Wei Zheng continued: "Although Er Zhu Zhao killed Emperor Xiaozhuang and avenged Er Zhu Rong, he also left a notoriety of killing the king, and the major powerful factions of the Northern Wei Dynasty began to crusade against him, among which Gao Huan in the Guandong and Yuwentai in the Guanzhong were the leaders, and the one who directly raised troops to confront Er Zhu Zhao was the founding emperor of the Northern Qi Dynasty, who was known as Gao Huan with Yuwentai with the prestige of the Shenwu Emperor. ”

"Erzhu Zhao is not Gao Huan's opponent, and he was quickly defeated, and Hu Sichun, who is accustomed to seeing the wind and rudder, turned his face ruthlessly again, killed all the remnants of the Erzhu clan and private soldiers who still called him brothers and sisters a while ago, and surrendered to Gao Huan."

"Gao Huan didn't look down on Hu Sichun at all, so Hu Sichun turned to Yuan Xiu, the filial piety emperor who Gao Huan later supported, provoked the relationship between Yuan Xiu and Gao Huan, and encouraged Yuan Xiu to get rid of Gao Huan like Emperor Xiaozhuang killed Er Zhurong, but unfortunately Gao Huan was not Er Zhurong, Yuan Xiu couldn't do it, but was driven out of Luoyang, Hu Sichun fled into Guanzhong like a lost dog, and took refuge in Yuwentai, who had already established himself there."

"After that, the matter is well known to the lord, Gao Huan and Yuwentai each have a puppet emperor in their hands, the Northern Wei Dynasty was split into the Eastern and Western Wei, and when it came to their sons, they simply abolished the puppets and established the Northern Zhou and Northern Qi respectively, those are later words."

Wang Shichong nodded and said: "This Hu Sichun is really shameless, he is repeated, and he stirs up trouble all day long, if Hu Sizheng is with his grandfather all the way, even if he is talented, we should not make friends with him, what we are doing is a big thing to destroy the nine clans, and it would be too unjust to sell this kid." ”

Wei Zheng nodded and said, "That's right." One more thing worth mentioning. The great-grandfather of General Changsun Sheng, Changsun Zhi. Back then, he was the sworn friend of Hu Sichun, and he personally hunted and killed the nephews and private soldiers of the Erzhu clan for him, and later after the defeat of Yuan Xiu's army, he fled into Guanzhong with Hu Sichun and returned to Yuwentai. ”

Wang Shichong suddenly realized: "It turns out that General Changsun has such an ancestor, and I have always only known that his distant ancestor is Changsun Song, the founding general of the Northern Wei Dynasty." ”

Wei Zheng said with a smile: "So after the Wuhu Rebellion, for hundreds of years, these Hu people are no different from our Han people, the eldest grandson of the Hu people back then." His descendant, Sun Sheng, has now become the first hero of our dynasty to destroy the Turks. Lord, you really don't need to always emphasize the defense of Huayi like this, if the Hu people can be committed to the Han family and choose the lifestyle and culture of our Han people, then you don't always have to treat them as Hu people's defense. ”

Wang Shichong waved his hand and said, "I'll talk about this question later, what happened to Hu Sichun?" ”

Wei Zheng said: "Hu Sichun later became the great Sima in the Western Wei Dynasty and died a good death, he had a total of four sons, of which the youngest son Hu Sihui did a free horse in my dynasty. And Hu Sizheng is the son of Hu Sihui. He is forty-seven years old this year, and he served as the personal guard of Emperor Wu of the Northern Zhou Dynasty in his early years. Later, when I destroyed Chen in the Great Sui, he was promoted to Yitong with military merits, and he happened to be under Yang Su's account at that time, and Yang Su admired his talent very much. ”

"Lord, although Hu Sichun is a Hu person, his grandfather Hu Sichun has always been a civil official in the Northern Wei Dynasty, and his father is not in charge of the army, strictly speaking, he is not the real Guanlong military noble. The Hu generals in Guanlong looked at him as if he were a literati in Shandong, and it was impossible for the Han people to treat him as their own, so the Hu Si family was in such an embarrassing position that was not pleasing to both ends. ”

"When he came to Hu Sizheng's generation, although he also served in the army and fought in wars, he was still mainly a civilian official, which is also the reason why although he was talented, he was promoted slowly for many years, and he only reached the position of governor in his fifties."

"Most of the credit of Hu Sizheng in the past few years has been won by Han Shige, if no one supports him and helps him speak in the court, I am afraid that it will be difficult to enter the court in this life."

Wang Shichong nodded again and again when he heard this, but suddenly thought of a question, and hurriedly asked: "Since this person is talented and lacks introduction, and Yang Su praised his ability back then, why hasn't he been promoted and recommended?" ”

Wei Zheng smiled and said, "Because this person used to be very high-minded, he refused to take the initiative to take refuge. ”

Wang Shichong smiled: "That's it, this is also something I only understood after coming into contact with some underground intelligence over the years." Xuan Cheng, in fact, it is a risk to recommend a person, if there is a talented person, after being recommended, but he is not grateful to you, it may lead the wolf into the house and take your position in the future. ”

"To give the simplest example, Gao Xi and Gao Servant successively recommended Yang Su and Su Wei to enter the court as officials, but in the end they were driven out of phase by Yang Su, and almost the family was destroyed, although Gao Xi's high style and bright festival are admirable, but it is not good for himself and his family."

"And that Yang Su has always put the interests of the family first, as he continues to fight on the battlefield and make contributions, his brothers and nephews have also followed one by one, and they have been promoted to the rank of knight one by one, such as Yang Xuangan's Shangzhu country, although he has his own merits, but he was born as Yitong, and he can stand up to my Wang Shichong who has been working hard for more than ten years."

Wei Zheng said with a smile: "The lord's talent is world-renowned, and he will be able to come out sooner or later, or that Yang Su, among the ministers of his generation, among the civil officials, he only admires Lord Gao Xi, Lord Niu Hongniu, the former secretary of the Ministry of Shangshu, and Lord Xue Daoheng Xue of the internal history." ”

"As for the generals, except for He Ruobi, Han Baohu, Shi Wansui, Liu Fang, Changsun Sheng, and Zhou Luoyu, Wei Zheng has never heard him praise anyone. Oh, by the way, the general Li Zixiong who recommended him to Youzhou last time was the only military general he recommended in Wei Zheng's impression in the past ten years, except for General Liu Fang and Liu. ”

Wei Zheng paused and continued: "As for the young people, there are even fewer who can get into his eyes. In addition to you, the lord of both civil and military affairs, among the generals of the Mesozoic Era, General Mai Tiezhu was reported by him for military merits back then, which was not a recommendation, and General Yang Yichen relied on his excellent performance in Daizhou this time, and Yang Su was just a favor, not a recommendation. If you really want to recommend it, except for Yang Su's niece and son-in-law Feng Lun, there is only Li Jing, who has come to our house before. ”

When Wei Zheng mentioned Li Jing, his tone changed slightly, and Wang Shichong suddenly thought of the friendship between himself and this wizard of the art of war in the years when they worked together in the military department. Later, Li Jing resigned because he was implicated in his brother's defeat. I don't know where I'm now.

Just when Wang Shichong was still thinking about the past. Wei Zheng continued: "It can be seen that if you want to recommend someone, not only must your talent be extremely outstanding, but you must also take the initiative to take refuge in him. ”

"Although this Hu Sizheng's talent is strong, he is not as elusive in the art of war as Li Jing, which shocked the lord, and he has never taken the initiative to show favor to Yang Su, so Yang Su has never recommended him."

Wang Shichong nodded and said, "Indeed." Those who are not loyal to us, if they can be strong, will take our own place in the future; If someone who has no ability is recommended casually, and in the end he is proven to be incompetent, and he is slapped in the face, which is really difficult. It's just that this time Hu Sizheng didn't take the initiative to come to us, do you still want to make friends with him? ”

Wei Zheng smiled slightly and said, "Wei Zheng thinks that since the lord has come to Yingzhou to be the assassin, he can't do nothing, you also said it last time." This is Xiao Liang's hometown, and there may be an undercurrent of Xiao Liang's remnants under the calm surface. If it is managed properly, it will become an important base for us in the future, so the lord should not give up any people and opportunities that can be fought for, and it is better to explore more. ”

Wang Shichong nodded and said with a smile: "It's still Xuancheng, you are smart, this time you reminded me!" Alas, I still have to find a way to get in touch with this Hu Sizheng a lot, find out his details, and see if I can become a fellow believer. ”

Wei Zhengzheng said: "This is the path that the lord must face, you have the talent to go through the heavens and latitudes, so naturally you can't be willing to be mediocre." Today you have to control this small Yingzhou, tomorrow you will be in charge of the entire court, and then in the future you will have to compete for the world and achieve a reputation for eternity, these are all things that you can't escape and must face. ”

Wang Shichong nodded seriously, took a deep breath, and said, "I only hope that I can always have Xuancheng by my side in this long journey of life." ”

Wei Zheng felt a warmth in his heart, a smug smile flashed on his face, and in an instant, he regained his composure and strictness just now, and said: "Hu Sizheng's situation is like this, whether you want to make friends with him, how to get along with him in the future, when the time comes, it will be up to the lord to decide." ”

Wang Shichong said: "Hard work, Wei Zheng, how did you inquire about Han Shige's situation?" ”

Wei Zheng said: "Compared with Hu Sizheng, who can only be regarded as a member of the periphery of the Guanlong military merit aristocracy at most, Han Shige is an authentic Guanlong military merit noble, although it is not as deep-rooted as the pillar national clan, but it is definitely deep-rooted, which also starts with his ancestors." ”

"Han Shige's grandfather is Han Xiong, the general of the Northern Zhou Dynasty, who has been a great general, the history of the assassination of eight states, and Han Shige's father is the famous Han Baohu, his original name is Han Baobao, he has been good at riding and archery since he was a child, Kong Wu is powerful, and his martial arts are strong, because he killed a tiger at the age of thirteen, so he was renamed Han Baohu."

"Yu Wentai, the powerful minister of the Western Wei Dynasty, saw Han Baohu when he was a child, and Han Baohu, who was only a child of the same age, was already a big block taller than a child of the same age, and even a teenager grew a beard that an adult may not be able to grow, and he looked very unusual. So Yuwentai specially asked Han Baohu to accompany the prince to study and practice martial arts. ”

"Unlike the children of the official family who only care about playing when they accompany the prince to study, Han Baohu likes to read all kinds of scriptures, history books, and military books and war strategies since he was a child.

"When he grew up, he also caught up with the first emperor Dai Zhou, knowing that Han Baohu was a civil and military all-rounder, so he sent him out of the town of Luzhou, responsible for the defense north of the Yangtze River, Zhen Qing, Xiao Maha, Ren Mannu and other generals of Nanchen crossed the river to the north several times, and he was defeated, and he did not dare to think about the land of Jiangbei again."

When Wang Shichong heard this, he sighed and said: "Han Baohu is indeed a famous general, as far as I know, Yang Su has always admired him, and his evaluation is obviously above that He Ruobi, he and these two have worked together for a long time, and what he said is true." In fact, Wang Shichong knew Han Shige's situation very well, but he still assigned Wei Zheng this investigation task, just to see how much information Wei Zheng, who was born as a civilian, could collect about these generals.

Wei Zheng said with a smile: "General He Ruo's greatest contribution is to offer Pingchen Bace, and he is the first to execute it, so he has always felt that the credit is greater than that of General Han." Later, when Chen was destroyed, General He Ruo's troops were also the first to cross the river and defeated the main force of Chen's army outside Jiankang City. ”

However, Han Baohu, who crossed the river a little later, secretly bypassed the battlefield when the main force of the Chen army was fighting fiercely with He Ruobi's troops. Take Jiankang City directly. Grabbed the occupation of the Chen Imperial Palace. The great merit of capturing Empress Chen also grabbed He Ruobi's great painstaking efforts, and he thought that it should be his own effort to destroy Chen. ”

Wang Shichong nodded and said, "So He Ruobi has formed a bond with Han Baohu since then, and even at the celebration banquet, the two almost got into a fight, right?" ”

Wei Zhengzheng said: "Yes, that's why." In fact, General He Ruo can't be blamed for being narrow-minded in this matter, and it is difficult for anyone to accept this kind of thing. ”

Wang Shichong said: "After General Han later killed Chen, it seems that there was no movement. It's not like General He Ruo keeps tossing. ”

Wei Zheng smiled and said, "Lord, how can you say that General He is a toss, people have resentment in their hearts, and they are not in the phase, of course they want to constantly reflect their sense of existence." The emperor also knew that he was such a person, so although he caused trouble and dismissed the official, he always let him attend various state banquets to satisfy his vanity. ”

"As for General Han, he knows how to be low-key and introverted than General He Ruo. After the destruction of Chen, he basically stopped commanding the army. After hanging a false title of Shangzhu State, he has been living at home, only once when the emperor received the Turkic envoy, he specially called him out, General Han had a different face, majestic and majestic, and launched an angry like a fierce god, so that the timid people can be scared to death in the middle of the night. ”

"As a result, the first emperor said to the Turkic envoy that this Han general was the general who destroyed the Chen State and captured the queen of Chen, and then the Han general glared angrily at the Turkic envoy, so frightened that the person could not say anything, and in the following years, the Turks really kept to themselves, and did not dare to come to our Great Sui border to make trouble and rob again."

Wang Shichong said with a smile: "I didn't expect that General Han's anger would be better than 100,000 male soldiers, so that the steppe wolf could be honest." Xuancheng, I will also practice this kung fu in the future, if anyone under his command is disobedient, I will murder him, how about it. Thinking that Han Baohu was also the first important general who really valued him, if he could live a few more years and cover himself, maybe he would not have such a difficult life in this life, thinking of this, he not only sighed for a while, but his expression also became gloomy.

Wei Zheng said with a smile: "Lord, his face is born from the heart, General Han looks like an underworld Yama, his kind of majesty, you can't show it, even if the lord's decision to kill is not comparable to General Han." ”

Wei Zheng suddenly thought of something again, and his face was full of sternness, and he said, "Lord, when General Han died in the end, there were also quite some stories. ”

Wang Shichong was awakened by Wei Zheng's words, and said: "I remember that General Han seems to have been emperor for 12 years, and died three years after the destruction of Chen, and I also went to worship him at that time. ”

Wei Zheng nodded and said, "Before General Han got sick, one night, an old woman who lived near his mansion saw a majestic honor guard, walking towards Han's house in the middle of the night under the banner of the third watch, the old woman felt strange, so she asked those people from a distance, and someone in the team replied, saying that they were here to greet the king. The old woman was wondering, and in a blink of an eye, the team disappeared into thin air. ”

Later, a few days later, another person was very sick, all the way to the Han Mansion, saying that he wanted to meet the king, the doorman of the Han Mansion asked him what the king was looking for, the man said that he wanted to see the king of Yama, General Han's guards were very angry, and wanted to beat this person, but General Han waved his hand to stop them, saying that he could be a pillar country in his life and the king of Yama after his death, and he was very happy and satisfied. Then send the man away. ”

"After the man left, General Han fell ill, and the doctors were helpless after coming to see him, saying that they had never seen this strange disease, and two days later, General Han passed away, and his son Han Shige inherited his title, which is now the history of the Yingzhou Thorn, and it is also the person you want to take over."

After listening to this bizarre ghost story, Wang Shichong sneered in his heart, I am afraid that this is Han Baohu deliberately pretending to be a ghost, relying on this method to remind the emperor not to forget their old Han family, not to mention that because he Han Baohu died, he thought that the Han family was unmanned, and no longer reused his brothers and nephews, after experiencing the cat ghost incident, he no longer believed in the ghosts and gods in the world, but he also knew that there were really a lot of people in the world who believed in this, even Yang Jian also bought Han Baohu's account, and the Han family was able to continue to maintain the power in the army and the status of the court.

However, Wang Shichong still pretended to breathe a sigh of relief: "Fortunately, it's daytime, if Xuancheng tells me this story at night, maybe I will be so scared that I can't sleep peacefully." But in my opinion, the old woman may have been dazzled or dreaming, and the things about the king of Yama are really strange and difficult to explain. Maybe it's far-fetched by some good deeds. ”

Wei Zheng nodded, and said: "Wei also thinks that this matter may be similar to the witch Gu of the Han Dynasty in the past, it was manipulated by someone behind it, General Han first offended General He Ruo, and later when he captured Jiankang, he indulged his soldiers to rape the palace maids of the Chen Dynasty, robbed the Chen Dynasty treasury, and after returning to Beijing, he humiliated the old general Zhou in person. (To be continued......)