On the northwestern border, winter comes early, and after late autumn, wind and snow fall. Pen ~ fun ~ pavilion www.biquge.info

The border city is cold and dry, full of desolation, the withered grass in the wild is covered with ice and snow, and the sky and the earth are white

The faint glow of the sky, shining on the earth, gently rendered on the snow, refracting silver light and colored light, dyed the vast snow with such a touch of color.

In the early morning, thick cooking smoke began to pour out from the chimney, all plain white, wafting into the air, adding some vitality to the cold world.

Since Luo Zhaoyun had already promulgated a new policy to settle the people, the war did not affect the autumn harvest, so the harvest of the eight counties in the northwest was enough for the people to use it annually.

In some disaster-stricken areas, the Young Marshal's Mansion promptly sent county orders to open warehouses for relief to avoid starvation and freezing to death of the people.

In many places, relief was provided in a timely manner, and there was no mass displacement of refugees and deaths along the way, as in previous years.

The stable environment in the northwest has made the people fully accept the leadership of the young marshal's mansion, and the people are spreading the news that Luo Cheng is about to become the king of the northwest, so that the people who are watching and worrying that the young marshal will leave are a lot more relieved.

On this day, Qu Tutong came with his troops, and there were only more than 3,000 horses left, dressed in rags, covered with frost, and cold in iron armor.

Luo Zhaoyun led people to personally greet them out of the city and waited in Shili Pavilion.

"Here we are."

"Huh-" Qu Tutong had been notified in advance by the scouts, and the young marshal personally greeted him at Shili Pavilion.

Outside the ancient pavilion, the north wind is howling, the snow is falling, and there are many civil and military officials standing in the pavilion, such as Guo Xiaoke, Xue Wancheng, Du Ruhui, Cheng Mingzhen, Zhu Suiliang, Yu Zhining and others.

Qu Tutong rode to the twenty steps of the ancient pavilion, turned over and dismounted, adjusted his armor and uniform, and strode over.

Luo Zhaoyun also walked out of the ancient pavilion and personally greeted Qu Tutong and gave the old general face.

"General Qu has worked hard."

"Qu has seen Youguo Gong!" Qu Tutong hugged his fists and saluted, although he was much bigger than Luo Cheng's official position before, but Luo Cheng's latecomer came to the top, and with his military exploits, he continued to rise, won Yang Guang's favor, married a princess, and was crowned a prince, whether it was a title or an official character, he had surpassed Qu Tutong, so when he met, he met with the following official ceremony.

Luo Zhaoyun stretched out his hand and gently dragged Qu Tutong's arm, and sighed: "General Qu doesn't have to be polite, this road is thousands of miles away, there are many obstacles, and it is really hard. ”

Qu Tutong shook his head and said: "Qu should have defended Tongguan and blocked Li Tang's army from entering Guanlong, but Li Tang smuggled into Longmen, bypassed Tongguan, and conquered Daxing City. ”

"The general's words are serious, and the loss of Daxing is by no means a crime of war, but the trend of the times, who can stop it? Now the Great Sui is in turmoil, the country will not be a country, it is all due to the situation, the decline of the imperial court, His Majesty's policy is wrong, the three expeditions to Goguryeo, the construction of the Grand Canal is too hasty, resulting in the people are not living, will revolt in various places, we regain a foothold in the northwest, that is, first return the people to a peaceful and prosperous era, so that the people recognize us, in order to do something again, otherwise, the people and soldiers do not support, how can we calm the chaos? Luo Zhaoyun was comforting Qu Tutong, why wasn't he igniting the old general to figure it out.

Qu Tutong nodded, but he didn't think so, having said that, but how to do it is another matter, he is closed and does not understand the situation in the northwest, so he will be suspicious of Luo Cheng's words.

"Serve!" Luo Zhaoyun shouted, and a guard brought hot wine, which had been boiling in boiling water, which was a kind of admiration for the hero.

During the Three Kingdoms period, Xiang Yu beheaded Huaxiong and asked Cao Cao to wait for warm wine, and he went back as soon as he went, which became a folk legend.

Luo Zhaoyun personally poured a glass of hot wine and handed it to Qu Tutong, so that he could relieve the chill on his body, this kind of action, full of care, moved Qu Tutong's heart, and some of the generals who accompanied him, seeing that the young marshal respected Qu Tutong so much, they were also happy, because the generals who defected to him were inevitably apprehensive in their hearts, and they didn't know if they were reused, which was a good signal.

"Good wine, thank you Guogong!" Qu Tutong's words were sincere, and he suddenly felt that he had a lot of face in front of the soldiers.

"This is just a warm-up wine, and when you enter Jincheng, you will arrange high-quality wine and dishes for General Qu and the accompanying soldiers, and drink and eat happily." Luo Zhaoyun said with a smile.

When Qu Tutong heard this, he arched his hand and said: "In this way, I will thank the prince for his good intentions." ”

Luo Zhaoyun immediately ordered everyone to get on their horses and start to return to the city, these 3,000 armor soldiers did not stay outside the city, but also brought them into the city, and placed a new camp between the outer Guo and the inner city, and had already vacated the space for this group of soldiers from afar.

When Qu Tutong led the soldiers to arrive at the new barracks, the warm tents and stone houses, the quilts were brand new, the camp was full of a lot of wine jars, meat, and grain, and the arrangements were thoughtful, and the psychology was warm and coaxing, and he felt that it was very correct to defect to Luo Cheng.

That night, Luo Zhaoyun personally set up a banquet to wash the dust for the old general Qu Tutong, and the treatment was very high, and Luo Zhaoyun was also very polite, because this is an upright and iron-clad general, as long as he is gradually reformed and collected for his own use, he will become a big help in the future.

During the banquet, Qu Tutong asked about the situation of Zhuo County, and when he was on duty in Tongguan Town, he heard that Dou Jiande sent an army of 150,000 to attack Zhuo County.

"Dou Jiande sent Su Dingfang and Liu Heimin to lead troops to attack the Zhuo County defense line, but Zhuo County was well defended, and there were generals such as Xue Shixiong and Qin Qiong to resist, so that the Xia army did not take advantage, and after two months, it was still a stalemate stage, and the cold winter came, and the Xia army began to give up the attack." Luo Zhaoyun explained briefly.

Qu Tutong was secretly surprised in his heart, and unknowingly, Luo Cheng's forces had entrenched eight counties in the northwest, opened up the Hexi Corridor, and in the northeast, there were also six counties, with more than 100,000 soldiers.

The northwest and northeast are both Luo's territory, and any place is comparable to the strength of the first-class anti-king, and if the Great Sui wants to revive, it depends on Luo Cheng's attitude!

Qu Tutong looked at Luo Cheng with a little more intriguing look, and secretly guessed: Will he take care of himself as the king, does he have the intention of rebellion?