In November, Yelu Deguang led a 100,000-strong Khitan army to defeat the troops and horses of the Weisai Jiedu Envoy, the Datong Jiedu Envoy and the Zhangguo Jiedu Envoy, almost swept the northern Tang Dynasty and captured several cities, and the people in the northern Xinjiang were terrified.

Seeing that the Houtang soldiers and horses were weak, Yelude turned his troops and attacked Yingzhou, an important town in northern Xinjiang, and captured the city in only one day.

Subsequently, Yelu Deguang was stationed in the city of Yingzhou under the escort of 30,000 leather room troops, and at the same time ordered Yelu Cha and Yelu Wu to continue to plunder southward in two ways, each commanding 30,000 troops, all the way to the south to attack the Yanmen Jiedu envoy, all the way to the east to attack Yizhou and Taizhou.

Yelu Lihu was appointed as a "transit envoy", commanding 10,000 iron cavalry to transport the population, money and grain captured by the two armies.

In this regard, Yelu Lihu was very dissatisfied in his heart, and it was clear that his second brother Yelu Deguang deliberately regarded himself as the captain of the transportation brigade and did not give himself the opportunity to make meritorious contributions.

But in the face of the strong Yelu Deguang, Yelu Lihu at this time had no chance to refute, so he could only obediently deliver supplies.

At the same time, Emperor Li Siyuan received the report of the war in northern Xinjiang, and was so angry that he scolded, in the face of the attack of 100,000 Khitan troops, several towns in northern Xinjiang had more than 100,000 troops and could not resist, but was killed by others and lost the city and land, which was simply a great shame.

So Emperor Li Siyuan prepared to gather the defenders of northern Xinjiang and fight a battle with the Khitan army to drive the hateful Khitans out of the country.

At this time, for Li Siyuan, the most suitable person to lead the soldiers and horses in Northern Xinjiang was Shi Jingjiao, but he hesitated about the failure of the battle between the two rivers, which made Li Siyuan feel that Shi Jingjiao was a little unable to hold the situation.

"But if you don't use Shi Jingjiao, who can you use?"

Li Siyuan pondered and meditated, and even thought about promoting Li Congke or Li Congzhang to Northern Xinjiang, but when he thought that this would affect the balance between the princes, he completely dispelled this idea.

In the end, after some weighing, Li Siyuan still chose Shi Jingjiao, and appointed Shi Jingjiao as the envoy of Bei~Beijing and Hedong Jiedu, and concurrently served as the chief of Datong, Zhenwu, Zhangguo, Weisai and other military Fan Han Mabu, plus the servant.

When Li Siyuan's edict was delivered to Shi Jingjiao, Shi Jingjiao had already led his army of 20,000 henchmen to Taiyuan City.

Taiyuan City is the station of the envoy of the Hedong Jiedu, and it is an important town in northern Xinjiang, whether it is the current Later Tang Dynasty, or the real Tang Dynasty, it will garrison heavy troops in Taiyuan City to guard against the Hu people in the north.

In the Hedong Jiedu Envoy's Mansion, Shi Jingjiao was raising his tent, and all the generals of Hedong Town fell to the ground, and they didn't dare to breathe.

At the same time, three cold corpses on the ground on the side were complaining about the misery just now, and the blood slowly flowed out, staining half of the ground in the lobby red.

Shi Jingjiao was extremely ruthless at this time, looked at the generals who were suppressed, and said coldly: "I am the head of the Han and Horse Infantry Army in the northern Xinjiang towns appointed by the sage, and now most of the soldiers and horses in the northern Xinjiang are under my command, and now I want to rectify the soldiers and horses in your hands, and there are still people who refuse to carry it out, is the saint's will so weightless in your eyes?" ”

The crowd bowed their heads and said nothing, and no one dared to answer.

"Humph!"

Shi Jingjiao's cold gaze swept over everyone, and continued: "If anyone is unwilling to hand over the military power in their hands, they can raise it now, I, Shi Jingjiao, will be a villain again!" ”

Everyone was terrified at this time, and they all said: "I am willing to obey the orders of Chief Shi!" ”

"Humph! So much best. ”

Shi Jingjiao said: "Within three days, you will finish the reorganization of the soldiers and horses under your command, and after three days, I will send someone to make a settlement with you." ”

"Whoa!"

Seeing that everyone had no objections, Shi Jingjiao waved his hand, and several tooth soldiers walked in, bringing a lot of gold and silver, Shi Jingjiao slowly stood up, with a smile on his face, and said: "Okay, although I, Shi someone, am strict in governing the army, but he also takes great care of his subordinates. Although you no longer lead troops, I can guarantee that you will definitely be able to dress and eat in the future, and you will also be able to be high-ranking officials! These gold and silver, you will take it for the time being, as long as there is someone in my stone to eat in the future, you will be indispensable! ”

"Chief Xie Shi's reward!"

After the generals of Hedong Town left in frustration, only Shi Jingjiao, the general Liu Zhiyuan, and the strategist Sang Weihan were left in the hall.

"Zhiyuan, during this time, we must rectify the soldiers and horses in Hedong Town as soon as possible, when we arrive in Hedong Town, we must control the situation, this Hedong Town has Khitan in the north and the imperial court in the south, if we don't have enough strength, our life will be very sad!"

Liu Zhiyuan crossed his hand to receive the order, and then said: "Shi Shuai, how to deploy the 20,000 elite soldiers of our house?" ”

Shi Jingjiao pondered for a while and said: "10,000 soldiers and horses will be dispersed, mixed with all kinds of soldiers and horses, and the vacant officer positions in all kinds of soldiers and horses will be filled as soon as possible." The remaining 10,000 soldiers and horses were stationed in Taiyuan City. ”

"Whoa!"

Then Shi Jingjiao looked at Sang Weihan, this person was originally from Luoyang, with an ugly appearance, a short body and a long face, and others often made fun of his appearance. However, Sang Weihan thought that his seven-foot body was not as good as his face, and he participated in the imperial examination several times, but all of them failed, so he was resentful and defected to Shi Jingjiao, who was the envoy of the Heyang Festival at that time.

Sang Weihan is talented and good at planning, Shi Jingjiao relies on him very much, and Liu Zhiyuan is Shi Jingjian's right-hand man.

"Guoqiao (Sang Weihan's character), from today onwards, the tax payment of Hedong Town will be under your control, understand?"

Sang Weihan smiled and crossed his hands to receive the order, and then said: "Please rest assured, Xiao Ke must do a good job to ensure that the soldiers of the army are fully fed and paid!" ”

"Well, that's good!"

After arranging everything, Shi Jingjin walked to the side of the three corpses, looking at the blood all over the ground, as well as the cold corpses, Shi Jingjian's face showed a trace of sadness: "Alas! They all serve the country, but they end up like this, why bother? ”

Liu Zhiyuan saw it in his eyes, but did not speak.

Sang Weihan sighed and said, "Shi Shuai is merciful, it is better to bury the three of them thickly, and then give a bereavement pension to their families as an offering." ”

Shi Jingjiao squeezed out a few tears from his eyes, waved his hand and said, "Just do it!" Overseas Chinese should arrange this matter, and don't snub the hearts of the soldiers' families. ”

"Whoa!"

Sang Weihan glanced at Liu Zhiyuan, then took two steps forward and asked, "Shi Shuai, the Khitan Lord has sent someone again." ”

"You're asking for money and food, aren't you?"

"Exactly."

Sang Weihan said: "This time, the Khitan lord was invited to go south, dispatched 100,000 troops, and fought in various parts of northern Xinjiang for a period of time, and the cost must be not small, so it is no wonder that people are frequently sent to urge them. ”

Liu Zhiyuan frowned slightly, and said with some dissatisfaction: "The Khitans are plundering everywhere, they have already made a lot of money, and they even shamelessly ask Shi Shuai for money and food, how can there be such a reason in the world!" ”

Seeing this, Shi Jingjiao couldn't answer, so he looked at Sang Weihan, and Sang Weihan said knowingly: "General Liu's words are wrong. Even if the Khitans plundered some of the population, money and food, it was obtained by their own troops, and it had nothing to do with Shi Shuai. At the beginning, we contacted the Khitan people to go south to build momentum, which is why Shi Shuai has the power he has now, so naturally he wants to fulfill his original promise, how can he be untrustworthy? ”

After hearing this, Liu Zhiyuan only felt that his blood was surging, and he was about to refute it, but he caught a glimpse of Shi Jingjiao looking at him without saying a word, and swallowed the rebuttal back, and then said: "Hmph! , I only hope that Chief Sang's strategy will not be known to the world, otherwise Shi Shuai will be infamous by thousands of people, and how will you and I deal with ourselves at that time! ”

After speaking, Liu Zhiyuan confessed his guilt and left directly.

Sang Weihan was a little angry, but he quickly laughed, and said with his crossed hands: "Shi Shuai, how can we reply to the Khitan people?" ”

I saw that Shi Jingjiao did not hesitate at all, and said directly: "According to the agreement, the money and grain will be shipped as soon as possible!" ”

"Whoa!"

In the same month, Shi Jingjiao used harsh means to deter the whole town of Hedong and completely controlled the tens of thousands of troops in Hedong Town. Subsequently, the Bei~Beijing garrison, Datong, Zhenwu, Zhangguo, Weisai and other places sent people to Taiyuan to congratulate Shi Jingjiao on his appointment as the head of the Fan Han Horse Infantry Army in the towns of Northern Xinjiang, and expressed his loyalty to Shi Jingjiao.

Then, a convoy set off from Taiyuan City, carrying a large number of goods all the way to the north, to the direction of Yingzhou.

In a blacksmith shop in Taiyuan City, a young man bought an oxtail knife, put it away, and wandered around the street, until dusk out of the west gate and went straight to Dongye Village, ten miles away.

When the young man arrived at Higashino Village, it was already time to turn on the lights, and I saw the young man come to the outside of a small courtyard in the village and knock on the courtyard door with a characteristic rhythm.

A moment later, an old man's voice came from inside the courtyard: "Who? ”

I saw the young man leaning against the crack in the door, and said in a low voice: "Knife man!" ”

"What?"

"Ask the good luck with the knife."

The old man opened the courtyard door, and the young man stepped in. When the two entered the room, they saw the old man cross his hands, forming an inverted triangle shape, and said: "The earth is high and high, and the West Mountain is beautiful through the ages." ”

The young man made the same gesture and said, "The door faces the sea, and the three rivers flow together for ten thousand years!" ”

The old man's face softened slightly, and he smiled and asked the young man to sit down, and then asked, "Since you are asking for good luck, then does the old man have good luck?" Is there a murderous thing? ”

"There is no luck."

The old man's face changed suddenly, and he said, "How can you say this!" ”

I saw that the young man took out the oxtail knife he bought in Taiyuan City, twisted it vigorously in front of the old man, and removed the handle of the oxtail knife. The old man took a closer look, and the inside of the handle turned out to be hollow, and the young man took out a small note from it and handed it to the old man.

The old man glanced at it through the light, his face suddenly changed, and he said in a low voice: "The thief is rising, and he must report to the Lord as soon as possible!" ”

After speaking, the old man said to the young man: "Okay, leave the matter here to me, little brother, please take care of yourself." ”

The young man saluted, and then left in the night.

The old man closed the courtyard door, returned to the room, and took a pen and a small note, as well as a small bowl of muddy water, dipped the brush in the water and began to write.

“…… The seventh team of the Investigation Division of the Fusi of Beizhen reported urgently: Shi Jingjiao arrived in Taiyuan City, and all the soldiers and horses in Hedong Town have been controlled by him, and the envoys of several towns in Northern Xinjiang have sent envoys to Taiyuan City, which is estimated to be a show of goodwill to Shi Jingjiao......"

"In addition, there was a large number of convoys in Taiyuan City heading north the day before yesterday, and there were bald bearded people in the convoy, who did not look like merchants, but like soldiers, and were suspected to be related to the Khitan army......

After writing, the old man picked up the small note and shook it, and the watermark on it quickly disappeared. Then the old man picked up a wine gourd, which had a mezzanine inside, and the small note was put into the mezzanine by the old man.

"Someone!"

A capable man came in from the side, and said with a forked hand: "I've seen the team!" ”

The old man handed the wine gourd to this person and said, "Within five days, the information must be handed over to Si Cheng, and there must be no mistakes!" ”

"Whoa!"

In the middle of the night, a dark shadow rode out of Higashino Village, and disappeared into the vast night in a blink of an eye.