The word "Gong" is interpreted in the "Shuo Wen" as a small scythe for harvesting grain. Pen "Fun" Pavilion www.biquge.info

The reason why Xuan County is so named is precisely because it is a very important production city and county in the Hun River Valley of Chu State.

On the morning of 11 August, Zhao Hongrun led 80,000 Wei troops to Gongxian and camped in the plain about 20 miles away from Gongxian.

According to the news from the front of the Green Crows, Nanmen Huai had already led the three thousand-man teams pretending to be a defeated army and stationed in the mound northwest of Hao County.

It is said that he also had contact with the guards of the county of Hao.

To be exact, it was the defender of Hao County who asked the army under the command of Nanmen Huai to be stationed outside the city, and invited him to enter the city alone.

Nanmen Huai was worried that he would be killed by the guards of Gongxian County, so he did not dare to enter the city, so he reorganized his army and stationed himself in the mound northwest of Gongxian County.

"It seems that the guards of the county are somewhat suspicious."

Zhao Hongrun said to Nanmen Chi, who was beside him, and the latter nodded worriedly.

After all, if the guards of the county begin to suspect Nanmen Huai, it means that the Nanmen clan of Qi County will also be suspected, and the worst thing is that the Nanmen clan only lives in Qi County, and their control of Qi County is not very complete, and the guards of Qi County have other people.

Therefore, if the state of Chu had not yet learned about the defection of Nanmen Chi, Nanmen Jue, and Nanmen Huai, then the Wei army would still be able to seek Qi County by virtue of the tactics of cooperating with the Nanmen clan.

But if the state of Chu had already learned, the situation would not be good.

It was unfavorable to the Wei army, and even more unfavorable to the Nanmen clan.

After thinking about it, Zhao Hongrun summoned Wu Ji, the general of the Shang Water Army, and instructed Nanmen Chi to temporarily serve as the deputy general of the Shang Water Army, and assist the Shang Water Army led by Wu Ji to immediately go downstream along the Huhe River to seek Qi County.

This arrangement made Nanmen Chi quite moved.

After all, at present, Hao County has not yet been conquered, and at this time, it is a very dangerous matter to divide troops to go downstream to seek Qi County, in case the Chu army side learns the truth of the matter, the advantages that the Wei army has established so far may be buried.

But Zhao Hongrun still arranged it like this, to put it bluntly, it was just to fulfill his promise to protect the Nanmen clan of Nanmen Chi, Nanmen Jue, Nanmen Huai and others.

Immediately, Nanmen Chi knocked on the ground with emotion and swore an oath: "(King Su), your great kindness and great virtue are remembered by the Nanmen clan. In the future, my Nanmen clan will definitely swear allegiance to His Royal Highness and to Great Wei, if this oath is violated, the ghosts and gods will not tolerate it. ”

Zhao Hongrun didn't say much else when he heard this, and after reaching out to help the South Gate, he told him and Wu Ji: "You two be careful yourself, if the Chu army reacts, you will take the Nanmen clan to the king's side, and you don't have to worry about Qi County." ”

The implication is that if Wu Ji and Nanmen Chi encounter the Chu army's counterattack on Qi County, they should not defend Qi County with their brains.

Anyway, capturing one less city doesn't matter to him Zhao Hongrun.

Wu Ji and Nanmen Chi nodded, and immediately left to make arrangements.

Unexpectedly, as soon as they left on the front foot, Yan Mo came to Zhao Hongrun's side on the back foot, and witnessed Wu Ji and Nanmen Chi leaving together, and said to Zhao Hongrun curiously: "Your Highness, are you going to divide your troops to take Qi County?" ”

Zhao Hongrun glanced at Yan Mo and said with a smile: "Well, this king is thinking, instead of letting the Yanling army and the Shangshui army work together to take the nephew county, it is more appropriate for the two armies to attack a county each." ”

Yan Mo smiled, of course he understood what Zhao Hongrun meant by this, after all, at present, the two armies of Yanling Army and Shangshui Army, due to the factor of Xiangcheng, the relationship between the two armies is becoming worse and worse, put together, and jointly attack a county, or it may really be a bad thing.

For example, there is a rush to get credit and the like.

Subsequently, conflicts and even infighting arose because of mutual merit.

"His Royal Highness's words made Yan ashamed and ......speechless," Yan Mo said curtly.

"Why be ashamed, you are the hero of the Xiangcheng that you sought." Zhao Hongrun patted Yan Mo's arm, then nodded and said, "This king has indeed given enough to the Shang Shui Army, but for your Yan Ling Army, it is ...... It should be the king who should be ashamed, and he clearly said that he will treat everyone equally. ”

Hearing this, Yan Mo was flattered, and hurriedly said: "Your Highness, you are serious, what you said at the beginning was that you were treating everyone equally, referring to my Chu people and Wei people, and you have already done this. …… As for the grievances between my Yanling Army and the Shangshui Army, the last general thinks that it depends on the merits of both sides! ”

"Is it all based on merit?" Zhao Hongrun smiled, and no longer continued the topic, but asked curiously: "By the way, Yan Mo, why are you here?" ”

Hearing this, Yan Mo licked his lips and said with an inexplicable expression: "Your Highness, my sergeant has found a village near here...... Your Highness, do you remember the bet with the last general? ”

Zhao Hongrun was stunned, and then remembered the bet with Yan Mo a few days ago.

At that time, Yan Mo once told him: Further south, you can see what kind of life the civilians of Chu State lived.

At that time, Zhao Hongrun didn't believe the miserable life of the Chu people in Chudong told by Yan Mo, so he made a bet with Yan Mo.

You're also idle enough......

Zhao Hongrun glanced at Yan Mo angrily.

But think about it carefully, the army is busy stationing the camp at the moment, and it will not directly attack Gongxian County before the minimum barracks are built, so whether it is Zhao Hongrun or Yan Mo, they are really idle and have nothing to do.

So, Zhao Hongrun took Zongwei and Su Wangwei, accompanied by Yan Mo and several other Chu generals and their personal guards, to the village of the Chu people that Yan Mo said.

When he came to that village, Zhao Hongrun was shocked.

Because the dilapidation of the village was beyond his imagination, and what made Zhao Hongrun even more stunned was that the Chu people in the village were yellow and thin, as if they could be blown away by a gust of wind.

"Lu Mu."

Zhao Hongrun called casually.

Zongwei Lu Mu understood, shrugged his shoulders and took out a money bag from his arms, took out a Wei Guoyuan coin from it, and handed it to Yan Mo, who accepted it with a light smile.

Looking at the scene in front of him, His Royal Highness King Su admitting defeat in betting, the Chu generals who followed behind Yan Mo laughed in their hearts.

However, they could not laugh, because the dilapidated village in front of them made them feel depressed.

"I really don't want to see these ......," Yan Ling's three thousand generals Zuo Qiu Mu muttered with dim eyes.

Hearing his words, Zuo Xunxi, Hua Yu, Gongyesheng and other generals, including several former Chu army generals who surrendered to the Yanling army in Xiangcheng, also had solemn and gloomy expressions.

Because they are from Chu, these generals all know what kind of virtue the Xiong nobles in Chu Dong are, and they also understand what kind of life the commoners of Chu here live.

They clearly knew that this phenomenon was wrong, and it would lead to the destruction of the entire Chu State.

However, in the past, they did not have the ability to change this abnormality of the Chu State, so they ignored all this as if they were deceiving themselves, as if nothing had happened.

And when the generals from the Chu Kingdom were in a heavy mood, Zhao Hongrun slowly walked to the depths of the village.

Because they were followed by the heavily armed Zongwei and Su Wangwei, the villagers were terrified and fled into their dilapidated houses in a panic, hiding in the windows and watching.

But after a few steps, Zhao Hongrun stopped, because in front of him, a child about five or six years old, about seven or eight years old, appeared, holding a wooden stick with one end sharpened, baring his teeth and pretending to be fierce, glaring at Zhao Hongrun fiercely.

The reason why it is described like this is because the child in front of Zhao Hongrun is too thin, it is simply skinny, and it is difficult to judge the age.

But the other party's dress made Zhao Hongrun, a Wei person, feel a little sad: there was only a pair of shabby pants all over his body, bare-chested, and barefoot.

Zhao Hongrun didn't ask, don't you seem to be cold? This kind of silly question.

You must know that it is almost mid-August, which is the late autumn season, and is about to enter the winter, and the weather has gradually cooled down.

"What do you want to do?" Zhao Hongrun asked the child gently.

"Get out of my village, you hateful bandits!" The child was holding a sharpened wooden stick, and deliberately pretended to be vicious, but it looked a little funny.

"Are there any robbers around here?" Zhao Hongrun turned his head and asked the generals of the Chu people who were slowly coming forward.

As soon as the words fell, I saw a newly descended general reply as if mocking and self-deprecating: "Your Royal Highness King Su, this is in the fiefdom of Juyang Jun. ”

"......" Zhao Hongrun looked at the general.

Seeing this, the general may have realized that his attitude was misleading, so he quickly straightened his expression, and replied with his fists clenched: "Back to Your Highness, the Qi Kingdom invaded my big ...... a few months ago Well, when he invaded the state of Chu, the king of Chu summoned all parts of the country to rectify the soldiers and horses and raise grain and grass. As far as the last general knows, the army under the command of Juyang Jun Xiong Li sent to collect the grain in the fiefdom and replenish the military rations......"

……

Zhao Hongrun shook his head secretly when he heard this, he was almost dumbfounded.

At this time, a slightly older little girl, possibly the child's sister, ran out of the grass hut not far away, and saw that the little girl pulled her brother a few times, as if she wanted to pull him home.

But she didn't pull after a few pulls, so she had to muster up the courage to stand in front of her brother and protect him behind her.

"You...... Who are you? Is it the King's army? The little girl asked timidly.

Zhao Hongrun looked at this little girl, it may be the relationship of the little girl, this little girl is wearing clothes, not topless like her younger brother.

"Nope." Zhao Hongrun shook his head and said with a little regret: "I'm waiting for Wei Jun!" …… Wei Army! ”

However, the strange thing is that after listening to Zhao Hongrun's words, the fear and hostility in the eyes of the sister and brother gradually dissipated, which made Zhao Hongrun a little puzzled.

And at this moment, Yan Mo said faintly beside him: "Maybe for the villagers of this village, the Wei army is far less hateful than Juyang Jun's army...... In other words, as long as it's not Juyangjun's person, it doesn't matter who anyone is. ”

After that, Yan Mo walked up to Zhao Hongrun, knocked on the ground and clenched his fists, and said solemnly: "Your Highness, the last general is bold, hoping to contain these helpless civilians......"

This guy ...... It turned out that it was not idle, but premeditated.

Zhao Hongrun looked at Yan Mo who knelt down in front of him in surprise, and he vaguely remembered that he had heard that Yan Mo's younger brothers and sisters had starved to death in the past winter.

And now, it's about to start winter.

"Next time, don't beat around the bush like this......" Bending down to help Yan Mo in front of him, Zhao Hongrun patted his arm and said solemnly: "Go ahead, do what you want." ”

"Thank you, Your Highness!" Yan Mo clenched his fists heavily.

From August 11 to August 15, the Wei army did not rush to attack Gongxian, but while building a military camp, it sent troops to search the nearby villages, distribute food to the civilians in the villages, and make various promises to relocate them to Xiangcheng.

Wei Jun's abnormal behavior made Sun Shuke, the guard general of Hao County, really a little confused.

Wei Jun, what the hell is he doing? (To be continued.) )