Chapter 142: Fighting for Hetao (7)

In the spring of the fourth year of Xiande, the war in the south was still in a stalemate. Li Jing of the Southern Tang Dynasty sent his brother, King Qi Li Da, to lead a large army to reinforce the city of Shouzhou, which had been besieged for a year. After Li Da led his army north, the central army stayed in Haozhou. Generals Xu Wenzhen, Bian Hao and Zhu Yuan led tens of thousands of troops and went north along the Huaihe River to confront the main force of the Zhou army led by Li Chongjin, the envoy of Huainan Road. The two sides had many confrontations. After several trainings, the combat effectiveness of the imperial guards has been greatly improved. Compared with the Southern Tang army, the advantage of the two armies was very obvious. The Li Da army was defeated several times. After losing more than 5,000 troops, Li Da shrank his troops and the garrison camp defended with all his strength. The Zhou army was helpless for a while.

Chai Rong had a firm personality and had the ambition of Kunpeng. It was a dream deep in his heart that he had the dream of destroying the world and restoring the glory of the Han and Tang Dynasties. At this time, the main force of the Great Zhou army attacked the south with all his might, but was blocked by Shouzhou City for a year, which made him unbearable. In March of the fourth year of Xiande, Chai Rong finally couldn't bear it anymore and left his trusted Deputy Envoy Wang Pu, who was the deputy envoy of the Privy Council, left the Tokyo residence and sentenced Kaifeng Prefecture. He appointed Zhang Mei, the envoy of the Three Divisions, as the inspector of the Da Neidu, and once again led the imperial commander to Huainan.

During the fierce battle in Huainan, a brief peace appeared in the northwestern border of the Great Zhou Dynasty. This peace was the peace threatened by the Black Eagle Army's saber.

The northwest has always been a troublesome place. The powerful enemies such as Dangxiang, Uighurs, Tubo and Khitan have finished their debut. After three years of bloody conquests by Xiande, the Fangdang tribe, the emerging power of the Dangxiang tribe, completely defeated the Northwest Alliance. The most elite sergeant in the clan lost all his losses in Yizhou and Xiaoniuguan, and lost the holy land - Tongxin City. Only the defeated army led by Fang Danghanhai was entrenched in Xihuizhou, but had lost the aggressive edge a year ago.

The people of Dangxiang Tuoba did not act in concert with Fangdangren, but they closely followed the actions of Dangxiang Fangdangren, and had the idea of ​​watching the tiger fight on the mountain. They saw the whole process of Fangdangren's failure. They were deeply shocked by the power of the coalition forces and local troops. After Hou Dayong ruled Lingzhou, the governor of Dingnan Li Yiyin clearly felt a fierce white-headed tiger lying tightly beside him. Li Yiyin was not feeling rash and was much more polite to the prefectures in the south.

To the west of Lingzhou, the once extremely powerful Uighurs fell into division. The Uighur Khanate closest to the Great Zhou Dynasty was the Uighur Khanate of Ganzhou. Lanzhou Begassa married the Tubo Liugu tribe on Qinghai. It became an organic alliance, one from the east and the other from the west, threatening the survival of the Khanate. Khan Renyu died of illness. His children were still young, and the left prime minister Ashan took the opportunity to replace him and became the new Khan.

Compared with the Uighurs, the Tubo country was even more divided. Fortunately, the old land of Tubo was unbearable and the mountains were high and dangerous. No ethnic group could gallop on the plateau like the Tubo people. Therefore, although the Tubo people had been divided for a long time, it was just internal struggles and no strong enemy had taken down the snow-capped mountains and plateaus, the Tubo people were unable to invade the land of other tribesmen.

To the north of Lingzhou is the most powerful enemy of the Great Zhou Dynasty - the Liao Kingdom. The Khitans have been established for a long time, just like a sharp steel knife, and they are not dull even after being cut for a long time. The Khitans gradually lost their sharpness in the early days of their founding. The new king Yelu Shulu drank happily every night and slept during the day. He was very disliked to manage state affairs and was far more interested in entertainment than expanding territory. The Tatars in the further distance have not yet appeared in people's sight.

After Hou Dayong entered Lingzhou, he focused his eyes on Fangdanghanhai's tribe in Xihuizhou. Xihuizhou was only one day away from Lingzhou. Xihuizhou was like a stringed arrow, and could shoot towards Lingzhou at any time. This was a great restraint and constraint on Lingzhou. Although Hou Dayong had an agreement with Fangdanghanhai under the guidance of the Sogdians. However, this agreement grew at the same time as the Black Eagle Army and Fangdanghanhai's strength. The agreement was useless, and neither party abides by the meaning of the agreement.

At this time, the Miller's troops and the Seifeng tribe who came to assist the battle were as expected by Hou Dayong. Nearly 10,000 reinforcements attacked Xiao Niu Pass repeatedly and did not make any progress. There was a huge problem with the supply of food and grass in Xihui Prefecture. Due to the occupation of a large section of the pasture on the Qingshui River, the material shortage in Xihui Prefecture was severely short of materials. Miller's troops and the Seifeng tribe were politely sent away by Fang Danghanhai at the end of the third year of Xiande.

Fangdang Hanhai, Xihui Prefecture, received most of Fang Dangming's remnants, and the number reached more than 23,000. The area under her jurisdiction reached Xiaoniuguan in the south, Lingzhou border in the east, desert in the north, and Jingyuan City occupied by Fangdangzhijin and Shigaojin in the west, was still a strong enemy of the Black Eagle Army. However, the coalition forces with the Black Eagle Army as the core defeated Fangdang's main force and captured Tongxin City and Guyuan City. The Fangdang army, who was stationed in Xihui Prefecture, had dispersed, lost its confidence to roam all over the world, and became extremely conservative. Fangdanghanhai was very familiar with the current situation and dared not take the initiative. Instead, he set up defense lines in Xiaoniuguan and Xihui Prefecture, and put on a stadium of defending.

The Black Eagle Army team tried to attack Fangdangjun's defense line many times. Seeing that Fangdangjun's defense was very strict, the Black Eagle Army patiently carried out small-scale tentative attacks, laying the foundation for future decisive battles, and the front lines of both sides gradually stabilized.

Hou Dayong was not in a hurry to fight the decisive battle. He was the first to serve as the governor of Suzhou. He also needed to consolidate Lingzhou and Tongxin City, train the new Black Eagle Army, and wait for the time to ripe before fighting in Dingxi Huizhou.

The main force of the Black Eagle Army was distributed in Lingzhou and Tongxin City, and was attacked from the east and north. In Tongxin City, Shi Hu led 10,000 troops to garrison. Huo Zhicheng was the local official of Tongxin City, and Liang Shouheng served as the local official in Lingzhou. Huo Zhixing and Liang Shouheng were both expected to be appointed as the governor. Hou Dayong had already proposed the recommendation to Chai Rong, but has not received any reply yet. On the one hand, Hou Dayong ordered Feiyingtang to manage the Ministry of Personnel, and on the other hand, he had ordered the two governors to take on the responsibilities of the governor. Hou Dayong believed that with his own jurisdiction, the recommendation of the two governors would still be recognized by Chai Rong.

The government office of the governor was naturally located in Lingzhou. After Hou Dayong entered Lingzhou City, he did not live in the courtyard behind the government office, but bought a relatively quiet large courtyard as his residence. The courtyard had been empty for a long time and was originally the property of the wealthy businessman Hu Qiuyun. Hu Qiuyun had two horse teams and camel teams. He had long been walking on the territory of the Uighurs, Sogdians, and Khotan people. He had a lot of property and was well-known among the Hu people in the northwest. Instead, he acted cautiously in the Central Plains and seemed unknown. The military intelligence camp had long focused on Hu Qiuyun and sent people to infiltrate his caravan and obtained a lot of information.

This battle of the Dangxiang people besieging Lingzhou made Hu Qiuyun realize that the important border towns were not safe places. If the city was broken that day, the property accumulated through hard work in his life would be gone in a blink of an eye. Therefore, after the war, he moved to Jingzhao Mansion and commanded the caravan in Jingzhao Mansion. Hu Qiuyun was a businessman. His abacus was very good. He set up a business in Lingzhou. After he moved to Jingzhao Mansion, he could have a business in business. However, there was no need for the large yard in Lingzhou, so he listed it for sale at a discount. However, after the discount, it was also a huge number. Most people in the city could not afford it. After Hou Dayong entered the city, he saw that the environment of this large yard was good, so he bought the yard and became the private property of the Hou family.

Hou Dayong bought a yard to live in. There is another special reason, which is related to the Zhengzhou real estate incident that happened not long ago.

After coming to the Great Zhou Dynasty, Hou Dayong became a wealthy man without realizing it. However, Hou Dayong's two private houses were all given, one was the Hou Mansion of Cangzhou, which was originally the private property of the wealthy businessman Liu San, and Hou Dayong received the reward for his meritorious service; the other was the Hou Mansion of Daliang, which was given by Chai Rong. These two properties belonged to Hou Dayong's private property. Although the other properties were essentially his real estate, the properties widely distributed in various states belonged to the rich shops in their name.

The real estate in Zhengzhou was originally an official property, but because Hou Dayong was transferred to Fengzhou for battle, he walked in a hurry. All his property was placed in the small yard behind the Zhengzhou official yard. After Hou Dayong controlled Fengzhou, Chunlan and Qiuju came to Fengzhou, but a lot of money and some servants were still left in the Zhengzhou yard.

The successor Zhengzhou Defense Envoy was a mature man and saw that Hou Dayong's family occupied the property. Although he was dissatisfied, he was not as good as Hou Dayong's royal relative and had never made any statement about this.

In January of the fourth year of Xiande, Wang Tingxiang, the magistrate of Zhongmu County, was appointed as the defense envoy of Zhengzhou in Xindi. Wang Tingxiang was a family member and a member of Wang Rao, the governor of the Zhangguo Army. At this time, Empress Fu died of illness. Although Xiao Fu had been in the palace for more than a year, she had no status. Everyone suspected that Your Majesty did not like Xiao Fu, and Hou Dayong and the emperor's brother-in-law were a bit inferior. In addition, Mrs. Wang Rao had no hope of seeing her third daughter marrying Your Majesty.

He fell in love with his third daughter in another marriage. The bride was Zhao Kuangyin, who had outstanding military achievements and had a new wife. In this way, the forces of both sides grew and disappeared. Wang Tingxiang took office for three fires. Under the instruction of the big boss in the court, the first fire was burned to Hou Dayong. Shortly after Qiu Ju and Chunlan came to Zhengzhou, he secretly instructed his clan members to impeach Hou Dayong in the name of "occupying official property."

As soon as this impeachment was released, Hou Dayong, who was well-informed, quickly received news. He ordered the Black Diao Army guards to hurry to Zhengzhou for 800 miles. After receiving the letter, the family of the Hou Mansion in Zhengzhou immediately returned the property and moved all to the Hou Mansion in Daliang. Qiuju and Chunlan certainly did not know that someone in the court impeached Hou Dayong for the property. However, after receiving the 800 miles, they saw that the tone of the letter was unprecedented, and they were also anxious. They moved out of the Hou Mansion in Zhengzhou and rushed to Daliang on the same day.

Zhengzhou real estate was a mistake by Hou Dayong. Hou Dayong sent troops from Zhengzhou to Fengzhou that day, but he did not expect to be transferred to Fengzhou as the governor of the Jiedushi. Therefore, Zhengzhou's property was not dealt with in time. Since the three Jiedushis, wars have been constantly and everything has been plagued. Moreover, the rich shops have accumulated huge wealth for Hou Dayong. For Hou Dayong, the small courtyard in Zhengzhou was really insignificant. He didn't think of this in his mind. In order to meet Fu Ying as soon as possible, Hou Dayong was too lazy to talk to the new defense envoy in Zhengzhou, and did not enter the city at all. He went straight to Zhongmu County from outside the city. Who knew that his lack of behavior was bitten by some people he had never offended.

Because it was his own fault, Hou Dayong immediately returned the residence and wrote a letter of apology to Chai Rong in Huainan, and then rushed to Huainan for 800 miles. While explaining the reasons, he reviewed Chai Rong from the depths of his soul.

When the letter of review was sent to Huainan, Chai Rong, who was personally expeditioning, was celebrating the victory of conquering Shouzhou. After more than a year of siege, the Zhou army spent more than a ox and tiger to repel the reinforcements of the Southern Tang outside the city many times. When the ammunition and food were exhausted, the veteran Liu Renchan was not able to defend Shouzhou, and he suffered a stroke. In order to reduce the casualties of the people in the city, Liu Renchan made a decision that made his soul suffer - surrender to the Zhou army. When he surrendered, he was bedridden due to a stroke. His subordinates and son carried Liu Renchan out of the city to surrender to the Zhou army.

Chai Rong was extremely impressed by such a heroic figure who knew the times and was very heroic. In order to give his generals and other guards of the Southern Tang Dynasty, Chai Rong appointed Liu Renchan, the surrendered place, as the special admiral, the chief magistrate, and the governor of Yunzhou. At the same time, eight orders were issued: First, Shouzhou was changed to Shouchun County; second, the people in the place where the city was destroyed were pardoned; third, within 50 miles of Shouzhou City, the autumn and summer taxes were not collected this year; fourth, the people who had received Jiangnan literature

Those who are involved in the case of the word "展" will not be punished; fifth, the people are not allowed to avenge each other and they are not allowed to sue each other or complain to the government; sixth, those who have been captured since the war are not allowed to recognize each other, and the government is allowed to recognise each other, and the government is allowed to redeem the goods; seventh, the bones of soldiers from both sides who were exposed after the war are sent to clean up and bury them to show respect for the deceased and prevent plagues; eighth, those who have been inconvenient to the people since the previous government orders will be instructed to report the regulations of the state and should be reformed.

After Shouzhou fell into the hands of the Zhou army, there was no suspense in the competition in the Huaihe River Basin. Chai Rong was ready to move to Cai. Before he could move to advance, Chai Rong received a letter of review from Hou Dayong. Zhou Jun was able to fight in Huainan with confidence, and Hou Dayong made great contributions to stabilizing the northwest. Therefore, such a trivial matter is not worth mentioning in front of Chai Rong (of course, if you want to punish someone, this impeachment can also be used as a good material). Chai Rong comforted Hou Dayong with kind words, but he did not blame the letter of the Censor Lixing, and the Zhengzhou real estate incident was left unresolved.

However, the Zhengzhou real estate incident also sounded a wake-up call to Hou Dayong: the wood is fascinated by the forest, and the wind will destroy it. There are countless pairs of eyes in the court staring at him, and he must be more cautious in his future. Therefore, after he entered Lingzhou, he simply spent money to buy a yard.

Shi Gao Yueming and her handmaid moved into this yard. Shi Gao Yueming's handmaid was called Shi Gao Luqi. Luqi is a kind of guqin. On that day, Shi Gao Yueming named Lushui. He also had an idea of ​​the name of the maid's handmaid Gao Luqi.

Hou Dayong originally wanted to secretly kill Shi Gao Luqi, but Shi Gao Luqi followed Shi Gao Yueming every day, so it was difficult to have the right opportunity to kill her. Shi Gao Yueming is a secret weapon of Hou Dayong. Therefore, Hou Dayong not only wants to conquer her people, but also wants to conquer her heart. If Shi Gao Yueming realizes that he has killed her maid, it will be difficult to achieve this goal.

On the other hand, when the army Gao Luqi appeared alive in Hou Dayong, not just a name and a code name, Hou Dayong was really unable to do anything. After all, Hou Dayong came from a modern society that focused on human rights, and was slightly different from the politicians of the same period of the Great Zhou Dynasty. Killing people outside the battlefield was a bit psychologically burdened for Hou Dayong. Hou Dayong made up his mind to order the soldiers to perform this task several times, but when the army Gao Luqi obediently served tea and water to Hou Dayong, Hou Dayong softened his heart. Every time he found a reason for himself: the army Gao Luqi only knew that Shi Gao Yueming knew disguise skills, and whether the disguise skills could be used at that time was still an unknown number. It was really unreasonable to kill a pretty young woman with this vague reason.

After several collisions between reason and emotion, Hou Dayong made a decision. He was about to recognize his master Gao Luqi as his sister and let him marry Dawagong and send his master Gao Luqi away from afar. He was out of sight and was not upset. He not only saved her life, but also disturbed Dawagong.

The late Tubo Hun tribe formed two settlements in Zhuoni and Songfan. Dabu was in Songfan, and Dawagong was in Zhuoni. Hou Dayong and Dabu had a blood-stricken alliance. If no major incident occurred or the strength of both sides did not undergo a qualitative change, the alliance was relatively stable. Due to the convenience of geographical advantages, Dawagong's clan exceeded Dabu and his strength was slightly stronger than Dabu. Hou Dayong had long made the alliance closer together with Dawagong. However, if the move to use the blood-stricken alliance again, it seemed that there was some imagination and a little casual. For example, a woman was the best one to marry once, but if she married again, her level would naturally decrease.

If he regards his master Gao Luqi as his sister and marry Dawagong, Dawagong will become his own sister-in-law. After becoming a family, he will naturally become another form of alliance. After Hou Dayong made up his mind, he sent someone to order Dawagong to meet in Lingzhou. There is a Chinese saying: relatives become more and more close, and they will not be close when they go away. Hou Dayong believes that this sentence is extremely philosophical and applies to it when they are used to control and conquer the Hu people. Although Dawagong surrenders to himself, if he does not knock for a long time and does not allow him to come to report his thoughts regularly, it will not take long before Dawagong will forget who the real boss is.

When the news of Your Majesty's personal expedition again reached Lingzhou, Hou Dayong estimated that the sergeant sent the letter was almost at Zhuoni, so he decided to personally come forward to recognize his master Gao Luqi as his sister.

When Shi Gao Luqi heard Shi Gao Yueming's reposts, he learned that he was going to marry a Tubo people. Although he tried his best to keep calm, the teacup in his hand still fell to the ground with a bang. The Tubo people and the Dangxiang people were not friendly. Part of the old land of the Dangxiang people was in the Zhuoni area. When the Tubo country was strong, the Dangxiang people were forced to migrate eastward and northward. Later, in the Gansu and Sha areas, Tubo people, Uighurs, Dangxiang people and Central Plains people were very happy. Therefore, when Shi Gao Luqi heard that she wanted to marry her to the leader of Tubo, she couldn't help but change her face.

Hou Dayong wanted to tell Shi Gao Luqi two things, one was to recognize her as her sister, and the other was to ask her to marry Dawagong, the Tubo native, to talk about which of these two things was a very particular thing, just like eating grapes. Some people first ate green and then sweet, so the sweeter they ate, and some people first ate sweet and sour, so the more they ate, the more they ate, the more they ate, the sour they ate, the more they ate, the more they ate, the more they ate, the more they ate, the feeling of being different, Hou Dayong chose the first method, first telling Shi Gao Luqi about the most desperate consequences, and then weakening this pain a little bit.

When Hou Dayong saw that Shi Gao Luqi's face changed drastically, his center of earth still softened, but the incident was already on the string, so he hardened his heart and said to Gao Yueming, the other side, with a change of face, saying, "Dawagong is the leader of the Tubo people, and Shi Gao Luqi has a good home after marrying him. Also, this afternoon, a ceremony will be held according to the habits of Dangxiang people. I want to recognize Shi Gao Luqi as my sister, so that Shi Gao Luqi will marry Dawagong with a glorious appearance. With Hou Dayong's sister, I hope no one will dare to bully her."

Since Shi Gao Yueming was discovered, he has been following Hou Dayong. After the short adaptation period, from Tongxin City to Lingzhou, she became more and more intoxicated with tenderness and sweetness. She knew that Hou Dayong had a wife, but she didn't care about so much. At this moment, she suddenly heard his beloved man marry Shi Gao Luqi out in an undisputed tone. She couldn't help but shivered in her heart. She looked at Hou Dayong with a begging gaze and begged: "Mr., can Shi Gao Luqi stay? Although she is a servant, she grew up with me and actually only like her sisters. Don't let her marry a Tubo."

Hou Dayong thought to himself: Shi Gao Luqi is actually a beauty. If it weren't for her knowing that you know how to disguise, she could marry her generals. But she knew the secret of disguise, so she could only go further as far as possible. This is also her best destination.

Hou Dayong looked at Shi Gao Luqi with some pity, lowered his head and shed tears, and did not explain to Shi Gao Yueming, and said calmly: "Everyone has his own fate. Shi Gao Luqi has the identity of a sister, and when Zhuoni comes, he will become a noble lady among the Tubo people. This may be a good thing for her. You told Shi Gao Luqi that Dawagong is the leader of the Tubo people and a hero. It is not wrong to marry Dawagong."

Shi Gao Yueming asked pitifully: "Is it irreversible?" Hou Dayong nodded calmly and said: "Dawagong is on the way to Lingzhou at this time and cannot be saved. Please persuade her and accept her fate."

Shi Gao Yueming's two blue eyes gradually soaked in tears, and soon flowed down like broken pearls. She choked and said, "Shi Gao Luqi is as beautiful as a flower, so why not follow the Jiedushi with me, and the Jiedushi finds another woman to marry Dawagong."

Shi Gao Luqi and Shi Gao Yueming have different appearances. Shi Gao Yueming has some characteristics of a white man, not like an authentic Dangxiang person, while Shi Gao Luqi is a pure Dangxiang woman, who is closer to the appearance of a Central Plains, but he is more healthy than the Central Plains women.

Hou Dayong did not say anything, shook his head, and said to Shi Gao Yueming with a hard heart: "No need to say more, please advise Shi Gao Luqi to prepare more dowry for her. We will do this marriage in a lively manner."
Chapter completed!