-- On the first day of September in the twenty-third year of Hongwu of the Great Zhou Dynasty, Gucheng -- After Xie An received and surrendered Ou Peng, the defender of Gucheng, the reinforcements sent by the rebels of Hanguguan to Gucheng finally arrived.

There are as many as 40,000 people in this wave of reinforcements, and the main general of the army is called Tang Hao, who was also a general of 2,000 in Nanyang, and he was also the general who defected with Zhang Dong and Ou Peng, and he was quite powerful.

Half a year ago, when Lu Fan, the son of the Duke of Nanguo, led the army to attack Hangu Pass, it was Tang Hao who led the army out of the pass to meet him, although the rebel army finally relied on the unknown rebel general to defeat Lu Fan, but it is undeniable that if Tang Hao did not command his subordinates to drag Lu Fan's main force and horses, how could the unknown rebel general take advantage of the situation and kill Lu Fan's army from the flank?

"Whew, it's okay......"

Looking at the flags fluttering on the valley city from a distance, and looking at the huge [European] flag, Tang Hao, who was only twenty and nine years old, let out a long breath.

It's not that the castle is a strategic location, but that the castle is stacked with countless grains and grass that have been transported from the recent Hanya Pass.

You must know that if it weren't for the fact that Nanguo Gong Lu Song unexpectedly led 8,000 southern troops, bypassed Luoyang and Gucheng, and directly blocked under Hangu Pass, I am afraid that the rebels in Hangu Pass would have already begun to counterattack Yanshi.

"General, it seems that the Zhou army of the Western Expedition has not yet arrived in Gucheng!" Deputy General Dou Fei interjected on the side.

"Hmm!" Tang Hao nodded when he heard this, in the end, he would never have thought that Ou Peng and the more than 10,000 rebels under his command would lose the entire valley city in just half an hour, and even they themselves surrendered to the Zhou army.

"Go up and shout!" Tang Hao instructed the left and right generals to lead the way.

"No!" Hearing this, a general slapped his horse and stepped forward, and went straight to the west gate of Gucheng, shouting loudly, while Tang Hao and his 40,000 soldiers and horses stopped a mile outside Gucheng.

After a while, the west gate of Gucheng slowly opened, and the guard Ou Peng personally led dozens of soldiers out of the city to greet him.

With a wave of his hand, the army slowly entered the city, and Tang Hao rode his war horse slowly towards Ou Peng.

"General Ou, don't come unharmed!"

Ou Peng also returned the salute with a fist, and said with a smile, "I am grateful that General Tang led the reinforcements to come, Ou has prepared thin wine in the city, and I hope the general will appreciate his face!" ”

"General Ou is polite, now I am waiting for a grasshopper on a rope, what is the difference between you and me?"

"Hehehe...... Please! ”

"Please!"

Tang Hao, who didn't notice anything unusual at all, took his henchmen and generals to follow Tang Hao to the mansion in the city to eat and drink, and as for the 40,000 troops under his command, they slowly entered the city, and under the guidance of the soldiers of Ou Peng's army, they went to the southwest corner of the city to settle down.

Riding a horse, Tang Hao and the seven or eight generals beside him came to the mansion where Ou Peng stayed.

Dismounted and entered the house, and when he arrived at the front hall, Tang Hao suddenly saw that the door of the front hall was full of enters, and after a closer look, he found that his old acquaintance Zhang Dong was also among them.

"Brother Zhang?" Tang Hao showed a little surprise on his face, stepped forward in a few steps, held Zhang Dong's hands, and said with emotion, "I heard that General Ou reported for help, and the younger brother knew that Luoyang was lost, and he was quite worried about Brother Zhang, but now I see that Brother Zhang is safe and sound...... Very good, very good! ――I don't know how my sister-in-law is? ”

Zhang Dong smiled slightly, and said, "Thanks to Brother Tang's concern, when the old brother was defeated in Luoyang, he fought hard, and then rescued the families of the soldiers of the whole army from the city, fortunately, otherwise, the old brother really has no face to see the soldiers of the whole army......" said, glanced at Tang Hao, and sighed guiltily, "I just heard that the soldiers in the city said that the old brother led the army to arrive, and the old brother wanted to greet him, and then he thought about it, the general of the defeated army, how can he see the old brother's male soldiers, so he waited here......

"Brother Zhang is serious, victory or defeat is a common thing in soldiers, no matter how fierce the Zhou army's offensive is, it will not be able to capture my Hangu Pass, Brother Zhang rest assured, the younger brother will avenge Luoyang for Brother Zhang!"

"Because of my brother's words, my brother is very at peace...... Come on, General Ou has prepared a banquet in the hall to catch the wind and wash the dust for his brother! -- I'll wait for a drunken party to rest! ”

"Haha, good!" Tang Hao smiled, and after thanking him, he led seven or eight generals beside him into the hall.

He didn't notice that Zhang Dong and Ou Peng secretly exchanged a look.

Those who are fortunate enough to be able to drink in the hall are all Zhang Dong, Ou Peng, Tang Hao's henchmen, such as Deng Bin, Liao Li, Yan Ming, etc., it can be said that they are all familiar with it, therefore, Tang Hao and others are not welcome, in the case of Zhang Dong and Ou Peng's frequent drinking, he unconsciously drank until he was half drunk, he didn't notice that the generals on Zhang Dong and Ou Peng's side, although they pretended to be drunk, but their white spoon eyes were clarified according to 1rì.

After three rounds of drinking like this, Tang Hao wiped the residual wine on his mouth and said with a smile, "Having said that, this time Zhou Jun is too big, right?" Don't you know that soldiers are fast? Like them, they are proud of capturing Luoyang, how can they be undefeated? ”

"Oh?" Hearing this, Zhang Dong put down the chopsticks in his hand and said with a smile, "Why did my brother say this?" ”

I saw Tang Hao shaking his head and pouting and smiling, and said, "If it were me Tang Hao, if I conquered Luoyang, I would have to quickly march into Gucheng, but now? That Zhou Jun Jingran had not yet arrived in Gucheng, but the younger brother arrived first......"

Ou Peng smiled slightly when he heard this, picked up his wine glass and glanced at Tang Hao, who was half-drunk in the hall, licked his lips, and said, "Actually, Zhou Jun has already been here......"

"Huh?" Tang Hao's eyes showed a little stunned, and he was just about to ask, but when he saw Ou Peng's face change, he slammed the wine glass in his hand to the ground.

Hearing a snap, countless crossbowmen poured into the hall, aiming the crossbows in their hands at the stunned Tang Hao and waiting.

"......" Tang Hao froze as he held the wine cup, and they couldn't figure out the situation, looking at the crossbowmen who surrounded him in disbelief.

Tang Hao saw that his face changed slightly, and most of his wine suddenly receded, and he frowned and said, "General Ou? This kind of joke can't be made, ...... said, he turned his head to look at Zhang Dong, but saw Zhang Dong looking at him apologetically.

At this moment, a chuckle came from the back of the hall, and then, Xie An took Li Jing, Fei Guo, Su Xin and other generals and slowly walked out of the small door on the left side of the hall, looking at Tang Hao with a smile.

"Your Excellency?" Tang Hao, who had realized that something was wrong with the situation, gradually oozed a little sweat on his forehead, and his right hand slowly stretched out to the saber at his waist.

Under Tang Hao's shocked and angry gaze, Xie An bowed his hand and said with a smile, "This official Xie An is the commander of the Zhou army in this western expedition, and also the position of supervising the army, General Tang, polite ......" Speaking of this, he suddenly noticed Tang Hao's action of reaching out and touching the blade, and hurriedly raised his hand and shouted, "General Tang, don't be reckless, and listen to this official!" -- This official invited the two generals Ou Peng and Zhang Dong to set up this Hongmen banquet, not for the general to wait for the order, but to let the general and other generals listen to the official's words, if this alone hurts the general's life, then it is not my Xie An's original intention! ”

At the same time, Zhang Dong, Ou Peng, Liao Li and others also stepped forward and confiscated the weapons in Tang Hao and others.

"Brother Zhang, ...... you" Watching Zhang Dong collect the blade from his hand, Tang Hao was shocked and angry, and looked at Zhang Dong in disbelief.

Zhang Dong smiled bitterly and said in a low voice, "Don't be surprised, brother, you will understand later......"

At the time when the 40,000 reinforcements were burying pots and cooking in the southwest corner of Gucheng, they could not have imagined that their white spoon general would be seized by the soldiers.

Seeing Tang Hao looking at Zhang Dong with an unusually angry gaze, Xie An waved his hand and said with a chuckle, "General Tang, don't be in a hurry to blame General Zhang Dong, and listen to this official!" ”

"......" Tang Hao turned his head to look at Xie An when he heard this, and did not say a word.

In all fairness, for this Tang Hao, Xie An can be said to be inevitable, Bi Jing he entered the mouth from Ou Peng and Zhang Donger, this Tang Hao is one of the few rebels who understands the formation and knows how to use the soldiers.

At the same time, his own martial arts are outstanding, and even Ou Peng, who is conceited in martial arts, does not think that he can win against Tang Hao, so Xie An set up this grand banquet.

"This official heard that when General Tang was in Nanyang, he was a general with 2,000 generals, and even had the opportunity to be promoted to deputy general and lieutenant, but because of the rebellion of 100,000 people in Nanyang, his future was broken...... This official really feels sorry for the general! Ancient into the clouds, the eldest husband was born in this world, should carry a three-foot sword, set up immortal feats, and be famous for centuries and for eternity...... How can I be a thief? ”

"......" Tang Hao pouted and smiled when he heard this, and poured himself a glass of wine.

"This official also knows that generals like General Tang are not unwilling to serve the country, but they are forced to be helpless, and right now, there is a good opportunity to make General Tang and his soldiers return to the Great Zhou, I don't know if General Tang is willing or not?"

Tang Hao sneered and said lightly, "If General Ben says no, won't he be able to get out of this house?" ”

"It seems that General Tang is unhappy that this official has used such inferior means to take the general and others in!" Xie An smiled slightly, shook his head, and said, "General rest assured, this official will still let General Tang go, of course, not only General Tang, as long as he is unwilling to atone for his crimes and is willing to be a thief for the rest of his life, he can leave and return to Hangu Pass, waiting for this official to lead the army to the pass and fight to the death with you!" - There is only one thing that General Tang needs to understand, that is, after rì, General Tang can no longer regard his involuntary self as a shirk of being committed to a thief! Because, there was once an opportunity to make meritorious service in front of General Tang, but General Tang turned a blind eye......"

"......" Tang Hao's face changed slightly when he heard this, holding the wine cup in his hand, and he didn't say a word.

Seeing Tang Hao's hesitation and his heart was shaken, Xie An struck while the iron was hot, took a few steps closer, and said slowly, "Actually, this official also knows that among the rebels, some generals are indeed willing to be thieves, not that they disregard the country and the monarch's father...... First, to vent the resentment that has not been encountered for a long time, and secondly, it is that it is difficult to turn back, because of this, it is wrong again and again, so that it is deep in the quagmire and difficult to extricate itself......" Speaking of this, Xie An has walked in front of Tang Hao, and under the surprised eyes of all the people in the room, he bent down to take the wine jug on the table, poured a glass of wine for Tang Hao, and then looked at Tang Hao and laughed softly, "I don't know if General Tang is the former?" The latter? Or both? ”

Glancing at the wine glass full of wine in his hand, Tang Hao looked at Xie An deeply, and said in a deep voice, "This Xie Dajin, isn't he afraid that General Ben will suddenly attack and hold Dajin hostage?" ”

"Will the general?" Xie An said with a smile.

"I can't say!" With a light snort, Tang Hao raised his neck and drank all the wine in the cup, then looked at Xie An, and said lightly, "However, it's a little bold!" ”

"No way," under Tang Hao's puzzled gaze, Xie An shrugged his shoulders and said with a wry smile while filling the glass of wine for Tang Hao and the others one by one, "In Xie's hometown, there is a saying that if you want to get what kind of reward, what kind of risk you have to bear...... Since Xie wants to say that he will surrender to General Tang, he is bound to prove Xie Mou's sincerity to General Tang, if he hides behind, how can he be convinced by a hero like General Tang? Speaking of this, Xie An deliberately glanced at General Tang, and said with a smile, "Now is the best time for General Tang to make trouble, this official is just a civilian official who has no power to restrain the chicken, and if the general wants to take down this official, it will be effortless......

"......" Tang Hao frowned and glanced at Xie An, but he didn't make any moves.

Seeing this, Xie An didn't understand, bowed his hand, and said, "I hope that the generals will stop the precipice, don't make mistakes again and again!" -- If the general is haunted by this banquet, Xie is here, and he has made amends to the generals! ”

Seeing Xie An bow to him, Tang Hao could no longer be indifferent, and quickly stood up, stretched out his hands to support Xie An's arms, and then let out a long sigh.

"Big Entry...... What a good means! ――Tang surrendered! As he spoke, he stroked the hem of the armor on his body, knocked on one knee, knelt down in front of Xie An, clenched his fists and said in a deep voice, "Sin will Tang Hao, I wish to surrender!" ”

Seeing that his own master would be like this, the seven or eight generals under Tang Hao's command also got up and knelt on the ground, saying that they were willing to surrender.

I have to say how happy Xie Anzhong was at this moment, he hurriedly stretched out his hand to help Tang Hao, and said again and again, "General Tang, please get up!" Gentlemen, please rise! - Come on, come, while the wine is still warm, this official will give you a glass first! ”

"How dare you ......" Tang Hao waited and hurriedly picked up the wine cup.

The crossbowmen retreated, and the blades that had been confiscated before were also returned to Tang Hao and the others one by one by Xie An.

I have to say that this move, when Tang Hao and the others were moved in their hearts, they were a little overwhelmed, and after thinking about it, they all put their respective swords in a position that was quite conspicuous and inconvenient to take the sword, so as to express their hearts.

Xie An saw all this clearly, to be honest, the reason why he wanted to personally return these swords to their owners was originally a means to get into their hearts.

The banquet continued, and unlike Fang Cai, Xie An and the generals of the Zhou army also joined in.

At first, Tang Hao felt a little uncomfortable waiting for entering, but he couldn't admit that wine was indeed a good thing that could win over the relationship between entering and entering, but after a tour of wine, the crowd in the house seemed to have forgotten the embarrassment of Fang Cai.

"That's right!" Suddenly, Tang Hao seemed to think of something, wiped the residual wine on the corner of his mouth, and said with a fist, "This crime will lead 40,000 soldiers and horses to aid Gucheng, and there are still ...... in the current Hanguguan army."

However, before he could finish his words, he was interrupted by Xie An.

"Alas," waving his hand at Tang Hao, Xie An said with a smile, "This banquet is set up for the generals to abandon the darkness and turn to the light, if it is mixed with official affairs, wouldn't it be a disappointment?" ”

I have to admit that Xie An's hand is quite clever in retreating into advance.

Isn't he really in a hurry to understand the situation in Hangu Pass?

Of course not!

But he didn't do that, in his opinion, as long as Tang Hao and the others surrendered sincerely, he would sooner or later understand the situation in Hangu Pass, since this is the case, why bother asking? It is better to put these things aside for the time being, and use good words to appease Tang Hao and the others, and resolve their uneasiness and nervousness caused by the new arrival.

Sure enough, hearing Xie An's words, Tang Hao and the others were stunned, and glanced at each other, unable to hide the joy in their eyes.

Moreover, Xie An's tricks are more than that...... After drinking a full glass with everyone in the room, Xie An wiped the wine stains from the corner of his mouth, and said with a chuckle, "Oh, by the way, there is something I want to mention......" As he spoke, he paused, looked back at Su Xin and said, "General Su, have you ever brought the merit book?" ”

Su Xin hugged his fists and said, "As Dajin instructed, the last general will take it with him!" As he spoke, he took out a thin notebook from the small cloth bag he was carrying, and then took out a pen, the tip of which was dipped in spit on his tongue.

Seeing this, Tang Hao's eyes showed a little inexplicable, and when he noticed that Ou Peng, Zhang Dong and the others were gathered in a daze, looking at the merit book in Su Xin's hand with a happy face, he was even more puzzled.

"This official remembers that the current criminal sentences of General Zhang Dong and General Ou Peng have almost been reduced to exile, right?"

"Yes!" Su Xin nodded, looked at the words recorded on the merit book, and said, "Right now, General Ou Peng and others have made a merit in raising troops to surrender to Chengcheng, so the punishment of the whole army has been reduced from Ling Chi to beheading, and General Ou Peng has been counted as two merits, and he is sentenced to 3,000 li in exile...... Zhang Dong and Gu Cheng said that General Ou Peng had a total of two merits, so the crimes of the officers and men of the whole army were reduced from Ling Chi to 3,000 li in exile, and General Zhang Dong himself counted four merits and was sentenced to 2,000 li in exile......"

"Good!" Xie An smiled slightly, and after looking around at some of the generals in the room, he said, "One more addition, General Ou Peng and General Zhang Dong helped the officials to say that General Tang Hao had meritorious, and the soldiers under General Ou Peng were sentenced to 2,500 li in exile, General Ou Peng was sentenced to 2,500 li in exile, General Zhang Dong was sentenced to 2,500 li in exile, and General Zhang Dong was sentenced to ......three years in prison."

Listening to Xie An's words, Ou Peng and Zhang Dong glanced at each other, and couldn't help but show a little joy, on the other hand, Tang Hao and other generals were stunned, and their faces showed envy.

"As for General Tang Hao's ......" Xie An deliberately dragged out his long voice, and after attracting the attention of Tang Hao and others, he said slowly, "General Tang Hao and others have joined the rate of 40,000 soldiers to abandon the secret and surrender to the light, which is commendable, the whole army has changed the sentence of beheading since Ling Chi, and General Tang Hao has been in the country, because he has set an example and added another merit, and the sentence of beheading has been changed to 3,000 miles in exile......" Saying, he glanced at Tang Hao, chuckled and said, "This is what this official said, opportunity!" -- As long as the generals are sincere, return to the Great Zhou, and make meritorious contributions, the officials will definitely persuade the imperial court not to blame the past and reduce their sentences according to their merits, up to 10 lashes...... This is inevitable! Bi Jing, you have committed a crime after all......"

"Yes, yes......" Including Tang Hao and the others, all the rebels in the house nodded in agreement, and their hearts were overjoyed.

What is ten lashes?

It was just a piece of bamboo and ten strokes on the back, and in general, it was the main method of the ruffians in various prefectures, and it was almost negligible compared to the rod punishment that could be beaten to death, not to mention exile, imprisonment, and the death penalty above the two.

Looking at the generals in the room, although they didn't speak, they couldn't help but show joy in their eyes, and Xie An was secretly proud.

He knew very well that good words alone were not enough to make these rebels surrender to his own use, and they had to pay corresponding benefits.

And what better benefit could there be for these rebels than a reduced sentence?

As Yan Kai guessed, Xie An, who only had 50,000 troops when he set out from Luoyang, now has as many as 120,000 soldiers and horses, of which 70,000 are the original rebels...... Next, it's Hangu Guan...... Glancing at the wine in the glass, Xie An drank it all.