A commercial horse team enters the territory of Liuzhou, comes to the horsehair mountain in the middle of Liangzhou and Qingcang City, at a glance, it is full of brown and yellow Gobi remnants, it is difficult to cultivate, the mountain presents a row of geese in the north-south direction, between the mountain passes, the wind and sand fly like a knife, the horse team from east to west will pass through from here, after the imperial court will include the three states of Beiliang into the territory, it is considered to be out of the border when it originally left this place, there is no lack of poets who have traveled here in the past 20 years, and there are many popular poems reciting the court and the opposition. This time Beiliang Dao set up Liuzhou, the Liyang Imperial Court issued an edict about half a year later, and dozens of people were promoted to the rank of knight, the main one is to promote Yang Guangdou to Liuzhou Assassin History, the Central Plains officials have never heard of this person, but they also know that this is Zhao Ting had to pinch his nose and admit that the Xu family's hand in Beiliang covered the sky, and the holy decree of Tai'an City was almost spread together with the news of the southern invasion of the Beimang Nation, and some people in the capital immediately gloated, and it was spread out "Let's see how long you Beiliang is rampant" In the eyes of many people, as long as you don't fight the eastern front guarded by General Gu Jiantang, first, Liyang does not have to fight on two fronts, and secondly, Liang Mang is a dog eats a dog, after all, if Beimang is a wild dog who covets the fat of the Central Plains, Beiliang is no better, for the Liyang court, it is always a not very obedient watchdog, wild and untamable.

With the gradual relaxation of many bans on the convection of Liuzhou in Beiliang Road, some displaced people can not only return to their hometowns to worship their ancestors, but also join the army at the border pass, and the old Beiliang of the old three states can also enter Liuzhou smoothly, keenly looking for business opportunities for gold panning, this shuttle through the horsehair mountain horse team is like this, the owner of the horse team is a big family in Lingzhou, generations of tea, horses, salt and iron these bulk businesses, the ancestors are the warriors who followed the people to slaughter the south and fight in the north for many years, after the Xu family settled in Beiliang, the official position only climbed to the old man from the four military generals died of the old disease on the battlefield, it is said that even the king of Beiliang at that time also came to the mourning hall to worship, this honor, in the territory of Beiliang, which will be planted in the courtyard of many people, there are only a handfulWith the death of Xu Xiao, the old king of Liang, that treatment became more and more a talisman for this family, and the border business of other families began to wither, but their business became more and more unimpeded, and even extended the family branches into Liuzhou. There are two outsiders in the Fu family horse team of nearly 100 people, it is a pair of masters and apprentices, and several principals of the horse team who walk the border and dangerous places all the year round are not very welcome to this, but I heard that it is a popular official in Lingzhou who even the Fu family can't afford to provoke, saying that the family is full of food and wants to travel outside the Saiwai, so he has to be contained and entered the horse team. In addition to the incense accumulated by the old family owner, the next two generations of descendants will inevitably show fatigue because they all follow the ancestral teachings to stay away from officialdom, after all, they still have to act according to people's faces. The nominal leader of the Fu family is Fu Zhensheng, the eldest grandson of the Fu family's third room, and then handed over to two old Jianghu gangs who are familiar with the border, this Fu Zhensheng is bookish, but it is rumored that the head of the martial arts in the clan is full of praise for his martial arts talent, as for the depth of the hands and feet, no one has ever seen him shoot, Zhao Jiabao and Feng Qianxiang, two old people who have practiced in the ups and downs of the rivers and lakes, are also not sure, the rules of the rivers and lakes are easy to look at the low, easy to look at the high, presumably Fu Zhensheng's skills are not far behind.

Fu Zhensheng sat with his back against the mountain wall, carefully picked up the newly made sheepskin water bladder, and drank the warm water. The Fu family has always had this tradition, and the first time the children of the Fu family walked to the border, there were elderly women in the family who sewed water bladders, and then the male elders handed them over. Even if the new sac is dried to remove the fishy smell, it is still unbearable after storing water, which is tantamount to a kind of torture for the rich and noble descendants, but the Fu family is simple, and most of the descendants are tough. He glanced at the pair of masters and apprentices standing in the distance, the master was about the same age as him, he looked like a jade tree in the wind, he should have been the leader of the team on the occasion of Lingzhou Fengyue, I don't know why he had to come to the side to ask for hardship, that apprentice was an inconspicuous child, but after entering Liuzhou, he was more comfortable than many Fu family members who were used to walking outside the city. Fu Zhensheng observed carefully all the way, and said to the two seniors at this time: "Uncle Zhao, Uncle Feng, that Xu Qi is not like a character who walks on the side plug for the first time, there is no need for us to remind him, the amount of water he drinks every time is very appropriate, and he never overdrinks because of thirst." The treatment of people is also exquisite, unlike those children of the scholar clan who are not sophisticated, and there are not many Lingzhou clans that can make our Fu family jealous, but I have not heard of such a number one person. ”

Zhao Jiabao, who has been a guest of the Fu family for more than 20 years, does not need to grovel on the side of the head of the family, and has a relationship with the head of the third room, so he has been teaching Fu Zhensheng all the way to his juniors. Although the young man named Xu Qi said that he walked in the middle of the horse team, he had to suffer a lot less than the young owner, but he was calm and relaxed, and he couldn't pretend to be able to pretend to be able to do it. It's a good thing that the young owner can have an extra heart. Now that the young owner has spoken, Qianxiang, you can also get to the bottom of it. ”

Feng Qianxiang, who was carrying a long knife behind him, smiled, and said in a deep voice: "Don't worry, Shaodong, before this trip, the head of the family explained to me and Lao Zhao in private, although this Xu Qi is of unknown origin, he can guarantee his innocence and is by no means a villain." However, Lao Zhao and I are selfish, and I want to see if the young owner can see the difference between the master and apprentice by himself, so I didn't say it explicitly, don't be surprised by the young owner. ”

"As it should be. Fu Zhensheng has been impregnated with a family style that is very different from ordinary generals since he was a child, and his temperament is introverted, he slowly put away the sheepskin sac, pursed his chapped lips, and laughed at himself: "After this trip, I realized the taste of the northwest wind, which is really not good." ”

Fu Zhensheng suddenly sighed and said: "That Xinliuzhou is a place where jackals look around, Chen Xiliang, a confidant of the Beiliang Palace, is indeed suspected of being a woman, paying too much attention to the gains and losses of a time and place, refusing to abandon the city, and as a result, he was besieged by 10,000 horse thieves in Qingcang City, and the lives of dozens of white horse servants were buried in vain. I don't know what kind of temperament Yang Guangdou, the new assassin of Lu Dao, is, if he is in the same vein as Chen Xiliang, a big celebrity in Qingliang Mountain, our Fu family's trip is probably unpredictable. Take 10,000 steps back and say, Fu Zhen is dead if he lives and dies, delaying the great cause of Beiliang, if my grandfather is alive, most likely I will not be allowed to enter the house. ”

Zhao Jiabao is obviously not optimistic about the future, and said worriedly: "Our Fu family has been working hard for Beiliang for nearly 20 years, nominally to break through the border business, but in fact secretly looking for mines, Beiliang gold and iron ore can be said to be mostly from the hands of the Fu family, this time I went to Liuzhou Fengxiang to confirm the texture and output of the iron mine, I think there is a bit of suspense." ”

Feng Qianxiang said with a smile: "After all, I hope that Beiliang can win this battle, otherwise Lao Tzu's family wealth that he has saved for most of his life will be lost." At that time, even if the King of Beiliang stands in front of me, I will point at his nose and scold. ”

Zhao Jiabao smiled and saw that the young owner was at a loss, and explained: "As soon as I heard that there was going to be a war, many big families with no conscience and no courage in Lingzhou began to run out, but the house and the land could not be taken away, so they could only be sold cheaply. It's strange to say, such a big movement, the government side completely turned a blind eye, and didn't care about the rules of asking relatives and neighbors, whoever went to the yamen could get the fixed post and the positive deed, and it was not a white deed, it was a real red deed, but fortunately, the Metropolitan Protectorate finally got stuck at the last moment, and every time he left the country, he was not allowed to carry more than 100 gold and 1,000 silver. ”

Fu Zhensheng asked curiously: "With such a little gold and silver, is it possible to send people back and forth in and out of Beiliang? Those rich people are not too troublesome? Even if there is only a family of 100,000 taels of silver, 100 gold and 1,000 silver, they have to run 50 times." ”

Feng Qianxiang shook his head and smiled: "It's also simple, in fact, you don't need to carry gold and silver out of the country, you have bought antique calligraphy and paintings, and it's easy and convenient, anyway, no one cares about how much this takes, and when you go to Beiliang, you can also exchange it for silver. Our Lingzhou inexplicably rising Ichthyosaurus Gang, the young owner has heard of it, I compare their eating appearance, it is not worth mentioning, people's shelf, it is simply a thousand gold scattered, all bought the field and house, I don't know where so much silver came from in Ludao, roughly calculated, as far as I know the real estate of Ludao, the Ichthyosaurus Gang has smashed out more than 800,000 taels of silver, the real number must not be doubled, this is going to become a big landlord who owns half of Lingzhou, the courage of the female leader of the Ichthyosaurus Gang, I also admire the big man to the ground。 Shaodong, why don't you marry that woman?"

Fu Zhensheng is not a person who can't afford to joke, but he still feels a little helpless, and laughs at himself: "A heroine who is as famous as Huishan Ziyi, where will you look down on me." ”

Zhao Jiabao sighed, looking surprised, the pair of master and apprentice had disappeared under their noses, and the few Fu family members who were originally close to outsiders were also unaware. Fu Zhensheng was burdened by Beiliang and the family on this trip, so he was a little disgusted with Xu Qi's self-assertion, looked up at the sky, and said: "Wait for them for half an hour, if you can't find them, we must set off. ”

Xu Fengnian, who entered Liuzhou with Yu Dilong, went around to another goose-shaped mountain wall, and saw a pair of unexpected acquaintances, Song Dongming of the Luming Song clan and his scholar, looking at each other in pairs, Song Dongming was stunned for a moment, and then smiled heartily, " From the beautiful Wudang to this poor mountain and bad water, you can meet this son, but it is really where you don't meet in life, if you don't worry, I still have a small half bag of wine here, it is a green ant in Beiliang, the wine is very strong, and it burns the throat at the beginning of the mouth, but after a while, it can drink a cool, Song someone is also the doorway to drink, I know that I will buy a few more pots, I regret not worrying about the shyness in the bag at the beginning, I should bring two more pots of green ants on credit. ”

Xu Fengnian didn't have too much politeness, took the wine bag, lifted it in the air, poured a small sip, and handed it back to Song Dongming, who asked with a smile: "Childe doesn't drink a few more sips, it's okay." ”

Xu Fengnian shook his head and smiled: "Xu Qi will not take away the beauty of people." ”

Seeing Xu Fengnian reporting to his home, Song Dongming probably thought that the son-in-law with a Beiliang accent must not know where the Luming Song family was sacred, and said: "In the Lower Song Dongming, the ancestral residence is in Luming County, Jiangnan, and I have met Xu Gongzi twice, and the fate is really ......not small."

Halfway through the words, Song Dongming was slapped on his cheeks by the dry needle thatch wrapped in the wind and sand, reached out and touched it, grabbed the withered yellow thatch that was ripe and took root from the ground to make flying, and said with emotion: "One year old and two withered glory, floating with the long wind." ”

The scholar suddenly stretched out his finger and shouted, "Sir, look, is that wolf smoke?"

Following the scholar's fingers, Song Dongming saw a thick wolf smoke rising from the desert, it should be the direction of Qingcang City, reporting safety to Liangzhou, they had never seen this scene when they walked into Liuzhou before, no wonder their scholar was so surprised, Song Dongming muttered to himself: "The ancient book says that the wolf smoke here is different from the Central Plains, and it is named after burning wolf dung, and the fireworks are straight and extremely black, and the wind blows not obliquely." But looking at it this way, except that this wolf smoke is thicker, the intensity is no different from that of the Central Plains. ”

Xu Feng laughed youngly: " That's probably the misinformation of some border poets, the northwest frontier, wolf dung burning smoke may occasionally do, but that is all helpless in the case of insufficient cow and sheep dung, most of them are still local materials, poplar and red willow wood for firewood, supplemented by flammable grass such as dry reeds available everywhere, and the beacons of the Beiliang border army in various places, the so-called supply of wolf smoke and burning, has a very strict allocation, if it is found that a beacon reserve is insufficient by the patrol border supervisor, it is necessary to sit all the way to the officials of the fourth grade, all of them are beheaded on the spot, and it is useless for anyone to intercede, Beiliang has been in the past 20 years, because of this'Little things', almost more than 300 people died. In the first four or five years, there were relatively few, but this year it was the most, killing more than 60 negligent border guards in one go. ”

Song Dongming was shocked, took a sip of green ant wine, and then said: "Two generations of vassal kings alternately succeeded, and the Northern Liangbian Army is different from other vassal kings' armies, many unruly and untamable meritorious veterans hold military power, and they should seek stability and prevent chaos, why are they still so violent, seeing the big from the small, plus the previous rumors, once secretly killed the Huaihua general Zhong Hongwu without saying a word, are you not afraid of causing a mutiny?

Xu Fengnian smiled and asked, "Don't agree with each other?"

Song Dongming is so smart, although he was full of temptation at the beginning, he also knew that he said some layman words indiscriminately, and he couldn't take out the expert's words, so he said with a smile: "The Northern Liang Army is full of mountains, and the new king is on the throne, only by killing chickens and monkeys, otherwise the war will not start, and it will be difficult to use military merits to serve the public." ”

Xu Fengnian listened to this kind of calloused talk, and had no desire to talk, so he planned to return to the Fu family horse team, and he had to escort them to Qingcang City safely, and then naturally there would be an elite cavalry team secretly escorting them to the newly discovered mine on Fengxiang's side. If the Fu family, who has worked hard in Beiliang, learns that the King of Beiliang personally escorts them, I don't know what they will think, and whether they will feel that the hard work of so many years is worth it. Of course, Xu Fengnian will not let them know the truth, this may be what Xu Weixiong, who pays attention to details, does not like it, as the master of the people, but he refuses to buy people's hearts in details. Song Dongming saw that Xu Fengnian had signs of resignation and left, so he hurriedly made amends, and said: "Xu Gongzi, I heard that there are two young staff members in your Beiliang Palace, and Xu Beitong, the grandson of the king of Beimang Beiyuan, became the assassin of Lingzhou. To say boldly, if you Beiliangdao is a country of its own, then these two people are sure to be the future of the slaughter and auxiliary talents, but since ancient times, the important ministers of the temple are all from the public to the private, that is, first to the center of the court with talent and merit, and then to the emperor's side. In this way, you Qingliang Mountain doesn't seem to be very disciplined. ”

Xu Fengnian nodded and said, "It's not very disciplined, but then again, what are the pros and cons of this kind of exceptional promotion in Mr. Song's opinion?"

Song Dongming smiled slightly, probably talking about what he was good at, and the whole person suddenly looked extraordinary, and said eloquently, "In the short term, it is naturally a good thing to buy bones with a thousand dollars, especially conducive to appeasing the scholars who went to Liang, since even Chen Xiliang, who was frustrated in two major events in a row, was not punished by the King of Beiliang, then we who are scholars are full of poetry and books, and our background is not worse than that Chen Xiliang, how can we not be high-ranking officials?"

Xu Fengnian interrupted Song Dongming's words very unceremoniously and asked, "What does Mr. Song think of Chen Xiliang's stubborn defense of Qingcang?

The scholar has long seen that this guy surnamed Xu is not pleasing to the eye, what kind of vision his own master has, even if the Chinese celebrities on Jiangnan Road are in their old age, listening to the old man's lectures and interpretations, it has to be a deferential appearance, this Xu Qi is worthy of being a barbarian in Beiliang, just looking like a scholar, his temperament and knowledge are all in a mess, isn't his own master the one who throws flattery to the blind man? The scholar was about to teach the uninteresting guy a lesson, but Song Dongming glanced at him quietly, which frightened the most well-behaved scholar and immediately silenced, Song Dongming continued: "For Chen Xiliang, it should be used as a reward and punishment. This person defended the city, and he seemed confused, so that everyone in Beiliang thought that this son was a talented and sparse person, but they didn't know that Beiliang did not lack armor, good swords, horses, and even silver, but only two words were missing, the hearts of the people. ”

Song Dongming looked into the distance, "The people's hearts are the foundation of the people in the right time, the right place, the right people, the danger of the country, never in the danger of the mountains and rivers in the right place, but in the hearts of the people." Geography is a dead thing, the debate between heaven and man, naturally falls on the heads of the people and both, Confucianism, Taoism and Mo have their own opinions, countless sages have not fought for a reason, Song Dongming does not dare to say that he can be the king and the master, can be upright, willing to accumulate merits, and turn disasters into blessings, this is to prove the way of heaven with humanity, even if it cannot reverse the time of heaven, but it is always wrong. If it is said that Beiliang is in the hands of the old Liang King Xu Xiao, the majesty of the armor soldiers, and the 300,000 iron cavalry is already the hero of the world, then if the hands of the new Liang King Xu Fengnian can gather the hearts of the people, then Beiliang has millions of households, and everyone can fight the soldiers who are willing to fight, even if Beimang is known as a million people who control the strings, how can he bully Beiliang?"

Song Dongming said softly: "So, Chen Xiliang has made a good start to Beiliang, those displaced people who entered the city, calculated by three thousand people, after they survived, the so-called word of mouth is a good reputation, there will be 30,000 people in Liuzhou, and even more homeless people know the benevolence and righteousness of the young vassal king, not the lord of Beiliang who is full of benevolence and morality, and it is definitely not the fake benevolence and false righteousness that only puts some porridge and food at the gate of the city, but can really help them guard the four states of Beiliang and Lianglingliu!"

The middle-aged scholar who was talking to himself looked solemn, "If Chen Xiliang had chosen to retreat at that time, yes, it was indeed a white horse in the city that left the king of Beiliang, but unfortunately Li Yishan's plan back then was all a bamboo basket." Grace and power are combined, Li Yishan expelled the displaced people and was not allowed to return to their hometowns, and sent Beiliang armor soldiers to kill people and train soldiers all the year round, it was Shi 'Wei' in front, Chen Xiliang did not guard the green sky, and hundreds of thousands of homeless people inside and outside the city were staring at that time, Xu Fengnian wanted to let these homeless people fight to the death for Beiliang? Beiliang said that Beiliang thought that the thoughtful Xu Beiji was far better than the benevolent Chen Xiliang of women, hmph, this is the real short-sightedness! The inner sage and the outer king, only by serving the government and virtue, can he be like the heavenly Beichen, but there are stars in his place to guard, can he be regarded as a real enlightened person with more help. Bei Liangkong has the heart of the army but no people, so even if 300,000 soldiers die, they will not be able to guard the northwest gate of Liyang! Then Xu Fengnian, who was still His Royal Highness the Prince of the World at that time, said in the imperial road of the capital that he would guard the country for the people of the Central Plains and not be troubled by the horseshoe of Beimang. It's just a that gets laughed out of someone's big teeth!"

The scholar on the side widened his eyes, and his own master, who has always been gentle and elegant, would be so open-mouthed?

Xu Fengnian nodded silently.

Yu Dilong squatted beside the master, he definitely didn't understand it, but he still felt that this slightly older Jiangnan scholar was quite energetic when he spoke, and he seemed to be more imposing than the masters of the rivers and lakes.

Momentum.

Yu Dilong, who stared at Song Dongming's fierce gaze, was a little puzzled, how many books did they read, and they could still read the momentum? There are still such good things in the world? Why don't you go back and tell the master, let's also read and write?

After Xu Fengnian was silent for a moment, he smiled and "asked knowingly": "Prime Minister Yin Maochun is presiding over the big examination of officials from all over the capital, and Mr. Song is traveling in the cold at this time, so he must not be in the official career?

The scholar snorted heavily, obviously thinking that this idiotic question was insulting his master.

Song Dongming suddenly felt a little sentimental, closed his eyes, and vaguely showed an irrepressible look of pain, and sighed softly: "It's not a secret, someone in the capital has asked me like this, I can only say that what he gave me was not what I wanted." ”

Song Dongming also seemed to realize that his true feelings were not appropriate, so he smiled and said, "Young Master Xu, this trip is going to Qingcang City?"

Xu Fengnian shook his head.

Yu Dilong looked at the master quietly.

Song Dongming said: "Then don't pass it here." ”

Xu Fengnian hugged his fists and said goodbye, and returned to the Fu family horse team with Yu Dilong.

Xu Fengnian suddenly remembered the Beiliang spy record, Song Dongming, who was in the picture of Yuan Benxi very early, when he was a big Dengke and then a small Dengke, first the title of the gold list, and the high school list before the crown, even the young genius was shocked by this person's erudition and strong knowledge, and almost wanted to marry him, but he never thought that this person would marry a woman with low ethnic quality immediately after returning to his hometown. After that, Song Dongming was soon widowed, had no children under his knees, did not marry a wife for so many years, and did not even have a concubine. It was vaguely mentioned in the spy report that the death of Song Dongming's wife was not normal. The Luming Song clan is a wealthy lord, and Song Dongming is a big family that is expected to enter the dynasty as a prime minister, who dares to act so frantically? The entire Liyang can be counted with one pair of hands.

Xu Fengnian, who walked far away, couldn't help but glance back.

He had a wrong time with Lu Xu in Xiangfan City, and he shouldn't miss it again this time.

Xu Fengnian whistled and slowly raised his hand, and it didn't take long for a handsome white falcon to fall to its arm.

Over there, Song Dongming and the scholar continued to walk hard in the wind and sand of Horsehair Mountain, and the scholar walked beside Mr., lifted the gauze mask that covered the yellow sand on the side of his mouth, and said loudly: "Sir, this Xu Qi should be a tall man from the short family of Beiliang, right?"

Song Dongming smiled: "You are more difficult to speak than me." ”

The scholar smiled, and quickly turned his head to pout the yellow sand at the entrance, "Sir, let's wander around like this, when will we go to see the young vassal king? Didn't Mr. say that Beiliang still lacks a strategic assistant minister? Sir has the strategy of ten wins and ten defeats in his heart!"

Song Dongming said flatly: "Look at fate." What's more, whether Xu Fengnian is the master in my mind, I have to see again. ”

The scholar looked bitter and said: "Sir, even if his surname Xu can show his ambitions, how will our Luming Song clan deal with themselves when the time comes? ”

Song Dongming shook his head and said: "This time is different from the past, there is the restoration of Western Chu, if the imperial court suppresses my Song clan, then it will have to pay the price of causing turmoil in the hinterland of the Central Plains, and the gains outweigh the losses." What's more, Song Dong has long been a pawn in Tai'an City, and it doesn't matter where it falls, maybe Mr. Yuan will be happy to see it. ”

The scholar sighed old-fashionedly.

Song Dongming's eyes were resolute and looked ahead.

Mr. Yuan, you said that you are willing to give up, and you can only get if you are willing to give. So I was forced to make a choice. But how Song Dongming doesn't know this superficial truth, it's just that I don't want to exchange the small sacrifice in your eyes for the position of prime minister.

I, Song Dongming, have always been an infatuation that is useless, just like I don't know if good people really have good rewards, but I want to believe it. Just like the world doesn't believe that Beiliang Xu Fengnian can hold the northwest, but I want to believe it.

Song Dongming walked and walked, his eyes moist.

Lips trembled slightly.

Almost silently, he hummed a little song that the woman who had died so early often sang.

"East and West, North and South, North and West, I just want to be inseparable from each other.

In this life and in the next life, in the next life and in this life, who can meet again?"