Chiwuxing

Chapter Seventy-Eight-Two letters of the watch and seal, the court played the sky, and the two kings and generals told each other at night

In the first month of the imperial capital, Prime Minister Ni Congwen presented the first memorial for the New Year, revisiting the reform of the military system.

Many supporters of Ni Xiang in the DPRK were surprised when they heard about this incident. Although it is no secret that he secretly manipulated military and political affairs, he has always been cautious when he makes any moves, and most of them are under the guise of others. The military affairs were already decayed and unable to return to heaven, but at this time it was an eventful time, and if we were not careful, we would lose the strength and support of the people.Many newly promoted officials also couldn't help sighing at this. Ni Congwen is indeed in power at the moment, and Fang also made such a bold move.

As mentioned in the memorial, the original garrison law that Chijiayiwei deployed troops in each city was changed. When the situation is chaotic, it is not appropriate to move troops back and forth, and temporarily fix existing soldiers and distribute them in various cities.At the same time, the Baojia Law was established, that is, to expand the number of troops and implement the integration of soldiers and farmers.The Human coalition forces have captured most of the northern territory, and the refugees are in chaos, especially many of the people who came from the south are farmers, and they abandoned the land and fled on this occasion. When it is necessary to do so, once this law is promulgated, it will not only enrich the scattered soldiers who died in war in the army, but also gather and resettle these refugees. It is logical and serves two purposes.

Just as the officials of the DPRK and Central Committee lamented that this method seemed to be a reform, but it was actually successful, the Chijia Guards stationed in Beicheng received the latest battle report. The army led by Liao Hui lost three more cities, and the Hu army continued to expand westward. , has been pushed to Huangling Pass.

Huangling Pass is already the last line of defense in the northwest area of ​​Yandi.

The soldiers and rations were all insufficient, the privy envoy Feng Ru scouted the pros and cons, and asked for a peace and truce, so as to have a short respite and rest, a pale sheet of paper and a heavy book covered his body, and slowly fell to the battlefield.

The army suppressed the situation, seeking peace and admitting defeat. After this year, the weather became more depressed and unhappy.

But before the ministers could react, Ni Congwen made his second memorial.

This time it was a matter of bribery by courtiers. Yuan Xing, Minister of the Ministry of Household Affairs, collected thousands of taels of private bribes from officials below, and openly gave bribes to the prime minister's government.

Ni Congwen studied under Xie Zhi, the former censor and emperor teacher, and his articles are exquisite in words, to the point, and full of grief. Everyone who sees them is infected by it, but he is even more puzzled in his heart: not to mention that Yuan Xing secretly communicated with the courtiers The matter of gold and silver accommodation is known to everyone, but there is no need to suddenly expose it at this time, not to mention that the real pillar behind Yuan Xing is the Yuan family, the most wealthy businessman in the capital. If the last discount was just the beginning of arrogance, then this memorial is a blatant challenge to the Yuan family's arrogance, which is really different from Ni Congwen's previous low-key behavior.

The two memorials were presented to the prince together, and the matter has come to this point, it is nothing more than the process of signing and printing.The prince agreed to both discounts, and Yuan Xing also followed Ni Congwen's advice, and demoted from the second-rank important officials in Beijing to the governor of Fenying City in the south.

Feeling his loyalty, the crown prince promoted Ni Chengzhi, who was originally under the Minister of Industry, to the official rank again, which happened to replace Yuan Xingkong's position.According to Ni Chengzhi's age and qualifications, even if it is an edict, he should pretend to refuse it several times, but Ni Chengzhi accepted it humbly on the one hand, and on the other hand turned around and handed over the money, grain and rent collected from the public land that he had led a year ago to the Privy Council. In order to enrich the military's finances and save the crisis.The amount reported was so huge that Feng Ru, who has always been impartial, also made a statement to express his actions. He gathered up the profit from the salt, wine and iron monopoly in the capital, amounting to 900 million yuan, suppressing the objections of all parties in the DPRK and China. For a while, all the subjects and common people praised Ni and his son for their behavior during the national crisis.

The Chijia guards stationed in Huangzhou were still not at peace at this time, the moon was hidden in the clouds at night, and there was still a period of silence before dawn, only the sudden neighing of horses was heard, followed by the footsteps of several people in the mud. Shallow and rapid collisions on the ground.

"General! Something has happened! General!" Several young voices sounded, the voices were still trembling, not knowing whether to raise their voices or whisper at this time, they kept shouting outside the camp, "General!"

Perhaps it was due to the retreat for several days in a row, the food was not enough, and the lamps were lit in several tents.

Those soldiers were still wandering outside the tent, their voices were anxious.

"Come in and talk." The curtain of the first battalion was lifted, revealing a slightly cold face, "Don't disturb others' rest."

Those people recognized that it was Deputy General Tang, followed the orders and entered the tent.

"General." Several people said hurriedly.

Tang Lan glanced at several people, the battle armor was still under the light, and the fresh blood was still there, he asked in a deep voice: "What's going on?"

The few people panicked and were helpless and horrified, and said slowly: "...General, General Liao just called a team of us to sneak attack the enemy's grain storage at night, but the barbarian army found out, General Liao, he... He was besieged by a hundred people... the head of the owl."

"What are you talking about?!" A person burst into the tent, his rough face was full of shocks, and when he entered the tent, he stared at the people kneeling on the ground, picked up the skirt of one of them, and pulled him up, "You just now What did you say? Say it again!"

These soldiers had joined the army not long ago, they were not very old, and they had just experienced such a tragedy today, and they were so frightened that they dared not speak out if they were held accountable again at this time.

"Wei Xu!" Tang Lan yelled from the seat, "If you want to vent your anger on the enemy, what's the point of targeting your brother!"

Wei Xu gave him a cold look, let go of his hand, and the soldier who was picked up fell to the ground without paying attention.

"When did General Liao ask you to go out? How many people did you bring?" Tang Lan raised her eyebrows and stared at the soldier, her expression unchanged.

"Yes... after noon tonight, tell us to pack up and gather there. There are 100 Qingqi people, and now... only a few of us are left." On Tang Lan's side, he replied courageously, "The original plan was to sneak attack from behind the camp, but I didn't expect the barbarian army to come out from the other side just after setting a fire here, and surrounded us. ..."

"Then how did you guys come out alive?" Wei Xu glared at them and said aggressively, "Go and attack, General Liao is dead, and now you guys have the strength to come back?"

One person replied: "Those barbarians recognized General Liao's face, and when they saw him show up, they all went after him to grab credit, so they didn't care about us... Later, more barbarians were alarmed, and we prepared to cover it." General Liao retreated together, but the barbarians surrounded us tightly, and we were all restrained. When we looked again, we had already..."

"General Liao acted recklessly, you don't stop and persuade him," Tang Lan said coldly, "Just let him rush into the enemy's barbarian knife at this moment?"

Those little soldiers didn't dare to speak, feeling wronged in their hearts.When Wei Xu heard the half-sarcasm and half-mocking words, his anger turned again, and he said to Tang Lan, "What qualifications do you have to criticize Liao Hui?"

"Am I right? General Liao led a team of light cavalry and didn't come over to inform me. Isn't that just not letting others obstruct his actions?" Tang Lan said coldly, "If he is vigilant, he won't A moment of impulsiveness invites death."

Wei Xu was speechless, and couldn't accept the result of Liao Hui's sudden death. He turned his eyes from several people to the ground, calmed down a few times, and gritted his teeth, "Where's the corpse?"

A few soldiers were captured by his momentum at this moment, and said timidly: "The general's... head was taken... and the rest... We didn't know..."

Wei Xu didn't wait for him to finish speaking, turned around abruptly, and angrily lifted the curtain and left.

The tent was quiet for a long time, and several kneeling soldiers straightened up slightly.

Tang Lan's head was half down, he raised his eyelids to look at these people, and said in a low voice: "Liao Hui is bold and reckless, he is not a reckless and careless person."

"Don't worry, General Tang," a soldier said with a low smile, "We just changed the timing of the troop deployment. Although there are reasons for this decision, it was indeed ordered by Liao Hui himself. ...I can't bear to let the child not be able to catch the wolf, the people who are really dead and wounded are all dead soldiers who have been inserted for a long time, enough to confuse the fake with the real."

"Why didn't you tell me in advance that you moved so fast?" Tang Lan asked calmly, with his usual expression, "Death by attack is an old trick that Jiao Shiling has used once. Beware of anyone who is interested in finding out."

"The urgent secret report from the imperial capital yesterday evening said that the central government had decided to negotiate a peace and truce with Human. If it is subdued, then we have to seize the opportunity to do it in advance." The soldier replied.

"Negotiate peace at this time?" Tang Lan raised his eyebrows and said, "They are in full swing, how can the barbarians get it done?"

"The benefactor said, general, you should go back to Beijing to rest as usual, and then," those people looked at each other with a smile, and at the same time turned their heads to focus on Tang Lan again, "...just accept the letter and receive the reward."

At dawn, all the officers and men had already heard about the defeat and tragic death of General Liao Hui's attack on the camp. They were horrified and even more discouraged.

Tang Lan sent an order early in the morning to gather in the wild to discuss matters.Everyone came to the scene, and the tiredness of not eating and sleeping peacefully for several days was all over their faces.

"In the early morning of this day," Tang Lan lived in the place where everyone's eyes gathered, and there were no veterans in the army. Now he is the only one who can announce the arrangements and stabilize the morale of the army. Rest the team."

There was another uproar below, and some people who had just entered the battlefield were lucky and escaped the catastrophe of this battle.

Tang Lan continued to preach: "Now the army's rations and reserves are completely insufficient, and there are many wounded soldiers. The army will rest for a day today and leave for Beijing tomorrow morning."

While speaking, the sound of dull footsteps came from a distance, da, da, slowly and heavily on the hearts of all the soldiers, everyone hurriedly looked back and consciously took a detour.

Tang Lan silently looked at the blood-soaked person in front of him. He bowed and came staggeringly, with blood dripping down a dark red track from behind.

"Vice General Wei." Tang Lan said flatly.

The cheeks covered with blood and scars were extremely terrifying, except for a pair of straight black eyes in the middle that were shining brightly.Wei Xu stopped in front of Tang Lan, then slowly bowed, and carefully placed the vague headless body behind him on the ground.

The soldiers below did not dare to make a sound.

"The edict from the imperial capital just came." Tang Lan looked down at his movements, and his voice was still the same as before, "Stop the troops and return to the capital."

Wei Xu didn't seem to hear his words, the armor on his body disappeared, and his clothes were covered with bloody black and red stains. He heard a "stab", and he tore off the wrinkled and unable to take off the outer shirt, corpses lying on the ground.

After finishing all this, he took a deep look at the rotten and hollow severed head on his neck, narrowed his eyes, then stood up abruptly, and shouted at the soldiers: "Now! All the troops! Immediately attack the barbarians!" People call!"

"Vice General Wei," Tang Lan seemed not to feel bored, and repeated the words slowly, "The imperial capital sent an order to cease fighting and return to the capital."

"What?!" Wei Xu turned around angrily.

Tang Lan said calmly: "In this situation, the military supplies and military equipment are insufficient. If the fight continues, isn't it just courting death? It's better for you to calm down now."

"It was you who gave the order to retreat again and again, otherwise Liao Hui would have disagreed with you on this matter and would have privately dispatched troops to fight alone? Now that the city and land are all in their hands, you want to go back?!" Wei Xu Loudly.

"What do you want," Tang Lan retorted, "doesn't it be better if the whole army dies? The city is gone, and the people are gone."

"If Liao Hui follows my advice and be cautious, why bother to give away the head to the barbarian for nothing? You want to follow in his footsteps?" Tang Lan took another step forward, his voice lowered, with a hint of sarcasm in his tone, and said, "That's true too. Isn't it what you and General Liao have always wished to do, to do your best and die in battle? Naturally, I have no right to stop you."

"Just a reminder, I won't collect Wei Xu's body for you."

"Damn it!" Wei Xu stepped forward and pinched his neck, his round eyes widened angrily: "You coward! You bastard! You only use secret tricks to flatter the powerful lackey!"

Tang Lan looked back and said with a sneer, "You want to go? You go! See how many people are going to die with you! It's still the same sentence, you are crazy, don't drag others to be buried with you!"

Seeing this situation, several soldiers nearby stepped forward to block and separate the two of them.

Tang Lan's face turned red for a moment, she cast a cold glance at Wei Xu, turned around and said, "Everyone is gone, follow orders, and return to Beijing tomorrow!"

Perhaps Wei Xu's expression was too frightening at this time, and the soldiers did not dare to stay for a long time. Hearing the news, they hurried back to the tents and camps as if they had received an amnesty.

Victory is set.

On the other hand, the Hu Man garrison in the north of Yandi, since Fu Xuan came to sit in the camp, the barbarians have curbed their arrogance after the victory. Although Fu Xuan was rewarded generously as usual, he dared not make any mistakes at this time and let the lord arrest him superior.

And Hu Jun, headed by the Hulan tribe, has been a thirsty tiger and hungry eagle for many years, and now he has turned over and tasted the sweetness, just like a poor apprentice who has never seen the world, and now he sees the beauty and fat that he has coveted for a long time , Naturally, he grinds his teeth and eats all day long, so how can he have a reason to rest?Not to mention the previous surprise raid in Jingzhou, killing people and throwing away the corpses, avenging the past, and even rummaging through the treasures and ornaments that the people in the city fled and had no time to take away in the past few months.

Podoro Santo, as the leader of the seven subordinate tribes, not only allowed the tribes to have fun wantonly, but also took the lead in killing people and property in the city.Previously, most of the officers and soldiers in the city fled in anticipation of the wind, and most of the people who did not catch up with the opportunity to escape were willing to risk their lives. Regardless of the signs that the Jinhe River had broken the ice and thawed, they took their families across the ice and fled to the south of the Jinhe River. , and most of the rest of the old and young with inconvenient legs and feet also ran to the east of Zishui. Hearing that the Zen master of the Buddhist temple in the border town here had been supported and protected by a noble concubine, they also begged for this opportunity to beg the Buddha to protect their children and stay away from killing.

It is rare that both Hu and Man tribes gathered together.

Fu Xuan and Podoro Santo are on both sides of the upper ranks. Santo's subordinates are the leaders and trusted generals of the seven ministries under his rule. It was weakened a little, but the barbarians became arrogant.

Only Fu Xuan turned a blind eye to it, and without turning his head, he said to the people on the other side: "The attack will stop, and the people of Yan intend to return to Beijing to gather reinforcements. It’s time to meet the opportunity again.”

Santo had a great time in this battle, and said bluntly and arrogantly: "The guards in Yancheng are all useless, and they were defeated in one blow."

After finishing speaking, he took a sip of the wine bag and said: "It seems that Yandi is just a useless tiger skin for so many years. My big brother of Utron stretched out his hands and flinched. It's really embarrassing for me. !"

"The Hu Qiang people are brave and good at fighting, and their reputation is well-deserved," Fu Xuan also praised him, "The lonely king also saw it with his own eyes."

"Barbarian," Santoguo said without praise, "Then can we also talk about how to divide Yandi and Yancheng now?"

Fu Xuan glanced out slightly, but did not hide the flash of sarcasm, looking down at the same look at the military commander Kou Bing, he passed slowly, pursed his lips and said: "It seems that the leader has something in his heart. Are you planning to?"

Santo said: "According to the terrain, Nanman is located at the southern end, and these cities to the north of Jinhe are adjacent to Hu Qiang. I think it is better to use the north and south as the boundary, and the Lord and I occupy each side for the convenience of future governance. .”

Fu Xuan raised his eyebrows, glanced at Kou Bing below, Kou Bing Xiaoyi stood up and said: "According to what the leader said, all the gains from the siege now belong to the leader... But the southern city of Yan Kingdom has not yet been attacked, now it is only I'm afraid it's too early."

"I, Hu Jun, charge forward every time in every battle. In terms of military strength and military merits, I should always be the leader of Hu Jun. Now the captives are up to us, which is not unfair." Podorosanto's second seat was The number of troops is second only to the leader of the Tienal tribe of the Hulan tribe, Mu Zang.

Kou Bing looked at the speaker. Although he was younger than Santo and others, he looked much more stable. He said: "This general is wrong. Let's say that before the war, we provided the entire northern city of Yandi. The distribution of troops and horses and the map of the terrain, marching without knowing the terrain, I am afraid that the general knows this better than I do. Secondly, the two chief generals of the Yan army, Jiao Shiling and Liao Hui, are both headed by Wuma of our army. What General Sun captured, there is a saying in Yan language that "to capture the thief first, capture the king", it is true that Hu Jun killed countless enemies, but this head... there is always a distinction between high and low."

"What's more, the further south you go, the more important the army will be. It's no better than the terrain here in the north. If the leader is eager to take over now, it will inevitably chill the hearts of our barbarian generals."

Naturally, among the Hu and Qiang people there is no such eloquent person, and Mu Zang has nothing to say after hearing the words.

"The lonely king thinks that what the leader Santo said is not unreasonable," Fu Xuan said, "Hu Jun made great contributions in the battle, and this place is separated from the land under the Nanman rule by many cities and vast land, so the lonely king has no intention of occupying it. This place."

After what Kou Bing said just now, and Fu Xuan's straightforward concession, Santo hesitated, and became a little more sober. He knew that the number of troops he led was very small, and he was not sure how many troops he would have if there were no barbarians in the rear. Strong attack can win Yan.Just now, he used the joy after the victory to speak loudly, but at this time he was a little timid, and said: "This credit is naturally shared by both the Hu and Man sides. After the rest of the army, we will open up the east and west border cities. Then we can cross the south of the river and attack, and the remaining Yan land is in our pocket."

"The leader is proud," Kou Bing said, "it's just that the land of Yan has not been completely occupied yet. Although it is a matter of time, we are not in a hurry to discuss these in advance. After the battle, Yancheng will be completely destroyed, and rewards for merit will be enough."

Several generals at Santo's side said yes again and again, and then discussed some trivial matters that were not related to practical affairs in the war.

After they all returned to the camp, Fu Xuan called Sha Lihu to enter the camp.

"My lord." Sha Lihu restrained himself a lot after being caught by Fu Xuan at the banquet that day.

Fu Xuan casually said: "Just now Hu Qiang raised a lot of ideas, what do you think of them?"

"It's not enough to cause trouble." Sha Lihu said.

Fu Xuan raised her eyebrows: "How do you say?"

"The leader of the Hulan tribe doesn't know anything. If you give him some flair, he really wants to open a mill. According to their style of work, it's okay to let a few cities be captured by brute force. I shall not honor you, the Lord." Sha Lihu did not forget to say a few words of flattery when he arrived.

"You're right," Fu Xuan was happy to hear his flattery at this time, and said again: "So the lonely king called you here today because he wants you to do something."

"My lord, please command."

"It doesn't matter that the barbarian massacre of the city is over, it was not my barbarian army who did it. It's just that in the towns that have just been conquered in the north recently, including the Yan soldiers who later abandoned and the lonely king who persuaded you to surrender at the beginning For those surrendered troops, try to find a place to gather them together, train them well, and save them for future use." Fu Xuan said.

Sha Lihu said: "My lord believes these Yan people?"

"Believe it or not, there is no reason why you dare not go to the battlefield with a knife resting on your neck," Fu Xuan said, "Anyway, if it is really a battle against Yan soldiers, it is just to watch them kill each other and change the way of death. With these uses, the big deal is to save one's life now, and in the future when they conquer Yandi, they can be killed."

Sha Lihu pursed his lips and said: "Since the lord wants me to manage the military affairs here, the main army will fight there..."

"For the time being, the lonely king sent Wuma to lead the troops to sit in the town." Fu Xuan knew what he was asking, and replied.

Sha Lihu pursed his lips, and said in a firm voice: "The previous incident was a slip of the tongue by the general after drinking, and it was definitely not disrespectful to the lord."

"It's not all because of what happened last time," Fu Xuan glanced at him, and said, "Why? Do you have objections?"

"...Don't dare." Sha Lihu replied.

"Then do your job well," Fu Xuan said with clear eyes, "Anyone who sticks to his internal affairs will never be treated badly by the lonely king. The previous rift between you and Wuma was a private matter between the two of you. If you miss the task, you all think about the consequences."

"The last general takes orders."

Fu Xuan said again: "Podoro Santo's side doesn't know the details of our army here. A few years ago when Zong Zhengxi led the army to defeat Yan in Qiannan County, many of our troops were defeated. After a hasty rest for a year and planning to go to war until now, if it wasn't for the right timing, it would have been a bit hasty after all."

"Therefore, it is of great use to keep those Yan people at this time. Don't treat them harshly, and don't have to please them. It doesn't matter if they are used in future wars. Anyway, those who are willing to surrender at this time are definitely not hard-headed. Anyone who can get a good deal here Fate, the lesson of Hu Qiang massacring the city is ahead, and the Yan people are not stupid."

Sha Lihu listened intently, he already had some calculations in his mind: "The last general will get the order."