Liyuan Village is a small military village near the mountain and river, the geographical location is remote, and there is no decent town within hundreds of miles around. There were 300 soldiers stationed in the stockade, and more than 1,000 families scattered around the stockade.

When Yang Hao and Qing'er arrived at Liyuan Village, it was almost dusk, and the two were thinking about finding a farmhouse to spend the night, when they were suddenly blocked by a checkpoint. There are four soldiers and a squad in his early twenties. Qing'er's appearance made everyone's eyes shine, and the deputy stared at her with his waist crossed. It was too late to turn around and dodge, so Yang Hao decided to break through.

"Stop! Where did the fight come from? Where to? What's the last name? What is it called? Who is this woman? "The lieutenant spoke like a tongue twister.

"Back to the military master, the little one came from Chang'an and went to Ningning to join his relatives, the villain's surname is Meng, his name is Meng Xifan, this is the villain's wife, surnamed Yang." Yang Hao's answer was also very slippery, he secretly breathed a sigh of relief, it seems that the official government's sea fishing documents have not yet arrived. Otherwise, just with a man and a woman standing here, the team deputy should be vigilant enough.

"Don't wait for a good Chang'an City, what kind of relatives will you go to Ning?" The deputy of the team saw that although the two of them were wearing linen clothes, they were both white and clean, and their temperament was also good, so they didn't believe it.

"Who said it wasn't, the villain was originally the second shopkeeper in a cloth village in Dongshi, with three or five taels of silver a month to make ends meet, but he never thought that there would be a turmoil in Beijing, the owner was implicated, and sold the cloth village, so he had no choice but to leave Chang'an to beg for food." Yang Hao's lie was also fully compiled, and the team deputy did not become suspicious again.

"Do you know the words on it?" The deputy of the team pointed to a wooden sign on the side of the road, and there was a notice for recruiting new recruits posted on the wooden sign, Yang Hao read it and said with a smile: "This is a notice for recruitment, where can the small ones be recruited into the army." ”

"Hey, you're wrong, you see it clearly: the Tiande Army recruitment notice, this is the Tiande Army recruiting troops in our place, it was said over there, as long as you are willing to go, it doesn't matter if you drag your family with you. Give a settling-in fee, five taels of silver. There is a small population over there, and it is easy to find a job, like a little sister-in-law who is so ingenious to go there to open a clothing shop, and keep it hungry, how about it, I see that you have also practiced, at this time when the family and country are in danger, a good man should serve the country even more. ”

This team of deputies spoke one by one, but unfortunately they were born more than a thousand years early, and they were also engaged in pyramid schemes in later generations.

Yang Hao's heart was moved when he heard this, the border wars have been endless in recent years, and the towns along the border often recruit troops and horses in the mainland, not only with preferential military salaries, but also with family members. There is also the fact that "real heroes don't ask where you come from", and they don't ask what you have done before. If there is an accumulation of military merits, the sins of the past (except for rebellion) can be written off.

Yang Hao looked back at Qing'er, but Qing'er didn't say anything.

"Hey, sister-in-law didn't speak, this is allowed, brother, come and write a name and press a handprint, you are the strong man of the Tang Tiande Army."

The deputy of the team was afraid that Yang Hao would regret it, so he grabbed his wrist and pulled it into the reed mat shed next to the road. Yang Hao stood still.

"Yo he, I've really practiced!" The deputy of the team suddenly felt admiration in his heart: "Good brother, you come with me!" I'll take you to meet their officers, and make sure you'll be a team deputy too. ”

Yang Hao looked at Qing'er again.

"Go ahead, don't you eat somewhere?" Qing'er said coldly.

"Look, sister-in-law is nodding." The deputy of the team pulled Yang Hao to the reed mat shed on the side of the road. A lieutenant was sitting upright drinking tea and reading a book. Yang Hao glanced at him, and couldn't help but feel cold: the captain was actually the "urging judge" Meng Bochang!

"Is that you?" Meng Bochang's eyes turned red when he saw Yang Hao, and he slapped the book in his hand, Yang Hao turned his head to dodge, but he was surprised in his heart, it was rumored that Meng Bochang was killed by the ghost Wu Kui during the change of nectar, and he didn't expect him to be alive.

"Do you know each other?" The deputy of the team was suddenly startled, and hurriedly drew his knife, only to remember that his knife was lying on the stone table in front of the small courtyard of his house to bask in the sun.

"Nothing, I'll try his skills." Meng Bochang threw five taels of silver to the deputy of the team, "This person is good, I want it." ”

The deputy of the team turned from worry to joy, happily took the money and left. He is the nephew of the general of the defenders of Liyuan Village, a few days ago Meng Bochang took the official document of the Tiande Army to Liyuan Village to recruit soldiers, he told Meng Bochang that he recruited a soldier, Meng Bochang gave him three dollars of silver, and recruited an officer for five taels of silver.

Meng Bochang sneered and reproached Yang Hao: "It's really stupid and fat, Qiu Shiliang and Xiao Qingyi are searching for fish that have slipped through the net, and you dare to swagger away." Yang Hao took out the fish talisman of the Shence Army and threw it on the table: "I am a member of the Shence Army, I am afraid of what they will do." Meng Bochang took the fish talisman and played with it for a while, and threw it back to Yang Hao: "Your great achievements have spread all over the world." He took a deep breath and said in a vicious voice: "If it weren't for the order from the peak, I would have taken your life with an arrow today." ”

Yang Hao smiled bitterly and said, "My life is no longer valuable, you can come and get it at any time if you want." ”

At this moment, Qing'er walked to the front of the reed mat shed and stared at Yang Hao nervously. Meng Bochang glanced at her and asked, "You are that little fish, right?" Qing'er glanced at him coldly, Meng Bochang knew that he had recognized the wrong person, and he felt that it was quite boring, so he said curtly: "You all come with me." ”

Meng Bochang lived in the State Guest House in Liyuan Village, and he did have the recruitment document issued by the Tiande Army, but the real purpose of his trip was to pick up the comrades of the Thorn Horse Battalion who had escaped from Chang'an City in the name of recruitment. There was no one around, and the first thing Yang Hao said was: "I didn't expect you to die." After saying that, he smiled bitterly.

"If I die, who will be here to answer you today?"

"It is rumored in the capital that you let Wu Kui kill in Daming Palace, I have never believed it, if the judges who urged the judgment are dead, won't we be defeated." Yang Hao said with emotion.

"I'm not dead, aren't we just as defeated? Lord Li is dead, Lord Zheng is dead, General Han, the elder Shi ...... Many, many people are dead, but you and I are alive. ”

Yang Hao heard this, and his heart was like a knife, "If time can be turned back, I would rather die than go." Meng Bochang didn't understand what "time" meant, but Yang Hao's remorse could be seen very clearly.

"You have a family involved, so you can be used by them. Even without you, Qiu Shiliang would not let them go. Meng Bochang said lightly.

Yang Hao covered his face and cried, there is finally one person in this world who can understand himself.

"Don't blame yourself, the chief manager has ordered that you will not be held accountable for your faults, and I hope you will behave yourself in the future."

Yang Hao was stunned and asked, "Does the chief manager also know about me?" ”

Meng Bochang didn't answer positively, and Yang Hao laughed at himself: "If the chief manager doesn't know, how can you let me sit here alive?" ”

Meng Bochang's guards brought a few side dishes and a pot of wine. Yang Hao asked, "Did she eat it?" The guard replied, "Madame said that she had a headache and ate in the house, but she came." ”

Meng Bochang snorted: "I can't see that you know how to pity the fragrance and cherish the jade." ”

"Friend of trouble, alas, it was I who caused her to die." Yang Hao sullenly drank a glass of wine.

"It's easy to get drunk when you drink alone." Meng Bochang picked up his wine glass, "I'll drink with you." ”

Meng Bochang was quiet and silent, and after drinking a few glasses of wine, he talked more. Since he met him in Hanguang Palace, Yang Hao has always felt that this person is arrogant and unapproachable, and now it seems that it is not true, there are thousands of people in the world, everyone wears such and such masks, when they don't understand each other, they all feel that each other is cold and unapproachable, and when you really touch it with your heart, you can find that everyone is actually very interesting and has something worth interacting with.

A few days later, Yang Hao and Qing'er came to the Tiande Army with Meng Bochang and the three hundred heroes he recruited.

The territory of the Tiande army was roughly in the area of today's Hetao. The rivers and canals here are vertical and horizontal, the land is fertile, and it has been developed into an important agricultural area in later generations, and is known as the "Saiwai Jiangnan". In the early years of the founding of the Tang Dynasty, the Beiting Protectorate was set up here, and then with the growing strength of the country, the Beiting Protectorate gradually moved north, and it became the inland under the jurisdiction of Kannai Province. After entering the late Tang Dynasty, the national strength declined, and this place became an important place again.

Meng Bochang was seriously injured and was secretly sent out of Chang'an by the Thorn Horse Battalion to the Tiande Army to recuperate, and Meng Chu, the deputy envoy of the Tiande Army, was the half-brother of Meng Bochang's father Meng Liang, who had been guarding the border for many years, and was nominally the deputy envoy of the Tiande Army, but in fact, the power of the Tiande Army was greater than that of Wang Qian. He occupied the richest three prefectures of Yongfeng, Fengzhou, and Feng'an in the Hetao region, and had more than 10,000 troops, while Jiedu made Wang Qian only occupy a few small towns east of Muna Mountain and north of the Yellow River, with less than 10,000 troops.

Meng Bochang led Yang Hao to see Meng Chu, Meng Chu had a good impression of Yang Hao, so he said: "I heard a few months ago that you were going to come to serve as a soldier and horse envoy, and then there was a change that I couldn't come for the time being, so I gave the position of the soldier and horse envoy to someone else. Now I have to wronged you to go to Yongfeng to make a long history, and lead the commander of the patrol battalion in Hengsai Town. In a year and a half, I'll transfer it to you again. Yang Hao thanked Meng Chu, stayed at Meng Bochang's place for one night, and then took Qing'er to Yongfeng to take office.

Yongfeng is a large city with a population of more than 50,000, the city is very strong, and it is surrounded by fertile fields, which has always been regarded by Meng Chu as his base. Yongfeng Assassin Shi Meng Wei is Meng Chu's sibling, and his temper is very short-tempered, and he drove away thirteen long histories in the five years he served as the assassin. Yang Hao felt that this person was very difficult to get along with when he saw him, so he used the excuse of inspecting the military affairs of Hengsai Town, and after he went, he stayed and refused to return to Yongfeng City.

Changshi is famous as the state and county Shangzuo, the deputy of the assassin history, but he has no specific position, and many times he is an idle official. Yang Hao refused to return to the city, but Meng Wei didn't mind at all, but praised Yang Hao in public for being clever and sensible. He was so happy that he simply transferred Qin Zhong, the deputy commander of the patrol of Hengsai Town, who was in charge of military affairs, and his nephew Qin Zhong, back to Yongfeng.

There is only one street running east-west in Hengsai Town, with two or three hundred households, and there are earthen walls on the east, west, and north sides, and a ditch dug in the south, which has been in disrepair for a long time and has almost been silted up. Although Qin Zhong was born in Biansai Jiangmen, he was an authentic young master soldier, who served as the deputy envoy of the city patrol camp for three years, and was busy hunting and cockfighting all day long, and slipped back to his home in Yongfeng City whenever he was free. He couldn't tell how many of his men there were until he left.

Knowing that Yang Hao intended to stay and lead the army, Qin Zhongle's heart was full of joy, and he sent someone home overnight to ask his mother to ask Meng Wei to intercede and return to the city. Yang Hao saw that the house where Qin Zhong lived was very spacious, but the office of the city patrol camp was very small and dilapidated, so he dropped the two. I found a few masons to repair the original office a little, and then moved in with Qing'er.

Qin Zhong originally had four long-term entourages and two cooks by his side, and when he returned to the city, all four of them were taken away, and all the cooks were left behind by Yang Hao.

Yang Hao originally wanted to leave one person to cook and clean up the house, so he sent the other to the camp to cook for the soldiers. Qing'er didn't agree, so Yang Hao sent the two people to the barracks.

Hengsai Town is seventy miles southwest of Yongfeng, but the defense area covers the entire northwest area of Yongfeng, the northwest is adjacent to the Yellow River, outside the Yellow River is the central territory of the Uighur forest belonging to the Tang Dynasty, the central part of the forest was originally scattered in the north and south of Yinshan, and then because of the invasion and infestation of other tribes, the tribe moved to the south of Yinshan.

In the early days of the Tang Dynasty, there were less than 10,000 people in the middle of the forest, and every year they sent envoys to Chang'an City to pay tribute, and the Tang Dynasty also gave a generous return, not only to allocate the thousands of miles of ranch south of Yinshan to the Ministry of use, but also to send troops to guard the east and west wings of Yinshan. Prevent the invasion of other tribes such as Murowei.

With the support of the Tang Dynasty, the vitality of the central part of the forest recovered rapidly, and there were more than 100,000 people in the ninth year of the Great Harmony, not only gradually recovering the lost land west of Yinshan Mountain and east of Wolf Mountain, but also out of Muna Mountain in the east, seizing some prefectures and counties that originally belonged to Datang, and gradually coveting Yongfeng, Fengzhou, Feng'an and other places in the Hetao. There is constant friction on the border.

In the autumn of the second year of Yamato, the Tiande army made Xue Cheng lead an army of 20,000 to defeat the invasion of the Hetao region in the middle of Lin, and the central part of Lin then sent envoys to Chang'an to pay tribute, reiterating the intention of the vassals to return. In the following years, there was no more war on the border, but after Xue Cheng died of illness in the seventh year of Dahe, the heart of the central forest to invade the Hetao rose again.

After Wang Qian took over as the envoy of Jiedu, he sent the famous general Mu Ling to lead an army of 10,000 people out of Muna Mountain to attack the hinterland of the central forest, intending to expel the central part of the forest from the south of Yinshan once and for all. In the battle of the Kanu River at the southern foot of Yinshan, Mu Ling skillfully set up an ambush and killed the Khan Wuliqiha in the middle of the forest in one fell swoop, and the remnants of the central forest were defeated in the hinterland of Yinshan.

After that, Wang Qian was busy fighting with Meng Chu for power and profit, and he had no time to go north. The middle of the forest gradually revived, and gradually became a tail.