Hutou City is a nail that must be pulled out by the Northern Mang's army in the south.

The huge and majestic Hutou City has always been known as "there is no two places in the border, and there is no parallel in the northwest", it is four and a half miles long from east to west, and about five miles wide from north to south. After the completion of the North Liang Road in six years, it is said that half of the boulders and big trees in the northwest of the dynasty were exhausted, and its south gate was called Dingding Gate, which was criticized by Liyang Wenchen. At the end of the Spring and Autumn Period, Gu Jiantang attacked the old Southern Tang Dynasty, and used this crossbow to shoot through the large building ships of the Southern Tang Dynasty Naval Division, so as to demonstrate the combat power of Liyang. If it weren't for the deterrence and containment of these giant bed crossbows, but for the reckless advance of the siege equipment by the Beimang infantry soldiers, the defense of Hutou City would never have the spare strength as it is now, and more than a thousand large and small catapults would attack a city, this kind of thing that only a madman can do, only the middle of the Dafeng Dynasty from prosperity to decline has appeared once in history, and the city that suffered that time was the Dafeng Guodu that was not inferior in scale to Tai-Ancheng. Of course, to this day, although the same number of catapults have accumulated on the middle line of Beimang, it is only more than twenty or thirty catties of stone-throwing weight, so on the whole, the power of the cluster is still far inferior to the offensive in the middle of the Dafeng period, which was praised by later generations as "falling from the sky".

In addition to being easy to defend and difficult to attack, Hutou City also has two military towns in the rear to help contain Beimang, so that Hutou City will not follow in the footsteps of Xiangfan's "Ten Years of Lonely City", plus there are 6,000 cavalry troops in Hutou City who can take the initiative to attack at any time, and they can echo with the elite cavalry of Liuya Poria Cocos, and the defense line of Huaiyang Pass is only 100 miles away from the line of the four towns of Chongzuka in the rear. If it weren't for the fact that the troops on the middle line of Beimang were sufficient and had an absolute advantage in numbers, then Beiliang would take the lead in launching a large-scale cavalry battle at any time. So in the spring of the second year of Xiangfu, Hutou City became the only protagonist, attracting most of the attention of both sides.

A year after the Northern Liangdu Hufu or Xu Fengnian personally decided to defend Hutou City, under the auspices of Song Dongming, the deputy envoy of the strategy, and Tian Peifang, the assassin of Liangzhou, Liangzhou quickly added more than 10,000 foot soldiers to the two towns of Liuya and Poria, of which there were 4,000 people in Liuzhou Qingzhuang, carrying a large number of equipment and baggage, all the way north, under the strict escort of Bai Yuwei personally led by Qi Dangguo into the two military towns. For this reason, Beimang symbolically dispatched 20,000 cavalry troops to bypass Hutou City in an attempt to intercept it in the south, but in the end he did not fight with Bai Yuwei, and only two small-scale contact battles broke out. After that, Beimang should guess the strategic intentions of Beiliang, increase efforts to storm Hutou City, its siege methods are mainly born from Youzhou Hulukou, but compared with the simple and rough of the two cities of Lying Bow and Luanhe, attacking Hutou City, there are many new ideas, in addition to catapults, the craftsmen of the Southern Dynasty also made a large number of toad carts for the Beimang army to fill the trenches, and for the archers to climb high and shoot flat and destroy the flying tower of the pheasant moat at the head of the city, and try to pile up earth and build mountains near the city, and even send cave masters to explore the terrain, day and night to dig tunnels to collapse the city wall or to pass through the city。 For this reason, Hutou City made various responses, Beimang's foot soldiers regarded death as home, rushed forward to wrap soil with thatched branches and threw them into the trench, throwing them like clouds, Hutoucheng shot red-hot iron beads into the trench, and drilled into the gaps in firewood and grass, and finally the ashes and soil only increased by a few inches, which was far from Beimang's expectations. Hutou City dug a ditch in the city wall to invite the cave to intercept, attacked it with fire, and nearly a thousand soldiers of Beimang suffocated to death, and the death was miserable. Hutou City for Beimang's continuous offensive of nearly 1,000 catapults, is also well prepared, Liu Jinu has planned carefully, has already ordered people to prepare more than 400,000 pieces of adobe, to supplement the city wall in battle, with the bad with the repair, although not as strong as the original rammed earth version of the city wall, but this makes Beimang originally used to win the catapult just become the icing on the cake of the fancy object. When Beimang used the most stupid method to raise soil for a mountain outside Hutou City, everyone below the captain of ten thousand people was burdened with soil, Liu Jinu countered Beimang with his human way, dug tunnels and empty its foundation, and sank thousands of Beimang enemy troops in one fell swoop.

Even Chu Lushan, who rarely praises others, couldn't help but exclaim, "What a Liu Jinu who has both offense and defense!"

As for the Beimang generals who have endured a lot of hardships, for this famous Beiliang general who has long been famous, everyone is more and more eager to eat his meat.

At the same time, Xu Fengnian personally ordered the two major horse farms in Liangzhou to replace or supplement the war horses for the two towns of Liuya Poria that originally needed to take into account the long-distance run, and turned to the pursuit of explosive power as the only purpose, Xu Fengnian and the Duhufu formulated a rule for Liu Ya Poria Cocos, and the next war should be bounded by two hundred miles, as long as the opportunity is found, there is no need to report the military situation to the Duhufu, you can go out of the city to find the Beimang cavalry to fight, and the requirements are only to save the main force after the war, regardless of victory or defeatThis is really an unbelievable military order for the Beiliang Border Army, and there is even a good thing that they will not be punished for losing a battle? The main generals of the two towns of Poria and Liuya also went to Huaiyang Pass to inquire about the matter, for fear that the news was transmitted incorrectly, but the answer they could get turned out to be yes, and afterwards the two cavalry commanders met to discuss the matter, and they were both a little aggrieved and resentful, feeling that the prince and Chu Duhu looked down on the combat power of the cavalry army of their two towns. The cavalry of the Poria Military Town, who was holding back their evil breath, soon brought thousands of "new daughters-in-law" who had just married from several major pastures , Find a vent, get the crossbowman report, in the area of the tooth slope with the Beimang a partial cavalry - did a fight, four thousand Beimang cavalry defeated to the death, to the west of the rout, a cavalry commander named Qifu Longguan suggested that the main general Wei Liang can not pursue, Wei Liang did not listen to dissuasion, the tail chased more than 30 miles, for the eight thousand reckless cavalry ambush, followed in the Poria cavalry last Qifu Longguan at the critical moment, led five hundred cavalry to break the formation straight to Beimang Daxu, and after this after the death hall, this gave the main force of the Poria cavalry retreat to win precious time, Qifu Longguan body iron armor embedded arrows as many as six, 500 troops only left less than one standard of men, although the battle of Beimang battle damage is greater than Beiliang, but the Poria cavalry on the second line of defense of the Liangzhou border pass was almost wiped out, even if there were still 5,000 foot soldiers defending the city, but without the cavalry, the original defense line with two wings flying together would break one wing. Wei Liang went to Huaiyang Pass to plead guiltily for this, but Xu Fengnian did not punish the chief general of Poria, but only promoted the beggar Fulongguan who was casually thrown into the town of Poria as a small lieutenant by himself, and was promoted to the inspector above the captain and under the captain of the capital, commanding the 1,000 cavalry army after the quota was filled, and setting up a beheading battalion, allowing this battalion to increase its strength as appropriate every time it made a meritorious service, and eventually the number of 3,000 cavalry would be the upper limit. This is another eye-catching event after the Hupu Battalion of the Hulukou Infantry Army was withdrawn from the camp and the Youzhou Cavalry Army set up a new non-retreat camp.

In the Northern Liang Protectorate, Chu Lushan was discussing with the generals whether he should transport troops to Hutou City, the two sides had a fierce dispute, and the focus of the quarrel was whether it made sense to open up the huge price paid for opening up this road, and now everyone knows that it is not a problem for Hutou City to accommodate another 15,000 people, the real problem is whether it can be entered, and the cavalry of Liu Ya Poria can only be involved for the time being, so that Beimang can not launch a stable offensive in the south of Hutou City, which is very different from the Northern Liang Border Army swaggering from the south gate to support Hutou City. The insistent side believes that the price of sending 15,000 people into Hutou City will probably be the loss of more than 10,000 cavalry, and the opposing side insists that this loss is too underestimated Beimang's combat strength and determination. Then someone mentioned that the two towns of Poria and Liuya attacked at the same time, boldly advanced, and harassed the Beimang army stationed in the Longyaner Plain, covering the supply of troops in the direction of Huaiyang Pass. But soon some people objected, with the brains of Dong Zhuo and others, this kind of seemingly well-intentioned but inferior use of troops is tantamount to taking the initiative to greet the Northern Barbarians, for fear that they will not know that our Beiliang has moved.

Chu Lushan, who was full of noise in his ears, said calmly: "With the increase of Liu Ya Poria Cocos' troops, Beimang must have deduced our intention to use Hutou City as a support point, otherwise they would not have put a trap on the Poria cavalry a few days ago." So there is no doubt that Beimang is now speculating when we will support Hutou City, not guessing whether we will support Hutou City. ”

When Chu Lushan spoke, the audience was immediately silent, and the unruly border generals naturally pricked up their ears to listen.

Chu Lushan continued to say tepidly: "Then we will try to pick a time they can't think of to do this, without this kind of opportunity, then we can only not do it." Ladies and gentlemen, Hutou City must be defended, but don't forget why the original intention of defending Hutou City is not to defend the city for the sake of defending the city, but to protect our Liangzhou defense line as much as possible, and the matter of exchanging troops, even if our border army exchanges one life for two Northern Mangmang barbarians, it is meaningless. Of course, during this period, we can take advantage of the situation to attract a few Beimang cavalry to leave the main army, or even simply put 15,000 people behind Huaiyang Pass, but do not move, but we can let the military town cavalry on the front line of Chongzuka pour out to have a large-scale battle that Beimang could not think of, and withdraw if it is won. ”

When Chu Lushan said this, he stretched out his finger and knocked on his head, and said with a smile: "There is Liu Jinu in Hutou City, he will do a good job of defending the city, everyone here, in addition to the two legs, there are also four legs of the war horse to help run away, don't go all the way to the dark." In the final analysis, now we and the Beimang army are staring at each other in the area of Hutou City and Huaiyang Pass, everyone is doing a dojo in a snail shell, and the two sides are intrigued, depending on whose Taoism is more unexpected. ”

Although there was no clear conclusion on the support of Hutou City, after Chu Lushan spoke, the generals present no longer had any objections. After that, Chu Lushan accompanied Xu Fengnian to take a walk in the Duhu Mansion, and Chu Lushan sighed softly: "It's a pity, it's self-defeating." ”

Xu Feng laughed youngly: "Maybe this is how people are not as good as heaven, when I move a stone to hit my own feet." ”

Chu Lushan shook his head, still with a somewhat regretful face. At that time, after Xu Fengnian issued that military order to the two towns of Liuya and Poria, Wei Liang's rash pursuit and Beimang's ambush were actually expected by the Duhufu, in fact, once the cavalry led by Wei Liang fell into a situation of death, at most it would support a small half an hour, and a long-distance Qingyuan cavalry would join the battlefield and eat the Beimang bait cavalry and the subsequent ambush army in one go. It's just that a small Duwei who has both a sense of crisis and a dare to fight to the death was suddenly born, begging for Longguan, destroying all the layouts, and Xu Fengnian and Duhufu had no choice but to be dumb and suffer from Coptis chinensis, which could not be said. Such an opportunity, after this village, there will be no store, and if it is gone, it will be gone, Bei Mang must have thought that Bei Liang would not "repeat the mistakes of the past" and break into the ambush circle, and Bei Liang would also lose a good opportunity to give Bei Mang a serial set.

Chu Lushan suddenly smiled, "The military department in the capital finally remembered to ask us about the military situation of the Beimang offensive." ”

Xu Fengnian sneered: "Don't worry about it, if the group of people in the border area of the Ministry of War at that time had the courage to go to Hulukou in Youzhou or come to our Huaiyang Pass, I would not stop them from watching the battle. ”

Chu Lushan nodded, a little gloating, "That Yuan mad dog is now riding a tiger is difficult, Wang Jingchong and Da Ru Shi Mu Wei sent him a great victory with both hands, and now the government and the opposition are sneering at Beimang's combat power, Yuan Tingshan also got his wish and became the general of Jizhou, it is estimated that Gu Jiantang is eager to hack to death this son-in-law who only cares about his own promotion and wealth, the more 'vulnerable' the easternmost front of Beimang, the more difficult it is for our General Gu to ask for money, food and weapons from the side of the household department." Didn't the two Liao say that they wanted to build a 6,000-person Modao infantry formation, and before the head of the household could say anything, the squire directly gave a cool reply of 'there is a life, but there is no money'?"

Xu Fengnian said with emotion: "Looking back now, at that time, Yuan Yu was promoted from the ceremonial department of the Qingshui Yamen to the household department in charge of the money bag of the dynasty, on the surface, it seems that he is deeply favored, but in fact, it is not. Zhao Zhen's real henchman Cheng dù, the seat of the six departments will only be headed by the Ministry of Rites, and then the Ministry of Officials and the Ministry of Soldiers, and the Ministry of Household will only be slightly higher than the Ministry of Crime. The house leak happened to rain overnight, and Yuan Yu then made another mistake in standing in line at the small court meeting, and the only suspense was who left the sixth department earlier, he or Lu Baijie of the military department. ”

Chu Lushan sneered: "In the final analysis, it is still Xinjun who doesn't trust Gu Lu's protégé and changes the Liyang version, so why not test Yuan Yu and others." At the moment, isn't there a rumor that a deputy envoy of Jiedu will be set up in the territory under the jurisdiction of the vassal king, I estimate that Lu Baijie and Yuan Yu will have to get out of Tai-Ancheng, one will go to the disgusting king of Yan in southern Xinjiang, and the other will go to the newly established place. ”

Xu Fengnian nodded and said: " There will definitely be in the Southern Xinjiang Road, most of which are Tangxi Sword Immortals who disappointed Zhao Zhan and did not regard them as his own people from beginning to end, Yuan Yu will be relatively better, it should be to go to the Han King who has always been at odds with Zhao Zhan, if the table is good, Yuan Yu still has a chance to return to the center of the court, Lu Baijie is sure that he has been tossing and turning in the local area for a lifetime, and there is one less military department Shangshu, which is destined to have a series of promotion changes, and the court can also appease some local military generals, killing two birds with one stone, after all, the nickname is something that only comes after death, but the official position of the military department is real。 ”

Chu Lushan sneered: "Except for the chaos in the temple when the Liyang Zhao family lived in a corner, there has not been such a dazzling high-level turmoil for many years. ”

Xu Fengnian shook his head and said: "Actually, it's not the same, the current chaos is that ordinary people will feel a mess when they see the excitement, but in fact, it is orderly in the chaos, and the Beijing officials have the bottom in their hearts." ”

Chu Lushan nodded and said: "So Qi Yanglong still has a few brushes, which is worthy of the old guy that Zhao Dian used to replace the blue-eyed." ”

Xu Feng laughed youngly: "Zhao Zhen is willing to reuse Tan Tanong with all his heart, proving that he, the young emperor who is busy covering the dragon chair with his buttocks, has finally not lost his mind." ”

Chu Lushan and Xu Fengnian unconsciously walked outside the corridor of the yawu where Yu Luandao served at the beginning, the two of them stood under the eaves, one with ten fingers interlaced, and one with his hands on his sleeves, these two biggest figures in Beiliang, standing side by side, looked a little funny.

Chu Lushan exhaled lightly, watched the mist slowly dissipate in front of him, and said: "The Youzhou cavalry has a Yuluan knife, and there is also a Liu Haojian who has made many achievements in Xiaguang City, and now Liangzhou has a begging dragon pass, which is a good thing, I will wait for who among the hundreds of thousands of refugees in Liuzhou will stand out first." And that Hong Bi seems to be good, his temperament is a bit like that of Huangfu, this kind of person was born for troubled times. ”

Xu Fengnian said helplessly: "Beimang also has a kind of sandalwood, and it will gradually surface in the general trend in the future." ”

Chu Lushan was about to speak, when a white horse from the lieutenant suddenly walked into the courtyard quickly, his face was a little strange that could not be concealed, and he clenched his fists and said in a deep voice: "Lord Wang, Lord Duhu, there is a person who asks to see him, claiming to be Kou Jianghuai of Guangling Dao." ”

Rao is Xu Fengnian and Chu Lushan couldn't help but look at each other.

Which one is this singing?

Chu Lushan asked with a smile: "Shall we sweep the couch to greet each other, or hang this famous general of Western Chu who moves the world?"

Xu Fengnian said to the white horse Yicong: "Bring him over." ”

Soon, a burly young man appeared in their field of vision, which seemed to be equivalent to this person brazenly intruding into the field of vision of the entire Beiliang Border Army.

Kou Jianghuai, who entered Beiliang Road alone, did not carry a sword, nor did he have too many scholars, and he was not even as elegant as many scholars who went to Liang, but he was more like a local scholar in Beiliang, looking like the kind of character who could ride a horse and kill the enemy after reading the books of sages.

Kou Jianghuai glanced at Lord Duhu, who was really difficult not to be seen, and then stared at Xu Fengnian, and said straight to the point: "Xu Fengnian, I, Kou Jianghuai, can serve Beiliang, but there is a condition, if one day I must be asked to take 10,000 Beiliang iron cavalry to Guangling Road, as for what to do, you don't care, Kou Jianghuai is confident that it is worth 10,000 cavalry." ”

Chu Lushan laughed and said: "Those Qinglou Oiran are not as cheeky as you Kou Jianghuai. If you want to say that you Kou Jianghuai is on the side of Guangling Road, not to mention that you can be a 10,000 cavalry army, even 230,000, I can bear it, but when you get here, where do you get the confidence to have the worth of a full 10,000 Beiliang Iron Cavalry? Why, the confidence that beating Zhao Yi and Song Li gives you? As for the 'outstanding' combat power of their cavalry?

Kou Jianghuai's face was pale, and he still stared at the king of the Northwest Domain, who was younger than him.

Xu Fengnian shook his head and said, "If you want to use the Beiliang cavalry to break the game, I won't agree." ”

Kou Jianghuai smiled sarcastically, "I didn't expect that the most powerful vassal king of the Liyang Dynasty only had such a little courage." Don't you Xu Fengnian know that the more Guangling Dao makes the Liyang Imperial Court anxious, will the Zhao family really rely on your Xu family in the northwest? At that time, as long as you, Xu Fengnian, are willing to lend me troops, I will see if the imperial court will dare to use the two things of the edition and Cao Yun to make things difficult for Beiliang? Take a step back and say, if I borrow troops, I will not openly and openly flaunt the banner of the Beiliang cavalry. Take two steps back and say, wouldn't it be more beneficial for Beiliang to change the country's surname from Zhao to Jiang? Whether it is the princess, Cao Changqing, or I, Kou Jianghuai, they are destined not to be Liyang Zhao's family, not only will they not drag Beiliang back......"

Xu Fengnian said calmly: "I can't hide it, this kind of thing, I also thought about it privately when I was bored, gritted my teeth and gave you twenty or thirty thousand cavalry, and Guangling Dao was won." But if you want to help you Xichu fight for the world, let alone 20,000 or 30,000, it is 50,000 and 100,000, which is a drop in the bucket. Do you really think that Chen Zhibao of Xishu and Gu Jiantang of Liangliao are two wooden stakes? Are you really more than 100,000 elite border troops in southern Xinjiang watching a show? Don't say that when the time comes, don't say that you surnamed Jiang will be the emperor and then support the northwest, I am afraid that Beimang will already drive south. Kou Jianghuai, you said that I don't have much vision, I don't deny it, but you have a smaller vision. ”

Xu Fengnian couldn't help but smile and said: "Moreover, you are a lame lobbyist, especially this sign language is not amazing and endless, it is really not clever, when I Xu Fengnian walked the rivers and lakes back then, I pretended to be a ghost and pretended to be a ghost, and I could cheat some copper coins every time, as for you, let alone 10,000 rides, even one ride can't take out Beiliang." ”

Chu Lushan smiled so happily.

Kou Jianghuai did not show the reasonable annoyance, but was a little regretful and a little relieved. The young man stood in silence in the courtyard, a little lonely and gloomy.

Xu Fengnian walked down the steps and asked, "Do you know why Cao Changqing didn't let you lead the troops?"

Kou Jianghuai said in an indifferent tone: "He thinks that I am just a general, not a handsome talent, and I should see the farther Tai-Ancheng, not the gains and losses of Guangling Road." ”

Now it was Xu Fengnian's turn to be surprised, and he said curiously: "Then what do you think?"

Kou Jianghuai said calmly: "I only know one thing, only the power of Xichu itself, what if it hits Tai'an City?"

Chu Lushan was amazed: "You kid is not stupid." It's just that compared to the conscientious Xie Xichen, you Kou Jianghuai's appetite is greater. ”

Kou Jianghuai looked at this "hill" and asked rhetorically: "As a military general, between Xu Xiao, who has been defeated and defeated repeatedly, and Ye Baikui, who has won a hundred battles and only one defeat in his life, who do you choose to be?"

Chu Lushan nodded and said, "That makes sense." ”

Kou Jianghuai smiled self-deprecatingly, and then turned around and left.

Xu Fengnian didn't make a sound until he walked out of the courtyard.

Chu Lushan asked in a low voice, "Did you really let this Jiangjiao slip away?"

Xu Feng said in a young voice: "Compared with Kou Jianghuai, I still appreciate the hard-working Xie Xichen more. ”

Chu Lushan snorted, "Xie Xichen is safe to use, but Kou Jianghuai is not easy to say." ”

Xu Fengnian suddenly shouted: "Kou Jianghuai, come in, who will show you so slowly after leaving the courtyard?"

Kou Jianghuai really turned around and appeared at the gate of the courtyard.

Xu Fengnian said with a smile: "How many Beiliang cavalry soldiers you can take away depends on your own ability." From today on, not only Huaiyang Pass, but also the cavalry of the two towns of Liuya and Poria will be mobilized by you, and if you remove the losses of Beiliang, how many Beimang people can you kill, and then I will give you as many snow dragon cavalry and any cavalry other than the two heavy cavalry. But say it in advance, those cavalry troops are not for you to use to fight Tai-Ancheng, but just to help you leave some Western Chu vitality. Then you have to return here with everyone, in fact, you and I know very well that Guangling Road is not suitable for you Kou Jianghuai, and Beiliang is just right. Are you going to do this deal?"

Kou Jianghuai's face was cloudy.

Xu Fengnian stretched out his finger and pointed, "Okay, okay, the trick of asking for a price to sit on the ground and repay the money, I, Xu Fengnian, am your senior, you Kou Jianghuai came with this idea from the beginning, and I didn't bargain much, so you can be content." ”

Kou Jianghuai smiled, "I'm not good at acting, but you Xu Fengnian don't have to be cheap and good, once Xichu is defeated and the general trend is gone, can you really let our princess go and not save it? It's not like you want to lead troops to rob people? I just helped you find a step down." ”

Xu Fengnian nodded solemnly and said, "Well, it seems that we are not good birds?"

Chu Lushan looked at the scene of the peak turning in front of him, and was a little speechless, the young man now.

Kou Jianghuai, who was covered in dust, said very invisibly: "Is there a place to sleep, I will sleep well for a day and a night, and lead the troops to kill the Northern Mangman, and then talk about it when I am full." ”

Chu Lushan scolded with a smile: "You are the uncle." ”

When Kou Jianghuai was led away, Xu Fengnian looked up at the gray sky and fell into deep thought. After walking down the steps, Chu Lushan didn't make a sound, and stood quietly next to him with his eyes closed.

After a long time, Xu Fengnian said slowly: "Even if Kou Jianghuai uses a pseudonym, it is still difficult to say the pros and cons in the future." ”

Chu Lushan was a little puzzled, "We don't have to worry about the imperial court, it's almost the worst situation now." A Kou Jianghuai is used for 10,000 rides, in fact, it's really not that kid bragging, there is Zhou Kang Gu Dazu on the front line of Qinghe Chongzuka, don't worry about anything, but there is really a big war here in Huaiyang Pass, Huang Laifu and others can't do it, so I can only go into battle in person, and with a Kou Jianghuai, we can also be much easier. Why do you say that?"

Xu Fengnian said bitterly: "Maybe I'm thinking too far." ”

Chu Lushan quickly understood and sighed: "It's a little far. But far water can't quench the thirst of the near. ”

Xu Fengnian nodded and smiled: "That's right, let's use Kou Jianghuai to solve the urgent need first." ”

Chu Lushan hesitated.

Xu Fengnian patted him on the shoulder and walked out of the courtyard.

Chu Lushan stood in place and muttered to himself: "Are you afraid that I, Chu Lushan, will one day really throw three hundred catties of meat on the battlefield, so I promised Kou Jianghuai to stay?"

————

Approaching the Qingming Festival.

At this time of the year, it was cool and rainless in the north.

The hearts of the people in Beiliangdao also tend to be stable, Liangzhou Hutou City has always been as stable as Mount Tai, and the crumbling Xiaguang City on the Hulukou side has also been guarded. Liuzhou Qingzhuang entered the border armies of various states one after another, and the main generals of the two towns of Liuya and Poria suddenly had an extra powerful general surnamed Kou above their heads, and the nominal title was the deputy general of Liangzhou. There is Youzhou Yuluan's knife outside the mouth of the gourd, and the Liangzhou border pass is not strange about it. This also proves that the young vassal king has more and more control over the military and politics of Beiliang, which is definitely not something that can be done just because his surname is Xu.

Qingming this solar term, located at the turn of mid-spring and late spring, is the time when the air is clear and bright, all things are visible, so there is this name. In previous years, Beiliang and the Central Plains are roughly the same, in addition to the tradition of sweeping the tomb and worshiping the ancestors, there are also night lights to pray for blessings, planting willows to ward off evil spirits, etc., but this year, the state and county governments of Beiliang Province have specially ordered that willows are not allowed to be planted and willows, and there is no explanation. Qingming is one of the ghost festivals, and when the wicker buds are green, so the phrase "poplar branches are on the house, and a hundred ghosts do not enter the house" is popular. It's just that many of today's thorny characters in Beiliang have either left the country long ago, or have been cleaned up and obeyed, and there is no objection to this innocuous little thing.

In the second year of auspicious charm, there was no rain in Liangzhou, and the weather was soft and good.

But in the state city where Qingliang Mountain is located in Liangzhou, there is a kind of wordless solemnity, and there are constantly big people pouring into the city with their own horses. In addition to Chu Lushan, the protector of the Northern Liang Capital, who stayed in Huaiyang Pass, the cavalry commander Yuan Zuozong did not go south, and the infantry commander Yan Wenluan sat on the border of Youzhou, and the rest of the border generals almost without exception rushed to this state city, Zhou Kang, Gu Dazu, He Zhonghu, Chen Yunchui, Youzhou Thorn Shi Hu Kui, Youzhou General Huangfu Fang, and even the Jing Strategy Envoy Li Gongde and Lingzhou Thorn Shi Xu Beitong also arrived one after another.

This is the first time that Xu Fengnian has replaced the queen of Beiliang, and the Qingliangshan Royal Mansion has gathered stars like this, and the grand occasion is unprecedented.

The next day is the Qingming Festival, the two horsemen from the Liangbei border pass quietly entered the city in the night, entered through the south city gate, and went north along the main street, straight to the Beiliang Wangfu that is full of legends for the Liyang court.

Kou Jianghuai, the deputy general of Liangzhou who went to the north under the pseudonym Kou Bei, turned his head and smiled at Xu Fengnian beside him when he was riding slowly: "Is there anyone still going to the palace to assassinate you now?" Xu Fengnian, one of the four great masters in the world, no one dares to seek bad luck by himself, whether he is the king of Beiliang or not. ”

Xu Fengnian laughed.

After getting acquainted with this Kou Jianghuai, Xu Fengnian realized that don't look at this guy with a cold appearance that no one can enter, he is actually a chatterbox, and if the conversation box is not opened, it will not be closed once it is opened. Along the way, the story of Xu Fengnian's first trip to the rivers and lakes almost all broke the sand pot for Kou Jianghuai to ask to the end. On the contrary, for the military politics of Beiliang, Kou Jianghuai never took the initiative to ask, and occasionally talked about Guangling's military affairs that were enough to affect the hearts of the people of the world, and he always had a posture of hanging his son, which opened Xu Fengnian's eyes. Kou Jianghuai, who practiced swords, not only traveled with Li Chungang to travel the rivers and lakes with Xu Fengnian, but also had an intersection with Deng Tai'a, which made his eyes shine, and he couldn't wait for Xu Fengnian to ask the two sword gods what clothes they liked to wear and what kind of meals they ate, so when Xu Fengnian said the truth that the old man in sheepskin liked to pick his feet and dig out his ears, Kou Jianghuai, who collapsed on the spot, was silent for about half a day, and finally cheered up again, babbling and saying, "It turns out that that is the style of a master." If you don't go along with the world, it's no wonder that you can practice the world's first-class sword, it seems that I also have to wear a tattered fur to do it", as a result, when Xu Fengnian said that the appearance of the peach blossom sword god was not like jade at all, in fact, he was more "approachable" than him Kou Jianghuai, Kou Jianghuai began to be silent again. When Kou Jianghuai finally finished healing, Xu Fengnian said again that he had only practiced martial arts for three or four years, and he had trained a great master by chance. This made Kou Jianghuai, who was actually quite good at swordsmanship, grief-stricken and completely shut up. Until he entered Liangzhou City at the moment, Kou Jianghuai finally had some soul.

After vaguely seeing the lights of Qingliang Mountain, Kou Jianghuai suddenly said with relief: "Although you deliberately said it lightly, I actually know that you have today's scenery is not easy to come by." ”

Xu Fengnian smiled indifferently: "If saying this can make you mentally balanced, then you can understand it like this." Well, let me do a rough calculation, probably since I started practicing swords in Wudang, from the second-grade little grandmaster, to the realm of heaven and man above the land immortals, really calculated, six realms, it seems that more than once a year to break the realm. By the way, you seem to be still a little grandmaster now, and if you haven't reached the Vajra Realm, if you're lucky', in four or five years, you may be the number one master in the world." ”

So Kou Jianghuai stopped talking.

When the deputy general of Liangzhou entered the palace with a lot of weather, he was still sick.

Two young tigers Kui Xing hurriedly ran to greet Xu Fengnian, and the tiger Kui, nicknamed King Kong, pounced directly into Xu Fengnian's arms, and his sister "Bodhisattva" also affectionately bit Xu Fengnian's robe.

Then Xu Fengnian left Kou Jianghuai in Tingchao Lake, and took the two happy young tigers to Wutong Courtyard, the second sister Xu Weixiong and Lu Chengyan were naturally there, and those young women with the reputation of "Female Hanlin" were busy criticizing red, the second sister just looked up at Xu Fengnian and lowered her head, Xu Fengnian walked to Lu Chengyan's table, to his surprise, Wang Chudong's girl also had a place in Wutong Courtyard, and the desk was next door to Lu Chengyan, as if she was writing a "Northern Liang Heroic Soul Collection" that was destined not to be paid attention to by the Liyang literary world When Xu Fengnian moved a chair and sat between them, the little girl was still holding a pen and was stunned, and her playful appearance of being in a daze made Xu Fengnian and Lu Chengyan look at each other and smile.

Not far away, after Xu Weixiong finished a spy instruction, he put down his pen, rubbed his wrist, and said softly: "Lu Xu will enter the capital in the next few days, you should have asked Mi Fengjie and Fan Xiaochai to tie him up to Qingliang Mountain, and Deputy Song Jingluo will be much easier." ”

Xu Fengnian raised his hands and begged for mercy: "Didn't I kidnap a Kou Jianghuai and come back, and I can be regarded as making up for it." ”

Xu Weixiong glared and said: "Kou Jianghuai doesn't come to Beiliang, it's just 'no', but Lu Xu, who helped Zhao Xun to present a plan, went to Tai-Ancheng and was used by Zhao Zhang, but it will harm Beiliang, it is a 'loss', how can the two be confused?"

Xu Fengnian had a bitter look on his face and didn't dare to refute.

Lu Chengyan didn't help with words, but just smiled at him.

The "one book winner" Wang Dongxiang Wang Dawenhao finally found that Xu Fengnian was sitting close at hand, and he was so frightened that he leaned back, and even fell backwards with the chair, Xu Fengnian gently stretched out his hand and pulled the chair back to its original position, Wang Chudong, who was making jokes, was full of shame, as if he wanted to find a place to hide, like a panicked little fox. Xu Fengnian grimaced at her, and she immediately smiled brightly, her eyes narrowed into crescent moons, and her cheeks had dimples.

Xu Fengnian said with a smile: "Don't be too tired, remember to combine work and rest." That set of Wudang Mountain boxing method, you can also practice it in your spare time. ”

Xu Weixiong said angrily: "Don't stand and talk without back pain." ”

Xu Fengnian cautiously rolled his eyes at Lu Chengyan and Wang Chudong, and the maids of the Wutong Courtyard whose table was located in that direction couldn't help but smile secretly.

Xu Weixiong was about to continue the lecture, Xu Fengnian hurriedly got up and said, "I'll go to Mr. Song's side to take a look." ”

Looking at the King of Beiliang who ran away with the two tigers, the atmosphere of the Wutong Courtyard was invisibly much more relaxed.

Xu Fengnian's treatment on Song Dongming's side and the neglect suffered by Wutong Academy, of course, are one heaven and one place, and now the officials who are subordinate to the deputy economic envoy are mostly young scholars who are outstanding in Beiliang in terms of merit and learning, and they have their own strengths, but compared with the younger generation of Jianghu, they worship and envy Xu Fengnian's status as a great master, and these scholars are more in awe of Xu Fengnian, the lord of 300,000 iron horses, after in-depth understanding of the current situation in Beiliang. So when Xu Fengnian and Song Dongming, who was busy and idle, were drinking tea opposite each other, those young people were paying attention to the young vassal king's every move. Song Dongming's teacups, which Xu Fengnian personally cooked and poured tea with his hands, were not in a hurry to drink tea, but just used it to dispel the spring cold, and said softly: "All the soldiers who went to Liang have arrived, and the families of those who died in the war have also arrived." Some of these words and voices must be indispensable, and I hope the prince will not take it to heart. ”

Xu Fengnian nodded.

There are some rumors, just like when many people heard that he went to the mouth of the gourd, they thought that he was brave and majestic, and it was the same tone, and Xu Fengnian was really unwilling to pay attention to it.

Some of them were bitter and crying, and Xu Fengnian didn't dare to listen to them.

After chatting about some Beiliang government affairs, Song Dongming got up and walked out of the house with Xu Fengnian, the middle-aged man who had been cultivated by Yuan Benxi as a reserve hesitated for a moment, and said: "In the past, I wanted to be a strategic envoy in order to better display my skills and feet, and after getting along with Li Gongde, I still hope that he can continue to serve as an envoy of economic strategy, I am in Liangzhou, and Master Li is in Lingzhou, and I will not make a mistake." ”

Xu Fengnian nodded and said, "Since Mr. Song said it, there is no problem." ”

Song Dongming stopped and said with a smile: "I still have a lot of affairs to deal with, so I won't be far away." ”

Xu Fengnian smiled: "It should be so." ”

Song Dongming said to Xu Fengnian's back: "In the past, I only knew that Beiliang was a place where martial artists used soldiers, but now Song Dongming and many scholars have found that Beiliang is also a place where literati can 'write'. I want to thank the prince for these people. ”

Xu Fengnian turned his head and smiled happily.

Song Dongming suddenly blinked his eyes, forced a smile, and said: "Lord Wang, there are several junior women in my Song family, all of whom are virtuous and virtuous, and they all wrote to me, saying that even if they steal, they will let me send them a few small items such as the prince's seal and calligraphy. The most courageous one, since she was a child, she has longed to walk the rivers and lakes and be the heroine, she said that even if she sent her a prince's clothes, it would be the best. If she doesn't have anything to send back, she'll have to break up with my uncle. ”

Xu Fengnian touched his forehead with some embarrassment.

Song Dongming laughed heartily, and left the next sentence, "I'll just look at the clothes, and the prince will give me a few copies of four or five characters written by hand." ”

————

The night before the Qingming Festival, Xu Fengnian sat alone on the top of the mountain, watching the lights of the city at the foot of the mountain gradually rise and go out, and drank a pot of green ant wine.