Ma Yong hid behind a rock and squinted at the mountain road below. Several figures gradually saw it clearly, all with their hair tied to the right, completely different from the Qiang people.

"It's my own brother."

Ma Yong waved his hand, and the soldiers around him put away the hard crossbow in their hands again.

The people who came closer and closer, and it could be seen that the young man led by him was about twenty, tall and long-armed, and it was Tian Mingyuan, a close confidant of his own general who relied on him very much. Ma Yong stood up and shouted below: "Mingyuan, you don't kill the Qiang people in Pishan Town, what are you doing here?" ”

His voice was extremely loud, and it shook down a stone by the snow stream, and the stone fell into the stream and splashed, which startled Tian Mingyuan.

"It's finally here!" When Tian Mingyuan saw Ma Yong, he breathed a sigh of relief and shouted loudly, "Where is the general, I am here on the order of the doctor, and I have something important to see the general." ”

"What's wrong?" Ma Ling appeared next to Ma Yong and startled Ma Yong. The general likes to use the means of a ranger recently, and he is always so elusive, and he was still in the camp just now, so why did he suddenly appear here.

"General, Doctor Feng has sent news from Anxi, saying that Lord Duhu has fainted three times in ten days, I'm afraid it won't work, so let you return to Anxi quickly." Tian Mingyuan said loudly.

When Ma Lan heard this, his heart suddenly tightened.

The history books only say that Wang Zhengjian Tianbao died in the eleventh year of Anxi, and the specific time is unknown, but it is recorded that the time when Feng Changqing took over as the protector of Anxi was December 25 in the eleventh year of Tianbao. Counting the time from the funeral recital to Chang'an and from Chang'an to Anxi, Wang Zhengjian's death seems to be at this time.

"It's time to come, it's still going to come after all!" Ma Lan sighed in his heart.

This time he left Anxi to Khotan, and when he left, Wang Zhengjian's complexion looked very good, much better than when he first arrived in Anxi from Beiting. Ma Lan originally thought that his arrival had changed Wang Zhengjian's fate, and the old general would not die of illness so soon, but now it seems that this is not the case.

Tian Mingyuan walked up along the mountain road and said in a low voice: "Doctor Feng said that Lord Duhu wants to see the general, and he has been reluctant to leave, no matter what the general has at hand, he must return to Anxi immediately." ”

Ma Lan nodded and said in a low voice, "I know." Mingyuan, you are older than Ma Yong and Ma Liang, and you are temporarily stationed here on my behalf. There must be no problem with this place, I'll go back now. ”

"Yes, General!" Tian Mingyuan replied loudly.

returned to the camp tent and called Cen Shen, it is not easy for this literati to hold on here until now, and there can't really be any accidents here. Here is to intercept and kill the Qiang people who want to go over the mountain, and only need to be able to kill the talents who can hold a knife, and Cen Shen can't help much here.

Hearing that the Protector King was seeing that he had passed away not long ago, Cen Shen couldn't help but sigh and said: "A thousand miles of raids, fire and broken leaves, how magnificent!" It is a great pity that a generation of famous generals cannot die on the battlefield, but they have to die on the bed. ”

Ma Ling nodded, didn't have time to say more to him, called a few pro-soldiers to accompany him, and directly ordered a pro-soldier to squat down, asking Cen Shen to let the pro-soldier carry it.

The road from Sangzhu Daban to Khotan is extremely difficult, and there are not many places where horses can be ridden, so Ma Lan did not bring war horses at all when he came to ambush this time, but only brought some yaks. When the yaks arrived, they were used as food, and they didn't eat much. Now everyone has to walk to get down the mountain.

Cen Shen listened to where Kenyi, and blushed and shouted: "Why should the general humiliate me! Although I am a scholar, I have also been here for more than 30 days, and if I can walk up on my own, I can go on my own. ”

Ma Ling said in a deep voice: "Master, if it is usual, I will let you go on your own." Now I have to get back to Anthy quickly, and I can't delay too much on the way. Master's speed will definitely not be able to keep up with us, so let's hurry up! ”

Cen Shen still refused, where did Ma Lu have time to talk to him, and waved his big hand. The soldier directly picked him up on his back and walked down.

Cen Shen was about to shout, but when he saw Ma Ling glaring, he had to shut up. He also understood that the general had great respect for Du Hu, and now he hurried back to see Du Hu for the last time, and it was too ignorant to anger the general at this time.

"Mingyuan, be careful."

"Got it, General!"

Several pro-soldiers took turns carrying Cen Shen on their backs, and the group walked quickly down the mountain. It took more than two days to reach the top of the ground.

Asked for a war horse from the patrolling Tang army scouts, Ma Ling and his party quickly rushed to Pishan Town, and after telling Han Wu to send someone to Sangzhu Daban to send another batch of supplies, they rushed to Anxi non-stop.

Along the way, he kept changing his mounts in the horse shop and camel shop, and he didn't care about these military treasures at all, and finally arrived in Anxi ten days later. When he saw Wang Zheng again, Ma Lu's heart also trembled suddenly.

The old general was lying on the couch, there was a constant murmur in his chest, but his face was extremely good, and when he saw Ma Luan, he immediately struggled to sit up, and laughed: "Renjie, you are finally back, the old man thought he couldn't see you anymore, hehe!" ”

I saw Feng Changqing outside the door before, and Feng Changqing said that Wang Zhengjian couldn't sit up at all in the past few days, and suddenly became so energetic this morning. Ma Lan looked at Wang Zheng like this, how he didn't know that this was a return to the light, and his heart was even more gloomy.

The great poet Cen Shen was the most emotional, and his eyes were already a little red when he stood next to him.

"Master Cen, after the old man dies, what is written on the tombstone will bother you, Master." Wang Zhengjian found Cen Shen and said with a smile.

"Don't worry, Lord Duhu, Cen Shen will definitely make a good biography for Duhu!" Cen Shen said loudly, his voice was already a little choked.

"Take good care of your body, and your illness will definitely get better." Ma Lan said softly.

Wang Zhengjian laughed: "Renjie, you don't believe what you say, how can you deceive the old man!" The old man knows his own illness, and he has been licking blood from the knife for a lifetime, can't he still see the matter of life and death? ”

Ma Lan nodded silently.

"Renjie, if the old man hadn't wanted to see you again, he would have entered the coffin a long time ago. The old man wants you to come back, because he wants to ask you a word in person, when will the Broken Leaf Military Town be reopened? Wang Zhengjian sat up straight, looked at Ma Lu with blazing eyes, and hissed.

Feng Changqing glanced at Ma Lan, but was discovered by Wang Zhengjian, Wang Zhengjian's face sank, and shouted: "Feng Er, I'm not dead yet, what are you doing!" I didn't ask you, you let Renjie say it himself! ”

Feng Changqing smiled awkwardly and stopped talking.

"Renjie, the old man asks you again, when will you be able to reopen Shattered Leaf Military Town?" Wang Zhengjian said loudly, his voice was already a little trembling.

Ma Lan took a deep breath and said in a deep voice: "Five years at the earliest, ten years at the latest!" ”

"Really?" Wang Zhengjian asked.

Ma Lan nodded and said loudly: "Everyone can give me a witness, if I can't reopen Broken Leaf Town within ten years, I, Ma Lan, will go underground to see Lord Duhu by myself!" ”

"Within ten years! Ha ha! Good! Very good! Wang Zhengjian's eyes were shining, and he laughed loudly, "Renjie, remember what you said today!" The old man will be inside the coffin, counting for you day by day! ”

"Renjie, ten years...... Was it too hasty? Feng Changqing frowned.

He originally wanted Ma Lan to say earlier, so that Wang Zhengjian could leave with ease, but now that Ma Lan had made such a heavy oath, there was no room for turnaround, and he naturally began to worry about Ma Lan in his heart.

"Ten years...... Enough is enough. Ma Ling stared at Wang Zhengjian's eyes and said in a low voice, "Within three years, my Anxi Army will establish a military town in the river, and then my goal is to reopen Broken Leaf Town." Don't worry, I'll do what I say. The resentment of the general is also my wish, what is it to reopen the Broken Leaf Military Town, one day my iron horse of the Tang Dynasty will step on every inch of land in the West! ”

"Renjie, you're really crazy, what nonsense!" Feng Changqing frowned.

"Hehe, good! Very good! Wang Zhengjian laughed again, "The old man doesn't care if the Tang Dynasty Iron Cavalry can travel all over the West, the old man only needs you to reopen the Broken Leaf Military Town, so that my Han family's clothes can reappear on the Qianquan grassland." Renjie, with your words today, the old man can die of laughter. ”

After speaking, Wang Zhengjian suddenly coughed violently, and then his chest rose and fell like a bellows, swallowing the air desperately. Several soldiers on the side of the bed had already red eyes, and Ma Luan was also extremely uncomfortable in his heart, and his eyes were slightly moist.

Since the second government of the Anxi court was divided again, generations of Beiting soldiers and Western Turks have repeatedly fought and killed, the main enemy of the Anxi army is the southern Tibetan, and the Beiting soldiers hate the Western Turks to the core.

At the beginning, he gave up Broken Leaf Town in order to envelop the Turks, and took the initiative to give up the North Silk Road, and the Broken Leaf City fell into the hands of the Turks, which was an eternal pain in the hearts of the soldiers of the North Court. Wang Zhengjian is the general of Beiting, and it can be said that it is his greatest wish to subdue Broken Leaf Town.

The Turkish had been defeated a few years ago, and at the same time that the Anxi army intervened in the dispute between the Yellow and Black Khans of the Turks, Wang Zhengjian also led his troops from Beiting to Broken Leaves, but found that he was facing a city with almost no Han Chinese.

Beiting has few soldiers, and the lone army is too far deep, although it captures Broken Leaf Town, it can only be hastily withdrawn. personally burned down this Broken Leaf City built by Wang Fangyi Du Huaibao, and the pain of the old general was unknown.

Captured but unable to defend, and now that his fate is at stake, Ma Lu can naturally understand the mood of the old general.

"Renjie, remember what you said today, remember what you said today! The old man is in the coffin, but he has to count it day by day. Wang Zheng saw that it was easy to recover a little, and waved his hand to signal everyone to leave.

Bowing to the old general, Ma Lu and Feng Changqing went outside. It didn't take long for the room to suddenly hear the cries of the soldiers.

When I went in, Wang Zhengjian was sitting crookedly on the bed, his eyes were closed, and there was a smile on the corner of his mouth, and he was already breathless.

On September 17, the 11th year of Tianbao, Wang Zhengjian, the deputy protector of the Anxi Metropolitan Protectorate and the envoy of the Anxi Festival, died in office at the age of 57.

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