The scholar squinted at him for a long time, then slowly let go of the child and gently pushed him forward. The big man was startled, and he was about to shout, but the young man who had woken up pulled his sleeve and shook his head with a look of pain.

Although the child was shocked, he staggered forward two steps, his body was still a little trembling, but he insisted on not falling, he looked at Liu Xiu, and then at the scholar, and seemed to have some doubts about whether he was safe.

"We don't have a way to survive anyway, so I'll trust you for the time being." The scholar gritted his teeth and said: "People are doing it, the sky is watching, if you break your oath, I will be a lonely ghost and I will not let you go." ”

Liu Xiu nodded: "I, a native of Zhuo County, Zhuo County, surnamed Liu Mingxiu, and my name is Deran." ”

The scholar's tense body gradually relaxed: "Yingchuan Linghao, the words are flat." ”

The young man helped the big man to stand up, puffed up his chest hard, and said in a dumb voice: "Runan Li Jun, the word Yifeng." ”

Liu Xiuyi saw the salute one by one, and looked at the big man again, the big man was a little cramped, and licked his chapped lips, "Changsha Zhou Ming, the word ...... The word Yongda. He glanced at the scholar, the corners of his mouth grinned, and he didn't know whether to cry or laugh: "Brother Ling helped with it." ”

Liu Xiu smiled, squatted down, and wiped the tears from the child's face: "Can you go?" ”

The child gradually stopped sobbing and nodded vigorously: "Yes." ”

"Alright, let's get out." Liu Xiu took his hand, opened the door, and walked out slowly. As soon as the people outside the door heard the door, they all became nervous and tensed up, and even Xu Yu and Zhang Fei showed worried looks on their faces. When they saw Liu Xiu walking out with the unharmed child, they breathed a sigh of relief and couldn't help laughing.

"Bring these three back to the Pingle Pavilion." Liu Xiu said to Xu Yu, who came forward, "They are all members of my Northern Army now, they are my personal guard battalion, and they are also your subordinates, you have to train them well." ”

Xu Yu was stunned for a moment, then felt relieved, exchanged glances with Li Yifeng, and touched him with his shoulder. Li Yifeng smiled embarrassedly, and Zhou Ming opened his mouth, ready to come up and make a noise with Xu Yu, but when he saw the soldiers around him like a great enemy, he held back again. Ling Hao reverted to his dead appearance, as if someone owed him a large sum of money, and no one could ignore him.

"Join the Northern Army?" Yang Biao was very dissatisfied, "This is a criminal." ”

"It's criminals, but they have merit." Liu Xiu attached to Yang Biao's ear and said: "I once asked the Son of Heaven to join forces with you to clear the Huiren family in Luoyang, these three people are all members of the Huiren family, you won't let go of this opportunity." ”

Yang Biao suddenly became energetic. The Huiren House specializes in arranging killers and other outlaws for people, relying on the support of the powerful behind them, collecting money from people and doing some illegal things. Because the backers behind them are too strong, and they have a lot of swordsmen and rangers with strong martial arts, ordinary people don't dare to move, and they can't move them, even Yang Qiu, who is known as a cool official, once wanted to clean them up, but then he couldn't do it. Yang Biao is most disgusted with these people who violate the ban by force, and at the beginning of his tenure, he asked the edict to clear and suppress it, but he has never found a suitable opportunity, and now Liu Xiu has the permission of the edict and is willing to help, of course he can't ask for it.

"When will you do it?"

"Sooner rather than later, the sooner the better." Liu Xiu clenched his fists: "Do you have enough manpower?" If it is not enough, you immediately enter the palace and ask for an edict, and transfer all the infantry battalions of the Northern Army to listen to it. ”

Yang Biao pondered for a moment: "The more people, the better, if you can transfer the shooting battalion as well, it would be even better." ”

Liu Xiu smiled slightly, "Then why don't you go quickly?" ”

Yang Biao understood, said goodbye to Qiao Xuan, and left in a hurry with people.

Although Qiao Xuan had the determination to sacrifice his son to catch the robbers, he was still a little excited when his son reappeared in front of him alive, but he refused to show his weakness in front of a group of juniors. He repelled the ladies and daughters who were crying with their sons, and drove them all to the inner room, and then received Liu Xiu and the others in the hall.

"There is Lao Liu Lang." Qiao Xuan thanked Liu Xiu for his grateful, and frightened Liu Xiu into hurriedly avoiding it, but Qiao Xuan's next words were not so good. "It's not a good idea for you to recruit these annihilations into the Northern Army."

Liu Xiu did not hide it, and there were many rich and noble soldiers in the Northern Army, except for making trouble in Luoyang, I am afraid that if I really went to the battlefield, I may not be able to fight. Although it is not the best policy to recruit these people who have done evil into the Northern Army, for the time being, most of these people are brave and good at fighting, and if they can be trained well, it is not a good thing to give them a chance to serve the country.

Although Qiao Xuan was a little dissatisfied, after listening to Liu Xiu's explanation, he was still able to accept it. He sighed: "Emperor Guangwu withdrew the southern army, leaving only the northern army, but the scale of the northern army is getting smaller and smaller, and now it is not as good as the southern army, let alone the levy." At the beginning, the county soldiers were abolished in order to save military spending, and the original intention was good, but now there are no soldiers available, but the root is still at that time. ”

Yuan Shao coughed and reminded: "What Gong Qiao said is extremely true, but it is better to be cautious when it comes to Emperor Guangwu." ”

Qiao Xuan disagreed: "Originally, you have never been to Northern Xinjiang, and you don't know the difficulties of insufficient troops. Today's northern Xinjiang can only rely on the Huns and Wuhuan people to defend the border, which is not a good thing. ”

Yuan Shao shook his head, his tone was very respectful, but his words were very resolute: "My Han was born between the acres of fields, long in farming, not used to riding and shooting, Huns, Wuhuan, born in the frontier, long on horseback, born as a warrior, use them to defend the border for me, do not need my Han people to fight far away, do not mistakenly cultivate, save far more military expenses than the property given to them every year, it is beneficial to the country and the people, why not?" ”

Qiao Xuan sneered, didn't answer his words again, turned his head and said to Liu Xiu: "I heard that you participated in the Battle of Ningcheng when you were in Ningcheng, and you also wrote a book of "Donghu Zhi"? ”

Liu Xiu is very strange, "Dong Hu Zhi" was not printed, not many people know about it, how can Qiao Xuan also know. He glanced at Cao Xuan, Cao Ying smiled slightly, Liu Xiu understood, he must have told Qiao Xuan. He hurriedly said a few modest words: "That was done by my senior brother, and I just played some role in it." ”

"Lu Zigan's son is a talent, but if he wants to say that he will write "Donghu Zhi", the old man doesn't believe it." Qiao Xuan smiled, looked at Liu Xiu with satisfaction, and then turned back to look at Cao Ying: "No wonder Meng De looks down on you, you are compatible." ”

"That's Brother Mengde's love."

"However, although you have some talents, you are still young after all, and you have not been trained by the county. Your Majesty suddenly handed over the Northern Army to you to take charge, which is very inappropriate in the eyes of the old man. The Northern Army is the forbidden army of the Son of Heaven, guarding the safety of the Beijing Division, but it can't be careless. Your introduction of criminals into the Northern Army is tantamount to drinking water to quench your thirst in the eyes of the old man. The people around the Son of Heaven should be knowledgeable and courteous, loyal and patriotic, let those frivolous and incompetent people join the Northern Army, and if something happens in the future, can you afford it? ”

Qiao Xuan's head and face were taught a lesson, and he didn't treat Liu Xiu as a benefactor at all. Although Liu Xiu felt that this old man was really unreasonable, some of the questions Qiao Xuan said still made him vigilant. Qiao Xuan said that he had too little experience, which is indeed true. He had only fought a few battles in Ningcheng, and he was still a charging warrior, not a commander. Now he has suddenly become the chief officer of the Northern Army, although they are all military, in fact, they are completely two concepts, and the mistakes made in the matter of the fifth lieutenant are proof.

According to his surname, he patiently listened to Qiao Xuan's criticism, and lost no time in asking Qiao Xuan how to solve it. Although Qiao Xuan is not a standard soldier, he has worked hard for more than 40 years in his career, and has been a general of Duliao for several years, and has a considerable right to speak in secular favors and military affairs, some things are very tricky in Liu Xiu's opinion, but they are very simple in his opinion, and some things are very simple in Liu Xiu's opinion, but after his explanation, Liu Xiu knew that it was not as simple as he imagined.

What Qiao Xuan said may not be all right, but he has no reservations, he will say whatever he wants, and he can't wait to stuff everything he knows into Liu Xiu's head, which makes Liu Xiu very impressed. Compared to those who have to keep everything in their hands, this old man is so cute.

Yuan Shao sat aside and listened, although he didn't dare to agree with Qiao Xuan's point of view, but the purpose of his coming was to ask Qiao Xuan for advice, since Qiao Xuan took the initiative to talk about it, he was naturally happy to see it.

Qiao Xuan met Junjie in a group of young people, and they talked very happily, plus Liu Xiu saved his youngest son again, no matter what, he had to say that he would leave Liu Xiu and the others for dinner at the moment. After the banquet, Yuan Shao and He Hao and others left satisfied, Liu Xiu and Cao Ying walked together, he explained to Cao Ying today's intention, Cao Ying frowned after hearing it.

"From the martial arts?"

Liu Xiu was very surprised, if Jia Xu expressed disdain for martial arts was forgivable-after all, he was only a strategist, not a general--but how could Cao Ying also have this idea? He was the later Emperor Wu of Wei, who succeeded by conquering the south and the north, and now he is also very interested in the art of war, far more than his half-hung Confucianism.

Cao Ying saw that his expression was wrong, and thought he was angry, so he hurriedly explained. It is easy for the scholars of the Han Dynasty to enter the military from the text, first of all, the county order, the county magistrate, or the Taishou, they can all lead troops, and the other name of the Taishou is the county general. It's not strange that you want to be a full-time general, like Li Ying and Qiao Xuan, they are all civilian generals, and they are doing very well. But they are first and foremost civil officials, not pure martial arts, and martial artists can also be engaged in civilian officials, but it is relatively difficult, because governing the people is more complicated than governing the army, and people who are used to war often do not know how to deal with those people and local powers. The enemy is a wolf, which can be driven and killed, and the people are sheep, and there are some dogs mixed in with it, you have to take care of it, but you can't simply kill to solve the problem.

More importantly, if you step into the ranks of martial artists at the beginning of your career and label yourself as a martial artist, this will be very detrimental to the future. Mr. Duan has made great achievements, but what is the result, do you think it is really because he is attached to Wang Fu? No, it's because he is a martial artist, he wants to attach himself to the family, but the family is unwilling to deal with him, he can only rely on the eunuchs. If it weren't for the Son of Heaven's intention to go north this time, keep him as a famous general, and deliberately protect him, I'm afraid his head would have been hung on the head of the city a long time ago.

Liu Xiu was shocked, he always thought that the separation of civil and military affairs only started in the Song Dynasty, but now it seems that the Han Dynasty has been very serious. The status of the warriors is significantly lower than that of the literati, who can encroach on the territory of the warriors, but it is difficult for the warriors to enter the realm of the literati.

From this point of view, Lu Zhi's hesitation to let himself worship Duan Cheng as a teacher was very necessary, and he was finally able to let himself worship Duan Cheng as a teacher to learn the art of war, which was also very rare and open-minded.

"So, you're not interested?" Liu Xiu was a little stunned.

Cao Ying was a little embarrassed, and thought for a while before saying, "Let me think about it?" ”

"You have a choice." Liu Xiu saw that he was reluctant and didn't want to force him, so he pointed to Cao Hong and the others who were following behind him: "Is it okay to lend me someone?" ”

Cao Yingzhi frowned, and was embarrassed to refuse directly, and had a toothache for a long time: "Let me ask?" ”

"Of course." Liu Xiu smiled, and without waiting for Cao Ying to breathe a sigh of relief, he beckoned, called the inexplicable Cao Hong and others to the car, lay on the car and explained the situation, and finally asked casually: "Is there anyone willing to go to the Northern Army to be a military marquis, Sima or something like Miaocai?" ”

Cao Hong's eyes were a little hesitant, and he turned around and glanced at Xiahoudun, who looked calm, but turned his gaze to Cao Ying. After hesitating for a while, Cao Hong looked at the silent Cao Ying embarrassedly.

Liu Xiu turned his head and looked at Cao Ying with a smile: "I think Zilian is good." ”

Cao Ying looked at Liu Xiu with some surprise: "Zilian? ”

Liu Xiu nodded.

Cao Ying smiled dumbly. Cao Hong has martial arts, but his martial arts are not outstanding, not to mention that there are many people with high martial arts around Liu Xiu, I don't think it will be because of his martial arts. Cao Hong also knew a little about the art of war, but his interest in the art of war was far less intense than that of counting money: Cao Hong was a money lover like his uncle Cao Ding. Liu Xiu is really short of people, and those who come will not refuse. Cao Ying laughed secretly and nodded quietly: "Zilian, De Ran has taken a fancy to you, will you follow him into the Northern Army?" ”

Cao Hong nodded again and again, and said with some embarrassment: "Since my brother said so, then I might as well obey my fate with respect." ”

Cao Ying couldn't help but smile and encouraged: "Follow Deran and work hard, and you will definitely be able to have a smooth career in the future." ”

Liu Xiu pursed his lips, and said in his heart, you, Cao Apu, are playing yin with Lao Tzu, okay, I won't be able to make you cry when the time comes. Cao Hong's reputation in the future is not small, but he is not famous for his use of soldiers among the Cao clan and the Xiahou clan, it is obvious that you think he is not very useful, so you don't take it seriously before giving it to me. However, people always have strengths, and whether they can be brilliant depends on whether the person is talented on the one hand, and on the other hand, it also depends on whether they are used correctly.

Liu Xiu remained silent, and said to Cao Hong with a smile: "Okay, it's decided, pack your luggage tomorrow and report to Pingle Hall." ”

Cao Hong nodded again and again.

After walking a short distance, Liu Xiu met Jian Shuo, who was surrounded by a dozen tigers and galloped in a hurry. Jian Shuo saw Liu Xiu and Cao Ying walking in the same car, his face was not very good, he parked the carriage on the side of the road, and asked a tiger Benlang to invite Liu Xiu over. Cao Ying is also reluctant to see Jian Shuo, he first entered the official career, in order to seek fame, he killed Jian Shuo's uncle Jian Tu, this feud is not so easy to solve.

"Deran, you are busy first, I still have some business, I will look for you when I am done." Cao Ying arched his hand and walked away.

Liu Xiu was not reluctant, and rushed to Jian Shuo's car, Jian Shuo changed his smile at this time: "Lord Liu, the Son of Heaven has an edict to dispatch the Northern Army to assist Lord Yang in encircling and suppressing Luoyang's Huiren family." ”

Liu Xiu was overjoyed, jumped on the horse, and was about to gallop away, when Jian Shuo shouted urgently: "Slow down, wait for me." ”

Liu Xiu turned his head in surprise: "After you passed the edict, if you don't go back to the palace, what are you doing with me?" ”

"The Son of Heaven asked me to see and see how you use soldiers." Jian Shuo's big white face smiled like a flower.

Liu Xiu's eyes rolled and he understood what the Son of Heaven meant: This is to send me a prison army. He had already expected this, and no matter how much the Son of Heaven trusted him, it would be impossible for him to hand over the Northern Army to him without reservation, especially when he had to spend a lot of financial and material resources to rebuild the Northern Army. He nodded, motioned for Jian Shuo to follow, and went straight to the Captain's Mansion.

Yang Biao was already ready, He Jin and Zhou Yi also put on military uniforms, and followed him on standby, but their faces were not very good, and they moved the armor on their bodies from time to time, probably because they were used to wearing clothes with wide clothes and large sleeves, and they were not used to wearing tighter military uniforms suddenly, or they felt that wearing armor as them was a bit of a **.

Yang Biao didn't care about their mood at all, he himself was wearing armor, and as soon as he saw Liu Xiu, he took his arm and walked up the hall. There is a map of Luoyang hanging on the hall, with several locations marked in red.

"These are the goals we want to grasp and prepare for this operation." Yang Biao said. Liu Xiu was taken aback, this guy is really as good as his name, a little stunning, either he doesn't move, he wants to move and cut the grass and eradicate the roots, even the pot.

Yang Biao then told the situation of the troops, and the subordinates of the Si Li Lieutenant Peng and the subordinates of Henan Yin and Luoyang Ling in his hands were less than 300 people in total, and most of these people were not soldiers, so the initiative was taken by the Northern Army led by Liu Xiu. The edict of the Son of Heaven was ready to use the infantry battalion and the shooting battalion, a total of more than 15,000 people, even if the combat effectiveness of the northern army was not strong, it should be enough to deal with these people. Therefore, Yang Biao planned to act separately and attack at the same time to wipe out these guys.

"Don't underestimate the enemy." Liu Xiu shook his head and expressed a different opinion. Although the number of these people is not large, you don't forget, there are many martial arts strong people among these people. We are not besieging in the wilderness, but operating outside the densely populated Luoyang City, it is not easy to set up a formation, it is easy to be broken through by them, these people are murderers who do not blink an eye, not only strong combat power, but also lawlessness, escape one, is a bane.

When he said this, He Jin said without yin or yang: "At that time, what happened today in Qiaofu is likely to happen to your Yang family next time, and Qiaogong's son may be replaced by your son Yang Xiu." ”

Yang Biao's face changed suddenly, he forcibly suppressed his unhappiness, stroked his beard and groaned for a long time: "Then what should I do?" ”

"Make an example of what to do. If you want to kill, kill him cleanly, and leave no one behind. Liu Xiu waved his hand: "I suggest concentrating forces to encircle and annihilate it, and first defeat the most troubled ones." ”

Yang Biao thought about it for a while, and felt that although Liu Xiu's approach was a bit conservative, it was generally safe, and with the troops they could mobilize at present, it was indeed too difficult to wipe out all the lawbreakers in Luoyang at once. Don't look at the more than 1,000 people coming from the Northern Army, but how many of these people are capable of fighting, Yang Biao probably has some numbers in his heart, and he doesn't dare to expect too much from them.

"In that case, it's up to the adults."

When Liu Xiu and Yang Biao were discussing around the map, Ma Yueyan and Wang Yu arrived one after another, they all came in a carriage, with Wu Bo in front of him, advocating and cheering, and there were knights in the back, full of majesty, but his expression was a little embarrassed, obviously Liu Xiu's sudden order caught them a little off guard, and they came in a hurry. For these scholars who usually take soothing as their demeanor, it is really difficult for them to gallop, so Ma Yueyan will not mention it, Wang Yu, who has been a Changshui Sima for many years, was also turned pale and walked shakingly.

Liu Xiu was unhappy in his heart, but as soon as Ma Yueyan had a good relationship with him, Wang Yu was also his elder anyway, if he embarrassed them in front of Yang Biao and others, he would be embarrassed in the end. Second, he now knows that it is unlikely that he will want to remove all these people for a while, and this situation will probably have to endure for a while.

"Two adults, this mission is mainly for you to complete." Liu Xiu didn't wait for them to catch their breath, and wanted to start arranging the troops. But as soon as he looked up, he saw Wang Kuang standing outside the door in military uniform, and couldn't help but be stunned: "What are you doing here?" ”

Wang Kuang smiled and didn't speak, and Ma Yueyan hurriedly said, "He is the new Sima of the Shooting Battalion." ”

Liu Xiu's face sank, when he met with the fifth lieutenant two days ago, Wang Kuang hadn't appeared yet, why did he become the Sima of the Shooting Battalion after a while? It seems that after he conveyed that order, Yuan Feng and the others reacted immediately, and there may be more than Wang Kuang. He then smiled again, beckoned, and motioned for Wang Kuang to come in.

Although Wang Kuang didn't take Liu Xiu in his eyes, but now that he was Liu Xiu's subordinate, he couldn't be rude to Liu Xiu, so he had to walk in and bow down: "What do you command?" ”

"I heard that you are good at archery, and you are also good at crossbows?"

Wang Kuang didn't understand what Liu Xiu meant, probably because he felt that he might not be qualified to be a voice shooting Sima. He nodded reservedly: "I know a little bit about it." ”

"Very good, the commander of the Shooting Battalion, he should have good archery skills, or how to discipline his subordinates?" Liu Xiu looked at Wang Kuang with a smile, but Yu Guang swept Ma Yueyan, "If you can make meritorious service this time, the position of the captain of this shooting sound will be yours in the future." ”

Wang Kuang was stunned for a moment, very embarrassed, he came to the shooting camp was arranged by Yuan Shao, the purpose was to make Liu Xiu even if he drove away Ma Yueyan could not take over the shooting camp smoothly, I didn't expect Liu Xiu to be so generous, he simply wanted to give him the shooting sound captain. But in this case, what will Ma Yueyan think, will he think that he is here to snatch the position of captain of the shooting sound?

"But if something goes wrong with you this time." Liu Xiu's face sank, and he said murderously: "Prince's Day, don't blame me for being unpredictable, I will immediately remove you from the post of Sima." ”

Wang Kuang was taken aback, didn't care about Ma Yueyan's thoughts, and hurriedly said, "My subordinates must go all out." ”

"That's very good." Liu Xiu smiled yin and said to Sima Xiahou Yuan, the infantry who walked in later: "Miaocai, you remember, the requirements for the Prince's Day just now are also applicable to you. ”

Xiahou Yuan had already prepared, and bowed down: "Please rest assured, my lord, there is a annihilator who has escaped from the position of the infantry battalion, please behead the head of the abyss." ”

(To be continued)