Chapter II: Responsibility for the Beginning of Turmoil
Lou Fu in the back of Ningwu Pass, originally for the Beidi a series of Lou Fu clan land, the old dynasty changed the first year, the Han Dynasty to the north to expand the territory, extinguish Lou Fu, Lin Hu, Dong Hu, Dai and other clans, then set Lou Fu, Dong Hu, Hequ, Dai Zhuyi, these four Yi and Yanmen, Ningwu, Partial Pass three passes, is the four Yi three towns of Xinzhou Mansion, as far as the west of Yanshan remaining veins are precipitous. After that, the Han Dynasty continued to expand northward, expanding Shuozhou, Yunzhou and other places outside the three passes, but Hulan rose, and only a single city of Mayi was left outside the three passes.
Xu Ruyu was waiting for Xiao Yuan and the others in the building.
Qi Yishan saw Xu Ruyu holding Qingjun and Lou Qingzhi on the road, and he was shocked, and secretly thought: He actually counted our itinerary.
Xu Ruyu ignored the surprise in everyone's eyes, waited for them to approach, and said, "If you see three people from afar, you should recognize the wrong person." Didn't the three of them go to Jiangning by means of Youji? ”
Xiao Yuan said in a loud voice: "We have something to do in the Northern Tang Dynasty. ”
Qi Yishan was secretly anxious, but he couldn't stop Xiao Yuan from opening his mouth and asked, "Why is Master Li here again?" ”
Xu Ruyu pointed to Lou Qingzhi beside him and said: "The soldiers all say that Xinzhou is a place of beauty, but this brother and I think that the mountains and rivers here are strange and beautiful, and we come all the way to explore the secluded and winning, and we don't want to meet the three, which can be described as fateful people." ”
Lou Qingzhi said: "Xinzhou is the hinterland of Fen County, with nine droughts in ten years, but it is the source of the stream here, which cannot but be said to be a treasure of feng shui. From the foothills of Guanshui Mountain to the main peak of Luya Mountain, the mountain is as flat as a mirror and the Yuan Pond is clear to the bottom; The mountain waterfall stream flies like light smoke, the vertical stream goes straight down, and the water travels down the mountain to the east into the Yangwu River and the Hutuo River; To the west, the water merges into the Zhujiachuan River and enters the river; There is a spring in Linxi Mountain, and the longan is the source of the Fen River; The northeast water communicates with the Sanggan River, and the water of the Ningwuhui River also comes from this, which is the source of the five rivers, and we should not miss it. ”
Xu Ruyu and Lou Qingyi walked together for two days, guarding each other, and did not say anything deep, and at this time, listening to him casually talk about the geography of Xinzhou like a few treasures, he was secretly surprised.
Xu Ruyu was waiting for these three people here, Lou Qingzhi naturally didn't dare to be sloppy, and under scrutiny, he sighed secretly: If he didn't look at him deliberately, he would have hidden it, and said with his head bowed: "Zhuoyi Lou Qingzhi." ”
Qi Yishan said: "It was originally from the Zhuoyi Lou family, no wonder I know so much about the Northland. ”
Xu Ruyu secretly thought: His identity does not need to be kept secret, his identity may be important, but it is not a person who is coveted by other forces. Or maybe the identity is fake.
Although more military information can be found through the Jun family, in order to avoid the dilemma of the Jun family, Xu Ruyu has no more requirements. Shao Haitang has always placed Si Wencao's focus on the south of Huaishui, and he will not ask the Jun family to do anything extraordinary, so Er Jiangning knows very little about Youji.
Maybe he is still avoiding the Cai family, Xu Ruyu sighed, thinking that the Jun family will officially withdraw its forces from Youji after the year, and Mr. Shao will probably ask the Jun family to lurk a certain amount of power in Youji for the use of the queen.
Qi Yishan had already sent the news back, and his task was to follow Xiao Yuan until he found the whereabouts of Kou Zichan, and when he saw Xu Ruyu and Lou Qingzhi waiting here, although he was surprised, he didn't leak the news anywhere, but he knew that he couldn't get rid of these two people. said: "Fenshui went down to the Northern Tang Dynasty around the building, and the scenery along the way was also pleasant, and I think the two of them are interested in going to the Northern Tang Dynasty." ”
Xiao Yuan didn't like Xu Ruyu, and when he heard Qi Yishan invite them to go to the Northern Tang Dynasty together, he was unhappy in his heart, and snorted coldly, but he didn't speak.
Xu Ruyu said: "To be able to walk with the two Qi Ye and Xiao Ye, it will take a lot of convenience along the way, and Li is disturbed." ”
When Xu Ruyu and Chu Shize went north, they passed through the inaccessible mountains and wilderness, and there were strange horses pulling cars, and they didn't feel difficult, and they couldn't see the famine in the north.
The drought in spring and summer, the Xun family was out of reach of the drought in Xinzhou, and the Xinzhou family rode the wall to watch the fire, allowing the hungry people to flood south, only the Han family in Daiyi sent grain to help the hungry people, and was quite famous in Xinzhou. Xu Ruyu entered Yanmen Pass, and most of the way he walked passed through Daiyi, and he did not see the tragic situation of bones on the road along the way.
Entering the territory of Loufuyi, on the way from Loufu to the Northern Tang Dynasty, there are corpses in Siye, but they are rugged and skinny, and most of them are starved to death next to the road. There was heavy snow in the sky, and there were many hungry people who migrated south in the middle of the road, and their wives and children were in the snow, and their clothes were ragged, which could not block much cold. I often meet people lying in the snow, and they no longer get up, and the relatives around them may be sad, but the crying is weak, and they feel more miserable when they hear it.
Xu Ru was foolish and didn't give away the 100 gold in his pocket, and was silent all the way.
Lou Qingzhi and the others were only silent when he was surnamed Zi, but they didn't expect it to come up.
Lou Qingzhi and Qi Yishan only picked irrelevant topics to talk about, and when they saw the tragic situation in the road, they naturally mentioned the county policy.
Qi Yishan said: "There were famines in Xinzhou in previous years, but there were not as many people who died as this year. ”
Lou Qingzhi sneered: "Someone is a blessing in disguise, isn't Xun Zhuwu levied 150,000 Biaoyong among the exiles?" It's just that there are millions of victims in Xinzhou and Xiangzhou, and they go south together, plus the victims from various provinces on the north bank of the Yellow River, and they are congested in the north of the river together. ”
Xu Ruyu was silent: The catastrophe will not end here, although Xinzhou's military equipment has not been reduced, but because of the flood victims, the strength of Xinzhou has always been weak. The three-pass natural danger defense should be the three-dimensional defense of the outer border city and the inner fortress. Today, there is only one single city left outside the Saiwai, and most of the dock forts in the Guanai are controlled by the family. The Xun family implemented the county policy in Xinzhou, trying to weaken the power of the family, and even the fort in this pass was almost unreliable. If the Hulan Iron Cavalry really invades from the three passes of Yanmen, the stigma of "Zhixian Policy" is afraid to be another layer.
Qi Yishan glanced at himself intentionally or unintentionally when he saw Lou Qingzhi mention Xun Zhuwu, he was shocked, but his face was silent, and he followed his words and said: "If the victims on the north bank of the river are in chaos, it will be like a wildfire burning the prairie after autumn, it is extremely difficult to extinguish, if Hulan takes advantage of this time to invade the south, it will be unimaginable." I heard that the Gu family's invasion of the inner court was also a disaster for the county, and the Gu family had no food to settle the victims in the territory, so they sent troops to plunder Qin County. ”
"Xun Zhuwu led 150,000 displaced people to Hedong Mansion to plunder, but it was also for the sake of the people?" Qi Yishan said with a smile, "Xu Ruyu threw out the county to start the world, but Xun Zhuwu was a robber who took advantage of the fire. If Cai, Xun, and Gu work together with the inner court, they are not afraid of what kind of chaos will arise in the county? ”
Xu Ruyu listened quietly, but he couldn't argue, so he only sat at the window of the tea shop, looking out the window at the snowy scene, and the homeless people in the cold and snow were like needles pricked in the chest.
Xiao Yuan said: "I don't understand, this disaster has something to do with the county policy? ”
Qi Yishan said with a smile: "This person has its own connection with natural disasters, this world is inherited from the family, self-contained, as soon as the county policy comes out, this personnel will be chaotic, the Xun family in Xinzhou when the county policy, there are several chaos, but Xun to Tai still can't see through Xu Ruyu's intentions, this year only this natural disaster, it is said that next year will also be a big drought, otherwise why do I move to Quanzhou, where the mountains and the sea are back, and it is the extreme south, I think this drought will not run to Southern Fujian." ”
Xu Ruyu Huo Ran stood up, his eyes opened, and the two gazes were like lightning, sweeping straight across the faces of Qi Yishan and Lou Qingzhi, and he opened his mouth to speak, but sighed, waved his robe sleeves, and walked straight into the snow.
Qi Yishan and Lou Qingzhi suppressed the horror in their hearts, looked at Xu Ruyu and Xiao Suo's slightly thin back, and thought: Who is it?
Xiao Yuan glanced at it in surprise and continued: "As far as I know, most of the granaries in Shijiawu Fort are full, and the drought is not to mention it, but the victims on the side of the road are those who were forced out of Xinzhou. ”
Lou Qingzhi was slightly stunned, it was not that he didn't understand the truth, but he was originally a disciple of the Lou family in Zhuoyi, but he may not have thought of such a truth, and secretly thought: In order to resist the county policy, the small and medium-sized families in Xinzhou and Xiangzhou drove the hungry people south, and the Xun family did not expect such a thing, and the lack of preparation made the situation in Xinzhou and Xiangzhou out of control.
Lou Qingzhi said: "A few heavy snows this winter, tomorrow Xinzhou, Xiangzhou mountains water source is enough, even less rain, there will be no drought, but this homeless people all the way south, missed the farming time, no one in the four fields cultivated, millions of homeless people crowded on the north bank of the river, there is some farming, the spring will also be destroyed, how can there be any harvest?" The famine is worse than this year. ”
The astonishing momentum released by Xu Ruyu in an instant was intimidated, and he was horrified in his heart, thinking: When he mentioned the county policy, he was so disrespectful?
The original intention of the county policy was to end the chaos of the family's separatism, but it unexpectedly became the root cause of the crisis in the north. When Xu Ruyu first felt that it was not good, he asked Yiguanyuan to suggest that the Xun family suspend the counties in Xiangzhou and Xinzhou to strengthen the military armament of these two places, but the Xun family not only did not adopt this strategy, but also drove Yiguanyuan back to Yuejun. At that time, I didn't know why, but now I can probably understand that Xun Zhuwu and the Hulan forces are in the way.
Xun Zhuwu recruited 150,000 warriors from the displaced people, detoured back to Hedong Mansion in Qinzhou County, and occupied important places in the north of Qinzhou for a few months, leading the Xun family to be the commander of Xiluo, becoming the biggest beneficiary of this natural disaster.
After this natural change, the strength of Xinzhou and Xiangzhou has decreased by more than one point, and if Hulan invades south from Yanmen, they are also great beneficiaries of this natural disaster.
The snow particles are blowing on the face, and the slightest chill penetrates.
Xu Ruyu secretly thought: The Xun and Cai tribes were all worried about the disaster victims gathered in the realm, but they ignored the fact that Xinzhou and Xiangzhou were greatly weakened because of the southward surge of the disaster victims, and their vigilance against Hulan on this road was inevitably insufficient.
Xu Ruyu looked at the few people in the tea shop, and couldn't help but think: Since the Xun family suddenly realized the crisis here, is it too late in time?
All the way south, the heart was moved by the homeless people on the way, and the depressed people came to the Northern Tang City with Lou Qingzhi and others.
The North Tang Dynasty is located in the Fenshui River Valley, over a pass of the West Mountain, you can see the vast valley lowland under the mountain, the Fenshui passes through the river valley from north to south, the Jin River flows out of the Hanging Urn Mountain, and the 100-foot flowing water hangs down in the snow like green and blue, slowly bypassing the North Tang City.
Outside the city of the Northern Tang Dynasty, it was densely packed, and the displaced people who flocked to the Northern Tang Dynasty were all rejected from the city, crowded and crowded on both sides of Fenshui and Jinshui.
The city gate was crowded with displaced people, the crowd pushed and trampled on each other and rushed to the city gate, the urn city was closed, a team of more than 100 soldiers shouted outside the city and beat the homeless people with guns, trying to drive him out of the city gate, the soldiers in the female wall Mou led the string to set up arrows, and the arrows with cold light pointed directly at the homeless people under the city tower.
Standing on a high place, from time to time I saw someone fall down unsupportively, and blood flowed out of the feet of the impenetrable crowd and mixed into the black mud.
Xiao Yuan scolded: "Bastard, you can't enter the city, and the people outside the city are either starving to death or freezing to death." ”
Lou Qingzhi said indifferently: "There are no less than 100,000 people outside the city, if the city gate is opened, people from other places will hear the news and rush to come." ”
Xiao Yuan glared at Lou Qingyi, and asked in a softened tone, "How do we enter the city?" ”
Qi Yishan said: "There are people outside the city who are driving the crowd, it is estimated that there will be people coming in and out in a while, just prepare some money." ”
Xu Ruyu felt a pain in his heart, and silently followed Lou Qingzhi and the others towards the West City Gate, squeezing into the crowd. On the innermost floor, a carriage overturned there, and next to it stood a veiled woman, protected by several brown-clothed warriors, and outside there were more than 100 soldiers with guns and halberds to drive away the approaching homeless.
It seems that the homeless people wanted to follow the carriage into the city, but unexpectedly, the carriage was also trapped outside the city. Under the push of everyone, the carriage was overturned, but there was no fear on the face of the veiled woman, the eyes above the veil were bright and bewitching, the eyes were as burning as fire, and the delicate face under the light veil loomed, which made people reverie.
Qi Yishan couldn't help but be secretly anxious when he looked at the situation, among the five people, only Xiao Yuan couldn't cross the city wall silently, only Xu Ruyu looked unfathomable in front of him, Lou Qingzhi, Qi Yishan, and Qi Yihai were all pretending to be pigs and eating tigers, and the three of them knew each other's cultivation, but they were the only ones hiding from Xiao Yuan. At this time, Xiao Yuan trusted himself quite a lot, and was full of vigilance towards Xu Ruyu and Lou Qingzhi, if he took him into the city, he was afraid that he would be more wary, and he would never take himself to find Kou Zichan, and it was inconvenient to take the book at this time, this Li You's bottom line could not be seen at all, he should have the opportunity to contact Xiao Yuan alone on the way, if he didn't make a move, he should not know about the manuscript yet, and he couldn't mess up first.
Xu Ruyu was depressed by the tragic situation at the city gate, and he didn't see the changing faces of Lou Qingzhi, Qi Yishan and others.
A brown-clothed warrior stood on the periphery, flicked the horsewhip, the air sounded like distant thunder rolling, the whip hit people but with feminine power, only to see the afterimage flashing, pumping on the person, no sound could be heard, five or six people near could not avoid the pain and rolled into the mud, but the people who squeezed in didn't care too much, stepped on them. The body of the whipped man burst open, splattering with clouds of blood.
The people in the vicinity screamed in horror and retreated, the people in the outer circle did not know what they were in, and continued to push inward, but the people in the middle couldn't stand the squeeze of the combined force of the two forces, and people kept falling and screaming.
Xu Ruyu's face turned pale, staring at the brown-clothed warrior fixedly, flexing his middle finger, and was about to make a move, but he heard Xiao Yuan's cry of "woo-ah" and jumped over, swinging his fist at the brown-clothed warrior.
The brown-clothed warrior took half a step back, and the long whip in his hand pulled half a circle, turning Xiao Yuan's fist away, and the whip suddenly kept slamming into his fist. Xiao Yuan's old strength has been exhausted, and the new strength has not been born, he really took a blow, and retreated a few steps before he stopped, his face was blue and red, obviously he had suffered a loss, but his eyes were opened more roundly, and his blood was surging for a while, and he was speechless.
The masked sa turned his face to look this way, his eyes stopped on Xu Ruyu's face for a moment, and he exclaimed, "Huh", the brown-clothed warrior only saw that there was an accident behind him, and he didn't turn his head, he swept back and retreated to the masked woman.
Xu Ruyu looked over, only to feel that her eyes were quite familiar, and just as she was thinking about it, the woman said, "Send me back to the city." Before the voice fell, the man flew up, and the brown-clothed warrior threw the long whip in his hand straight, and his head was not raised, and the tip of the whip was just like the point of the kang's eyes under the woman's silk cover. With this force, the fluttering posture did not change, and drifted towards the city tower, and when he stepped on the female wall, he turned back and smiled at Xu Ruyu, and swept towards the city. The brown-clothed warrior glanced at Xu Ruyu in surprise, and then jumped onto the city wall, and then several brown-clothed warriors also went up to the city tower.
Between her smiles, Xu Ruyu's heart flashed like lightning, and she suddenly remembered that she was the lord of Jiarou, Xun Kaitai's third daughter Xun Jiarou.
Xun Jiarou has recognized her identity.
Xu Ruyu was restless along the way, and saw the miserable situation of the displaced people outside the city, and lost his mind for a while, but he didn't recognize Xun Jiarou, so that his identity was revealed, and he hesitated to turn around and run away immediately.
Qi Yishan was shocked in his heart: This Li You turned out to be a member of the Xun family?
Xun Kaitai is the most powerful woman, it is not difficult for outsiders to know Xun Jiarou, but Xun Jiarou has little contact with outsiders, no wonder Qi Yishan has this idea.
Lou Qingzhi was surprised: When I went out of Yanmen with him, it was not difficult to take my surname with his cultivation, why did he lead me here?
Xun Zhuwu is Xun Kaitai's righteous son, if this relationship is not dissolved, the love affair between him and Xun Jiarou will never be made public. Xu Ruyu was in Shangnan, Xun Jiarou had a secret lover, and together with Xun Zhuwu, he met Xu Ruyu.
The twists and turns in this are not known to outsiders, which inevitably makes Lou Qingzhi and Qi Yishan want to go elsewhere.
Xiao Yuan didn't have so many thoughts from them, Xun Jiarou's fluttering beauty was imprinted in his mind, and it didn't disappear for a long time, and he only shouted: "There are really such beauties in the world, straight grandma, sleep all night, it's worth dying." An arrow came coldly, Lou Qingzhi was closest to him, so he had to brush him off for him, pull him back into the crowd in a daze, and when he looked up, he saw the brown-clothed warrior staring at him angrily, and then pulled out an arrow and put it on the string, locking Xiao Yuan.
Lou Qingzhi knew that his first arrow was just a reminder to Xiao Yuan, and this arrow would be shot with all his might. Lou Qingzhi was not sure that he would be able to take this arrow easily, let alone Xiao Yuan, Ning Shen breathed, feeling that the killing intent of the brown-clothed warrior was locked in Xiao Yuan's life, knowing that he was angry with Xiao Yuan's foul mouth, and just waited for the arrow to leave the string and took the arrow for Xiao Yuan.
Qi Yishan didn't expect Xiao Yuan to have an accident, gave Qi Yihai a look, and took a step to protect Xiao Yuan's right side, but Qi Yihai took a step back and blocked between Xiao Yuan and Xu Ruyu.
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