Against the cold wind of the early morning, Chu Tianya and the others turned back to the mouth of Huanglong Valley.

It's cold, it's really cold. It was as if every word he uttered could freeze in mid-air, forming an ice pomegranate and falling to the ground. The sergeants who were waiting here did not dare to light a large number of fires for fear of exposing their targets, so they tried their best to keep out the cold to survive, including hugging their horses.

Everyone knows that this place is not suitable for long.

Jiao Wentong stood at the intersection of the road and waited anxiously for Chu Tianya and the others to come back, his beard was about to freeze. What I waited for was bad news.

"What now?" Everybody's pondering this question. Tacitly, everyone has the idea of turning back in their hearts.

Chu Tianya spread out a map, his brows furrowed in contemplation. Jiao Wentong, Yao Gu and the others stood next to him, waiting quietly without making a sound.

"Without King Kang's assistance, the surprise attack is not easy to handle." Jiao Wentong said, "The Jin Kingdom occupied the three towns of Hebei, but regarded it as a military outpost, directly peeking at the arrival of the southern cavalry, and becoming a confidant of my Great Song Dynasty." When King Kang was stationed in Xiangzhou for a long time, he must have been quite familiar with the enemy situation and landform in this area. But he didn't dare to help—brute, why didn't he help? ”

Jiao Wentong's anger came up. He couldn't figure it out, since everyone had a common enemy, the Hedong Righteous Army came all the way here to snipe the people of the Jin Kingdom, and in the final analysis, it was for Zhao Song to die - King Kang, who was the prince of Zhao Song, why didn't he refuse to help?

"King Kang has his own considerations." Chu Tianya said lightly, "Different positions, different ways of thinking about problems. In our opinion, as long as there is a common enemy, we can stand shoulder to shoulder with the enemy; But in the eyes of King Kang, we are grass and grass, and we are the forces of Hedong. It is actually human nature that he disdains to be in my company and is afraid that he will be impeached by the people in the court because of this. After all, he is the prince, and his roots are in the palace, and he can't care about what his official brother will think of this matter. ”

Jiao Wentong nodded as if he had realized something, "The lord means that King Kang is also to avoid suspicion?" ”

Yao Gu suddenly understood, "Yao may understand." King Kang was afraid of being suspicious of the officials, and suspected that he had unscrupulous ambitions in raising his own self-esteem and expanding his troops and horses in foreign affairs. ”

Chu Tianya's eyes widened and he nodded thoughtfully, "In King Kang's opinion, this matter may be more dangerous than destroying the country, do you believe it or not?" ”

"Hey! ......" Jiao Wentong sighed loudly, "Sheji is about to fall, and you are still thinking about these personal gains and losses?" ”

"What's the way, these thoughts have long been ingrained in the mind of King Kang. He was born in the palace and grew up in the palace, and the top priority in his heart is not military success or failure, the rise or fall of the country, but the cold guns and intrigues in the palace! Chu Tianya said, "Just like the horses tied to the horse post outside this military tent, if you play the piano to him, he only thinks about eating grass, so he doesn't bother to care if your piano sound is like crying!" ”

"Huh!" Jiao Wentong, Yao Gu and the others were amused. He smiled in his mouth, but his heart was extremely bitter.

"Lord, what should I do?" Jiao Wentong asked this question again, "Let us wait for the heart to make up for the sky, but there is no place to stand." This place should not be stayed for long. If there is no hope of making contributions, it is better to retreat first, so as to preserve the strength and then make a good plan. ”

"Don't worry, let me think about it." Chu Tianya waved his hand and said thoughtfully, "Since you are here, you must not return empty-handed." We also have 8,000 elite soldiers, and there is no hope of recovering Hebei, but it's always okay to do something bad here and disgust the people of the Jin Kingdom, right? ”

Jiao Wentong and Yao Gu were stunned for a moment, "What do you mean?" ”

Chu Tianya smiled, pointed to the map and said, "Look, we have arrived here now, not far from Zhending Mansion. I think so, if the people of the Jin Kingdom are ready to invade the south, then their soldiers and horses should be about to drive to places like Hejian, Zhending, and Zhongshan. Although the surprise attack to the north is hopeless, since we are here, we might as well fight them! Anyway, it also let the Jin Kingdom expose their military deployment, so that the imperial court has a wake-up call! ”

Jiao Wentong and Yao Gu were stunned and looked at each other.

"What, what do you think is wrong?" Chu Tianya asked.

Yao Gu said: "General, you are thankless!" ”

"How?"

Yao Gu said: "As you know, as long as the war has not started for a day, then the relationship between the Great Song Dynasty and the Jin State is still a 'peace alliance'. If the general takes the initiative to attack, then our side will pick quarrels and provoke trouble, and Jin Guoda will have a reason to send troops to retaliate. As soon as this matter spreads, the government and the opposition will have to treat the general as a sinner who provokes a border provocation! What's more, the general was supposed to stay in Hedong, but he went to Hebei to make trouble - which made the people in the court even more angry! ”

Chu Tianya laughed, "It's good to be angry with them!" I'm a ringing horse leader, I should have been killed 10,000 times, so why not add some more crimes! ”

Yao Gu's face cramped, and he said in his heart that there are still such people in the world!

Jiao Wentong was indifferent, he stroked his hair and smiled: "Yao Dutong still doesn't know my father-in-law. If everything follows the rules and thinks of the court officials, the lord will not be the lord of today. ”

After all, Yao Gu was born in a military and military family, and he was a little unhappy when he heard this, so he said in a sloppy voice, "As a minister of the society and a citizen of the Great Song Dynasty, if you don't think about the official family of the imperial court, what should you do?" ”

Chu Tianya smiled slightly, "People-oriented, people-oriented!" ”

Yao Gu's expression froze, speechless.

"Okay, let's not talk about that." Chu Tianya rubbed his frozen hands with a smile and said, "Let's only analyze it militarily, do you think it's feasible to attack Zhending Mansion?" ”

"I'll see it." Jiao Wentong said without hesitation, "This is called scaring the snake, the Jin people never expected that we would take the initiative to attack, which could disrupt their military deployment." As the lord said, no matter which side provoked the war, it could always give the court a wake-up call, so that they would not be unguarded at all. ”

Yao still thinks it's inappropriate. Yao Gu said, "As long as the general does something to Zhending, then no matter whether he succeeds or fails, he will become a sinner." Whether it is the Jin Kingdom or the Great Song Dynasty, they will treat you as a sinner. When the time comes, the general is not a person inside and out, and he will be flanked left and right...... Defeat, not far away! ”

Chu Tianya nodded thoughtfully, Jiao Wentong was talking about the pre-war, Yao Gu was thinking about the post-war, and he couldn't help but admit that their worries were reasonable.

"Please think twice, General." Yao Gu solemnly hugged his fists and said, "The general and all the heroes have worked hard all night to have the weather of Hedong today, which is not easy. It's a pity if you lose a qiē because of a momentary impulse! It is better to retreat to Hedong first, and Xu Tu will develop a long-term plan - the general and look at these eight thousand robes, he is almost half dead from cold and hunger. You can't bear to consume all the elites of the Hedong Righteous Army on the battlefield in Hebei, which does not belong to the general? ”

These words stabbed Chu Tianya and Jiao Wentong in the heart.

Yes, 8,000 cavalry is almost the treasure of the 100,000 rebels in Hedong. From the era of Guan Shan and Zhang Duyan, the Hedong Righteous Army has come step by step, from stragglers to the current small scale, it is indeed a small bloody footprint, and it is not easy to walk.

"Lord......" Jiao Wentong clenched his fists and shouted, but he stopped talking.

Although he didn't say it, Chu Tianya knew that Jiao Wentong was also a little hesitant. Just now, Yao Gu had a sentence that stabbed the key point, Hebei is not a battlefield that belongs to the Hedong Righteous Army. Xiao Cangshan was setting up a camp and preparing for a decisive battle with the Jin soldiers.

Silent.

Chu Tianya paced a few steps and said, "That's right, General Chu Tianya does not belong to Hebei. However, he belongs to the Han nation. ”

Jiao Wentong and Yao Gu were stunned.

Chu Tianya smiled slightly, "I didn't want to say such an official title to the Tang Emperor to show how great I am. But if you think about it, that's really the reason. It is it that prompted me step by step from Longcheng Taibao to today, becoming the master of ten thousand people. Imagine, if I wasn't worried about becoming a slave of the country, I fled Taiyuan with oil on the soles of my feet as early as last year, why bother to pin my head to my waist and play with Tong Guan, Yelu Yujian, and Wanyan Zonghan? …… I don't want to be a slave, no one wants to be a slave! The general who died in the country is also a slave in the country! ”

Jiao Wentong and Yao Gu were silent again. They all knew in their hearts that in the eyes of the court, the official family, King Kang, and many officials, and generals, Chu Tianya was an out-and-out chaotic minister and thief. No matter what Chu Tianya did, even if he knelt down and kowtowed to the official family, those people would think that Chu Tianya wanted to assassinate and murder the official family by kowtowing.

Even if Chu Tianya had been resisting Jin to save the country, those people only thought that he was rebelling. Until now, Chu Tianya wants to make a real decision, it is completely for the sake of the Great Song Dynasty and the nation, and those people will not appreciate it at all. On the contrary, they will regard him as a national sinner who provokes border provocations.

This is the inferior nature of the Han people. Even our most upright historians can't get rid of such inferior roots when they record the correct history. For the sake of the sage, the opposite is to discredit the sinner as much as possible. In the history books recorded by the Song people, Empress Wu Zetian was vicious from birth, and even the ancestors were despicable for several generations, the reason is that he subverted male power and became a female emperor. Pushing backwards upwards, then everything she does is vicious and unforgivable, she is wrong to drink water and breathe, and even her grandmother is lewd.

Jiao Wentong and Yao Gu knew what path Chu Tianya was taking. Perhaps from the very beginning, he was on this path, making enemies of the traditional concept of a qiē and the world, and never looking back. It takes not only courage, but also open-mindedness. Looking at Shi Hai, how many people can do such a pampering without being shocked?

Chu Tianya is far less than Jiao Wentong and Yao Gu thought so much. Originally, he did not belong to this era, and his thinking was different from everyone else in this era. Many of the dogmas revered by the Song people seemed to him to be pedantic, ridiculous, and worthless. For example, Ding Wei at the time of the national crisis, for example, now, a reasonable and meaningful military action involves the eighteenth generation of ancestors.

"You're all out of business, aren't you?" Chu Tianya said suddenly.

Jiao Wentong and Yao Gu came back to their senses and sighed in unison, nodding whether they were willing or not.

"That's good, fuck it!" Chu Tianya slapped on the map.

Yao Gu suddenly couldn't cry or laugh, and asked cautiously: "General, Yao has the courage to ask." What should I do if I have made a real decision? If you can't beat it, what should you do? ”

Chu Tianya laughed: "It doesn't matter if you can beat it or not." As long as you can achieve the purpose of scaring the grass and snakes, then it will be fine. If you can't beat it, of course it's running! Of course, it is best to lay it, and I will use the truth as the basis and consume it with the Jin country. If you can't consume it, I'll slip away! ”

"What if you can't slip away?" Yao Gu Zhengse.

"Then die." Chu Tianya said with a smile, "Everyone can only live for a lifetime, and dying early or late is death!" ”

"General, don't use such frivolous jokes to perfunctory Yao." Yao Gu said with a wry smile, "Yao knows that from a military point of view, attacking is indeed a good move. If you are not a bold military wizard, you can't imagine that at such a time, you can replace defense with offense and take the initiative to startle the snake. However, Jin Guo had long hated the general. As soon as he learned that the general had fought again, the Jin people would be furious, and they would kill the general and then quickly. At that time, it is very likely that there will be ten or even twenty times the number of troops to really encircle and suppress the general! - If the general makes a mistake, Hedong will rest! Don't you want to think about your 100,000 brothers, your beautiful wives and concubines? ”

"I don't want to, I can't think about it! If you still think about these things on the battlefield, you will only die faster! Chu Tianya waved his hand and smiled, "If the Jin Kingdom really sent so many soldiers and horses to clean me up, it would be even better." If you think about it, these soldiers and horses were originally going to go straight into the hinterland of the Central Plains and destroy the Great Song Dynasty, but now they have turned their heads and hit me - isn't that right! How valuable it is for us to wait for 8,000 dead soldiers to attract so many troops, disrupt the military plans of the entire Jin Kingdom, and stumble his main army! Not to mention, I'm really worried that he won't come! ”

Yao Gu frowned and nodded, "That's right." Militarily speaking, this is indeed a big win. General, he is indeed a rare ghost! - But what if you can't make a decision? Not only are we exposed, but even King Kang is going to be exposed! ”

"That's fine, that's exactly what I want!" Chu Tianya was still smiling, "He is unkind, I am unjust!" King Kang's kid is so unrighteous, what am I still caring about him? It's good if it's exposed, and it's hard for him to cooperate with me when he doesn't want to! ”

"This ......," Yao Gu cried and laughed, "Is this a little too yin?" ”

"It's not bad, how can you make a horse thief?" Chu Tianya smiled, "Wait, Jin and King Kang, they don't have a good life." Since I, Chu Tianya, have come to Hebei, I don't plan to let this place stop for a moment! This place, the more chaotic the better! Only by chaos can the attention of the imperial court be aroused, and the Central Plains will not neglect to take precautions! Even if the imperial court wanted to recruit troops and horses to cross the Yellow River to help the Jurchens clean me up, it would be tense after all, right? - Then, my purpose has been achieved. ”

"My lord, please give the order!" Jiao Wentong suddenly clenched his fists, "Why don't you talk more, those who are clear are self-purifying, and those who are turbid are self-turbid." If you talk about fame and reputation, the lord is far inferior to others. Our brothers are not following the Lord for such a false name. If you can do the slightest useful thing, you can die! ”

"Good. Go and gather all the leaders to take matters together, and I'll make the arrangements. Chu Tianya said, "Yao Dutong, there is nothing for you here, I will send someone to send you back to Taiyuan immediately." ”

"I'm ......" Yao Gu wanted to say very much, and he also wanted to go with Chu Tianya to fight the real decision.

Chu Tianya smiled slightly, waved his hand to stop him, "Yao Dutong, the Tao is different, and they don't conspire with each other." You can come here with me, Chu is already very grateful. You still have your own things to do in Taiyuan, and you can't leave for a long time. ”

Yao Gu's expression suddenly darkened, he nodded, and didn't say a word.

Why don't you take Wu Hook and collect Guanshan Fifty Prefectures! - Yao Gu is also a man, and he is a hot-blooded and generous soldier! He also wants to be like Chu Tianya, put aside the shackles and detentions of the world, and be impassioned and determined to do what he thinks he should do!

However, Yao Gu is just Yao Gu after all, and he can't be Chu Tianya.

At this moment, Yao Gu suddenly envied Chu Tianya. I envy his youth, his genius, his insight and courage. The most important thing is that he is free and uninhibited and undistracted!

"A man should be like Chu Tianya!" Yao Gu frowned slightly, looked at him with deep eyes, and said, "Although life and death are enough!" ”