At about the same time that Gao Yancao was writing poems, more than 200 miles to the east, in Huze, several horsemen were listening to the sad singing of a young man sitting on the edge of a tent destroyed by the war, surrounded by rotting corpses and swarms of flies.

The young man sang desolately: "The cowardly horse is often bitter and thin, and the child is often bitter and poor." Huang He started to be a horse, and he started to be a man when he was rich. ”

懀 (wei) is the meaning of hatred and depression, and the horse refers to the inferior horse. In this ballad, it obviously refers to the toiling people.

Four lyrics, the boy chanted repeatedly. After listening to the song for a long time, one of them sighed.

Although this man wore a Tang bun, he was wearing a short robe with a bracket collar that was completely unique to the Di people, with silver collar buttons sewn on the collar, and the edge of the collar and robe were also the same as the common clothing of the Di people, decorated with colorful patterns and lace, and the lower body was dressed in leather scarf, long leather boots, a purse embroidered with gold and silver thread hanging from the waist, and a purple hakama coat was set on the outside.

The fence is the kind of long skirt hat that can be covered from the top of the head, the shoulders and the upper body from under the cover of the head, but at the right face, a hole is cut out, revealing the wearer's eyes and nose. The use of this thing is to cover the whole body, not for the way to peep into it, and the second is to shield the wind and sand.

The Tang people's hair buns, Di people's costumes, and Xianbei people's clothes, things from the three ethnic groups converge in this person, but they do not give people a sense of disobedience. But in today's world, Zhuhu has entered the Central Plains one after another, and the clothing of various ethnic groups and the clothing of the Tang people have long been slowly merging.

It can be seen from the eyes and nose that show the square hole that this person is none other than Ji He, the Pu Qin strategist who is now highly used by Meng Lang.

Ji He and the rest of the horses around him said: "'Huang He starts the horse', if the thin horse gets enough forage, it can still become fat and strong; Savor the meaning of this ballad, and complain to the extreme! Waving his hand to drive away the buzzing flies, he asked, "This is the first time I've heard this song, do you know what it's called?" ”

The rest of the riders had never heard this folk song, so one of them drove over and asked the young man the name of the song.

Soon the man turned back and reported to Ji He, saying, "The shepherd said that this song was nameless, and that it came from his hometown of Youzhou, and that it was sung among their local wranglers. ”

"Youzhou? Is he from Youzhou? ”

"I think it was to avoid the war and migrated here from Youzhou."

Youzhou is adjacent to the north of the Tuoba Department under the control of the Daibei, although the Tuoba Department was mainly Murong before, but with the growth of the Tuoba Department's power, especially in the south of the Daibei and Youzhou where it meets, there are mostly fierce and aggressive, loosely organized Wuhuan people, so the border between the two places has not been very peaceful, there are often small-scale plundering of each other, a few years ago, Youzhou re-established the Tang people's beggar army, more and more wars, so there are quite a few Hu people who were grazing in Youzhou, migrated westward, into Shuofang. After all, Shuofang was blocked by the Yellow River on three sides, and before that, and the Tiefu Xiongnu family was dominant, there were still relatively few wars here. The boy must have moved with his family.

The man who went to interrogate and report to Ji He was short in appearance and ugly in appearance, and he was like a monkey on a horse.

Ji He said: "This young man is so sad, sitting alone outside the tent, his family died in Zhang Shao's slaughter of Hu Zehu, right?" ”

And Qu Yuanguang replied: "The villain asked, his family did die in the battle of slaughtering Huze Zhuhu in Dingxi, a family of seven or eight, died cleanly, and he was the only one left." Filled with righteous indignation, he said indignantly, "The Tuoba Department has seized Xi'anyang and other counties, what does it have to do with Huze Zhuhu?" Dingxi slaughtered almost all Huze Zhuhu, which was really brutal and unkind! ”

If you want to talk about brutality, now in the northern countries, everyone is the eldest brother, let alone the second brother, the Murong family, He Hunxie, including Pu Yi, have done more "cruel and unkind" things, compared to them, Dingxi is much more "benevolent and righteous".

Ji He knew this very well, and because he didn't answer Qu Yuanguang's words, he took off the saber hanging on the side of the saddle, handed it to Qu Yuanguang, and said, "You give him this knife and ask him if he wants to go with me." Tell him that if you want to be a man, you don't have to be rich, in today's troubled times, the country is still martial, and the king is a heavy warrior, he will go with me as he wishes, as long as he is not afraid of death, I can not only let him be a man, but also let him be a man. ”

And Qu Yuanguang responded: "Yes." Caught Ji He's saber, turned the horse and went to the Hu man boy again, and said in his heart as he went, "A little beard, why does Lord Ji value it so much?" You actually gave him the saber and took him away? ”

He guessed Ji He's thoughts, and thought, "Yes, Lao Gou's dog thing disagrees with Lord Ji, this counterattack on Shuofang, Lord Ji means that this will be the Dingxi soldiers and horses who will offend Shuofang, although it is not Xin Agua pro-rate, but Zhang Shao and Zhang Gui are all Xin Agua who can be used, and Xin Agua will definitely have advice with him, so he needs to be cautious in using his troops, not careless, Lao Gou is brave and brave, and does not take Ji's opinion seriously, but he is eager to fight with Zhang Shao.

Lord Ji argued with him for a few days, but Lao Gou insisted on not listening to Lord Ji's conscience, and used his official position to suppress Lord Ji. Master Ji had no choice, so he took us to Huze here, and used the pretext to survey the terrain, but based on my speculation, he seemed to be looking for some survivors of Huze's Hu Division, and asked Zhang Shaobu about the situation when he invaded and slaughtered Huze, so as to grasp and understand Zhang Shaobu's specific combat strength, and then dissuade Lao Gou. I have been waiting in Huze for more than half a day, there are corpses everywhere, tents and grass after arson, this Hu'er is the only surviving person that Lord Ji and I have encountered, Lord Ji took him back, presumably for this purpose! ”

And Qu Yuanguang is smart and clever, and he guessed the reason why Ji He took this Hu man back back.

This is the purpose of Ji He.

Gou Xiong, as the elder brother of the queen Gou, has a noble status, that is, Meng Lang, and he is not in the eyes of Gou Xiong, besides, Qu Yuanguang is a descendant? is not even looked at by Gou Xiong. Therefore, because he was born in Dingxi and understood the reason for the reality of Dingxi, he was specially transferred by Meng Lang from Pu Badger Sun, and sent it to Gou Xiong's army together with Ji He, and also in the battle of this counteroffensive Shuofang, he was a counselor and staff member to Gou Xiong, and Qu Yuanguang was insulted by Gou Xiong, he had a deep grudge against Gou Xiong, and he did not dare to disobey in person, in his heart, as long as he thought of Gou Xiong, a "dog thing" on the left, and another "old Gou", it was indispensable.

Contrary to Gou Xiong's attitude towards and Qu Yuanguang, Ji He treats him well. Since he was cast to Pu Qin, and Qu Yuanguang has no one under him, the second is because he is ugly, and the third is also because he is good at talking big and is not popular, so he has rarely had a comfortable life, and he has insulted him not only Gou Xiong, Pu Qin's arrogant generals, look down on his talents, in the daily military camp, there are sometimes Qin generals who take pleasure in playing him, where there is a wine banquet, he is mostly a role in serving wine, and there are only a handful of good people to him, he gave up his younger brother and desperately saved Pu Badger Sun is one, Ji He is one. It is precisely because there are too few people who are good to him that he is very grateful to Ji He, so in his thoughts, Ji He's treatment is diametrically opposed to Gou Xiong, and he is respected as an "adult".

And Qu Yuanguang gave Ji He's saber to the young man, and said Ji He's words to the young man.

The people in the young man's family are all dead, and there are almost no Hu people in Huze, and the sheep and horses of his family and Huze Hu people are also snatched away by Zhang Shaobu, he can't survive alone in Huze, of course he won't be unwilling to take Ji He in, get up, hold the knife, and follow Qu Yuanguang to Ji He's horse, bow down and say: "Xiao Hu's life is an adult's from now on!" ”

Most of the Hu people in Shuofang are Tiefu Xiongnu or Xiongnu relics, but this Hu boy does not speak Xiongnu language, but Xianbei dialect. However, Ji He knew that Youzhou had been occupied by the Murong clan for a long time, and there were many Xianbei people there, so he didn't think it was strange that the young man who moved here from Youzhou was a Xianbei person,—— Huze Zhuhu was able to marry the Tuoba clan, probably because of this.

Ji He knew some Xianbei language, so he also used Xianbei language and asked him, "Do you know who I am?" ”

"I don't know."

Ji He said with a pleasant face: "So that you know, my surname is Ji, and I am the assistant official in the Great Qin Shangshu Ling Meng Gong's Mansion." Shuo Fang is the land of my Great Qin, you know this, right? Dingxi took the opportunity of my Great Qin's expedition to capture Wei, and blatantly stole and plundered, and now my Great Qin Xiaocai General led more than 10,000 cavalry to come to the crusade. On the occasion of this employment, you should follow me well, and when the battle is over, I will reward you. ”

The young man replied, "Yes, I am willing to die for the adults!" ”

Ji He didn't ask the young man's name, so he ordered Qu Yuanguang to give the young man a matching horse, told him to ride it, take the horse as the head, and lead everyone eastward back to the Qin soldiers under Gou Xiong and his tent. On the way, Ji He summoned the young man to the side of the horse, and as Yuanguang guessed, he was asking the young man Zhang Shaobu about the details of the killing of the Hu Zehu people along the way.

Mamber is in the west, and Shanan is in the east.

These two counties are now garrisoned by Qin soldiers, and Gou Xiong's handsome tent is currently in Shanan, nearly 200 miles away from Huze.

After walking on the road for two days, Ji He waited for the military camp in Shanan.

It took four or five days to go back and forth, and most of the way was in the desert, and everyone was dusty and dirty. Ji He instructed Qu Yuanguang and others to bathe and change clothes, but he didn't let the Hu man leave, and took the young man and got into his tent.

And Qu Yuanguang walked a few steps, stood and turned his head, glanced at Ji He's tent, and thought suspiciously: "I should ask, Lord Ji has asked on the way." When I arrived at the camp, Master Ji asked me to wait to wash and change clothes, but how did he lead this beard into the tent? The Hu man was not very old, he had been grazing for a long time, although his skin was rough, in all fairness, he looked really good, and Qu Yuanguang thought of the green finch that Pu Mao loved, and couldn't help but say, "Isn't it Lord Ji?" …… Or this one? ”

He didn't know Ji He for a long time, and he really didn't know what Ji He's hobbies were.

Turning his dirty thoughts, Qu Yuanguang raised his feet and continued to go to his small tent, thinking: "Speaking of which, my brother and son are dignified and dignified, and it is a pity that Wudu fought a battle, and after he broke off with Pu Gong for me, it is expected that he will definitely die in battle." Otherwise, if Lord Ji is really good, I can use a man to do what he likes! The boy is his own brother and has always admired him, even if he is cold, recalling the happy scene when he and the man were in the grassland on the bank of Lushui in the past, Yuan Guang was also slightly sad, and said through gritted teeth, "It's all to blame for Xin Agua!" If he hadn't forced me Lu Shuihu to move inward, and forced me Lu Shuihu to be a Qi Min, I wouldn't have fled to Daqin for my people not to be enslaved! The man won't die! Male Cheng, male Cheng, you are in the spirit of heaven, don't blame me, one day, I will definitely kill Agua and avenge you! ”

When Ji He arrived at the camp, it was already afternoon.

Ji He didn't go to see Gou Xiong this day.

Early the next morning, Ji He summoned Yuanguang and took the young man to Gou Xiong's tent to ask for a meeting.

Gou Xiong had not yet fallen asleep, and after a while, someone in the tent opened the door and lifted the tabernacle.

Yuanguang peeked and saw that it was two women who opened the tent door and lifted the tent tabernacle.

These two women wear small buns, wearing the pleated skirts between the flowers that are now worn by Tang and Hu women, and there is no shortage of Hu women who wear buns, only from the hair accessories, it is not clear what race they are, but one has a fair complexion and a high nose bridge, which is the characteristic of the Xianbei people, it should be the Xianbei people, and the other is difficult to guess the origin of the family. But Yuan Guang knew where these two women came from, the Qin army, like the troops of Xianbei and He Hunxie, had military prostitutes in the camp, and these two women were both military prostitutes in the Gou Xiong department.

The two women knelt on either side of the tent door and invited Ji He, Yuan Guang and the young man to enter the tent.

When they had entered the tent, the two women went out of the tent on their knees and returned to the prostitute camp.

Gou Xiong didn't wear a coat, only shorts, sat on the couch, yawned, asked Ji He, and said, "Old Ji, I heard that you came back yesterday?" ”

Ji He replied: "Yes." ”

"You went to Huze to survey the terrain, how did the survey go?"

Ji He said: "As the general said, the west, east and south of Huze are all desert areas, less than 100 miles away from the big river in the north, and there is a water in the south, which is about 100 miles long. ”

"I'm the Taishou of Shuofang, how can I not know the terrain of Shuofang? I've told you, there's nothing to see in Huze, you don't believe me, you have to run two hundred miles, what if you finish reading? Not the ones I'm talking about? Lao Ji, why do you bother? ”

"General, the official's trip is not for nothing."

"Oh? What's in it for you? Gou Xiong looked at the young man, looked at it, and said, "This is your gain?" ”

"The general is wise, this young man is the harvest of the lower officer." Ji He motioned to the young man, "This is my Great Qin's cavalry general, Shuo Fang Taishou, and your shepherd." Why don't you bow down quickly? ”

The young man bowed down.

Gou Xiong saw that this young man was not outstanding, so he was too lazy to look at it, asked Ji He, and said, "Why is this young man your harvest?" Is he a son of Chief Hu of Huze? ”

"Definitely."

"Then what did you do with bringing him to me?"

Ji He said: "When Zhang Shaobu slaughtered Huze Zhuhubu, this young man was there. The reason why I said that he was my harvest and brought him to meet the general was to ask the general to listen to him and tell him about the situation at that time. ”

"It's nothing more than murder and arson, who hasn't done this? What is there to hear? ”

Ji He ordered the young man and said, "You will give what you have seen to the general." ”

The young man thanked Ji He for sheltering him, and Ji He asked him to say, and he said, "That day, Dingxi Tang'er, who came to my Huze to commit murder, had thousands of paces to ride, they were all wearing armor and holding a lance, and there were more than 2,000 cavalrymen, and some of the horse's head armor had sharp horns, and some were engraved with peony ......."

Xianbei is the most powerful force today, there are Murong Department in the north, there is Tuoba Department in the north, Tuyuhun Department in the west of Guanzhong and south of Longzhou, Xianbei people are all over the north, and Gou Xiong also understands Xianbei language. As soon as the young man's words came out, his disapproving attitude immediately changed. He stopped rubbing his eyes, looked at the young man, interrupted him, and said, "You said that they were all dressed in armor and holding lances, and there were more than a thousand cavalrymen, and there were vertical sharp horns on the horse's head armor, and some carved peonies?" ”

"Yes, General."

"Do you see clearly?"

"When they killed my people, the villain hid in a hole in the pasture and could see it clearly."

Gou Xiong stared at the young man for a while, until the young man lowered his head in fear, turned his eyes to Ji He, sneered, and said, "Old Ji, you are so bold, in order to prevent me from rushing to attack Heyin and Shuofang County, you dare to make up nonsense to deceive me?" ”

Ji He's face remained unchanged, and he said, "How dare the lower officials coax the general?" This is what this teenager saw with his own eyes. ”

Gou Xiong said: "I'm afraid you don't know, right? After Dingxi Tang'er occupied Shuofang, Heyin and other counties, although I killed the bureaucrats who stayed in these places, but did not kill them cleanly, Heyin, Shuofang and other counties, there are now Lao Tzu's people, they heard that Lao Tzu was killed, and they have quietly reported the reality of the Tang'er soldiers and horses stationed in Heyin, Shuofang and other places a few days ago to Lao Tzu Zhi!

"This batch of Dingxi Tang'er who committed my Shuo Fang, Tai is half of Dingxi's original garrison in the Western Regions, and there are not many soldiers, where did they come from'wearing armor and holding lances'? There are a lot of cavalry, but 'some carved peonies', no one from the Koji family came, where would there be peony rides? As for the 'vertical sharp corners', the Dingxi Taima is coming, and the Tang Er who leads the team is Gao Yancao, but the Dingxi Taima led by him is only a few hundred horses! Most of the cavalry under Zhang Shao were Zhao Rangan and Zhao Xing, two rebellious Tiefu Hun cavalry! There are few riders!

"Lao Ji, have you eaten bear heart leopard gall? Dare to deceive in military intelligence? Are you a decoration when I am a military law? Or do you think you are Meng Lang's person, I won't dare to kill you? ”

And when Qu Yuanguang heard what the young man said, he was surprised, because what the young man said was completely different from what he said to Ji He on the road. What Ji He did was what he had guessed when he gave the young man Ji He a saber before, in order to dissuade Gou Xiong from advancing lightly by exaggerating Zhang Shaobu's combat effectiveness.

And Qu Yuanguang thought in admiration: "Lord Ji is so bold! Compare yourself to me! ”

Ji He's expression was the same, he felt sorry in his heart, and thought: "I didn't expect Gou Xiong to be rough in appearance, and he was also a little scheming, hiding the Dingxi military situation that he had secretly reported from his old officials, and didn't tell me!" In this way, I'm afraid I won't be able to stop him from taking the plunge! He replied, "Yes?" It turned out that the general knew the details of the military situation in Dingxi. Xia Guan never had the courage to deceive the military situation, maybe this young man was wrong. ”

"Did you read it wrong?" Gou Xiong's face was hideous, and he said, "Falsely report the military situation, and you should be beheaded according to military law!" Lao Ji, there is nothing wrong with falsely reporting the military situation, right? Do you take your head, or do you take the head of this young man? ”

Ji He said: "The general is right, then take his head and use military justice." ”

The young man was frightened and cried out, "My lord! These words ......"

And Qu Yuanguang kicked down, took off the belt, and slapped his head and face, beating the young man to the point where his face was covered with blood, and scolded: "What a big dog guts!" Dare to deceive adults and generals! He grabbed the boy by the pigtail and dragged him out of the tent.

Gou Xiong said angrily: "Monkey cub! Who do you scold? ”

And Qu Yuanguang slapped the young man's head with a strap, and said, "Scold him!" ”

"Don't you know Lao Tzu's honorific surname? I'll cut you down! ”

And Qu Yuanguang nodded and said with a smile: "Yes, yes, the villain made a mistake, said it wrong." He slapped the boy a few more times, then changed his tone and scolded, "What a big monkey gall! No matter how the young man struggled, he was afraid that the young man would say something and harm Ji He's life, so he didn't wait for Gou Xiong's order, and took advantage of Gou Xiong's "slip of the tongue" to annoy him, dragged the young man out, killed him with his own hands, and paid off the debt with his head.