At dusk, on the shore of Zhushui in Yongqing County, at the turn of Fangling and Xiangyang, a mighty army was encamping. This is exactly the Guanlong nobles who were called rebels by the Li Tang court, although not all the family's armies participated, but most of the Guanlong nobles couldn't bear Li Yuan's peeling exploitation, if people saw hope, it was just that, but the Li Tang court headed by Li Yuan was like a dying old man, gloomy, from Li Yuan below, Li Tang monarchs and ministers seemed to have nothing commendable except for fighting for power and profit, so when Li Yuan rebelled and threatened their fundamental interests, Many veteran Guanlong nobles still responded to the call of the Dugu clan and sent private troops in the clan; They sent troops on the 'Qing Jun's side' this time, firstly, they hoped that Li Yuan would change his original intentions, admit his original promises, and admit the private affairs of each family; secondly, they also hoped that Yang Tong would see the sincerity of the Guanlong nobles, and whether they could succeed or not, at least they sent troops this time, which brought great trouble to Li Yuan and created an opportunity for Yang Tong to send troops.

This is a well-equipped and well-trained elite army, except for the absence of tall river meandering war horses, exactly the same as the previous Xiaoguo army, with horizontal knives and war lances made of fine iron, extremely strong Mingguang armor, eagle helmets that resist most crossbow arrows, and especially generous treatment and post-war pensions, so that the soldiers are willing to fight generously for their masters.

Their equipment and treatment were completely incomparable to the Tang army, and because of this, Li Yuan was very jealous of this army that was not under the control of the imperial court, for fear that they would stab him from the inside when the war was at a stalemate. But at the same time, he was also extremely red for this army.

If the head of the Guanlong aristocratic family had not collectively visited Fang Xuanling, who had sent an envoy to Xiangyang, if there had not been a letter from Dugu to betray him, Li Yuan would have been able to tolerate this army and the Guanlong nobles for the sake of internal stability.

But with the decline of the Tang Dynasty and the collapse of the Wei Dynasty, the Sui Dynasty was in full swing and arrogant, and the various families of the Guanlong nobles were ready to move, and the Dugu clan had already betrayed the Tang Dynasty a few years earlier, which made Li Yuan especially cold and afraid; If the Sui army comes to the city, then it will have to be?

Therefore, for the sake of his own rule and the survival of the Li clan, Li Yuan decided to eradicate their army before the Guanlong nobles betrayed and solve his biggest confidant. Only in this way can he defend Yizhou, otherwise, no matter how steep the rivers and mountains are, they will be conquered by the Sui Dynasty from the inside, and when Li Tang entered the Guanzhong, wasn't it opened by the Guanlong nobles from the inside? But now that the Guanlong nobles are planning to open the door from the inside and let the Sui army, which they had opposed in the past, enter the country, Li Yuan will definitely not allow this kind of thing to happen.

The army composed of the private tribes of the Guanlong nobles was originally only in the early 30,000s, but as they opened up from the top, the armies of some families joined along the way, and it has grown to more than 38,000 people.

Initially, most people suggested naming it after the Guanlong Coalition Army, but Dugu Yanyun did not agree, he felt that the Guanlong aristocracy had developed so far, and it was almost to the point where everyone shouted and beaten, and it was not an exaggeration to call it a notorious traitor, and erecting the banner of the Guanlong Coalition Army would only make people disgusted and disgusted; On the other hand, their name is 'Qing Jun Side, Eliminate Traitors, Zheng Chaogang', in fact, they are anti-Tang and Sui, and the 'Guanlong Alliance' will make Yang Tong think of the old things about their welcoming Li Yuan into Guanzhong, and there will be a thorn in his heart, this name will affect everyone's survival in the future, so there is no harm to all kinds.

The 'Beizhen Army' is different, because the Guanlong Group originated from the 'Six Towns of the Northern Wei Dynasty'.

As early as the Northern Wei Dynasty, Emperor Daowu Tuoba Jue set the capital in Pingcheng. In the grasslands north of Yinshan Mountain, there is the existence of the powerful nomadic people of Rouran. Whenever the Northern Wei army went south to fight, the Rouran cavalry would invade the northern border of the Northern Wei Dynasty, and the national capital Pingcheng was often threatened. In view of this, Emperor Daowu focused on moving defense, Sheng Jian was pro-virtuous, and supported the town. As a result, the border towns of the Northern Wei Dynasty began to take shape, and they were collectively called "North Town" at that time.

After Emperor Daowu's grandson Tuoba Tao succeeded to the throne, more than 100,000 people from the five prefectures of Tiaoliang, Si, You, Ding, and Hebei built large-scale border defense projects in the area of Shanggu in the east and the ancient city of Hanshuo in the west.

The status of "Six Towns" was thus established.

From west to east, it is Fertile Field, Huaishuo, Wuchuan, Fuming, Rouxuan, Huaihuang, these six military towns mainly defend against the invasion of Rouran in the north, and defend the country and Pingcheng. The generals of the six towns were served by Xianbei nobles and Liangzhou warriors, and the garrison soldiers were mainly Xianbei people, and there were also "sons of Qiangzong" from the Central Plains. The six military groups evolved from the "Six Towns" are the prototype of the Guanlong aristocracy.

Later, the Northern Wei Dynasty was divided into the Eastern Wei Dynasty and the Western Wei Dynasty, and the "Six Towns of the Northern Wei Dynasty" were not lonely and lonely, but took advantage of the situation to launch a mutiny, stealing the supreme power of the imperial court, making the Northern Wei Emperor their puppet, and then the famous "Twenty-four Generals of the Eight Pillars" appeared, which laid the glory of the Guanlong nobles for hundreds of years, and single-handedly created the Western Wei, Northern Zhou, Sui, and Tang dynasties. This is also a unique glorious miracle in history, Yang Dong's ancestors ordered to create the Western Wei Dynasty, the Northern Zhou Dynasty, Yang Jian and the country called Sui, it can be said that the "Northern Wei Dynasty North Town", "Northern Wei Six Towns" is also the glory of the Yang ancestors, Yang Tong has no reason to deny this glorious deeds with the participation of his ancestors. Even if their 'Beizhen Army' did not arouse Yang Dong's remembrance of the glory of his ancestors, at least, they would not be disgusted and rejected as much as they did with the Guanlong nobles. At the same time, it shows the good wish for the Great Sui 'Yongzhen North'. It can be said that Dugu Yanyun has put a lot of thought into naming.

But what Dugu Maehiko didn't know was that when he erected the banner of the 'Beizhen Army', this army implied the concept of self-reliance, and when the generals kept saying 'I Beizhen Army', the beliefs of the soldiers changed imperceptibly, and the soldiers' allegiance seemed to have shifted from the Guanlong nobles to the 'Beizhen Army'.

Dugu Yanyun is in his thirties, he was the youngest son of Dugu Kai, but because his uncle Dugu Sheng and his cousin swore to defend Emperor Wu of Sui in Jiangdu, the father, son, uncle and nephew all died heroically, because they caused great trouble to Yu Culture and the occupation of Jiangdu City and Jiangdu Palace, after the coup d'état, the family was tragically liquidated by Yu Culture, none of them could escape, Dugu Sheng's vein has been extinct since then, Dugu Yanyun and his brother Dugu Qingyun discussed, he succeeded the past and became Dugu Sheng's servant.

Later, Yang Dong's career was booming, and the Li Tang Dynasty was in a miasma because of Li Yuan's father and son's struggle for power, and the government and the opposition were in a miasma, and Dugu, who was deeply worried, decided to renew the relationship with the Sui Dynasty for the survival and development of the family, but Yang Tong at that time directly denounced the Guanlong nobles as the largest anti-thief gang in the Great Sui, and his position was extremely firm, and he would never compromise with the Guanlong nobles. Dugu Cheng made a fuss about the dead Dugu Sheng, and he asked Dugu Cheng to take Dugu Qingyun and Dugu Yanyun Yecheng Heroes and Martyrs Cemetery to worship Dugu Sheng's clothes and mounds.

This time, Yang Tong can't admit it. After all, the children of loyal ministers and martyrs worship their fathers and uncles with great fanfare, and everyone in the world is watching his Yang Dong's reaction, if he does not reward him, it will chill the hearts of loyal ministers and good generals. Yang Dong knew that this was Dugu's idea, but this was a shameless conspiracy, and he had to admit it. In desperation, Yang Tong had no choice but to meet the two brothers, and let Dugu Qingyun inherit his father Dugu Kai Runan County Duke, Dugu Yanyun inherited Dugu Sheng's Duke of Ji Guo, and was demoted to Hexi County Duke according to the system.

As a result, the two brothers became courtiers of the Sui Dynasty, and Dugu Quan, who wished, let them leave the Dugu clan and set up their own families, and they were not allowed to be generals in the Tang Dynasty; And their brother himself didn't want his father and brother's name to be tarnished, so they lost their talents, but they never had Shi Tang, and lived a quiet life with the vain title of Sui Dynasty.

The Dugu clan is now in the realm of life and death, and Dugu Cheng, who succeeds to the position of head of the family, uses the two chess pieces left by his uncle. If they succeed in opposing the Tang Dynasty, they will be the heroes of the Sui Dynasty, and they can take care of the Dugu clan and let the Dugu clan inherit and continue; If it fails, the Dugu clan can also clear up the relationship and stay out of the matter, so that Li Yuan has no way to punish him.

The camp was set up.

Dugu Yanyun summoned his generals to the big tent of the Chinese army to discuss matters, and his subordinates were all protégés sent by the Guanlong nobles to lead the soldiers and horses of their own clan.

The heads of the families first decided to force the palace to force Li Yuan to promise not to fight the private armies and fields of the various families, which was the consensus reached by the families a long time ago, and they all thought that they had not yet reached the point of rebellion, but just wanted to give Li Yuan a little color, in short, to demonstrate to Li Yuan, so that he knew that the nobles of Guanlong were not fish and meat to be slaughtered. The consensus of the heads of the family is that Dugu Yanyun can do very little.

And now it's even harder. Because their family heads and clansmen fell into the hands of the imperial court, these people did not dare to occupy a place to stand on their own, nor did they dare to capture a certain section of the Hanshui defense line, let alone let the Sui army enter the country, and even the county soldiers and ordinary people did not dare to harm them. So far, they have found that they can do nothing, what they dare not do.

But the Tang army around them didn't have the slightest concern, once there was a good chance of victory, they would tear them to pieces. This extremely passive situation makes everyone at a loss. In the end, he decided to march into Xiangyang and force Li Yuan to release the head of the family and his clansmen, but what about after arriving in Xiangyang? They found that they could not do anything but demonstrate.

In the face of this unfavorable situation, everyone felt that their brains hurt, and they were so depressed that they almost went crazy. In the final analysis, the problem still appears in the leader of Dugu Cheng, they were originally in the dark, Li Yuan is in the light, if the families are allowed to secretly leave Xiangyang in batches, everything will suddenly become clear, whether it is to attack the city and capture the land, or to cut the land to stand on their own, and Li Yuan is afraid that they will directly surrender to the Sui Dynasty and let the Sui army enter, so he can only ask for their share.

It is precisely because of Dugu Cheng's head and rat that he has no foresight that the good situation has become so complicated and passive.

"General." A soldier opened the curtain and said, "There are dozens of village elders clamoring to see the general. ”

"Fellow?" Dugu Yanyun was puzzled: "What did they do when they saw me?" ”

The guard smiled bitterly: "I don't know about my humble position, they must see you before they can say it." ”

Dugu Yanyun groaned, "Let them in." ”

"Whoa."

The guards went out and welcomed in a group of gray-haired old men, red-faced, and well-dressed, who were obviously well-known in the area.

An old man said: "General, Jing Xiang has finally improved slightly, but the general is going to be ruined. The general might as well kill us if he really wanted to do so. ”

The generals led by Dugu Yanyun were stunned, and looked at each other for a long time, before Dugu Yanyun frowned and said: "We have marched from Shangyong to here, and we have not committed any crimes all the way, and there are no lives at all. We don't have to bear this heinous sin of the elderly. ”

"It turned out that the general was planning to overthrow the Tang Emperor and establish himself as the emperor, which was disrespectful." An old man said.

When the generals heard this, they only felt that their heads were full of black lines, and Dugu Yanyun smiled bitterly: "There is no such thing, the elders have misunderstood." ”

"Why did the general send troops here?"

"Elders. We are neither going to kill or to be anti-Tang. Dugu Yanyun knew what they were worried about, so he explained: "The reason why the troops were sent was because the Holy Lord favored the traitorous king Li Yuanji, and favored the traitorous ministers Pei Lian, Xiao Yu, Chen Shuda, Han Zhi, and Feng Lun. The indiscriminate killing of good ministers has caused the people of Xiangyang to be in dire straits, and now the social crisis is in crisis. We don't want the Tang Dynasty to be ruined like this, so we admonished the saint and asked him to get rid of the traitors and the dynasty, so that the Tang Dynasty court could embark on the right path of reusing loyalty and caring for the people. The purpose of our troops is for the good of the court and the local people, how can we harm innocent people? ”

Pei Lian, Xiao Yu, Chen Shuda, Feng Lun and others were the figures introduced by Li Yuan to balance the court, but the heads of the Guanlong nobles thought that these people had taken away the power that should have belonged to them, so they classified the Guanlong nobles into the ranks of traitors.

Dozens of old men glanced at each other, and an elderly man arched his hand and said: "Having said that, but when the war is fought together, there will be victory and defeat, and there will be deserters, and the deserters will definitely cause disaster to the village, what should we ordinary people do when the time comes?" ”

Dugu Yanyun endured the displeasure in his heart, and said patiently: "We haven't fought a battle so far, and the military rations are also our own, and we haven't hurt a single person or robbed you of a single piece of food." The Sui army, which is known as a teacher of benevolence and righteousness and a teacher of civilization, is nothing more than that. What else do you want us to do? ”

"I hope that the general will promise in writing that the army will not destroy crops, break into people's houses, or rob grain, let alone kill innocent people indiscriminately." The old man said.

When the generals heard this, they frowned.

This requirement is no longer a matter of signing a contract, but has a bearing on the dignity and face of the 'Beizhen Army' and the morale of the officers and men of the whole army. They are already in an extremely disadvantageous passive situation, it is not too much to say that they are walking on thin ice, if they are forced to sign by a group of old men, the morale of the Beizhen Army will definitely plummet, how can they face the Tang Army in all directions?

"The elders are too much, and this is purely difficult for the strong." Dugu Yanyun was furious in his heart, but he couldn't kill this group of old men who didn't know how to advance or retreat, hoping that they would retreat in the face of difficulties, and said coldly: "Your request not to destroy crops, not to break into people's houses, not to rob food, and not to kill innocents indiscriminately is nothing more than 'not disturbing the people', this is actually the original intention of our Beizhen Army, I can promise you, even if the war breaks out, we will restrain military discipline and will not do anything to indiscriminately kill innocents and disturb the people, but there is absolutely no written promise." ”

"Don't you even agree to this request?" The old man said disappointedly.

Seeing that Dugu Yanli couldn't bear it, Sima Yu Qinming of the left marching army took over the conversation: "Elders, if the soldiers of our army are really the same as the soldiers of the man-eating demon king Zhu Cang, do the elders think that a promise is valid?" ”

"This ......" the cannibal demon king Zhu Cang has done all the bad things, and even eats people, his promise is no different from farting, so Yu Qinming's words made dozens of old people collectively dumbfounded, unable to respond.

Yu Qinming continued: "You elders don't understand military affairs, and you don't know that this promise is related to the morale of our soldiers and the victory or defeat of our army, so naturally you can't write it. We can only say that we will see people's hearts for a long time, so please go back. ”

When the old men left, the general said, "These people are too much. ”

Yu Qinming shook his head, "They are extremely afraid of the protracted war. The request is nothing more than food and family reunion, and this requirement is actually very simple, and it is not too much at all. ”

Dugu Yanyun sighed: "We are already walking on thin ice, if we offend the local people, we will be enemies on all sides." Everyone must restrain the army. ”

"Whoa." The generals responded with a heavy heart.

…………

However, after the local old people left the barracks, they looked at the respected old man together, and someone asked: "Elder Liu, how can this promise be related to the morale of the army, what do they mean?" ”

Liu Lao thought for a moment with a sad face, shook his head and said, "I don't understand military affairs, and I can't understand the relationship between the promise and the army. However, they did not give us even the simplest written promise, and said that written promises could not bind the army...... I think what they mean is that everything is easy to say about success. If the military advice fails, then ignore it. Under normal circumstances, the army after the defeat will rob the army in order to improve the morale of the army and unite the army, Lu Mingyue, Zhu Cang, and Wang Shichong have all done this kind of thing... Probably they would. ”

Everyone was shocked: "Then what should we do?" ”

Liu Lao said: "Before the war, every general thought that he would win, and he thought that he could become the master of one side, in order to stabilize the place in the future, he regarded the people as his own people before the war, and if he won, he would indeed be better to the people." But if it fails, it will run away. We cannot pin our hopes on these generals. ”

"Liu Lao is right, since ancient times, it is always a big mistake to be careful. We cannot pin our hopes for life on these armies that have become bandits in the blink of an eye. ”

"We immediately went back to the village, asked the villagers to hide the food, money and goods as soon as possible, let the old and weak women and children take refuge in the mountains as soon as possible, and let the young and strong people who run fast stay in their homes and hide in the mountains once the war breaks out."

"That's right, all the crops that can be harvested have to be harvested, and although the harvest is reduced, it can be held for a while. If it is robbed, the villagers and their families will starve to death. ”

“……”

After years of war, the common people also summed up the way to survive and protect themselves, and they came up with a way to evacuate for a while.

………………

Dugu Yanyun and others never dreamed that their frank treatment of each other not only did not play a role in calming people's hearts, but caused panic among the local people, and this kind of panic among the people, centered on Yongqing County, Fangling, spread to all around, and under the clouds of people, there was a large-scale wave of refugees in a few counties of Jingxiang controlled by Li Tang, and the people hid money and food, helped the old and the young to leave their homes, and went into the mountains to avoid the upcoming war.

This wave of refugees belonging to Li Yuan's troubles is undoubtedly an opportunity for Yang Tong.