Huan Rong

In November, several heavy snowfalls fell in the North, and the temperature dropped sharply. Even the soldiers who were accustomed to the climate in the North suffered from frostbite, let alone the soldiers and young adults recruited from the South.

The new wind swept across, and the snow filled the air.

When the wind and snow were at its heaviest, people on the other side could not be seen clearly even five steps away.Camped at night, and even some tents were overturned by the strong wind.Obstructed by the weather, after capturing the eighth Bingzhai, the Han soldiers had to suspend their westward march and garrison Xiqiang Mountain, forming a confrontation with Tuyuhun.

The attack of the Han soldiers slowed down slightly, and Prince Tuyuhun should have breathed a sigh of relief.However, the facts were not as expected. With the arrival of the fourth prince and his troops, his life became even more difficult.

In the big tent of the Chinese army, the fourth prince held an imperial edict stamped with the seal of the ruler and asked the eldest prince to hand over the tiger talisman.The reason why the eldest prince confronted the Han army, and fell to this point today, is for military power, how can he easily give it up?

One side forced it, the other side refused, the two sides could not settle down, the atmosphere became stagnant, and soon reached a deadlock.

Seeing that the eldest prince refused to enter, and one of them refused to hand over the tiger talisman, the fourth prince gradually lost his patience, and said angrily: "Yanyan, how dare you disobey the imperial edict?!"

"Who is the ruler of the country, and who issued the edict?" The eldest prince took the case on the spot, furious, and his voice was louder than that of the fourth prince.

"The tiger talisman was given by my father. If my father ordered it, I would naturally obey it. But who wrote the edict, and who issued the order? What is Shilian, the slave of the girl Di? Dare to force me to hand over the Tiger Talisman?!"

The fourth prince and the second prince are not of the same mother, but both have Di blood.Hearing that the eldest prince denounced the second prince as a slave, he couldn't help contacting himself, and immediately flew into a rage.

"Since you resist the order and don't obey it, don't blame me for not being a brother! Come!"

The fourth prince couldn't bear it anymore, and shouted loudly, he wanted to take the eldest prince down and take the tiger talisman by force.

Unexpectedly, he called three times in a row, but he never saw the soldier enter the account.With a calm mind, I immediately noticed something strange and realized that something was wrong.

The eldest prince sneered again and again, looking at the fourth prince, he looked like he was looking at an idiot who was desperate and didn't know it.

"Fourth brother, where do you think this is? This is not the capital, but Xiqiang Mountain! It is wishful thinking to seize military power with the hundreds of people you brought!"

After saying that, the eldest prince suddenly drew out his scimitar and slashed at the fourth prince.The sound of breaking wind hit, the fourth prince had no time to speak, and instinctively raised his knife to block

The blades collided with each other, making a piercing sound.

The two brothers became murderous, and they slashed at the vital points with their knives. You come and go, and you fight hard.

At this moment, there was a clear sound of armor and weapons clashing outside the tent, followed by shouts and screams.The voice came to my ears, the fourth prince was slightly distracted, but the eldest prince immediately seized the opportunity and cut his left shoulder on the spot.

The fourth prince screamed in pain, staggered back two steps.

The eldest prince was about to take advantage of the victory to pursue, when the curtain suddenly opened, and a general in leather armor walked in, the scimitar in his hand was still dripping blood.

"Your Highness, all the traitors must be punished!"

When the eldest prince heard this, he laughed triumphantly on the spot.

The fourth prince's face suddenly changed, his eyes were bloodshot, and his eyes were fierce.

"Layan, do you want to rebel?!" Regardless of the pain in his shoulder, the fourth prince yelled angrily.

"Rebellion?" The eldest prince sneered, "In my opinion, Shilian is the one who conspired against the rebels! Father is always in good health, but why is he suddenly so ill that he is bedridden and unable to deal with state affairs? Even if you have to retreat [-] steps, It shouldn't be Shilian's turn to manage state affairs temporarily!"

"You're talking nonsense!" the fourth prince retorted.

"Nonsense?" The eldest prince approached the fourth prince, his expression became ferocious, "The father's serious illness is caused by Shilian! I am the natural heir! Shilian secretly killed the father while I was not in the capital, intending to usurp the throne. It is the real treason, the crime is heinous, and it deserves to be hacked into pieces!"

The fourth prince was still yelling, but the cavalry outside the tent rushed in, subdued him on the spot, cut his arms behind his back, and pressed him firmly to the ground.

A counselor walked into the tent, glanced at the proud eldest prince, and then looked at the angry fourth prince. After saluting the former, he said to the latter: "Have you ever thought about taking the tiger talisman from your highness? Why did the Second Highness not choose the Third Highness who is the same mother, but chose you?"

Hearing this, the fourth prince's expression moved slightly, and he froze on the spot.

"His Royal Highness holds the tiger talisman in his hand, has heavy troops in his hands, and is the eldest son of the king, so he should be the orthodox heir to the throne." The counselor continued.

"The Second Highness murdered the country's lord and usurped the throne, he is indeed a sinner!"

"In order to eliminate future troubles, he will definitely try to get rid of several His Highnesses. The Fourth Highness leads the order, or successfully obtains the Tiger Talisman, which becomes the sharp knife for the Second Highness to remove obstacles; or angers the First Highness, and thus falls into a dangerous situation, unable to advance or retreat."

"His Royal Highness loses the Tiger Talisman and is escorted back to the capital. He will definitely be killed by His Highness Second. Even if His Royal Highness is meritorious, he will also be accused of murdering his brother's life."

"If the matter fails, the Fourth Highness will either be imprisoned or die. The Second Highness can even occupy Gao Yi and use the Fourth Highness as an excuse to send troops to conquer the Great Highness."

"No matter what the outcome is, the Fourth Highness will not end well, and the Second Highness will be able to reap the benefits."

"Has the Fourth Highness thought about these things carefully?"

After the counselor's words, the fourth prince's face turned blue and white, and he wanted to refute, but he couldn't find the right words, so he could only keep silent and his face was gloomy.

Obviously, he listened to the counselor's words, and listened very deeply, thinking a lot.

Seeing this situation, the counselor smiled slightly and bowed his hands to the eldest prince.The latter did not follow the plan, but waved his hand and ordered the fourth prince to be dragged down and locked up tightly.

The curtain fell, and the counselor asked doubtfully, "Your Highness, why didn't you follow the plan?"

The eldest prince waved his hands irritably, and said: "Ye Han has always been skeptical, and may not be willing to switch to me, and no matter how many good things he says, it may not be useful."

"Your Highness, this matter..."

The counselor wanted to persuade him again, but was interrupted by the eldest prince.

"Instead of worrying about this matter, it's better to think about what to do in the future." Picking up the imperial edict that fell on the ground, and seeing the seal of the ruler on it, the Eldest Prince's expression was very ugly.

He kept reprimanding Shilian as a usurper, and the seal on the imperial edict could not be faked.Ye Han was able to lead troops out of the capital, obviously he had the support of Chao Wenwu.If not all, more than half.

The troops in his hands are barely able to defend Xiqiang Mountain, and the Yushi Company sent troops to attack, the chances of winning are really slim.

"Your Highness, it is precisely because of this that you should comfort him with kind words and try to recruit Fourth Highness." The counselor suggested.

"There is no need to talk about this matter again!" The eldest prince insisted, "He helped Shilian, I will never believe him!"

Seeing that the persuasion was not enough, the counselors could only shake their heads, and turned to advise the prince, but while the Han soldiers were blocked by the heavy snow, they further recruited warriors from various ministries and requisitioned grain, grass and livestock.

"Especially for those who intend to relocate, His Highness does not need to be merciful, and use thunderous means, just to give others a wake-up call, let them know what will happen if they dare to betray His Highness!"

"good!"

The eldest prince had exactly this intention, it was entirely because the counselor's head had already been heavily nodded before he finished speaking.

"I leave things to you to arrange, be sure to hurry up!"

"promise!"

The counselor took the order and withdrew from the account.

When the curtain fell, the solemn look on the counselor's face disappeared.His eyes penetrated the snow, he looked at the soldiers passing by on patrol, and looked at the camp that stretched for several miles. A sarcasm flashed across his expression, soaked in deep resentment, and disappeared without a trace in the blink of an eye, leaving no trace.

The news of conscription and food collection spread to all ministries, and anger and resentment spread rapidly.

The small tribe lost their way of life, and had no choice but to do anything in order to survive.

Some leaders who were loyal to the eldest prince and did not migrate with the Baibu and Dugu tribe began to regret it.If things go on like this, not to mention making further progress with military exploits, the entire tribe will suffer, and even be forced to die!

Not long after the Dugu rebellion, the beacon fire was ignited again in Xiqiang Mountain.

This time, more than a dozen small tribes broke out at the same time, and even women, old people, and half-grown children took up bows, arrows, and machetes.

More than [-] people participated in the rebellion. They killed the soldiers who collected food and grass, took away weapons and horses, pulled up the pre-loaded carts, and fled north and east respectively before the news came out.

The mountain was blocked by heavy snow, and the road was very difficult to walk.If you get lost accidentally and cannot turn out in the dense forest, you will also encounter hungry wolves and wild boars.

For the fleeing tribe, although it is risky to travel through the snow, there is hope of survival anyway.If you stay here, the possibility of surviving will be infinitely close to zero.

More and more tribes defected, not only did the eldest prince fail to replenish the source of troops as he wished, but he suffered a lot of losses.

At this time, there was another news from the royal capital that the second prince was imprisoned by the fourth prince, alleging that he blatantly resisted the order and had the intention of treason.To make matters worse, the ministers of the DPRK and China agreed one after another, and no one spoke for him.The usual cronies have become decorations, and even the relatives of the prince and concubine did not stand up.

At this point, the eldest prince became more and more desperate, and the only way out was to rise up and really rebel.

However, there are still Han troops in the east. If he dares to withdraw from Xiqiang Mountain, the Han troops will definitely catch up and shoot a few arrows at his back.

What should I do?

The eldest prince couldn't make up his mind, so he summoned counselors to discuss, but the negotiation also failed to reach a result.

Day by day, the supply of 6000 people is getting less and less, the morale of the army is unstable, and the situation is very critical.The eldest prince gritted his teeth, finally accepted the counselor's suggestion, bowed his head to Huan Han, and turned around to attack the capital!

"This is just a temporary plan." The counselor said to the eldest prince, "After the capital is captured, His Highness can ask for orders to garrison and slowly recover his strength. The Han people claim to be kind, as long as His Highness acts cautiously, there will always be a day when he will be king again!"

The eldest prince knew very well that he had no other choice other than this.

"Well, just do as you say!"

At this moment, what he hated the most was not Huan Han, who was marching westward, but his same father and brother in the capital!

With his idea set, the eldest prince immediately wrote a letter and handed it over to the Han army camp.The counselor took the initiative to invite Ying, saying that he wanted to persuade the emperor of the Han family, but others might have no choice but to go in person.

The eldest prince hesitated again and again, he didn't want to let him go, but the situation was critical, so he finally nodded.

In December of the first year of Taiyuan, the envoy of the eldest prince Layan of Tuyuhun arrived in front of the Han army camp, claiming to bring a letter from the eldest prince, asking to see the emperor of the Han family.

"What?" Huan Rong couldn't react for a while, and asked twice before he believed that he didn't have auditory hallucinations.

Xie An and Wang Biaozhi were in the tent together, holding a cup of hot tea and warming themselves by the stove.

I have to admit that the craftsmen of Youzhou are really skillful, and the stove made is far better than the brazier, which can warm the tent without any smoke.

The stove is hot, and steamed taro root can be baked.The steamed cakes are sprinkled with pepper and cumin, and the taro root is dipped in sugar. It is paired with tea soup without green onion and ginger. Although it is crude, it has a special flavor.

Ever since he saw the warmth of the stove and tasted the new taste of scones and taro roots, the majestic Xie family head came here every now and then to see the emperor if he had anything to do.Wang Biaozhi imitated the example, and never left when he came, almost taking root in the tent of the emperor.

In this regard, Huan Rong was helpless but helpless.

The two stayed in the tent, and it became difficult for him to do some "private affairs".After coming and going, the two became more and more at ease, and it was difficult for them to speak out to push people away, so they simply used this time to ask them about government affairs, and discuss with them about matters such as examinations and schooling.

Of course, Huan Rong wasn't so stupid as to smoke, he put the matter in front of him carelessly.Instead, it reveals a bit between the lines, constantly testing the "bottom line" of the two.

It can be said that the Xie family of Chenjun and the Wang family of Langya can represent most of the overseas Chinese gentry, and most people can accept the changes they can accept.Even if there is opposition in the heart, the general trend is like this, but it still can't make much waves.

As for the Wu surname, it is easier to deal with the Zhou surname than the Qiao surname.

Huan Rong beat around the bush to test the two, and the two were also testing Huan Rong.

The root of it is that Huan Rong has been on the throne for less than two years, and the monarch and his ministers are still in the running-in period.

Huan Rong wanted to centralize the monarchy, and many clues had already appeared.It will take time to test whether the gentry who have controlled the Eastern Jin court for decades can accept it.

Either the east wind overwhelms the west wind, or the west wind overwhelms the east wind.In the end, it depends on which side is stronger and can take the initiative.Thinking that the gentry gave in for a while, and the throne would be able to sleep peacefully, absolutely insane, foolish as hell.

But right now, the monarch and his subjects have the same interests, and they are bound to win Tuyuhun.

Therefore, when the eldest prince's envoy asked to see him, the three monarchs and ministers stopped their movements at the same time, and they were all refreshed.

Huan Rong stopped his pen and put away the half-painted maps; Xie An and Wang Biaozhi put down the paint cups and fetched cloth towels to wipe their hands. In a blink of an eye, there were two handsome men again, without any trace of the friendly image of sitting around the stove before .

Dian Kui and Xu Chao guarded the tent, while Bald Guy and the leader of the Bai Department shouldered the inspection duties to ensure that the visitor did not have any dangerous items on him, not even a piece of iron.

After the inspection was completed, the counselor was put into the big tent.

The leader of the Bai tribe recognized his identity and reported it to Huan Rong early.

Knowing that the counselor is the eldest prince's confidant, Huan Rong and Xie An Wang Biaozhi looked at each other and thought about it.Unexpectedly, when the counselor walked into the tent, the first sentence he spoke completely overturned all his previous assumptions.

"Does Your Majesty want to take down Tuyuhun?"

What? !

Huan Rong thought he heard it wrong, looked at Xie An, then at Wang Biaozhi, the two handsome uncles were like him, with stunned letters written all over their faces.

At the same time, Qin Jing marched southward, led his cavalry to break through the border of Tuyuhun, swept across several tribes, large and small, and gave up attacking the capital of Tuyuhun.