Nagu pulled a chair and sat down, and said dejectedly: "Brother Gu, I guess you can also see it, but I have something like a thorn in my heart, but ...... I just don't know how to talk about it. Alas!"

His expression was a little complicated, and his last sigh was as if something was really something that made him unspeakable. I wondered, "Is it about the military?"

Na Gu shook his head and said: "No, I live very well in the army, and Lord Kang takes good care of me, whether it is food, clothing, housing, transportation, or witch cultivation, he treats me like a guest, and gives me whatever I lack, and my room full of curiosities are carefully prepared for me by Lord Kang." ”

I looked at the bamboo baskets full of bottles and cans in the attic, and said, "In this way, Mr. Kang must be very important, and he should be happy." ”

Nagu nodded, and said with a little gratitude in his eyes: "Yes, it is something to be happy about." The lord guards the frontier, has always scrupulously abided by his duties, is loyal to the country, treats his subordinates with more rewards and fewer punishments, can be called the general of the ancients, in the past when he visited my wolf clan, he loved our clan even more, and I was also honored to be able to follow him to seek work. ”

I heard him say that Kang Ping is "loyal to the country, the general of the ancients", I also agree, although I have only had a banquet with Kang Ping, but I basically know more about him as a person, and he is indeed not a mediocre person. And judging from the treatment that Nagu received in the army, if he had been by Kangping's side, his career would be limitless.

"Good birds choose trees to perch on, so why are you so miserable?"

Nagu looked at me and said, "I'm not worried about this, but worried about the future of our Heavenly Wolf Clan. ”

I was stunned and said, "For you Celestial Wolf Clan?"

Nagu sighed and said, "Yes." He thought for a while, and then said: "Brother Gu, in fact, this matter is difficult to say, and it has to start with the relocation of the Great Song Dynasty." ”

I thought for a moment and said, "When you were in the Miluo tribe, you said that the Great Song Dynasty court had allocated a piece of high-class village for your Heavenly Wolf Clan, why, didn't the imperial court divide it into a good village for you?

Na Gu pursed his lips, and tapped his fingers the desk: "It is divided, but it is not the prosperous interior of the Central Plains, but in Zhenzhou!"

I frowned and said, "Sir's words are really becoming more and more incomprehensible, since the territory within the clan has been obtained, and Mr. is appreciated by Master Kang, then where can the unspeakable begin?"

As soon as I finished saying this, this time it was Nagu's turn to be stunned and said, "Brother Gu, don't you know what Zhenzhou is?"

I was still serious, but at this time, I was a little red by the ancient saying, and opened my mouth and said, "What is Zhenzhou?"

Na Gu sighed, but immediately smiled again and said: "It seems that Brother Gu is from the Central Plains, but he doesn't know much about the border pass, otherwise he wouldn't know where Zhenzhou is." In fact, Zhenzhou is located on the northern border of the Great Song Dynasty, only dozens of miles away from the Sixteen Prefectures of Youyun. ”

I was taken aback and exclaimed, "Youyun Sixteen Prefectures!

There are hundreds of state capitals in the Great Song Dynasty, and it may not be strange that I can't figure out what Zhenzhou is, but I am like thunder about the sixteen states of Youyun, and I often heard people mention it when I was in Chenzhou.

I have always heard of the discord between the Song and Liao countries, and I also know that in the early years of the founding of the Great Song Dynasty or even earlier, the Liao army often had to fight and provoke trouble at the northern border pass, and has always had the intention of going south to invade the Song Dynasty. The Khitan people have been in the fertile field for a long time, good at fighting on horses, their most powerful is the cavalry, I have heard Wu Chengbang say, the horses of the Khitan people are the special products of the grassland, suitable for fighting in the plains, and the battle in the mountains is greatly discounted, and the four fields of the northern border pass of Song Liao are rugged mountain dangers, plus the elite of the forbidden army of the imperial court to defend the fortress, it is because the Khitan people have not moved south, and often leave with one blow in the northern border pass, but do not love to fight, and the situation on the northern border is getting worse because of this. However, this situation did not last long, in the fourth year of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom and the third year of Yongxi, Emperor Taizong sent troops to fight twice with 100,000 and 200,000 troops in order to pacify the border passes, and opened two large-scale battles with the Khitan, and the main battlefield of the two armies was in the sixteen states of Youyun. However, it is a pity that I heard that Taizong's two crusades ended in failure, and the 300,000 troops went out to conquer Saibei, but six or seven out of ten returned, and were defeated by the Khitans on all fronts, not only did not pacify the border passes, but also lost many generals.

Some people say that the two defeats of the imperial court are due to the instability of the army and the corruption of the imperial court, and some people say that the imperial court is caused by the Khitan light enemy, and some people say that it is because the timing of the two expeditions to the imperial court is wrong. In short, there is everything to say, but after many years, the two expeditions to the imperial court have not been announced in detail, and no one can say well, I just heard that there were two failed expeditions. But there is no doubt about one thing, with the strength of the forbidden army of the Great Song Dynasty, it can be broken twice, the strength of the Liao State can be seen, at least it will not be inferior to the forbidden army of the imperial court, after the war once caused people to panic, although the imperial court tried its best to suppress, but the notoriety of the sixteen states of Youyun has been deeply rooted in the hearts of the people, and it is still often talked about today. It's just that, no matter what the two battles were, the Sixteen Prefectures of Youyun were still subordinate to the Khitan, and the Wolf Clan moved to Zhenzhou less than dozens of miles away from the Sixteen Prefectures of Youyun, which was simply under the noses of the Khitans, but it was a chaotic place.

After thinking so much in my head, Nagu also seemed to see through my mind and said, "Exactly." Brother Gu, Zhenzhou is at the Songliao border pass, it seems that you also know that it is not a good place. ”

I frowned, and after a while, I said, "As you know, in the past, Emperor Taizong's two expeditions were to the Sixteen Prefectures of Youyun, and he had a fierce competition with the Khitans in that area, and the border passes there were indeed chaotic. Sir, how did you end up there?"

A hint of gloom flashed in Na Gu's eyes, and he said in a low voice: "We don't want to go to that kind of place either, but this is arranged by the imperial court, and we can't help it." ”

I was surprised: "Didn't you Heavenly Wolf Clan discuss the division of territory with the imperial court before you moved your clan?

Na Gu Dao: "The discussion is discussed, at the beginning the imperial court promised us to be in Xizhou, that is, a state capital in the north of Minzhou City, but after we moved here, we knew that Xizhou no longer had a divisible territory." ”

Xizhou also knows that more than 700 miles north of Minzhou City, it is also a border state capital. I wondered, "There is no territory to divide? This is also unlikely, is the territory of Xizhou very small?"

Nagu Dao: "It's not small, it's only a lot more than the territory of Minzhou." ”

"Since it's not small, how can there be no territory to divide? Your Heavenly Wolf Clan is only more than 200 people, even if you can open up a random mountain in Xizhou, you can live in it, and even if there is really no territory to divide in Xizhou, you can choose another place in the inland of the Central Plains, and you will not refuse to come to the imperial court, it is better than going to the northern border pass." ”

Nagu sighed and said, "What you think is too simple, if you can choose any territory in the Central Plains state cities, it would be really great." Brother Gu, this is the imperial court's recruitment policy for our tribes in the Western Regions. ”

I shook my head and said, "What does this have to do with the imperial court's recruitment policy?"

"The imperial court's Zhao'an policy for our tribes in the Western Regions has always been very superior, but there is one thing that is very strict with us, that is, the territory divided must be the border towns of the Great Song Dynasty, and it is not allowed to go deep into the interior of the Central Plains. Nagu smiled bitterly and said, "So it is impossible for us to get a good territory in the interior of Middle-earth. ”

I was stunned and said, "There is still such a rule between you and the imperial court?"

The ancient said: "It's true. All the tribes that moved from the Western Regions to the Great Song Dynasty had to abide by this, and we did the same, and so will the Miro. ”

I was really curious, and asked, "But why is this? Since you have submitted to our Great Song Dynasty and deserve to be treated the same as us, why do you still restrict these things?"

"Because we are from the Western Regions, you are from the Central Plains. ”

I was stunned. After a while, he laughed and said, "Is it just because you are not from the Central Plains that there is this agreement in the imperial court's recruitment policy?"

Nagu nodded and said, "Almost." After all, the two places are separated, and no matter how much you bow down, it's still different. The reason why there is this article is also for the sake of the people of the Central Plains, for fear of bringing them panic and avoiding causing riots, and this article was also decided by the imperial court with our consent. ”

I couldn't help but be speechless. In fact, I can think of these ancient words. The tribes of the Western Regions are indeed too different from the Central Plains, not even a little bit, the living habits of their tribes are very different from the customs of the Central Plains, the people of the tribe are born in groups, like to go out hunting together, and are good at using witchcraft to heal the sick, even if it is a transaction of buying and selling, it is also obtained by exchanging goods, and these are very different in the Central Plains.

Listening to what he said about "bringing panic and causing riots", I felt the same way. Witchcraft is prevalent in the Western Regions, and cultivating Gu worms is almost a very common thing in their eyes, but if it is placed in the Central Plains, it is completely different, it will not work at all, once the witch Gu incident is found in the city, I am afraid that it will be beheaded immediately. The insect plague in Chenzhou City is a good example, although Li Yanzong was not caught and beheaded by Lu Jingzhao and Shi Yisheng in the end, but the disaster he caused was undoubtedly terrifying, not to mention the behavior of sacrificing ancestors with the lives of living people like the Miluo tribe, which was simply appalling.

I breathed a long sigh of relief and said, "So the territory you get can only be Border Guanzhou City?"

The ancient said: "Yes. ”

I pondered for a while and said, "Xizhou has no territory to divide, so what about the other state cities in this area? ”

"There is also no territory to divide, there are many tribes who have moved to the Great Song Dynasty from the Western Regions over the years, and the border state is overcrowded, so we have to go to the northwest to find territory. Nagu paused and said in a low voice: "But we never dreamed that we would be assigned to Zhenzhou." ”

I don't know how many times he has talked about Zhenzhou, I said: "Sir, don't worry, although Zhenzhou is located in the northern frontier, there must also be a heavy army of the imperial court, if the Khitans want to break through, I am afraid it will not be so easy." ”

I'm not bragging. I have personally experienced the strength of the imperial forbidden army, and as early as Chenzhou, I was fortunate to witness the defenders led by Shi Yisheng outside Chenzhou City, only their excellent armament and strict military discipline are already like sharp knives, not to mention the forbidden army guarding the border pass. Although Taizong's two crusades against the Liao State ended in failure, the Khitans did not move their troops south, most of which was due to the fear of the Song army's bravery, and this time we fought against the Tubo army together with the defenders of Minzhou City, which made me full of confidence in the army of the Great Song Dynasty.

It's just that as soon as I said this, Na Gu suddenly shook his head and said, "Brother Gu obviously hasn't been to Saibei, and he still doesn't know much about Zhenzhou. You probably don't know that the first time Taizong sent troops to attack Liao was from Zhenzhou to the Sixteen Prefectures of Youyun, right?"

I nodded and said, "Let Mr. laugh shamefully, I really don't know much about the border pass, and I only heard people say that Taizong attacked Liao twice, so I don't know the specifics." ”

Na Gu tilted his head slightly, his eyes seemed to penetrate the doors and windows, and said slowly: "You are still young, and it is not strange not to know about border affairs." In fact, it was not only Taizong who sent troops from Zhenzhou, but also chased more than 200 miles south after the Khitan defeated the Song army, and also attacked from Zhenzhou, and since then, the Khitans regarded Zhenzhou as the main place of plunder, and they came to loot once every other month. Brother Gu, do you know that in just a few months since my Heavenly Wolf Clan moved to Zhenzhou, nearly half of my clan has died tragically under the blade of the bandits. ”

His voice was a little choked, and at the end of the day, there were tears in his eyes, and my heart couldn't help jumping, and said, "So many people have died! Can't the guards of Zhenzhou hold off the Khitans?"

The Sky Wolf Clan is a small tribe in the Western Regions, with a population of only one or two hundred, and half of them are almost wiped out. Nagu wiped away the tears in his eyes and said: "I can't hold it, there are far fewer guards in Zhenzhou, and there are only 5,000 people in Zhenzhou." ”

Five thousand people is only one-tenth of the number of defenders in Minzhou City. I was stunned for a moment and said, "How can the imperial court only send such a small number of people to garrison a large state?"

Nagu said dejectedly: "The imperial court actually has a lot of garrisons in Saibei, but due to the topography, the battle line is extremely long, and the defenders assigned by each state are much less. Moreover, the iron cavalry of the Khitan people is as fast as wind and thunder, coming and going quickly, and the defenders around Zhenzhou are too late even if they want to support. ”

I frowned and said: "Even if the reinforcements fail to arrive in time, it is a border fortress after all, and the imperial court should also send more troops and horses from the interior of the Central Plains to the north, and it is impossible to fall so few people." ”

Na Gu sighed low and said, "The imperial court doesn't have so much military strength, Brother Gu, there aren't so many people." ”

I was surprised: "How can there not be so many, isn't there 50,000 soldiers in Minzhou City alone? ”

What I said was somewhat sarcastic, but Nagu said, "Who will guard this place by sending the military horses from the west?"

I didn't understand what he meant for a while, and said, "What do you mean by that, sir?"

Na Gu pondered for a moment and said, "Brother Gu, do you think the imperial court is worried more about the Western Regions, or more about the Liao Kingdom?"

I just wanted to say that of course it was Liao, but suddenly I remembered that I came to attack the Tibetan army last night, and I couldn't help but say: "Is it Tibet?"

The ancient road: "That's right." The imperial court is not only worried about Tibet, but also about the many tribes in the Western Regions, worried about our witchcraft, worried about our Gu worms. Brother Gu must also know that the Western Regions are really chaotic today, and tribes of all sizes have been fighting for the battle of their territory all year round, and the chaos is not endless, so in such a turbulent situation, where does the imperial court dare to relax a little? You also saw the Tubo army that attacked last night, it was not only a war between people, but also a fight between humans and beasts. If the Xitui defenders are sent to reinforce Saibei, once the tribes of the Western Regions take advantage of the situation to attack, it will really be a fire in the backyard, and the consequences will be unimaginable. ”

I was stunned, unable to speak for a moment.

Truly. Compared to people, those Gu worms and the like in the Western Regions are really outrageous. Although the northern Liao country is huge, the army and horses are fierce, but after all, they are still people, although they defeated the Song army several times in previous years, but the strength of the forbidden army of the imperial court is still sharp, they want to attack the south, they are bound to be resisted by the march, it will not be so easy. However, if the tribes of the Western Regions come to invade the Central Plains, it will be a complete two wars, and the strength of the tribes in the Western Regions may not be as strong as the Khitans, but the emphasis is on witchcraft, and the invisible and inhuman witchcraft and inhumane Gu worms are even more terrible than people to kill on the battlefield. Sometimes I also think that if the tribes of the Western Regions join forces to attack the Great Song Dynasty, they will all lead the battle with fierce beasts such as fish-headed monsters in the Swamp of Death, and God knows what kind of catastrophe the Great Song Dynasty will suffer. And if there is such a day, I am afraid that the fall of the Central Plains will be faster than the southern invasion of the Khitans.

Seeing that I hadn't spoken for a long time, Nagu patted me on the shoulder and said, "Brother Gu, I'm talking a little too much. ”

I shook my head and said, "No." It's just that I didn't expect that there was still such a crisis in the north and south border passes of my Great Song Dynasty. ”

Nagu smiled bitterly and said: "There is such a situation in the Western Border Pass of the Great Song Dynasty, and it is inseparable from our Western Regions. ”

I said: "But it is not a long-term solution for your Heavenly Wolf Tribe to be assigned to Zhenzhou, can the imperial court have a solution to this matter?"

Na Gu said: "I haven't received a notice yet, but Lord Kang has written to the court several times in a row, and I think there will be results soon." ”

I said, "Has Master Kang always been concerned about this matter?"

Na Gu smiled and said: "Yes, Lord Kang has sent many envoys to the Western Regions, and the tribe that has been appeased is not only my Heavenly Wolf Clan, this time there are dozens of tribes that have been assigned to Zhenzhou with our Heavenly Wolf Clan, and a small half of them are recruited by Lord Kang, and Lord Kang is also a big headache for this matter." ”

It turned out that Kang Ping had personally recruited many tribes. I thought about it and muttered, "Sir, since the situation in Zhenzhou is turbulent, can't you retreat to the Western Regions first and move here when there is a free territory in the Western Territory?"

Nagu sighed and said, "It's not easy to talk about. Once our tribe in the Western Regions moved to the Great Song Dynasty, they were no longer allowed to set foot in the Western Regions. ”

I said, "This is also the policy you negotiated for recruitment?"

Nagu nodded and said: "The reason why this is stipulated is that firstly, we are already subordinate to the Great Song Dynasty and are no longer under the jurisdiction of the Western Regions, and secondly, it is also for the sake of our tribe, and once it is violated, the imperial court will inevitably send troops to fight." ”

What he said in the end was quite helpless, I don't know what he said, but they are obedient to the imperial court, and once they go back, there will be absolutely no good end, and they will definitely be treated as traitors by the clans.

Thinking of this, a flash suddenly flashed in my mind, and I said, "Sir, Lord Kangping said that the Miluo clan will move to the Great Song Dynasty in the middle of next month, will they also be assigned to Zhenzhou?"

Na Gu smiled low and said, "I don't know, the allocation of territory is arranged by a special envoy of the imperial court, and Lord Kang can't take care of this." However, the Miro tribe is different from our Celestial Wolf Clan, only half of their clan has returned to the imperial court, led by Abigail, and the Great Witch of Zabal remains in the Western Regions. Let's hope they won't be assigned to the north of the country. ”

If the Miro tribe is also assigned to the northern border pass, then Zabal will definitely not let Nagu go, maybe he will soon lead his people from the Western Regions to ask Nagu and even the court for an explanation.

I felt a little dizzy when I thought about it, but I didn't expect that Gu Gu had so many concerns in his heart. It's strange that these things are ancient, but I am here thinking about myself like a flail, full of entanglements.

At this time, Na Gu let out a long sigh of relief and said, "Brother Gu, thank you for listening to me so much. These things have been backlogged in my heart, there are few people I know in Minzhou City, and none of them are telling the truth, but now they are all confided, and my mood is much better. ”

He seemed to have something else to say, but he just opened his mouth and didn't say it again. I hesitated for a moment and said, "Does Mr. have anything else to say to Gu Tian?"

Nagu suddenly became a little hesitant and said, "Don't hide it from my brother, in fact, I also want you to stay in the army." ”