"My lord, the Huns are gathering soldiers and horses." Liu Biao broke in in a little panic, holding on to the door frame, gasping for air.

Liu Xiu frowned, his hand holding the chess piece stopped in the air for a long time, and finally retracted it, and said to Han Sui who was sitting opposite very dissatisfied: "I said Wenyue, next time I have to let the third son ...... No, I'll look at the five sons. ”

Han Sui couldn't help but laugh, and while cleaning up the chessboard, he said lightly: "My lord, you are ...... chess power" He shook his head, indicating that he was embarrassed to say more. Liu Xiu's chess strength is not ordinarily bad, he is not his opponent at all, Liu Xiu wants to win hard, he wants to lose and thinks hard, no matter how hard he tries, Liu Xiu can't seem to win.

"Jingsheng, what did you just say?" Liu Xiu picked up the wine glass on the case and glanced at Liu Biao, who was panting.

Seeing that they were so calm, Liu Biao didn't take what he said seriously at all, and felt that he was a little out of shape. He stood up straight and tidied up the hem of his clothes, Yuan Shao walked in from behind with a smile, stretched out his hand and patted him on the shoulder: "Jingsheng, why are you so embarrassed?" ”

Liu Biao grinned, glanced at Yuan Shao, and sneered: "Aren't you also in a hurry to tell your lord about the gathering of the Huns?" ”

Yuan Shao was a little embarrassed, and strode up to Liu Xiu, but did not say the Huns, but glanced at the chess table that Han Sui was collecting, and rubbed his hands: "Wen Yue, let's talk about a game?" ”

Han Sui asked Liu Xiu with his eyes, and Liu Xiu got up and got out of the way: "Originally, teach him a good lesson, kill him, lest he think that he is the first national player of the Changshui Battalion all day long." ”

Yuan Shao laughed, but he was not humble, took off his shoes, and sat in Liu Xiu's position just now, and fought with Han Sui in a serious manner. Liu Biao also sat over to watch the game together, commenting from time to time.

Liu Xiu's level of playing Go is very poor, but he has a strong ability to see people. Han Sui came early in the morning, didn't tell him about the Huns, but played chess with him, Yuan Shao is the same now, obviously knowing that the Huns are gathering soldiers and horses, but he refuses to show his nervousness, he has to pretend to be very calm, and put on the style of a famous man.

He knows too much about this kind of thing, when the news of the victory in the Battle of Weishui came, Xie An also pretended to do this, and now he saw that the three famous people of the Great Han Kingdom were also pretending, if he didn't still have a little city, he was afraid that he would have laughed.

He had long known about the concentration of the Huns on this side, and Shan Yu greeted him as soon as possible, saying that the New Year was coming, and the Huns rushed over to conduct a gathering in the New Year. He didn't mention anything about the Great Wizard, but Liu Xiu could see the panic in their hearts from the evasive eyes of the messenger. The Huns didn't mention it, Liu Xiu didn't say anything, and everyone pretended to be confused. In his opinion, the great wizard is dead, but he is afraid that the internal affairs of the Huns will not be able to deal with it, as long as Shan Yu's head has not been caught by the door, he will not take the initiative to find trouble at this time.

If he really wants to find trouble, he should solve it quickly, and the existing people in the Meiji Royal Court are enough to solve Liu Xiu and Tian Yan. Since he is not moving now, it means that he does not dare to move at all, otherwise it will be a delay in the fighter. What nomads are best at is to seize fighters, they will not let such an obvious opportunity not to use, but they want to leave time for Tian Yan and him to prepare.

Yuan Shao and they didn't know the bottom of their hearts, so they rushed to the door to find out the news, but they refused to say it directly, they had to compare their respective demeanors, since this is the case, then let's pretend to be together, and see who can pretend to be whom. He took a closer look, among the three people, Han Sui's city government was the worst, but Han Sui had already talked to him just now, and he knew a little bit from his expression, so he seemed the most relaxed now, and his relaxation was clearly expressed on his face. Yuan Shao was the calmest, and it was impossible to tell if he was nervous, but from the armor on his body, it could be seen that his soldiers were probably ready for battle.

Comparatively speaking, Liu Biao performed the worst. Liu Biao has been by Liu Xiu's side for a few months, this person has a city government and scheming, but he is slow, that is, he wants to slow down everything, as long as you give him time, he will definitely be able to come up with a good way, but if you want him to make a decision in the shortest possible time, he must be the worst.

Of course, this is the worst compared to people like Yuan Shao and Han Sui, compared to ordinary people, he is still very good, after all, not everything needs to be urgent, and there are more times when you need to think carefully and think twice.

Tian Yan stepped on the sound of heavy footsteps, strode in, he stood at the door, knocked off the slush on his feet, glanced at the situation in the tent, and saw the four people playing chess together, he couldn't help laughing: "Deran, you are in such a good mood." ”

"What's wrong, what's the matter?" Liu Xiu replied casually. Hao Zhao rushed over and handed Tian Yan a glass of wine. Tian Yan took the cup in his hand, took a sip, walked to the chessboard and glanced at it, then looked away and glanced at Liu Xiu. Liu Xiu walked aside knowingly.

"The great wizard of the Huns died suddenly, and according to Zhang Xiu, he died abnormally. The Huns were somewhat sneaky. Tian Yan drank all the wine in the cup, licked his lips, stared at Liu Xiu and said: "Shan Yu sent someone to tell me that he has issued an order to convene all the ministries for a New Year gathering, and the Huns from all the ministries will come in the near future, please don't misunderstand." ”

"I've got the news, too."

"Do you think it'll be okay?"

"What can happen?" Liu Xiu's mouth crooked, and he said disappreciably: "Your people, my people, the chief of Xihe plus the camp of General Duliao, we have nearly 10,000 people here, do the Huns dare to move?" ”

Tian Yan nodded, and said with some anxiety: "But it's inconvenient for me to transfer them all now, in case something happens, just the few people under me can't keep you well." ”

"You don't have to protect me, I'm ready to leave right away." Liu Xiu smiled: "As soon as the snow stops, I will continue to go north." ”

"Going north?"

"I'm here this time to check the border defense and comfort the soldiers on the frontier on behalf of the Son of Heaven, how can I always stay here." Liu Xiu said, "I want to take a trip to the northern Xinjiang of Bingzhou before the end of the first month, the time is very tight, and I can't delay here for too long." ”

Tian Yan thought for a moment and nodded: "That's fine, if you're not here, I can let go of my hands and feet." ”

Liu Xiu pondered for a moment: "Is the Great Wizard important to the Huns?" ”

"What else do you need to say?" Tian Yan said without thinking: "Whether it is the Qiang people or the Huns, they believe in the Mandate of Heaven more than us Han people. If Shan Yu's strength is very strong, maybe he doesn't have to worry so much, but now that the Huns are full of factions, Shan Yu is not enough to control the entire tribe, of course, it must be supported by the Mandate of Heaven. ”

Liu Xiu nodded and didn't say anything more. He had already asked Wang Yun this question before asking Tian Yan, and the answer was the same, so that he could rest assured, as long as he could get the great wizard, the Huns would not be able to turn the sky upside down.

A day later, after the snow, the white expanse between the river valleys, one by one, like bright flowers, bloomed on the white snow. Liu Xiuba's camp set off, left Meiji with the Changshui camp, and went north along the river. In the past few days in Meiji, he played chess and bragged with Yuan Shao and others every day, but Wang Yun was not idle, he prepared a lot of sleds, now it is the cold winter season in the north, there is thick snow everywhere, and even the river is frozen in some places, pulling a cart is a very tiring thing, but it is much easier to use a sled.

Two days later, Liu Xiu arrived at Manbo, the garrison of General Duliao's camp. After the resignation of the previous general Du Liao, Qiao Xuan, the appointment of General Du Liao has been vacant, and now Chang Shi is acting as his post. Changshi is only an official of 600 stones, and Liu Xiu is a big difference, plus Liu Xiu is a close confidant of the Son of Heaven, according to this posture, maybe it is the next general of Duliao, or like Zhang Huan, who is fully responsible for the military of the state, Changshi of course did not dare to slack off, welcomed Liu Xiu into the city, and warmly entertained him.

Liu Xiu conveyed the condolences of the Son of Heaven to the soldiers of the general camp of Duliao as usual, and distributed rewards, this time Liu Xiu specially took care of Cao Hong, these rewards are not much, and the soldiers in the frontier are not easy, so you don't rub the oil, so as not to hurt the hearts of the soldiers. Cao Hongwei responded only and distributed it according to the established amount.

After dinner, Liu Xian chatted with Zhang Fei and Hao Zhao in the tent, and Wang Zhi opened the door of the tent and walked in with a cold air. Hao Zhao hurriedly got up and was about to pour him wine, he waved his hand, poured himself a glass, and when he picked up the wine glass, his eyes glanced at Liu Xiu intentionally or unintentionally. Liu Xiu nodded quietly, and the corners of his mouth provoked a smug smile.

…… Standing in front of the corpse of the great wizard, Shan Yu felt his temples jump violently, his hands and feet were a little numb, and everything in front of him was shaking. He glared at the equally frightened Huzheng, and every word seemed to be squeezed out of his teeth: "Do you want to offend the gods again?" ”

Hu Zheng was sweating profusely, and although he was wearing a thick leather jacket, he still felt cold. The great wizard he had chosen instead of the gods had not even had time to appear in front of the leaders of the tribes for the first time, and he died violently again during a request to the gods, exactly the same as the death of the previous great wizard.

However, this time, the people who guarded the Great Wizard said in unison that they had heard the screams of the Great Wizard before he died, and it was a strange accent that they had never heard before. The accent was strange, but the meaning was very clear, and the gods were very angry at their offense, and once again sent down a divine punishment and executed the great wizard who had come from the wrong way at all.

The guards insisted that it was the divine revelation issued by God through the mouth of the great wizard after the great wizard invited God, and it was the will of God.

Hu Zheng didn't dare to have any more delusions, borrowing his two guts, he didn't dare to try again, this time it was the death of the great wizard he chose, and maybe it would be his turn next time.

Shan Yu was thunderous, the Great Wizard died, and how could he explain to the other tribes at the upcoming New Year's Conference? There is no great sorcerer who can communicate with the gods to convey the will of the gods, is he still sitting firmly in this single position? He had already offended the gods, and twice, and now he could still ask the gods for forgiveness, he didn't know at all. It seemed to him that the whole sky was about to fall.

And this time, it's all because of the call. Hu Zheng angered the Han people, and the Han people were unwilling to relay the news they had received from the gods, so they insisted that he and the great wizard invite them. The last great wizard refused to ask, but spoke wildly, so she was cursed by God, this great wizard came in the wrong way, and died without even having a chance to speak.

Han! Shan Yu suddenly remembered that Liu Xiu asked him to go to see him with the Great Wizard. He didn't dare to slack off, and immediately prepared a rich gift, rushed out of the Meiji Royal Court with the guard battalion, and chased north against the biting cold wind by the moonlight reflected in the snow.

…… Liu Xiu leaned on the heavy sled, broke off a piece of [***] dough cake and stuffed it into his mouth, chewing it slowly. The dough was not fermented, it was cold and dry, and the taste was very poor. It was only two days before he had a bubble in his mouth, and it was very uncomfortable to even drink water. Hao Zhao saw that he had a little trouble swallowing every bite, so he wanted to boil some hot water and help him cook something delicious. Liu Xiu refused, and he didn't even let Hao Zhao boil water to cook him a cake.

He insisted on being the same as all the soldiers and the men who accompanied him.

This is not noble, Liu Xiu now also very much wants to set up a tent, raise a fire, scald a pot of wine, roast a sheep, and rest comfortably, even if it stops for a day or two, no one dares to bare his teeth, but he knows that if he does this, he will not expect the soldiers to die for him in the future.

Duan Cheng is a famous general, why can he become a famous general? It's not just that he has a set of soldiers, but the most important thing is that the soldiers believe in him and are willing to serve him. Why did the soldiers believe in him and were willing to serve him? Because Duan Cheng loves the soldiers like a son, and the soldiers share weal and woe, the soldiers were injured, he personally bandaged their wounds, took care of them, in the frontier for more than ten years, he and the soldiers slept on the same floor, eat the same meal, so he commanded, even if there were swords, mountains and fires in front, the soldiers were also indomitable.

Is it easy to be a celebrity? Not easy. Since ancient times, he can be called a famous general, which is a basic requirement, and someone like Huo Quzhi is an outlier after all. He swept through Mobei, in fact, with the strong support of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, he led the elite of the Han army, equipped with the best weapons in the Han army, so he achieved his prestige.

Liu Xiu has too heavy a burden on his shoulders, whether it is from the height of the nation or from the height of the family, he can't take it lightly, if he can't share weal and woe with the soldiers, why should he compete for hegemony in the world?

But...... This bread is really unpalatable. Liu Xiu sighed, and Hao Zhao took the wine jug in his hand and took a small sip. The cold drink made my mouth numb from the cold, and when it slid down my throat, it was like a lump of ice.

"My lord......" Hao Zhao wanted to persuade again, Liu Xiu shook his head resolutely and called Xu Huang over, "Please don't drive here." ”

Wang Yun came soon, he glanced at the dough cake in Liu Xiu's hand, his eyelids twitched, and he took out his wine jug from his sleeve and handed it over. Liu Xiu touched it in his hand, and the wine jug was hot.

"I've always kept it in my arms." Wang Yun said expressionlessly, "I often come to Northern Xinjiang, this is what I learned from the border guards, drinking cold wine is not good for your health." ”

Liu Xiu was stunned for a moment, smiled self-deprecatingly, pulled out the kettle and took a sip, wiped the spout with his sleeve, and then returned it to Wang Yun. Wang Yun was a little surprised, he was very happy with the consciousness that Liu Xiu had just revealed. Before he handed the wine jug out, he was thinking about whether to wipe it in front of Liu Xiu after taking it, or wait until Liu Xiu couldn't see it before wiping it, but he didn't expect Liu Xiu to take the initiative to wipe it himself.

"Jinyang Song?"

"No, it's Zi's local wine." Wang Yun showed a rare faint smile: "It is brewed with original public water, and the taste is very mellow." I have drunk fine wine from all over the world in Luoyang, and I think this wine is better. ”

Liu Xiu suddenly thought of something, "Is Yuangongshui a tributary of Fenshui?" ”

"Exactly." Wang Yun nodded and said: "Although the raw water is not large enough, the water quality is excellent, and it is still better than Fenshui. ”

Liu Xiu laughed. There are two very famous things in Shanxi, one is that Shanxi's vinegar is famous in the whole country, which is one of the four famous vinegars, and the other is Fenjiu, because Du Mu's poem is that everyone knows Xinghua Village.

"Zishi, how much wine can the Zi clan produce in a year?"

"Adults want to do business?" Wang Yun said half-seriously and half-jokingly. Liu Xiu started by opening a noodle restaurant in Luoyang, and after arriving in Bingzhou, he was most worried about where the money would come from, and he couldn't raise soldiers without money. Although he was not close to Liu Xiu, he had heard it several times from the side. As soon as Liu Xiu spoke, he estimated his intentions.

"Yes, it's a shame that such a good wine is not used to make money." Liu Xiu waved his hand and pointed to the endless plateau in front of him. He is now located in the northern part of Bingzhou, that is, the Inner Mongolia Plateau in later generations, except for the big green mountains in the north, there is a flat grassland in front of him. It is the middle of winter, and it has just snowed heavily, and I can't see the grass that has withered and yellowed, only a white expanse, and I can see the horizon at a glance. "If you want to be in Shuofang and Yunzhong, we must hold the first line of Yinshan, it is not easy to defend here, it costs a lot of money, and what I want to do now is to make money."

Wang Yun lowered his head, he was very dissatisfied with Liu Xiu's undisguised idea of wanting to make money, but he didn't want to clash with Liu Xiu in person. He thought for a moment and said, "My lord, you need food for winemaking, and the state is even more short of food. ”

Liu Xiu didn't speak, he knew that Bingzhou was short of food, but the Wang family was not short of food, and the three hundred soldiers recruited in Taiyuan County were actually mainly composed of peasants attached to his Wang family, and they were directly under Wang Yun's orders.

The southern part of Bingzhou and Hedong used to be the location of the Jin Kingdom, and Jinyang was the capital of the Jin Kingdom, and there were many families here who were the descendants of the Jin Kingdom, which had a long history, and the pride in the bones was not something that ordinary people could experience. The bloodline of the Wang family is even more noble, they are directly from the crown prince Jin of the Zhou Dynasty, that is, the prince Qiao, who is the authentic surname Ji. One of the great heroes of Qin's annihilation of the Six Kingdoms, the famous general Wang Jian is said to be a branch from the Taiyuan royal family.

To put it more directly, the Wang family is in Bingzhou, which is the status of the Yuan family in the Han Dynasty, and it is second to none. Why did the former Taiyuan Taishou Liu Zhen carry that black pot, and now why does Taiyuan Taishou Wang Qiu take Wang Yun without a move? Why did Deng Sheng, the predecessor of Bingzhou, give Wang Yun face, and why did Dong Zhuo not want to fall out with Wang Yun? There is only one reason: to go against the Wang family, you can't get along in Taiyuan and Bingzhou.

Liu Xiu didn't want to fall out with the Wang family at the beginning of his tenure, it was very simple for him to kill Wang Yun, but it was not his purpose to make chaos in the state.

"Zishi, I want to ask you a question." Liu Xiu pondered for a moment, raised his head and said to Wang Yun, "I don't know if you can solve my doubts." ”

Wang Yun's eyelids jumped, the smile on his face disappeared, he glanced at Liu Xiu, and saw that although Liu Xiu was not serious, he didn't have a smile, obviously not casually, so he thought for a while, nodded and said, "I'll try to answer my lord." ”

Liu Xiu smiled bitterly in his heart, damn, try your best? He coughed and said quietly: "Confucius once said that he wanted to live in Jiuyi, what do you think of this problem?" ”

Wang Yun smiled disdainfully: "That's just a momentary joke from the master, it can't be true." ”

"Will that Zishi live in Jiuyi?"

Wang Yun was not even interested in answering, and raised the wine jug to take a sip of wine.

Liu Xiu turned a blind eye to his rudeness, and then asked, "If the Xiongnu or Xianbei occupy Bingzhou, is Zishi preparing to move his family south, or is he preparing to be a minister?" ”

"Your Excellency!" Wang Yun really couldn't help it, lowered his face, and shouted loudly: "If the adults feel that Yun is incompetent, Yun will never dare to covet the position of the district to distinguish the driver, and invite himself to return to his homeland, please don't insult Yun like this." It is not enough to be a scholar, but the Taiyuan royal family has been handed down for 800 years, but they can't accept such an insult. ”

Liu Xiu raised his eyebrows slightly, looked at the enraged Wang Yun intently, and when he finished speaking, he asked casually: "You haven't answered my question yet." ”

"Your Excellency!" Wang Yun let out a loud cry, threw the wine jug on the ground, and put his hand on the knife ring at his waist. Zhang Fei and Xu Huang, who were standing next to Liu Xiu, instinctively took a step forward, stared at Wang Yun from right to left, and were ready to make a move. When Wang Yun's entourage behind him saw it, his face turned pale with fright, and he turned around to call someone, but was stopped by several tiger soldiers under Xu Yu. Li Yifeng unsheathed his long sword and sneered: "You'd better not move." ”

Wang Yun disdainfully, he glanced around contemptuously, and slowly pulled out the ring head knife on his waist, pointed at the ground, stood proudly, and raised his chin slightly: "Do you want to kill Yun Yu on the spot?" ”

Liu Xiu's face also sank, he waved his hand, signaled Zhang Fei and the others to step back, and pointed at Wang Yun with his finger, "If I want to kill you, I don't need to make such a big move." You put away your knife too, or I'll kill you right now for threatening your superiors." ”

Wang Yun was stunned for a moment, and saw that Zhang Fei and the others had already retreated, so he put away the knife in a daze. Although he hadn't seen Liu Xiu's force with his own eyes, he had heard of Xu Yu's force, and he had already heard of it as the first warrior of the Huiren family.

"I'm just asking you a question, you just have to answer yes or no, why bother so much?" Liu Xiu leaned on the sleigh indifferently and said casually: "Since you don't want to answer, can I understand that you would rather die than surrender to the barbarians?" ”

"Needless to say?" Wang Yun said angrily.

"However, do you think that in terms of the current situation, with only the financial and material resources of the annexation state, can you keep the annexation of the state?" Liu Xiu quietly threw out the next question: "If you can't keep it, if your Wang family wants to move out of the state, how much family property can you take with you?" ”

Wang Yun was stunned.

(To be continued)