Zhou Yi stopped asking, "Master Tai, since this person makes you so sad, then Yi'er won't ask." ”

After a while, Tian Yong came back to his senses, looked at Zhou Yi's expression that he wanted to ask but was depressed, let out a long sigh, and said: "I only have a one-sided relationship with Dong Guo Lie, and I can't talk about any friendship, but when I talk about him, I can't help but think of another person." ”

"Who is it?"

"An old man who puts his heart into his heart, and is also Yu Guangling's friend of life and death, the eldest son of the original Xuanyuan Sword Ji En, Ji Heng. Speaking of Ji Heng's name, Tian Yong's lonely eyes showed a little admiring smile.

"This old Mr. Ji Heng is what you said, the general who fought on the battlefield with Dong Guo Lie?"

Tian Yong's heart was shocked, it seemed that Zhou Yi would not give up until he understood the origin of these things, "Child, since you want to know, Master Tai will tell you everything today, but you have to be clear, you have the right to know the truth, but there is no need to let yourself be depressed in order to solve all the mysteries." Do you understand?"

Tian Yong looked at Zhou Yi's childish but unyielding eyes, and was quite reluctant in his heart, like everyone else, he also hoped that Zhou Yi's future life would be carefree, instead of being burdened by hatred and running around for life.

Zhou Yi also seemed to feel Tian Yong's worry, but the more this happened, the stronger the thirst for the truth in his heart.

"Okay, Master Tai, Yi'er listens to you!"

The ancestors and grandsons looked at each other for a moment, and Tian Yong couldn't help laughing, "You are from Baihe Mountain, and the disposition in your eyes that does not admit defeat is very similar to that of Master Tai when he was a teenager! ”

The corners of Zhou Yi's mouth were slightly raised, not arrogant or impatient.

"In the past 100 years, our dynasty has often had wars with the Turks, and the Turks have returned from defeat, and they are good at horse warfare; for several decades, countless officers and men of our southern army have sacrificed their lives for the country! Later, in order to solve the country's difficulties, many people from the rivers and lakes joined the army on the battlefield, and among them, there was a legendary figure. In the second year of Zhenbao, the Turks took advantage of my ascension to the throne of the new monarch, and the situation was not stable, and raised 300,000 troops to attack. At that time, the Central Plains was in ruins, and the civil and military forces were weak, and for a time, it was difficult to gather even 50,000 soldiers and horses. The military situation is urgent, seeing that the enemy army is directly attacking the imperial city, and no one of the three armies can take command. Speaking of this, Tian Yong couldn't suppress his grief and indignation, and his tone was very excited.

Zhou Yi asked puzzledly: "Was the previous prosperous foundation so unbearable at that time?"

Tian Yong sneered: "Prosperous world, prosperous world! It is easy to win the world, it is difficult to keep the world, it is not easy to win the prosperous world, and it is even more difficult to keep the prosperous world!"

"Later, how was the Turkic crisis solved?"

"I owe it to the legend I want to tell you about. At that time, the Li family had a Wang clan, which was born in Henan, and there was a hero among them, that is, the general who was in command and retreated from the enemy, Li Ji. Li Ji was born in a martial arts family and was familiar with military books, so he asked for his life in danger and selected five warriors to accompany him in the rivers and lakes. ”

"Which five?" Zhou Yi asked impatiently.

"Speaking of these five warriors, everyone in the elderly knows their names. They are Tu Jian, the ancestor of Wuxiang Mountain, the eighteenth great-grandson of Jin Ge Hong, Ge Yuan, known as the Xuantian Divine Doctor, Ji En, the founder of Xuanyuan Sword, and Dong Guo Tan, the king of Yanshan who later deterred the Turks for ten years. ”

When Tian Yong said this, he stopped, Zhou Yizheng could hear it, I don't know why he stopped, and hurriedly asked: "What about the fifth one? ”

Tian Yong's tone was extremely calm, "This person is indifferent to fame and fortune, travels all year round, and preaches all over the world all his life, which can be described as a peach and plum in the world." Until one year, he went to the Western Regions alone to fight against the Hu people, and was finally framed and poisoned with arrows!"

Zhou Yi listened to him, although he was not shocked, but there were tears in his eyes.

"Master Tai, Yi'er knows! This big hero is Master Tai!"

Tian Yong smiled slightly, brushed up his sleeves and stained his tears, "Master, his old man has lofty ambitions, just because the world is cold, so he can only hide in the rivers and lakes, and later he led the other four seniors to take refuge in Li Ji, and with only 5,000 men and horses, he dared to face the Turkic army of 300,000. ”

"That must be very tragic!" Zhou Yi frowned, "Later, did they win?"

"Speaking of this battle, the southern army is only allowed to win, not defeated, otherwise the soldiers will come to the city and the imperial city will not be protected. Li Ji sat alone in the camp, let the master and them each take 1,000 men and horses, or feint and retreat, or set up an ambush in the middle of the road, one way to introduce the Turkic 50,000 vanguard elite army into the hinterland of the valley, the other four roads in the periphery raid, the Turkic army could not believe that Li Ji only had 5,000 people, for fear that another large army would be ambushed behind, so he ordered 50,000 lions to retreat. As a result, the enemy's army was disheartened, and the southern army took the opportunity to intercept and kill, 5,000 people, slaughtering ten times its own strength on the way to escape. ”

"What a thrilling battle!" Zhou Yi's eyes were full of light!

Since then, the Turks have not taken a step south for decades. ”

"What happened later, how did Master Tai go to the Western Regions?"

Asked this, Tian Yong felt a faint pain in his heart, "Li Ji and his master have made great contributions, and it stands to reason that the imperial court should reward those who have made meritorious contributions." ”

Zhou Yi was shocked, "What? Could it be that the emperor at that time ......?"

"At that time, the people's hearts were unstable, and the new emperor urgently needed to make a name for himself when he ascended the throne, and when the Turks were defeated, the emperor actually drove the expedition in person, and then the reputation of the 5,000 forbidden army broke the enemy's 300,000 army, and it fell on the emperor's head!"

When Zhou Yi heard this, he couldn't help gritting his teeth, "There is such a shameless thing in the world!"

Tian Yong smiled bitterly: "So, Li Ji resigned and returned to his hometown at that time, and cultivated in Taiqing Palace. The other five generals who made great contributions also returned on different paths. ”

Tian Yong looked sad, looked at the dim sunset, and sneered.

"Master Tai, what kind of choice did they make?" Zhou Yi asked.

"They all have the ambition to serve their country, and none of them want to give up their bright future at the beginning of their careers. But the next actions of the imperial court made them all cold. Tian Yong shook his head as he spoke, although these things have passed for decades, but once they think about it, it is as if they happened yesterday, which is still fresh in people's memories.

"After the five generals returned to the court, the court gave them rewards for their meritorious deeds in order to show their love for talents. However, when they were ordered to take office afterwards, Shang Shutai told them to go home and wait for a while on the grounds that there was no vacancy, saying that if they had idle jobs, they would be rewarded separately. ”

"Ridiculous! How can there be such a reason in the world!" Zhou Yi rebuked indignantly.

"They are all heroes who have traveled all over the world, and they are all upright, how can they stand this kind of ridicule? Therefore, it was up to you to take the lead, and they all resigned from those vacant positions, and decided to return to the rivers and lakes to be an idle and self-satisfied hermit. ”

Zhou Yi sneered: "A Shangshutai is not so bold that even the official position of the emperor's order dares to suppress it, but I am afraid that there is another mystery in this matter." ”

"That is natural," Tian Yong said expressionlessly, "At that time, some people gave the emperor a sincere message, saying that the meritorious service was scattered, and if the Turks came again, how could they resist it? Moreover, once the rumors spread to the rivers and lakes, saying that the emperor had no faith, those poor and lowly people who were born in the rivers and lakes would inevitably think that they had no way to come from their backgrounds, and in this way, it would chill the hearts of talented people in the world to serve the country." Therefore, the imperial court only approved the resignation of your Taishigong, Tu Jian, and Ge Yuan, and arranged Ji En and Dong Guo Tan to be appointed in the army. ”

Zhou Yi listened, pondered for a moment, and said coldly: "I'm afraid, this is not necessarily the will of the imperial court. ”

Tian Yong asked suspiciously, "How can you see it?"

Zhou Yi replied: "The so-called chaos in the world is the conspiracy of like-minded people." I guess the imperial court also understands this truth, and I am afraid that after the princess and the princess all go back, the resentment against the imperial court in their hearts will be poured out to each other, and over time, there will be the idea of uprising. In addition to those superficial purposes, this step of the imperial court is not to break the whole into parts, and to give both grace and power!"

His words came out of his lips, which made Tian Yong stunned.

In Tian Yong's view, Zhou Yi is just a weak and somewhat childish teenager, and he will not see the truth of these deceitful deeds, at least, according to his temperament, he does not bother to guess those intriguing schemes. But Zhou Yi's words made him completely wake up, and when he grew up, he would not let go of the disaster in Baihe Mountain thirteen years ago, and the mastermind behind the plot to take away his brother. Then again, if he is trained, Zhou Yi has the ability to subvert the conspiracy of those wicked people.

This made Zhou Tianyong mixed with joy and sorrow.

"Tell me, what is the whole into parts, and what is the combination of grace and power?"

"The so-called breaking up the whole into parts is to break up the position of the five of them, the five of them are either in the opposition for the people, or in the court officials, in short, they have different paths to return, so that their views on the court will not be hated to the bone marrow, then they will not discuss the emperor's immorality together. In the same way, not letting them all become officials in the court is also to avoid the situation of rebellion by powerful ministers one day, which is to break the whole into parts. The so-called combination of grace and power means that while suppressing the rapidly growing forces, the imperial court has also established an image of loving talent and virtue, which is particularly important for an emperor who has not long ascended the throne! Another point is that putting the five of them in different positions can also be regarded as a kind of check and balance; if the rivers and lakes are in chaos, let Ji En and Dongguo Tan send troops to suppress them, and on the contrary, recruit the prince and them into the court Qinwang. In a word, the forces he fears can be used for himself. ”

Zhou Yi sighed, thought for a while, and said: "On the one hand, the imperial court is suppressing powerful families in the rivers and lakes, so that they don't have any wrong thoughts, and on the other hand, it is also gathering people who vacillate their positions. In fact, if this matter wants to be done without leakage, then he should send an edict to invite the prince to return to the court, so as to show the generosity of the court. He knew that Taishi Gong and others would not go and return, so afterwards he only needed to deal with one of the small officials of Shangshutai and put the responsibility on the lower officials, and the glorious and flawless image of the court would make the entire government and the opposition surrender. ”

Zhou Yi said, and suddenly noticed that Tian Yong was looking at him with a strange look, so he hurriedly stopped his words and bowed on the horse, "Master Tai is laughing, Yi'er is talking nonsense again!"

Zhou Tianyong stayed on the horse, his heart was mixed, he didn't know if Zhou Yi's words aroused his regret for what happened to his master, and he didn't know if Zhou Yi's unexpected growth made him happy. Originally, he was going to retire from the rivers and lakes, but Zhou Yu retreated step by step because he was worried about Zhou Yi's safety, and the prospects of Baihe Mountain and even the entire rivers and lakes made it difficult for him to rest assured. But seeing that the childish young man in front of him had such careful thinking and an overall view of the current situation, he could rest assured.