In March, the spring is thick, if it is in Jiangdong, it is already blooming like a brocade, green grass, but this Chang'an is near the place, Guanzhong, full of loess floating dust, spring is not obvious. The horses galloped by, stirring up smoke and dust, which lasted for a long time, choking people coughing and not opening their eyes.

This place is located more than ten miles northwest of Chang'an City, near the Weihe River ferry. Galloping on the main road is a team of vigorously armed light horses, loaded with knives and bows, quite elite.

The leader of the cavalry was a dark-faced young man with a national face, even on a horse, and it could be seen that he was quite tall. Then he took the reins and shouted, "The horses are tired, so let us rest here for a while, eat some food and water, and then go on the road." ”

"Whoa!" When the cavalry heard this, they stopped in unison, which showed that they were well-trained, and that they were forbidden to do so, and they should have been very convinced by the young general.

There is a small river passing by the road, and there are many wild grasses growing on the bank of the river, although they are not very dense, but in the eyes, they are much more comfortable than the loess and red land. The big guys led the horses one after another, and the horses drank water and chewed grass, and by the way, they chose a shady place to rest.

The young man with the national character face also walked to the river, looking at the long flowing water in front of him, stunned. Suddenly, a tall and thin young man walked on the side, his face was still childish, and he was estimated to be fifteen or sixteen years old, but he was an inch taller than the young man with the national character.

There is a lonely mulberry tree by the river, but unfortunately only half of it is left, and it cannot be shaded. The trunk of the tree was burned, and I don't know when it was set on fire and burned down. The tall and thin young man stretched out his hand, patted the lonely mulberry remnant, and sighed: "The land in the middle of the human cloud pass is fertile for thousands of miles, and there is green water and Qin Sang everywhere. ”

The young man with the national character face did not sigh, but said "ouch", turned his head, and quipped: "Tsk, Ah Chong's mouth is a chapter, this knowledge is growing day by day." ”

The tall and thin young man grinned and responded: "That's not the black otter Ah Gan, you urge every day, plus... In addition, I am gifted and intelligent, and I will be able to learn as soon as I learn, how can this knowledge not be long? ”

This messy guy is not ashamed to speak, and his face is thick enough! The young man with the national character face was angry and funny, and he shouted "get out" at the moment, pretending to raise his leg to kick. The tall and thin boy giggled and jumped aside.

The young man with the national character face in the lead is naturally Yuwentai. Last year, he entered Guanzhong with the army as an infantry captain of the Western Expeditionary Army, in the battle of Chishui, he personally went to danger, and even planned to break the Shu fang, and the army discussed the first merit, and had to be promoted to General Jianwei from the four products, and then he was lenient and strict when he governed the army, and won the heart of the army, and now his prestige is very high.

As for the tall and thin boy, needless to say, it is the Fenwei general Hou Mo Chen Chong. In the past few years, this kid has become tall, thin and vigorous, with solid skin and muscles, and he has long since lost the chubby appearance he had when he was young. Xu is talented, although Hou Mo Chen Chong is young, his martial arts are really amazing, plus the best among the brothers, He Batsheng, Pei Guo and Yang Zhong, are not in Guanzhong, and at present, in the Western Expeditionary Army, it is Xiao Ah Chongkua, who is at the end of his age, is the first.

Since he was stationed in Chang'an last year, he didn't realize that half a year had passed. During this period, the Western Expeditionary Army almost did not leave Chang'an, but only walked around, and the so-called great cause of the Western Expedition was far away.

The reason is also simple, one, Wan Qian Chounu saw the Western Expeditionary Army coming to help, and he was unable to capture Chang'an, coupled with the shortage of food and grass in winter, so he led the army to retreat westward, and now the main force is in Anding (Jingzhou Prefecture, now Jingchuan County, Pingliang City, Gansu Province), and diligently operated, thinking that it was an old nest.

Second, it was the commander of the Western Expeditionary Army, Erzhu Tianguang, who committed the ** illness when he was in Tongguan again, citing various reasons, such as "insufficient armor and lack of horses", "the weather is cold, and it is difficult to carry heavy baggage", "the thieves are rampant, and they cannot be moved lightly"... All in all, Lai is not leaving in Chang'an.

How could the brothers be willing? In both public and private affairs, we must strive to march westward. He Bayue and Hou Mo Chen Yue, who were the governors of the Western Expeditionary Army, went to Erzhu Tianguang to ask for a battle at three or five o'clock, but Erzhu Tianguang just refused.

He Bayue became impatient, and entered Erzhu Tianguang's bedroom on this day, with a fierce momentum.

Erzhu Tianguang was leisurely and drinking, He Bayue saw it, and when he was angry, he stepped forward and snatched the wine cup from Erzhu Tianguang's hand, and smashed it with a force.

Erzhu Tianguang was taken aback: "Adou Ni, you... ”

"Skylight Agan!" He Bayue said earnestly: "Since you call me Adouni, I don't call you the Governor, I only call Agan." Since you are my Agan, I can't watch you go down by mistake. Ah Gan, Ah Gan, you don't have to forget, Tianzhu he... He can't be considered a patient person! ”

He Bayue said "sincerely", and Erzhu Tianguang couldn't help but be moved.

He Bayue struck while the iron was hot: "Ah Gan! You and my brother are single-minded, no matter how difficult it is, even if it is said, even if you go to the soup and go to the fire, I will not give up! ”

In Erzhu Tianguang's heart, he still had no intention of going on the expedition, but seeing that He Bayue was so sincere, he was really embarrassed to refuse in person, so he sighed at the moment and said leisurely: "Our army... There is not enough armor and horses. ”

It's still this old-fashioned rhetoric, He Bayue was so angry that he was almost about to scold, but after thinking about it, he still held back, and saw the move at the moment: "I have carefully surveyed several treasury in Chang'an City, and the baggage is very rich, and I can get thousands of sets of armor together, although the grain and grass are Chen Gu, it is always a problem to fill my stomach." As for the horses ... There are indeed not many in Chang'an City, but outside Chang'an City, hehe, it is everywhere. ”

Erzhu Tianguang was stunned: "What do you mean?" ”

"After years of thieves and chaos in Guanzhong, the officers and soldiers have always only guarded the city of Chang'an, and the southeast and northwest outside the city have long been entrenched by bandits from all walks of life. These bandits plundered all directions, and the people were struggling to make a living, but they were so fat that they lacked horses, money, food, and even men. I intend that it is better to send troops to attack in all directions, not only to destroy thieves for the people, but also to seize horses, money and food, and to select the best and strongest among the captives to be incorporated into our army. In this way, wouldn't it be more than one stone? ”

"It's a way." Erzhu Tianguang nodded. After thinking about it, he said: "But even if there are people and horses, how can you enter the army when it is cold outside?" When he said this, it was still a cold winter.

He Bayue was confident, and said eloquently: "The great cause of the Western Expedition is a matter of social affairs, and it is not in a hurry. Just take advantage of this cold weather, Wan Qiu ugly slaves have no time to attack, our army first pacified the surroundings of Chang'an, seized the money and food of the horses, but also trained the soldiers and horses, the so-called sharpening of the knife does not mistake the woodcutter. When everything is ready in the spring of the next year, the army will march westward and will be like a bamboo! ”

Erzhu Tianguang pondered for a long time, and there was still hesitation: "Guanzhong is broken, and there are few people... Even if everything goes well, I will calculate that it is rare for our army to be able to gather more than 10,000 soldiers and horses. But the 10,000 ugly slaves and thieves are blazing, and the army under his command is known as 100,000, so what can I do? ”

He Bayue jumped up and shouted: "A thief is a thief, a rabble." Don't say 100,000, what if there are millions? At the beginning, Na Ge Rong of Hebei was known as a million army, and Tianzhu was only 7,000 soldiers and horses, but were you afraid of it? As a result, under the first battle, the thief was obediently captured, and Hebei was pacified. After a pause, the higher the voice: "Ah Gan! If you are blindly afraid, why did we come to Guanzhong in the first place? ”

Erzhu Tianguang was red-faced and speechless. After staying for a while, he was not angry, but smiled dryly: "When I was in Tongguan a while ago, I already said to Adou Ni that this expedition to the west will be entrusted to him. Now that you have a plan, let it go. You and my brother, who will preside over it is not all the same? ”

As soon as he finished speaking, Erzhu Tianguang turned his head and went to find a wine cup again, sat there, and actually poured himself a drink again.

He Bayue was dumbfounded, and first he was angry: Tianguang, Tianguang, I think you were also angry and motivated. How did you get to Guanzhong and become so uncompetitive all of a sudden?

On second thought: you are lazy, and I am happy to let it go. The army is the most particular about leading soldiers, and the whole Western Expeditionary Army is all up to my brothers, so don't regret it at that time.

So Erzhu Tianguang was still indulging in wine, and the He Bayue brothers were vigorous and resolute, just do what they say. At the beginning of the year, near Chang'an, and even in the Sanfu territory, all kinds of bandits and Hu Fang were all pacified. The Western Expeditionary Army did not count the money and food, the war horses had accumulated to more than 5,000, and the number of people who controlled the strings increased sharply by more than 10,000. All are abundant.

In the following months, the brothers of He Bayue practiced their soldiers and horses day and night, especially Yuwentai, who was the best at managing the army, and the results were outstanding.

By March, the weather was warm, and the brothers were ready to try. He first rode out with scouts to detect the thieves.

Yu Wentai personally led the cavalry to cross the Wei River, all the way to the west, and worked tirelessly to go around Qizhou (Zhiyong County, now Fengxiang County, Baoji City, Shaanxi Province); Hou Mo Chen Chong led his team north and went deep into the boundary of East Qinzhou (the central part of the prefecture, now Yijun County, Tongchuan City, Shaanxi Province).

Today, the two of them returned with their teams, and they happened to bump into each other at the Weihe crossing, so they crossed the river together, talked and laughed, and went straight to Chang'an City.