Chapter 19 (II)

After nearly three months of wind and rain, Deng Xun and his entourage have entered Xihai County, after August, the weather has become cooler, and under the high and lonely sky, there are tall white field forests everywhere. The endless grassland, sparkling in the sun, sometimes you will see the Qiang people grazing horses on the grassland, and the loud shouting can be heard clearly from afar.

The peaks in the distance are undulating, and on the way to the green grass, it is like a huge shadow that makes people feel oppressed. There are only white clouds, calm and ethereal, calm and relaxed, coming and going in a hurry, refusing to stop for a moment.

After all, Deng Sui couldn't get rid of the nature of a girl, and when she arrived in the open space outside the Saiwai, the blue sky and white clouds, riding a horse and reins, not only yearning for it, but also began to pester Li Xia to teach her to ride a horse. When he arrived in Xihai County, he was already very skilled.

simply didn't stay in the car, and Zhao Yu and the two of them, galloping wildly, so unhappy. Deng Xun doted on this daughter very much, thinking of the place outside the Saiwai, it was much more convenient to learn to ride a horse, and it was up to her, ** heaven and earth.

It's just that Li Xia suffered, and he always had to follow Deng Sui, for fear that something would happen to this sister, so she did her best and was inseparable.

Deng Sui grabbed the reins of his horse, looked into the distance, and saw a caravan walking slowly. Her delicate skin, in the wind outside, seemed to be condensed, without the slightest trace of sunburn, but her height grew a little, and she looked more upright and slender. In order to practice horseback riding, Deng Xun made her a few Hu clothes early, and now when she wears it, she looks even more heroic, like a peony that is not stained with dust, faintly like a bright flow.

There are more than 30 people in the caravan, all of them are middle-aged men, and the arrival of Deng Sui made the people in the caravan can't help but look at her, the unconcealable brilliance illuminates everyone's eyes, not only stopping. There was only one fifteen or sixteen-year-old young man in Tsing Yi in the caravan, who was very conspicuous. He was also looking at her intently, with a gloomy look between his eyebrows, which made people feel sad and couldn't help but want to resolve the sorrow.

Deng Sui stopped the horse for the sake of the young man. She had long seen his young figure, mixed in the middle of a group of middle-aged people, looking so lonely and lonely. So they got off the horse and walked towards him, Zhao Yu and Li Xia were stunned for a moment, and hurriedly dismounted and followed. The boy raised his eyebrows, and there was a hint of confusion in his clear eyes.

"You are young, but you have traveled a long distance with the caravan, you must have unspeakable pain, this may help you?" As she spoke, she took off a jade bracelet from her snow-white wrist, which was given to her by her father when she was a child, and she had always worn it on her body, but she was willing to take it out and give it to the young man.

The young man was stunned for a moment, and he also knew the preciousness of the bracelet, his face turned red, but he turned his head and said, "Girl, you and I have never known each other, how can you give me such a valuable gift?" ”

Deng Sui smiled faintly, "I sent you to help you, you don't want to follow the caravan, when you return home, your parents are in the hall, how can you be willing to travel far away and never return?" There is a faint sadness in your eyes, it hurts to see people's hearts, there is nothing else on Sui'er, this is what I wore on my body when I was a child, you accept it! ”

"Who wants your stuff? Are you, a young lady from a rich family, playing tricks on me, a child from a poor family? The boy sneered, turned around, packed his things, and got on his horse. An old man in the caravan saw it, grabbed him and said, "Zuo Fei, I think this girl has good intentions, why should you be like this?" ”

The young man named Zuo Fei stopped his horse, glanced at Deng Sui again, and saw that her face was sad, as if she was hurt by herself, and her beautiful eyes seemed to be about to shed tears, and she also felt that she seemed to be a little excessive. got off the horse and saluted Deng Sui and said, "Girl, it's a villain, but I can't accept this jade bracelet." ”

Zhao Yu was like a raging fire, he was already so angry that he gritted his teeth, and shouted, "You kid, why don't you know how to lift, my young lady looks up to you, you still don't appreciate it, are you looking for a fight?" ”

Deng Sui pulled Zhao Yu, "Sister Yu, I was abrupt, and I was really a little reckless." As soon as I saw his grief, I couldn't help but want to help him. She glanced at Zuo Fei again, "Is Zuo Fei?" If you don't accept it, it's okay, why don't you go to my father's side, we will go to Hehuang, you can join the army, and you can also contribute to the country. It's better than a long journey, I don't know when I will come back! ”

The old man sighed, "Zuo Fei, your father is my old friend, and he entrusted me to take care of you brothers and sisters on his deathbed, but I am just a businessman, so I have to pull you into the caravan." Even I don't know if I'll come back alive, but if you have this chance, you can just get out of the sea of suffering, and you can find a chance to find your two younger sisters who were captured by the government! ”

A pool of water welled up in Zuo Fei's eyes, his thin hands grabbed the clothes on his body hard, don't overdo it, and said to the old man for a long time, "Uncle Qin, my nephew knows." Then he respectfully said to Deng Sui, "Girl's great grace, Zuo Fei will never forget." ”

The caravan moved forward slowly, leaving only Zuo Fei and Deng Sui to watch them leave, Zuo Fei wiped the tears on his face, and said softly, "Dare to ask the girl, who Ling Zun is." ”

Deng Sui laughed softly, "My father is Deng Xun, the captain of the Qiang Guard, come with us!" ”

For this kind of thing about his daughter, Deng Xun doesn't seem to be surprised. first took in Zhao Yu and Li Xia, and it is not a big deal to have one more Zuo Fei. It's just that he still asked in detail about Zuo Fei's origin.

It turned out that Zuo Fei's father was the imperial history Zuo Sheng, who was convicted and killed for admonishing the Dou family. At that time, Zuo Sheng had a son and two daughters, and the nursing mother fled with Zuo Fei, and when he arrived at his father's childhood friend, who was doing business in Qinmen City, the eldest daughter Zuo Da'e and the second daughter Zuo Xiao'e were arrested by the government and their whereabouts are unknown. Qinmen City's business in Beijing was also affected, so he had to follow everyone to the Western Regions to do business, while Zuo Fei had to follow him to Saiwai because he was unattended.

Zuo Sheng and Deng Xun are also old acquaintances, Deng Xun sighed and said, "Your father was convicted, you can change your name to Zuo Tianqi, serve around me, if you have military merits, you will be promoted, but now you are young and have no military merits, so you have to be wronged." If I have the opportunity in the future, I will help you inquire about the whereabouts of your two younger sisters, so that I can help you fulfill your wishes. ”

Zuo Fei nodded tearfully, but he was grateful to Deng Sui.

After another half a month, we finally arrived at Hehuang. After settling down, Lu Shanglun, the general of Suibian, came to report that the various Qiang tribes combined, with 40,000 troops, decided to make an appointment to attack Deng Xun together.

Deng Xun called Zhang Ye, the captain of Dongqiang, Wu Kaifang, the general of Zhaolie, and a group of generals to understand the situation.

Mi Wu is the son of Qiang luxury Dian Wu, in the first six years of the establishment, he had raised an army against the Han Dynasty, and Hao Chong, the Taishou of Jincheng, led the army to conscript, but was defeated by the Qiang soldiers. In the third year of Emperor Zhang's reign, Miwu rose up again and led the Qiang people to defect from the fortress.

Mi Wu has a younger brother, named Haowu, quite brave, he does not take the Han border defenders seriously, and leads the army to attack the border of Longxi.

In the third year of Zhanghe, the Qiang people wanted to migrate away, and were chased and killed by Fu Yu, the captain of the Qiang school, as a "traitor", Fu Yu sent 3,000 elite cavalry to pursue, and ambushed the soldiers in the Sandou Valley, but was ambushed by the Qiang people, and Fu Yu and his subordinates were killed 880 people.

The court was horrified when the border commander was killed, and in April, Emperor Zhang ordered that the prisoners in the county-level prison be commuted by one class and assigned to defend Jincheng. In July, Burning Dangqiang attacked Jincheng again, and Emperor Zhang ordered Zhang Xu, the Taishou of Longxi, to be the captain of the Qiang guard, and led an army composed of prisoners to attack and defeat the Qiang soldiers in Mucheng Valley.

Mi Wu said he surrendered, and Zhang Wei accepted. However, at the banquet where Linqiang received Miji, Zhang Wei poisoned Mi Wu with poisoned wine, and ambushed more than 800 Qiang chieftains. Miwu's death caused the anger of the Qiang tribes, who plotted to take revenge, especially after Miwu's son Mi Tang succeeded to the throne, his strength became even stronger. He is in the prime of life, full of energy, and he is the great enemy.

Hearing that the imperial court had sent Deng Xun, the captain of the Qiang school again, his anger was even stronger. The Qiang tribes broke off their former enmity with each other, entered into marriages, exchanged hostages with each other and formed an alliance, and now more than 40,000 people have gathered to cross the Yellow River to attack Deng Xun after it freezes.

Deng Xun listened to everyone's analysis of the situation, pondered for a long time, and asked, "How many troops do we have here?" ”

Zhang Ye replied in a loud voice, "The existing army is about 20,000 people. ”

Deng Xun briefly read the report on the case, and said to everyone, "Deng Xun has loved the art of war since he was a child, and he doesn't like to read, so he wants to make a contribution." At that time, Shanggu Taishou Ren Xing wanted to kill Chisha Wuhuan, Wuhuan held a grudge and wanted to plot a rebellion, and I was ordered by the emperor to lead the soldiers of the Liyang battalion to guard the fox slaves in case Wuhuan rebelled. I did not use military force, but I treated the people of Wuhuan with courtesy, appeased the people on the border, and made the people in the Youzhou area submit to the Han Dynasty. ”

He looked around at everyone, cleared his throat and said, "I am the captain of Wuhuan Colonel, and most of the old subordinates of the Liyang Battalion help the old and the young, and they are happy to move to the frontier with me. When the Xianbei people heard of my fame, they did not dare to approach the border south to the south. ”

He paused for a moment, and then said aloud, "The border people are bitter and bitter in winter, and they can only graze cattle and sheep in summer, and they often migrate in large numbers because of the land of water and grass. If we can love them and influence them with kindness, the Qiang people will have many heroes, and they will turn enemies into friends with us, so that the border will be peaceful and prosperous, so that the court can use fewer soldiers, and can also recuperate, and the country will be rich and the people will be strong. ”

After he finished speaking, seeing that everyone was silent, he said, "I know that you have been in Hehuang for a long time, and you must know more about the situation of the Qiang people than Deng Xun, so let's do it, what I said today is my real idea when I came here, if you have any opinions, go back and think about it, and we will do research tomorrow morning." ”

His eyes looked gloomily at everyone, "Stand down, I've just come here, and I want to learn more about the situation, you must also know my Deng Xun's character, I should be a friend to everyone, but I don't allow everyone to be sorry for the country and sorry for the people." General Lu, you can talk to me about the situation here in detail, and everyone should disperse! ”