At dusk, Guo Mu was having dinner with the Bai family, this was a moment that made him feel extremely warm, Guo Mu's quasi-father-in-law was called Bai Sheng, nearly fifty years old, was a standard businessman, shrewd and capable and calculating, he was born poor, worked as a merchant for 30 years, walked the streets and alleys, raised three children, and now he is getting old, he can no longer run, so he is ready to return to the countryside and return to the field, and the 20 acres of land granted by the government are pension, but he is reluctant to give up his business for a lifetime.

At this time, he saw the propaganda of the government, immigrants can get two hectares of land to go to Broken Leaves, and there is a new house, Bai Sheng immediately realized that this is an opportunity, he and his wife can open a shop, and the land is given to the eldest son to cultivate, wouldn't it kill two birds with one stone, just like that, Bai Sheng's family signed up to move to Broken Leaves.

Bai Sheng had three children, the eldest son, twenty-five years old, married and had a two-year-old son, who was responsible for taking care of the family's two hectares of land, and hired two Turks to help with the cultivation for this purpose; The second is her daughter Bai Fang, who is seventeen years old this year, looks very beautiful, and is about to become Mrs. Guo; The third son is only fourteen years old this year, and he has been to the school for a few years, and he stayed in the store to help after coming to Broken Leaves, and was ordered to be sent to the school by the Broken Leaf Officer.

Guo Mu is also from a poor background, and they are all from Fenzhou, if you count his great-grandfather and the Bai family still have a bit of a twisting and turning relative, so Guo Mu and the Bai family get along very well, at this moment, he is comfortably leaning on the cushion specially prepared for him by his fiancée, while drinking with his father-in-law, his fiancée is busy serving food.

Bai Sheng coughed, he picked up a glass of wine and smiled at his prospective son-in-law: "Since Wen Xing has returned, I don't think this marriage should be delayed any longer." I asked someone to calculate, September 20 is a good day and auspicious day, let's invite some neighbors and friends, let's get married! ”

Guo Mu drank the wine in one gulp, and he calculated that September 20 was three days later. I still have to simply decorate my house, and I have to invite a few colleagues, and the time is a little tight. He said: "It's better to be two days later, and I'll make the house a little more simple." ”

"Oh well! September 25 is also a good day. Bai Sheng smiled and waved his hand. In fact, I have already prepared your new house, but marriage is a big deal, and we can't be sloppy, so we will set it for September 25. ”

Guo Mu was overjoyed, and hurriedly stood up and bowed. "Thank you, father-in-law!"

"Dad, someone came to find Wen Xing. It seems to be a business matter. At this time, the voice of the old wife suddenly came from the front store.

Guo Mu was stunned, who came to find him at this time? He walked out of the store quickly, only to see a servant standing outside the store, and when he saw him come out, the servant immediately stepped forward and saluted: "Guo joins the army, the general is invited!" ”

"What is the general looking for me?"

"The subordinates don't know, but the general is in a hurry, so let Guo join the army and go immediately."

Although Guo Mu remembers the beauty, he does not dare to slack off in official affairs. He went back to the house and said. He hurried to the Yamen of the Governor of Broken Leaves, and as soon as he entered the door. But I saw more than a dozen people sitting in the room, all of them were military and political leaders with broken leaves, and Cao Hanchen was sitting at the top, looking down and thinking about something?

When one of them saw him come in, he said to Cao Hanchen: "General, Guo has already joined the army." ”

When Cao Hanchen saw him come in, he immediately straightened his waist and said, "Since they have all come, then the meeting will begin." ”

He paused for a moment, and after Guo Mu sat down, he continued: "I received a red express letter from the imperial court this afternoon, and the imperial court got the exact news that a part of the Qarlu people who were originally vassals of the Hui have gone south and joined us in the north of the Qarlu Benzong, and the court requires us to be vigilant against the possibility of the new Qarluq people encroaching on the Daqingchi Valley, including our land Broken Leaves, especially to protect the Broken Leaf Silver Mine from the slightest mistake, for this reason, the emperor specially ordered me to guard the Broken Leaves for another two years to improve the defense of the Broken Leaves. ”

He glanced at everyone, and said with an unusually serious expression: "Everyone, we only have 10,000 Tang troops in Broken Leaf, and there are hundreds of thousands of Qarluqs, although they were beaten by the Tang Army in Beiting, but they have gradually recovered their vitality over the years, and they have the support of the Great Cannibal behind them, what the court is really worried about is that the Great Cannibal may fake the Qarluq people to pull out the nail of the broken leaf, so from today on, the broken leaf will enter a wartime state, do you have anything to add?" ”

"I'll tell you something." Wang Erhan, the commander of the scout, stood up and saluted Cao Hanchen, and then said to everyone: "Our scouts have just returned from Yibohai, the climate in the north is abnormal this year, and it snowed heavily north of Yibohai in early September. ”

"This is what the emperor meant by asking me to perfect the defense of broken leaves."

Cao Hanchen waved his hand and said, "We can't passively defend Broken Leaf City, we must keep away the possible invasion of the Qarluqs hundreds of miles away, so I decided to reduce the scale of silver mining and concentrate on building the four castles of Xuanwu, Vermilion Bird, White Tiger, and Canglong before winter comes."

After speaking, Cao Hanchen deployed everyone's responsibilities one by one, everyone received orders together, and the meeting ended, just as Guo Mu was about to leave, Cao Hanchen stopped him, "Guo joins the army, you wait a minute." ”

Guo Mu stayed, and when everyone was gone, Cao Hanchen took out an official letter and said apologetically: "I shouldn't have let you go out again, but the king of the record joined the army and made Jun seriously ill, so you can only go for him." ”

Guo Mu's heart moved, he heard the meaning of the governor's words, and actually let himself take over the meaning of joining the army, broken leaves are the military and political integration of the governor of the state, in the official position setting and the inland thorn history state is different, the record of joining the army is equivalent to the long history of the inland state, in charge of government affairs, is Guo Mu appointed by Cao Shen military boss, the current record of the army Wang Ming is old, often sick, not long ago has submitted his resignation, although Guo Mu to break the leaves for a short time, but shrewd and capable, and is a Jinshi background, Cao Hanchen did have the intention of elevating him. ^^ first release of ^UC e-book ^^^

Cao Hanchen saw that he had guessed his intentions, so he smiled slightly: "Lord Liu, the head of the household department of the imperial court, is about to arrive in Shule to inspect the newly built silver mint, and the marshal ordered our relevant officials to also go to Shule to report on their work. But he has already submitted his resignation, and he is too ill to travel long distances, so he can only entrust you with another hard trip. ”

Although Guo Mu is about to get married, this matter is related to his future, and he is not allowed to refuse, but fortunately, he just goes to Shule. It will be almost half a month to return, Guo Mu thought for a while and asked, "Then when will I leave?" ”

Cao Hanchen thought for a while and said, "Lord Liu may be in Shule at the end of the month, you can be busy with some personal matters first." Departing in five days, there are two other things that you need to take care of along the way. ”

"Command, please, General."

"Shule has built a silver mint. But there is no coarse silver stock, and the marshal ordered us to transport some coarse silver, so this time you escorted 200,000 catties of coarse silver to Shule. ”

This matter was just a passing, but Cao Hanchen was thinking about the second thing, and he pondered for a while and then said slowly: "We have two young guests here. You are responsible for getting them safely to Shule. ”

"Guest?" Guo Mu was a little surprised

"Yes! Two young guests. ”

On September 22, Guo Mu said goodbye to his new wife. With a thousand cavalry, he escorted 200,000 catties of coarse silver to Shule, 200,000 catties of silver were loaded on top of 300 carriages, and the carriages for transporting silver were also specially made, the four wheels and couplings were made of iron, strong and dexterous, the wooden body was wrapped with thick subway skin, each carriage was pulled by four horses, and it was possible to travel 80 miles a day on the flat golden dragon road, and it took about ten days to reach Shule.

Coincidentally, the army generals who traveled with Guo Mu this time were still Han Yue's 1,000 cavalry team. But. Not only did they protect the silver, they also escorted the two young guests back to Shule.

One of the two young guests is Cui Yao, the eldest grandson of Cui Yuandi. Fifteen years old this year, the other is Shi Yang, the righteous son of the current emperor, fourteen years old this year, Cui Yao is the supervisor of the country, this time he went to Broken Leaf to complete his strategy: the impact of Broken Leaf Silver Mine on the tax system of the Tang Dynasty, and Shi Yang is Cui Yao's guard and companion.

If you only look at the appearance, you can't see the real age of the two, Cui Yao's figure inherited the tallness of the Cui family, he has been known for his youth since he was a child, under the careful education of his grandfather Cui Yuan, he was in one fell swoop in the local science examination three years ago, and almost passed the Jinshi, and then was admitted to Guozijian exceptionally, becoming an official student of Guozijian, and now although he is fifteen years old, he is old and steady, and his mind far exceeds that of an adult at the age of twenty-five. ^^ first release of ^UC e-book ^^^

Shi Yang is the righteous son of the Tang Emperor Li Huan in Chenliu, only fourteen years old, but only half a head shorter than his father-in-law, and the figure is vigorous, the bow and horse are skillful, although you are the prince, but he is a formal cavalry of the Tianqi battalion, three years of merit promotion to the captain, can be said to be the youngest commander of the Tang Dynasty, and he does not have any title, his sister Shi Bailing was named the lord of Bailing, and he is just a soldier, he is dressed in armor, a steel crossbow on his back, a cross-sword on his back, and his waist is always straight, There was a tenacity and maturity in his gaze that did not match his age.

Among the two of them, Cui Yao's personality is very cheerful, he has a very good relationship with Bai Juyi and Liu Zongyuan, with this relationship, he and Guo Mu quickly became acquainted, he was very easy to ask, along the way, I always heard his various questions, the customs of the Turkic people, the discovery of broken leaf silver mines, the construction of the golden dragon road, the similarities and equivalences of merchants from various countries, etc., and there was no frame at all, and he was courteous to everyone who answered his questions, even if it was a soldier and a porter.

Compared to Cui Yao's cheerful and inquisitive, Shi Yang is diametrically opposed, maybe he has traveled thousands of miles in half a year, and he is more in the face of the vast Gobi and the boundless desert and grassland, in the deserted loneliness, he has become more silent, in Guo Mu's memory, it seems that he has never seen him say a word, and he never introduces himself, except for Cui Yao and Guo Mu, no one knows his true identity, despite this, the soldiers still prefer him, perhaps he has the best temperament of a soldier, Especially his steel crossbow hanging diagonally on his back, which means that he is the most elite cavalry team from the Tang Dynasty.

The existence of two very different teenagers adds a lot of topics to this journey.

Three hundred carriages stretched for several miles, driving on the endless grassland, this evening, the convoy arrived at the bank of the Pearl River, the bank of the Pearl River in late autumn was desolate, the black river gently lapped the bank, the half moon passed through the thin clouds, the grassland was sometimes covered with silver light, sometimes a heavy darkness.

Although the night view in late autumn is desolate, the banks of the Pearl River are extremely lively. The silver convoy met two caravans, one from Persia and the other from Kangguo, and more than 700 camels crowded the camp, and the bridge of the Pearl River was still twenty miles away, and it was already late at night. The wind was blowing, and the howl of a wolf was faintly heard on the distant hills.

At this time, two horseed scouts galloped from the darkness, and they whispered a few words to Han Yue. Han Yue's face changed drastically, and he urged the horse to catch up with Guo Mu. Hurriedly said: "Guo joins the army, something happens!" ”

"What's the matter?" Guo Mu saw that his face was very ugly, and he also beat a small drum in his heart.

"Thirty miles away a cavalry of the Qarluqs, about three thousand men, was found rushing towards this side."

"What!" Guo Mu's face turned pale. ^^ debut^UC eBook^^^ 3,000 cavalry, but they only had 1,000 cavalry. With one against three, how can this be resisted?

"How can this, how can this be, this has never happened, and we haven't found anything along the way."

Han Yue shook his head, "The Qarluqs will come sooner or later, but I guess they don't know that we're here too." ”

Along the way, they were very cautious, and sent many scouts to probe along the way, but they did not find anyone following them, and now they suddenly killed three thousand Garluq cavalry. The only explanation is that the Qarluqs came for these two caravans.

Guo Mu did not pay attention to these details. He was in turmoil, he was not only responsible for the safety of 200,000 catties of official silver. What's more important is the two guests, when he left, the general repeatedly told these two people that they had special identities and wanted to take care of them well, but now the Qarluq people actually killed, this is something that has never happened before, why did he meet it?

Guo Mu looked at the lively business brigade not far away, and a thought suddenly came to his heart, and he hurriedly said to Han Yue: "If we leave in a hurry, we may be able to avoid the Qarluqs." ”

Han Yue nodded slightly, "I also have this plan." ”

Suddenly, a voice came from beside him, "Guo Senjun, General Han, I don't know if I can interject a word." ”

The two were startled, only to see Cui and Shi appear behind them at some point, they were actually not far away, Cui Yao found out that the scout was frightened and Han Yue's nervousness, so he stepped forward to ask, but happened to hear their conversation.

Shi Yang remained silent, but Cui Yao stepped forward and said with a smile: "The Qarluqs attacked the caravan, they will definitely know about us, we can't run away, rather than being chased and killed by them, it is better to change the situation." ”

"You are a soldier of the Tang Dynasty, is your ground knife an ornament?" Shi Yang, who had never spoken, suddenly spoke, and his words were sent directly to Han Yue.

Han Yue felt a burst of shame, he was a Tang soldier, and he was a Tang soldier who had experienced a hundred battles, but his hot face was covered by a Chinese New Year's Eve, he straightened his waist and responded in a deep voice: "I don't want to escape, I just want to send someone to escort you first." ”

"I am the commander of the Tianqi Battalion, and I will be dealt with by military law if I escape from battle." Shi Yang took off the steel crossbow on his back, unusually quickly and skillfully mounted a crossbow arrow, and said decisively: "If you fight!" I am willing to accept the command of Captain Han. ”

Han Yue glanced at it in surprise, he suddenly felt the decisiveness and resoluteness of the young soldier in front of him, and he nodded solemnly, "Okay!" I would like to fight by your side. ”

"I have a reason to stay, too." Cui Yao next to him said with a smile: "If you escort me away, it will disperse the already limited strength of the Tang army, and besides, if the Qarluq people outflank me, then I will be more dangerous, so I still stay, I have also practiced bow and horse, I am confident that I can protect myself, maybe I can be a strategist." =^UC e-book^First Release=="

"Alright! You stay, too, and let's teach these jackals a good lesson. Han Yue was infected by the calmness and self-confidence of the two, the other party only came with three thousand people, he may not be able to resist, he suddenly remembered something, turned his head to look at Guo Mu, he was the final decision.

The three of them watched Guo Mu silently, waiting for his decision, at this time, a kind of courage that had never been before suddenly poured into Guo Mu's heart, and his chest ignited the desire to serve the country, at this moment, his newlywed wife was also left behind, he nodded solemnly, and said word by word: "We will fight this battle!" ”

The two caravan leaders listened to Guo Mudi's report with pale faces, the Qarluqs were coming to attack them, that was a people a hundred times more ferocious than the wild wolves, and everything was lost wherever they passed.

"We paid taxes to the Tang Empire, and you will protect our land, right?" The leader of the Kangguo caravan reacted first. Standing in front of him was the Tang Dynasty cavalry, who expressed his wishes in stammering Chinese.

The Persian merchant could also understand some Chinese, but he couldn't speak, and he clasped his palms together and looked at the young Tang official with a pleading gaze.

"Since we have met together, we should be in the same boat and get through the difficulties together." Guo Mu sincerely told them about the tactics of the Tang army. Finally, he said: "Although you will have some financial losses, we will help you make up for it, how about it!" Would you like to do it together? ”

The two merchant leaders looked at each other. They don't want to do it, but. They seem to have run out of options.

The moon in the west has been engulfed by a huge dark cloud, and the land is pitch black, and the outline of Mount Uzman, which can be faintly seen in the distance, has also disappeared into the black mist.

A black army swept down from the high hill like mercury, galloping straight towards the Golden Dragon Road three miles away, a tribe of the three surnames of Gelulu. The early arrival of the harsh winter cut off the fodder for their cattle and sheep to spend the winter, and they had to go south to make a living. However, the natural greed of the Qarluqs led them not only to see the fertile grasslands, but also to see caravans of camels laden with goods and money, as early as the Tibetan occupation of Anxi, the Silk Road was forced to move north, and the Qarluqs were a pack of wolves on the Silk Road, hated by Sogdian merchants.

But a fierce battle in the North Court many years ago brought the Qarluqs to a low ebb, but as time passed, the Qarluqs' youths began to grow up, and the Qarluqs' claws became sharp again.

The leader of this army is their chief. His name is Dabur. They are integrated with the army and the people, serving the people in their leisure time and the army in wartime. Every household had armor and swords, and all their possessions, food, gold and silver, slaves, porcelain, and silk were looted, and this was the greedy nature of the Qarluqs.

Dabur's gloomy gaze had already seen a mile away from the camp, and heard the anxious calls of the merchants, and the sound of camel bells in the wind.

"Kill!" He roared, and the sharp war knife slashed through the darkness, and thousands of Qarluq cavalry went crazy, they did not have time to clean the battlefield, let alone take out the spoils of war to share, what they robbed was their own wealth, the cavalry formation was scattered, and the three thousand people seemed to be rolling torrents, and they rushed to the camp in an instant, and the caravan had fled on camels, and the ground was full of discarded goods and chests, and the Qarluqs frantically split the boxes and robbed them, and the thick cotton cloths, the delicate Sassanid silverware, and the glassware from the West, There were also sacks of gold coins that had been eaten heavily, discarded among the countless bricks and stones, and the Qarluqs were boiling.

Suddenly, some people exclaimed, and many of the long strips on the ground were not bricks and stones, but silver ingots, each weighing twenty pounds, and were distributed on the river beach two or three miles long, and a windfall fell from heaven, and the greedy nature of the Qarluqs was thoroughly aroused, and they forgot everything, and jumped off their horses to look for them on the bank of the river, and stuffed pieces of heavy silver ingots into their bosoms and into their skins, and the procession grew longer and longer, and the river was full of Qarluqs who were searching for treasures for two or three miles.

The chief Dabur snatched two large bags of gold coins and five Sassanid silver lamps, and as the silver ingots were discovered, he also threw himself into a frenzied collection, and he had already snatched five silver ingots, weighing a hundred pounds, and his horse could hardly move, and then he began to have some recollection, what did these merchants do with so many silver ingots? And they are all coarse silver that has not yet been refined, these coarse silver should be, he seemed to think of something, and hurriedly turned over a piece of silver ingot, and there was indeed a line of words cast on it, and with the help of a torch, he saw a Tang character.

"Not good!" Dabur yelled, "Get on the horse!" Get on board! There is Don

But it was too late, in the darkness a Tang army silently killed, arrows like rain, intensively shot at the Qarlu people by the river, the screams of the arrows suddenly sounded, the cavalry of the Tang army rushed over like a thunderbolt, like a galloping torrent, they galloped on the bank of the river, the knives in their hands were chopping at the Qarluqs, the war horses on the river bank scattered and fled, their masters were desperately chasing behind, but with a group of Tang cavalry rushing through, the heads rolled to the ground.

The Qarluqs on horseback began to retreat, but they were already frightened, the Tang army had already killed them in the north court many years ago, and soon, the retreat turned into a rout, they fled in all directions, threw away the heavy silver nuggets, threw away the obstructive cotton cloth, shouted in fear, ran wildly, and soon were cut down by the Tang army, fell to the ground and died.

The moon came out, and in the cold moonlight, the area along the river was like a hell on earth, with corpses strewn all over the field, stumps and severed arms everywhere, and the heads of Qarluqs everywhere.

At this moment, the battlefield has become a one-sided slaughter, the Tang army is well-trained, the formation is neat, a thousand people are divided into ten teams, and the Qarluq people are generally killed, especially a very young Tang army, he holds a steel crossbow in his hand, and is extremely skilled in riding and shooting, every arrow shot, there must be a Qarluq man screaming and falling, and in a moment, forty or fifty people are killed.

"Awesome!" Seeing Shi Yang so brave, Captain Han Yue was so shocked that he stuck out his tongue.

Shi Yang had already shot two pots of sixty crossbow arrows, he lifted the steel crossbow on his back, and was coldly looking for the big prey, suddenly, he saw that more than a dozen Qarluq cavalry surrounded a man who looked like a leader and fled to the northeast, he chased after him with a horse, Han Yue was afraid that he would lose, and hurriedly led a team of Tang troops to follow closely.

Shi Yang's horse is an Arabian horse, extremely fast, as if the clouds are driving the fog, and he caught up with the enemy chief in a moment, and the person he was chasing was the chief Dabur, Dabur fled in panic, he heard the sound of horses' hooves chasing after him, and couldn't help but sneak a glance back, and saw that there was only one Tang soldier, he immediately stopped the war horse and shouted to the people around: "Kill him!" ”

More than a dozen Qarluq people swarmed up, Shi Yang was not afraid, he took advantage of the horse's extremely fast speed, spear and knife, and in an instant five Qarluq cavalry turned over and fell off the horse, at this time, Han Yue had already led people to chase up, and the other Qarluq cavalry saw that the situation was not good, they all shouted, turned around and fled.

At this time, Dabur has escaped fifty paces away, the figure has been blurred, Shi Yang waved his hand, stopped the pursuing Tang army, he took a bow, picked up a pot of arrows from the ground, drew the arrow and set the bow, the bowstring gradually pulled into a full moon, he let go of his hand, an arrow came out of the string, like lightning across the night sky, an arrow shot through Dabur's neck, Dabur grabbed the arrow shaft through the neck, and slowly fell from the horse.

The sky gradually brightened, the cavalry of the Tang army escorted the silver convoy has walked out of ten miles away, two caravans followed them closely, in the distance, the burned corpses of the Qarluqs are still billowing black smoke, a night of ruthless killing, only more than 100 people of the three thousand Gelulu people fled back to the north, not a single prisoner of war, all were killed by the Tang army, in the merit book, Shi Yang is the first to kill the brilliant record of killing 67 enemies.

At this moment, the young cavalryman was bowing his head and not saying a word, as if thinking about something big, and walked for several miles, and the Zhenzhu River Bridge in front of him was already clearly visible.

"I've decided to stay with Broken Leaves!" Shi Yang finally said his final decision, he raised his head to look at Cui Yao, and said in a firm tone that he had never had before: "Please tell the emperor, I have found my own world." ”

Cui Yao suddenly understood his decision, he nodded silently, patted his shoulder and smiled slightly, "Take care!" ”

Shi Yang also smiled, this smile was so bright, like the rising sun, he turned his horse's head, whipped it violently, and galloped away in the direction of Broken Leaf City.

Gradually, his back disappeared into a round of red sun that had just emerged from the horizon, and everyone stared blankly at his heroic back, and couldn't help but raise their hands to him to say goodbye.

(I beg for commuter pass support!) ）