Fox hunting is at its best. Usually in September. When the autumn weather was crisp, the grass was long and the leaves were yellow, and in the vast fields, the hunters would release the falcons in the sky, and when the falcons flew, even the most cunning foxes thought that there was a delicacy on the ground, and they came out of the burrows where they were hiding and ran to the imaginary food, but they did not know that they had become a gift from the hunters—as long as one fox appeared, countless goshawks would fly, and as long as there were eagles flying, the fox would die. This is probably the origin of the "September Eagle Flight".

September is the season when hare meat is fat and delicious, and it is also the season when foxes forage for food; September is the season when the eagle flutters its wings and flies high, and it is also the season for hunters to hunt; All living beings will do their best to move forward bravely in this crisp autumn season, just to prepare more rations before winter. So in this battle of life and death, who is the fox and who is the real eagle?

The eagle soared in the sky, the war horse roared, and Yang Hao's army assembled. It's waiting to go east.

"Send you thousands of miles, there will be a farewell, you don't have to send it far, when Ganzhou is pacified, Yang will still find an opportunity to tour Dunhuang westward, and when the time comes, you will also be invited to the east."

Yang Hao laughed and hugged his fists on the horse, although he was carrying a bow and sword at this time, he was dressed in a green coat with arrow sleeves, wearing a sable hat, and he didn't look like a general who was leading the army and was about to set foot in Ganzhou, but he wanted a young man who drove horses and led the eagle to hunt foxes.

"We congratulate the generalissimo on going to Ganzhou, a victory, and success!"

The eight major families of Shazhou, local officials, gentry and celebrities, as well as the Hao chieftains and local officials of Tubo, Huifu, Tuyuhun and Han ethnic villages who belonged to Yang Hao, all stood on their horses and hugged their fists to bless him.

Behind Yang Hao, there is a growing army, including Xiazhou soldiers, Liangzhou soldiers, Suzhou soldiers, Guiyi army, as well as newly recruited Roman legions, Tuyuhun legions, etc., in addition to a large number of Shagua Shilin famous residences, important figures of the eldest family lineage of major families, they are going to accompany Yang Hao to Xiazhou as officials, and the other identity of these people is hostage, which is a form of loyalty to Yang Hao sent by major families to important figures of the family as hostages.

Although these family leaders and local chieftains are located in the Western Regions and have a rough temperament, they can be the head of one section, and their scheming and wisdom are naturally superhuman. Yang Hao traveled all the way from Liangzhou to the west, and truly achieved that those who follow me prosper, and those who oppose me die.

Whoever is willing to belong to the forces of all parties, who is willing to fight for it, can obtain far more benefits than others, Shazhou Zhang is now in the military and political circles, and has truly become the first family in Shazhou again, only subservient to Yang Hao, even stationed in Yangguan and Yumen Pass, holding 30,000 jīng soldiers, such a Yang Hao's most trusted general can only be on an equal footing with the Zhang family.

This time, with great courage, he made an expedition to Khotan, which not only showed his strong military strength and self-confidence in front of the people of Hexi Prefectures and the countries of the Western Regions, but also made the source of Hexi chaos empty of firewood, but he used a dignified and upright method, killing two birds with one stone, and eliminating a trace of potential worries when withdrawing troops and returning to the east by means of strengthening the morale of our army.

Such a combination of leniency and fierceness, rigidity and softness, shows that the handsome man controls the means of governance, which was previously in his specific use and appointment of the eight major families. For these great heroes of the Western Regions, a reckless man who commands a million soldiers is not enough to fear, and such a leader who is well versed in politics, scheming, and has a million armor soldiers in his chest is even more awe-inspiring.

These heroes of one side saw all this in their eyes, and in their hearts, their awe and reverence for Yang Hao also increased. This time to Ganzhou, they believe that Ganzhou is bound to lose, as the most powerful force in the Hexi Corridor, Yeluosu has accumulated a lot of savings over the years, after this battle, Yang Hao will gain more strength, and those spoils: countless gold, silver, jade, slaves, cattle and sheep, horses, ......, as Yang Hao's subordinates, they can also get a piece of the pie, how can there be no reason not to enthusiastically support?

Yang Hao was riding his horse away, and suddenly a few fast horses galloped in the direction of Shazhou, Yang Hao, who was leading the army away, and the Shazhou gentry who were sent here all looked there, and the horses gradually got closer, and the person in front of him looked at his official robe, just a state official from the seventh grade, and the people on several horses behind him were all dressed as soap officials, and officials of such a grade were not qualified to send Yang Hao, and everyone couldn't help whispering.

After a while, those people had arrived in front of the army, and Yang Hao raised his hand. Stopping the guards, the horses were able to drive straight in, until Yang Hao approached, and then turned over and dismounted.

The official who had just dismounted was in his early thirties, with two beards, and some unrestrained smiles, but he seemed to be a little calm and sophisticated, but he just rushed into the captain's honor guard like this, but he couldn't see where he was calm. The head of the Yan family looked at it, who had to be a nephew of his own, named Yan Su, who was now serving as a recorder in the state capital to join the army, and couldn't help but sink his face and reprimanded: "Yan Su, in front of the captain, you dare to drive straight in, you are so bold." ”

As soon as Yan Su looked up, he couldn't help but be a little stunned and had the heart to explain, but Yang Hao was in front of him, how could he leave the chief official to answer his own master's reason, and he was at a loss. Yang Hao has smiled and said: "Hmm, it turned out to be Yan Senjun, hehe, Mr. Yan doesn't have to blame, Yan Senjun is here, presumably there is urgent official business." ”

Yan Su breathed a sigh of relief, hurriedly abandoned the reins of the horse, and stepped forward to pay respects: "The manager of Shazhou joined the army Yan Su and met the captain. ”

Yang Hao nodded immediately: "What's the matter, you can say it." ”

Yan Su hurriedly said: "Taiwei, the assassination of the envoy of Khotan. already has an eyebrow, the matter involves the envoys of other countries, and the stakes are important, and the subordinates dare not rush to report it. ”

Yang Hao's eyes narrowed slightly, and asked, "Tell me in detail." ”

"Yes, since the assassination of the Khotanese envoy, the state government has blocked the 'Poplar Pavilion', where the incident occurred, and has been looking for traces, searching for the murderer, and not daring to slack off. Today, there are a few Hu merchants in the poplar hall who drank and talked, talking about the belongings of the envoys who were captured in Khotan, and they fought because of the uneven distribution of dirt, and the shopkeeper of the poplar inn heard it on the side, and hurriedly went to the government to report, and the officials were interrogated and several people have been arrested, and from their residences they searched out of the belongings of the Khotanese envoys.

Several Hu merchants have already confessed that they heard that the envoys of Khotan begged for help from our Shazhou, so they lived next door to them, and they expected that the envoys would bring heavy treasures when they asked for help, so they had evil intentions and entered the residence of the Khotanese envoys at night, killing people and taking money. There are several treasures such as the shopkeeper and Xiao Er of the Poplar Pavilion and the treasures found from several murderers' rooms. ”

Yang Hao listened and looked at Zhang Yu, the assassin of Shazhou, and said: "Lord Zhang, the commander is about to go out, and the three armies will go, so I can't go back." After the manager joins the army to verify clearly, the judicial army will judge the case in accordance with the law, and the whole process will be supervised by Mr. Zhang, so the case involves Khotanese envoys, and it must be tried clearly and clearly, so that Fang Hao has an explanation for Khotan, and he must not be careless. ”

After Yang Hao became the ruler of Shazhou, he had changed the judicial system of Shazhou that followed the Tang law. On the basis of Song Law, he added some of his own ideas to improve, the manager joined the army to hear cases, the judiciary joined the army to judge cases and sentences, plus the two internal audit and review systems of the Department and the Division, and made the best use of the original official office setting, to a certain extent, to achieve the separation of classical trial power, judgment power and procuratorial power, and the three together with the arrest power of the inspection department constitute the state government judicial system.

Hearing this, Zhang Yu hurriedly responded: "The lower officials obey the order, and they must be cautious about this case." ”

Yang Hao smiled faintly, glanced lightly in the direction of Shazhou, and said secretly in his heart: "Talib, have you finally given in?" ”

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The night is dark and the wind is high, and there is a faint wolf howl on the grassland, and everything seems very quiet.

And on the east and west roads leading to Ganzhou, the two armies were marching in a hurry at night.

In order to prevent Ganzhou Hui from fleeing after receiving the news of Jǐng, two teams, one east and one west, attacked Ganzhou from Suzhou and Liangzhou at the same time.

Fifty miles from the city, the military order was issued in secret, and the three armies quietly stopped and began to set up camp, and they wanted to appear before the enemy in the best condition and with the most vigorous fighting spirit. When dawn came, the Ganzhou Hui Hui suddenly found that they had been on all sides and had enemies on all sides.

Yang Hao's army spread out in all directions, carefully combed all the surrounding sand dunes, caves, river valleys, and grasslands, and began to set up camp.

The big tent of the Chinese army was quickly set up, and the trenches outside the camp were dug at the same time, and the antlers, traps, and horse repelling guns were densely arranged, forming a city outside the city outside the city outside Ganzhou in an instant. Although it was late at night, Yang Hao's Chinese army tent was busy, and the progress of the resettlement of each battalion, the contact information with Tang Yanyan's eastern legion from the east, and the instructions and establishment of the generals of each battalion all required Yang Hao's orders.

When all this stopped, the figures of the soldiers and horses in the camp in a hurry gradually thinned out, and Yang Haocai and his clothes lay on the marching couch. Late at night, under the guard of the guards, there was the silence around his Chinese tent, but he lay on the couch, but he was not a little tired. After being busy for a long time, people rested, but their minds were still like a marquee, and many thoughts came rushing to them.

So far, the whole process of unifying Hexi has been very smooth, and the difficulties and resistance he has suffered are far less than those of his predecessor Lee Kuan Rui. In particular, he made good use of the power of the forces he subdued, so that they could be used quickly for himself. In the process, he used the means of war to quickly transform the newly submissive power into subordinate force, and also ensured that his power was not weakened by successive wars, but on the contrary, it snowballed more and more.

It is impractical for Yang Hao to rely solely on the core strength of his own race, and it is also impractical for a country like the Song State that is basically unified. The current Song State also needs a lot of time to digest and integrate the different forces of its own clan and completely integrate them, and this empire will take dozens or even hundreds of years at the earliest.

However, you can't guarantee that your empire will always be bright, nor can you guarantee that your empire will always be on the rise and vigorous expansion, so really after a hundred years of development, after the empire has reached the conditions in terms of sufficient manpower and internal unification, it is very rare that there will be much achievement, the strength of the force, the political clarity, and the vigorous ambition are usually concentrated at the beginning of the founding of the country, when the imperial order is stabilized, a huge ruling machine has been perfected, and the civil and military generals can be hired through the normal model of following the rules. When the people have been completely stabilized, the government and the opposition will form a joint force to restrain the inevitable turmoil caused by external expansion, and the army will be regarded as a reckless army, and the emperor, officials, gentry, and common people have all lost the impetus for this external expansion.

So at the beginning of the rise, it was the best time to expand. And to expand rapidly, then conquer a place, and then use the military and civilians of this place to continue the expedition, this way of sub-expansion has become the best model, it can avoid the defects of the supply of manpower and material resources of the people, and can expand at a very fast speed, the Han, Tang, Arabian, and Mongol empires are the leaders of this expansion strategy, and have also achieved great success from it.

Of course, this style of play is like playing with fire, and the heat must be controlled. There are two issues that must be noted, one is that your core power must ensure sufficient binding force against the forces under control, otherwise you may be at risk of being attacked by the forces you drive. The second is that it cannot expand indefinitely, even if it is a company, rapid and unlimited expansion, its disadvantages far outweigh its benefits, let alone a regime.

Any one of these problems, such as your system of governance, your domination and digestion of conquered territories, and the communication impediments caused by the rapid expansion of your territory, can lead to the collapse of the ruling group you have just built. These reasons are the reasons why Yang Hao is currently locking his sphere of influence within the Yumen Pass, and at the same time trying his best to keep his direct troops from being diluted and weakened.

Yang Hao has done a good job, so he doesn't have to worry about problems in this regard for the time being, what he is really worried about now is the Eastern Front. With Hengshan as the main line of defense, you can concentrate limited forces, rely on the dangerous terrain, and build the most perfect defensive body, and Yang Jiye, a tactician who is good at defending, planting such a strategist, in fact, even if he himself is in Hengshan now, he may not be able to do better than these two people.

But ......, the opponent is the behemoth of the Song State, this is an unprecedented strong enemy he has encountered, and the leading general is Pan Mei, the famous general of the Song State who is the best at attacking, will there be problems on the Eastern Front? Yang Hao was uneasy about this, which was naturally reasonable.

What made it even more difficult for him to decide was, in what capacity would he face Song Guo? He admired the decisiveness and courage of Zheziyu, if Zheziyu had not made a decisive decision and decisively abandoned Fuzhou and retreated to Hengshan with Yang Jiye, then all the Zhejia troops would have been buried in Fuzhou. If Zheziyu hadn't withstood the pressure of a huge internal interest group, and for a daughter's family, the unbearable slander and insult, and 'insisted on going his own way' decided to give up the title of the Zhejia Army, merge the Zhejia Army into the Xiazhou Army, and change the flag, then the Zhejia family would have faced the imperial army under the banner of begging from the Zhejia family and blackmailing the young master of the Zhejia family. On the battlefield, a single opportunity may determine the victory or defeat of the whole army, and if it is in an embarrassing situation, it is conceivable what will happen to the hesitant and indecisive army of the Fold Army.

Changing places, if he is an excerpt of Chongqing, Yang Hao is not sure if he has the courage and courage to make the decision made by Excerpt Ziyu, his xìng grid has always been a little indecisive, even if he now has more than 100,000 troops and becomes a hegemon, in fact, the weakness of this xìng grid has not completely changed, if Zhen Ziyu does not have a birth defect: she is a daughter, Yang Hao believes that she will be more successful than himself.

Yang Hao can imagine how heavy the pressure in her heart should be for a girl who shouldn't have suffered so much responsibility, a little princess with a high heart and arrogance, and a person who values her reputation most as a girl's family. She gave up Fuzhou and handed over the Folded Army, for her, it was not to unload the burden, but to carry more burdens and humiliation.

No matter how strong she is, how long can she hold on?

Ziyu ......

Yang Hao couldn't wait to fly to her side with his wings, and use his strong arms to make the big tree that sheltered her from the wind and rain, but at this time, he showed more enthusiasm for Ziyu, what would Xia Zhoujun think? What will the Folded Family Army think? What will the imperial court say? Could he not care about these voices? Can Ziyu not care about these voices? Even if all this is not a problem, he still can't rush away immediately, he can only be patient and solve the matter in Ganzhou first.

At the same time, there is also the biggest and biggest problem because of this, the problem that he is not mentally prepared for, Ziyu has already reversed, what should he do? To be anti or not to be opposed, how to deal with yourself if you are not anti? How to defend against the enemy? In what name? What identity? Will the various forces he currently controls remain loyal to him when he loses his legitimate status as the generalissimo of Hexi Longyou and becomes an antagonistic enemy with the most powerful empire in the Central Plains?

This heat is a hundred times more complicated than the layers and factors that need to be considered for his own use and snowball expansion, and if he does not do it enough, then in terms of name and righteousness, he will be inferior, and this battle will not be fought with dignity. If the fire is over, he will replace the Liao State and become the number one enemy that the Song State will deal with, will he be able to deal with the endless Great Song army? With the strength of the country, can he handle it?

Although he has now begun to make all kinds of preparations, but it is all a last resort, until the last moment, he can't use it, he can look down on Zhao Guangyi, but he can't ignore the strong strength of the Song State, ignore the Song State's generals.

The more Yang Hao thought about it, the more headache he had, he finally returned from Shazhou, but he was not relaxed at all, what he was about to face now was more thorny problems.

The Liao Congress intervened, right? Just as he will not sit idly by and watch Khotan be destroyed, a politician with strategic vision will also not allow Hexi to fall into the hands of the Song people, Xiao Xuan is not a beauty who is just a golden jade, but ...... How will she do it? On the Shu side, if Xiao Liu and Tietou succeed in seizing the leadership, they should also take action now, right? Will they succeed in wrestling leadership from Cho Dejoo?

Dong'er ......, in the information sent last time, it was said that she had labor pains several times, and she should have given birth now, right? Is the mother and child safe, male or female?

State affairs, family affairs, world affairs, one by one, one by one, Yang Hao is like a pancake in a pot, turning over and over, and it is difficult to sleep.

And the only thing he didn't think about that night was Ganzhou under his nose.

What else is there to think about what is in the bag?

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This night was also a sleepless night for the Ganzhou Hui Khan.

Like a meteor catching the moon, the scout sent shocking news to his palace. On the palace, the lights were bright, all the important people were gathered together, and everyone was frightened.

"How can it be ......, how can it be ......, the news that the two states of Linfu have been attacked will never be fake, how can Yang Hao still be at peace and take my Ganzhou?" Princess Aguli was in a mess, muttering to herself, and her face was bleak. This was the best opportunity to belittle her in front of the Great Khan, but Prince Ali couldn't care about mocking her anymore, he said impatiently: "Father Khan, Yang Hao returned to the division, and the military horses in Liangzhou were also killed. ”

"Let's go? Where to go? ”

Ye Luo's eyes were blank, and he raised his head blankly: "Yang Hao did not hesitate to mobilize two armies to take my Ganzhou, and he was clearly determined to win." He began to set up camp fifty miles away from the city, obviously because he was worried that the army would go straight to the city, and after being discovered by my wanderers, Ben Khan would immediately break through, so that he would not have time to set up camp and set up defenses. In which direction the enemy forces are weak, in the thick of the night, can we find out? ”

Prince Ali said hurriedly: "Father Khan, can we just sit back and wait for death?" ”

He said hurriedly: "Father Khan mistakenly believed the words of the Seventh Princess, and did not take advantage of Yang Hao's withdrawal to escape into the desert, but instead mobilized all the resources of my department to Ganzhou, since Yang Hao has put on this momentum, he will never withdraw his troops easily this time, even if Yang Hao does not send a target to the city, the food in the city will eventually run out and kill himself, not to mention that he has a large army, how can there be a reason not to attack the city?"

If it drags on, we are sitting and waiting in the city, our tribes in the grassland desert have lost their sharp force, and they have lost their cattle and sheep grain and rice, and they will also be swallowed up by the strong clan. Father Khan is the eagle of the desert, the tiger of the grassland, and the hero of the feared tribes of Hexi. ”

Ye Luo's body shook violently, but he didn't speak.

When Princess Aguli heard Prince Ali mention that the Khan had misbelieved her, her face turned pale, and she suddenly took a few steps forward, knelt down on one knee in front of the throne of the Nightfall, held the sword at her waist, and said in a deep voice: "Great Khan, Prince Ali is right, we have to go." Fight, there is still a glimmer of life, if you don't fight, you just sit still. ”

The first time Prince Ali saw Princess Aguli agreeing with him, he couldn't help but be stunned.

Princess Aguli said: "Great Khan, Aguli is willing to lead my tribesmen and warriors as pioneers, even if the whole army is wiped out, he will open a bloody road to cover the Khan's breakthrough." Great Khan, please join Prince Ali in battle, and rush to the southern city by Agul, and the Great Khan ......"

When Prince Ali heard this, he hurriedly interrupted her and said, "Chong Nancheng? How did Chongnan City come to be? Where are we going? Great Khan, we should rush to the northern city, break through the enemy siege, and rush to the Badain Jarin Desert, where the territory is vast and there are many of our tribes, it is absolutely difficult for Yang Hao to use his superior forces to gather and annihilate us. ”

"Prince Ali, it was indeed my fault and my fault before, and I am willing to bear it with all my might."

Prince Aguli's face was gloomy and pale as paper, but his expression was very resolute, and his tone was surprisingly calm: "However, it may have been possible to go north to Badain Jarin before, but now it is not feasible. Because ......, the grain and grass of our people have been gathered in the city of Ganzhou as much as possible, and the light cavalry has broken through, and it is absolutely impossible to bring so much grain and grass, so many people and horses, to eat and drink, once we reach the desert, our tribe cannot support it, this winter, most of our people will freeze and starve to death on the desert Gobi......"

Most of the tribes on the desert are Prince Ali's subordinates, and when he heard Princess Aguli say, Prince Ali's face gradually turned and distorted, and he said fiercely: "So, where can you go if you break through to the south?" ”

Aguli said quietly: "Yang Hao is coming from the west, the Liangzhou army is coming from the east, they have just set up camp, the troops should not have time to be arranged, their main force must be on the east and west lines, the north is a dead end, you can't go, then you can only go south." To the south, there is the Qilian Mountains, and over the Qilian Mountains, it is my ......."

Prince Ali exclaimed, "Are you crazy? Over the Qilian Mountains? There are so many of us, if we cross the Qilian Mountain, how many people will die? What else can be left? Even horses, I'm afraid there are not a few left, the men on the grassland, once we lose the war horse, we will lose all our belongings, what can we do when we cross the Qilian Mountain? ”

Aguli waited for him to finish roaring before continuing: "The Great Khan is the surname of the Nine Great Kings of Hui, and his status is noble. Over the Qilian Mountain, is the place of Longyou, Longyou is now in the hands of the Tubo people, but the area west of Qinghai Lake, scattered a large number of my Hui people, they are actually if they work together, not weaker than the Tubo people, but unfortunately...... They are a noble king, one hundred and ten accounts, thousands of accounts for one, like a plate of loose sand, repeatedly bullied by the Tubo people, if the Great Khan to Longyou, with the noble king's bloodline, can unify the Hui tribes. At that time, with the Qilian Mountains blocking the iron cavalry of the Xiazhou army, and the Tubo people in the east to contain the Song people's force, the Great Khan could actively accumulate strength west of Qinghai Lake and make a comeback. ”

"Crazy, it's really crazy, Father Khan, even if it is very hard in the desert, but we still have a chance to recover, abandon everything and cross the Qilian Mountain, we will completely decline, abandon the clansmen here, will the same clan of Longyou trust and rely on Father Khan? Father Khan, this woman is clever in her own right, and you must not ......"

Aguli said loudly, "Great Khan, this is the only chance. Agul will take my clan and escort the Great Khan out at all costs, and at this moment, he can't hesitate any longer. Great Khan ......"

Ye Luosu said angrily: "Before, I misbelieved you, this time, do you still want to believe you?" ”

These words were exactly what he spoke to Prince Ali last time, but this time, it was given to Aguli word for word, Prince Ali felt a burst of happiness in his heart, but Princess Aguli was face was snow-white, and her eyes showed a sad look, she slowly pulled out the snow-bright scimitar, and said desperately: "Everything is Aguli's fault, Ganzhou has fallen into today's situation, Aguli is dead and cannot be redeemed, Great Khan, please kill me, take your own people!" ”

Aguli's clan occupies a considerable amount of power in the Ganzhou headquarters, and it is estimated that the tribes of Guhun and Dongluoge and Aguli have always advanced and retreated together, so this kind of moment should not chill her heart. When Ye Luosu saw her bleak face, she hurriedly changed her tone and said bitterly: "Aguli, I'm not blaming you, I'm actually ...... I'm blaming myself. Alas, no matter what you suggest, the final decision is, after all, me, the khan, and you, a woman, who have become my princess, should have been clothed and fed, enjoyed the glory, and received my favor and protection. But...... But you have to worry about me, charge for me, and I ...... I have not fulfilled the responsibilities of a great sweat, let alone a man. ”

Agul burst into tears, fell to the ground and wept: "Great Khan! ”

Ye Luosu got up and walked down the throne, gently helped her up with both hands, and said affectionately: "Over the years, living in this Ganzhou City, brocade clothes and jade food, silk and bamboo Yale, mellow wine and beauty, wind and frost are not invaded, on my hands, the hard cocoon that was sharpened by the sword has disappeared, and the legs of the wild horse that can hold the strongest xìng Zi are also full of fat, my heart, my ambition, have been consumed......"

He held Aguli's arm, slowly looked at the chiefs of the various tribes in the hall, and his eyebrows regained a heroic spirit: "Today, I am in the night, and I want to be the Great Khan of the Hui that you trust and support again, I want to defend my people and revive the prestige of my Ganzhou Hui. Yang Hao child, why be afraid, the tiger is not powerful, you and I are a sick cat! ”

He took the incomparably sharp scimitar from Agul's hand, held it high in his hand, and said in a loud voice: "All the departments will go back at once and prepare, regardless of men, women, old and young, but those who can control the strings and ride horses, all of them are clothed and at my disposal, and when the first ray of dawn appears at the end of the world, I will lead you to fight a new world!" ”