Chapter 57: Before the War

Half a month has passed, Xiliang and Xiqiang have become a tense situation, a low wall has been erected at the gate of Shazhou City, not to mention one or two hundred, Cao Zaidong, as the head of the espionage, has been unable to suppress the increasingly boiling resentment of his scouts, and there are already many impatient sentry horsemen who have entered the enemy formation.

As the chief general of the army, Zuo Chongtu also knows that under such a situation, this battle is bound to start in the near future, but Zuo Chongtu is not one of those big soldiers, he can't lead the troops to attack with a hot brain, he must wait for a fighter that can open the situation, you must know that rash attack is equivalent to sending death, and the Qiang army born in a cold and bitter land is not a vegetarian, and it relies on the dangerous land of the city, which can be said to have taken advantage of the time and place.

Sima Yibing's Fuge camp has gone to a lonely mountain behind Shazhou City, and the Xiaocai camp and the pillow Ge camp have begun to prepare for battle.

Wait until the first snow of the year falls on the sandbank.

The Qiang army was born in a bitter cold land, and it is true that they can endure the cold better than the Xiliang people, but they are also human beings, and Zuo Chengtu does not believe that these Qiang soldiers can stand safely on the head of the city without shivering when it snows.

The Xiliang army will not feel too cold under the rapid march, as long as the timing is right, it is not impossible to capture the sandbar in one fell swoop.

Count the days, tomorrow should be a light snow.

Dunhuang.

Recently, there was a noble man standing at the entrance of the east city of Dunhuang, dressed in a black shirt, a pair of deerskin boots under his feet, wearing a long sword at his waist, and two five big and three thick sword-wielding guards standing beside him.

said that it was a nobleman, but in fact, the people who passed by the city gate felt that the ordinary people could not afford to have a warm fur that looked at it.

In Dunhuang, people with such a dress can be regarded as wealthy, most of them are from Jiangmen, but I heard that the general of Xiliang had all rushed to the Western Front half a month ago, I really can't think of which military camp this person will be, and then look at the age of this person, it doesn't look too big, and his legs and feet are complete, he shouldn't be a retired officer.

This man has been standing for more than two hours, and some of the people who have gone out of the city and entered the city are quite envious, and their hearts say that this clothes are really warm, and this man has stood for so long, and he has not frozen.

The nobleman rubbed the fur on his clothes and whispered: "The shelf of this minister of the imperial court is big enough, and he made this king wait for him for two hours. ”

This person is the King of Liang, Motong Mountain.

A guard next to him heard the prince speak and grinned: "Lord, if you want me to say, this minister may have arrived a long time ago, but he was a little scared and didn't dare to come to see the prince." ”

Mo Tongshan was not angry, and scolded with a smile: "This king is not some evil ghost who eats people and does not spit out bones, he is not good-looking, and he can't talk about fierce gods and evil spirits, right?"

The guard immediately quipped: "Lord Wang, in the hearts of these sour Confucians who only care about people on weekdays, you don't want to be fierce and evil!"

As soon as he finished speaking, the guard found that Mo Tongshan's face was no longer smiling, thinking that Mo Tongshan was angry and was about to apologize, Mo Tongshan waved his hand and said in a low voice: "Don't speak, you're here."

This guard has been following Mo Tongshan for some years, and it doesn't matter if he makes some jokes, but a carriage came as far as his eyes could see, and Mo Tongshan faintly felt that the minister should have arrived. Although Mo Tongshan doesn't care about the thoughts of this "minister", the etiquette that should be there still has to be done, and it is not possible to make a grand appearance if he laughs at people behind his back.

The carriage slowly held up in front of Motong Mountain, the coachman opened the curtain, and the old man walked out of it.

This person is dressed in green clothes, embroidered with seven chapter patterns, wearing a crown, and the crown has eight crowns, which is the official uniform of the second-grade courtier, and in addition to the Shangshu left servant who is far away in the capital, the second-grade courtier is only Xiao Tinglin, who was promoted not long ago.

"Lord Chincha is not too cold. Mo Tongshan teased, looked at the pale face of the old man in front of him, and hooked the corners of his mouth.

Xiao Tinglin turned a deaf ear, took out the holy decree from his arms, did not spread it out, but held it tightly, walked to Mo Tongshan, gritted his teeth, and said word by word: "By the will of the Holy Lord, take King Liang back to Beijing to ask for the guilt!"

Blinking his eyes, Mo Tongshan pretended to be shocked and asked, "Do you know who I am?"

Xiao Tinglin took a deep breath and said sadly: "My dog, I am still lying down! Such a big hatred, the old man can recognize it even if he is broken bones and ashes, Mo Tongshan!"

Nodding, Mo Tongshan muttered, "It turns out that there are still some old grudges. Mo Tongshan looked left and right, and laughed softly: "Your Excellency won't be alone to get this king, right?"

As soon as he finished saying this, Xiao Tinglin raised a trace of anger in his heart, pursed his lips disdainfully, and said coldly: "King Liang and Tiger are very powerful, and the accompanying sergeants dare not enter your Xiliang realm, and then it is convenient to part ways with the old man." ”

Mo Tongshan then asked, "Then why do you think that you can take me into Beijing alone?"

Xiao Tinglin's face turned even paler, but there was no cowardice in his mouth, and he said loudly: "Just because you are the prince of Great Wu! ”

This voice was a little high-pitched, and the surrounding people also heard it clearly, as soon as they heard the word "Liang Wang", many people were stunned, and hurriedly knelt on the ground in the direction of Motong Mountain.

The two guards behind Mo Tongshan stepped forward together, and Xiao Tinglin was so frightened that he hurriedly took a few steps back, and only after retreating to the carriage did he freeze his figure.

"Mo Tongshan, do you want to kill the imperial court officials privately?" Xiao Tinglin shouted angrily, but his tone was a little floating, obviously facing the two long knives that would swing at his head at any time, his confidence was not enough.

Mo Tongshan stretched out his hand to stop the two guards, looked at Xiao Tinglin, who was stubble, and suddenly laughed fiercely, and shouted: "Old horseman, why don't you kneel when you see this king?"

According to the laws of Dawu, the vassal king is on par with the three fairs of the court, and he is a noble title, Xiao Tinglin is reasonable and courteous, and he should bow down.

Xiao Tinglin obviously didn't want to kneel, but suddenly he heard another crisp sound, and Mo Tongshan slowly pulled out the long sword from his waist.

Xiao Tinglin immediately knelt on the ground and said reluctantly: "Participate in the prince." ”

Mo Tongshan slowly paced forward, the steps were small but very heavy, every time he took a step, Xiao Tinglin's waist pole was lower by one point, and when Mo Tongshan came closer, Xiao Tinglin was already facing the loess, and he was about to kowtow.

Xiao Tinglin was already sweating like rain at this time, and his voice trembled a little and said, "Wang ...... Rajah. ”

Mo Tongshan stuck the long sword in his hand on the ground along Xiao Tinglin's crown, slowly lowered his body, and came to Xiao Tinglin's ear, his tone could not hear joy and anger, and said in a low voice: "Don't panic, my lord, since I came by order, how about this king go with you?"

Xiao Tinglin thought that he had heard it wrong, so he raised his head and looked at Mo Tongshan in disbelief, his voice trembling even more: "When ...... Really?"

Tapping his fingers on the sword spike, Mo Tongshan said in a low voice: "This king never jokes. ”

Helping the paralyzed Xiao Tinglin up, Mo Tongshan said: "It's better to choose a day than to hit the day, so let's go, how about it?"

Turning his head, Mo Tongshan said to the two guards: "You two, you don't have to follow, just send a message to Mo Bai." ”

The two guards were about to say something, but Mo Tongshan waved his hand, signaling that there was no need to say more.

Immediately, Xiao Tinglin's ears sounded like thunder.

"Don't worry, his father didn't leave this king behind, and his son can't do it!"

Waiting for the carriage of the two to set off, Xiao Tinglin did not ease his mind, looked at the front sluggishly, he didn't know what he was thinking in his mouth, and Mo Tongshan couldn't hear it clearly, probably it was something like the sage training.

Suddenly, Xiao Tinglin realized that he had just walked from life and death, and he was in a cold sweat, looking at Mo Tongshan, who seemed to be smiling, and he didn't know what to say for a while.

"Why are you so alarmed, in the final analysis, you and I are also officials in the same dynasty, if you don't look at the face of the monk and look at the face of the Buddha, even if you look at Zhou Qi's face, this king will not kill you. Mo Tongshan patted Xiao Tinglin's shoulder and soothed.

Opening his mouth, Xiao Tinglin wanted to reprimand Mo Tongshan for the great disrespect of calling the saint by his name, but after hesitating for a long time, he still didn't say it.

"I don't know what that kid is like now, he was beaten by this king back then, and he went to the queen mother to complain, oops, in the blink of an eye, more than ten years, old and old. Leaning on the carriage, Xiao Tinglin whispered rather casually, with a nostalgic look on his face.

Xiao Tinglin only hoped that this journey could be faster at this time, but he had to recognize a reality.

From Dunhuang to Chang'an, it takes ten days to say the least.

The next night, the first heavy snow of the year finally came.

Zuo Chengtu walked to the front of the formation, followed by Mo Bai, and behind him were the generals in the army.

The 100,000 army rode on war horses, all of them did not say a word, and occasionally there was only the uneasy neighing of war horses, mixed with the whistling sound of wind and snow, which was terrifying to watch.

There was no military order, Zuo Chongtu just waved his horsewhip lightly, and the army behind him moved forward.

Target sandbar.

Jiangnan, Poyang County.

Although there is no cold winter in the south of the Yangtze River, after all, it has entered the wax moon, and the cold of the river still makes people shiver, and there is an old man, sitting on a reed boat, struggling to fish out a fishing net from the river.

The fishing nets were very tattered, countless big holes and small holes, and many fish ran back into the river when they were picked up, but the old man was still very satisfied, it didn't matter if he caught less fish, he couldn't eat much anyway.

The old man rowed his boat against the shore, carrying a basket of fish and counting the money.

Since his grandson won the emperor's list, someone has come to send some money every month, saying that it is the government's own money for students, but the old man doesn't want to spend any money, thinking about saving more and using it to be entangled on the road, and wait for the spring of the next year to go to the capital to see his grandson.

Listening to the person who gave the silver, although his grandson is in high school, he is still a petty official in the capital, and he has no foundation, so he has to polish his qualifications for a few years.

Although he has been a fisherman all his life, the old man also understands that this official is indispensable for gift-giving, and his grandson must be very tight, and his grandson will definitely not take money with a bad conscience, maybe, in the capital where everything is expensive, life is not as good as himself.

Every month, the man sent a penny of money, and in May next year, he would almost be able to save seven or eight hangings, and he didn't want to keep any of them, and when he arrived in the capital, he gave them to his grandson, and he became an official no matter how he said it, but he couldn't still worry about one or two buckets of rice.

Now the fishing livelihood is much better, I heard that the change of officials, not as hard as the beginning, can save almost half a penny a month.

Do more, try to make a whole, and get ten dollars for your grandson.

The old man leaned over, wondering whether to change the fishing net, and after thinking about it, forget it, how can a new net cost two or three hundred yuan.

The old man hummed a little tune that he heard from nowhere, and muttered a few words vaguely, which he had also heard from the roadside people in the market before, and only listened to two sentences, and turned it over and hummed when he had nothing to do.

"Don't miss home when you leave your home, your son must accompany Chang'an flowers. ”