In front of the newly established Guancheng on the edge of the Tongguan River, there is a group of people standing there looking at the road to the east, with a look of eagerness.

This group of people is the soldiers of the original Beidao army, and now the military order of the Beidao march has been abolished, and now they are under the command of Li Shenzhi, the king of Yong, the governor of Guannei Province, and a few days ago crossed Henan from Fengling, waiting for the convergence of Yongwang.

Standing in front of the team were several marching commanders such as Qi Ming and Cao Renshi, who originally supervised the army with the name of military envoys, but after returning to Guannei Dao, they did not have a formal title for the time being, and they needed to meet with King Yong before they could obtain a new position.

So this group of people are also quite apprehensive in their hearts, after all, King Yong is a person who can determine their future fate to a certain extent, and the messenger of the road ahead in the early morning entered the customs to tell that King Yong entered the country today, so they all waited outside the gate early, not daring to slack off.

Now that the sun is gradually turning westward, the shadow of Guancheng that is gradually slanting to the east is about to cover them, but there is still no time for King Yong's arrival, and some people can't help but whisper, and they can't help but worry that King Yong may use this to establish his authority.

"Brother Qibi, since you are familiar with His Royal Highness King Yong, can you tell me about His Highness's temperament?"

To the north is the sound of the river rushing, and after listening to it for a long time, it is inevitable that he will be impetuous, Cao Renshi came to Qi Ming's side and asked in a low voice. The others were also very bored, and when they saw these two people together, they all subconsciously leaned over.

Hearing Cao Renshi's question, Qi Biming couldn't help but smile bitterly in his heart, what kind of friendship could he have with King Yong?

During the Yongchang period, when King Yong went out of the pavilion to be sealed, he was still in Shuofang Border Town as a general, and last year there was a period of time for Nanya to work together, but at most it was a nodding friend such as the court meeting, and soon after that, he went out to patrol the border with a single envoy in the capital of the town, and it can be said that there is little intersection between each other.

was in the Daibei Provincial Camp before, in order to reverse his rather bad situation, he had to publicize it like this, and it was rare that the messenger Zhang Jiazhen was alert and helped him cover up. But after all, his friendship with King Yong was so-so, and during this period of time, colleagues often asked each other about this, and he didn't dare to answer rashly.

At this time, when he heard Cao Renshi ask such a question, he just shook his head and waved his hand, and said in a low voice: "It is not appropriate to discuss the main general after all, General Cao still don't embarrass me." ”

Hearing that Qi Mingming was still saying this, everyone, including Cao Renshi, couldn't help but be quite disappointed. Their future is uncertain at the moment, and they have no work to do, and if they do not meet the wishes of the Lord, the prospects will be even more bleak.

But they really don't know much about His Royal Highness King Yong, even if they deeply observe his deeds, they are nothing more than a brave and capable clan. Young people who are proud are often flamboyant and may not be easy to get along with.

Thinking so, there was finally a slight display of military flags in the east, and the generals hurriedly ordered people to go in to check and confirm that it was the people and horses in front of King Yong's march. After hearing this, the generals got on their horses, and when they were heading east, they finally heard the thunderous sound of the horses' hooves, and the cavalry galloped forward one after another.

The generals stood on the slope beside the road, and saw that the cavalry team had traveled nearly 2,000 people, and finally saw the Chinese army's Daxu Shuai Banner coming here. They did not dare to enter the front easily, and sent envoys into the army to spread the word, and after more than half an hour, they were finally introduced into the army.

During the march, Li Tong did not wear the exaggerated gilded bright light armor, but only wore a simple round-necked robe covered with a half-length rhino skin light armor.

Seeing that Qi Biming and his party were introduced into the army, Li Tong stopped his horse, and then Qi Biming and his party stepped forward and hugged their fists and saluted: "The last general and others greet the chief manager." ”

"Daozuo speaks!"

Li Tong raised his hand and pointed to the slope on the south side of the road, and broke away from the army that was still moving forward surrounded by his own guards.

Although there is still more than an hour before dark, the army has 5,000 men and horses and carries more than ten miles on this road close to the Yellow River, and it is not to be delayed if it wants to completely enter Tongguan before dark. That is to say, the inland march is still about the city to take refuge, if it is patrolling the distance, at this moment the army already needs to find a place to stay, camp and set up a stove.

"I've been waiting for a long time, I'm in charge of the new army, and I'm unfamiliar with the personnel, so let's introduce the generals to the front."

After climbing the left slope of the road, Li Tong dismounted and said to everyone while moving his waist and hips, which had been bumpy and a little sore and paralyzed after a long ride.

He has memorized the qualifications of the generals, but he still can't recognize people in person, after all, there are hundreds or even nearly a thousand famous generals inside and outside the court, and he has not controlled the military in depth before, so there are not many people who can know and be familiar with it.

Seeing that His Royal Highness King Yong's tone of speech was gentle, everyone was secretly relieved in their hearts, and began to make their own statements. Li Tong nodded in response while listening to everyone's introduction.

There were eleven generals who came to greet them, and three of them were military envoys from the nearby prefectures, Shangzhou, and Huazhou. This is another temporary new envoy position, summoning the soldiers of the prefecture and recruiting athletes to join the army. The remaining eight were all marching commanders of the Far Northern Dao.

There were more than 60,000 troops in the north of the province, 50,000 in the south, and the imperial court summoned 20,000 to serve as guards in the divine capital, and the rest were basically wrapped up by Li Tong and placed under the control of his Guannei Dao.

As for the generals who led the army, they were basically divided into two parts, one part served as the general of the Praetorian Guard, and the other part was left to Li Tong. On behalf of the North Road march, there were eighteen road managers, and aside from a full number of Wu Youyi, there were as many as eight people standing in front of Li Tong at the moment.

In this way, in terms of the competitiveness of senior talents, he can actually be equal to the imperial court.

Of course, Li Tong also understands that there are many reasons why these people stay, some of them are too strong traces of Wu Zhou on their bodies, and they are worried about being liquidated, and some are because the DPRK and China lack assistance and have not been recalled to the court at all.

Qi Ming and Cao Renshi, who were standing at the front of the team, happened to be representatives of these two situations.

Qi Biming's father, Qi Bi He Li, was a famous general in the Zhenguan period, because of his merits, not only married the daughter of the Li Tang clan, but also his son Qi Bi Ming was also awarded the title of Shangzhu State and County Duke in his infancy.

Although Qi Biming is not as meritorious as his father, his life experience basically replicates his father's process, and he has won the trust of the Holy Emperor Wu Zetian. Among the generals, the honors and favors obtained are also among the best.

It's just that Prime Minister Li Zhaode has never been very interested in the generals, and after defeating Wu Chenghei and ascending to the throne, he sent Qi Ming from the general of the Southern Ya to the town guard of Monan. Now Li Zhaode's power is even more dominant, and even if Qi Mingming returns to the dynasty, he has no good fruit to eat, so he simply stays in the army to take refuge in King Yong.

As for the other Cao Renshi, although he was also born in the general's family, his family background is not high, and he is not in the original noble circle, and he is a cold general who was promoted after the Holy Emperor Wu Zetian became a country. Previously, when the imperial court was discussing the summoning of the generals of the Northern Province into the court, his name was not mentioned at all, after all, there were talents in the court who were good officials.

When Cao Renshi introduced himself before entering, he did not forget to add: "The last general served as a general in the old year, and he was fortunate to follow the late Qinghe Gong into the Dingjiang Jiangnan Thief Rebellion, and now he is listed in the shogunate, and he should be the chief manager and serve the dogs and horses again!" ”

When Li Tong heard this, he couldn't help but look at him twice, his mother-in-law, Fang Xianzhong, the father of the Fang family, was the old prince of Qinghe County, and during the reign of Gaozong, he served as the governor of Yangzhou and was responsible for quelling the rebellion in Jiangnan. But this is all an old thing from decades ago, and it is difficult for this Cao Renshi to remember such an old thing.

So he also smiled and said: "The general is famous and heroic, and I have also heard of the heroic deeds, and now the house is divided, and I hope to create a hero!" ”

Li Tong didn't know about the involvement of these clues, but he knew that Cao Renshi had followed Qiu Shenqian to Bozhou to quell the rebellion of the Li Tang clan. But the so-called stretching out his hand and not hitting the smiling person, since this Cao Renshi is willing to ponder it with his heart, there is no need to talk about these old things again, and he will stay under his command for the time being and watch his follow.

Hearing King Yong's tone of approval, Cao Renshi also had a smile on his face, and he retreated into the team with a little complacency.

Qi Bi, who had already reported to his family first, saw him like this, and couldn't help but have a secret grudge in his heart, you old boy sold a good relationship as soon as they met and didn't inform me, in vain I still regarded you as a good brother who shared blessings and misfortunes! If you can have a relationship with King Yong, am I bad? My father-in-law is still rebelling with King Yong and his son!

However, after that, the generals stepped forward one after another, and Qi Biming was not good to come forward to add, but he bowed his head and slandered Cao Renshi for not being righteous.

This time I met with the generals, although the occasion was a little simple, but the atmosphere was still good. At least there is no guy who is not long-sighted, and he thinks that King Yong is not more important, and he wants to show off his old qualifications, and his attitude is also respectful.

There are also many people like Cao Renshi who have a hard relationship with King Yong, after all, the circle of elites in the Tang Dynasty is so big, although Li Tong himself is still shallow in the world, but he has a lot of old people, as long as he ponders carefully, he can more or less have a little to do with King Yong's family.

Of course, the relationship is only an opportunity for future exchanges, which is nothing more than an expression of a convincing attitude, but it is not enough to affect Li Tong's personnel arrangements in the future. At present, these people, he is basically still in the investigation stage, and how to use them next still needs to be considered.

After meeting each other, the group got on the horse again, hugged His Royal Highness King Yong, and went straight to Tongguan Guancheng. Along the way, Li Tong was also talking with the generals, wanting to hear their views and strategies on the Xijing rebellion, which was also part of the investigation.

If he lacks his own opinions, or if the attitude he expresses is contrary to him, then there is no need to reuse it, first give a cold bench to sit on, and wait until he has completely taken over the original Northern Provincial Army, and then find an opportunity to kick out of the team.

While speaking, the group had arrived in front of Tongguan Pass, and Li Tong waved his hand to refuse the proposal to enter the customs to rest, but was ready to inspect the Tongguan Pass on the spot. Next, whether it is closing the door to fight dogs, cleaning up the nobles of Guanlong, or running Guanzhong, and fighting against the imperial court, Tongguan is the top priority.