Yelu Kokand's army marched north for three days, returned to the capital and went to Beijing, rested for a few days, and then recruited Hu Zhenbang into the marshal's mansion.

Yelu Kokand sat on top of the marshal's house, and Kulun sat on his left side, and when he saw Hu Zhenbang coming, before he could give a salute, Jelu Kokand got up to greet him and led him to the right side of the handsome seat and sat down.

Hu Zhenbang arched his hand and said: "There is a handsome man to greet him, and the young general is ashamed!"

Yelu Kohan smiled and said: "There is no need to be formal, I have invited you here this time, and I am discussing important matters." ”

Hu Zhenbang said: "I am willing to listen to the commander's dispatch." ”

Jelu Kokand turned to Kulen and said, "Let the old general tell me." ”

Kulun bowed his head to Yelu Kokand in agreement, and then asked Hu Zhenbang: "General Hu studied under Prince Suo, and now Prince Suo is old and has returned to his hometown to the Holy Lord, so there are some questions that can only be asked by the little general. ”

Hu Zhenbang said solemnly: "I am grateful for the love between the marshal and the old general, but the old general Ku may as well ask, if you say that you want to ask for advice, it is to kill the young general." ”

Kulun smiled and said: "The little general is both civil and military, and speaks decently, and the big marshal and I are both talented people, so very good! Then I will ask you a few questions, and I will just talk about family life." ”

Hu Zhenbang said in his heart: "Sure enough, it is a good plan, so far you can not believe me." At that moment, he also smiled and said: "General Ku is polite, but it's okay to ask." ”

Kulun said: "That day, I saw General Hu commanding to resist the wolves and arrange the troops, which was very effective, I don't know what kind of formation was used?"

Hu Zhenbang said: "Back to the old general, this is one of the ten formations in "Sun Bin's Art of War", which is called the circle formation. ”

Cullen asked again, "I don't know what these ten formations are?"

Hu Zhenbang said: "There are clouds in "Sun Bin's Art of War": there are ten formations, there are square formations, there are circle formations, there are sparse formations, there are several arrays, there are cone lines, there are geese lines, there are hooks, Xuanxiang arrays, fire arrays, and water arrays. Because the circle formation is mainly defensive, it is convenient to concentrate limited forces to attack the enemy, and this time the wolves are outnumbered, so this formation is deployed. ”

Kulun bowed his head slightly and said: "I can't think of weapons, you also have a lot of experience in formation, very good, very good, I don't know who taught you the art of war?"

Hu Zhenbang said: "When I was young, I studied the art of war with the prince Suo, so I dabbled in the art of war of the Han people, and I heard the prince Suo say that my father participated in the revision of a book on the art of war and ordnance production of the Han people before his death, which was later included in the Song Dynasty court, but it was not seen by the world, even my father-in-law has never seen it, I don't know if the old predecessors of the library have heard of it. ”

Kulun and Jelukokand glanced at each other and said with a slight smile: "I was about to talk to you about this this time, I heard that you were 3 years old when Sorontu adopted you, did you remember your father and your own Han names?"

Hu Zhenbang said in his heart: "The two of them really can't rest assured of me, and they can't help but try." He immediately replied: "The little one didn't know anything at the time, and he didn't have any impression of it. ”

Kulun smiled slightly: "Since the Qin and Han dynasties, the Han people have called me a nomadic in the north as the Hu people, and there is a cloud in the "Hanshu • Xiongnu Biography": 'There is a great Han in the south, and there is a strong Hu in the north. Hu, the pride of the sky. In this way, Prince Suo took the surname Hu for you, and he really hoped that you would have both the wisdom of the Han people and the strength of the Khitan, and the ambition to serve the country. ”

Hu Zhenbang was secretly shocked: "Originally, Kulun was proficient in weapons and weapons, and he didn't want to know everything about the Han people's knowledge, and even the allusion that Yifu named me can guess, so I really have to deal with it carefully." He nodded yes.

Coulomb suddenly said: "Although your stepfather is old, but his health is not serious, do you know why he wants to return to his hometown and retire early?"

Hu Zhenbang's expression was grim, and he said: " This matter is known in the following, because the father-in-law has always believed that although the Han people are strong, but did not infringe on the heart of our court, not only that, but also give me 200,000 horses of silk every year, 200,000 taels of silver coins and silver, this move is clearly to show goodwill to my court, so he advocates friendship with the Han people, but some people in the court said that he was bribed by the Song Dynasty court, in order to speak for the Han people, the father-in-law had no intention of arguing, and his heart sprouted the intention of retreating, coupled with his old man's old age, energy exhaustion, so he proposed to the saint to the routine Zhishi (note: the ancients called retirement 'Zhishi' and 'Zhizheng'). ”

Yelu Kohan interjected: "Yes, when I was the first lord, my Da Liao and the Song people made a peace treaty in Lanyuan County, and the Song Dynasty did pay tribute to my Da Liao every year. Your father-in-law has always advocated reconciliation with the Song Dynasty in the court, but now I advocate making great efforts to govern the country and expand the territory on my pilgrimage, so it is not surprising that his old man will not be excluded. Now his old man has recommended you here, obviously asking you to serve the country loyally for my Daliao. ”

Hu Zhenbang said: "What the marshal said is extremely true, although the father-in-law has abdicated, he has never dared to forget the state affairs, so he entrusts me with the ambition of serving the country, in order to serve the great Liao one day." ”

Cullen smiled and said, "I need you to serve the country now, I don't know if you are willing?"

Hu Zhenbang hurriedly stood up and saluted: "I don't give up." ”

Kulun said again: "Your bloodline is Han after all, if you want to go against your father-in-law's wishes and make enemies of the Han people, are you willing?"

Hu Zhenbang said: "Listening to what my father-in-law said, my biological father was originally a squire of the Song Dynasty Shangshu Ministry of Labor, participated in political affairs, participated in official cultivation and writing, but was not important by the imperial court, and was later killed by the Jin people. ”

Jelu Kokand laughed and said, "It seems that I am not wrong. ”

Kulun also praised on the side: "General Hu is really young and promising, although he is a Han, but for my loyalty to the Great Liao, heaven and earth can be learned!"

Hu Zhenbang was praised by the two at the same time, but he was not colored, and he said: "The two adults have won the award, so please ask the marshal and the old general to give orders." ”