Sun Chuanting, the governor of Shaanxi, was appointed in April to temporarily take over as the military premier of the five provinces. But he was busy dealing with the internal affairs of An'an, and he couldn't take his hand off to take care of the cloudy southern Shaanxi, so this news was not particularly important to Zhao Ying. The current focus of Zhao Ying's efforts is all focused on two points, one is on Hong Chengchou, the trilateral governor who is looking at him in the west, and the other is on Hou Liangzhu, the general soldier of Sichuan, who is about to leave Sichuan.

Whether it is dealing with Hong Chengchou or Hou Liangzhu, Zhao Dangshi does not want to see Zhao Ying fall into the predicament of being attacked by the enemy, but you can't have both, and fighting on two fronts is the way to destroy yourself after all, so you should choose one of the two to deal with first. In the end, the result agreed with the generals of the army was to prepare for the battle of Hong Chengchou's army, which was already on the side, and tried to block the Hou troops and horses that had not yet left the river to the south of the mountain pass.

For Hong Chengchou, no matter how big Zhao Dangshi is, he must personally sit in charge and coordinate the various departments to meet the attack, so Hou Liangzhu's side must send a reliable general to cooperate with Hu Jiusi and other northern Sichuan troops who have been in an emergency many times, and insist on holding the southern front before the war in the north is over. From the perspective of the entire strategic situation, the importance of the south is no less than that of the north, because with the strength of the Zhao battalion, it is absolutely impossible to deal with the officers and troops attacking from two directions at the same time. The south is stable, and the battle situation is still promising; If the south is lost, the Zhao camp will be defeated. Therefore, the selection of generals in this aspect, which has a bearing on the survival of the whole army, has become the most important thing.

According to the previous situation, this general Xu Hui is the best choice, he has gradually shown the level and talent of leading the team independently since the beginning of Sichuan, and he is also the battalion general with the most independent combat experience in leading the troops.

However, Zhao Dangshi did not intend to let Xu Hui leave his side this time. There are three reasons: first, Xu Hui's current physical condition cannot be said to be fully recovered and stabilized, no matter how suitable he is, once the illness recurs and cannot be controlled, it will cause disorder in the command system and cause a devastating blow to the whole army, Zhao Dangshi does not dare to take this risk; Second, Hong Chengchou is notoriously difficult to deal with, and Zhao Dangshi alone is not very confident in dealing with him. Although Qin Qixun, Mu Gongchun and others joined the army to plan with them, but after all, these people are good at talking on paper and lack battlefield experience, compared to them, Xu Hui can undoubtedly provide more practical advice to Zhao Dangshi. In fact, there have been several times before, Zhao Dangshi has secretly sighed because of the lack of someone around him to help with ideas. This battle is very crucial, Zhao Dangshi doesn't want to lose the chance to win because of his misjudgment, so he needs a person like Xu Hui to assist him. Third, the reinforced front battalion was a well-deserved main force in the field of the Zhao battalion. Good steel is used on the blade, not to say that Hou Liangzhu's Sichuan soldiers are not important, but after weighing it, Zhao Dangshi believes that Xu Hui's front battalion should stay in the north to fight Hong Chengchou's army.

Xu Hui did not question Zhao Dangshi's decision, he accepted the result in silence, because he also knew in his heart that the battlefield in the north needed him more.

So who should the south send? Zhao Dangshi hesitated for a while. At present, the army of Zhao Ying is mainly distributed in the three counties of Chu, Baocheng and Chenggu, among which Hao Shaoqi and Hui Dengxiang are in a tense confrontation with Hong Chengchou, and the war is about to break out, so it is naturally impossible to change the general. And Xu Hui's front battalion and Hou Dagui's middle battalion could not be transferred as the backbone, and the rear battalion could not undertake the front combat mission, so after thinking about it, only Qin Jinxiao's left battalion was left who could take on the heavy responsibility of the main force in the south.

Because of the turmoil of negative departure, many generals, including Hou Dagui, did not recognize Qin Jinxiao. The matter of controlling the southern mountain pass is very high, and it is public and private, and they do not want or worry about a general with a serious criminal record to become the chief general of the south. After all, once the incident in Chuxian County is staged again, it will be all the Zhao Ying soldiers including them who will suffer.

Zhao Dangshi understands the worries of these people, but he also has a scale in his heart, and after weighing the pros and cons, he feels that there is no more suitable candidate than Qin Jinxiao at the moment.

First of all, it is very clear that based on reality, there is no choice in Zhao Ying's lineage. Some people may say that they can let Wu Dading or Zhang Miaoshou go, but regardless of whether the combat effectiveness of Wu and Zhang Erbu is trustworthy or not, just looking at Wu Dading's previous actions, Zhao Dangshi will never hand over a heavy task related to his own survival to such a person. This kind of person can go together, if you want to rely on him to erect a barrier for yourself, it is a big joke. Zhang Miaoshou is the same way, maybe compared to Wu Dading, his character is better, and he has a very personal relationship with Zhao Dangshi, but once it is related to the interests of his entire legion, no one can say anything at this stage, and it is guaranteed that he will make a choice on the cusp of the storm at that time. After all, after more than ten years, everyone is accustomed to seeing wind and waves, and the commitment to personal friendship has never stood the test.

Secondly, most of the soldiers and horses of the left battalion came from Shi Zhouwei, and what they were best at was mountain warfare. Fighting in formation on the plains of Hanzhong Mansion, these native soldiers may not be outstanding, but as soon as they enter the mountains and forests, they will stand like a dragon swimming into the sea and Kunpeng spreading its wings. At the beginning of Shizhouwei, Zhao Ying had personally experienced the horrors of these mountain and forest warriors, and the loyal road soldiers were the best among them, so it was absolutely suitable for them to go to the Chongshan Mountains in the south.

Finally, and most importantly, the fighting spirit of the left battalion soldiers is very high. At the beginning, he was forced to rely on Sun Xianzu, and many people in the camp had complaints about Qin Jinxiao's decision-making. But since the Qin family is the head of their family for generations, they will not frown if they are told to jump into the fire pit. So when Qin Jinxiao was forgiven and returned to the Zhao camp again, not only Qin Jinxiao himself, it can be said that every soldier in the left camp held their breath and wanted to make outstanding military exploits to wash away the shame of the past. For these generous and resolute soldiers, in order to win back the respect of others and the glory of the past, let them exchange their lives, and they will not hesitate for a moment. Qin Jinxiao saw that Zhao Dangshi's choice of the southern generals had been hanging for a long time, so he knelt down on the spot, strived to go, and made it clear that if he didn't let Zuo Ying take over this task this time, then he would kill himself in the tent. This person's temper has not changed, the same stubbornness and stubbornness, but it is suitable for use in this kind of place. Zhao Dangshi read from his gaze the strength, the desire, and the determination to become benevolent if he did not succeed. If so, what more can the husband ask for?

There is no suspicion in employing people, and there is no need for suspicious people. Since Zhao Dangshi chose to take Qin Jinxiao back that day, he had no intention of discriminating against him. Under Qin Jinxiao's strong self-recommendation, Zhao Dangshi personally helped him up, and said: "The matter in the south is none other than Dunyuan, with you going, I don't have to worry about it." ”

This "Dunyuan" is Qin Jinxiao's word, he heard Zhao Dangshi say this, he was so excited that he almost burst into tears, but after all, he endured it, gritted his teeth and said: "If the south is lost, you need to wait until the left battalion fights to the last person!" ”

Seeing the two of them like this, some of the military generals who were still dissatisfied also pursed their lips and were silent when they knew the current affairs.

It's just trust is trust, Qin Jinxiao is reckless after all, although the left battalion is very strong, Zhao Dangshi still decided to send someone to assist him, this person must be a calm and mature person, in order to be strong and soft with Qin Jinxiao. However, considering that the Zuo Battalion had never had the experience of setting up a clerk and counselor, and there was no precedent for transferring to serve as a military general, Zhao Dangshi was quite worried that if he inserted himself in vain, he would add to the problem. Ignoring the office, Qin Qixun took the initiative to ask Ying, hoping to assist Qin Jinxiao to go to the south to guard the palace.

Whether in terms of personality or strategy, relationship or phase, Qin Qixun is perfectly compatible with Zuoying's system. Although he and Qin Jinxiao are suspected of being close relatives of uncles and nephews, none of the generals dared to raise objections to this. Because everyone knows that Qin Qixun is one of the most trusted people in Zhao Dangshi at the moment, and his character and style are obvious to everyone on weekdays. said that he would betray Zhao Dangshi, no one would believe it, on the contrary, more people believed that if Qin Jinxiao had any moths, then the first one to die for Zhao Dangshi would be this Qin family.

The north is important, the south is equally important, Zhao Dangshi knows how to make trade-offs, and also understands the significance of rational allocation of resources. Keeping Qin Qixun by his side, with Xu Hui, Mu Gongchun and many other strategists, at best, he only put forward some small strategies and added some loopholes in the plan. But if he is by Qin Jinxiao's side, he will definitely exert the power to influence the situation in the south and even victory or defeat. Zhao Dangshi is convinced of this.

Therefore, when the final result was settled, Qin Jinxiao became the person in charge of the important position of the commander of the south in this campaign, and Qin Qixun, who joined the army, temporarily served as the counselor of the left battalion, assisting Qin Jinxiao to jointly make decisions on military affairs in the south.

Hong Chengchou is still gathering troops, and there is still time left for the battle in the north, but the advance of the Sichuan army in the south is already on the way, and the situation cannot be delayed. On the second day of making the decision, Qin Jinxiao ordered nearly 2,000 people from his headquarters to go to the south. He had been to the south before, was familiar with the path, had combat experience with Hou Liangzhu's army, and had some friendship with Hu Jiusi and Liang Shizheng, and could also give Qin Jin filial piety in military protection. He and Qin Qixun are martial arts and literature, and jointly assist coach Qin Jinxiao.

Qin Jinxiao led his troops out of the camp when his stomach was white the next day, and Zhao Dangshi personally practiced it.

After drinking three bowls of wine, Qin Jinxiao wiped his mouth and said heroically: "Relax on the plate, with me, none of the thieves in his Sichuan want to get out!" ”

Zhao Dangshi nodded vigorously and said, "But let the dragon city fly general, don't teach Hu Ma to cross Yin Mountain." Now at that time, with General Qin here, presumably he Hou Liangzhu couldn't get out of the mountain! ”

Qin Jinxiao smiled, turned around and wanted to leave, Zhao Dangshi stopped him, looked at the distance between the left and right, and carried the limelight, suddenly on a whim, and said: "Dunyuan, when you come back, set up a big banquet, not only to celebrate your triumph, but also to hold a wedding for Ling Mei." Isn't it beautiful to have double happiness at the door! ”

"Wedding?" Qin Jinxiao was stunned, and thought of something, and said in surprise, "The meaning of the palm plate is ......"

Zhao Dangshi said: "Shi Lu is also old, although there are not so many etiquette constraints in the camp, but after all, she is a girl, sooner or later she must have a name, otherwise she will be mixed up all day long, so that others will see it, and she can't help but mutter." ”

Qin Jinxiao didn't react, and asked further: "The meaning of holding the plate is to collect Shi Lu ......"

Zhao Dangshi shook his head without waiting for him to finish speaking: "Dunyuan misunderstood, I treat Shi Lu like my own sister, and I never think about it." On the contrary, it is a good match. ”

"Wang Laixing?" Qin Jinxiao was surprised, if it weren't for the strong wind, his loss of voice would have made everyone else hear. Although he rarely cares about his lively and active sister on weekdays, he has heard a little about him and Wang Laixing. But in his opinion, his sister and Wang Laixin are just two little children, they are just playing together, and it is not surprising that they have attracted some gossip when they are old. In his own heart, he actually hoped that Zhao Dangshi could marry his sister as the main house, so that his status in the camp would skyrocket.

However, Zhao Dangshi's current words were like a slap in the face, and his dream was immediately shattered. Zhao Dangshi has been thinking about this for a long time, and he has never found a chance to say it, and now for some reason, he suddenly chose to shake out his thoughts at this juncture, in fact, not only Qin Jinxiao was a little overwhelmed, but he also felt a little regretful, afraid that this statement under his rise would have a psychological impact on Qin Jinxiao, who was about to go out.

went to Zhao Dangshi, came to Wang Laixing, Qin Jinxiao couldn't accept this contrast for a while, Zhao Dangshi saw that his face was gloomy, so he didn't say more, and said a few words twice, Qin Jinxiao left the camp. At first, he was so preoccupied with the formation of his army that he had no time to be distracted, but when the order of the army gradually stabilized and he began to march continuously, he rode on his horse, and naturally thought of his sister's marriage.

Wang Laixing is a kid he doesn't have much contact with, and he doesn't look very well - he has neither courage nor literary brilliance, what do you use to match your sister? However, thinking about it slowly, he felt that this matter was not all bad news. After all, everyone knows that although Wang Laixing is not surnamed Zhao, he is no different from Zhao Dangshi's younger brother, and having a relationship with him can actually stabilize his position in the camp. A more important point is that Wang Laixing is in charge of the rear battalion, what kind of place is the rear battalion, and the military resources and armaments are all available, Qin Jinxiao does not dare to think of seeking personal gain through this relationship, but in any case, if he maintains a close relationship with Wang Laixing, then in the future, the left battalion will have no worries in terms of soldiers' salaries, weapons and armor, and other supplements. Thinking like this, Qin Jinxiao's originally gloomy mood brightened again.

Thinking that the lifelong events of his sister who grew up watching him grow up were invisibly bound to the interests of Zuo Ying, Qin Jinxiao didn't know why he felt a sense of guilt. It's just that he doesn't know where this guilt comes from or where it comes from, and he just feels panicked in his heart.

With this tangled and complicated feeling, he embarked on the road to the south of Hanzhong Mansion.