In September, the Balga steppe, the residence of King Zuoxian Kunbo.

Nearly a thousand miles of grassland, it is the season of abundant pasture, the knight who puts down the sword and arrow drives the cattle and sheep to graze, and the cheerful song sings from the morning sun to the moon in the middle of the sky. The children leaned into their father's arms, laughing like silver bells on the galloping horses, and the women carried the barrels and went about their household chores, occasionally looking up at the men and children in the distance, and the corners of their mouths could not help but smile. The old people can finally take a break, bask in the sun in front of the tent, and chat for a while.

The big tent of Zuo Xianwang is set up on the high slope, and the black wolf is guarded around the slope, the horse's hooves are urgent, the arrows are whistling, the scimitar is breaking through the air, and the shouting is transmitted into the big tent. Cumpo listened to the sound of horses' hooves and shouts outside the tent, and thought to himself that he would wait and fight with his sons. Zhou Chucun looked at the absent-minded Kunbo, and secretly felt bitter in his heart, this Zuoxian King of the Desert Country did not look like a corporal of Lixian at all.

"King, Liman Khan led an army of 120,000 over Hegao Mountain, most of the Golden Wolf Army and the Blue Wolf Army went with him, at this time the royal court is empty, if the king can take advantage of the void to enter and seize the royal court, and then raise his arms and shout, this grassland Khan is the king of you." Zhou Cuncun persuaded bitterly.

Lan Qitao was a little moved, and said, "King, Mr. Zhou is reasonable. According to reports, Li Man led his army across Hegao Mountain in early August, and the number of troops remaining in the royal court was less than 50,000. ”

Subu Naying stroked his beard and groaned, silent.

Kunbo stood up and said: "I am competing with Liman for the throne of Khan, I am fighting for a future for the children of the grassland, and Liman led the army to recruit the clansmen, if I take advantage of this time to seize the throne of Khan, will it not make the warriors laugh." ”

Zhou Chucun hurriedly said: "The king, God does not take the blame, but suffers the blame, and when Liman Khan recruits the clansmen of Heluo Shanxi, his strength has increased greatly, and it will be even more difficult for the king to seize the throne." ”

Kun Bo waved his hand indifferently and said: "I, Kun Bo is a good man who stands up to the sky, I will only take it right away, and I will not hide my feet, Mr. Zhou, you don't need to persuade me anymore." I'll go out to move my hands and legs, and you can discuss with Fuqu about collecting grass for the winter. ”

Lan Qitao patted Zhou Shicun's shoulder as a sign of comfort, and walked out of the big tent as Kunbo walked out, cheers rang out outside the tent, and the sound of horses' hooves faded away, and the outside of the big tent fell silent.

…………

Huairen Mansion in Qianzhou, although it is November, is still as warm as spring.

In the Protectorate of Annam, the new Metropolitan Governor Zhang Yuanguan read out the holy decree, and Ning Tao received the decree to thank him. Zhang Yuanguan leaned sideways to help Ning Tao up, and said with a smile: "Brother Ning, congratulations on going to Zhenbei to make contributions, and it won't be long before Brother Ning will be crowned a marquis." ”

Ning Tao smiled and said, "Brother Xian, let's talk about official affairs first and then talk about private affairs, I will introduce you to the generals of the Metropolitan Protectorate, let's hand over first." ”

"Brother Ning, you are complaining about my little brother, how can you rush to hand you over. When I first came to Huairen Mansion, why should you let me rest for two days? Brother Ning is the proprietor, and he can be rewarded with two glasses of wine for the younger brother. Zhang Yuanguan knew that no matter how good he said, he would squeeze out Ning Tao here. Ning Tao has been operating in Annan for many years, and he has won the hearts of the people, just look at the faces of the generals on both sides of the Shuaifu. When you are new to the city, you might as well lower your posture, and when you have a firm foothold, you will have time to clean them up.

Stretching out his hand and not hitting the smiling person, even if Ning Tao is unhappy in his heart, he will always have to get by on the face, and the wine banquet with his own heart will be happy on the surface. Three days later, Zhang Yuanguan led the generals of the Annan Metropolitan Protectorate to send Ning Tao back to Beijing, and the Son of Heaven had a decree to give him a leave of absence for half a year, and only after half a year did he let Ning Tao go to Zhenbei Camp to take up his post.

Back at the Annan Governor's Mansion, Zhang Yuanguan sat in the middle, the smile on his face gradually converged, and asked, "Where is Liu Wei?" "The new governor of Annan arrived, and the Annan army came under the jurisdiction of the Metropolitan Protectorate, and Liu Wei and the three major commanders of the Tun Army came to the Metropolitan Protectorate to wait for him. Hearing Zhang Dudu open his mouth, he asked himself, Liu Wei secretly said that it was not good, and he said that the new official took office with three fires, and it seemed that this fire was about to burn himself.

Liu Wei hurriedly came out of the ranks, bowed and saluted: "The last general, Liu Wei, pays a visit to the marshal." ”

Zhang Yuanguan looked at Liu Wei, sneered and said: "Liu Wei, you are so capable, even the Son of Heaven knows your name, Jane is in the emperor's heart, this handsome will rely on you to take care of it in the future." ”

Liu Wei's scalp was tight, cold sweat was dripping, and he lowered his head and said nothing. The surrounding generals looked at him sympathetically, knowing that Liu Wei had annoyed the Son of Heaven because of the Tuntian New Deal, and Ning Shuai's transfer was most likely caused by the Tuntian matter.

"Liu Wei, long live let Ben Shuai ask you, may the new Tuntian policy be implemented in Annam? If you can't, Ben Shuai will be replaced by a capable person. Zhang Yuanguan said coldly: "Today is November 12, and before the end of the year, if I hear that there are people in the Tun army who oppose the new policy and say that they want to return to their hometowns to farm, etc., this commander will only ask you." ”

Liu Wei hurriedly responded: "The last general will obey the order." ”

was just about to retreat, but unexpectedly Zhang Yuanguan said: "Ben Shuai first sat in the Shuai Mansion, and it is inevitable that some people want to see Ben Shuai's jokes." Today, I will borrow you to establish your authority, see the blood, and relieve the evil spirit. Someone came, pulled Liu Wei down and whipped him with twenty lashes, and he also had three tun army commanders, who were tied up together and also whipped twenty lashes. ”

After twenty lashes, Liu Wei and the others went to the handsome hall to thank them. Zhang Yuanguan snorted coldly and said: "Let you teach you a long lesson today, and you have to shirk the emperor's order, Ben Shuai will behead your dog and don't get out." ”

Liu Wei and the others hugged their heads and walked out of the Duhu Mansion, got on the horse and went out of the Huairen Mansion where the Tunshuai Mansion of Ben Cen Zhu County was located, and ran south for more than ten miles in one go. ”

Twenty lashes were whipped on their backs, and the blood stains on the backs of the four of them stuck to their clothes, and they were torn painfully with a slight movement. The corners of Xu Mingde's mouth twitched and said, "Brother Liu, Zhang Shuai ordered us to settle the situation before the end of the month, how can this be done?" ”

Liu Wei regretted a little, the Tun army was restless and noisy and wanted to go home to farm, he was secretly agitating, he thought that the court could end up with a rat trap, but he didn't expect the Son of Heaven to make a ruthless move, and directly transferred Ning Shuai, who sympathized with the Tun army, in exchange for the fatal Zhang Yuanguan, Shuai Tang Zhang Yuanguan said clearly, before the end of the month, if the incident could not be settled, he would take his head to sacrifice the flag, and the wound on his back told him that Zhang Yuanguan was not joking, and his head on the neck would really not be guaranteed at that time.

Zhao Bingzhong was a little timid, and said: "There are still more than ten days to go, let's go back quickly, settle the people under our command, and deal with the past first." It seems that Zhang Shuai is not a good talker, so I will resign next year and go home to retire. ”

Yang Sixuan snorted coldly and said, "Brother Zhao, if you want to leave, I'm afraid it's not as easy as you think, at this time, your brothers will let you go by yourself with the silver?" Brother Liu, this matter is not the place to speak, let's go back to the tundi first, and then discuss it in the long run. ”

Back in Cen Zhu County, the four of them dealt with the whip wound briefly, Liu Wei ordered someone to set up wine, and the four of them drank in the Tunshuai Mansion and discussed countermeasures. The wine was three points drunk, and there was still no way, Zhao Bingzhong said with a sad face: "Why don't we scrape together some silver and give it to Zhang Shuai, let him raise his noble hand and let us go." ”

Yang Sixuan sneered: "Zhang Yuanguan lacks your little silver, don't forget that he is Wei Xiang's son-in-law, his family is rich, and he may not be tempted to give us all the silver." Zhang Yuanguan won the trust of the Son of Heaven, squeezed out Ning Shuai, and thought about currying favor with the Son of Heaven and replacing our heads for fame and fortune. ”

Xu Mingde said: "Zhang Yuanguan and I are both from Hengzhou, speaking of which we are still neighboring counties, the Zhang family has the name of 'Zhang Bancheng' in Jinding County, in fact, it is not only Jinding County, there are more than ten shops in the Zhang family in Lechang Mansion. Hengzhou is the place where the Wei family is prosperous, Zhang Yuanguan is both civil and military, has the reputation of a prodigy, and is favored by the Wei family, and Wei Yishen recruits him as a son-in-law. Zhang Yuanguan lived up to the expectations of his father-in-law, and as a military commander, he followed the army to quell the invasion of the Western Regions, and stepped forward to repel the ambush of the Western Regions at a critical time, turning from civil to military; Later, he was transferred to the Anbei Metropolitan Protectorate as the deputy governor, made many military exploits, and was promoted to the general of the Right Wuwei, and he was only 52 years old this year. ”

Liu Wei said in a deep voice: "When today's Zixin favors the Wei family, Wei Xiang's grandson Wei Youcheng is the brother-in-law of the Son of Heaven and is already the imperial historian, Wei Xiang's eldest son-in-law served as the assassin of Huazhou, and Zhang Yuanguan was sent to Annan as the governor. Such a handsome man with a prominent family background and a young age, only thinking about climbing up, if we are not careful, he will be regarded as the chicken that sets an example for monkeys. ”

"What then?" Zhao Bingzhong cried out in horror.

Xu Mingde glanced at Zhao Bingzhong contemptuously, this person who became the commander of the Tun army by slapping his beard and slapping the horse on weekdays is more ruthless than anyone else, and he is more cowardly than anyone else when he encounters things, this kind of soft egg is not enough to conspire with him. Glancing at Liu Wei, Liu Wei understood, raised his glass and said, "Everyone is tired today, go back to rest early after drinking this cup, and let's discuss it tomorrow." ”

Sending Zhao, Xu, and Yang away, Liu Wei returned to the study, his back was like a needle prick, Liu Wei looked at the candle on the table, his face was gloomy. A quarter of an hour later, Xu Mingde came, saluted him, sat down in a chair on the side, and after a while, Yang Sixuan also came, and the three of them sat quietly for another quarter of an hour, Liu Wei said: "Don't wait, Zhao Bingzhong won't come, let's discuss it together." ”

The three tun army commanders all have private houses in Cen Zhu County, Zhao Bingzhong's house is in the north of the city, and Sanjin's house has a concubine, and there are several servant women and servants to serve. Ling Xiang lightly reapplied the Jinchuang medicine for Zhao Bingzhong, and said worriedly: "Master, Zhang Dashuai was ruthless when he first came, how will he live in the future?" ”

Stroking her bulging belly, Lingxiang cried out with a "whin". She was originally the daughter of the tailor of the king of the city, but she was favored by Zhao Bingzhong, and she was accepted as a concubine for fifty taels of silver as a dowry, and now she is six months pregnant.

"What's the funeral, the master is not dead yet." Zhao Bingzhong shouted angrily. Lingxiang didn't dare to make a sound, and wept with a sob. Zhao Bingzhong waved his hand irritably and said, "You go to sleep in the West Chamber, don't make a noise about your master's good dreams." ”