After all, Dou Rong did not become the four counties of Hexi that he expected.

Instead, he obeyed the dispatch and followed the first general Lian Dan and the Taishi Wang Kuang to come to Gousou County (Shuofang County), which faced the Xiongnu royal court.

Although Dou Rong didn't want to go out of the fortress to fight this war for no reason, in early September, General Genshi took them out of Jilusai only forty miles, and they withdrew without even seeing the shadow of Hu Qi, which was indeed a bit excessive.

After returning to Jilusai, Dou Rong was uneasy, and after thinking for a long time, he still asked to see Lian Dan, the first general.

"General, Your Majesty has an edict, the four-way army, the first to arrive in Tunbian County, must all be out at the same time, pointing directly to the ground, to defeat the main force on the right of the Huns."

Dou Rong vaguely mentioned that when Emperor Xuan of the former Han Dynasty, there were five generals out of the fortress, and the emperor and the general Huo Guang demanded that they "go out of the fortress for two thousand miles".

Among them, Tian Guangming, the general of Qilian, went out of the border for more than 1,600 miles, killed and captured 19 Xiongnu, and obtained more than 100 cattle, horses and sheep, but he turned back knowing that the main force of the Xiongnu was west of Jizhi Mountain.

There is also a road called "General Huya", out of the border for more than 800 miles, arrived at the Danyuwu water, stopped the army, did not go forward, with captured cattle and horses, but also killed more than 1,000 border people to repay the merits.

In the end, both of them committed suicide in prison because they failed to complete their military orders.

Now that Lian Dan ran back forty miles out of Saisai, it is indeed too exaggerated, Dou Rong speculated in his heart, could it be that General Genshi was so careful because of the heavy losses in the battle of Ju Town in the south?

After hearing this, Lian Dan shook his head and said, "Zhou Gong, Zhou Gong, haven't you seen the news?" Shan Yu Wangting had a large group of people and horses going south, appearing in the north of the ditch search, and there was a tendency to enter the block. And the main force on the right does not seem to be fighting the ground, the art of war is cloudy, the general is outside, the city is not attacked, the land is not fighting, and the king's order is not affected. ”

"The army has been stationed in the border for almost half a year, and the Huns have long been on guard, once the army goes west, the main force of Yuting alone will attack the ditch and search, how can we stick to the old policy?"

Dou Rong promised, he was just a small lieutenant, and it was not known whether the Hetao Yin Mountain north of the ditch search was alone in the main force, but he only knew that Lian Dan was determined to never go out of the jam.

"Dou Zhougong still doesn't understand."

After Dou Rong left, Lian Dan said faintly: "This time out of the fortress is Your Majesty's insistence, and the generals in the army, except for Han Wei, no one wants to really fight." ”

Lian Dan thought that he would be severely punished after defeating Erzheng Ju Town, but just a few days after he was imprisoned, he was pardoned by the emperor, retained his title and the name of the general, and sent him to the north.

According to common sense, Lian Dan should have worked hard like Han Wei to atone for his crimes, but General Genshi couldn't raise his fighting spirit at all.

On the one hand, he was afraid of losing in Jumachi and became timid, and on the other hand, Lian Danda agreed with the former big Sima Yanyou in his heart.

Yan Boshi once said that Qin Shi Huang could not bear to be ashamed and lightly used the people's power, with hundreds of thousands of prisoners, to build the Great Wall, stretching for thousands of miles, and the team of grain and straw transfer started from the seashore and went directly to the north. The territory seems to be intact, but it makes China exhausted, and the Qin Dynasty lost its Sheji, which is to deal with the helplessness of Hu Lu, which is not advisable. ”

But their emperor Wang Mang has adopted this method in the past ten years, and more than 200,000 people have been consumed on the border, directly exhausting the border counties.

Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty selected generals to train troops, with the division of the tiger, lightly armed cavalry, deep into the hinterland of the Huns, relying on the talent of the Huns, although there was a merit of victory, but the Huns immediately retaliated, and the border was chaotic. As a result, the northern and southern wars have been in trouble for more than 40 years, China has been depleted, and the Xiongnu are also weak. ”

Although Yan You said that it was the next policy, it was also the most feasible way, and Yan You himself asked for his life, hoping to lead his troops to attack deeply and quickly defeat the Xiongnu, so that the court would not have to fall into the quagmire of war.

This strategy was vetoed by Wang Mang back then, and he hoped to use the means of deterrence and divide and rule to divide the Xiongnu, rather than risk going deeper. As a result, it didn't work out for ten years, so he picked up Yan You's old plan again, and let Han Wei and other four-way armies go out of the jam, like a gambler who is desperate after his patience is exhausted.

"The Xiongnu are a staunch enemy of China, and the new army has spent several years not even fighting a small town, let alone this hundred barbarian powers. Even if you really take the ground, what can you do? It's not that the border has been in a tug of war for a long time. ”

"Instead of going deep into the pursuit, it is far better to be like King Xuan of Zhou when he dealt with the internal invasion of Qianyun, the order will be conquered, and the border will be returned, this Rong Di's invasion, such as gnats and flies to sting people, just wave the slap to drive away, there is no need to spend a lot of time chasing it to fight, so Yan Boshi thought that this was the best policy."

No strategy, lower strategy, and middle strategy are all alive, so is there a best policy?

There are still some, in Lian Dan's view, it should be like the previous dynasty Wenjing and Emperor Yuan, and the Xiongnu should be reconciled, bribed them with grain and cloth, and spent one-tenth of the military spending, so that the border can be peaceful, which is the best policy for Lao Cheng to seek the country!

Therefore, after discussing with Wang Kuangyi, the main general of this battle, he decided to play a big game.

Didn't Han Wei, the general of Tunhu, shout every day that he wanted to run rampant among the Huns? Let him go! And the rest of the films tacitly did not try their best, and sat back and watched Han Wei go deep alone.

Deceiving the only main battle in the whole army to send a head is the fastest way to end the war!

"Although Your Majesty started from the end of the Wei, he has never ruled a county, nor has he led troops to fight, and he has been in the deep palace for the past ten years, and he always takes things outside for granted. For example, Han Wei and Chen Chong's generation often despised the Huns, and said the war lightly, as if His Majesty could destroy the Huns with a move of his fingers. This led His Majesty to think that the new army was invincible in the world, and severely criticized our front-line soldiers. ”

So a defeat is needed, preferably a fiasco, to make Emperor Wang Mang completely wake up!

Use this method to make the emperor sober up, understand that the defeat of the Xiongnu can not be achieved overnight, and then promise to make peace and bear the burden of humiliation for the time being. Turning your energy to the country and concentrating your forces to exterminate the thieves of Qingxu and Jingyang is the best way to protect the new room.

Therefore, in Lian Dan's opinion, sacrificing the lives of just one Han Wei and thousands of people in exchange for the foundation of the new room is worth it!

So a few days later, there were Han Wei's cavalry followers, desperately avoiding the pursuit of the Huns, and when they came to Jilusai for help, Lian Dan also turned a deaf ear and refused to support on the grounds that Shan Yuting's army was on the side!

Lian Dan's staff, Peng Feng Yan, a disciple who had a relationship with Fifth Lun, admonished: "General, if it is really as Dou Rong said, what should Your Majesty blame afterwards?" ”

The first general had already thought about it, and said with a smile: "If Han Wei is lucky not to die, then he will return from the loss of his master, and our third-way generals insist that Han Wei will go out of the fortress alone regardless of the change in the situation and the order of the Taishi, and finally bring humiliation on himself." He had to be like Li Guang and Gongsun He in the previous dynasty, and he was imprisoned to die. ”

"What if Han Wei dies in battle?" Feng Yan pointed out another possibility, in that case, Han Wei would become a martyr hero, and at that time, Lian Dan might not be easy to do.

Lian Dan disagreed: "Li Ling of the previous dynasty was besieged by the Xiongnu, and he was invincible and surrendered, but some people falsely rumored that he died, and Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty mourned it. ”

"And now it can be reversed, even if Han Wei is dead, if the army says that he surrendered to the Xiongnu and spreads to Chang'an, it will become a sure thing. The north and south are separated by tens of thousands of miles, and the envoys have been cut off, and in a year and a half, who can say whether Han Wei is alive or dead? ”

It is worthy of attacking Jumachi, because he couldn't enter the deep mountains and dense forests, he turned around and cut off the heads of the barbarians in the neighboring counties to fill the number, which led to the erosion of the entire Nanzhong.

Feng Yan was dumbfounded, and only reminded: "General, no matter what Han Wei's life and death are, the new Qinzhong is very empty, if Hu Lu is arrogant after the victory, and enters the east of Koubei and the mountain, I'm afraid it will not be good, and I still have to send a lieutenant south to assist in the defense." ”

Lian Dan is as good as a stream, and he also thinks of a person.

"Isn't Dou Rong known for his strict military discipline? Send him south! ”

……

At the beginning of October in the first year of the emperor (20 years), at the invitation of the fifth Lun, Ma Yuan came to the pavilion barrier located by the Yellow River.

But seeing that Fifth Lun and Wan Xuan had been waiting here for a long time, there was still a thin layer of mutton boiling in the copper pot specially made by Fifth Lun, and only called for Ma to help: "Wen Yuan come quickly, the wine is warm." ”

Wulun also crushed the flax seeds sent by Zhang Chun's family to make sauce, and the cooked mutton was dipped in the flax sauce and put in the mouth, which was indeed a good thing to raise fat in early winter.

Ma Yuan entered the table to drink, and after eating a few bites with chopsticks, he asked, "Boyu asked me to take my subordinates back to Baitugang, could it be that Lu Fang came out to make trouble again?" ”

Since Liang Qiuci "beheaded" Ma Qu Shuai's head, Ma Yuan had to play the remnants of the bandits, but secretly he has been doing business with Fifth Lun. He asked the prey skins from the mountains to be transported out, and then brought back the grain given to him by the Fifth Lunyun, and the processed furs became another business in the Fifth Battalion in addition to selling salt, and sold them to the local Haoqiang for grain.

Under Zhang Chun and Zhang Luo, the powerful people are also happy to accept such a deal, and they should pay protection money.

Under the balance of forces of all parties, Tewu County was quiet for two months, and the only unstable factor was the remnants of Lu Fang cruising in the southern wasteland.

Fifth Lun said: "Lu Fang tried to disturb the special force, but after being repelled a few times by Jun You with the flint, he was a lot more honest and only robbed the neighboring county. ”

"I invited Wen Yuan to go north today, but it was because of other things."

Wu Lun looked at the north on the other side of the river and said: "General Tunhu has been out of the fortress for almost a month, and it stands to reason that he should come back after eating the grain, but there is still no news. ”

Ma Yuan frowned: "Bo Yu is worried that Han Wei's army may be overwhelmed?" ”

The fifth battalion is a little better, and it can't be sent out in a daze in a war that starts in a daze.

Now that Han Wei has not returned for a long time, Wu Lun has a bad premonition, although across the Yellow River, if Hu Lu enters the Kou, he will not be able to come by without enough sheepskin rafts, but he still has to be cautious.

So he suspended boiling salt and other miscellaneous matters, gathered more than 1,300 people from the fifth battalion to the south of the county, and asked horse reinforcements to also move closer to the plain, and used each other as horns in case of contingencies.

Ma Yuan mentioned Han Wei and sighed: "Although I am ambitious, Han Wei's temperament is very similar to his grandfather Han Yanshou, such a person will not live long in today's world." ”

He nodded at the fifth Lun and said with a smile: "You still have to be like a fish to live for a long time." ”

Fifth Lun smiled bitterly: "Wen Yuan, is this praising me or hurting me?" ”

"Praise you." Ma Yuan said: "Not only can I protect myself, but I can also do what I can for the people, which is already a clear stream in the mud." Since we got rid of Ruchen and Dong Xi, and you have the final say in the defense of the special forces, there has really been a rare peace here. ”

"There are flints standing guard, and the people don't have to worry about soldiers and thieves; With your strict military order, you don't have to worry about the soldiers taking it by force. ”

"I haven't done enough." Fifth Lun was humble.

"The reason why there is today's situation is that the Zhang family is willing to cooperate, but in fact, the officials of Tewu County are still corrupt, most of the powerful people in the county are still rich and unkind, and the lives of the people are as miserable as before.

"Boyu is humble, look around, from Guanzhong to Biansai, where is it not so?" Wan Xuan interjected: "When I went south to Zuogu a few months ago, didn't Bo Yu tell me that I was sick this day. ”

"That's right, terminally ill."

Ma Yuan has been traveling among the people or acting as an official over the years, and he has also seen a lot of strange appearances: "The court secretary is dim, the order is changed every day, the coins alone have been changed so many times, and the merchants and peddlers have no way to live; The general is as cowardly as a chicken, abusing the people in a good way, having no courage to resist the enemy, and has been defeated repeatedly in the four battles; The hundred bureaucrats are greedy, because they can't get it, and they have to be greedy; And the strong and strong in various places are incomplete, fueling the fire; The people died seven times and died seven times, which was more serious than the previous Han Dynasty. ”

After drinking, Wan Xuan patted the case and said: "That's why we have to make the knife that cuts the poisonous sores, do the way for heaven, and cut a little bit!" ”

"I can't cut it all, there are too many tumors." Ma Yuan sighed, only feeling that the world was a little hopeless.

Wu Lun said faintly: "If you can find the root of the disease, one day, you will stab it with a knife?" ”

Ma Yuanfeng glanced at Fifth Lun: "Oh? What is the root cause of the disease? ”

"Here."

The fifth Lun pointed to the heart, and then to the mind: "And this." ”

"What do you mean, change your head?"

Ma Yuan only felt a little pessimistic and scolded: "It's not that it hasn't been changed?" It's not as good as before. ”

Yes, the new reckless Han, isn't it just a change for the world? However......

Wan Yu saw that there was something in the fifth Lun's words, so he asked him: "Bo Yu said, what should I do?" ”

"If you want me to say ......"

Wu Lun was about to answer, but stopped speaking, only raised his hand, pointed to the west bank of the Yellow River at night, and said, "Look! ”

Ma Yuan and Wan Xuan turned around, but saw that more than 100 miles away, under Helan Mountain, bloomed a flame, the fire can be transmitted far in the night, like a relay, one after another bloomed, until the Yellow River side of Shanghe City!

Since Hu Han Evil Shan Yu to Emperor Xuan of the Han Dynasty, the border city of the new Qin Dynasty was closed, Niu Ma Buye, the three generations did not have the police of dog barking, and Li Shu died in the battle.

Now, after more than 60 years, the beacon fire has been ignited again!

It only means one thing.

"War!"

……

PS: Chapter 3 at 18:00.