Gao Yue nodded, ordered Peng Jun to go by himself, and then returned to the mansion, sat down, and sent Yang Tao to see him. After a while, Yang Tao was fully armored, walked in quickly, and saluted: "The last general will meet the general." ”

"That's it. This is not a battle formation, so there is no need to be so formal. General Yang, I remember that you went to pursue Yang Ci outside the Saiwai, why didn't you go back to Shangtai to report to General Hu, but turned to me, what's the matter? ”

Gao Yue smiled kindly, and motioned for Yang Tao to sit down and speak first. Yang Tao was the first senior official of the original Shangtai faction to raise the banner of righteousness and lead his troops to surrender, and later Hu Song, Pei Xu, etc., also had a good evaluation of Yang Tao, and the level of leading troops to fight was okay, so Gao Yue was still relatively tolerant to him.

Yang Tao didn't sit down, insisting on standing and replying. He bowed respectfully, then turned around and greeted the outside of the gate, and immediately his own soldiers came in with a wooden box and bowed to Gao Yue. When I opened it, it was Yang Ci's head.

Gao Yue glanced at it and waved his hand to take it for the time being. He raised his eyes to Yang Tao and said, "I heard that Yang Ci is your cousin. Of course, the general punishes the traitor and eliminates the evil, but the righteous killing of relatives is also admirable. However, it is my regret to break you up. ”

Yang Taocheng said with trepidation: "Although Yang Ci is the cousin of the last general, it is true. But this person has always been attached to Zhang Chun in the past, and his mind is not right, and in order to flatter Zhang Chun, he also publicly scolded the last general. The last general and he not only broke off their love for a long time, but also enmity and incompatibility with each other. Now the last general knows how to abandon the dark and turn to the light, and he can follow the general's command in time, fortunately. But Yang Ci did not change his thief's heart, he was desperate, and he fell to this point, he deserved it, where is the matter of the general! ”

Gao Yue nodded and said with a smile: "The general lives up to his expectations to capture Yang Ci, and he has to make meritorious contributions and work hard." I will reward the generals and the officers and men of my subordinate to encourage you so that you will not be disappointed. ”

Yang Tao hurriedly said: "The last general is not here to invite merit, and Yang Ci was not killed by the last general." In this detail, I was about to return to the general. The last general was ordered to pursue Yang Ci, but he was so desperate that he couldn't catch up with him for a while, so he could only follow the trail and try not to lose it. When you get out of the north, you come to a place far away from the Central Plains where Hu and Han people live together, called Jingbian City, which is also tall and majestic. "The last general led the troops to track down here, there was a city lord named Deng Heng in Jingbian, who had already captured and killed Yang Ci, waiting for the last general outside the city, and said that he had already heard the prestige of the general of Qinzhou, and this time he was willing to pay tribute to Yang Ci's head as a gift. When the last general heard him say this, he was really surprised and happy at that time, so he also comforted him with good words, and brought Deng Heng over, so he didn't go back to Shangqi, but came straight to Xiangwu. This man is now waiting outside, and he will ask the general to summon him. ”

"Oh? And what else is there? Invite him in. ”

Gao Yue was surprised. However, when he heard that it was Jingbian City, he knew better. In the later period of the Wuhu and Sixteen Kingdoms, the Tiefu Huns of Saibei Helian Bobo, established the Xia State, once dominated the northwest, he had built a new city as the capital, called the Tongwan City, and its place was located in the Jingbian area. When the Northern Wei Dynasty destroyed Xia, this place was renamed Xiazhou. Later, in the Song Dynasty, the Western Xia Kingdom, which was a troubled state of the imperial court, began in Xiazhou.

However, in the Jin Dynasty, Jingbian City, located in the north of the Saibei, the Nanhetao and even the entire Hetao area, are all in the scope of the imperial court outside the scope of the barren land, although the soil is fertile and the water and grass are abundant, but the central government in the strong period of great unification, have no intention to develop separately and set up government agencies at all levels to govern, let it "lonely city look at Yumen Pass." "At the end of the Western Jin Dynasty, it was difficult for the imperial court itself to protect, and it was impossible to talk about setting up states and counties. Therefore, the entire Hetao, including Jingbian, has become a nomadic land for the Saibei Hu people, especially the Tiefu Huns. In the vast Hetao area, Hu and Han ethnic groups and remnants of the Central Plains lived together, gradually forming tribes or city-states, self-governing and self-care, and fending for themselves.

In the middle of his thoughts, as the herald sang, a person strode in from outside, came to the hall and stood still, bowed down and saluted: "Border Stuff rough people, meet the general." ”

Gao Yue took a look and saw that this person was about thirty years old at most, with a short beard, dark skin and strong limbs, but he was also a mighty man.

I suddenly remembered that at the end of the Later Zhao period, the country was in chaos and embattled. And Deng Heng, the general of Zhengdong who is good at leading troops, is brave and fearless in Jicheng with his old body and almost single-handedly fights against the invincible Qianyan Empire. I don't know, but it's Deng Heng in front of me, just looking at his age, he is definitely right.

I was curious, but I couldn't find an answer. Gao Yue asked him to be exempt from courtesy, and said warmly: "Are you Deng Heng, the lord of Jingbian City?" ”

Deng Heng arched his hand, neither humble nor arrogant: "Xiaomin is Deng Heng." The north of the country is barren and cold, and the people choose a place to live. Because the small people are natives of Jingbian, they are thick and have a bit of brute strength, and they are fairly fair, so they were pushed by the city and temporarily managed things. As for the word city lord, in front of the general, it is really not worth mentioning. ”

Gao Yue saw that he was indeed a person from the border, although he had a fierce folk style, but his words and deeds did not have that kind of rude and ignorant barbarism, but he was very polite and courteous, so his first impression of him was very good. After looking at it a few times, Gao Yue was curious again: "I look at the city lord Deng, his face and conversation, it seems that he is not from the Saibei Hu clan, isn't he also a Han person?" ”

"Although it is in Hudi, the small people are Han people. When he was young, he moved north from Longdi with his father and came to Jingbian City. The small family has more than 100 soldiers from the old family to support him, and his father is enthusiastic and selfless, so my family settled down in Jingbian. Slowly, the people within a radius of more than 100 miles, when there is a big or small affair, a dispute or a fight, etc., often come to my father to administer justice, and my family is pushed by everyone to be the steward. ”

Being enthusiastic and fair is one thing, but if there is no strong strength to complement it, where can you be the leader of one side in the rough and fierce border fortress! I also heard that there are old relatives in this person's family, so it is obviously not from the common people, and it is a Han who moved north from the Central Plains, so it is not known that most of them are former eunuchs. Gao Yue sighed and asked again: "In this case, the ancestors of City Lord Deng must be officials of the imperial court." ”

Deng Heng scratched his head, and his face was a little hesitant: "This, my ancestor, I heard my father say, is indeed an official in the Central Plains." But don't hide it from the general, when my father moved north to Jingbian, Xiaomin had just been born, and it was a baby in swaddling clothes, as for why he abandoned his official position, or why he left the Central Plains and took the initiative to move to Biansai, for all kinds of reasons, my father refused to say it until he died, so Xiaomin really didn't know very well. ”

Yang Tao and this Deng Heng just met in Pingshui, because he killed Yang Ci, so they got acquainted, but they didn't know anything about his life experience and why he had the intention to take the initiative to visit Gao Yue, so he was as if he was listening to a book at the moment, and couldn't help but interject: "Ling Zun is afraid that there is something unspeakable." ”

Seeing that this Deng Heng was not only a Han Chinese, but also a court official, and his family background felt very mysterious, Gao Yue unconsciously became interested, nodded and said, "I think the same as General Yang." I would venture to ask, what is the name of your ancestor? ”

Deng Heng said naturally: "According to my father, Xiaomin's grandfather's name is Deng Lang, and his great-grandfather's name is Deng Ai. ”

At first hearing this, Gao Yue was surprised as if he had been immobilized, and looked at Deng Heng dumbfounded, and the shock in his heart made him speechless for a while.

As a military general, there is a special admiration and remembrance for the famous generals and marshals of the past dynasties in ancient times, and I can't wait to see the style in person. Deng Ai's name, not to mention Gao Yue, in later generations, is an ordinary person, and there are many familiar ones. His all-round talent in humanities and martial arts, the whole army and the people are all outstanding achievements. Not to mention anything else, as an outstanding commander in the Cao Wei period, he took the lead, acted wisely and bravely, and finally was able to defeat Shu Han and enjoy the merit of destroying the country alone.

It can be said that the Cao Wei regime was able to maintain the strongest strength among the Three Kingdoms, especially in the later period, many of Deng Ai's military and political ideas played a great role. In the end, he paid homage to the Taiwei, and his brilliant prestige shocked the world.

Although Deng Ai was wrongfully killed by Sima Zhao because of Zhong Hui's slander, this did not affect his rightful position in history. During the Tang and Song dynasties, the imperial court posthumously awarded the ancient famous generals and built temples for them to worship, among which there was the name of "Wei Taiwei Deng Ai". In Gao Yue's heart, he is really a famous sage who cannot be traced, and he can be regarded as an idol.

After Zhong Hui slandered Deng Ai's rebellion, Sima Zhao executed Deng Ai, Deng Zhong's father and son, and exiled Deng Ai's descendants to the Western Regions. It was not until the ninth year of the Western Jin Dynasty (273) that he was restored to his name by Emperor Sima Yan of the Jin Dynasty, and appointed Deng Zhong's son Deng Lang as Langzhong. But not long after, Deng Lang was inexplicably burned to death in a fire. It seems that Deng Hengying is indeed Deng Lang's grandchild, and his family had to flee from the Western Regions to the north in order to avoid the sinister court and preserve the incense, far away from the Central Plains and to the border fortress, and live incognito.