the Dian, and he was honored as the king, so there was no longer a human-shaped flower stand.

The gentlemen of the various families who accompanied them were not so lucky. Whenever the carriage passed by, there must be silver hairpins and silk flowers everywhere.After walking out of the city gate, all the carriages become floats.

The fragrant wind lingered, and even the armored soldiers of the government were flirtatious for a while, and happened to make a flower stand for a while.After taking down the silver hairpin embedded in the gaps in the armor, I was afraid, and I no longer envied the various "treatments" of the gentleman of the noble family.

Sitting in the car with Xie An, Wang Biaozhi and Xie An were drinking tea soup, while lamenting the years.

"If you think back to Anshi's year, the grand occasion is no less than today."

Xie An smiled and shook his head, dressed in court clothes, he still carried a bit of fairy air.

"Shuhu is too famous, An is already in the year of knowing his destiny, so what can he say when he is young?"

"No." Wang Biaozhi was rarely in a joking mood, put down the lacquer cup, and said with a smile, "When leaving the city, Ru Anshi didn't just hide in the car, but showed his side, fearing that the roof of the car would be covered with gold. The couch is covered with silver. As the officials say, military pay is expected."

Xie An was speechless for a while, seeing Wang Biaozhi's "serious" face, he couldn't help laughing on the spot.

The whisper came out of the carriage, arousing the driver's curiosity for a while.

When the two men mentioned Huan Rong, they inevitably thought about the hunting arrangements.

Thinking of the first trip to Youzhou, both Xie An and Wang Biaozhi felt a little bit of anticipation in their hearts.I really want to see with my own eyes what the barren frontier in the past is now a city of commerce and trade that has been rumored by word of mouth.

While the Son of Heaven was in the palace, Huan Rong opened the wooden box and took out several scrolls of bamboo slips.

The bamboo slips were unfolded, and what was recorded on them were not important military matters, but the basic information of the accompanying gentleman.Including personality, talent and learning, and ambitions revealed on weekdays, all are recorded in the book.

While watching, Huan Rong picked up a pen and focused on circling a few names.

According to the plan, these are the key observation objects.If all goes well, you don't have to wait for the hunting tour to end, you can directly select officials to become officials, or stay in Bianzhou, or set off for Liangzhou and other places.

"Xihai County is controlled by the Qin family. After Shazhou is captured, Gaochang must establish a government office as soon as possible."

Gaochang is located in the Turpan Basin of the later generations. During the reign of Emperor Xuan of the Western Han Dynasty, the imperial court sent soldiers to garrison here, built military barriers, and set up Wuji Xiaowei.During the Cao Wei Dynasty in the Eastern Han Dynasty, Gaochang developed further, and its population and scale were comparable to a large county, and it belonged to Dunhuang County.

During the Jin Dynasty, there were frequent wars in the north, and the land of Gaochang changed hands several times, and finally fell into the hands of the Di people.

When Di Qin destroyed the country, the Qin family was short of troops, and the old troops of Fu Jian were still stationed here.Hearing that Chang'an was destroyed and Lord Di died, General Di immediately proclaimed himself king, and began to enlist troops to amass wealth, and imposed heavy taxes on the people and business travelers, which aroused dissatisfaction among the barbarians in the Western Regions.

When Huan Rong sent troops westward to take Guzang and other places one after another, the city of Gaochang was also fighting lively.

According to the news brought back by the caravan, the Di people are few in number, but they have excellent weapons, and each one is good at fighting;The two sides fought for more than half a year, and each other had victories and losses, but in general, no one could do anything to the other.

If troops are sent out at this time, the balance of victory will definitely tilt immediately.

After careful consideration, Huan Rong did not rush to order.

The so-called catching up is not a business, and you can't eat hot tofu in a hurry.If you are too eager, you may not get the best results.

Anyway, Qin Jing has led his troops to leave, and the Qin family's strength in the Western Regions is not as strong as before. If they want to take Gaochang, they can wait slowly.When the two parties can't hold on anymore and take the initiative to ask to come to the door, it is the time to make a quick offer.

Not being kind?

Huan Rong shrugged.

What is kindness?Can I eat it?

Once the territory is won, the government and officials must keep up.If you want to completely stabilize the Western Regions and move further to Central Asia and West Asia, you must use all available means.

Huan Rong didn't care how the future generations would judge him as a tyrant or even a murderous one.

Still the same sentence, at the moment of national and national interests, who cares whether the neighbors are full of aggrieved, queuing up to jump off the cliff.