turmoil

When Ding Ru'an walked into the camp, Yang Fan was sitting on the leather mattress wiping his knife.Hearing the sound of footsteps, he didn't raise his head, but slightly raised his eyes.

Ding Ru'an bit the bullet and stepped forward: "Caomin has seen Lord Hou."

Yang Fan put the knife back into the sheath, and the blade and the scabbard rubbed against each other, making a clear whistling sound: "I heard from Jiu Si that he was able to escape this time because Mr. Ding took care of him... This kindness, I have recorded it. .”

Ding Ru'an didn't dare to let Marquis Dingbian owe you favors, he hurriedly said: "Your Majesty is serious...General Zhuo is a good general of our dynasty, since I am a member of Zhongyuan, I should do my best."

Yang Fan looked at him meaningfully: "Mr. Ding's deep understanding of righteousness is really admirable... But I don't understand that the military salary of [-] elite soldiers in the Northwest Camp is not a small amount. Where did Mr. Ding come from? Can you support the rations of fifty thousand troops?"

Ding Ru'an opened his mouth to speak, but was blocked by Yang Fan: "Or, who is the master behind Mr. Ding, whose wealth is actually richer than my treasury?"

Ding Ru'an was silent for a moment, and said seriously: "Master Hou, you don't have to be afraid of me, I have never been your enemy."

Yang Fan snorted: "This Marquis naturally knows, otherwise you think I can speak politely to you now?"

Ding Ru'an: "..."

Do you dare to be so aggressive, or is it the result of being too polite?

Ding Ru'an refused to reveal the person in charge behind him. For the sake of his hard work in supplying food and grass for so many years, Yang Fan didn't make things difficult for him, but just detained him forcibly. Stay for a few days" posture.

Although Ding Ru'an is smart and cunning, but the Western Regions is Dingbianhou's home game, his little cleverness is vulnerable to absolute power, so he can only be wronged and admit cowardly.

The Persian princess was very happy. She and Ding Ru'an had a good friendship, and they rode the elephant together all the way, muttering something.When talking about interesting things, there was a "giggle" laughter in the pavilion, which echoed in the sandy wind, making it extraordinarily crisp.

Yang Fan wondered secretly, and called Zhuo Jiusi to his side: "What is the origin of this Ding Ru'an? It doesn't matter if he is rich, but he actually has friendship with the Persian mission? How can such a method and such a family background be a commoner?"

Zhuo Jiusi was also puzzled: "To tell you the truth, the commander-in-chief, this subordinate has tried several times along the way, but he always distracted him... This Mr. Ding claims to be a commoner, but in fact he is unfathomable, and he really can't see it." What is the origin of it. But the subordinates think that he is a friend rather than an enemy, at least he has no malice towards Da Yin."

Of course Yang Fan could see this, otherwise he wouldn't have allowed Ding Ru'an to circle around the Persian princess: "This person's origin is unknown, and his thoughts are deep. I don't feel at ease if I don't find out the power behind him... By the way , according to what you said, this Persian princess came to the Central Plains to get married. Although the children of the desert are not so poor, it is not a problem to ride in the same car with a foreign man. Let people watch it and don't make any trouble. The rumors about it will not tarnish the reputation of the princess."

Yang Fan's words were tactful, but Zhuo Jiusi understood that his commander-in-chief was worried that Ding Ru'an would use the shield of the Persian princess to make trouble and make them keep a close eye on him.

He understood: "Yes, this subordinate takes orders."

Yang Fan had already planned ahead, but Ding Ru'an was really cunning, after setting up camp that day, he was called into the account by the Persian princess, and they chatted for half an hour.After dinner, Zhuo Jiusi searched all over the tent but did not see anyone else, so he suddenly had a bad feeling, when he asked Dingbian Marquis to break into the princess' tent under the name of "capturing the assassin", Where is the shadow of Ding Ru'an?

It was the first time in Dingbianhou's [-]-year career that someone slipped away. He was furious for a while, and when he looked down, he saw the Persian princess blinking blankly and innocently with her big lake-blue eyes. .

Yang Fan was full of depression and had nowhere to go, so he had to move out of the camp.

Zhuo Jiusi knew that it was not good for him, so he personally ordered a team of scouts to ask Yang Fan for orders: "Commander, there are deserts around here, that kid can't run very far, let me go after him, and I promise to catch him whole. "

Yang Fan frowned, and said after a while: "Forget it."

Zhuo Jiusi thought he heard it wrong: "What?"

"This place is not the border of the Central Plains after all. In order to avoid long nights and dreams, it is better to rush back to the Northwest camp as soon as possible," Yang Fan said in a deep voice, "As for this Ding Ru'an..."

His voice paused meaningfully, and he didn't continue his preface for a while, Zhuo Jiusi couldn't help but look at him inexplicably: "Commander, what's wrong with this Ding Ru'an?"

With one hand behind his back, Yang Fan repeatedly played with an object. It was not a weapon, but a folding fan.Dingbianhou hesitated, not because he had any scruples, but because the idea was so absurd that he couldn't even say it himself.

Yang Fan has a strange intuition, he feels a certain familiar temperament in Ding Ru'an, this unrestrained, unrestrained style, really resembles an old friend.However, after careful study, the two people have no similarities from appearance to conversation, Yang Fan is puzzled, and can only attribute it to himself thinking too much.

The group traveled for another half a day, and finally returned to the border of the Central Plains. Yang Fan ordered Zhuo Jiusi to escort the Persian mission to continue eastward, and then sent a fast horse to Shaanxi Chief Si to deal with the matter, and he himself returned to Northwest University with his own soldiers. camp.

Liang Yi, the general of Hou's family, was waiting at the door of the commander's tent early in the morning. When he saw Yang Fan come back in full, he immediately breathed a sigh of relief: "Master Hou, you can be counted as back... have you received General Zhuo?"

Yang Fan let out a "hmm", and while returning to the tent, he briefly talked about everything on the way.Unexpectedly, when she turned her head, she saw Liang Yi who seemed to be listening but not listening, with pimples between her brows and a sad expression on her face.

Yang Fan paused slightly: "What happened?"

Liang Yi hesitated to speak: "Marshal...the court has come."

Yang Fan narrowed his eyes slightly, his gaze was as sharp as a knife's edge.

Now it is the season of shortage, and a new batch of military rations has been sent to the Northwest Camp.When the people came from Beijing, the Marquis of Dingbian was not there, and it was Liang Yi who took the army chief book to count the amount of rations.This inventory points out the problem.

The escort of the military rations was a favored eunuch in the palace, Liang Yi did not dare to be presumptuous, so he invited them to the camp to rest, and while checking the quality of the military rations, he waited for the return of Marquis Dingbian.When the sack was opened and the rations inside poured out, everyone was stunned.

I saw that [-]% to [-]% of the bag of grain was moldy or rotten rice, sometimes mixed with stones and gravel, and only one-tenth of it was edible.

Yang Fan squatted down, stretched out his hand to grab a few handfuls in the grain bag, his face was gloomy and uncertain.Anyone who is familiar with him knows that this is a precursor to Dingbianhou's intention to kill someone.

After a long while, Yang Fan said coldly: "Where is the eunuch who is escorting the army rations? With such great ability, please come and ask me to meet you."

The military eunuch named Chao Xing, like Yue Zhao, came from the East Palace and is deeply trusted today.Hearing that the Marquis of Dingbian had invited him, he deliberately arranged his appearance and put on the clothes of a fourth-rank eunuch, and then rushed there unhurriedly: "Your Majesty summoned me, what orders do you have?"

Before he finished speaking, a handful of rotten rice beans hit his face, causing his face to hurt.Chao Xing has been with Donggong since he was a child, even the princes of the outer dynasty have to be polite, how has he ever suffered such a disadvantage?He wiped his face with his hands, and immediately said angrily: "What are you doing, Lord Hou..."

His voice stopped abruptly, and he lowered his head in disbelief, only to see Dingbianhou's blade unsheathed, hanging on his neck in a cold manner.

Chao Xing swallowed slightly, and said stiffly: "Master Hou..."

Yang Fan looked at him coldly: "Is this the military ration you sent?"

Chao Xing only felt that his throat was astringent. At that moment, he had no doubt that Hou Dingbian was really murderous.

There was a problem with the military rations, Chao Xing knew it well, but he didn't expect the officials in the court to be so dark-hearted, seventy-eight out of ten of a bag of rice were rotten.Seeing that Marquis Dingbian's anger was directed at him alone, he complained incessantly, and hurriedly argued: "Master Hou, forgive me... our family is just an errand runner, how can we understand this? This is what the adults in Beijing mean. Your lords said that there were disasters in various places last year, and the food stocks were limited, so they had to be used for disaster relief. They also said that Lord Hou has always understood righteousness, and loves the people like a son, so if you think about it... If you think about it, you won’t take it to heart.”

Yang Fan sneered: "You mean, if this Marquis doesn't eat these moldy rice and rotten noodles, he doesn't care about people's livelihood?"

Chao Xing shut up silently.

Yang Fan raised his eyebrows, and was about to explode, Liang Yi suddenly took a step forward and said in a low voice, "Master Hou, he is the person by my side today."

Yang Fan paused and narrowed his eyes slightly.

There is a saying that it depends on the owner to beat a dog. Chao Xing came here at the emperor's order, which represents the present day.Yang Fan can punish him, but he can't kill him, otherwise he will be despising the imperial power, and the situation of the already struggling Northwest camp will be even more difficult.

Thinking of this, Dingbianhou's face turned cold, and he looked at Chao Xing's unkindness: "Let me Northwest soldiers eat these? Is it possible that all the adults in the capital are human beings, and my Northwest son is an animal? That's right, these things, animals don’t even eat animals!”

Chao Xing was even more afraid to make a sound, his knees softened, and he knelt down on the ground, desperately saying: "Master Hou, forgive me... forgive me!"

Yang Fan was still angry, and shouted coldly: "Come here! Give me the military rations in your pocket and stuff him into his mouth. If he can finish eating, I will spare his dog's life!"

The guards on both sides were aggrieved for many days, eager for the sound, they immediately grabbed Chao Xing's collar and stuffed handfuls of rotten rice noodles into it.Chao Xing's begging for mercy was blocked back, and he coughed, Yang Fan didn't bother to look at his dirty face, turned and walked out.

Liang Yi followed quickly, only to hear Marquis Dingbian grit his teeth and said: "The heads of households who accompanied the army this time were all beheaded, and the heads were brought back to Beijing by the eunuch, so that those who eat the emperor's rations and do not handle personnel affairs will know. This Marquis is not so easy to talk to!"

Liang Yi instinctively felt that something was wrong, but seeing that his Lord Hou was furious, he knew he couldn't persuade him, so he said: "Yes, this subordinate understands."

It was easy to punish the officials who exchanged military rations, but Beijing and Central were far away from the northwest road, and the transportation of rations and salaries was particularly difficult. How to feed the stomachs of [-] troops became a big problem.Since Yang Fan was stationed at the border, almost all the properties of the Beijing Zhonghou Mansion have been built in. The huge Dingbian Hou Mansion looks magnificent, but in fact it is only an empty shell.

Yang Fan walked around in the handsome tent twice, pondered: "No way! There are too many people in the court who don't handle personnel affairs, so it's not a problem to do this and wait, we still have to think of other ways."

Liang Yi has been thinking about this issue for the past few days, and finally got some clues, so he said: "This subordinate has an idea."

Yang Fan looked up at him.

Liang Yidao: "Master Hou wanted to come and heard that in the past two years, Qidal in the north has opened a small market, and gathered a lot of Hu merchants. Some Central Plains merchants who are not afraid of death will transport some goods and secretly go there to buy and sell."

Yang Fan knew about the small mutual market in Qidal - the location of this place was subtle, just at the junction of the Central Plains, Huihe, and Beile.

Although the commercial roads in the Western Regions were open, the taxes were not low, and many high-priced goods were listed as prohibited items. The quick-witted traders tried to "take advantage of the loopholes" and try to avoid the court's eyes and ears, and set up another mutual market.

Marquis Dingbian had long wanted to find out the details of this mutual market, but he had too many things at hand, and he got stuck. If Liang Yi hadn't woken him up with a word, he wouldn't have thought of it.

"You mean... go to the exchange market to exchange some food, how long can it last?" Yang Fan pondered, "It's also a way, but the food exchanged is limited after all, and it can only be used for a short-term emergency. It will take a long time. , I'm afraid it's..."

Before he finished speaking, Liang Yi looked around, and said in a low voice: "These grain merchants are behind the back of the imperial court, transporting life-saving rations to sell, with such people, why are you being polite?"

Yang Fan suddenly woke up.

"You're right, but Ben Hou wanted to go wrong!" Yang Fan smashed his palm with his fist, "Yes, what reason should I tell them? Just lead someone to smash the shop and bring him back. If he is willing to understand, Ben The Hou will let them go, if they don't know each other, I don't have anything to worry about, just kill them on the spot!"

Liang Yi: "..."

His original plan was to let Marquis Dingbian spy on those smugglers, and then use the excuse to negotiate terms with them.Unexpectedly, Marquis Dingbian was so cruel, he didn't even talk about the conditions, and he directly wanted to make it happen, it seemed that Liang Yi's cautiousness was very petty.

General Liang was ashamed for a moment, and decided to follow the example of his own master Hou, and practice this "skinless and shameless" homework.

Liang Yi's original intention was to bring someone there by himself, but Yang Fan rejected this proposal.He ordered a group of soldiers, all of them dressed as merchants, changed their clothes himself, and took the reins from the soldiers: "You stay in the camp, and when Jiu Si comes back, I will personally go find out the details. "

Liang Yi instinctively felt that something was wrong: "Master Hou... the son of a thousand gold can't sit still, your status is precious, how can you take risks alone?"

Yang Fan didn't take it seriously: "This Marquis has been fighting for many years, and he has gone through mountains of swords and blood, so he is afraid of a little Qidal?"

But he thought for a while, and said: "Benhou is one step ahead, when Jiusi comes back, you ask him to dispatch five hundred elite soldiers to meet him."

Liang Yi wanted to persuade him again, but Yang Fan had already whipped his mount, and rushed out like a storm.

Qidal is not very far from the Northwest Camp, only two or three hundred miles away, but the road in the desert is difficult, at most fifty or sixty miles a day, but there is a full five-day delay on the way.

This area is very barren, looking around, the yellow sand is far above the clouds, but Zidal is the pearl favored by the heavens - this is an oasis located in the depths of the desert, the lake reflects the yellow sand and the blue sky, like a desert The shy and smiling eyes of the children.

The Marquis of Dingbian had excellent eyesight, and he could see the lush greenery in the distance when he was twenty or thirty miles away.He breathed a sigh of relief, and was about to call his guards to rest for a while, when he suddenly heard something different in the wind!

In the blink of an eye, Hou Dingbian didn't have time to think about it, he got off his horse, and a half-arm-long crossbow arrow "swished" past his shoulder, nailed into the yellow sand involuntarily, and the tail of the arrow trembled endlessly.

The Marquis of Dingbian has excellent eyesight, and when he was twenty or thirty miles away, he could see the lush greenery in the distance.He breathed a sigh of relief, and was about to call his guards to rest for a while, when he suddenly heard something different in the wind!

In the blink of an eye, Yang Fan didn't have time to think about it, and got off his horse. A half-arm-long crossbow arrow "swish" past his shoulder, nailed into the yellow sand involuntarily, and the tail of the arrow trembled endlessly.

The personal guards immediately rushed forward and guarded the center of Dingbianhou. Yang Fan raised his head coldly, and saw ten feet away, a group of people in white robes took off their disguise and jumped out of the sandpit. The leader had long hair and a veil The cover is covered with bright red patterns embroidered on the corners of the clothes.

"Your Excellency is the Marquis of Dingbian, right?" He put his hands together and bowed as if embracing the full moon, with a cold light shining in his eyes, "Xia Mingli, I have been waiting here for a long time!"