Handan City, Sweet Water Lane.

In the quiet courtyard, the tall poplar trees could climb over the roof of the house, and the lonely leaves swept by the bleak autumn wind slowly fell, and soon piled up again at its feet. The woman glanced at the yard that had just been swept, smiled bitterly, and walked over to clean it up again.

After a while, the door opened, and a young man stretched out his head to look left and right, and found only one old woman, so he hurried out the door and ran towards the door.

"Hey, Apo, where?" The old woman shouted.

"Go to the city gate, today the army is back again." The boy said.

"Then I'll have to finish my work and go again." The old woman held her broom and couldn't help laughing.

"It's too late. Don't tell Grandma! Having said this, the boy has already run out, lest he will be caught. The old woman wanted to say more, but he was gone.

"What's wrong?" The door came again, and a middle-aged woman came out.

"Nothing? When Childe heard that the army had returned, he went to the city gate to see the excitement. ”

"Haven't you ever practiced martial arts?" The woman frowned.

"I haven't practiced martial arts, so it's too late."

"This kid is not afraid that he will come back and be trained by his father." The woman didn't mean to say anything, but a sorrow bloomed between her brows. The old woman didn't know, put down the broom, and said, "How many days has the general been sullen?" ”

The woman knocked on the room, closed the door gently, and whispered, "There is no way to do it. At that time, the king transferred it from the Southern Great Wall to the house, and the husband thought that he would be put to great use. As a result, I didn't expect that the Li brothers had made outstanding achievements in the southern and northern wars, and General Pang was in a high position and became the king's master. Only the husband is the only one..."Speaking of this, the woman was somewhat regretful between her words.

The old woman was about to say something, but she heard the laughter outside the door, and the two of them went with the voice, not the crown of the bird, who was it?

It is said that in the past few years, Que Guanzi has lived there with Pang Cong, on the one hand, to educate Xiao Pang Nuan, on the other hand, to give some ideas for Pang Cong, and on the other hand, it is also convenient for Zhao Yong to find himself. In fact, in Zhao Yong's reform, although Qu Guanzi did not make any suggestions, he pointed out many things that Zhao Yong did not notice. It is not an exaggeration to say that he is the godfather of Zhao's reform.

It's just that Que Guanzi insisted on not being an official, and even refused the title given by Zhao Yong. Zhao Yong had no choice but to visit from time to time and ask for advice. Later, Zhao Yong also figured out that Pang Cong, as a general, could arrange soldiers in his own home, and he could also protect the safety of the crane crown. The crane crown is also full of words, and there is no end to it. Over time, the entire Handan City knew that the figures who influenced the direction of Zhao Guo's reform were hiding in this inconspicuous alley.

"The gentleman came to the door and did not come out to greet him, which is really rude." Then he glared at Lian Po, who was following behind Crane Guanzi, and blamed him for not coming to report in advance.

"It doesn't matter. Today, the old man plans to go to the city gate with the captain to welcome the triumph of the army. ”

When the woman heard this, she didn't say anything more, and quickly turned around and shouted to Lian Wu to greet her.

Lian Wu has been depressed lately.

In fact, he is not the kind of person who likes to chase fame and fortune, but seeing that one of the Li brothers has become a celebrity in front of the king, and the other has become a key figure in Daijun, and he has been staying in the house city for the past few years, he really has no achievements, and if he goes on like this, his golden age will not be wasted.

He picked up the flask, poured himself a full glass, and took a sip. He's not the kind of person who is addicted to alcohol, and he is very strict with himself on weekdays, but he has been in a bad mood lately, so he indulges himself a little.

"Husband, Mr. Guanzi is here to visit."

Lian Wu was feeling sorry for himself, and suddenly heard that Crane Guanzi was visiting, and knew that this gentleman was quite wise, and Zhao Yong trusted him deeply, and he was also very fond of Lian Po, and he often asked him for some questions, so he quickly got up to greet him.

"Sir's coming, Wu has never been far away, it's really a sin."

Que Guanzi smiled and waved his hand, walked past Lian Wu, smelled the faint smell of wine on his body, and did not break it, strode into the house, just saw the wine and food on the table, and smelled with a smile: "It seems that the captain has guests to entertain?" ”

Lian Wu knew that he couldn't hide it from him, so he simply told his thoughts.

"Sir, it's not that Lian Wu is greedy for power, but that he sees that all his brothers are bloody in the field, and Lian Wu has to be responsible for the transportation of grain and grass in the rear, so it's really annoying?" After spitting out the bitter water, Lian Wu couldn't help but say.

Que Guanzi didn't say a word the whole time, and it wasn't until Lian Wu finished speaking that he smiled and responded: "The old man came here, I wanted to congratulate the captain, but I didn't expect that it was still a step earlier, I'm afraid this time I will run in vain." ”

Who is the crest of the bird? It is said that just by virtue of his mental image, he deduced that Pang Nuan was the envoy and argued against the alliance of the five countries. This time he said to congratulate himself, could it be that he had come to work?

"Sir's so-called congratulations, is it...?"

Que Guanzi looked at Lian Wu with an expectant look, and couldn't help but say, "I'm afraid the general is about to leave the house in a few days, and there is another appointment." ”

Although Zhao Yong was a man twice, the first time he participated in the army's triumphal ceremony as the commander of the army, it was the first time.

Before leaving Shiyi, Zhao Yong finally negotiated with Zhang Deng and Sima Xi to reach the final result. Zhao no longer returned the occupied cities of Shiyi, Dongyuan, and Yuanshangsai, but gave up demanding war reparations to Zhongshan, and at the same time the two countries entered into an offensive and defensive alliance, with the Hutuo River as the boundary, declaring that when a war broke out in one country, the other side would send reinforcements.

Although Zhang Deng argued with reason, Zhao Yong did not budge, and solemnly told Zhang Deng that if he did not accept these terms, Zhao would continue to wage war against Zhongshan, even if it was a two-front battle.

Finally, after a few days of stalemate, Zhang Deng finally gave up arguing, he couldn't win on the battlefield, and he couldn't win the negotiations, so he sent Zhao Guo's request back to Lingshou. Finally, three days later, I received a reply from Lingshou: agree.

Zhang Deng looked at the letter sent by Lingshou, especially the name in the lower left corner, and there was a person named Sima Xi, he already understood that Zhongshan had given up resistance, and in Lingshou, which was not far away, the Lord and the faction won the victory again. It's just that the so-called victory is not actually the mainstream opinion of the ministers, but a compromise made by an old man after losing to time.

King Zhongshan, after all, is old, and he is no longer the majestic and heroic hair he was back then.

He shook his head and replied to Zhao Yongzhongshan's opinion. As a result, the battle between Zhao and Zhongshan, which lasted for nearly half a year, ended with the complete victory of Zhao.

After this battle, Zhao State gained the initiative in the confrontation between the two countries, and expanded its territory to the banks of the Hutuo River. From then on, as long as Zhao was willing, the cavalry could start from the Oushangsai and go all the way south to the hinterland of Zhongshan to break the tight defensive line in the northern part of Zhongshan.

In Zhao Guang's words, Zhongshan Guo is like a stripped girl, Zhao Guo can ravage her whenever he wants. She didn't have any room for resistance yet.

However, for Zhao Yong, the biggest gain of this trip was not that he captured a few cities, but that he met Sima Xi. And he decided that Sima Xi would be an important link for Zhao Guo to understand Zhongshan, a mortal enemy.

Yes, sworn enemy, even if an offensive and defensive alliance was concluded, Zhao Yong also believed that Zhongshan was definitely the sworn enemy of Zhao.

Why?

After the occupation of Shiyi and Dongyuan, although the land north of Shiyi, Dongyuan and Hengshui is still the chassis of Zhongshan, the land of these cities alone has increased the land area of Zhao by three or four hundred li, and they are all excellent places with their fertile soil.

This is definitely a very important harvest for Zhao Guo, who is in the process of land reform.

It is precisely for this reason that Zhao Yong really put a lot of thought into choosing the garrison of the generals.

Because of his exploits in Panyu, Qiu Ye was expected to be promoted, and was arranged by Zhao Yong to be stationed at Jingcheng Pass. The task given to him by Zhao Yong was very simple, guarding the customs and training the troops. Once the Battle of Zhongshan in Zhao State starts again, Jingcheng Pass and Shiyi will become the first attack echelon.

Dongyuan's guard, Zhao Yong chose Zhao Guang. Zhao Guang has both experience in training in cavalry units and serving in the Roll Armor Battalion, and for a well-defended city like Dongyuan, Zhao Guang is barely suitable for training and garrisoning at the same time.

Qiu Ye and Zhao Guang are both cadres of the Left Route Army, and in terms of combat merits and casualty ratio, the Left Route Army is indeed very outstanding, but Dongyuan was captured by the Middle Route Army after all, and if it can't get a piece of the pie, it will inevitably hurt morale. So, after Pang Cong's recommendation, the young Zhao Hao became Zhao Guang's deputy general, responsible for the defense of Dongyuan.

Zhao Yong didn't pay much attention to Zhao Hao, maybe he couldn't have imagined that this young general would be the mainstay of Zhao in the future. However, he still praised Zhao Hao's performance in the attack on Dongyuan City. Although Zhao Hao is immature, Zhao Yong is very refreshing.

On the other side, the most suitable person was Li Yan, whether it was his position or his military exploits, he should take on this responsibility. It's just that last time during the siege of the city, he was seriously injured, although he turned the corner, but he still needed to recuperate for the time being, so the heavy responsibility of guarding the pass was temporarily handed over to the veteran Niu Qian.

In the end, there was only the defender of Shiyi City, which made Zhao Yong bother.

The importance of Shiyi, needless to say, can be said to be the leader of the entire defense line, and Zhao Yong's favorite general is Pang Cong. However, Zhao Guang was transferred, and then a Pang onion was transferred, and the platinum camp was completely leaderless. He originally hoped to let Zhao Shan, the general of the Juanjia Battalion, be in charge of the defense of Shiyi, but Zhao Shan was older, and with the complexity of Shiyi's defense, Zhao Yong was really worried that this old man of his family would not be able to bear it; Second, Zhao Shan is not his person, and it is really difficult to reassure Zhao Yong.

It was Le Yi who gave him an idea that solved Zhao Yong's problem: to find a general who reassured him to serve as Zhao Shan's deputy general.