Chapter 4 (Part 4)

The rain poured down like a waterfall, and the heavens and the earth were white.

There has never been an autumn as cold as this year, and although he was covered with a thick coat, Liu Heimin still felt that the moisture and autumn wind outside had blown into his bones.

Due to the heavy rain that has fallen in various places north of the Yellow River since the turn of summer and autumn, the itinerary of the Tang reinforcements has been seriously hindered. Taking advantage of this God-given opportunity, Liu Jiajun recovered all the territory that originally belonged to Dou Jiande. And created an unprecedented miracle, beating the old opponent of the Dou family's army, the Youyouhu Ben Iron Cavalry, to a big defeat, and never dared to cross the Horse River again.

Today's Liu Jiajun can be described as prestigious. Li Shiji lost his armor, Li Daozong fled, and even the famous brave general of the Tang Dynasty, Li Daoxuan, the king of Huaiyang, retreated after seeing Liu Heimin's banner.

But Liu Heimin was not happy at all. Not only was he unhappy, but he always felt empty in his heart, as if he had stepped into a cloud, and he couldn't be sure whether he would go to heaven or abyss when he took a step forward.

In the first half of his life, he followed Hao Xiaode and Li Mi. After Li Mi was defeated, he also spent some time under Wang Shichong. Later, he was accidentally captured by Xu Er, the old boss of the Wagang Army, so he had to surrender to Dou Jiande and became an inconspicuous cavalry leader under the command of the other party. Later, because of his meritorious service in rescuing the driver before the battle, he was exceptionally promoted by Dou Jiande to the chief of the cavalry, the prince of Handong County. But in those days of wandering, he ate and slept well, and his mind was not as weak as it is today. And now, he never thought about the territory, he has it. He never thought about the number of subordinates he had, he had. He never thought he would have a great reputation, and he also has it. However, he could no longer sleep easily.

Every time he closed his eyes, he remembered what had happened a month and a half ago. At that time, he was drinking cattle in the ditch at the edge of the field, which was a dozen or so large animals that had been sold back from the north after using all his savings, and with the more than 300 acres of land belonging to his own family, it was foreseeable that in the next few decades, his family would no longer have to worry about eating and drinking.

And earlier, he followed Hao Xiaode to kill officials and rebel, wasn't it because he was hungry? He had a piece of land of his own, a group of big animals working in the fields, getting up every morning to breathe the smell of dew in the countryside and going to the fields, and then going home with the smoke in the evening, for many years, in those days when the knife was licking blood, this was all the motivation that sustained him to continue fighting!

He had it all. But Wang Xiaohu and Gao Yaxian brought bad news that the Tang Dynasty was going to kill everyone according to the map. As a last resort, he picked up the knife again and changed himself from the owner of 300 acres of land to the owner of eight counties in southern Hebei and thousands of miles of rivers and mountains. When the angry mood slowly regained its calm in the killing, he bowed down to reflect on himself, and he realized that this family business was too big, too big to exceed the limit of what he could bear.

When a man owns 300 acres of land, he may only have to deal with the local tax collectors. And when he has 3,000 miles of rivers and mountains, he needs to face thousands of horses. In a short period of time, at least until the end of the continuous autumn rain, Liu Heimin believed that he would not encounter another vicious battle. However, what about after the autumn rains are over, after this winter is over? Li Daoxuan in the south, Li Shimin in the west, Luo Yi and Li Zhongjian in the north, surrounded by wolves, how long can his Liu Jiajun hold out?

I don't know! Liu Heimin had no answer in his heart at all. Unlike Wang Xiaohu and Dong Kangmai, they only saw the victory in front of them. Liu Heimin's gaze penetrated the heavy rain curtain and saw the crisis in the next few months, a year, or even a few years. Half of the brothers who followed him in rebellion against the Tang Dynasty were motivated by righteous indignation, and the other half were motivated by the hatred aroused by the execution of Dou Jiande by the Tang Dynasty. However, hatred and righteous indignation cannot last long after all, and when everyone calms down like he is now, what needs to be faced is the cold reality.

The reality is that the territory of Datang is ten times that of what he currently controls. Twenty times the amount of troops available to him at the moment. Armor, equipment, and supplies are hundreds of times the maximum standard he can pay. It is foreseeable that when Datang recovers from the pain caused by a blow to the head, it will definitely dispatch the strength of the country to retaliate. And what about the eight counties of Hebei, what can they use to resist?

The only ready-made answer is. Now, there is no turning back. When he couldn't sleep, Liu Heimin thought more than once that if he didn't accept the instigation of Wang Xiaohu, Gao Yaxian, Dong Kangmai and others that day, what would happen if he led them to rebel together? The answer is as cold as reality, they will not hesitate to kill themselves and hang their heads on the walls. Just like they later knew that the two women who were surrounded were Cheng Mingzhen's wife and wife, they did not hesitate to order the arrows to be released and pierced them through the body, clean and decisive.

Either rebel with the group, or be killed as a lackey of the Tang Emperor. Other than that, there is no other option. Wang Xiaohu and Dong Kang bought the two and gave the same conditions to everyone, regardless of men, women, old and young, old and young. With this ruthless move, Liu Jiajun instantly pulled up enough soldiers and horses. However, it was also because of this unprecedented ruthless move that Liu Jiajun formed countless blood feuds in the eight counties of Hebei.

When Wang Xiaohu sent the long list of "rebellious" elements to the desk, Liu Heimin understood that he had no way out. On that ink-written list, there were more than 3,000 names. Among them are not only the officials and their families appointed by the Tang Dynasty to the eight counties of Hebei, but also the families of the Dou family generals who surrendered to the Tang Dynasty with Pei Ju a few months ago and have not returned, such as Qi Shanxing, Pei Ju, etc. Even, on this list, Wang Xiaohu unceremoniously listed a number of local nobles that Dou Jiande knew that he might be the first rat at both ends, and killed them all without waiting for Liu Heimin's approval.

Behind each name, there was a large pool of blood. At this point, the battle between Liu Jiajun and Tang Jun is no longer for the sake of belonging to the world, but a naked catharsis of hatred. However, after all, the blood debt needs to be repaid with blood, and Liu Jiajun has killed everyone innocently now, and I am afraid that he will have to pay it ten times the price in the future. Can Liu Jiajun afford this huge debt? Can the eight counties of Hebei afford to be killed now and in the future? How can the killing easily stop when a heavy stain of blood has piled up, when the new hatred has overshadowed the old hatred, and the blood of both warring sides has not been drained?

Thinking of these, Liu Heimin's mood was gloomy than the dark clouds in the sky. However, he could not publicly accuse Wang Xiaohu, Dong Kangmai and others, although those people were currently nominally his courtiers. They are like a pack of desperate wolves, with red eyes and bared teeth, and they can pounce on the enemy. But no one guarantees that they won't pounce on their companions! Including Liu Heimin, the titular wolf king, if he is not careful, he will also be torn to pieces by the wolves!

A cold wind blew in, blowing Liu Heimin's heart tightened again. Turning back angrily, he stared at the red-eyed and asked, "Who opened the door and looked for death?" If your hands are itchy, take a knife and cut it off yourself! ”

"Big brother, it's me. Ten Senses! At the door, a gentle response came. A burly young man with a vibrant face walked in from the outside smiling.

"Ten Virtues?" A glimmer of sunshine finally appeared on Liu Heimin's gloomy face, "When did you come back?" How is it over there? ”

Liu Shishan is Liu Heimin's brother, and he is also one of the few cronies around him who can enter the inner house without notification, and it is absolutely impossible to fight back. Hearing the eagerness in the general's words, he smiled and reported in a slow voice, "It's okay." Before General Dong could make a move, I released a group of local villagers according to my eldest brother's orders. They are still thinking about the benefits of Lord Dou, although they have been wronged some time ago, they also have some complaints! ”

"It's good that you don't complain." Liu Heimin smiled bitterly and shook his head, "After all, we have to take root in Hebei, and we can't dig our own foundation by ourselves." General Wang is not difficult for you? Does he still like the gift I chose? ”

Liu nodded and smiled, "General Dong is not very happy. However, he still has a lot of respect for his eldest brother. He had half Turkic blood on his body and was most fond of war horses and spirits. When I saw the Tler's fat you gave him, I immediately left all the unhappiness behind! ”

"How's Boling doing?" Liu Heimin felt a little relieved, and turned to ask about the completion of other tasks.

"I just took some precautions along Juluze and Zhangshui, and there was no movement of heavy troops. It seems that King Boling may not be completely at ease with Li Yuan's future movements! ”

Hearing this, Liu Heimin's mood was a lot more relaxed. smiled and said in a low voice: "Old Concubine Li and King Boling are wary of each other, I have already guessed this. As long as the elite of Boling does not go south, we can deal with it more calmly. What about Cheng Mingzhen, over there, did you send someone to deliver my letter? ”

"He killed the messenger!" Liu Shishan sighed, and his eyes dimmed instantly. "Of the five people who went with us, only one of Wang Fubao's subordinates was spared."

"Dog ......." Liu Heimin opened his mouth and scolded, halfway through the scolding, but then turned into a sigh. He hadn't had any dealings with Cheng Mingzhen, but when he first saw the villages in Xiangguo County that were far richer than other counties in Hebei, he admired this person to the extreme. In troubled times, it is not uncommon to be able to kill. Being able to live countless people is a rare ability. Dou Jiande's strength was able to recover so quickly later, all thanks to the sufficient food supply of Xiangguo County. And now his Liu Jiajun also has to use the Zhaozhou area, that is, the place where Cheng Mingzhen raised troops in Tuntian, as the foundation for his rise.

"This feud, I'm afraid we're getting bigger!" Liu Shishan shook his head and said very frankly, "Dong Kangmai was red-eyed at the time, knowing that the woman guarding the corpse was Cheng Mingzhen's wife, he still ordered a random arrow to be fired.......

"Under that woman's knife, at least twenty of his brothers were cut, and anyone would be in a hurry......" Liu Heimin defended his generals in a low voice, and the smile on his face was very helpless.

Deep down, he would rather Dong Kangmai kill Li Shentong, the king of Huai'an, than let Cheng Mingzhen's wife die on his own turf. Killing Li Shentong is just killing an outsider cool official, which will only boost the morale of Liu Jiajun. And the latter's death made many people near Zhaozhou secretly resist Liu Jiajun in their hearts from then on. Although the resistance in the hearts of the people did not cause any substantial harm to Liu Jiajun. But when the two armies fight each other in the future, the impact of this loss of popular will be very complicated.

"Even if he killed Red Eye again, he didn't even let go of the corpse. The truth of cutting off the head and hanging it on the city wall. Two women, one of whom is still a white-haired old lady, let the people who come and go see it, what has become of our Liu Jiajun in their eyes? Big brother shouldn't have ....... at that time" Liu Shishan still felt that he had gone too far, and muttered indignantly.

"People are dead, what else can I do?" Liu Heimin glared at his clan brother and scolded in a low voice. "Just talk about these words behind your back, don't spread them around. lest General Dong and the others feel chilled when they hear it. Now is the time to employ people, and you can't ask people to be subtle! ”

"Hmm!" Liu Shishan thought about it and nodded solemnly. From his brother's point of view, he can understand Liu Heimin's distress in doing this. After all, everyone raised troops in a hurry, and although it seemed to be huge, there were many internal problems that there was no time to straighten out. In case a few generals with heavy troops are annoyed, they will be scattered in two. The Tang army took the opportunity to press over, and it was absolutely difficult to resist with Liu Heimin's descendant strength alone.

"If only you understood!" Liu Heimin sighed again, very helpless, "Before you come back, Dong Kangmai took those two heads off the city wall according to my request and buried them properly?"

"Yes. I saw it with my own eyes. They are all excellent nanmu coffins. Liu Shishan responded with a wry smile. That woman is very popular in Zhaozhou. On the day of the burial, hundreds of people stood on the side of the road to see each other off, risking being settled by General Dong. ”

"That's good. At least we're not ashamed. Liu Heimin grinned, wanting to laugh, but his face was full of bitterness!

"Big brother didn't know it at the time! This should be clear to those with the surname Cheng! Liu Shishan saw that his brother was smiling reluctantly, and smiled to explain. Besides, he is the general of the Tang Dynasty after all, even if his wife did not die in the chaos that day, there will be a battle between him and us sooner or later. We have done what should be done, and the rest is nothing more than soldiers to block it, and water to cover it. ”

"Yes, you don't have to worry about a lot of debts!" Liu Heimin shook his head and smiled bitterly. "I can't care so much, do you have any other news?"

"Nope!" Liu Shishan shook his head slightly, then nodded again and continued. "However, Cheng Mingzhen's movements, the person who was released back mentioned it to me!"

"Say!" Liu Heimin frowned and ordered in a low voice.

"The surname Cheng seems to have entered Juluze. He killed the messenger with his front foot, and with his back foot, he led the man into Juluze from the north side. No one has been in that puddle for years. Liu Shishan thought about it and reported in a deep voice.