A camel bell sounded in the distance, and a camel team of more than 100 people came from far and near, all with fur hats and felt clothes, and their eyebrows were covered with a thick layer of sand.

The caravan stopped in front of everyone, and three people came over, one of them had yellow eyebrows and yellow beard, and was as strong as an ox, with an eagle nose and a lion's mouth, and a bearded face, not angry and arrogant; The one on the left is a Han man of medium stature, with a roe deer's head, like a translator; The one on the right is wearing a small felt hat, with two hooked whiskers on his lips, and his expression is shrewd, and he looks obviously a Hu Shang.

The Han translator came up and opened his mouth and said, "It's hard work, I can't imagine that Your Excellency will still go to the appointment on time at such a time." ”

Dahan's tone was like ice, but his eyes never took off the strong man with yellow eyebrows: "It's all about begging for a living, it's nothing, you guys are also very punctual." ”

The Han translator stared at the big iron boxes, and his eyes lit up: "Have you brought all the goods?" ”

The big man waved his hand, and the person behind him opened the iron box, and under the light of the fire, Hu Shang trotted a few steps, stepped forward to carefully inspect the goods, and after a while, Hu Shang walked back and nodded to the Huangmei people.

Dahan said coldly: "You have finished your experience, so what do we want?" ”

The yellow-eyed Turkic smiled slightly: "Naturally, I won't let you suffer, all of them are ready." He waved his hand, and the subordinates behind him lifted out dozens of large iron boxes, opened the lid of the box and saw that it was full of yellow cancan's gold and silver jewelry, the yellow-eyed Turkic man laughed, and the big man also ripped off the face towel, it was Shan Xiongxin, and the hands of the two people were tightly clasped together: "Happy cooperation!" ”

Suddenly there was a shout of killing in the flat ground. The faces of the two changed slightly at the same time. A large number of sergeants dressed in yellow suddenly emerged from the sand a few miles away. Lighting torches, holding knives and guns, they quickly formed a battle formation, with shining fires on all sides, and a uniform shout: "Let go of the rod and don't kill!" ”

Shan Xiongxin glanced at the Turkic man, threw away the weapon in his hand, turned back to various subordinates and said in a deep voice: "Don't mess around, the person who comes should be the official army of the Sui Dynasty." Don't resist for a while, put down your sword, and follow the orders of the officers and soldiers. ”

A rapid sound of horses' hooves came from far and near, and more than ten horsemen galloped in front of everyone, and immediately they were almost all fierce knights, with helmets and armor, all of them muscular strong men, the first one, about forty years old, full of murderous faces. With a black face and a beard, he is a majestic general. It is Yu Wenshu's number one cronie, Zuo Yiwei Hu Benlang will Pei Renji.

Behind Pei Renji, the two tower-like tiger generals are both around twenty years old, and the young generals who are seven or eight points similar to him are his two sons, Pei Xingyan and Pei Xingjian, all of whom are born with red lips and white teeth, sword eyebrows and starry eyes, even if Shan Xiongxin saw it, he secretly sighed yes.

Pei Renji said in a loud voice: "I am Pei Renji, the general of the Great Sui Zuo Yi Wei Hu Benlang, who are you waiting for, who are you secretly trading with the Turks outside this Yulin County in the middle of the night, what do you want to do?!" ”

Behind Pei Renji, Feng Lun's gloomy face flashed, with a smug smile: "General Pei, what is there to instigate with them?" These people must have been smuggling pig iron with the Turks. I know the person at the head, it is Shan Xiongxin, the deputy head of our business group of Wang Shichong, the richest man in the Central Plains, Shan Xiongxin, do you know me? ”

Shan Xiongxin laughed: "Isn't this Feng Lun, the niece and son-in-law of the Duke of Chu?" Why, after you were dismissed, you found an errand in Zuo Yiwei again? ”

Feng Lun's face turned slightly red, and he turned angry and said: "Okay, you sweet-tongued man, like your master, you don't know how to repent when you die, General Pei, check the goods they are carrying, and wait for the pig iron to appear, see what he is still arguing about!" ”

Pei Renji waved his hand, hundreds of soldiers stepped forward one after another, opened the iron boxes one by one, under the light of the fire, only to see that each box was a high-grade silk satin, and the gold thread on the silk was shining, so bright that the people around the box were dazzled for a while.

Feng Lun was dumbfounded, where did the expected 500,000 catties of pig iron go? He jumped off his horse like mad, snatched a torch from a soldier's hand, and turned over one chest after another, each of which contained fine silk and polished brass, but not a trace of iron ore.

Feng Lun suddenly thought of something, pointed to the box next to the Turkic on the opposite side and shouted: "General Pei, they must have already traded, and those pig iron must be with the Turks!" ”

The yellow-eyed Turkic man smiled and said a few words of Turkic language, all the Turks stood aside with each other, Feng Lun didn't care about waiting for those sergeants to open the box one by one, rushed to the front in three steps and two steps, opened the two boxes in the front, and the gold bricks and silver ingots were neatly stacked in the box, and the jewels blinded his eyes, and he turned over seven or eight boxes in a row, all like this, Feng Lun only felt that it was dark in front of him, and his butt fell to the ground.

Before fainting, Feng Lun's ears came from the half-baked Chinese of the yellow-eyed Turkic people: "Pei, General Pei, I am, I am the head of the Turkic Mohe tribe, the Great Khan asked me to bring people to trade silk and bronze with the Wang family trading house, this is the place where we trade every time, and it does not violate the laws of your Great Sui, why do you do this to us?" We Turks are not slaves of your Sui Dynasty, and for today's affairs, I will definitely send the strongest protest to your Great Sui Emperor through Ambassador Guò Changsun! ”

Two hours ago, fifty miles east of this desert called Maodansu, there was a white desert, here was a fertile grassland in the Han Dynasty, because Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty built a city in Shuofang, the surrounding large grassland became farmland, and later the power of the Han Dynasty weakened, abandoned Shuofang County and retreated into the Guannei, these farmlands became such a Gobi after abandonment, under the moonlight, the white Gobi is like the sea under the starry sky, reflecting the light, and the temperature here has dropped below freezing.

Two groups of people are now trading here, one is a few hundred Han Chinese, and the other is a considerable number of Turks, a black-clad Mongol man who is more than eight feet long and as strong as a bear. I am around fifty years old. A shrewd face. The Turkic people with many deep eyes spoke.

The Turkic man laughed: "This must be the young general of the Yuwen family, he is really heroic, but didn't you tell you that today's transaction is not to give money, and to pick up the goods directly?" ”

The big man in black pulled down his masked black scarf, revealing a muscular face full of muscles, it was the eldest son of Nayu Wenhua, Yuwen Chengdu, who grinded his teeth. said: "It's okay to pick up the goods, but why didn't the second prince and the third prince come today?" And what proof do you have that you were sent by the princes? ”

The Turkic smiled and shook his head: "Major General Yuwen is really vigilant, is it that the two princes of our family do not come forward, or there are no tokens, and your grandfather and uncle will not show up?" ”

Yuwen Chengdu said proudly: "Yes, that's right." ”

The Turk nodded, took out half a token from his arms, and handed it to Yuwen Chengdu: "The token is here, the two princes of my family." At this time, because he was called to a meeting by the Great Khan, he could not come out. I am Ali Buhua, a close confidant of the second prince, this transaction, I am fully responsible, after you give me the goods, I will transport them to the west of the Uzauergai desert, an hour later the eldest prince will meet with Wang Shichong's caravan there, you remember to lead the troops to catch it. ”

Yuwen Chengdu breathed a long sigh of relief, took out half a token from his arms, and matched it with this Ali didn't spend, the threads were tight, and the score was exactly the same, he turned around happily and said: "Ada, uncle, it is indeed the second prince and the third prince." ”

Two black-clothed men in cloaks walked out of the crowd and pulled down their heads, it was Yu Wenhua and Yu Wenzhi and his brothers, Yu Wenzhi and laughed, and Yu Wenhua frowned, just wanted to say something, but suddenly heard a sound of a chirp across the night sky, his face changed, and he instinctively shouted: "It's not good, there is an ambush!" ”

Before his words fell, the sound of thousands of troops and horses suddenly came from the shadows of a ruin in the distance, and the sound of heavy horses' hooves stomping on the ground almost broke people's eardrums, and the faces of Yu Wenhua and Yuwen Chengdu father and son suddenly turned pale - Xiaoguo, only the cavalry of the Xiaoguo army has such might! Yu Wenhua muttered, "It's over!" ”

The day in Yulin County came very early, just after the fifth watch, the sky was already bright, the desert outside the city began to become hot, the soldiers standing on duty on the city wall could feel a heat wave blowing in their faces, in the company camp dozens of miles outside the city, the sound of drums and horns was connected, shaking the sky, and the drums of the generals were also "knocking" and ringing non-stop, so that every sergeant who was still dreaming was unwilling to get up and start a new day's journey.

Yuwen Shu slept well this night, after arranging the night's actions yesterday, he went to bed with peace of mind, from the moment the Wang family caravan entered Yulin County, he knew that he had won the battle, the two Turkic princes would not have problems, and Feng Lun, who had followed the Wang family caravan all the way to this point, was extremely reliable, plus his old subordinate Pei Renji and five hundred elite soldiers were ambushed in the desert of the trading place early, as a general, he only needed to see Wang Shichong kneeling in front of Yang Guang in despair at the moment he woke up, crying bitterly, shouted that he was wronged, and then was pushed out and chopped off his head with a knife, which was the happiest thing for him.

A sudden drum sound woke up Yu Wenshu's sweet dream, he opened his triangular eyes, and said instinctively: "Who is beating the drum and gathering the generals?" He glanced at the hourglass in the tent, and at this time Yin Shi was only halfway through, and his heart was furious, and he turned over and raised his voice: "Who is so bold and reckless to beat the drum before the hour comes?!" ”

A personal soldier outside the tent hurriedly ran over, and while picking up the big armor that Yuwenshu put on the bedside and preparing to put it on for Yuwenshu, he said: "It's the direction of the imperial tent that is beating the drum, general, go over quickly, I'm afraid that there is something important to announce there." ”

A cold sweat broke out on Yuwenshu's back, all the way around, Yang Guang slept as much as possible every day, and he ordered his subordinates to move the time back for half an hour, but he didn't expect that when he was about to enter the customs and return to Beijing, Yang Guang actually ordered himself in advance, thinking of what happened last night, his heart was even more panicked, and he said in a low voice: "Has General Pei ever returned?" ”

The soldier shook his head and said, "There is no news, not even the five hundred sergeants who followed him have returned to the camp, general, I am afraid that there will be changes in this, you must be careful!" ”

As he spoke, Yu Wenshu had already put on the big armor on his upper body, and the personal soldier began to help him put on his boots and skirt armor on his lower body. Yu Wenshu put his sleeve armor on his arm. While thinking about what might have happened last night. He said in a low voice, "Do you have any information from the two sons and the major general?" ”

The soldiers tied the laces of Yuwenshu's boots tightly and shook their heads: "Several princes have not joined the army, and you have ordered that you must not contact us, so as not to leak it." ”

Yu Wenshu nodded blankly, his sense of smell and vigilance had become extremely sensitive due to his years of battlefield experience, and an ominous cloud had floated in his heart.

After half a pillar of incense, Yuwenshu walked into the big tent of the imperial camp. When he opened the tent and entered, he saw that Yang Guang was already dressed in yellow armor, sitting behind the handsome case, his face was sinking like water, and the generals on both sides were all draped, separated on both sides, and their expressions were all dazed, not knowing what was going on.

Yu Wenshu swept the corner of his eyes, and suddenly found that Wang Shichong, who was dressed in silk clothes, was actually standing among the generals in the back row, looking relaxed. Since he didn't have any armor on his body, he was particularly dazzling among a group of generals with iron armor and steel helmets. Yu Wenshu's pupils contracted suddenly, and he didn't look at Wang Shichong again, but bowed to Yang Guang: "Big handsome, the last general Yu Wenshu, come when you hear the drum!" ”

Yang Guang gave an order during this patrol, in the military tent, regardless of the monarch and ministers, only talk about the generals, and call Yang Guangshuai in Yuwen instead of His Majesty, Yang Guang nodded, still expressionless: "General Yuwen has worked hard, please stand in your position." ”

Yu Wenshu stood in the first position on the left, and he suddenly found that the two positions on the opposite side belonged to Yu Zhongwen, the general of the right Yiwei, and Zhang Xutuo, the general of the right Yiwei Hubenlang, but they were empty at this time, and Pei Renji, who should have been on his side, also disappeared at this time, his forehead began to sweat, and the afterglow swept everywhere, only to see Wang Shichong looking at himself with a smile, and even squeezed his eyes.

Several more generals have entered the account, and the generals of the eight guards who went out on patrol this time have all arrived except for Yu Zhongwen, and Yuwenshu heard Yang Guang say calmly at this time: "Last night, I received a secret report that in the desert outside Yulin County, someone actually dared to risk the world's condemnation and carry out pig iron smuggling transactions. And there is more than one case, there are such transactions in both places, generals, do you know what kind of punishment the pig iron transaction is in my Great Sui? ”

The faces of the generals changed drastically, and they began to curse these traitors who had brought disaster to the country with righteous indignation, and even a few people who were ready to show their loyalty came out to ask for their orders, and they would personally lead their troops to arrest these traitors.

Yang Guang coldly watched the generals calm down and return to their respective positions, he suddenly turned to Wang Shichong: "Wang Xingshou, can you explain to Ben Shuai, why did your caravan leave this Yulin County and go to the desert outside the Saiwai last night?" ”

Wang Shichong walked out of the column under the gloomy gaze of Yuwenshu with a relaxed expression, saluted Yang Guang, and said: "Back to Dashuai, the business of the grass people has always been operated legally, it just so happened that yesterday the grass people had a caravan that went to the Turks to trade, and when they arrived in Yulin County, according to the old rules, they should rest in the city for a night, and then go out of the city in the morning, but the grass people feel that there is a large army stationed outside the city, which is safer than usual, and this time the nobles of the Turks have not gone far, maybe they will go out to trade at this time, They could sell for a better price, so the grass people sent their caravans out of the city overnight to trade with Turkic merchants in the Umaoergai Desert to the north. ”

Yang Guang said softly: "Wang Xingshou, you let the merchant group go out of the city overnight, how did the Turks know?" Who would go out into the middle of the night to trade with someone else? ”

Wang Shichong smiled slightly: "Dashuai doesn't know, the transaction with the Turks has always been a good opportunity to take advantage of the contradictions between their tribes and take the opportunity to raise the price, the reason why the grass people want to trade in the opportunity of the leaders of their various departments to come here is to want their departments to come to bid, so that the grass people can raise the price by two to three percent. ”

Yang Guang also laughed: "Wang Xingshou is really good at doing business, so in this way, did you calculate our itinerary accurately, so you deliberately rushed to let the caravan out of the customs at this time?" ”

Wang Shichong replied respectfully: "Exactly, the imperial court has a custom, and trade with the Turks must be carried out outside the customs, and there are only two opportunities a year, Your Majesty's patrol this time is a grand event that has not been seen for many years, and it is rare for the Turks to bring the leaders of various tribes, especially those tribes in Mobei and Baishan Heishui (the Daxing'an Mountains in the east of the Hulunbuir grassland), these people rarely have the opportunity to trade directly with us, so the bids are often higher." ”

Yang Guang smiled slightly: "Ben Shuai heard that these tribes are very poor, where did they get the money to trade with you?" ”

Wang Shichong calmly replied: "Although they are poor, they have special products, the tribes of Baishan and Heishui have mink and ginseng, and the tribes of Mobei also have war horses, cattle and sheep, all of which are urgently needed by our Central Plains. ”

Yang Guang laughed: "Wang Xingshou, aren't you afraid that these barbarians will not admit your things and not give you those specialties when they go back?" ”

Wang Shichong said respectfully: "Thanks to the blessing of the great marshal, the Turkic Qimin Khan now dominates the north and south of the desert, he will send troops to escort the grass people's people to receive the goods, if any tribe wants to pay the bill, he will send troops to attack, otherwise how can it be called the Turkic Great Khan?" Besides, these tribes also want to trade with our Great Sui for a long time, and they will not ruin the long-term cooperative relationship and credibility for the sake of Lai's special product that is not worth mentioning to them. ”

Yang Guang nodded, and his expression became stern: "So, Wang Xingshou, what are you trading with these Turks?" ”

Wang Shichong calmly replied: "It's all silk, tea, bronze and other legal trade goods, and there is no pig iron that the marshal just said. ”

Yang Guang said loudly: "Take Zuo Yiwei Hu Benlang to enter Pei Renji into the account and reply." ”

Yu Wenshu's heart sank suddenly, and he saw that Pei Renji and Feng Lun walked in at the place where the tent was lifted, neither of them dared to look at Yu Wenshu, and walked in front of Yang Guang with their heads bowed and saluted.

Yang Guang said coldly: "General Pei, what happened yesterday? Ben Shuai doesn't seem to remember giving you an order to go out on a night patrol. ”

Pei Renji gritted his teeth and said: "Back to the big marshal, yesterday it happened that the general led the troops to patrol the camp at night, and received a secret report from this Mr. Feng, saying that someone was smuggling pig iron in the Wumaoergai Desert, and the matter was very important. ”

Yang Guang snorted heavily: "This Feng Lun, is it your boss?" Is it the minister of the court? If a random person comes and says that there is a trade in pig iron, you run to arrest it, and give up your original duty as a night watchman. If someone raids from your defenses, what are you guilty of?! ”

Pei Renji's face turned pale with fright, he threw himself on, knelt on the ground, and said in a loud voice: "The last general should be damned, he left his post without permission, and asked the commander to punish him, but the last general is really loyal to the country, out of public heart!" ”

Yang Guang sneered: "Gongxin? If you were really out of public interest, you wouldn't have said hello or not, and you would have taken all your subordinates to catch the stolen goods, and even your boss, General Yuwen, would not have informed you! General Yuwen, this is your subordinate, you say, how should it be punished! ”

Yu Wenshu gritted his teeth and said: "Pei Renji left his post without permission, and according to military law, he should be beaten with a hundred military sticks, and the last general is not strict, and if he has the responsibility of negligence, he should also receive fifty military sticks!" ”

Yang Guang's brows furrowed: "General Yuwen, although you have the responsibility of negligence with people, but you have worked hard along the way, and the guards of the imperial camp have never made mistakes, so I will spare you this time, come to someone, take down Pei Renji for this commander, and beat a hundred military sticks to set an example." ”

The two fierce warriors set up Pei Renji and dragged him out of the tent, and Yang Guang's gloomy eyes fell on Feng Lun's body: "The person standing below, but the former internal history squire Feng Lun?" ”

Feng Lun has been planning a way to get rid of his guilt since the defeat last night, and after hearing Yang Guang's words, he hurriedly replied: "The grass people are Feng Lun. ”

Yang Guang asked coldly: "Feng Lun, as a grass farmer, why did you make up false news to deceive General Pei and frame Wang Xingshou?" What are your intentions?! (To be continued......)