Whether it is a peaceful and prosperous era or a chaotic war, there is never a shortage of people on Shijie, that is, mountain thieves and horse thieves. In a sense, these bandits or horse thieves are not all bad people, at least every ordinary person rebels because they really can't survive. For these people living at the bottom, they don't have any big ideals, big luxuries, the only thing they want is to be able to eat three meals a day, warm in winter and cool in summer. They would rather live a life where the sun rises and the sun sets, rather than live this kind of big bowl of drinking wine and eating large pieces of meat that can lose their heads at any time. For them, it is more important than anything else to live in the same house for three generations.

Successive rulers have adopted the same means if they want to have a long term of stability, which is to give each family enough land to support themselves and the imperial court. With land, these hard-working people are not afraid of anything, as the old man often said, the land is the second life of the people, and his existence is not only a symbol of survival, but also a symbol of hope. Every simple person hopes that the crops on their land can grow very lush, and there is also hope, that is, their land can cultivate a descendant who will enter the phase, and one day return to their hometown to repair the ancestral ancestral shrine of the family tree, what they need is so simple.

The main reason for the collapse of an empire, whether it comes from inside or outside, is that the people of the empire can no longer live, simply put, they have no land to live on. The annexation of land has always been a cancer on the empire, and successive royal families have tried to eradicate this cancer, but they have obviously been unsuccessful. The occupants of the land were the ordinary nobles of the empire. These nobles were the foundation on which the empire depended. In times of crisis, the empire will always be so noble. To lose the empire is to lose the halo of infinite glory on their heads. lost their life of fine clothes and food, so when the internal strife of the empire was suppressed, the nobles of the empire were the most active, whether it was external or internal, the nobles of the empire could be said to have a clear conscience about this empire, and every war made these nobles leave enough blood. Of course, a cancer will always be a cancer, and in a sense, the empire's permission to annex land is also a compensation for these nobles, after all, maintaining the rule of the empire is not enough for a royal family, and more people need to participate. With no reward, land annexation became the only thing these people could get from the Empire.

Theoretically, the nobles of the empire are the type of people who oppose rebellion, but in fact, these people also spare no effort to fight those rebellious mud legs, that is, the common people, after understanding their own situation. This is also the reason why after Weishenme Liu Fan defeated the Hai Clan in Yizhou, those nobles who were waiting and watched all threw themselves into Liu Fan's command, and when a strong ruler appeared in the royal family, these nobles preferred to continue to be their pawns to maintain the status and wealth they already had. For them, the distance of the royal family is too far away, and they do not have that capital. The same is true in Yongzhou, where there are dozens of hereditary nobles, large and small, in the land of Yongzhou. The noble strength of those small barons and viscounts can be ignored, but there are three great families that cannot be ignored. Zhenning Hou Xu's family, Shenjian Hou's Li family, Pingjiang Hou's family.

The nobles of these three families all started with the First Emperor, among which the Marquis of Zhenning and the Marquis of Shenjian started with military merits, both of which were fierce generals under the account of the First Emperor that year, and made great achievements in decades of conquest, of course, there were not a few children who sacrificed. The appearance of Pingjiang Hou in Yongzhou, the inland state capital, is a bit nondescript, first of all, Pingjiang Hou did not start with military merits, they started in a similar way to the eight royal families, but he paid more attention to shipping. The grain and grass under the command of the First Emperor's army, as well as the navy shili that fought against the empire, can be said to have been formed on the Pingjiang Marquis maritime fleet. After the empire was pacified, the Marquis of Pingjiang took the initiative to give up the sea transportation on which his family depended for survival, and instead went to Yongzhou, the northernmost land of the empire, which was dormant. No one knows what they want, this is also weishenme, the Hou family did not become one of the eight emperors, but became the only Hou attached to the first emperor at that time, this is an honor and a compensation.

Of course, the Hou family didn't want to give up their own interests, but at that time, the head of the Hou family was extremely smart, and the imperial navy had his shadow in it from the beginning of its formation to its completion. At that time, Hou Delin, the head of the Hou family, keenly felt that his family was now dancing on the tip of the knife, and the first emperor who was born in the army was extremely sensitive to military power, which Hou Delin knew better than anyone else. Hou Delin is not only a big businessman, but also the sworn brother of the First Emperor in private, of course, no one knows about this relationship, and the Hou family will not tell the news if they die. Hou Delin knew that the day when the navy formed combat effectiveness was the day when their Hou family was about to have an accident, Hou Delin, who was extremely sensitive, decisively asked the first emperor to give up all the maritime interests, even the inland river transportation, and did not even reserve any interests, and chose to come to Yongzhou, the northernmost part of the empire, as the family's place of residence. The first emperor also reciprocated the favor, and privately found Hou Delin and said something that no one knew, no historian or eunuch knew, and even the emperor's living record was not recorded. The history of everyone and the empire only knows that after Hou Delin left the palace, he moved to the north with the people of his family under the escort of the army, and since then he has cut off the interests of the empire's river transportation and sea transportation, and the first emperor in order to commemorate their merits to seal them a Pingjiang Marquis, in fact, it is said that the three Hou families are Dingli, in fact, the other two are the first to be the head of the Pingjiang Hou Ma, but the Pingjiang Hou family has always been low-key, and everyone has not noticed.

The rulers of successive empires have set up many chess pieces in order to maintain the eternal rule of their children and grandchildren. They would give a loyal minister an edict or create a sign that a minister had been demoted, ordering them to lie dormant and guard a secret or treasure for them and the empire that could change the fate of an empire. There is no record in the history books whether the Marquis of Pingjiang was a pawn left by the First Emperor, but there is a shili that has pointed the finger at the Marquis of Pingjiang, that is, a group of horse thieves in the Qin Mountains.

It is more appropriate to say that it is a horse thief, but in fact, it is better to say that it is a group of routs. Dong Zhuo's defeat at Yanmen Pass left millions of troops behind and fled alone. All the soldiers are angry in their eyes and angry in their hearts. And the Lion Empire does not have the ability to swallow this million army in one go. So one group after another of the army under the leadership of their own commander broke out of the encirclement, some returned to Liangzhou, some joined the army, some disarmed and returned to the field, and some fell into the grass. In fact, no matter which dynasty or generation, these bandits and bandits are the easiest group to take advantage of, and most of these people are people who have despaired of the empire, so money and women have become their common pursuit. The number of defeated troops was not very large, only a few thousand, but after engulfing the nearby people, the number of people who defected also reached tens of thousands one after another.

The Pingjiang Marquis family is now just four hundred and eighty-eight generations of princes, and there is such a forbidden place in the huge Hou Mansion, except for the previous generation of family heads who will lead the previous generation of family heads to enter this room at other times. No matter how many generations have been guarding this secret, a secret is always a secret, there are no impermeable walls, and there are some things that you can't keep if you want to. The two major spy organizations of the empire did not eat rice, and the secret of Pingjiang Hou was soon discovered. So someone with a heart set his sights on Pingjiang Hou.

Horse thieves are a very simple group of people, and the reason why they are said to be simple. Purely because they want wealth. The secret kept by the Marquis of Pingjiang turned into a treasure story as soon as it was changed, so these simple horse thieves believed it. Pingjiang Hou Hou family, this generation of family head is called Hou Shiyong, only sixty years old, his face reveals a shrewd color that ordinary people do not have, the Hou family did not start with military merits, so it is not very important in martial arts cultivation, and the Hou family is more of a scholar's heroic righteousness. Hou Shiyong sat in the living room, left and right, Zhenning Hou Xu Chao, and Shenjian Hou Li Ze, but at this moment, there was no smile on the faces of the three of them, and they all sat with sad faces.

"Big brother, is there really no way for us to escape this time?" This is Li Ze, the Marquis of the Divine Arrow, who is the youngest, his grandfather and father were both killed in the war decades ago, and he inherited the title at a very young age, and now Li Ze, who is fifty years old, has become the youngest of the three princes. Li Ze's face showed a trace of unwillingness, and there was a hint of surprise in his tone.

Zhenning Hou Xu Chao, who was sitting on the side, was also unwilling, he never thought that things would develop like this. Hou Shiyong shook his head, did not speak, and continued to sit motionless with his eyes closed. Everyone didn't know what was going on in his heart, so they could only wait quietly. The three of them are all princes of the three families, so they naturally know the mission of the three families, and the land of Yongzhou is still very remote compared to other state capitals, but there are secrets hidden in this land that everyone does not know.

"I'm afraid we won't be able to hide this time. Hou Delin suddenly spoke, a trace of murderous aura flashed in his eyes and said to Xu Chao and Li Ze: "The mission shouldered by the three of us has already been clearly investigated by the nets and blood drops in these years, and Zhang Rang and the Eight Great Emperor Merchants have all known our secrets. It's ridiculous that these people want to get rid of us with the help of horse thieves, and then dig up our secrets, it's ridiculous, it's ridiculous. ”

Hearing Hou Delin's words, a trace of murderous aura flashed on the faces of the three of them at the same time, the three of them can guard here, naturally it is not the division of the First Emperor, in fact, they have a more important task, or they have the strength to guard this land. The remote land of Yongzhou can only be guarded by the three of them, and of course, there is another type of people who can also be defended, that is, the eight great martial marquis and the four kings of the empire, but once they are sent here, all the arrangements made by the first emperor are meaningless. In the land of Yongzhou, a marquis or a prince who comes here to guard for generations will immediately enter the eyes of everyone. Compared with them, although the Marquis of Zhenning and the Marquis of Shenjian are also famous in battle, but after all, the two are only fierce generals under the command of the First Emperor, so naturally there is no need to care about where these two fierce generals are divided, and the Marquis of Pingjiang came here voluntarily, giving up sea and river transportation and influence in the navy, he is just a marquis who has lost power, naturally no one will think about it.

Of course, the longer this secret is hidden, the better, preferably never known. But now that the secret has been exposed, the three of them will not be so stupid as to think that these horse thieves are really coming for their family's property, and the real backhand must be behind them. This time, even if the three of them want to hide the secret, they may not be able to hide it, so there is no need to hide it. A gleam flashed in Pingjianghou's eyes. He still remembers what his father said to him. When the true Son of Heaven appears. That is, when the Hou family was in great trouble. Now that the catastrophe has come, the true destiny has appeared, who is this person, and the three of them still don't have a calculation in their hearts.

Liu Fan is undoubtedly in the first place in their hearts, no matter which aspect Liu Fan belongs to the most suitable true son in their hearts, but he is not sure whether he is the three of them. A few decades ago, the Marquis of Pingjiang once thought that Prince Li was the real son of heaven, but it was obvious that he was not, so could this Liu Fan be? The first emperor started in the army, and he also started from a grassroots officer step by step to a small world today. This time the imperial turmoil has begun. In what form will the real Son of Heaven appear in front of them?

The three families are in a heavy mood, the three of them have paid too much to keep this secret, and now they suddenly encounter this incident when they are about to succeed, no matter who they are, they have some discomfort in their hearts. But no matter what the three of them think, this secret must continue to be maintained, before the real true son of heaven appears, even if they are all dead, they will definitely not let that secret reappear in the world, there is nothing more important for the three families than keeping that secret.

"Now, there is no need for us to continue to hide our strength, you go back for the time being. Integrating the combat power in the family, this time we are going to fight to the death. This horse thief is just the first appetizer, and there are many enemies waiting for us behind. Hou Shiyong's face flashed with a trace of resoluteness and unbearability, this decision I don't know how many people will die in this matter, but he can't help but do it, this is their mission and their fate.

"We know, big brother, take care!" Xu Chao and Li Ze watched Hou Shiyong stand up, arched his hand heavily towards Hou Shiyong, turned around and left. There was no hesitation on the faces of the two, this is the mission of their family, thousands of years ago, since their family moved here, their family has been guarding the land of Yongzhou for generations, Yongzhou can be lost, but the secrets of the land of Yongzhou must not be lost.

The three major princes began to gather the children of the family around such a secret that could not be revealed by death, looking at the young children of the family who were gathered, Hou Shiyong's heart flashed a trace of unbearability, these people didn't even know what they wanted to defend and they were going to die because of this. Although Hou Shiyong's heart couldn't bear it, he didn't shake his determination in the slightest, some people were born to die for some secrets that would never be known, and their Hou family was just one of them.

"Master, Yue Fei, the new governor of Yongzhou, came to visit. Just when Hou Shiyong was still arranging his future life, a subordinate cautiously walked in and whispered to his master. Hou Shiyong sighed, and was stunned for a moment, as the prince of Yongzhou land, he naturally knew that Yongzhou City was now an enclave of the Shenwu Army, Yue Fei was the new governor of the capital, and Hou Shiyong had also noticed that this person had no information to check.

Yuwen Chengdu also visited himself when he was guarding Yongzhou, and Hou Shiyong also gave Yuwen Chengdu some help in private, of course, these are conditional, that is, when necessary, Yuwen Chengdu's soldiers and horses can be seconded. Later, after Yuwen Chengdu led the army to Yangzhou to join the division, Hou Shiyong once thought that Liu Fan was going to give up the enclave of Yongzhou, and the later gaffe development was also as Hou Shiyong expected, Zhang Huai and Luo Chun, who stayed behind, were defeated and retreated, until the appearance of this Yue Fei, first dragged Tong Weiyong's 200,000 army with his weak troops, and then retreated to Wuwei with a disgraced face of the Liangzhou army that played a triumphant song, ready to fight again with the whole army, at this time he should be on the front line and Liangzhou army How can he have time to come hereAlthough Hou Shiyong's heart was full of questions, he still asked his subordinates to respectfully invite Yue Fei in, Yue Fei is Liu Fan's subordinate, and Liu Fan is Hou Shiyong's suspicion of the true destiny, it is necessary for the two to have a good contact with each other, and test each other's intentions first.

"The last general Yue Fei, meet Hou Ye!" Yue Fei quickly stepped forward and respectfully saluted Hou Shiyong, Zhang Huai and Luo Chun followed behind Yue Fei and hurriedly saluted Hou Shiyong.

"General Yue doesn't have to be polite, please take a seat. Serve tea. Hou Shiyong looked at Yue Fei with a smile, and a trace of surprise flashed in his heart, although Hou Shiyong himself did not practice martial arts, he was not a small master in the family, and he had personally seen Yuwen Chengdu. Yue Fei in front of him still flashed a trace of surprise in his heart, this Yue Fei's strength is not below Yuwen Chengdu, what is even more commendable is that this Yue Fei is far more shrewd than Yuwen Chengdu, at least the two of them are far from the same level above the art of war.

"I've been busy with the war these days, and I haven't had time to visit Hou Ye, and now the Liangzhou army has been defeated, and the Tong family army is not going well, and a certain general has time to come to Hou Ye this time to say goodbye. ”

"General Yue is polite, military affairs are important, military affairs are important, Ben Hou is just an idle marquis, and General Yue should not pay so much attention to it. (To be continued......)